In case you haven't seen it, Roger Corman did a solid adaptation in The Haunted Palace (starring Vincent Price).
these books are super popular in both my previous library system and my current. And many agents use these books as examples of "cozy fantasy" that they want to see more of
I finished The Nightmare Man by JH Markert and The Watcher by AM Shine these past few weeks. Though Markert has other books, I really want a sequel to The Nightmare Man and will be impatiently waiting for one. AM Shine released a sequel to The Watcher earlier this month but all copies are unavailable for me to checkout at the moment. So I'm currently listening to another one of his books called The Creeper. (keeping in theme with this month.... all of these books are horror )
Hmm, OK. I'm nearly finished with Bookshops and Bonedust, and I can't say it was nearly as good as I'd been led to believe. (I hoped it would be more challenging, but it seems to be aimed at the YA market). Still a good read, though. Heigh-ho. Maybe I should try R. A. Salvatore next...?
He is very based in DnD for his story world. Unless your a gamer in that vein, he may not be your cup of tea.
Into the Silence. At the most basic level, an account of George Mallory's fateful expeditions and attempts to conquer Everest. But it is so much more than that. It's a sprawling historical work, a geographical survey, and a psychological study of a generation forever tarnished by the most brutal of wars; men who saw death as but (to quote) 'a frail barrier that men crossed, smiling and gallant, every day.' It is quite beautifully written. Evocative, yet unflinching. It is as ruthless a depiction of that bloody stupid war as I have ever read, and I have read an awful lot about that war. Drawing from the diaries of the protagonists gives it an incredibly raw feel. The human details are never lost in the big picture. Highly recommended thus far.
That's OK. I've played D&D for about 15 years (from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, when my interest waned after Wizards of the Coast took over). *shrug* But D&D was and is one of my inspirations for new stories (albeit a very minor one). I simply thought: since I'm using historical settings, wizards and/or magic can only exist if I use mythology -- but only the right sort of mythology. (For instance, if my story is set in ancient Greece, only Greek mythology is acceptable. And so on).
Don't discount the system from dragonlance. The idea of three moons, and their phases governing the magics of good, neutral, and evil. That gives you room to mix and match among mythos. After first edition, I wasn't willing to invest the money needed to update my references. I had three plastic milk crates worth, hard covers, modules, and dragon magazine. Though MMORPGs aren't any cheaper. Lol.
It's a great blend of Lovecraft and Corman's style of horror. It's great to hear Vincent Price (as Charles Dexter Ward/ Curwen) intoning the names of Yog Sothoth and Cthulhu. I think the film was originally going to be titled The Case of Charles Dexter Ward but the studio made them slap a title from Poe on it to make people think it was in the line of the earlier Poe adaptations.
Sometimes I wonder if the undead might have organised their own union to fight for their rights. They tried last year, but the vampire marching song sucked, and the wight slogan was terrible: "WIGHT UNLIVES MATTER". Poor old undead. They never get the rights they deserve. Imagine filling out the forms: "Place of residence"? Graveyard! "Occupation"? Decomposition specialist! It's an uphill battle from the word go ...
Books I read in the wild: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Motar and Max Gladstone Cassoulet Confessions by Sylvie Bigar Family Business by Jonathan Sims Graveyard Shift by M. L. Rio And after reading some sharty romances, I'm going to get back into Blindsight by Peter Watts. Maybe I'll keep up with it this time.
I adored this book. So much of it was utter sci-fi nonsense, but it was extremely inventive sci-fi nonsense, and the story was sweet.
Well, I thought I was reading Clancy's Without Remorse for a minute. I've read it before and just felt like reading some Clancy for some reason, but as I'm reading the beginning, I'm like, this sounds a lot like Clear and Present Danger. Didn't that one have the boat with the drug dealers on it? Turns out, the dust jackets where switched between the two books. It only says Clear and Present Danger in the top right corner of each page, which I finally noticed on page 16 or so. Clearly, this isn't working so I'm going to read something else.
Finished reading "How to Sell a Haunted House," by Grady Hendrix. Had a lot of fun with it. Loved the dialogue, and really liked all the characters. I think it went on a bit longer than it needed, and wasn't necessarily the scariest book I've ever read, but it was surprisingly heartfelt and had a lot of really good character development and insight. Would recommend.
I cannot stay in the story for this one. I've tried and it just doesn't hold me. I'm not giving up completely, but it's going to be a slower read. Tonight, I've read Dear Justyce by Nic Stone (it made me think about lives I don't live, and I have thoughts I can't verbalize), and now I'm reading Hold Still by Nina LaCour. It's from a book swap and the previous owner left their annotations in it. I'm enjoying seeing their reactions.
Well, we finally did it. My son and I finished the 12th and final How to Train Your Dragon audiobook. Between our custody schedule and frequently failing to get to bed in time to listen, it took us just under 2 years to get through over 50 hours of audio in 10 and 15 minute increments. It was so worth it, though. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series and highly recommend the experience. And don't worry if you've already seen the movies. The two have nothing to do with each other aside from a few character names. It was masterfully performed by David Tennant (Doctor Who,) who unfortunately isn't the best singer but otherwise voiced dozens of characters better than most pro cartoon voice actors could have. 4.5 stars. Next up is a book called Minor Mage. The protagonist and my son share a first name, and it looks to be pretty funny. After that, we haven't decided yet. I'm open to suggestions, if anyone knows of any books or especially series we might enjoy. He's 10 1/2 and enjoys adventure and comedy. Two of our top contenders are Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children. Both are a little more mature than what we've been hearing, which is good, but I kind of wish we could find an age-appropriate adventure series as humorous as the HTTYD books. I regret not saving the A Series of Unfortunate Events books for him. As good as they were, I don't think I could listen to those a second time.
I love updating my reading progress so much more than my writing progress! Im halfway through The Hunchback of Notre Dame for the first time. Les Miserables is my favorite novel, and this piece doesn’t disappoint, even though it’s on a smaller scale. I found out Hugo wrote this novel in an effort to save the cathedral from demolition. Pretty cool! I’m also reading A Stranger in Olondria. The prose is beautiful, but reading is frustrating at times because the action is tortuously slow. I’ve finished just over a third of the book, and I’ve considered shelving it half a dozen times. Finally, I’m listening to Bourdain: In Stories. I haven’t read any of his books yet, so this is my first exposure to Anthony as a literary figure. Most of the people interview are really inconsequential, but collectively, they form an interesting tapestry.
Magpie Murders by Annnnthony Horowitz? I called him Alan while talking to my dad, and now I can't remember which is correct. I'm hoping to hit 90 books read by the end of the year.
Finished Magpie Murders and it left me underwhelmed. Next is Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer. On the recommendation of a bestie.
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R Tolkien (★★★★★) I quit reading after my encounter with the Anti-Book, the book whose coming was foretold in Revelations. It took me nearly six months of reading detox to pick up another title. In all that time, I really read nothing. No long-form literature, I mean. I've read some terrible things in the past, but the books that truly sap my will are those that are given accolades where none are deserved. The Anti-Book is the ultimate example of this. Now, I've given a different book, "Metro 2033," a hard time, even somewhere in this thread if you go far enough back in the posts, because, my God, that author raked it in and "Metro 2033" is terrible. I've never seen so many mistakes. Almost every sentence is in some way wrong. Some are compound failures. The plot is pointless too. But the book is a translation and I just think a lot was lost in the process. At least the story meant well. It was a cool idea. Just google "Russian subway" and you'll see why that is an awesome setting for a tale of survival. It's okay to swing and miss if you meant to hit the ball. The Anti-Book didn't even bother to try. It had no editor for a reason. It's a diarhettic explosion of words which only an insane audience would cheer on. Normal readers leave the room because the Anti-Book speaks only lies. So, following the advice in this thread, I read "The Lord of the Rings" as an antidote. I give it five stars. Now, it's not my favorite book ever, but I really, really liked it and I recognize the trailblazing it was doing. I think I've mentioned before that I started to read this back in high school, but I quit when Gandalf died. I was too sad. (Reading does affect me greatly.) It has taken me a long time to pick this book up again and finish it. It was an easy read. I like the charming atmosphere of it. That would come and go with each scene, but it would always return. Back in the day, it was not common knowledge how Lord of the Rings ended. Many people wouldn't have even heard of the book. It wasn't like today. It wasn't a part of the popular culture. I kind of wish I would have kept reading because the story would have resolved in a way that would have meant a lot to me back then. But it means a lot to me now, and so I'm thankful for that. Merry and Pippin were ruthless, haha. They're much better than they are in the movies. I think they were my favorite characters. Oddly, Gimli and Legolas were much more subdued in the books.
Just finished this Assistant to the Villain, and while it had some editorial issues, or lack of one, it was a bit of fun. Nonsensical in one of my favorite ways. Eventually I'll get the sequel. Up next is probably something I've not finished but should. Not at nearly three a.m. though.
