Current book being read/just finished

[PensFanInDC]

Mr. Mercedes is all types of messed up. I'm listening to the book and I almost had to fast forward a part talking about the death of a child.

Stephen King is one seriously effed up dude...

[dodint]

Did you ever read Geralds Game?

Also:

Spoiler:

*slap*

[PensFanInDC]

Did you ever read Geralds Game?

Also:

Spoiler:

*slap*

That might be the most boring book ever written. 400+ pages of a chick tied to a bed alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. RIVETING!!!!! 50 pages of her trying to make a straw to get some water. I wanted to punch King in the nuts after reading it.

[dodint]

But the incestual child molestation didn't bother you?

Spoiler:

In all seriousness, The Gingerbread Girl might be more your speed.

[PensFanInDC]

I read that one. I read all of that anthology actually. I believe it also had the one about the dude in the port-a-potty which I thought was excellent.

[dodint]

lol, yeah. I love that one too. It's one of those stories that is so simple it makes you think you can write, but I can't come close to pulling it off.

Incidentally, the last time we went and stayed on the Outer Banks we listened to The Gingerbread Girl in the car on the way up.

[LeopardLetang]

The Martian was excellent. This guy knows his stuff (or at least reads like he does). Really impressed with everything. Easily one of my favorite books I've read in the last year. Check it out. I hope the movie doesn't screw with the main character, he was perfect.

Took this recommendation and flew with it. Such a fun book. Simple and effective at times and complicated and effective at others. Read it in three sittings and I'm a slow reader. Movie should be enjoyable no matter what.

[PensFanInDC]

I really need to start reading someone other than King when it comes to fiction but I can't stop. Onto Doctor Sleep.

[dodint]

It's a finite body of work. Keep plugging away and then when you're done, move on. Do what feels good.

[PensFanInDC]

I'm thinking Neil Gaiman is next...

[dodint]

I started reading short story anthologies, took a breather from King after Doctor Sleep. Now I read Risk Management and Earned Value Management textbooks. Blech.

[eddysnake]

I'm thinking Neil Gaiman is next...

I'd say try Clive barker first

[LeopardLetang]

I had trouble latching on to some of King's works. Often his characters were too cliche'd for me. I only read about 5 of his books but tried and failed to finish about 4 others. Barker's characters and books I read were much more imaginative. Everville, the great and secret show, imajica - really stood out to a younger me as better than the the dark tower for example. They're a little "out there" though so I'd have a hard time recommending them to most people. They hold a much more revered place in my heart though even than King books I really enjoyed like the gunslinger and the Eyes of the Dragon. I much preferred Crichton to King too. But at this point I'd probably be more inclined to read Gaiman for the first time than any of the former

[dodint]

I haven't even started Dark Tower because it's too much fantasy. Not my thing. And yes, Crichton is a great read. Love the detail. Though the last thing I read of his was his travel memoir which I think I discussed a while ago. (Yeah, on 08 Jul 2014)

[obhave]

I'm thinking Neil Gaiman is next...

Love him. Favorite author and wrote my favorite book.

Although, I just finished his new short story collection, Trigger Warning. Its good, but a little all over the place.

[Froggy]

I reread James Gunn's The Toy Collector last night. Such a great book.

Tonight, I started reading Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. It's pretty messed up, and I'm only like 50 pages in. I assume it gets worse.

[eddysnake]

Anyone read any of these?

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

[Troy Loney]

Fiance and I finished reading True Grit out loud to each other. Though, she's better than accents, so she did most of the reading. It was fun to do, and the book was great.

[Froggy]

Haunted was, in fact, really messed up. I've moved on to my next book. Sticking with Chuck Palahniuk, and reading Diary. I'm about half way through. Pretty good so far. More a straight up psychological horror at this point. It's doing a good job of cultivating a sense of impending doom.

[shmenguin]

Haunted was, in fact, really messed up. I've moved on to my next book. Sticking with Chuck Palahniuk, and reading Diary. I'm about half way through. Pretty good so far. More a straight up psychological horror at this point. It's doing a good job of cultivating a sense of impending doom.

Choke is a decent read.

[Troy Loney]

I liked Choke too. That was the last book I finished from him. I started either Lullaby or Diary, I forget which one, but wasn't into it a the time.

I always like Survivor the most of his books.

[Digitalgypsy66]

Finished City of Bones, by Michael Connelly. It was part of the basis of the Bosch TV series on Amazon Prime. It was OK, and I'm not in a hurry to read any other books in the series.

[Shyster]

Currently reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality which is a fan-fiction version of Harry Potter (hear me out!) in which Harry's aunt Petunia didn't marry Vernon Dursley, but instead married an Oxford professor and scientist. Harry was home-schooled and trained in the scientific method and various other elements of rational thinking. Harry proceeds to apply scientific methods and thinking to the wizarding world. For example, this is Harry's reaction when Ron tries to explain the rules of Quidditch:

“So let me get this straight,” Harry said as it seemed that Ron’s explanation (with associated hand gestures) was winding down. “Catching the Snitch is worth one hundred and fifty points?”

“Yeah -”

“How many ten-point goals does one side usually score not counting the Snitch?”

“Um, maybe fifteen or twenty in professional games -”

“That’s just wrong. That violates every possible rule of game design. Look, the rest of this game sounds like it might make sense, sort of, for a sport I mean, but you’re basically saying that catching the Snitch overwhelms almost any ordinary point spread. … It’s like someone took a real game and grafted on this pointless extra position so that you could be the Most Important Player without needing to really get involved or learn the rest of it. Who was the first Seeker, the King’s idiot son who wanted to play Quidditch but couldn’t understand the rules?” Actually, now that Harry thought about it, that seemed like a surprisingly good hypothesis. Put him on a broomstick and tell him to catch the shiny thing…

Ron’s face pulled into a scowl. “If you don’t like Quidditch, you don’t have to make fun of it!”

“If you can’t criticise, you can’t optimise. I’m suggesting how to improve the game. And it’s very simple. Get rid of the Snitch.”

…

A look of absolute horror was spreading over Ron’s face. “But, but if you get rid of the Snitch, how will anyone know when the game ends?”

“Buy… a… clock.”

The Harry in this story is quite different from Rowling's Harry. In some ways, he's less likable, and the story departs widely from canon. Harry ends up in Ravenclaw, for example, and not only is he not friends with Ron, he has a distant friendship with Draco Malfoy. Harry actually has a hostile relationship with Dumbledore. And Harry also might be trying to take over the world. Sort of.

Despite being fan fiction, this book (I use that term loosely; the whole project is easily as long as three or four books) is actually pretty good, and it's also completely free to read at http://hpmor.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. You can even download .mobi and .epub versions.

[meecrofilm]

Yeah, Quidditch always annoyed me for that reason. It'd be way better if the snitch was worth a lot less. That way, you might not even want to catch it if your team was loosing by a decent amount, since it'd end the game and you'd still lose.

[Froggy]

I'm now reading Leprechaun in the Hood: The Musical: The Novel.

It's the story of the leprechaun going after a theater troupe, for stealing his intellectual property by making a play based on one of his movies. It's very silly.