What are you reading right now?

[Realistic Elephant]

Just started Galilee by Clive Barker. It’s one of the few books of his I haven’t had a chance to read yet. Seems very different from his usual style so far, but I’m interested enough to keep reading

Let me know how it is. Clive writes some of the best short stories I've ever read but I'm interested to get into his novel-length works.

 

[Fentanyl Floyd]

Based Deleuze: The Reactionary Leftism of Gilles Deleuze by Justin Murphy
It's like reading a wikipedia page with a little more flavor to it. It's honestly kind of dumb, but nonetheless informative.

 

[Cheerlead-in-Chief]

"Blue Dreams: The Science and Story of the Drugs That Changed Our Minds" by Lauren Slater
Basically a bipolar woman writing about the history of drugs such as Prozac and their side effects.

 

[TungstenCarbide]

I'm reading Halloween Moon, by Joseph Fink. It's the story of a girl obsessed with Halloween and horror, who discovers that horrific things will happen during what should be the last Halloween she will spend trick-or-treating. Fink is good when he writes in first-person POV, far less when he writes in third-person. A few dialogues between the teenager characters sound forced, and the token wokeness doesn't improve the story.

 

[Obie]

Out of the Dreamtime: the Search for Australasia's Unknown Animals by Rex and Heather Gilroy. Cryptozoological heaven!

 

[Gig Bucking Fun]

Nothing. I’m not gay.

 

[Ona Quest]

Currently reading "A War of Witches" by T.J. Knab. it's pretty good. Really like how it's a real story and that some anthropologist wrote it. here's a summary gotten from good reads.

"A War of Witches is an astonishing account of a world of magic and sorcery that echoes the deepest roots of Aztec mysticism. What begins as an innocent ethnographic encounter ends in a revelation as Knab uncovers the ghoulish dimensions of a blood feud that has left dozens of sorcerers dead."

 

[Fastest Hand In The East]

"Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" by Siegfried Sasson.
I've read his poetry some time ago. Not bad, especially his war poems.
But when I was visiting my friend in Germany right before covid I've decided to check out the local bookshop which stocks exclusively used books in english. The selection in english-language shops in my home country is dog shit. So anyway, I've asked for Sasson and the clerk dericted me to this book. Never heard of it before.
I highly recommend it if you're into war writing. He details his WWI experience, without sugar-coating it or adding grimness. Raids, counterattacks, rat hunts, endless endless boring as fuck days when nothing happens, it's a very interesting read.

 

[Chesk_0220]

'Field Book of Marine Fishes of the Atlantic Coast' by C. M. Breder, Jr.
I found it at Goodwill and my favorite fish so far is the Northern Slippery Dick, the illustrations are a bit lacking, though. I suppose that's fine for something made in 1929, then later revised in 1948 however.

 

[Jason Wynn]

Let me know how it is. Clive writes some of the best short stories I've ever read but I'm interested to get into his novel-length works.

Just finished it the other day. It’s an interesting book, it’s more fantastical than horror. I don’t want to spoil things if you’re still planning on reading it, but if I’m being honest while it’s not bad, he’s written better. It’s worth a read, but if you’re planning on getting into his novels I’d suggest starting with The Damnation Game for horror, or The Great and Secret Show for a more fantasy horror style

 

[three mint tea]

Today I'm going to start The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq. I liked Submission and I found Serotonin quite interesting. My main gripe with both is that the narrators felt much too similar, and I hear that is the case for many of Houellebecq's novels.
I wonder whether he'll be considered a classic some day. But then I'm not really sure what makes a classic, other than a mastery of the language perhaps.

 

[Sergeant Major Buzzkill]

I'm reading Sanderson's "The Final Empire". I hear his name thrown around a lot when people mention examples of high fantasy, and it's actually pretty good.

"Moby-Dick" is another I'm trying out, along with "The Fellowship of the Ring" (which I'm almost done with by the way).

 

[shameful existence]

My first book about a serial killer written before his name was known (it was added in the epilogue of later editions). Feels like following the investigation in real time. All the lives that were turned upside down - not only on the part of victims, but also the named suspects and investigators. Nice depressing atmosphere, reminded me of The Silence of the Lambs at times.

From a leading Slovak horror author. A wind witch from folk tales is chasing people around northern Slovakia. Slightly too philosophical, the main hero comes across as a Houellebecq character. It's been translated to a bunch of Slavic languages so far.

 

[Realistic Elephant]

Just finished it the other day. It’s an interesting book, it’s more fantastical than horror. I don’t want to spoil things if you’re still planning on reading it, but if I’m being honest while it’s not bad, he’s written better. It’s worth a read, but if you’re planning on getting into his novels I’d suggest starting with The Damnation Game for horror, or The Great and Secret Show for a more fantasy horror style

Thanks for the update, I think I'll check out The Great and Secret Show first. I like Clive's mixture of fantasy, horror, and dark humor in the Books of Blood short stories so this sounds like the next best choice.

Post tax: I'm reading Haunted Liverpool 34...Tom Slemen is one of those guys who accumulates so many paranormal tales with so much background to them it's a pleasure to read every one of his collections.

 

[Mal0]

While picking up my girlfriend from Uni, there were a ton of books out in a box in the hall for free. One of them was Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. Decided to give it a read since I remember a highschool teacher saying it was a good read. I liked the story, since I know a bit of Russian history and their internal conflicts over whether to embrace or reject traditions and their French influenced ways. The introduction did a good job of giving much needed context for the novel.

For anyone that likes Russian history, I'd reccomend you give it a read (even if you've probably already read it if are into that kind of stuff.)

 

[LurkNoMore]

Currently working on Conan stories by Robert E Howard and some stories by Clark Ashton Smith.

 

[Art Kassul]

Rereading 'A Prayer for Owen Meany'
I don't know how this was ever my favorite book. Kids are dumb.

 

[Puff]

Just finished The Number of the Beast by Heinlein after reading the Lazarus Long books a few weeks back. Great writer, he needs to lay off the free-love stuff. It's in every damn book besides Starship Troopers.
Looking through this thread for something else because I'm tapped out on sci-fi at the moment.

 

[three mint tea]

Looking through this thread for something else because I'm tapped out on sci-fi at the moment.

Have you read Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke? Without going into too many details, it's about life on Earth after an alien invasion which resulted in exchanging human individuality for peace.
I think it's one of the best novels of the genre out there, you might find it interesting when you feel like reading sci-fi again.

 

[Mal0]

A while ago my grandmother gave me a copy of War and Peace. It has always just sat on my bookshelf as a decorative piece, but now that I'm trying to learn of pre-communist Russian history, it's a decent read.

Long and sometimes rather grueling, but if you break it up into segments of 50 pages it's manageable.