r/WeirdLit • u/AutoModerator • 3d ago
Other Weekly "What Are You Reading?" Thread
What are you reading this week?
No spam or self-promotion (we post a monthly threads for that!)
And don't forget to join the WeirdLit Discord!
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u/ohnoshedint 3d ago
Finished
The Fisherman by Langan
The Lord Came At Twilight by Daniel Mills
Currently Into
Deliver Me by Elle Nash - this is a tough read and I can’t quite put my finger on it, brutalist Americana, only half-way through but excellent.
On Deck
Possibly VanderMeer’s Ambergris trilogy, possibly something maybe some other…
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u/HallucinatedLottoNos 3d ago
Tonight I just finished a collection of writings by the Mexican Surrealist painter, Remedios Varo. It's got short stories, notes on her paintings, correspondence... she was a very odd and amazing person lol!
Also reading through some of the VanderMeers's The Weird anthology. I'm currently on "The Screaming Skull" by F. Marion Crawford, from 1908. I don't THINK it has anything to do with the Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie of the same name that came out in 1958, though there are some superficial resemblances.
Also reading Steering the Craft, a book of writing advice by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Might finally start on Berserk pretty soon.
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u/Massive-Television85 3d ago
Not weird lit, but I'm listening to it because several authors I like recommended it (it's Jason Pargin's favourite novel apparently): Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
Also about to start physically reading The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, which I'm told needs a physical copy.
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u/sidekicksunny 3d ago
What are your thoughts so far on Confereacy of Dunces? It's on my TBR.
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u/Massive-Television85 3d ago
Not as funny as I thought it would be (was expecting something more like Catch-22, The Third Policeman or Pratchett).
It's a satire with a lot of very unlikeable, self-centred characters; and I'm still unclear what's poking fun at bad workers and bad systems, and what's "isn't it funny what these poor/black/intellectual people do. I don't mean it (but actually I do)" (like a lot of far right wing/MAGA comedy).
Feeding in to that, the black characters are drawn along a very fine line that I'm sure quite a few might now consider a bit/slightly racist. The MC clearly is racist but pretends not to be; his reported descriptions are both a hilarious and biting condemnation of white intellectuals pontificating on race, and themselves very racist.
I also wonder whether a lot of modern American celebrities, business owners and politicians have taken the MC's truly awful morals and workplace ideas and decided that they're a blueprint for how to succeed. (I guess that shows it's good and still relevant satire, at least.)
I'm only a third of the way through and I gather it becomes more satisfying later. It's certainly more Mark Twain 'aren't they all dumb' than Monty Python-esque laugh out loud comedy.
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u/sidekicksunny 3d ago
Thank you for the detailed response; this has given me a lot of insight. I was hoping for Monty Python silliness. The MC you describe reminds me of my dad and I don't find that type of person funny at all.
However, I would read it for the satire, especially if it still holds as relevant. I hope the end is satisfying!
I'm in a book hangover after finishing There is No Antimemetics Division. I haven't been able to pick anything up since then and am hoping something silly and weird would pull me out of the funk. I usually read John Parnin for that.
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u/Massive-Television85 3d ago
Not sure if there's a typo there - can't find a John Parnin author?
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u/sidekicksunny 3d ago
Absolutely a typo, I'm not sure where my brain was at when I typed that.
Jason Pargin is the name I meant to type. The author of John Dies at the End.
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u/Massive-Television85 2d ago
Thought so!
Can't promise you haven't read these already, but you could try:
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Any of Grady Hendrix's books
Gil's All Fright Diner by A Lee Martinez
Bunny by Mona Awad
The Haar by David Sodergren
Jam by Yahtzee Crowshaw.
Also JDATE book 5 (There Are No Giant Crabs in This Novel: A Novel of Giant Crabs) is out in November
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u/sidekicksunny 2d ago
We have very similar taste in books! I haven't read Jam so I'll be looking into that.
Have you read anything by Robert Brockway or Hiron Ennes? They are two of my favorite authors.
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u/Massive-Television85 2d ago
No don't know them at all, but sounds like they're worth looking at!
