Thank you for bringing up banned books. As a teenager, I did all my book reports on banned books, in junior high and high schoool. It was the 80's and the Christian Right were entering into our schools.. 😢 Got in trouble for reading/reporting on "1984" in the year 1984. Ugh. 🙄 The only two books that I did reports on, where the books weren't banned, were "The Handmaid's Tale", which just had come out in the mid-80s and the bible. The latter of which I read every instance of sordid activity that lies between those pages. Yeah, I got sent to the principle's office all the time, but still got good grades, surprisingly. You're never too young to make a difference and ruffle feathers that should be ruffled..
Olly, Thanks for sticking up for Banned/Challenged Books! As long as people read one book counts for the reading event. I fear it’s only going to get worse. Happy to see you with a moody month. 🤗
One of my sprawling local charity supporting used bookstores has a new shelf labeled "banned books." I was astonished to see all of the books that were stupidly banned. Native Son by Richard Wright? I had a discussion with the lady who manages this shelf and quickly came to realize she had created it to inform the public of the idiocy. It would be really ironic if Fahrenheit 451 showed up there, which wouldn't surprise me at all. The fact that the Goosebumps series has been banned (a surprise to me) tells us that the "powers that be" want to dumb down our kids and discourage reading so they can have more access to their minds through the idiot phones. I spent last Sunday, by the way, watching American Football at the home of the original illustrator of all of the Goosebumps book covers. A delightful fellow and friend.
Really hard to find good, stylish reading lights with sleak low profile. Thanks for heads up. Just finished The Reformatory last week. Really liked it. LOVE banned books. My Black Panther Party member father and hippie artist mother modified my school summer reading lists while in school in 1970's. Read many great books then. I graduated Harvard Medical School my twin M.I.T. in engineering so we turned out OK I guess. Lol. Thanks for heads up.
Monster Blood has always been one of my personal favorites, but it's actually quite a divisive book in the community, surprisingly. The sequels, however, are more understandably not well received. I still have fun with them, though, lol
When you started talking about getting the wrong version of A Kiss Before Dying I was really hoping you had ended up with Sweet Valley High: A Kiss Before Dying where the twins end gang warfare in their home town. And lots of bunny covers.
I have no idea what I will read in February, but I am starting King of Rabbits today, and I hope to start and finish Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon by the end of this week, as well.
On my way to finishing Osgood As Gone based on your recommendation. It’s a really good read. Reckon I’ll be making my way through the series after this.
I'm currently listening to A Game of Thrones on audiobook. Really enjoying Roy Dotrice's narration. I have a copy of The Housemaid by Freida McFadden that I'll at least start for the trashy weekend. She's had great success w this book & is now churning out books like she's going to the electric chair. LOL
An awesome list, as always! Some really exciting things. Also, I'm so sorry, Olli, but you're going to get another from an indie author sometime in the next couple months as I send you the next Duke Gibbs novel! Once I finish it, of course.
I just read an Eric La Rocca short story in a collection of extreme horror short stories. And by god, it was one of the most unpleasant and horrific things I've ever read. So good luck with that one 😂 I think I'll stick to something more wholesome. Like the Marquis De Sade or something...
I read _The Reformatory_ earlier in the month and just finished _The Buffalo Hunter Hunter_ this morning. Both great books, but also both quite heavy and unflinching. TBHH is definitely not a western, though. An anti-western, maybe, but even that is suspect as a genre convention. It's an epistolary novel, which can be seen as an homage to _Dracula,_ of course, but is also an effective method for exploring voice/presentation/experience, highlighted by the fact that there are 3 different voices presented in this epistolary format and even more so when, in the first chapter there is an epistolary account given in contrast to a news article about the same event. This is a story about ownership--not of land, really, but of power, guilt, blame, and responsibility.
