The Book Thread Book • Page 149

I am going to finish Babel over the weekend and then start Our Share of Night which I am super excited about.

 

Started my journey of reading a biography for every US President by picking up Washington: A Life. 900+ pages of fun, here we come.

 

Been looking forward to the Ferryman. His trilogy was great.

 

I didn't like The Passage at all after the opening sequence and never finished the trilogy, but The Ferryman does sound really good.

 

Finished Hell of a Book by Jason Mott & The Will to Change by bell hooks a few weeks ago. Both highly recommended

 

I’ve had a good feeling about Our Share of Night ever since I saw the cover and read the synopsis. That feeling only increased when I opened it and saw a foreword that says it’s Bolano meets Stephen King, and now that I’m 70 pages in, all I can say is that I cannot wait to see where this book goes.

 

I tried Our Share of Night but was pretty confused by a lot of it right away. I really want to give it another try!

 

It’s too soon to tell, but I have also been confused by some of it and I suspect this may be by design; already, aspects of it are becoming clearer. The way it’s written makes it seem like you missed something until it elaborates - ever so slightly - pages later.

In any case, I’m loving it.

 

That is quite the journey, haha. You’re going to enjoy Mornings on Horseback. It’s only about 400 pages too.

Good luck with Truman though. 1200 pages.

 

Oh nice, did you try this out as well? How far did you get? I'm like 75 pages into the first book and enjoying it so far but that's like 0.001% of the way there lol

 

I didn’t try out all the president biographies but in college I was really into biographies in general so I read a few.

 

I just finished “Hide” by Kiersten White and I gotta say I was pretty disappointed. A few people had recommended it to me. Quick read at least.

 

Wanted to DNF it but since it was so short I still finished. I did not like it either. Too many characters I was not invested in and also if I'm not mistaken didn't two characters share a name for no reason just to make it even more confusing?

 

That pissed me off so much, haha. There were 14 characters, two with the same name, and the POV kept switching so you had to go back and remind yourself who each character was in the moment. I just didn't feel any investment in the characters at all. Someone on the Goodreads reviews wrote that it felt more like she was writing a screenplay. I also refuse to believe that the main character would willingly enter that contest given her backstory. All in all, great premise, but horrible execution.

 

Trying Sátántango for the 2nd or 3rd time now. Krasznahorkai's writing style is so dense and difficult to manage, but I love what I read when I am able to stay engaged.

Had a similar experience with Seiobo There Below and will probably give that one another shot when I (hopefully) finish this one. Wish me luck.

 

This sounds amazing and I may have to give it a try after Our Share of Night if I feel up to the challenge.

 

I highly recommend both even without ever being successful at finishing them lol.

In case it's helpful to know, Seiobo There Below is a kind of flowy and graceful, whereas Sátántango is just absolutely oppressive. Prepare yourself for sentences that go on for pages either way!

 

Okay so I have to say Robert McCammon is rising up there for one my favorite authors. And I thankfully have only read five of his books. It reminds me when I started reading Stephen King years ago and I just didn’t want to read anyone else because I was so in love with the writing and story telling.

I’m currently reading the Queen of Bedlam and I just am so immersed into the story. I cannot get enough of his writing and just don’t want this story to end. It’s on the surface a murder mystery, but it’s the setting & characters of 1702 NY which is what I love so much.

It’s the 2nd book in his Matthew Corbett series and I didn’t think it’d top the first one, but here I am begging my eyes to stay open so I can keep going lol

 

I might have told you this already, I know I've talked about it on here before, but he was one of the authors I moved to after finishing all of King's work, Jack Ketchum and Peter Straub being the others. That was back when I would completely stick with one author and read their entire bibliographies. McCammon has his ups and downs for me, but his highs are very strong. Oddly enough the Matthew Corbett series are the only books from McCammon that I haven't read, I think the last one I read was Mister Slaughter. I don't looooove historical fiction.

 

I adored Swan Song when I read it in high school, but couldn’t make it through Boy’s Life.

 

I absolutely checked out Robert McCammon last summer because I saw your post recommending him. I chose Boy’s Life first and knew instantly he was an author I was going to LOVE. Devoured that one.

I read Speaks the Nightbird in December and instantly was like “holy shit.” Another one I couldn’t put down. I knew I was going to continue the series but waited a few months for #2. I did read Mine and took your recommendation for Mystery Walk last month and once again … LOVED it!

I didn’t think the historical fiction element was going to draw me in for this Corbett series as it’s never been my favorite either, but it’s really working for me and might be my favorite element to it? I surprised myself with it!

Extremely grateful you pointed me in his direction because it would have only been by luck I’d discover him.

 

Hell yeah, happy to hear. Keep me informed on your progress.

Wish he would write a new one. His later books have all been great without exception.

 

I’ve been having a lot of trouble focusing lately so my reading has been slow, but I’m still working my way through Our Share of Night and I still think I love it but it’s pretty fucking weird! It meanders a lot but in a way that feels purposeful.

 

Heart worm press mail day

 

Been obsessed with Charles Willeford for the past year or so. The Hoke Moseley series is pretty perfect, then I did one of his memoirs. On to Cockfighter now