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I finished four books in July, along with one I finally gave up on.
1. The Talisman by King & Straub. This was my third time reading The Talisman, and the experience kind of landed in between the first two readings. I read it when it first came out, and just didn’t connect with it. I wasn’t looking for an epic, road-trip, coming of age fantasy. I wanted horror. Read it again 15 or so years later before Black House was published and thought it was great. At the time, top ten King for me. Now 25+ years later, I still appreciated the story & enjoyed reconnecting with that world and its characters, but definitely felt there was some bloat to the storyline, especially in the first half. 4 / 5
2. Revelator by Daryl Gregory. A folk horror story about a small clannish community in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee and their weird ass religion, which is controlled by a strange family-line of women. I really liked this one. Well paced, there’s not a wasted word in the novel. A great twist towards the end and a very satisfying conclusion. 5 / 5
3. The Cry Room by Kathe Koja was a chapbook from Rapture Publishing. I never got into this one. Might have enjoyed it more if I had a better knowledge of Greek mythology. 2.5 / 5
4. Dune by Frank Herbert. Better prepared for what I was getting into, I enjoyed my second reading of Dune much more than I did the first time through. I would still never consider Dune an all-time personal favorite, but can appreciate why it is considered a science fiction classic. 4 / 5
Stories edited by Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio. I’ve been piecemealing this one for a couple months, and finally, after a few more mediocre stories, I can’t force myself to continue with it. DNF around the half way point.
B
Posted : August 2, 2026 7:16 pm
rmquist and dannyboy121070 reacted
If I counted correctly, I read fifty in July. Aside from the pesky aspects such as having no money, being unemployed does give you a lot of time to catch up on the book backlog, lol.
Avenging Spider-Man: My Friends Can Beat Up Your Friends (9)
Progeny of The Adder (9) A fast, historic read that seems to have inspired THE NIGHT STALKER. Worth checking out.
Things Seen and Unseen: The Collected Short Fiction of Terry Lamsley, Volume One (9) Man, I just cannot say enough good about this book, from the production to the art, and the writing...each story is a masterpiece. I had to take a break between volumes, because after this set, there is no more Lamsley. Such a sad prospect.
Rom: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus, Vol. 2 (8)
The Sixth Gun Omnibus, Vol. 3 (8)
in the mood for…Monsters (9)
The Sixth Gun Omnibus, Vol. 4: Shadow Roads (9)
Shadow Roads, Volume Two (9)
Convergence: Crisis, Book One (8)
The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library, Volume 3: Walt Disney’s Donald Duck- “Mystery of the Swamp” (9)
Traps and Specters (8) Outstanding Philip Fracassi collection.
The Crane House: A Halloween Story (1) I enjoy most of the authors involved in this round-robin story, but the whole fell far short of the parts involved.
Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman- The Deluxe Edition (6)
Marvel Knights 20th (9)
Only the End of The World Again (5)
Shadow Roads, Volume One (9)
The Ghost Box: Window (9)
The Ghost Box: Kushtuka (5)
The Escapist: Amazing Adventures (9)
Conan The Barbarian: The Official Story of the Film (8)
The Ghost Box: Eliminate Toxins and Increase Blood Flow (8) This probably wasn't meant to be THAT funny, but the end had me laughing for about ten minutes straight.
The Ghost Box: Flicker (8)
The Ghost Box: The Three Infernal Jokes (7)
The Ghost Box: Brief Scenes from a Noxious Nativity (1)
Rex Mundi Omnibus. Volume 1 (7)
The Ghost Box: Don’t Go Into the Woods Alone (8) My first Gabino Iglesias story. Nothing groundbreaking, but good enough to interest me in more by him.
The Creature: Personal Experiences with Bigfoot (9) A fascinating, touching, often hilarious "true?" story of a man's bond with a Sasquatch.
The Invincible Iron Man, Vol. 1: The Five Nightmares (8)
The Sixth Gun, Book 9: Boot Hill (9)
Prodigy: Slaves of Mars (4)
Deadpool & The Merc$ for Money, Vol. 0: Merc Madness (9)
Batman, Vol. 9: The Tyrant Wing (9)
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 4 (7)
The Ghost Box: The Lady’s Maid’s Bell (7)
Skybourne (9)
The Ghost Box: The Sea Was Wet As Wet Could Be (9)
Flinch: The Complete Collection (9)
The Ghost Box: Unseen-Unfeared (7)
Giant-Size X-Men 40th Anniversary (8)
The Ghost Box: The Extremophile (8)
The Ghost Box IV (9)
It Rhymes with Takei (9) Hilarious and heartbreaking autobiography of Star Trek actor George Takei's life as a closeted gay man. Just a beautifully-done book.
The Incredible Hulk by Jason Aaron, Vol. 1 (5)
Abominable Science! Origins of The Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids (4) I appreciate the balloon-bursting science here, but after being told the same reasons why Cryptids don't exist over and over and over, it got really old.
