Random books from jseger9000's library
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft
Twilight of the Empire by Simon R. Green
Shadows in the Mist by Brian Moreland
Robotech: Metamorphosis (New Generation, No 11) by Jack Mckinney
Angels & demons by Dan Brown
Deathstalker War by Simon R. Green
Autobiography of Abbie Hoffman 2 Ed by Abbie Hoffman
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Friends: AlanDraven, beeg, bobmcconnaughey, daddygoth, gothic_cowgirl, heina, herstorian, Huge_Horror_Fan, JeremyCShipp, Lunar, RabidPete, silversurfer, stefferjo, TheBentley, Xiguli
Interesting libraries: Huge_Horror_Fan, RabidPete, TheBentley
LibraryThing authors: Joe Hill (joehill), Charles Holdefer (Krolik), Stephen Leigh (sleigh), Pam Lewis (peemolewis), Chandler Mcgrew (McGrewc), Nicholas Nicastro (nicastrobooks), Keith Strohm (KeithStrohm)
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Member: jseger9000
Library1,486 books — see library
Reviews41 reviews — see reviews
Cloudstag cloud, author cloud
Tags1st in series (93), Omnibus (35), Warhammer (33), Asimov's Robots (31), D&D (27), Robotech (23), Warhammer 40k (21), Anthology (18), No Fear Shakespeare (17) — see all tags
GroupsAtheism and humanism, Atheists review books, Banned Books, BBC Radio 3 Listeners, Bestsellers over the Years, Book Fiend, Brights, Combiners!, Happy Heathens, Historical Fiction — show all groups
Favorite authorsIsaac Asimov, Stephen Baxter, Raymond Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Ervin Howard, John Irving, Garrison Keillor, Stephen King, Bentley Little, Colleen McCullough, Michael Moorcock, Jean Shepherd, John Steinbeck, Peter Straub, Amy Tan, Tennessee Williams (Shared favorites)
Favorite bookstoresBarnes & Noble Booksellers - The Woodlands, Half Price Books - North Oaks Center
About me I'm currently reading: I've recently finished:
Books first, since this is a book site after all: I love scary stories and have a real soft spot for first time authors. I buy way too many books to reasonably read (especially since I consider myself a slow reader). I only read one book at a time. Otherwise I feel like I'm short-changing the author.
I like to carry my books with me everywhere I go (and I'm a cheap bastard), so I prefer good old mass market paperbacks. I will pick up trade paperbacks if that is all that is available, but avoid hardbacks.
I am perhaps a little too verbose in my reviews. I write like I talk. Can't help it.
In order to support my obscene book buying habit, I maintained a seasonal position at Barnes & Noble. Please put books away if you aren't going to buy them!
Other stuff: Born and raised in California, but cheap real estate brought me to the suburban hell that is The Woodlands, TX (a few miles outside of Houston).
I'm kind of a boring person and at times think I could be happy as a hermit. I'm a left-leaning atheist, which makes me a pariah whenever politics or religion come up in public here in Dubya's home state.
Like everybody else, I enjoy books, movies and music (books most of all). In all three I've noticed that I can enjoy Great Works and crap. But I always have some sort of justification for the crap I enjoy.
As for movies, I love horror movies (especially John Carpenter's stuff) and anything by Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg or Sergio Leone. I'm also a big fan of Godzilla or any of the other Toho giant monster movies. For me it just doesn't get better than a man in a rubber suit knocking over buildings, unless it's two men in rubber suits fighting and knocking over buildings. Yeah, baby! That's the good stuff!
I won't bore you with my fav music.
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About my library A book with no rating means I haven't read it or it's been so long that I should re-read it. That's most of my books!
I try to feed my head with decent literature, but a quick scan of my library shows that really I'm a horror junky who loves a generous dose of hard sci-fi and some historical fiction on the side.
I really enjoy American lit from the first half of the twentieth century. Steinbeck is my very favorite author, but I also love Fitzgerald and Hemingway. I've tried some Faulkner and Sinclair Lewis and some others, but so far no one else has moved me the way those big three have.
