I always read two books. One at home and one in-transition to and from work. I always mix my genres between, Fantasy, science fiction, horror, graphic novel/manga. It helps to keep my reading fresh and interesting and helps with reading slumps. I never read the same genre.
I’m always here for a new Mel Brooks Movie. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt because Space Balls, Men in Tights and Blazing Saddles are three of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.
Glad to see you plan to read more Malfi. Ignore the IT comparisons for Black Mouth. They use similar tropes, but definitely not a comparison to make. IT is much too high a bar for any horror novel. Don't go in expecting IT and I think you'll enjoy Black Mouth.
@@mikesbookreviews I liked Summer of Night quite a bit, but it still doesn't hold a candle to IT for me. Black Mouth is much more of a horror novel than Come With Me also. I think you'll enjoy it.
I know exactly what you mean about varying the genres of reading. I do something similar. 1. Cozy mystery (usually Agatha Christie) 2. Classic (unspecified genres) 3. Detective crime (Raymond Chandler to Janet Evanovich) 4. Pulp & Paranormal (things like Harry Dresden or Anita Blake but also things from Hard Case Crime) 5. Horror, Sci Fi, or Fantasy. 6. Comic story or series With some short stories thrown in here and there, this is the pattern I like to use.
Black Mouth is really good and his newest book, Small Town Horror, is one of my favorite books of this year so far. He has become an auto-buy author for me. 🖤
I am physically reading Congo and an listening to A Fool’s Hope. I took a short detour and listened to Sea of Tranquillity and kept waiting for it to be good… which never happened. There is no bad for The Realm of the Elderlings when the worst book is better than 90% of everything else.
Think rotating up the genres is an excellent approach!! Josh at Red Fury has always done a similar thing, and has talked about that being why he never really gets burned out. Plus, I bet once one of those SSF picks are 700-900 pages are back in the mix again, those chances of burnout will be dampened by swapping out the genres each month. Great stuff and looking forward to it!! Cheers!
I really liked Come With Me, but didn’t care as much for Black Mouth which I thought suffered in comparison to King’s It. I just didn’t connect with the material as much as I hoped. But I still want to read more of Malfi’s books.
Have you checked out, lost man’s lane by Scott, Carson yet if not, it’ll definitely scratch that coming of age horror itch that was missing in. Come with me.
Like last year the switch to summer school has ruined my reading plans. Here the month almost over and yet to even finish one book this month. Been catching up on my monthly comic book pile. This week caught up on Red Sonja (Dynamite) and Wesley Dodd Sandman (DC). Reading: "Money Shot' by Christa Faust, comics: Transformers (Image), Conan (Titan) Watched: Inside Out 2, House of Dragon (s2), South Park (s1) Listened: Julie Christmas, Queenadreena, Carla Bozulich and more female vocal stuff. Playing: finishing up a season of Golf 2K23 thinking of starting a replay of Fallout 4 with the DLC that hadn't played
@@mikesbookreviews It was on the obscure USA network then Netflix. The female actress who stared in the Leftovers, the one in the last episode, stars in the second season. Jessica Biel is the star of season 1 and is the executive producer.
I'm currently reading the novelization of the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino. It references the movie, but goes much deeper into the characters. It's pretty interesting. I can hear that Tarantino dialog in my head when I read.
I completed Come With Me this week. I like it, but I did not like the ending. This was my second Malfi book and I will be reading more of his books. I also completed The Black Company and it was meh. It hasn’t been my best month of reading.
Just like ASOIAF, one piece has several layers that are impossible to read on a first reading, Skypiea is the equivalent of the "house of the undying" chapter, where some things seem strange, but when you advance in the story and read that part again you will ask "WHAT?! was that always here?", a lot of people didn't like Skypiea because it felt out of place with the rest of the story, 600 chapters later information its reveal and suddenly you get "yeah!, I always liked skypiea" The same will happen to A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons when The Winds of Winter comes out, a lot of people will go back and say "they were always good!"
I finally finished Of Darkness and Light. Really enjoyed it. Not sure if I liked it more than OBAB. I'm not sure I'm liking where he's taking Rist. It seems so cliche. Plus, this felt a whole lot slower to get going. I am currently reading The Exile though and am excited to start Of War and Ruin in July
I think the next series I want to start is Dune I seen the movies and love them just never got around to the books yet. I think I just keep forgetting them because of other things I'm reading.
All I know SciKing likes Malfi and Scott Carson , do they write like SciKing ? No!! Are they good Yes!!! I would read “The Night Parade” and Mr. Cables by Malfi and The Chill by Carson!!
