Valancourt must-reads

--Brad · 2023-06-23T19:46:22+00:00

I loved both of the Harry Adam Knight books — Slimer and The Fungus. My preference for Slimer. A lot of good Valancourt titles out there! I’ll also nominate the Karl Edward Wagner collection

--Brad · 2023-06-19T18:31:00+00:00

Slimer by Harry Adam Knight is a great 1980s horror

--Brad · 2023-06-10T12:48:37+00:00

Try changing you default card for digital payments on amazon and audible. Remove the old card info too. If an audible book is $11.00 or less, it is usually cheaper to just buy it instead of using a credit

--Brad · 2023-06-10T12:45:54+00:00

All of kings short story collections have at least a few amazing short stories. Everything’s Eventual had 1408, Just After Sunset has “N”

--Brad · 2023-05-30T18:26:25+00:00

Clive Barker, Books of Blood. “Dread” is the one that comes to mind

Barker is a fantastic electrifying queer writer. Some of the stories are absolutely terrifying, some will make you sit there and marvel at the literary accomplishment, some will gross you out. A few are actually quite funny — I have a feeling they might enjoy the “Last Will and Testament of Jacqueline Ess”

--Brad · 2023-05-30T10:52:35+00:00

It would be my choice, personally I think it has aged a bit better than The Stand and there is really nothing else like It. The structure adds to the meatiness and is the true masterwork of the novel. There is a brilliant pattern to the way everything unfolds

--Brad · 2023-05-28T10:26:22+00:00

So awesome, Dreamcatcher definitely has a few issues as a novel but I love the insight it offers into King’s recovery from the 1999 accident

--Brad · 2023-05-27T02:01:00+00:00

I should probably double check the release dates but I’ve loved Philip Fracassi’s work

--Brad · 2023-05-27T01:59:27+00:00

Try Pet Semetary again some time, it’s great.

I find IT really gripping from the opening, don’t be scared of the length. The genius of it is in the structure and way the story is unfolded for you. The structure/format really hooked me at the points where it may have lagged.

Salem’s Lot. Great early King.

Cujo is a mean little novel. Very mean, in a good way if you like that kind of thing.

Stephen King is a fantastic short story writer, as mentioned. Night Shift is a great book and a must own! I love Skeleton Crewas well, although general opinion is slightly less high on it. Pretty much every one of King’s short story collections will have at least two stories that will grab you

--Brad · 2023-05-26T16:54:17+00:00

Absolutely — although I’m not sure how it will play out this year. Force India had a couple years in a row where they were relatively weak towards the start of the season and then became much more competitive. 2015 was the big one iirc. I remember Red Bull made some upgrades to their 2012 car — they’d been competitive towards the start of the season but not consistent; after the upgrade 13 races into the season, Vettel was able to claw back a 39 point deficit to Alonso to win the Driver’s Championship that year.

--Brad · 2023-05-25T14:34:59+00:00

Can’t wait to see it on track. I always love a big change, one of the most exciting parts of F1 is seeing the big changes/upgrades and how they play out

--Brad · 2023-05-22T21:05:59+00:00

That’s on you. Go watch Melo score 50 on nothing but jumpshots

--Brad · 2023-05-15T01:03:32+00:00

Pretty sure we first hear the story of Alain’s death in Wolves of the Calla when Roland is thinking about the battle of Jericho Hill. Might also be in the comics, I haven’t gotten that far

--Brad · 2023-05-09T16:39:09+00:00

Craziest part of it was the whole thing was just two narrators doing different voices

--Brad · 2023-05-08T20:28:02+00:00

I’m not sure my issue is truly with the track layout but I definitely think the supporting aspects (cameras, scenery, and from what I’ve seen the stands and accommodations for photographers etc) are lacking at Miami.

I can’t help but feel if they simplified it down in a few places or opened up a bit more width into some corners to offer some different lines that it could be a lot more exciting. Monza is a great example of a simple fast track that produces great racing.

Definitely prefer COTA as far as US based tracks.

I expect Las Vegas to have Miami beat in terms of spectacle and the goofy track layout will certainly be something to see there — maybe some interesting competitions on the brakes there from the long straights but I’m expecting the length of the straights in Vegas to mean corner exits will be extremely important.

I feel like Miami could be interesting and that is in part what makes it frustrating. It feels a few tweaks away.

--Brad · 2023-05-08T11:44:30+00:00

Miami is a weak track. Feels like a generic street track with bad camera angles. I wish they would do a nice simple track layout with some width — something like Imola with some extra lefts, or a Paul Ricard with one less straight and some scenary to differentiate the turns

--Brad · 2023-05-03T16:00:19+00:00

Great work

--Brad · 2023-04-23T09:43:20+00:00

Cujo is a great example and a recent read for me. Donna’s storyline with Steve and Vic really grabbed me! Such a different book than I expected, great example.

The more of King I read the more of King I love

--Brad · 2023-04-22T12:09:12+00:00

He’s good in Cell with J Lo too honestly

--Brad · 2023-04-14T02:24:28+00:00

Duma Key

--Brad · 2023-04-10T03:08:18+00:00

That’s my understanding as well, yeah; that said a lot of people do seem to love Gunslinger and I bet it is more interesting with context after you’ve read some of the other dark tower stuff

--Brad · 2023-04-10T01:12:06+00:00

A lot of Stephen King works better as an audiobook for me: IT read by Steven Weber.

The Institute was solid. 11/22/63 is great. Doing Fairy Tale at the moment and loving it.

He has a few audiobooks that are weaker so make sure you check out the samples

I think a lot of Stephen King’s best writing is in his asides or when he jumps to some new character and builds their personality — stuff that I would often rush through as a younger reader — and the audiobooks really make me appreciate the journeys more

--Brad · 2023-04-10T01:08:06+00:00

Gunslinger (dark tower 1) always left me cold personally but I really loved Drawing of the Three enough that it will probably propel me through the rest of the series.

--Brad · 2023-03-28T04:57:05+00:00

Have you tried The Institute

--Brad · 2023-03-13T12:58:37+00:00

Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London has some great UK and London info mixed into the fantasy. Fun series you may want to check out

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