Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (8 Viewers)

[Joe Bryant]

Does the report button work on the owner?

YES

Happens regularly.

 

[Lehigh98]

[Redacted]

Hi Joe, glad to have you in the thread. Since a primary goal here is to give others ideas for new reads, can you please use spoiler for stuff like this? Thanks

Does the report button work on the owner?

Since you were asking about my other horror list, I am nearing the end of Fantasticland, and so far it is messed up but worth the read. Think Lord of the Flies and Yellowjackets, but at an amusement part after a hurricane strands a group of workers. It's told in a World War Z, "interview" format which I also liked. The book had at least enough realistic scenarios where I could see a situation going south like that to keep me engaged.

I enjoyed this one too.

 

[shuke]

I won't get into specifics since shuke may ban both of us for spoilers

Sorry, discussion is encouraged, just use the spoiler tags. I'd be interested in reading this discussion.

 

[shuke]

Since you were asking about my other horror list, I am nearing the end of Fantasticland, and so far it is messed up but worth the read. Think Lord of the Flies and Yellowjackets, but at an amusement part after a hurricane strands a group of workers. It's told in a World War Z, "interview" format which I also liked. The book had at least enough realistic scenarios where I could see a situation going south like that to keep me engaged.

This has been on my list for a while, but I recall the reader reviews for this were not great. Do you endorse?

 

[Joe Bryant]

Finally finished the 1,153 pages of King's The Stand - Uncut Edition.

It was fantastic as everyone already knows. Masterful storytelling. I need to compare more closely to the regular edition. In the preface, he was pretty funny about warning the reader what they were in for. He said people say the original was bloated and this had way more so buckle up.

I googled a few characters like The Kid that apparently didn't make the original version at all.

Really good. It's a time investment, especially for someone like me that takes their time with books. But really great. And yeah, I know that's hardly a hot take.

I was wondering how you were going to take this one. King called it something like "a tale of dark Christianity" and the "dark" part of that statement is certainly prevalent. There's symbolism everywhere for pretty much every human belief. There are parts of this book that are deeply disturbing to anyone with a caring bone in their body, and I was interested in how they would register with you. I won't get into specifics since shuke may ban both of us for spoilers

I'm not sure the original is even in print anymore. You can get used copies, I guess, but I think the version you read has become the "official" The Stand.

Thank you GB.

That's interesting on the original vs uncut version. I didnt know that. Looks like maybe this is the original in reprint but not sure. I did think his preface was fun essentially warning the reader of how much there was to it.

I would like to compare. There were a few times when I thought sections were a little unnecessary but not too much. And apparently, there's a significant difference in the endings.

For how it hit me, I thought it was really good.

Spoiler: Details

Obviously, a good vs evil thing. But in this one, more specific Christian vs Evil. I thought it was interesting a bit as clearly Flagg was a demon or even Satan. While Mother Abigail seemed to be fully human but with a closer connection to God more like a modern day prophet.

I very much don't like distrurbing fiction and I'm a wimp there. Even things like the torture stuff in the Ken Follett Kingsbridge stuff gets me. I was worried this would have a lot of that and it didn't for me. As a Christian, I thought King was fair. Especially the "I shall fear no evil" stuff at the end.

I thought it was excellent and easy to see why it's so beloved.

 

[mr. furley]

aside from books by Wright Thompson (i think i've read all of them) who are some good sportswriters that have written good books?

 

[Uruk-Hai]

aside from books by Wright Thompson (i think i've read all of them) who are some good sportswriters that have written good books?

John Feinstein has written a ton of them. I also like Thomas Boswell's books from decades ago.

 

[mr. furley]

aside from books by Wright Thompson (i think i've read all of them) who are some good sportswriters that have written good books?

John Feinstein has written a ton of them. I also like Thomas Boswell's books from decades ago.

added Where Nobody Knows Your Name to my cart

 

[KarmaPolice]

Since you were asking about my other horror list, I am nearing the end of Fantasticland, and so far it is messed up but worth the read. Think Lord of the Flies and Yellowjackets, but at an amusement part after a hurricane strands a group of workers. It's told in a World War Z, "interview" format which I also liked. The book had at least enough realistic scenarios where I could see a situation going south like that to keep me engaged.

This has been on my list for a while, but I recall the reader reviews for this were not great. Do you endorse?

I thought it was a perfect summer read, and i liked it as much as others i listed above. The big hurdle is getting over that it went south so fast, but there were more than enough moments for me where i could see it happening that overcome the couple i don't.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Here's some of the somewhat less obvious stuff I've enjoyed in the last 18 months as part of a grand tour of fantasy (60% of the way thru a list of 260 first books of series)...

Locked Tomb (#1, Gideon the Ninth)
Dungeon Crawler Carl (#1, DCC)
Empire of Silence (#1, Sun Eater)
Scholomance (#1, A Deadly Education)
The Burning (#1, Rage of Dragons)
Books of Babel (#1, Senlin Ascends)
Tide Child (#1, The Bone Ships)
Dark Profit (#1, Orconomics)
The Winter Sea (#1, Dark Water Daughter)
The Long Price Quartet (#1, A Shadow in Summer)
Empire of the Wolf (#1, The Justice of Kings)
Tyrant Philosophers (#1, City of Last Chances)
Black Iron Legacy (#1, Gutter Prayer)
Kithamar (#1, Age of Ash)

I have a type, and a bunch of books on this list share some traits I especially like (slow reveals, good characters, lived in worlds, very little exposition, near-literary writing, etc), so this list might not work for everyone.

 

[Barry2]

Here's some of the somewhat less obvious stuff I've enjoyed in the last 18 months as part of a grand tour of fantasy (60% of the way thru a list of 260 first books of series)...

Books of Babel (#1, Senlin Ascends

I loved this series