Out of everyone I know on BookTube and am subscribed to, that's why I like you. Your take on some of the books I have read and liked (non-fantasy save TLOTR) I have agreed with you assessment on them. Coming from someone who is not an avid reader like you and can DNF a book at a sneeze, the 500 to 800 page chonker thing is a little much, for any genre.
I am physically reading Congo and an listening to A Fool’s Hope. I took a short detour and listened to Sea of Tranquillity and kept waiting for it to be good… which never happened. There is no bad for The Realm of the Elderlings when the worst book is better than 90% of everything else.
Currently reading The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett, I read Pillars of the Earth thanks to this channel and I have definitely found a new author to dive into! Once again, thanks Mike!
Some horror recommendations Mike. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Come closer by Sara Gran, The southern book club’s guide to slaying vampires by Grady Hendrix, Nestlings by Nat Cassidy. Also have you read the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman? Very good and amusing. Thank you for all your amazing content Mike I am a big fan of your channel.
I read historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy and thrillers and rotate them. I rarely get in a slump. Mixing it up for me is key. I also generally only know maybe my next one or two reads because I’m such a mood reader.
Mike you might like December Park by Malfi. Goodreads says horror as one of the genres but I do think it’s more thriller. I think you’d like it because it is coming of age which I know is your thing.
I am about halfway done with "About Face" by Colonel David Hackworth, and have found it to be pretty much as advertised. What Hackworth really does is convey exactly what soldiers need to do in order to be successful in infantry combat and while he focuses on the two wars that he fought in (Korea and Vietnam), a lot of the tactics that he describes are applicable to any infantry war. He explains in detail how to actually do a lot of the things that many military historians allude to, but don't really spell out explicitly in a manner that someone who never served in the military can understand. I feel like I've learned more about what soldiers face during actual combat from this book than I have from reading memoirs from military service members from my generation who served in Iraq and Afghanistan - who tend to focus more on how the fighting tends to grind a human being down over time rather than how it is done or how to be successful at it. Anyway, I'll definitely be keeping what I've learned in mind when reading not just other books about military history but also military science fiction and fantasy - the bar has absolutely been raised for everyone else.
Nice to see you starting up the media channel again with your wife. Have fun making content over there, I will definitely be tuning in! And can't wait for the Quiluminate liveshow! Happy reading, Mike ;)
Glad you finally got around to Malfi. Definitely not horror but still good. “Come with Me” is more about grief. “Black Mouth” is about friendships/brotherhood and strained familial relationships. I’ve already picked up his new book, “Small Town Horror”, so here’s hoping 🤞🏽
It's nice just listening to someone talking about books. Like the good old book store days. Thank you Mike.
My pleasure! Thanks for listening.
I'm looking forward to the first convocation of the Quilluminati! Happy reading, Mike!
I'm thinking about just making fart sounds the whole time you guys talk Vanished Birds ha ha
@@mikesbookreviews That would actually be highly entertaining! 😂😂😂
I always read two books. One at home and one in-transition to and from work. I always mix my genres between, Fantasy, science fiction, horror, graphic novel/manga. It helps to keep my reading fresh and interesting and helps with reading slumps. I never read the same genre.
Same!
I’m always here for a new Mel Brooks Movie. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt because Space Balls, Men in Tights and Blazing Saddles are three of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.
Oh I love them. Just not sure this will have the same juice.
I love every book in the Matthew Corbett series by McCammon!
Great!
Glad to see you plan to read more Malfi. Ignore the IT comparisons for Black Mouth. They use similar tropes, but definitely not a comparison to make. IT is much too high a bar for any horror novel. Don't go in expecting IT and I think you'll enjoy Black Mouth.
I'm fine with something similar to IT, honestly. Summer of Night wasn't it though.
@@mikesbookreviews I liked Summer of Night quite a bit, but it still doesn't hold a candle to IT for me. Black Mouth is much more of a horror novel than Come With Me also. I think you'll enjoy it.
I know exactly what you mean about varying the genres of reading. I do something similar.
1. Cozy mystery (usually Agatha Christie)
2. Classic (unspecified genres)
3. Detective crime (Raymond Chandler to Janet Evanovich)
4. Pulp & Paranormal (things like Harry Dresden or Anita Blake but also things from Hard Case Crime)
5. Horror, Sci Fi, or Fantasy.
6. Comic story or series
With some short stories thrown in here and there, this is the pattern I like to use.
Black Mouth is really good and his newest book, Small Town Horror, is one of my favorite books of this year so far. He has become an auto-buy author for me. 🖤
Waterboy still gets some chuckles out of me 😂
It's hilarious.
I have also been reading fantasy for 30 years and it’s easy to become very jaded.
I am physically reading Congo and an listening to A Fool’s Hope.