Trail Cam (9) A compelling, creepy supernatural mystery by Benjamin Percy.
Pussey! (9)
Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Double Digest #316 (9)
Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Double Digest #324 (9)
Hotline (9) Another great Benjamin Percy Horror short. This could easily have been a novel.
Fire!! The Zora Neale Hurston Story (8)
This post was modified 3 weeks ago 2 times by dannyboy121070
Posted : August 2, 2026 8:37 pm
rmquist reacted
I finished four books in July, along with one I finally gave up on.
2. Revelator by Daryl Gregory. A folk horror story about a small clannish community in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee and their weird ass religion, which is controlled by a strange family-line of women. I really liked this one. Well paced, there’s not a wasted word in the novel. A great twist towards the end and a very satisfying conclusion. 5 / 5
Your review has me seriously tempted to pick up the Midworld limited. I only wish it was a little bit cheaper. The price point is a little hard for me to swallow.
Posted : August 3, 2026 5:39 pm
If I counted correctly, I read fifty in July. Aside from the pesky aspects such as having no money, being unemployed does give you a lot of time to catch up on the book backlog, lol.
Convergence: Crisis, Book One (8)
The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library, Volume 3: Walt Disney’s Donald Duck- “Mystery of the Swamp” (9)
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 4 (7)
I'm surprised you like Convergence. I haven't read it myself, but from what I've gathered online, it wasn't the most well-loved DC event.
The mention of the Carl Barks book once again reminds me I need to track some of these down. I might need to dig through some of my long boxes to see if I still have some of the Gladstone reprints to read. I need to figure out if the pull is genuine interest or just nostalgia.
And, finally, which Savage Sword series is this, the original or the new one?
Posted : August 3, 2026 5:44 pm
I had family visit near the end of July, so I only got two books read for the month:
The Beautiful Thing that Awaits Us All by Laird Barron: This was my first encounter with Barron and, honestly, it took me few stories to get into his style, a mix of Lovecraftian cosmic horror and hardboiled noir. "Hand of Glory," "Jaws of Saturn," and "The Men from Porlock" were my favorites. The others were very good except the collection-ending "More Dark," whose interesting ideas are anchored with a metatextual bent that wasn't my cup of tea. (8.5/10)
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger: Despite the fact my wife loves nonfiction, I haven't read too much of it, particularly book-length works. However, I always enjoyed the Wolfgang Petersen film, so I gave this one a crack and absolutely loved it. Compelling and frightening, Junger illuminates the limits of man's ability to master the natural world without losing sight of the humanity of those saved or lost during the storm and the loved ones left behind. An amazing book. (10/10)
Posted : August 3, 2026 6:13 pm
dannyboy121070 and rmquist reacted
I finished 6 in July - mostly ARCs
- Akarnae (The Medoran Chronicles, #1) by Lynette Noni
- Night Soldiers by Paul Michael Kane (chapbook)
- Ender's Tribe (The Ender Saga) by Orson Scott Card
- The Man on the Ceiling : And Other Scary Tales from Young Authors by Chisto Healy
- Worry Box by Chris Panatier
- #Authorlife by Joe Zagets
If you'd like you can read reviews of each of these on my blog: https://www.pagesfromthemist.com/2026/07/
Posted : August 3, 2026 6:49 pm
1. The Talisman by King & Straub
I'm in the middle of a Talisman re-read myself. I've read it several times but wanted a refresher before Other Worlds Than These comes out in October (planning on re-reading Black House as well)
Posted : August 3, 2026 6:52 pm
If I counted correctly, I read fifty in July. Aside from the pesky aspects such as having no money, being unemployed does give you a lot of time to catch up on the book backlog, lol.
Convergence: Crisis, Book One (8)
The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library, Volume 3: Walt Disney’s Donald Duck- “Mystery of the Swamp” (9)
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 4 (7)
I'm surprised you like Convergence. I haven't read it myself, but from what I've gathered online, it wasn't the most well-loved DC event.
The mention of the Carl Barks book once again reminds me I need to track some of these down. I might need to dig through some of my long boxes to see if I still have some of the Gladstone reprints to read. I need to figure out if the pull is genuine interest or just nostalgia.
And, finally, which Savage Sword series is this, the original or the new one?
I read the CONVERGENCE main story when it first came out, and it did, indeed, stink. This was a collection of side stories featuring a handful of two-issue mini-series starring Crisis-era characters. As a brief flashback to the way these characters were when I was a kid, it was a fun book. I'd steer clear of the main event, but the side-story collections have been enjoyable reads.
I literally just finished another Barks collection, and I can't recommend them enough. Tremendous fun, lots of laughs, and some great scholarly analysis of each story in the collection.
The Conan book is the new SAVAGE SWORD from Heroic Signatures/Titan.