My true love is horror stories. I think it stems from my interest in folk tales and urban legends. I really go for stories of the supernatural invading everyday life. I don't like endless series about weepy, erotic vampires in black lace. I like my horror stories to have strong characters. They seem to make the supernatural hi-jinks easier to swallow. My favorite writers are Stephen King (except the Dark Tower books. I tend to skip those), Peter Straub and Bentley Little.
I read a lot of fantasy as a kid, but I think I grew out of it once I discovered Arthur C. Clarke and hard sci-fi. I've tried picking up some fantasy since then, but it just doesn't have the magic it once did. (Except maybe for Michael Moorcock...) I do still like reading stuff from the pulp days. Fritz Leiber goes sadly unrecognized as a fantasy grand master. Love Robert E. Howard's stuff. He seems to be the antithesis of what fantasy is nowadays.
I love sci-fi in the 2001 mold. Near future stories set within the solar system about encounters with aliens or alien artifacts. Usually very technical descriptions of life in space with pretty flat characters. Steven Baxter is my favorite current writer. I also love Isaac Asimov and as mentioned Arthur C. Clarke.
Shogun introduced me to the wonder of historical fiction. I especially have a soft spot for ancient Greece and Rome. Some of my favorites are Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire, Colleen McCullough's The Song of Troy and Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa books.
I've only listed books here if I currently own them myself. (My better half has a slew of Dean Koontz books for instance, but I don't consider them 'mine' so they aren't listed.)
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Real nameJames Seger
LocationThe Woodlands, Texas
Emailjseger9000
comcast.net
Account typepublic, lifetime
Connection NewsConnection News
URLs
http://www.librarything.com/profile/jseger9000 (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jseger9000 (library)
Member sinceMay 11, 2007
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I am have a bad ending to the month in reading. Sheesh.
Go for SLITHER if you have it. It was a lot of fun to read.
posted by Huge_Horror_Fan at 3:18 pm (EST) on Aug 27, 2008
I had a hard time rating this book. I mean, I really liked the writing style and the pacing was great. The characters are equally fleshed out and I was able to identify with them easily enough. However, I don’t know if this book really came out as a horror novel and it really burst my bubble of expectation. I thought the premise to the book was exceptional, full of potential and I was expecting a great payoff, especially for being the winner of the 2004 Bram Stoker Award (How do they judge on who the winner is any way?) The payoff was not that great to me. I think there are many people that will disagree with me, though.
The plot relies too much on the investigationmystery surrounding the deaths that are occurring in the small town. However, it also fails as a complete mystery novel, because there is really no guessing on our part to the end. It is very much spelled out for you and you can see exactly where it is going, and it does go that way. It was a book that I read quickly enough and I was surprised at my dissatisfaction. I think my problem is that for a horror branded horror novel, I was expecting some nasty scares, a high body count or some kind of reaction. Instead, I just read along and moved on to the next book without giving this one much thought. It was hardly a memorable read for me.
So, I guess my complaint is on the execution of the novel. If I would have picked this novel in the general fiction aisle, I probably would not have been as disappointed. As a horror novel, it was mediocre with a very straight-forward plot.
With that said, I will still pick up his next novel and expect a better plot execution. The author does have a good use of language. You know when you first begin reading a novel and you are just settling in, you are still aware of what is going on around you. By the time you get very involved, you get tunnel vision and are completely immersed in the plot? With the goods ones anyway, you become a witness to the events rather than just the reader? He did that for me with great facility. I was completely into the story within a short span of time and there could have been a siren wailing in my ear, quite a few seconds would have probably passed by before I went, “Huh?”
LOL…I exaggerate, but you get my meaning, right?
Let me know what you think when you are done…
Cheers,
HHF
posted by Huge_Horror_Fan at 12:45 pm (EST) on Aug 27, 2008
posted by CliffBurns at 10:53 am (EST) on Aug 24, 2008
posted by CliffBurns at 1:49 pm (EST) on Aug 23, 2008
How have you been? I am sorry to tease you with BRIDES OF THE IMPALER. I did get it early for being a member of the Leisure book club. I tend to get them early, but not usually this early (two whole weeks from being released, in Canada, it is probably more like four). It was a great surprise when I got home the other day, and I am already 100pgs into CONVENANT. Before submersing into Lee's novel, I did decide to go with the debut first. I have always been a sucker for a new author.
