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No shame in that. I read some graphic novels and classic comics too. A lot of that old Belgian/French tradition is absolutely brilliant.

And graphic novels (or comics if you will) today have really gained ground and are scrutinized and reviewed on the same terms as novels these days..Which is good!

Actually, your post Forostar reminded me that I have to pick up the new Blacksad: Amarillo:


I have the first two collections :)
 
Finished It by Stephen King.

A very long novel! Over 1300 pages in my edition. While generally mentioned among the best of King's work, I don't think it is. The good parts are very good, but it also has parts that are very bad and those have a significant impact on the overall impression. The ending is anticlimactic and confusing, and after so much effective build-up it really falls apart. For being labeled a horror writer, it is quite ironic that the horror elements, the monster and the final showdown is the absolute worst parts of the novel. On the positive side, few write so convincingly about childhood as King - referring to the world view, the friendships and the fears among other things. And he has to get credit for writing a long novel that doesn't drag, but where every side-story connects with the overall story-arc. (George R.R. Martin has much to learn.)
 
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Finished Carrie by Stephen King.

His first published novel. Quite short too, at around 240 pages in the edition I have. (Read it all in one go.) A good story, but the writing is quite rough. I don't particularly care for the epistolary novel form, but I have to say that it adds a layer to Carrie which probably wouldn't be there otherwise.

Currently reading a Håkan Nesser crime novel. (I don't usually read crime fiction, but this one is excellent.)
 
I have a question for Tolkien fans: are any of his books apart from Hobbit and LOTR worth reading? I'm not really interested in non-fiction or those books analyzing LOTR books, or poetry... just pure novels.
 
I'm not sure how many pure "novels" you're imagining Tolkien wrote; but, yes, The Silmarillion is not only worth reading, but is fundamental in understanding Tolkien's entire Legendarium.
 
Re-read Duma Key by Stephen King. Being published back in 2008, it is still fairly recent, and I have it as one of my absolute favourites of his along with the The Dark Tower-series. It was every bit as good this time as it was when I first read it. And still very clear, I remembered pretty much every part of it. Wish I could say that about all books I've read from around 2009 and to this day... It's a book of laughs and of tears, and it is one where I think Stephen King really hit home with the things he has a gift for - creating characters and making their friendship and love for each other seem as if they could be real.

CriedWhenBrucieLeft said:
I'm not sure how many pure "novels" you're imagining Tolkien wrote; but, yes, The Silmarillion is not only worth reading, but is fundamental in understanding Tolkien's entire Legendarium.
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But it should be noted that someone expecting the level of accessibility displayed by The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are in for a rough ride. I have read it, including some other volumes with unfinished manuscripts, and I enjoyed them - but I would only recommend them for the Tolkien fanatic. Approach at own risk. The Silmarillion is basically a book collecting a series of connected myths, including a creation myth of the world at one end, and some parts relating more to Tolkien's overall worldbuilding at the other.

It should also be noted that Christopher Tolkien, who edited the book for the posthumous publication, has expressed regret at rushing it out before going through the extensive material left behind by his father.
 
I finished Peter Grant: The man who led Zeppelin by Chris Welch. It is pretty good and provides a lot of details on the making of the movie "The song remains the same" which are not given in other textbooks dedicated to Zeppelin.

I'm now into "Voyage au Congo" by André Gide. It's something else...
 
Reading At the End of the Day - The Story of the Blaze Bayley Band (2nd ed.) by Lawrence Paterson.

Biography of Blaze Bayley's career through Wolfsbane and Maiden up until the end of the Blaze Bayley Band, written by drummer Lawrence Paterson. The book is divided naturally into two distinct parts, the first in which Paterson tells the story of Bayley's career mainly through interviewing members who were around at the time, and the second detailing the time when he was himself part of the events.

It's sold through his own website, a self-published affair which sometimes less than stellar writing is overcome by the desire to tell the story and can be forgiven for the insight it gives into Blaze Bayley's career and the seemingly neverending string of both professional and personal disasters that has affected it. Iron Maiden comes off partly as a clueless trainwreck at times, of which insisting to play Bruce-era songs with an insanely thick-headed attitude to tuning down and rushing into recording Virtual XI seems like the two extremes. But we all know that band's catastrophic 90's, what's more unknown is exactly how problematic Blaze' career was after getting fired from Maiden.