Posted : August 3, 2026 7:12 pm
Thanks for the clarification. I don't think I'll ever make my way up to the Convergence storyline. I've made a pretty hard line to not go further than pre-New 52 with DC. It all just seems like a mess afterwards. Some concessions will be made once I finally tackle Morrison's Batman and Johns's Green Lantern, but beyond that, I just don't see anything that interests me much.
Good to know with the Barks books. I'm gonna pull the trigger one day, I just know it.
As for the Titan Conan, I've seen it on the racks, but haven't ventured to pick one up yet. I've read exactly two issues of Conan comics and both were easily thirty years ago. I wasn't too much into then, but it might scratch an itch now. I am leaning more towards the older Marvel stuff since they've been doing some pretty nice omnibuses. I'm so backlogged with books right now, though. I don't know when I'd have time to squeeze it in.
On a slightly related side note: I just picked up a complete run of the George Perez Wonder Woman series in floppies, which I've never read, so I'm looking forward to tackling it at some point.
Posted : August 3, 2026 7:27 pm
Thanks for the clarification. I don't think I'll ever make my way up to the Convergence storyline. I've made a pretty hard line to not go further than pre-New 52 with DC. It all just seems like a mess afterwards. Some concessions will be made once I finally tackle Morrison's Batman and Johns's Green Lantern, but beyond that, I just don't see anything that interests me much.
Good to know with the Barks books. I'm gonna pull the trigger one day, I just know it.
As for the Titan Conan, I've seen it on the racks, but haven't ventured to pick one up yet. I've read exactly two issues of Conan comics and both were easily thirty years ago. I wasn't too much into then, but it might scratch an itch now. I am leaning more towards the older Marvel stuff since they've been doing some pretty nice omnibuses. I'm so backlogged with books right now, though. I don't know when I'd have time to squeeze it in.
On a slightly related side note: I just picked up a complete run of the George Perez Wonder Woman series in floppies, which I've never read, so I'm looking forward to tackling it at some point.
THE NEW 52 was basically a jumping-off point for my DC reading. I made writer-centric exceptions, such as the Morrison and Johns books you mentioned, both of which I heartily recommend.
The only Titan CONAN I've read is SAVAGE SWORD. The main book was mired in a huge R.E.H crossover almost immediately, and I'm not a fan of the writer, Jim Zub. SS, however, is very much in the tradition of its Marvel predecessor of the same name: Stand-alone stories of Conan, Solomon Kane, and other R.E.H. characters presented in an oversized black-and-white format. I've enjoyed all four volumes to date.
I'm a HUGE George Perez fan, but I could never get into his writing...I read a few scattered issues of his WW run, and it was just torturous to me, aside from his always-stellar art. Hope you enjoy it more than I did!
Posted : August 3, 2026 7:34 pm
Thanks for the clarification. I don't think I'll ever make my way up to the Convergence storyline. I've made a pretty hard line to not go further than pre-New 52 with DC. It all just seems like a mess afterwards. Some concessions will be made once I finally tackle Morrison's Batman and Johns's Green Lantern, but beyond that, I just don't see anything that interests me much.
Good to know with the Barks books. I'm gonna pull the trigger one day, I just know it.
As for the Titan Conan, I've seen it on the racks, but haven't ventured to pick one up yet. I've read exactly two issues of Conan comics and both were easily thirty years ago. I wasn't too much into then, but it might scratch an itch now. I am leaning more towards the older Marvel stuff since they've been doing some pretty nice omnibuses. I'm so backlogged with books right now, though. I don't know when I'd have time to squeeze it in.
On a slightly related side note: I just picked up a complete run of the George Perez Wonder Woman series in floppies, which I've never read, so I'm looking forward to tackling it at some point.
THE NEW 52 was basically a jumping-off point for my DC reading. I made writer-centric exceptions, such as the Morrison and Johns books you mentioned, both of which I heartily recommend.
The only Titan CONAN I've read is SAVAGE SWORD. The main book was mired in a huge R.E.H crossover almost immediately, and I'm not a fan of the writer, Jim Zub. SS, however, is very much in the tradition of its Marvel predecessor of the same name: Stand-alone stories of Conan, Solomon Kane, and other R.E.H. characters presented in an oversized black-and-white format. I've enjoyed all four volumes to date.
I'm a HUGE George Perez fan, but I could never get into his writing...I read a few scattered issues of his WW run, and it was just torturous to me, aside from his always-stellar art. Hope you enjoy it more than I did!
The NEW 52 is when I called it quits with my monthly comic collecting. What a mess.
Good to know about the Titan series. I'll check out Savage Sword, as it sounds more what I'm looking for.
I've heard the same thing about Perez's Wonder Woman. People either love it or hate it. I haven't read a lot of Wonder Woman at all, except for a bit of Gail Simone's run before the New 52, which I liked but never finished. I found the run for a pretty good deal on eBay, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm actually working it into an alternating read-through with the Post-Crisis Batman and Superman titles. We'll see how I fare.
Posted : August 3, 2026 9:04 pm
dannyboy121070 reacted