I noticed that you are quickly become an Edward Lee fan after reading your review on THE BACKWOODS (I think it was). I have that novel of his in my huge TBR Pile and I am considering bumping it up after reading your review. I have read a few Lee novels with the most memorable being SLITHER. It is a knockout of a novel, if you like Lee’s dark humour and red neck antics. The ending twist did make me laugh, but he did pull it off well. The other books that I have read by him were the first two entries to his Hell series. The first one was not too bad; I liked the second one a bit more. I still have to get around to reading the third installment and FLESH GOTHIC too, now that I think about it.
Take care and don’t be a stranger,
HHF
posted by Huge_Horror_Fan at 2:27 pm (EST) on Aug 22, 2008
posted by silversurfer at 12:52 pm (EST) on Aug 20, 2008
posted by silversurfer at 11:09 am (EST) on Aug 20, 2008
I don't own all the books I have listed--If I did, i would need a Home, with a library room {Dream!} I list all the books that I have read in my lifetime. Of course, if I remember them...Like CHROM, I remembered reading it, had in my collection, then it was lost. So my library is as much in my head as it is on my shelves...LOL! I think you should list ALL the books you ahve read, whether you own them or not. IMO...
Tony
posted by silversurfer at 11:07 am (EST) on Aug 20, 2008
One of my favorite Gay novels, is The Good Life by Gordon Merrick--it is based on a true story--quite good--Hope this helps!
Tony
posted by silversurfer at 8:10 am (EST) on Aug 20, 2008
Here is another one I am looking for. It's called THE CLUB--it came out in the late 70's-It is a novel, but a thinly disguised account of the days/nights at Studio 54--It was written by a former Bartender. It was a real expose, because it blew the lid off of the sexual/drug induced behaviour of the stars. He had characters that resembled real people, like LIZA. Halston, etc. It was a fun read-but i can't locate it, nor remember the author.
Any help? Thanks!!
posted by silversurfer at 8:07 am (EST) on Aug 20, 2008
TONY
posted by silversurfer at 1:19 pm (EST) on Aug 19, 2008
Tony-SilverSurfer
posted by silversurfer at 11:12 am (EST) on Aug 19, 2008
posted by silversurfer at 10:46 am (EST) on Aug 19, 2008
TONY-New York City
posted by silversurfer at 10:45 am (EST) on Aug 16, 2008
PS: For me, it has been part of the charm of LibraryThing, to ~meet~ interesting people with interesting ideas and interesting libraries, even though there may be no books of common interest. So, jseger9000, it was nice to meet you!
posted by countrylife at 11:08 am (EST) on Aug 14, 2008
Cheers,
Mark
posted by markprobst at 8:52 pm (EST) on Aug 10, 2008
Bob
posted by GreyHead at 3:44 am (EST) on Jul 31, 2008
I probably won't see it, except maybe on DVD. I wasn't a big fan of the story when I read it several years ago and I can't say I thought any more highly of it the second time I read it. My interest was piqued when I saw the trailer before The Dark Knight, hence the reason I read it again. I don't know if they are labeling it as a "superhero" movie (the characters are more anti-heroes). With TDK, a new standard has been set for superhero films.
posted by daddygoth at 11:08 pm (EST) on Jul 29, 2008
posted by bobmcconnaughey at 11:30 pm (EST) on Jun 23, 2008
posted by bobmcconnaughey at 2:24 pm (EST) on Jun 20, 2008
cheers - get a SUV cheap, cheap, cheap today~! discounted like never before~
duh
bob
posted by bobmcconnaughey at 10:54 am (EST) on Jun 20, 2008
the article is quite long and both informative and funny..It opens thusly:
"NOV 9, 2007 -- RUSSIA! Magazine is proud to present actor Viggo Mortensen, the star of David Cronenberg's hit Eastern Promises, with its inaugural Rolling R – an annual award for the best "Russian" performance by a Hollywood actor. The official citation commends Mortensen for his "sensitive, multifaceted and authentic" portrayal of Nikolai, a morally conflicted thug.