@CriminOllyBlog Probably wouldn't hurt! You have enough lighter fare in this pile of possibilities, I'm sure you'll find something fun. Plus both clock in at around 500 pages so it might be nice to read something punchier and shorter between... I read Agustina Bazterrica's new novel _The Unworthy_ and Laird Barron's new short story collection _Not a Speck of Light_ between, and neither of those were particularly light (though they explore different types of heaviness, darkness). There is something about being a white American that makes one almost complicit in the violence of both TD and SGJ's books, and if not complicit then at least a beneficiary of it. Being across the pond you won't have that same (meta)experience, but they are pretty heavy all the same. I am an admitted SGJ fan, but I enjoyed TBHH so much that I pre-ordered a copy of the hardcover when I was only 2/3 done with the ARC, because I know I will want to return to it and share it with others.
Hello, Olly! You may have already talked about this in the past, but do you have any interest in reading books from R.L. Stine's Fear Street series? The Babysitter is a great one, and there are many others.
January was a very slack month for me. I need to pick up the pace in February. I'm looking for publishers releasing short ePubs in the vein of mass market paperback trash. Men's adventure, Westerns, mysteries, etc. When I search for shorter books on the A, I get spammed with K. Unlimited content and I'm not interested. I'd love to read some of the classic trash you talk about on the channel, but maby (if not most) aren't available in ePub. I guess maybe Hard Case Crime would be a good one to buy the catalog from?
Olly, I couldn't agree more about the Goosebumps books. I was born in 1982, and those books (along with Calvin and Hobbes) made me into a reader. I remember reading Stine's books a few years before I started reading Stephen King, and even later on I would go back and forth between King's very adult novels and Stine's middle-grades ones. Also, as an English teacher in the States, I can 100% say that the majority of books people are challenging are books they're never read. Books are windows and mirrors, allowing kids (and adults) to see others' POV or to see themselves reflected in what they're reading, but too many people don't want that--they only want the status quo reinforced. One of my February books is also The Reformatory! I'm excited for it! I'm halfway through my ARC of Buffalo Hunter Hunter. I'm really curious to see your take on it. I LOVE it so far. I'm about to post my review of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, which was fantastic, too, so I'm sure it will be challenged or banned.
Really great to hear your take. I’m slightly too old to have read Goosebumps as a kid but I’m sure if they’d around when I was a kid I’d have loved them. Definitely agree about the Hendrix!
I'm going to admit I do not like Monster Blood and especially not the sequels (for some reason there are at least four in the original run and then more in the sequel series.) It has a very mixed reputation in the fandom - they're also not as horror focused as you would expect and seem to rely a lot on shenanigans and getting back at bullies. I'm not sure if you already have it but if you want a stronger book the first two released before it, Welcome to Dead House and Don't Go in the Basement, are pretty good.
Thank you. Welcome to Dead House is one that I’ve read and thought was decently creepy. I’ll probably stick with Monster Blood, the good thing about Goosebumps books is they only take an hour to read so not much lost if I don’t love it.
Me again...I just had to chime in regarding banned teen books. Christopher Pyke was my favourite, and I remember so well how much I looked forward to each one coming out, and trying to pace myself so that I didn't get through them too quickly! They were just adult enough to bridge the gap between kids' chapter books and Stephen King and V. C. Andrews, and they introduced me to adult interpersonal dynamics and adult emotions. I don't understand the objective of banning books; you can't keep kids from growing up and learning about the adult world, and books are a wonderful way to allow them to transition into that world in a safe way. Oh, and looking forward to A Kiss Before Dying this month!
Thank you for bringing up banned books.
As a teenager, I did all my book reports on banned books, in junior high and high schoool. It was the 80's and the Christian Right were entering into our schools.. 😢
Got in trouble for reading/reporting on "1984" in the year 1984. Ugh. 🙄
The only two books that I did reports on, where the books weren't banned, were "The Handmaid's Tale", which just had come out in the mid-80s and the bible. The latter of which I read every instance of sordid activity that lies between those pages.
Yeah, I got sent to the principle's office all the time, but still got good grades, surprisingly.
You're never too young to make a difference and ruffle feathers that should be ruffled..
An Excellent Pile of Possibilities Olly! I also need to read The Reformatory this year. I plan to read more indie authors in future.
Thanks Cliff!
Olly, Thanks for sticking up for Banned/Challenged Books! As long as people read one book counts for the reading event. I fear it’s only going to get worse. Happy to see you with a moody month. 🤗
Agreed, it’s more important than ever we do things like this
£300+ for a light is insane! I bought a light that goes round your neck for £13 which works wonders
One of my sprawling local charity supporting used bookstores has a new shelf labeled "banned books." I was astonished to see all of the books that were stupidly banned. Native Son by Richard Wright? I had a discussion with the lady who manages this shelf and quickly came to realize she had created it to inform the public of the idiocy.
It would be really ironic if Fahrenheit 451 showed up there, which wouldn't surprise me at all. The fact that the Goosebumps series has been banned (a surprise to me) tells us that the "powers that be" want to dumb down our kids and discourage reading so they can have more access to their minds through the idiot phones.
I spent last Sunday, by the way, watching American Football at the home of the original illustrator of all of the Goosebumps book covers. A delightful fellow and friend.
Really hard to find good, stylish reading lights with sleak low profile. Thanks for heads up.
Just finished The Reformatory last week. Really liked it.
LOVE banned books. My Black Panther Party member father and hippie artist mother modified my school summer reading lists while in school in 1970's. Read many great books then. I graduated Harvard Medical School my twin M.I.T. in engineering so we turned out OK I guess. Lol. Thanks for heads up.
Love that your parents did that!
Me too. Their motto was "free your mind and your a$$ will follow." Thanks for the response.
The Reformatory was my favourite book of last season. Fantastic 👏
Hooray! You’ll love the Due & Jones. Both very American novels, but the emotional themes transcend.
Really looking forward to both, thanks again for the ARC of the SGJ!
Keep giving people this work.
Monster Blood has always been one of my personal favorites, but it's actually quite a divisive book in the community, surprisingly. The sequels, however, are more understandably not well received. I still have fun with them, though, lol
Hey, Austin! I’m sure I’ll have fun with it. Stine hasn’t let me down yet.
When you started talking about getting the wrong version of A Kiss Before Dying I was really hoping you had ended up with Sweet Valley High: A Kiss Before Dying where the twins end gang warfare in their home town. And lots of bunny covers.
That does sound like something I’d read!
Olly you definitely need to read The Reformatory. One of the best books ever. It’s the perfect book for a buddy read.
I have no idea what I will read in February, but I am starting King of Rabbits today, and I hope to start and finish Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon by the end of this week, as well.
I plan on joining in the wasted weekend, probably with a hard-boiled detective or crime novel.
On my way to finishing Osgood As Gone based on your recommendation. It’s a really good read. Reckon I’ll be making my way through the series after this.
Trust me you will want to pick up book 2 as soon as you finish it !
I just listened to the reformatory. Absolutely fantastic! Amazing book!
I'm currently listening to A Game of Thrones on audiobook. Really enjoying Roy Dotrice's narration.
I have a copy of The Housemaid by Freida McFadden that I'll at least start for the trashy weekend. She's had great success w this book & is now churning out books like she's going to the electric chair. LOL
I'm looking forward to future reviews of 'An Old Captivity', 'The Buffalo Hunter' and 'Boon'🤞I'm reading 'Palestine' by Joe Sacco.
I need to read that!
@@CriminOllyBlog It's a graphic novel, really great. I also recommend his other graphic novel Gorazde.
An awesome list, as always! Some really exciting things. Also, I'm so sorry, Olli, but you're going to get another from an indie author sometime in the next couple months as I send you the next Duke Gibbs novel! Once I finish it, of course.
Oh awesome! Look forward to it
I just read an Eric La Rocca short story in a collection of extreme horror short stories. And by god, it was one of the most unpleasant and horrific things I've ever read. So good luck with that one 😂 I think I'll stick to something more wholesome. Like the Marquis De Sade or something...
Ha yeah he doesn’t pull any punches
@CriminOllyBlog He's a good writer. But blimey 😄
Now we need your dad's recommendations for books set in Panama, Mexico, and Canada ...
😂😂
I read _The Reformatory_ earlier in the month and just finished _The Buffalo Hunter Hunter_ this morning. Both great books, but also both quite heavy and unflinching.
