Still powering through Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. Enjoying it so far, just wish I had more time to read during the holiday craziness.

Finished reading The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss - I really enjoyed this book and plan to read the 2nd in the series soon. I've seen a few people who felt that it was very slow and nothing really happened throughout which I can agree with to a degree. Personally, the world itself caught me and I found myself counting the hours before I could get back to reading it again.

Started and finished Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut - This was an enjoyable short read although I feel that most of it went over my head :/

Started reading Salem's Lot, by Stephen King - I'm genuinely anxious to read this due to what I've heard about it. I'm not very good with horror in general and mostly avoid it. Not sure what I'm getting myself into here. Currently only about 20 pages in.

Finished:

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey Not a bad book. Not good enough to make me want to go look up the other book set in the world, but I'm not sorry that I read it. Flowed smoothly, no parts dragged out, but it also felt kind of...generic. Like "yep that's a zombie novel" but not really offering anything else.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman A rare double book week! Also time for my quarterly break from horror novels. Quick read, excellent book. I mean Gaiman is always pretty great, but I admittedly don't know much about norse mythology outside of what was told in Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes. Glad it was more fleshed out. And legit funny in parts.

Started:

Salem's Lot by Stephen King So I've basically read every King book there is, multiple times. Except this one. I tried to read this one, but I could never get into it. That was when I was younger though, teenish, where I was strictly focused on body count and nothing else. That was a good long time ago, so I figured I'd give it another shot. Still as slow as I remember it being, these parts I've read before, but I'm gonna chug along and see if I can't finally finish this stupid book and see if it gets good.

Just started Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

I'm currently reading:

Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

Somehow I never read this 25 years ago when I thought I had read all of his books, glad I'm reading it now!

Kill Creek, by Scott Thomas

This was recommended to me last week and I'm enjoying it thus far.

finished:

Carrie, by Stephen King

In general i liked it well enough, i thought it was a smart choice to not only give us the pov of carrie but also that of other people during the time and later on (as in books about the incident, scientific work, etc)
It's basically a coming of age story and comes with the usual themes but also touches on religion and obsession, nothing too deep though. King's prose is fine, nothing outstanding.
Goodread's rating: 3/5

Salem's lot, by Stephen King

I really liked the buildup in this novel, king is good at slowly building the characters here and teasing the mystery and myths about the marsten house and its past and current inhabitants.
A big problem here though is that there are simply too many characters and some of them are rather dull and you just want to read about something else. In general the book is a good 150-200 pages too long, indulging in too many descriptions which were meant to set the mood but ultimately work against it.
There definitely are creepy parts and i enjoyed those, but when it comes to the actual climaxes i didn't feel too immersed.
2/5

The Unconsoled, by Kazuo Ishiguro

This is my 2nd ishiguro (first was "the buried giant") and i quite enjoyed it, so far my favorite of his. In this story we follow mr ryder a famous pianist who travels into a city to hold a concert there. He also has appointments with severl citizen groups and interviewers, etc, all pretty staight forward. What makes this novel special is the execution of it, it's handled as if in a dream, everything is rather surreal and causality doesn't seem to exist, at least not at all times. This manifests itself in time and space not functioning like you would assume, memories and pasts being different throughout, people being indulgent in their talking points and wasting time that way, ryder sometimes being omniscient, etc.
In essence, the story and narrative itself doesn't really matter all too much, what matters are the little meetings ryder has with the people we learn about, their struggles and the execution of it all. It is humorous at places, very sad at others, but ishiguro manages to bring all these reactions together rather beautifully.
This is a book about lost opportunities, about disappointment, about coming to terms with reality instead of trying to forget the past. Go and read it.

4/5 (possibly 5/5, need to think about it a little more)

started:

Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov

Cannot really say much about it yet, literally just started today but this will be my first nabokov and i am looking forward to beautiful prose and a hopefully multilayered and sophisticated view of the mental illness the main character possesses

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, by Ken Liu

This is a short story collection and so far i liked all of them (obviously some are better than others), they vary from scifi to fantasy and oftentimes have a strong link to asian myths and folklore.

