Horror Book # 25 Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

 I didn't expect Skeleton Crew to be one of the best Stephen King books I've read. Most every story here is a winner and there are quite a few of them. Easily an A.

Book # 103 & Horror Book # 45 The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

 

This was my second reading of The Picture of Dorian Gray - and yeah - I liked it. That Oscar Wilde guy has some witty things to say. A.

Horror Book # 39- Christine by Stephen King

 

Another Stephen King book crossed off my list. Christine is a bit above average for a King novel. B+

World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music by Jeff Tweedy

 

A nice chill book of Jeff Tweedy's commentary on some of his favorite songs. B+

Horror Book # 9 - Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe/ Horror Book # 15 - The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe/ Book # 194 - The Complete Stories of Edgar Allan Poe/ Horror Book # 18 - The Tell Tale Heart and Other Writings/ Mystery Book # 3 - Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe

 When I first started this blog I spent a good deal of time browsing used book stores. One of the best items I ever found was a nice hardback copy of the complete and unabridged writings of Edgar Allan Poe for only $2.00. It was probably at the used book store within the Santa Monica Library. That was maybe 13 years ago. And I have slowly been getting through it. And now I'm all done - all the short stories, a bunch of poems and his novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordan Pym. Some of the stories are great - true classics. Some made absolute no sense to me. A

Horror Book # 12/ Book # 122/ Mystery Book # 70 - Dracula by Bram Stoker

 For some reason I quit halfway through reading Dracula back in high school. And now 30+ years later I've finally picked it back up. I enjoyed going back to reading a "classic" book. Maybe it was a bit longer than necessary but it still gets an A.

Star Wars: The High Republic - Trials of the Jedi by Charles Soule

 

Finally! An end to The High Republic series! Now to catch up on all my other reading. The ending was about as good as you could hope for such a long series. It felt like a true ending and was pretty satisfying. B+

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

 

I enjoyed this one, maybe it was a bit longer than it should have been, but it delivered on being an interesting take on "slasher" films. B+

Star Wars: The High Republic - A Valiant Vow by Justina Ireland

 

Yet another High Republic book... only one left to go right? This one was okay. B-

Star Wars: The High Republic - Tempest Breaker by Cavan Scott

 Someday soon these High Republic books will end. I think this is the 26th one I've read? Only two more to go... This one was just okay, maybe I just don't care much for another bad guy redemption story in Star Wars. B-

Star Wars: The High Republic - Into the Light by Claudia Gray

 

Another High Republic book... at least this is the last of the YA entries in the series and was a satisfying conclusion for the characters in this arc. B+

Horror Book # 49 - A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson

This one was a nice quick read with a fun pulpy horror story. B+

Star Wars: The High Republic - Tears of the Nameless by George Mann

 The end is finally in sight for the High Republic books. Only four more after this one! Tears of the Nameless was one of the better ones, maybe because now things are moving towards a conclusion. B+

Horror Book # 4 - Pet Sematary by Stephen King

One of the BEST Stephen King books I've read. Easily in his top 5. A.

Cujo by Stephen King

 

Ehhh - Cujo doesn't need to be a full length novel. If it were maybe half the length it could have been great... but do we need the whole backstory about the husband's marketing business and why they might go under or the subplot about the marriage of Cujo's owners. No, we didn't. C+

Horror # 20- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

 Someday I'll get through this horror list. Someday... Luckily this entry is just a short story and was pretty entertaining and a quick read. A-

Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer

I wasn't expecting a fourth book to show up for the Southern Reach series. I felt obligated to read it. To my surprise it is a good deal longer than the previous books. It was okay. The story was kind of a prequel to the previous novels and didn't really add much overall. At several points it all stops making sense, but then that's kind of the point of Area X, I suppose. B-

James by Percival Everett

Once James started to really diverge from the original narrative of Huck Finn I think it just got better. Overall I enjoyed it. A-

Danse Macabre by Stephen King

 I had to check out Danse Macabre THREE times from the library to get through it. If you ever wanted Stephen King's thoughts on horror novels, films, and televsion from 1950-1980 here you go... B-

Horror Book # 44 - Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

 Since I've seen the film version of Shutter Island, I knew what the surprise twist ending was and could see all the clues throughout the book. Maybe this ruined the reading exprience a bit. It was still enjoyable though and was a pretty fast read. B

The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville

 

The Book of Elsewhere is an interesting pairing of authors. I'm a fan of China Mieville, and this book reads like a China Mieville book with a plot suggested by Keanu Reeves. So I think most people won't really be into it, but I was. Like all Mieville books, it gets weird. The plot includes such things as an immortal pig and a living jigsaw puzzle piece. I actually wish it was a bit longer, the story seems a bit rushed near the end and not every aspect of the plot is fully explored. I'd be up for reading a sequel. B+