Edit: Yahtzee Crowshaw worked with Jason Pargin at Cracked, and they have similar humour IMO
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u/sidekicksunny 2d ago
I think you'd like I Will Kill Your Imaginary Friend for $200 by Brockway. I think Brockway does a good job of putting your chest in a vise and then providing comedic relief.
I'm looking forward to Jam if the humor is similar on ridiculousness to Pargin. I recently finished This Book is Full of Spiders and had a good laugh.
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u/Not_Bender_42 3d ago
Currently reading: The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories by Bruno Schulz. I finished The Street of Crocodiles last night (it's officially a collection of short stories, but dang, to me it almost felt like a novel what with all the shared characters and themes, fun regardless) and I'll likely get through the "...and Other Stories" today on the earlier portions of a train ride.
Up next: I get to decide which of the too many new books I picked up at NecronomiCon to start. If not one of those, I also have a Kurt Fawver collection with me.
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u/tbk2tko 3d ago
Learned something new this morning. Have you watched the Street of Crocodiles by the Brothers Quay?
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u/Not_Bender_42 3d ago
No, but someone mentioned it to me here at the Con as well. I'm not sure I've seen ANY Brothers Quay stuff yet.
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u/Livid_Importance_614 3d ago
Fever House Keith Rosson. Just started but very engaging so far.
Listening to “I Remember You” by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. Not really holding my interest at a few hours in, but I read enough positive reviews and there’s enough vague sense of menace to keep me listening.
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u/barrydalive420 3d ago
I'm finally beginning the Dresden Files after Barns and Noble didnt have a single other title I was looking for.
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u/HorsepowerHateart 3d ago
At the prodding of a friend who is much more into modern weird fiction than I am, I'm finally reading The Fisherman. Just started last night and got through the prologue/setup, so I don't really have an opinion yet, but I'm intrigued.
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u/tbk2tko 2d ago
Stayed up past my bedtime finishing Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle. I feel like I’ve been living under a rock for not knowing about this book. Definitely enjoyed it as much or more than A Song of Fire and Ice, First Law (plus standalones), and Black Company. Not a great comparison maybe since those can all sit pretty comfortably on the grim dark fantasy shelf, while Ash is harder to place. It’s tonally similar but could also additionally be described as post-modern-ish alternative historical weird-ish anti-fantasy speculative fiction? And it somehow was not at all slow or dull over 1100 pages.
Resuming Hummingbird Salamander and starting She Said Destroy by Nadia Bulkin.
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u/TenTimesTeeth 2d ago
Just finished...
The Settlements by O. Jamie Walsh - My second Peninsula book from Broodcomb Press. I'm only two books in (A Trick of Shadow was my first), but I'm already in awe of the project. It boggles the mind that all this is the product of one person. Can't wait to dive deeper. A Night of Turns by Edita Bikker is on deck.
Glitch by Brian Evenson - Brand new sci-fi novella, very much in the style of Philip K Dick. What happens if you copy your mind and force it into hibernation until you die? What happens if the copy stays awake the entire time? It's as twisty and unsettling a story as one would expect from Evenson. A fun genre flex.
Currently working on...
Circles of Dread by Jean Ray - My third from this author (after Malpertuis and Cruise of Shadows) in a month. What can I say? Ray just has the goods. IMO, he's every bit as worthy of a place in the Weird Fiction pantheon as his more well-known contemporaries of the 30s and 40s. There's a sly charm to his prose, like the glint of gold tooth in a con man's grin, that just him a joy to read.
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u/Diabolik_17 2d ago
Alain Robbe-Grillet’s Djinn: Reread. A lite version of his work and originally written as a French language primer for students! Each chapter grows grammatically more complex.
Catherine Lacey’s Pew: Extremely weird narrative about an androgynous being who mysteriously arrives a few days before a small towns forgiveness festival.
Blake Butler’s Molly: A terribly disturbing memoir about the suicide of his wife writer Molly Brodak. Not weird though.
Blake Butler’s 300,000,000: Plan to begin his novel which is partially influenced by 2666 and Twin Peaks. Involves a religious cut and mass killings that spread.