Started and put down: Salem's Lot by Stephen King Well I'm going to officially declare it - I don't like this book. Sorry King, I like all of your other early stuff, but this one was just not for me. I dunno if it's the vampires, which I'm not a super huge fan of, or the town, or what, but nothing grabbed me. I got about 75% in and realized that I just didn't care. So down it went. Shrug

Started: The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone It's an interesting premise, global apocalypse called by big mean spiders, but MAN is this dude taking his time getting there. I get wanting to do the slow build and to bring up tension but at some point you have to quit building and get going. Sooner or later you gotta unleash the spider flood dammit. I don't know if I'll finish this one but I can tell you what, the odds go down with each chapter that passes that I don't see some god damn spiders fucking shit up

Finally finished The Emperor's Soul, by Brandon Sanderson. Took me ages to get through this due to external stuff, but I really enjoyed it.

Now reading Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. About quarter way through, waiting for the spooky things to start... I'm liking it so far, but it feels more mystery than horror.

Finished:

god is not Great by Christopher Hitchens

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Started:

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Still making daily progress. What can be said about it that hasn't been done so already? It's one of the best experiences I've had reading.

The Recognitions, by William Gaddis

This has come in via InterLibrary Loan at work today- just pawed over the first few pages and it has a very captivating style that no doubt will benefit from repeated reading which I'm wont to do.

Salem's Lot, by Stepehen King

Something nice and light to break it all up. I know nothing about it but what he mentions in On Writing- so I'm excited. Loved Pet Sematery.

I finished Salem's Lot, by Stephen King and The Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman.

Last week on the Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by JK Rowling. This week (Tuesday) will be Orange is the New Black, by Piper Kerman.

Started reading 'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. Pretty good Stephen King novel. Would have been fun to read in October!

Finished: The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three, by Stephen King

Started: 'salem's Lot, by Stephen King

I've read more books this summer than I have in the past three years combined. I'm glad I'm finally getting back into reading.

I finished Salem's Lot, by Stephen King last night. I enjoyed the pace of the book and how it was written. I didn't find it scary (it was recommended to me as "SUPER SCARY") and I think that's because I felt the characters were flat. King did a great job building the feel of the town with small introductions and stories about each character but I never felt fully attached to the main character(s) or their relationships. The Green Mile was my first King book and I adored that entire story. I think I ended up comparing the two books, which is unfair because they're very different. The Stand will by my next King book; I'm partial to dystopian.

I'm starting Golden Son, by Pierce Brown today and I am half way through Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood. For my second Atwood novel, I've really enjoyed it.

Started:

Tristram Shandy, by Laurence Sterne My selected "White Whale" book of 2019. I can already see why its so influential. Reading the Norton Critical Edition at my leisurely (snail's) pace, then supplementing every five chapters or so with the Naxos AudioBook (narrated by Anton Lesser).

The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner Complete text from The Faulkner Reader off of Kindle. Nearly finished with the first section (Benji); reading along with Grover Gardner's superb narration. Eager to see how the plot develops with the alternating viewpoints.

Dubliners, by James Joyce Read up to where I last left off (the first five of fifteen stories); my intention is to read one story a night or every other night to savor Joyce's excellent writing.

Humboldt's Gift, by Saul Bellow A long, frequently enjoyable book I've been picking up and putting down in 20-page intervals. The primary enjoyment is derived from - as Anthony Burgess observed - the protagonist's asides and ruminations as opposed to the main plot.

Still Working On:

American Pastoral, by Philip Roth (highly recommended)

Started on Audible, Finishing in Paperback:

'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

Finished:

Salem's Lot, by Stephen King - My first Stephen King novel, and I absolutely loved it. I really appreciated the style in which he developed the setting and the cast of characters amid the action of the story, all the way through to the end of the novel. It made the read so rich and vivid and thrillingly fulfilling. Can't wait to continue through his catalog.

Currently reading:

Enchanted Night, by Steven Millhauser - I've had this novella on my shelf for a couple years now. I'm getting ready to dive into Cabin at the End of the World, by Paul Tremblay which comes out tomorrow, and going to his book signing at The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles on Sunday, so I just wanted a short stop-gap read in between. Really enjoying it so far. It's light and whimsical and takes place in a seaside southern Connecticut town similar to the one I grew up in, so the setting and sensory descriptions are full and bright in my imagination.