Sometimes it borders on the pure absurd, such as when they put together a band with a new manager who had promised his very skilled son would fill in on drums - only to have the band realise he wasn't up to the task during rehearsals, ending up having no choice but making it work and doing the gig. It could have ended there if it wasn't for the fact that it had already been decided it would be recorded and released as a DVD... Thus, Alive in Poland. (If you wonder why there's a part missing in "Sign of the Cross" it's not because of a rearrangement, but because the band screwed it up so badly it had to be cut completely from the release.)
 
@SinisterMinisterX I vividly remember your appreciation for Lovecraft and I was wondering if you know the story "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood. My wife is recently reading a shitload of classic supernatural/ghost/horror stories by various authors and she found out that Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. I haven't read it myself but thought you could read it if you hadn't yet. According to my wife she enjoyed other stories more but it still is a special story. The style (use of language / construction of sentences) seems modern, almost as if it's written in more recent days.

Link to "The Willows": http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11438

Lovecraft's second favourite is "The White People" by Arthur Machen. Link: http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/whtpeopl.htm

EDIT:

SUPERNATURAL HORROR IN LITERATURE (1927, 1933 - 1935)
(Essay) by H.P. Lovecraft

Link: http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/superhor.htm
 
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Maturin said:
Sometimes it borders on the pure absurd, such as when they put together a band with a new manager who had promised his very skilled son would fill in on drums - only to have the band realise he wasn't up to the task during rehearsals, ending up having no choice but making it work and doing the gig. It could have ended there if it wasn't for the fact that it had already been decided it would be recorded and released as a DVD... Thus, Alive in Poland. (If you wonder why there's a part missing in "Sign of the Cross" it's not because of a rearrangement, but because the band screwed it up so badly it had to be cut completely from the release.)
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I have the 1st edition and don't remember this part. Paterson released the 2nd issue after he left the band so I can imagine that a lot more is unveiled in that one.
 
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Forostar said:
I have the 1st edition and don't remember this part. Paterson released the 2nd issue after he left the band so I can imagine that a lot more is unveiled in that one.
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More is revealed indeed. Those two Bermudez guys get a fair share in the added parts. It is because of stuff like this I don't find Spinal Tap that funny. It doesn't even approach the absurd reality of real band's daily life and problems. (Ozzy got it right when he supposedly didn't get the part that said it was 'made up'.) Finished reading and it is well recommended for everyone who has a reason to be on this forum. Sure, it is not really a professional piece of writing and would have benefited from professional editing, but Paterson tells the story well enough for it to overcome any slips in grammar and style.

It really was a welcome change from most biographies. As well written as some are, they don't really provide the insight into problems such as gear breaking down in the middle of a gig that an actual member of the band like Paterson does.
 
Forostar said:
@SinisterMinisterX I vividly remember your appreciation for Lovecraft and I was wondering if you know the story "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood. My wife is recently reading a shitload of classic supernatural/ghost/horror stories by various authors and she found out that Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. I haven't read it myself but thought you could read it if you hadn't yet. According to my wife she enjoyed other stories more but it still is a special story. The style (use of language / construction of sentences) seems modern, almost as if it's written in more recent days.

Link to "The Willows": http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11438

Lovecraft's second favourite is "The White People" by Arthur Machen. Link: http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/whtpeopl.htm

EDIT:

SUPERNATURAL HORROR IN LITERATURE (1927, 1933 - 1935)
(Essay) by H.P. Lovecraft

Link: http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/superhor.htm
Click to expand...

Haven't heard of either of those. I will read them tonight, thanks!
 
Forostar said:
@SinisterMinisterX "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood.
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Recently started buying up Blackwood first editions; just read The Willows a couple of months back for the first time in years. Blackwood isn't normally so Lovecraftian, but The Willows is something that anyone who likes Lovecraft would like. I like it a lot.
Forostar said:
My wife is recently reading a shitload of classic supernatural/ghost/horror stories by various authors...
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I've been doing exactly the same thing for the past year or so.
Forostar said:
Lovecraft's second favourite is "The White People" by Arthur Machen.
Click to expand...
Indeed, another classic.
Forostar said:
SUPERNATURAL HORROR IN LITERATURE (1927, 1933 - 1935)
(Essay) by H.P. Lovecraft
Click to expand...
Yip, got it! :ok:
(In fact, I seem to have a few too many copies of this...)
 
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