"Unlike the Muslim, Jewish and other communities, the Russians have been historically docile about being portrayed as drunk, murderous plotters," explains Michael Idov, the editor of RUSSIA!, "But that's not the offensive part. The offensive part is being portrayed as a drunk, murderous plotter with a Czech name and a Transylvanian accent."
"The bar for verisimilitude is so low right now that, even in an excellent film like The Bourne Identity, Bourne's 'Russian' passport is filled with random gibberish. We'd like to reward the ones doing it right. This year, we're proud to acknowledge Mr. Mortensen, whose star turn in Eastern Promises is amazingly sensitive, multifaceted, and above all authentic. His character even speaks a specific old-school thief slang, and switches to Ukrainian when comforting a Ukrainian woman."
posted by bobmcconnaughey at 7:10 pm (EST) on Jun 15, 2008
posted by bobmcconnaughey at 6:42 am (EST) on Jun 15, 2008
posted by herstorian at 11:40 am (EST) on Jun 11, 2008
posted by herstorian at 9:43 am (EST) on Jun 10, 2008
Remember when you accidentally misquoted Laurel and everyone insinuated that you did it maliciously. They were being ugly and rude over something that should have been a non-issue. Then that TTzuma guy said that unless you apologize he won't be responding to your posts. I don't know about you but those people are f#@*ing jerks. Hey man, let me know if you and Pete found a new board. Now I'm not too familiar with this site and haven't figured out how to check if people have left messages for me (which shouldn't be too hard--so let me know on this site or leave a PM at horrorworld.org.
Laters,
Eric
posted by DUNEmessiah at 1:09 am (EST) on May 8, 2008
Libertarians believe in maximzing both social and economic liberties, while left-wing socialists and right-wing socialists believe in limiting some freedoms but not others. So when I call myself a "liberal" I mean it in the full sense of the term, like with classical liberalism, while most people today calling themselves liberal are only liberal on social issues. There are in fact a significant percentage of people who are starting to call themselves "socially liberal and fiscally conservative." But when you're talking about "fiscal" anything, you're talking about the extent of government powers, not necessarily about individual freedom.
Now, just because you think issues like healthcare are important doesn't necessarily mean the government is the best solution to such issues. I haven't had a chance to read it myself, but Mary Ruwart's book "Healing Our World" is supposed to address the concerns of progressives about non-governmental solutions to "progressive" issues. An older edition of her book is available online for free. Looking over the book it has a few hokey references to the Bible, but she is no social conservative. She has described herself as being a former liberal and her sister lived with her while she was dying of cancer and was actually an assisted suicide patient of Jack Kevorkian.
posted by Lunar at 9:05 pm (EST) on Apr 24, 2008
posted by Lunar at 2:23 am (EST) on Apr 24, 2008
I put that book in my wishlist on Amazon . . . I always
do that, and it sits there, until I can't take it any more,
and in a frenzy order new books. So many to read in the
meantime, ack!
I'm reading Jared Diamond's "The Third Chimpanzee" and
Daniel Dennett's "Darwin's Dangerous Idea", sorta simultaneously,
they compliment each other pretty well . . .
posted by Atomicmutant at 10:26 pm (EST) on Apr 21, 2008
posted by RabidPete at 12:48 am (EST) on Apr 16, 2008
somehow she still left a comment on my profile after I blocked her.
posted by goodwitch62442 at 4:49 pm (EST) on Apr 3, 2008
posted by goodwitch62442 at 4:56 pm (EST) on Apr 2, 2008
Yeah, it was well reviewed, but poorly distributed. It remains as probably
the project most near and dear to me, but the publisher counts it as a
flop. Oh, well. At some point, we may ressurrect it when the rights revert
to us from the publisher. Those that were able to find it in the store
seem to enjoy it, so maybe if it's done differently, we'll find our audience.
In any event, I got to make a game about giant monsters smashing, so that
was pretty cool to do.
Glad you enjoyed the review and the book. I lap up any of those books that
I see (within budgetary constraints) about the current culture wars, and
faith/reason issues. Just picked up [The Age of American Unreason] by
Susan Jacoby, I really enjoyed her previous work, [Freethinkers], check it
out if you haven't.