Started The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, by Mordecai Richler. My plan for the new year is to read this and St. Urbain's Horseman, thus rounding out Richler's "middle period", to get more acquainted with his oeuvre before pressing on with the far more ambitious Solomon Gursky Was Here.

2019 in reading (in progress): American Pastoral, by Philip Roth

Humboldt's Gift, by Saul Bellow

The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain

The Long Goodbye, by Raymond Chandler

The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov

Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

Finished this week. I am a big King fan and had never read this horror classic. I really enjoyed it and I would recommend it to those who are fans of the genre. Not my favorite of his works, but that's not to say it wasn't good. Looking forward to getting my copy of "The Outsider" tomorrow.

Finished The Manticore (Deptford Trilogy #2), by Robertson Davies on Audible - easing back into reading while juggling my studies. The plot so to speak centers on the Jungian psychoanalysis of a minor character from Fifth Business. Slow going at times, especially for readers who aren't terribly invested in psychology, but the payoff that ties the events together to the trilogy at large makes the going worthwhile. Doesn't quite stand on its own as a novel but as a middle entry its serviceable. (Taking a break from all things Deptford before tackling World of Wonders.)

Started: Close Quarters, by William Golding, the second book of the author's "Sea Trilogy" beginning with Rites of Passage. Already halfway through and enjoying it a good deal; I plan on reading the concluding volume, Fire Down Below, right after this one. I'm siding with the critics who found this more eminently readable than its predecessor. (The completionist in me will come back to Rites of Passage one of these days, but I'm more than content with the sequels for the time being.)

Also I picked up where I left off on 'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King (Danny Glick and Others); recapped to that point with Audible before making the transition to the printed page. I lacked the patience for the slow burn establishment at the time I put it down but now it has my full attention. (An aside: its especially refreshing to settle in with some horror fiction again after trying and failing to get into the works of Peter Straub.)

Finished: 'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

Started: Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn

Next This Week: You, by Caroline Kepnes

I finished 'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King and Wytches, by Scott Snyder.

Just about to start IT, by Stephen King

'Salem's Lot was great, very good, sometimes genuinely scary read with a solid ending (which I keep reading is uncharacteristic of King, but fuck popular opinion, right?). That scene in the morgue engaged the shit out of me, wow.

Wytches was neat visually, but I found the dialogue kinda lame and the story wasn't super. interesting. It had a good pace though and wasn't too long so it was worth checking out.

Finished: Salem's Lot, by Stephen King.

It was a solid read, interesting and suspenseful, really looking forward for more of his books.

Started: Foundation, by Isaac Asimov.

I bought the whole trilogy a couple of years ago and haven't been motivated for it but now i'm more than ready to start it and enjoy all the way through.

Salem's Lot, by Stephen King My first time reading it, I am super excited for it!

I finished 'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. Pretty good, already moved onto Needful Things, with Misery or some Pratchett queued up after that

I started Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. It was a little slow at first, but the the book is finally picking up, and it's awesome.

Recently finished Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

I'm Currently about 100 pages from the end of Metro 2034, by Dmitry Glukhovsky and plan on reading Metro 2035 soon after.

Finished reading Salem's Lot, by Stephen King - Really enjoyed reading this book and was pretty spooked in certain parts. Not quite as scary as I'd expected though but that's probably because I went in half expecting to have a heart attack from fear. Still though, would recommend. The version I read also came with 2 short stories, One for the Road & Jerusalem's Lot. I really enjoyed one for the road but couldn't make it through Jerusalem's Lot.

Started reading The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss - I'm only about 50 pages in but I'm enjoying this as much as I did the first in the series. I'm a little intimidated by the size of this book as it's 1000 pages but excited to further the story.

Just finished Salem's Lot, by Stephen King and started Noir, by Christopher Moore

Finished: 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

Started: Easy Go by Michael Crichton

I started ’Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King a couple of days ago. I’m really enjoying it so far and I’m surprised by how quick of a read it is - I easily read over 100 pages yesterday.