I took a short detour and listened to Sea of Tranquillity and kept waiting for it to be good… which never happened.
There is no bad for The Realm of the Elderlings when the worst book is better than 90% of everything else.
Think rotating up the genres is an excellent approach!! Josh at Red Fury has always done a similar thing, and has talked about that being why he never really gets burned out.
Plus, I bet once one of those SSF picks are 700-900 pages are back in the mix again, those chances of burnout will be dampened by swapping out the genres each month. Great stuff and looking forward to it!! Cheers!
Yeah, too many consecutive fantasy books (or any single genre) will burn anyone out.
Still reading shogun part 1 only 195 pages left in it
I really liked Come With Me, but didn’t care as much for Black Mouth which I thought suffered in comparison to King’s It. I just didn’t connect with the material as much as I hoped. But I still want to read more of Malfi’s books.
Seems very divided on that one.
Have you checked out, lost man’s lane by Scott, Carson yet if not, it’ll definitely scratch that coming of age horror itch that was missing in. Come with me.
I haven't. I'll look it up!
Lost Man's Lane was a 5 star read for me!
Thanks for the Malfi review. I’ve never read one of his books and I love detective fiction.
Hope you dig it!
Like last year the switch to summer school has ruined my reading plans. Here the month almost over and yet to even finish one book this month. Been catching up on my monthly comic book pile. This week caught up on Red Sonja (Dynamite) and Wesley Dodd Sandman (DC).
Reading: "Money Shot' by Christa Faust, comics: Transformers (Image), Conan (Titan)
Watched: Inside Out 2, House of Dragon (s2), South Park (s1)
Listened: Julie Christmas, Queenadreena, Carla Bozulich and more female vocal stuff.
Playing: finishing up a season of Golf 2K23 thinking of starting a replay of Fallout 4 with the DLC that hadn't played
I’m halfway through Black Mouth and still waiting on the horror. Great writing. Definitely some It vibes but without much horror to this point.
Grr...
@@mikesbookreviews I’m about to be done. It gets better. Very much a mystery novel mixed with horror.
Sad you aren't doing House of the Dragon livestreams for this season. Miss them.
Doing them on my other channel. Mike's Media Reviews. Not as long but about 30 minutes per episode.
Skypiea Arc will be super important down the line
That's what I keep hearing.
I don’t know if you ever mentioned this show but I really think you would love the show Sinner with Bill Pullman
Yes I enjoyed each season, all so different!!
First I've heard of it.
@@mikesbookreviews It was on the obscure USA network then Netflix. The female actress who stared in the Leftovers, the one in the last episode, stars in the second season. Jessica Biel is the star of season 1 and is the executive producer.
I too thought that it's too late for Spaceballs 2
I'd love for it to be good! I just don't expect it to be.
@@mikesbookreviews Same. Hope for the best, expect the worse 🤷
Have you read any Christopher Golden? I think he writes stuff King fans would enjoy, I'd recommend Ararat and The Ocean Dark.
I have not. I'll look him up!
I'm currently reading the novelization of the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino. It references the movie, but goes much deeper into the characters. It's pretty interesting. I can hear that Tarantino dialog in my head when I read.
Almost like a director's cut.
Mike show your son Longest yard with Sandler... His best in my opinion 💯😉
I may, as into football as he is getting.
Lmao i love Adam Sandler movies and quote them all the time 😅
To this day I still say "Hey Waterboy! You're Fiiiiired." Ha Ha
I completed Come With Me this week. I like it, but I did not like the ending. This was my second Malfi book and I will be reading more of his books. I also completed The Black Company and it was meh. It hasn’t been my best month of reading.
The last 10 pages felt tacked on, I agree
Just like ASOIAF, one piece has several layers that are impossible to read on a first reading, Skypiea is the equivalent of the "house of the undying" chapter, where some things seem strange, but when you advance in the story and read that part again you will ask "WHAT?! was that always here?", a lot of people didn't like Skypiea because it felt out of place with the rest of the story, 600 chapters later information its reveal and suddenly you get "yeah!, I always liked skypiea"
The same will happen to A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons when The Winds of Winter comes out, a lot of people will go back and say "they were always good!"
Hmm. Interesting!
I finally finished Of Darkness and Light. Really enjoyed it. Not sure if I liked it more than OBAB. I'm not sure I'm liking where he's taking Rist. It seems so cliche. Plus, this felt a whole lot slower to get going. I am currently reading The Exile though and am excited to start Of War and Ruin in July
Only gets better!
I think the next series I want to start is Dune I seen the movies and love them just never got around to the books yet. I think I just keep forgetting them because of other things I'm reading.
I, to no ones surprise, highly encourage this.
Young Frankenstein was supposed to be a Comedy?
