What's top of your reading list?

[starktheground]

I'm reading Duma Key right now, or (rather) trying to find time to read it. It's a completely hypnotizing read.

I'm a pretty big fan of Palahniuk, but I was very, very disappointed by Haunted. Nothing good I can say about that one.

I'm trying to decide what to buy with a little Christmas money I received. Too many books, never enough time or money!!!

[Pharosian]

Joe Hill's real name is Joseph Hillstrom King.

I listened to the audiobook version of 20th Century Ghosts this past summer, and really enjoyed it. I particularly liked the stories The Cape and Voluntary Committal. The narrator did an excellent job. Joe Hill really has a way of creating memorable characters.

I sought out that collection after having listened to Heart-Shaped Box, a novel by Joe Hill. It was read by a different narrator, but that was a good thing. Most of the characters in 20th Century Ghosts are boys or young men. The protagonist in Heart-Shaped Box is an over-50 rock-n-roll legend who has a collection of morbid curios. One day he buys a ghost online... If your local library has audiobooks available, check it out. I think Joe is a better writer than his old man.

[Ed]

Do you happen to know whether or not he was formally instructed by his father?

[delboy]

I think Joe is a better writer than his old man.

Sounds like he might be worth checking out.

I'm now reading one of Val McDermid's Tony Hill novels. Very unputdownable, but it does highlight the difference between being a good writer and being a good story-teller. I've said it before within these coffee-stained walls, great story-telling seems to me to be a far more important ingredient at the top level (i.e. best sellers) than great writing.

Now I'm off to read some more...

Derek

[Pharosian]

Do you happen to know whether or not he was formally instructed by his father?

I don't know, but I wondered the same thing.

[Ed]

Do you happen to know whether or not he was formally instructed by his father?

I don't know, but I wondered the same thing.

It would be interesting to know the story behind him taking after the old man, wouldn't it? I'd also like to know whether he kept his writing secret for a while, or whether he wrote from a young age under the tutelage of his dad, whether there are opinions about writing techniques they differ on.

[i_abomination]

Late on this one -

I haven't read Haunted, but I did recently finish Choke which I can't say I liked too much.  Invisible Monster was great, but Choke, not so much.   There wasn't really any of the brilliance that you've come to expect from Chuck Palaho-oh-oh-nok.  It was just more the same offensives crap, the anarchist femme - I could take it or leave it.  But it was infinitely better than Bradbury's From the Dust Returned which I was three quarters through when Choke came in and happily abandoned.  I just finished Old Flames by Ketchem - he's another hit or miss guy.  Thomas Tessier did a far better job with the stalker-you-dated-in-high-school story in my opinion.  I'm about to start on Right to Life, a second novella in the Ketchem book.   It's a take on the ol' Girl in the Box story.  The broad that was abducted hitchiking from Eugene Oregon and ended up living in a coffin sized box for seven years under her married couple abductor's bed.  The true story of that is too bizarre to improve upon, I can't imagine setting it in New York against a political subtext will actually improve the story, but I'm sure it put shoes on ol' Jack's feet.

[Ed]

I think the word 'offensive', in all its meanings, just about covers it - I've abandoned Haunted again. The word 'harrowing' springs to mind as well. It's annoying me, so I think I'll wait for the film.

[i_abomination]

Yeah - sometimes things aren't worth the effort to read them, haha. 

[Ed]

funny how tastes differ, though - like I said above, I know at least two people who thought it was excellent.

[starktheground]

funny how tastes differ, though - like I said above, I know at least two people who thought it was excellent.

I know one. But he has zero taste, in my opinion.

[Pharosian]

I just finished The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness over the holidays, and I liked it a lot... except for the cliffhanger ending. This is Book One of what will be the Chaos Walking series, but Book Two isn't scheduled for publication until the spring. Naturally, I didn't know that when I started reading it, so I was a bit frustrated when I jumped on Amazon to order book two and found that the best I could do was put myself on the list to be notified when it's available.  You can pre-order on amazon.co.uk, but not on the US site.

The book recently won the Booker teenage prize and the Guardian Children's Fiction prize in Britain... but like the Harry Potter books, I think this will appeal to adults, too... but you might want to wait until Book Two is available! Unlike the Harry Potter books, this is much darker stuff.

Blurb from the author's website:

     Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown.

     But Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in a
     constant, overwhelming, never-ending Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets.

     Or are there?

     Just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd unexpectedly
     stumbles upon a spot of complete silence.

     Which is impossible.

     Prentisstown has been lying to him.

     And now he's going to have to run...

[JonP]

Wow, what a amazing premise. One of those "wish I'd thought of that" ones.

[Caz]

I finished reading Duma Key the other night and I got to say I liked it. At times I wonder were the book was headed, for quite a while the story centres around a guy who is coming to terms with injuries he sustained in an accident. But as I got into the last third of the book all the little things that had happened to the guy on this journey started to fall into place, and that's when Stephen King's roller-coaster fired up.

I must admit it's nice to be on the planet at the same time he is. 

[i_abomination]

I can't say I've been a fan of anything he's written since Desperation - but I did like that one quite a bit.  Nothin else since has really pulled me in though.

I'll still eventually read Haunted, just because Chuck's so damn easy to read, but there's probably quite a bit of other stuff I'll go through first.  I can't wait to get back to bookstores.