This Census-Taker by China Miéville

 

I could have sworn until two minutes ago that the name of the book I read was The Census-Taker. But it seemingly isn't. It is This Census-Taker. How did I miss that? Weird. Anyway, like anything by Mieville, This Census-Taker is weird. The setting is a bit uncertain. It seems like some kind of fantasy-type society but also not. Again - Mieville is weird. But I still felt like I had a good idea of it in my head. So kudos. Overall I enjoyed it, maybe because it was short and incredibly vague at points. A-

Horror Book # 30 - The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

 

Well, the collection The Lottery and Other Stories wasn't quite what I was expecting. It seems weird that this would be classified as horror. Except for the main story I don't think any of them could really be horror. I did enjoy most of the stories though. They envoke a sense of uneasieness and anxiety by presenting some fairly mundane everyday events. A

The Dead Zone by Stephen King

 I'm pretty sure that The Dead Zone was the first Stephen King I ever read, probably when I was 14 or so. That being some time ago I remembered very little about it - and I quite enjoyed it. Probably more than most King novels I've read lately. It isn't overly long, there aren't too many unnecessary digressions and King nails the ending. A 

Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc. by Jeff Tweedy

 I almost forgot to write an entry for this one! So Jeff Tweedy's autobiography is pretty much what you'd expect. I enjoyed it, Tweedy comes off as a pretty decent guy that almost acknowledges all of his faults and doesn't seem to hold grudges (so yeah - the exact opposite of Morrissey's autobiography). So if you like Wilco you'd probably like the book too. B

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I enjoyed Station Eleven, but I feel like maybe I'm missing something about it. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mindset while reading it to fully get what it is trying to say. Or maybe reading about a planet-wide pandemic just didn't fit my mood. Maybe I'll give the show a chance. Maybe not. B

A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut

 A Man Without a Country is a pleasant if a bit slight book of short essays. The Vonnegut humor is present but it all seems a bit tossed off. B

The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower Book # 7) by Stephen King

 After six years or so I finally reached the end of The Dark Tower.  Was it worth reading the whole series? I guess, but while reading this book the narrative very explicitly says that I should have also read Insomnia because it is important to the story. And also apparently Hearts in Atlantis and Everything's Eventual should have been read also. And the book itself is fairly ridiculous. One of the characters dies saving Stephen King's life. Also loudly announced is the appearance of the deus ex machina which seems to crop up frequently in the ending of King's novels. So you kind of have to just go with it. It at times was a bit tedious but the slow dissolution of the ka-tet was emotional. And as for that controversial ending, I didn't mind it. B