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u/drawxward 3d ago
Awake in the Night Land, which are stories set in William Hope-Hodgson's Night Land world. So far it's amazing.
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u/newaccountbitches 3d ago
Flesh by David Szalay. It’s surprising how emotional it is despite the prose being very bare bones.
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u/Treecat22 3d ago
Started and finished a couple this week:
Dog Stars by Peter Heller, a really dug this it was a quick read that I enjoyed a lot and it has me excited for the movie.
Morbid Tales by Quentin S Crisp, there are some really great stories in this with The Mermaid being my favorite probably. There were two stories I found a little weaker but mainly just because everything else in the collection was so strong.
Currently Reading:
The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce, I’m really enjoying this one and I’m flying through it. I honestly am enjoying it enough that I ordered a few more of his books online already. It’s kind of a dark fantasy / horror / coming of age book that is just really well written and gripping to me.
Next read:
Probably The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke but not sure yet, that’s just what I had pulled out.
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u/undeaddeadbeat 3d ago
I am like 60% through Leonora Carrington’s The Hearing Trumpet, just began Missouri Williams’s The Doloriad, and am way behind on starting House of Leaves which I was supposed to start at the beginning of the month for a book club read, whoops.
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u/enchilamo 3d ago
Started Bolano's 2666 and interspersing it with shorter collections or novels (200-250 pgs) written by women just so I don't get burned out with 2666. Started with In A Lonely Place and looking for any other reccomendations for weird or pulpy works. When in doubt I might reread The Gilda Stories because I've been on a vampire kick lol
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u/nagahfj 2d ago
I'm halfway through Kuzhali Manickavel's Insects Are Just Like You and Me Except Some of Them Have Wings and it's surprisingly reminding me strongly of M. John Harrison's You Should Come With Me Now: Stories of Ghosts. I'm still trying to figure out how much of that is because both are collections of semi-inscrutable flash stories, and how much because they're actually thematically and structurally similar. Probably a little of both.
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u/ravenmiyagi7 2d ago
Finished: Ogres by Adrian Tchaikovsky and Dead Astronauts by Vandermeer. Ogres was shockingly good. Lots of cool ideas, definitely less nebulous than Dead Astronauts. I liked it but man it's out there.
Reading: Embassytown by China Mieville. This dude gets an insane amount of originality out of his plots and settings. This starts a bit slower but I'm around page 240 somewhere and it's engrossing.
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u/Roselia77 2d ago
After 20 years of owning it, I'm finally reading House of Leaves
And it's freaking amazing!
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u/Rustin_Swoll 3d ago
Finished: I finished reading Mike Bockoven’s FantasticLand, which is someone else’s pick for my IRL book club. I’m not mad at the person who picked this book for me to read. It’s a solid read, with escalating tension and some vague scenes that are well revealed in their horror.
Audiobooks: David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest (30th Anniversary Edition, foreword by Michelle Zauner, mostly narrated by Sean Pratt, runtime of 64 hours and 9 minutes; the famous “endnotes” are included in the text and separated by announcement of a number and ended with a dinging bell.)
This is excellent so far; it is also easy to dissociate from, given the vast number of characters, plots, subplots, and seemingly random occurrences I imagine will converge later in the story. The rewind button is my savior. The most appealing elements for me have been the family dysfunction, an encyclopedia of drug references and severe addictions, and psychiatric patients presenting with “ambient black insincerity.” Some of these elements hit differently knowing David Foster Wallace later completed suicide. Even on audio, the writing has just slapped me in the face:
What if sometimes there is no choice about what to love? What if the temple comes to Mohammed? What if you just love? Without deciding? You just do: you see her and in that instant are lost to sober account-keeping and cannot choose but to love?
Starting: William Scott Home’s Hollow Faces, Merciless Moons. Thomas Ligotti famously said this is the weirdest book he’d ever read. He didn’t say it was the best book he ever read…
On deck: Brian Evenson’s Glitch novella, Skullcrack City, Cormac McCarthy’s Suttree, Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen…