Bred Any Good Rooks Lately?

Kurben

Read Who On Earth Was Jesus?? by David Boulton. Very interesting read. He is not specialist in the field and offers not his own opinion on the issue saying that he is not really qualified to do that. Instead he collects, in one book, the opinions on renowned scholars and researchers on the subject and points out where they agree, conflict and points out why they do so. These scholars opinions vary a lot, from the ones that more or less accept the gospels Jesus as the true Jesus of History to the very sceptic ones who are not even ready to accept that he has existed, that the whole Jesus story is a myth. Then there are the majority that are somewhere in the middle. The very jewish Jesus of Geza Vermes or Hyam Maccoby or the social revolutionary Jesus of John Dominic Crossan or the Jewish Mystic of E.P.Sanders. And so on. He also goes through the sources and the problems of dating some of them and question of layers in them. That is, at that time, when you wrote something it was quite natural to add to it or even change to make it more relevant. But which layer is the oldest?? This book deals entirely with the historical Jesus, what is sometimes called the pre-Easter Jesus, which can be dealt with in a historical context. Not the post-Easter Jesus which is a matter of theologians. That at least is what practically all scholars on the historical Jesus agrees on regardless of their conclusions. This book manages to not only state what they think but also why they think it. It gives a fair impression in that it handles all these different views equally and you can yourself sort out which you think makes the most sense.

Kurben

After dipping deep into history i returned books to the library and they had decided to throw some books away to open up space. So all was in invited to take a book if you wanted for free. Of course i couldn't resist that! I picked Flesh House by Stuart MacBride. A scottish author that can write good crime novels. Not so good that i'm willing to pay full price but if they give him away i'm there. The same with Blacklist by Sara Paretsky. One of her books about the female PI Warschawski in Chicago. Hopefully they are good.

Kurben

Finished Flesh House by Stuart MacBride. Not his best effort. It is trying to be a police procedural but its not a good attempt i thought. Peter Robinson does this kind of thing much better. And i was never really convinced by the killer.

GNTLGNT

....speed reader you is!....

GNTLGNT

GNTLGNT said:

.....this gentleman is quite the writer.....and this case is one of the strangest ever....maybe not the best choice for bedtime reading, but there it is....

...I hate to use the overwrought term "gripping", but this account definitely is....

Hedda Gabler

I’m anxiously waiting for a pete crowther book  i ordered. I have no idea what the title is or when it will be published.  I just know i wanted it. Short stories. He writes great short stories. I gave my thoughts on one of his book in
my year of cemetery dance thread at skmb — too bad he didn’t see that because i bet i am the first person to liken his writing to sex.   🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 and probably the last. 😂

FlakeNoir

Hedda Gabler said:

I’m anxiously waiting for a pete crowther book  i ordered. I have no idea what the title is or when it will be published.  I just know i wanted it. Short stories. He writes great short stories. I gave my thoughts on one of his book in
my year of cemetery dance thread at skmb — too bad he didn’t see that because i bet i am the first person to liken his writing to sex.   🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 and probably the last. 😂

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Kurben

Finished Blacklist by Sara Paretsky. This one was not my cup of tea. Felt boring to me. The author does not go straight to the story but in wide circles that bored me. When the actual case started it gets better but not good. What happened with gripping the reader and not letting go from the start??

Kurben

Reread of Revolt in 2100 by Robert Heinlein. Heinlein was probably the best storyteller of his time in SF. There are others that had better stories, more imaginative stories but noone told them better than he did. I think that has to do with his sense of, I don't know what to call it, proportion maybe. His stories are always set in the future but his focus is always the people inhabitating his stories. He paints the world they live in but never goes into too much detail, just enough so we understand it. His way of looking at the future is that people then will experience the same feelings that we do now and thats why it is easy to recognize yourself in his characters. For him, past, future or present, people are people. Some of my favorites are Double Star, Tunnel In The Sky, Stranger In A Strange Land, Between Planets, Methusalehs Children and The Man Who Sold The Moon.

GNTLGNT

Kurben said:

Reread of Revolt in 2100 by Robert Heinlein. Heinlein was probably the best storyteller of his time in SF. There are others that had better stories, more imaginative stories but noone told them better than he did. I think that has to do with his sense of, I don't know what to call it, proportion maybe. His stories are always set in the future but his focus is always the people inhabitating his stories. He paints the world they live in but never goes into too much detail, just enough so we understand it. His way of looking at the future is that people then will experience the same feelings that we do now and thats why it is easy to recognize yourself in his characters. For him, past, future or present, people are people. Some of my favorites are Double Star, Tunnel In The Sky, Stranger In A Strange Land, Between Planets, Methusalehs Children and The Man Who Sold The Moon.

...excellent summation of Heinlein....

Grant87

Finished Dissonant Harmonies. Had a great time with both stories. Bev, any chance we see more of this story at some point?

For my current read, I diverted from horror to pick up Tom Clancy's Without Remorse.

BevVincent

I hadn't really considered that there might be a follow up to The Dead of Winter, but anything's possible! Glad you enjoyed it!

