Search
Search results
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2061 KP) rated Crime de Cocoa (A Chocoholic Mystery #1-3) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
The collection of the first three Chocoholic mysteries plus the short story that was set and released before the series started. If you haven't started the series, this might be the place to start. The stories are light but fun and the characters are great.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/02/book-review-crime-de-cocoa-by-joanna.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/02/book-review-crime-de-cocoa-by-joanna.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Jonathan Kellerman recommended The Stories of John Cheever in Books (curated)
David Sedaris recommended Taking Care in Books (curated)
Debbiereadsbook (1069 KP) rated Kiss Me Deadly in Books
Jun 13, 2023
Paper Dolls, I felt was perfect for a full length story
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
6 short stories, of the horror/paranormal variety.
So, here's the thing.
I like short stories, I really do. The skill with a short is, you gotta grab the reader, and hold on for those few pages and not let go.
And here, I was only grabbed once or twice, and one of those was an excerpt from another collection.
I loved the excerpt from One, which appears in Rock Paper Scissors. That really got me good and excited for this collection, it really did. I'd like to go back and read THAT particular story.
The Swinging Tree was rather good too. That certainly grabbed and didn't let go!
Paper Dolls, I felt was perfect for a full length story. What Zach and Paris could get up to boggles the (obviously very twisted) mind!
But the other stories, while well written and well told, didn't grab me too much.
I think it would have better, for ME, had I not read these short stories back to back. Maybe if I had read one, then something else, then come back to these, I might have enjoyed them better.
But still, an enjoyable way to pass an hour.
3 stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
6 short stories, of the horror/paranormal variety.
So, here's the thing.
I like short stories, I really do. The skill with a short is, you gotta grab the reader, and hold on for those few pages and not let go.
And here, I was only grabbed once or twice, and one of those was an excerpt from another collection.
I loved the excerpt from One, which appears in Rock Paper Scissors. That really got me good and excited for this collection, it really did. I'd like to go back and read THAT particular story.
The Swinging Tree was rather good too. That certainly grabbed and didn't let go!
Paper Dolls, I felt was perfect for a full length story. What Zach and Paris could get up to boggles the (obviously very twisted) mind!
But the other stories, while well written and well told, didn't grab me too much.
I think it would have better, for ME, had I not read these short stories back to back. Maybe if I had read one, then something else, then come back to these, I might have enjoyed them better.
But still, an enjoyable way to pass an hour.
3 stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Shaun Collins (3 KP) rated Doctor Who: Twelve Doctors of Christmas in Books
Jan 12, 2018
A fun and whimsical collection of short stories featuring each of the Doctors and set at Christmas time. Of course, some of the stories by the various artists are better than others, but there was only one that I felt was not up to the same quality as the others (the second Doctor story) and yet it was still enjoyable. A great, read for the holidays. Full review coming at www.travelingthevortex.com
Dean (6921 KP) rated Creepshow 2 (1987) in Movies
Sep 9, 2018
Very poor
A really poor collection of 3 short horror stories. All looking very outdated and silly, the acting is terrible apart from George Kennedy in the first story. The 2nd and 3rd stories barely have a plot to mention. The animation inbetween is rather poor as well, should have stuck with Tom Savini in the mask, rather than the cartoon. There are much better horror anthologies out there!
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2061 KP) rated Crime Travel in Books
Dec 9, 2019
Great Short Story Collection to Read Any Time
This short story collection features 15 stories from various authors that combine time travel and crime fiction. The stories are very creative, involving a variety of methods of time travel from people who build machines to those who stumble upon strange ways to get back in time. The periods range from people traveling to the present, to those traveling to Shakespeare’s England, a New Jersey beach town in the 1970’s, and a couple trips to the 1960’s to name a few. Meanwhile, we get a couple capers, a locked room mystery, and a hard-boiled PI among other great stories.
This is a very strong collection of stories. While a couple weren’t quite to my taste, I can see how others would love them and it was a very minor point. I laughed at a few of the stories, another couple made me cry, in a good way. Most importantly, I had fun. There are so many great stories in this collection, you’ll be glad you picked it up. And if you don’t get it now, you just might have to come back in time and yell at yourself for putting it off and depriving yourself of the joys of reading these stories right away.
This is a very strong collection of stories. While a couple weren’t quite to my taste, I can see how others would love them and it was a very minor point. I laughed at a few of the stories, another couple made me cry, in a good way. Most importantly, I had fun. There are so many great stories in this collection, you’ll be glad you picked it up. And if you don’t get it now, you just might have to come back in time and yell at yourself for putting it off and depriving yourself of the joys of reading these stories right away.
Refreshingly different voices (1 more)
Short, easy to digest stories
Listen to the call!
A solid anthology, there were some weaker tales in there but no more than a Stephen King short story collection.
Really interesting mix of different perspectives and writing styles. I was impressed at how they were all given the same prompt and yet did such vastly different things with it.
Some of them really stuck with me. 'Forest Man' definitely got me the most. It drew me in wonderfully and successfully creeped me out.
------------------
Thank you to Book Sirens and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Really interesting mix of different perspectives and writing styles. I was impressed at how they were all given the same prompt and yet did such vastly different things with it.
Some of them really stuck with me. 'Forest Man' definitely got me the most. It drew me in wonderfully and successfully creeped me out.
------------------
Thank you to Book Sirens and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales in Books
Apr 2, 2020
Another great collection of stories
I feel like I need to include a preface with all of my Stephen King reviews, or some form of disclaimer, to warn any readers that he is my favourite author so my review may not be as neutral as it could be. Either that or he really is a great writer 😆
Everything’s Eventual is a collection of short stories that I read well over a decade ago, and as short stories require a lot less brain power than a full on novel, I decided to give this a go as I couldn’t recall many of the stories. And overall this is a very good collection of short stories. They’re all well written with developed characters (as you’d expect with King I’m sure), and the stories themselves have all got very good plots and storylines. The stories are all well balanced and there are none in here that are either overly long or too short, they’re very well paced. There are some great stories in here, most notably for me the John Dillinger story ‘The Death of Jack Hamilton’ and the Dark Tower prequel ‘The Little Sisters of Eluria’, but all of the stories are entertaining and very enjoyable. I wouldn’t say there are any amazing standout ‘wow’ stories in this, which is possibly why I’ve marked it down a little from some of King’s other collections of short stories.
Everything’s Eventual is a collection of short stories that I read well over a decade ago, and as short stories require a lot less brain power than a full on novel, I decided to give this a go as I couldn’t recall many of the stories. And overall this is a very good collection of short stories. They’re all well written with developed characters (as you’d expect with King I’m sure), and the stories themselves have all got very good plots and storylines. The stories are all well balanced and there are none in here that are either overly long or too short, they’re very well paced. There are some great stories in here, most notably for me the John Dillinger story ‘The Death of Jack Hamilton’ and the Dark Tower prequel ‘The Little Sisters of Eluria’, but all of the stories are entertaining and very enjoyable. I wouldn’t say there are any amazing standout ‘wow’ stories in this, which is possibly why I’ve marked it down a little from some of King’s other collections of short stories.
I adore short stories, their format allows me to drop into a different world quickly, and in today busy world, for me to consume a world other than my own and experience life from a different point of view. The first story in the collection of "5 Minute" reads encourages the reader to do precisely this, to put yourself in the place of a mouse and have your curiosity peeked by that small hole in the roof of your box, a story told by Dr, Casswell but viewed from an everyday person's viewpoint these three characters are only ever leading in one direction. And once you've read it, you also will be, and that journey is further on in this imagination filling thought-provoking short stories.