Cheers!
posted by Atomicmutant at 9:51 am (EST) on Mar 27, 2008
posted by RabidPete at 11:41 pm (EST) on Mar 25, 2008
posted by lindasbooks at 10:29 pm (EST) on Mar 20, 2008
Hah Atomic Punch I wondered where js was.
I try to stay away from myspace, really hate it :( dunno why. It's an irrational thing, like spiders.
posted by RabidPete at 8:56 pm (EST) on Mar 19, 2008
posted by RabidPete at 7:49 pm (EST) on Mar 19, 2008
posted by WorldMaker at 2:29 pm (EST) on Mar 18, 2008
Cheers,
Alan
posted by AlanDraven at 11:53 pm (EST) on Mar 16, 2008
I've added your suggestions to by TBR list. Thanks for the tips!
posted by drneutron at 8:01 pm (EST) on Jan 26, 2008
but didn't want to be too obnoxious. I also looked at the group "book talk".
I've been thinking that if that site does its job well, eventually it will sell nothing.
With a huge group of people voting, everyone will find something to not like, lol.
posted by Atomicmutant at 4:49 pm (EST) on Jan 17, 2008
I do have almost all of Bentley Little's books, but none of the others that you mentioned.
posted by youthfulzombie at 1:43 pm (EST) on Jan 6, 2008
Funny, but I have the same problem... actually all my reviews are struggle :). But, with better books I put pressure on my self to write a good quality review.. and then freeze up, of course. Regarding Ann Patchett, I haven't read other books by her, partially because I think Bel Canto would be tough to match. But, I'm hoping to pick up "Run" sometime, which came out last summer.
posted by dchaikin at 9:01 am (EST) on Jan 2, 2008
posted by dchaikin at 9:42 pm (EST) on Jan 1, 2008
Thank goodness. I was starting to think "freak" may have been too strong. I forget that not everyone considers it an honorific.
The slightly embarrassing thing about my library is that I own a lot, I mean a LOT, of stuff that I haven't read--all those years of access to stuff I could check out ruined me, I guess. (And now I'm on a public library jag. What can I say? I have a sickness.) In other words--boy, do I have a lot of catching up to do, myself. Looking at your favs... Gosh, did I put Chandler on my list? I love that guy. And I fell in love with Asimov for his robot short stories, but haven't read any of the novels yet.
Looks like you may need to fall in love with some women (authors), though.
posted by Xiguli at 1:53 am (EST) on Jan 1, 2008
posted by bluetyson at 4:31 am (EST) on Dec 29, 2007
posted by bluetyson at 5:42 am (EST) on Dec 28, 2007
posted by bluetyson at 2:07 am (EST) on Dec 27, 2007
So hello. You look like a freak worth knowing.
posted by Xiguli at 9:37 am (EST) on Dec 19, 2007
Also, I'm glad to see you're a fellow Happy Heathen. You can never have too many rational people around.
posted by shadow8pro at 1:11 pm (EST) on Dec 18, 2007
posted by dchaikin at 9:35 pm (EST) on Dec 15, 2007
posted by weener at 1:34 pm (EST) on Dec 11, 2007
Sincerely,
Charles
posted by Fictionman at 12:15 pm (EST) on Dec 8, 2007
Thank you for taking the time to invite me to "Thing(amabrarian)s That Go Bump in the Night" Group. I have just accepted your invitation and I will make sure to take a look around. If you really love horror, I encourage you to join up at the Leisure Forum. Great group of people there that love to discuss all types of different issues revolving "horror fiction". We literally cover about everything from the economics of publishing in the genre, to movies, all the way to book reviews. Quite a few authors appear occasionally for discussion with some honorable names such as Steve Vernon, Michael Laimo, J.F. Gonzalez, Brian Keene, Tom Piccirilli, Sarah Pinborough and many others.
posted by Huge_Horror_Fan at 4:39 pm (EST) on Nov 2, 2007
posted by philosojerk at 8:54 am (EST) on Sep 20, 2007
Cheers :)
posted by philosojerk at 3:39 pm (EST) on Sep 18, 2007
posted by Scaryguy at 7:00 pm (EST) on Sep 16, 2007