Neesy

Grant87 said:

I finished Four Past Midnight yesterday. While I enjoyed all the stories, I don't think it's on the same level as If It Bleeds. And it's not even close to Different Seasons. There were things I liked about all the novellas in Four Past Midnight, but none of them knocked it out of the park, at least for me anyway. What did you all think of it?

Started Dissonant Harmonies last night. Probably knocking out a big chunk of it today.

I thought the Library Poleethman was pretty thcary

cat

@Marsha Are you going to reread the Outlander books before the new one comes out in November? I have been thinking about it but it is a huge undertaking for just over 5 months! I have so many books I want to read and just don't know if I can get through them all, but I also feel like a refresher would be nice. 

Kurben

Started The Murder Room by P.D. James. It is a late James written in 2003 but she still wrote good mysteries even if i consider her best work to be earlier.

Grant87

Neesy said:

Grant87 said:

I finished Four Past Midnight yesterday. While I enjoyed all the stories, I don't think it's on the same level as If It Bleeds. And it's not even close to Different Seasons. There were things I liked about all the novellas in Four Past Midnight, but none of them knocked it out of the park, at least for me anyway. What did you all think of it?

Started Dissonant Harmonies last night. Probably knocking out a big chunk of it today.

I thought the Library Poleethman was pretty thcary

Me too. It was my favorite story in the collection.

Kurben

Reading Downward To The Earth by Robert Silverberg. One of the grand old masters of SF. He is always interesting though he hasn't quite the narrative flair that Heinlein has. Also his stories are more inventive and often less built like a thriller and more like a journey in a different world. 

GNTLGNT

Kurben said:

Reading Downward To The Earth by Robert Silverberg. One of the grand old masters of SF. He is always interesting though he hasn't quite the narrative flair that Heinlein has. Also his stories are more inventive and often less built like a thriller and more like a journey in a different world. 

Kurben

This is the edition i have!

GNTLGNT

Kurben said:

This is the edition i have!

...some Lovecraftian elements in both cover artworks....

Kurben

Read Lets Murder Mother. A very disturping story about two teens who murder the mother of one of them. Takes place in New Zealand. The teens Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker murder ma Parker because she didnt want them to meet. This is the story before, under and after the murder and what become of them. Juliet Hulme became a celebrity, aka Anne Perry the crime mystery writer. Kate Winslet played her in an absolutely fantastic movie (pre-Titanic fame) and is absolutely great but is even so outshone by Melanie Lynskey that plays Pauline who is amazing. The movie is directed by Peter Jackson and is called Heavenly Creatures. It is thanks to this movie that he later was elected to direct the Lord Of The Rings movies. The book is so-so, a good summary of the real case but nothing extra. Interesting to know that Juliet Hulme made her teenage dream of becoming a writer a reality. Not a thing every teen manages to do.

FlakeNoir

Kurben said:

Read Lets Murder Mother. A very disturping story about two teens who murder the mother of one of them. Takes place in New Zealand. The teens Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker murder ma Parker because she didnt want them to meet. This is the story before, under and after the murder and what become of them. Juliet Hulme became a celebrity, aka Anne Perry the crime mystery writer. Kate Winslet played her in an absolutely fantastic movie (pre-Titanic fame) and is absolutely great but is even so outshone by Melanie Lynskey that plays Pauline who is amazing. The movie is directed by Peter Jackson and is called Heavenly Creatures. It is thanks to this movie that he later was elected to direct the Lord Of The Rings movies. The book is so-so, a good summary of the real case but nothing extra. Interesting to know that Juliet Hulme made her teenage dream of becoming a writer a reality. Not a thing every teen manages to do.

Heavenly Creatures was chilling. 

Kurben

FlakeNoir said:

Kurben said:

Read Lets Murder Mother. A very disturping story about two teens who murder the mother of one of them. Takes place in New Zealand. The teens Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker murder ma Parker because she didnt want them to meet. This is the story before, under and after the murder and what become of them. Juliet Hulme became a celebrity, aka Anne Perry the crime mystery writer. Kate Winslet played her in an absolutely fantastic movie (pre-Titanic fame) and is absolutely great but is even so outshone by Melanie Lynskey that plays Pauline who is amazing. The movie is directed by Peter Jackson and is called Heavenly Creatures. It is thanks to this movie that he later was elected to direct the Lord Of The Rings movies. The book is so-so, a good summary of the real case but nothing extra. Interesting to know that Juliet Hulme made her teenage dream of becoming a writer a reality. Not a thing every teen manages to do.

Heavenly Creatures was chilling. 

I still think its Jacksons best movie. Better, as a whole, than the LotR trilogy not to speak of the rather horrible Hobbit movies.....

Notaro

I recently watched The Unholy which is based on Shrine by James Herbert and it just gave me a hankering to re-read the novel again...

cat

We're reading some Peter Straub short stories over at the Playground and most have been hit or miss for me, and the hits, just ok. But two have really stood out to me. We aren't finished with the collection yet, if any others stand out I will be sure to mention them here. 

Pork Pie Hat 

Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff 

These are both really good and I recommend them!

Also reading Mine by Robert McCammon for the first time and it is really good too. This is the one kingricefan always told us had a great first chapter. I almost couldn't read it. It was very disturbing and scary and one heck of an introduction to one of the characters.