I mean, I laugh like hell while watching it.
I’m zen, good luck. I don’t need it
All I know SciKing likes Malfi and Scott Carson , do they write like SciKing ? No!! Are they good Yes!!! I would read “The Night Parade” and Mr. Cables by Malfi and The Chill by Carson!!
Right. Telling folks that Stephen King fans will like it doesn't mean it feels like a King book. That just sets unfair expectations.
They said in March, they have 9 months left of filming for stranger season 5
Blech.
Out of everyone I know on BookTube and am subscribed to, that's why I like you. Your take on some of the books I have read and liked (non-fantasy save TLOTR) I have agreed with you assessment on them. Coming from someone who is not an avid reader like you and can DNF a book at a sneeze, the 500 to 800 page chonker thing is a little much, for any genre.
I don't mind them but lately it has started to feel like "this didn't need to be that long" and I'm exhausted with it.
People throw horror recklessly and compare are just wrong... Its Like they didn't read both books . Wool is not yA.
If it has a serial killer in it they call it horror. I hate that.
I am physically reading Congo and an listening to A Fool’s Hope.
I took a short detour and listened to Sea of Tranquillity and kept waiting for it to be good… which never happened.
There is no bad for The Realm of the Elderlings when the worst book is better than 90% of everything else.
Great picks!
Boys in the Valley is very much Horror. Very creepy and chilling. Do this one next instead of Malfi
Stay tuned for August...
@@mikesbookreviews Hell ya! I feel like it'll be right up your alley.
Currently reading The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett, I read Pillars of the Earth thanks to this channel and I have definitely found a new author to dive into! Once again, thanks Mike!
I should be doing World Without End as soon as my large book hiatus ends.
@@mikesbookreviews can’t wait brotha!
Some horror recommendations Mike. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Come closer by Sara Gran, The southern book club’s guide to slaying vampires by Grady Hendrix, Nestlings by Nat Cassidy. Also have you read the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman? Very good and amusing. Thank you for all your amazing content Mike I am a big fan of your channel.
YESSS! You're finally reading Wool! I'm glad you like those copies I got you 🤩
I couldn't remember if you got me those with the coffee or not! Thanks again!
I read historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy and thrillers and rotate them. I rarely get in a slump. Mixing it up for me is key. I also generally only know maybe my next one or two reads because I’m such a mood reader.
Right. That's why I wanted to make that a priority again. Gotta keep things fresh!
Reading Animal Farm by George Orwell right now.
This month really has gone by quite quickly.
Seems to be going too quick!
Mike you might like December Park by Malfi. Goodreads says horror as one of the genres but I do think it’s more thriller. I think you’d like it because it is coming of age which I know is your thing.
That it is!
I am about halfway done with "About Face" by Colonel David Hackworth, and have found it to be pretty much as advertised. What Hackworth really does is convey exactly what soldiers need to do in order to be successful in infantry combat and while he focuses on the two wars that he fought in (Korea and Vietnam), a lot of the tactics that he describes are applicable to any infantry war. He explains in detail how to actually do a lot of the things that many military historians allude to, but don't really spell out explicitly in a manner that someone who never served in the military can understand. I feel like I've learned more about what soldiers face during actual combat from this book than I have from reading memoirs from military service members from my generation who served in Iraq and Afghanistan - who tend to focus more on how the fighting tends to grind a human being down over time rather than how it is done or how to be successful at it. Anyway, I'll definitely be keeping what I've learned in mind when reading not just other books about military history but also military science fiction and fantasy - the bar has absolutely been raised for everyone else.
Sounds interesting!
Nice to see you starting up the media channel again with your wife. Have fun making content over there, I will definitely be tuning in! And can't wait for the Quiluminate liveshow! Happy reading, Mike ;)
Yeah, it's fun! Thanks for watching us.
Can confirm Black Mouth has prominent supernatural elements. Whether it actually breaks out of that "3 star" area your mileage may vary
Hmm.
Hey Mike you look well rested after your vacation and I am reading Wastelands the third book in The Dark Tower series.
Enjoy! Maybe my favorite Tower book.
The window by Brian Everson scary book
I'll look it up!
I like the new pace and format
Great!
Hello there
Howdy!
Have you read tender to flesh that’s horror
I have not. Who is the author?
Do you mean Tender is the flesh by Agustina Bazterrica?
Great book.
Glad you finally got around to Malfi. Definitely not horror but still good. “Come with Me” is more about grief. “Black Mouth” is about friendships/brotherhood and strained familial relationships.
I’ve already picked up his new book, “Small Town Horror”, so here’s hoping 🤞🏽
Right, he wrote the grieving aspect as King usually does. I liked that a lot.