Re: I Just Finished Reading...
 

I haven't visited this thread in some time. I finally got around to reading my Reggie Oliver books: The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini and The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler. It is nice to know that the praise given this author is completely deserved. I enjoyed both volumes very much. You can detect the influence of M.R. James, Aickman, Henry James, and even a touch of Machen, if I'm not mistaken. Does anyone know how many copies of Symphonies was printed? And are they all signed (or just mine)? ;) It is nice to have them back on the shelf, though, I was distinctly aware of how valuable they are. I even did without my usual peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while reading these books. His other two collections are a "must buy" now.

Re: I Just Finished Reading...
 

I have recentaly finished reading The Chronicles of Solar Pons - clever little stories and it's highly amusing listioning to Derleth trying to sound like a very differant author.

Next I'm starting My Work Is Not Yet Done by some "Thomas Ligotti" person...

Re: I Just Finished Reading...
 

Not long ago, I finished reading Dances with Werewolves by Niki Flynn. The memoirs of a spanking model. It's very well written. I found only three things I would have changed, and I'm a very picky reader. Better -- it is, I feel, a truly great book -- full of self-evident honesty and illuminating insight. I recommend it. Here's a link to Niki Flynn's website:

NikiFlynn.com

Re: I Just Finished Reading...
 

Just finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon's irresistible The Shadow of the Wind. Dirda in the Washington Post calls it, "scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling", it's all of that and written in utterly gorgeous prose. This is a novel that truly deserves all the praise that it has received. Just pre-ordered his next, The Angel's Game . . . If it's half as good I'll be in heaven.

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I have (literally) just finished reading My Work Is Not Yet Done.

Ran out of new reading material at present so I'll buy some more horribly expensive hardbacks next week and dive into them. I'm interested in trying some of Mark Samuel's stories.

Annoyingly the strong sunlight makes it really hard to read at the moment. Call me unpopular but I prefered the idea that British Summertime was an oxymoron.

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I last read a Mark Samuels story about twenty years ago. He sent me some of his early stories to which I responded with criticisms (for which he may or may not have been grateful). I no longer have his old letters or stories (something else for which he may or may not feel grateful).

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That's a shame - incriminating evidence relating to others is allways nice to have. I belive there is a link to a downloadable tale on his wiki page.

I was interested in checking out some of his fiction after noticing his collection with Ex Occidente Press. It's a touch too expensive for me to get just like that so I was hoping to get hold of a copy of The White Hands to try first.

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Thank you very much for turning that up Alberto. I shall look into it when the darkness returns.

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I found Samuels's latest book, "Glyphotech", quite remarkable. Your mileage (like Mads) may vary.

I have not yet read the latest Oliver book, but plan to shortly.

I've not finished a proper book in a while, but today I finished Simon Bestwick's novella "The Narrows" from the book We Fade To Grey (Pendragon Press). Quite an interesting apocalypse tale. Ellen Datlow agrees, as it's to be included in this year's Best Of book.