Finished that, now reading Cherie Priest's new(ish) The Toll. Southern Gothic with a serious atmosphere of dread (so far).
Finished that, now reading Cherie Priest's new(ish) The Toll. Southern Gothic with a serious atmosphere of dread (so far).
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
I've been getting into old pulp novels lately such as those by Charles Willeford, Jim Thompson, and the like. Doing so I've discovered 50s pulp novels written by women, sometimes under a pseudonym. I'm currently reading Bunny Lake Is Missing by Evelyn Piper. It's about a young single mother who is waiting for her 3-year-old to be returned to her after the girl's first day at nursery school; only the girl never shows up, and the mother is convinced the toddler is in the locked school. I'm not too far into the book yet, and the back cover suggests mom might be crazy and there is no little girl. A movie was made of the book in the early 60s, but I'll stay away until after I finish reading.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
"Permanent Record" by Edward Snowden.
No matter what you think of Snowden and what he did -- Susan Rice for one has no kind words -- this book is extremely well written. It's factual and matter-of-fact, it's self-deprecating, it's surprising and it's funny as hell. Who knew Snowden was such a good writer?
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
There are a surprising number of very smart people who have been screwed over by the establishment, sometimes for their political views, sometimes as part of the dumbing-down of America.No matter what you think of Snowden and what he did -- Susan Rice for one has no kind words -- this book is extremely well written. It's factual and matter-of-fact, it's self-deprecating, it's surprising and it's funny as hell. Who knew Snowden was such a good writer?
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
That sounds interesting. May have to pick it up.Originally Posted by rcarlberg
Based On A True Story by Norm MacDonald
Love me some Jim Thompson. The Killer Inside Me gave me the creeps. Excellent novel! I didn't know the movie Bunny Lake is Missing was based on a novel. If the novel is better than the movie, than it's a must read. We'll approach the Bunny Lake mystery from opposite directions. You look for clues in the book...I'll start with the...
Last night started M.R. James's Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. Deliberately paced, non-splattery horror. This will take me past the Hallowe'en reading season
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
I read that one. Much of it is hilarious, but if you are looking for an accurate autobiography, this ain't it.
I am reading a biography of Evel Knievel called “Evel The High-Flying Life Of Evel Knievel Showman Daredevil & Legend”. It came out in 2012 and is really interesting. I was all in on Knievel when I was a kid, so I remember everything in the book. In reality the guy was kind of an asshole. Although there is no doubt that the guy had balls of steel, he was also a carnival huckster who was a master at media manipulation. He was a probable alcoholic (he made many of his jumps totally shitfaced), womanizer, bully, and spent money as fast as he got it. The whole thing is pretty fascinating and there are many interviews with prominent people in Evel’s life. Anyway, I am enjoying it. I am right up to the point where he does the Snake River jump.
Have you read his Pop. 1280? It's similar to The Killer Inside Me but with a totally psychopathic sheriff whom everyone loves. I remember in a Stephen King movie when the main characters are driving into town, they pass a welcoming sign for the town that says "Pop. 1280." I know King's a fan.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
Nope. I haven't read Pop. 1280...yet. You just put it on my list.
Outstanding King, Easter egg find!
After finishing The Testaments I found a copy of the graphic novel that was made from The Handmaids Tail. A fine way to remind me of that book and the story as a whole:
Don't know that I'll read The Testaments. The original was quite bleak enough for me.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
Somehow The Testaments is less dark. It plays 15 years after the original story, partly in Canada, partly in Gilead. It is told through the testaments of three women. First the stories don't seem to connect to each other, but slowly the events get connected.
Interesting. Still, I'll probably wait for the paperback.
Meanwhile, on to another classic I've been meaning to read for years, Of Mice and Men. Very thin book but 20 pages in looks to be a heartbreaker.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
Occultation and Other Stories by Laird Barron (1970- )
Published 2010
Probably the cream of modern Lovecraftian horror authors. He was a 2007 and 2010 Shirley Jackson Award winner for his collections The Imago Sequence and Other Stories and Occultation and Other Stories. Barron raced the Alaskan Iditarod three times during the early 1990s, and worked as fisherman on the Bering Sea.
Currently reading Bud Selig's autobiography "For The Good Of The Game". I would guess that most baseball fans would find this one interesting. I am only about half way through it, so have not hit the steroid era yet, but up to this point the book has been a very good read.
Michael Robotham: Good Girl, Bad Girl (2019).
Robotham starts a new series with new characters, but after reading a couple of chapters I can say it's a typical Robotham-story, which is a good thing.
Most of the way through "The Weather Machine-A Journey Inside The Forecast" by Andrew Blum.I've enjoyed reading the history behind and the infrastructure of the everyday weather forecast.
I'm Walt Mattes and i recommend this book.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
That sounds interesting. I will look into it.
Of Mice and Men was just astounding.
And now for something completely different: The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolph Erich Raspe.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
"What You Have Heard is True" by Carolyn Forche, poet and anthologist, etc.
Harrowing memoir of the El Salvador situation in the seventies. Excellent book.
"And this is the chorus.....or perhaps it's a bridge...."
Just started "The Music Instinct-How Music Works And Why We Can't Do Without It" by Philip Ball.A friend who shares my love for different musics urged me to read this.
Ball writes clearly and avoids academic verbiage(so far).
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
Munchausen started quite niftily but the second part descended into crud.
Now reading Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun: A Chapter Guide, by Michael Andre-Driussi. For those who don't know, The Book of the New Sun is one of the genuine masterpieces of 20th-Century American science fiction. It's filled with allusions and quasiquotations and Michael (an acquaintance) has tracked down and identified huge numbers of them.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
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