TBHH is definitely not a western, though. An anti-western, maybe, but even that is suspect as a genre convention. It's an epistolary novel, which can be seen as an homage to _Dracula,_ of course, but is also an effective method for exploring voice/presentation/experience, highlighted by the fact that there are 3 different voices presented in this epistolary format and even more so when, in the first chapter there is an epistolary account given in contrast to a news article about the same event. This is a story about ownership--not of land, really, but of power, guilt, blame, and responsibility.
Interesting! Sounds like maybe I’ll need something lighter in between
@CriminOllyBlog Probably wouldn't hurt! You have enough lighter fare in this pile of possibilities, I'm sure you'll find something fun. Plus both clock in at around 500 pages so it might be nice to read something punchier and shorter between... I read Agustina Bazterrica's new novel _The Unworthy_ and Laird Barron's new short story collection _Not a Speck of Light_ between, and neither of those were particularly light (though they explore different types of heaviness, darkness).
There is something about being a white American that makes one almost complicit in the violence of both TD and SGJ's books, and if not complicit then at least a beneficiary of it. Being across the pond you won't have that same (meta)experience, but they are pretty heavy all the same.
I am an admitted SGJ fan, but I enjoyed TBHH so much that I pre-ordered a copy of the hardcover when I was only 2/3 done with the ARC, because I know I will want to return to it and share it with others.
I just finished reading "Peyton Place" by Grace Metalious. That would have been a good one for GarbAugust 3.5 weekend.
Great book! You could always read the sequel!
Hello, Olly! You may have already talked about this in the past, but do you have any interest in reading books from R.L. Stine's Fear Street series? The Babysitter is a great one, and there are many others.
I’d definitely like to read some of them!
January was a very slack month for me. I need to pick up the pace in February.
I'm looking for publishers releasing short ePubs in the vein of mass market paperback trash. Men's adventure, Westerns, mysteries, etc. When I search for shorter books on the A, I get spammed with K. Unlimited content and I'm not interested. I'd love to read some of the classic trash you talk about on the channel, but maby (if not most) aren't available in ePub.
I guess maybe Hard Case Crime would be a good one to buy the catalog from?
Olly, I couldn't agree more about the Goosebumps books. I was born in 1982, and those books (along with Calvin and Hobbes) made me into a reader. I remember reading Stine's books a few years before I started reading Stephen King, and even later on I would go back and forth between King's very adult novels and Stine's middle-grades ones. Also, as an English teacher in the States, I can 100% say that the majority of books people are challenging are books they're never read. Books are windows and mirrors, allowing kids (and adults) to see others' POV or to see themselves reflected in what they're reading, but too many people don't want that--they only want the status quo reinforced.
One of my February books is also The Reformatory! I'm excited for it! I'm halfway through my ARC of Buffalo Hunter Hunter. I'm really curious to see your take on it. I LOVE it so far. I'm about to post my review of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, which was fantastic, too, so I'm sure it will be challenged or banned.
Really great to hear your take. I’m slightly too old to have read Goosebumps as a kid but I’m sure if they’d around when I was a kid I’d have loved them.
Definitely agree about the Hendrix!
Goosebumps was banned? I love those books!
They’re so much fun
I'm going to admit I do not like Monster Blood and especially not the sequels (for some reason there are at least four in the original run and then more in the sequel series.) It has a very mixed reputation in the fandom - they're also not as horror focused as you would expect and seem to rely a lot on shenanigans and getting back at bullies. I'm not sure if you already have it but if you want a stronger book the first two released before it, Welcome to Dead House and Don't Go in the Basement, are pretty good.
Thank you. Welcome to Dead House is one that I’ve read and thought was decently creepy. I’ll probably stick with Monster Blood, the good thing about Goosebumps books is they only take an hour to read so not much lost if I don’t love it.
Me again...I just had to chime in regarding banned teen books. Christopher Pyke was my favourite, and I remember so well how much I looked forward to each one coming out, and trying to pace myself so that I didn't get through them too quickly! They were just adult enough to bridge the gap between kids' chapter books and Stephen King and V. C. Andrews, and they introduced me to adult interpersonal dynamics and adult emotions. I don't understand the objective of banning books; you can't keep kids from growing up and learning about the adult world, and books are a wonderful way to allow them to transition into that world in a safe way. Oh, and looking forward to A Kiss Before Dying this month!