Closed the cover of Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 05 yesterday.

It's a compilation of stories from early 1980s Dredd, including Judge Death Lives (my favorite in this book), Block Mania, and The Apocalypse War (strong 80s-relevant Cold War nuclear angst theme). Those who are drawn to classic Mega-City One tales will find worthwhile fodder. The production of the book is a bit off though, bold lettering is sometimes very difficult to read (due to a change in page size compared to the original print I assume), and text as well as panels get partially eaten by the binding every so often, due to it being too close to the inner margins in places.

Just finished the sixth Hornblower book this morning (written by C.S. Forester).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Hornblower

Five more to go!

The TV series with Ioan Gruffudd is terrific, too.

Got a paper bag full of Batman comics, so yeah.

Im reading Finders Keepers by Stephen King.

I dont know whats wrong with him these days, he seems to be leaving the supernatural stuff to his son, This book is a sequel of sorts to Mr Mercedes, it is a little bit better than Mercedes but it could have been written by anyone really, it is not the type of book you would expect from Mr King, its just a basic cops and robbers yarn.

Stephen was the god of authors, 'specially supernatural stuff, back in the day.
I didn't even know he was still in the business, that's how bad he is nowadays, no one seems to take notice of him.

I'm reading Vlad, The Last Confession by C.C. Humphreys. It's a bit... more than I'd expected in some regards, less in others. Overall, the framing of the story is done exceptionally well especially, and it keeps me drawn in at every turn.

I've been reading it on my way to and back from school on the train and bus, which is less than ideal for the kind of story it is, but at least the chapters aren't very long and the language simple enough that one chapter can be finished on a single trip.

Currently re-reading Tolkien. Almost through Silmarillion, then it's time for Children of Hurin

A Song of Ice and Fire - A Storm of Swords.

I'm currently getting a little annoyed by the books. There's only bleakness, fear, murder and rape. There is no lightheartedness, hope or even a little humour found whatsoever.

I don't mind fictional violence. The Witcher books (and also the other works by Sapkovski) are also often brutal and depict stomach churning horror of war and how cruel people can be. But they are also filled with little moments of joy and come with pieces of fine humour, be askew references to folk tales and other works or witty dialogue or just situational comedy.

Turns out I just seem to stop caring about the characters in Martin's books. Maybe it's just self-preservation because nothing good ever happens to them.
I still read on since I'm kind of curious how it will play out... But I think I'll pause after this book and read something else.

I am reading a novel by Peter Carey called Oscar and Lucinda. It is dreadfully dull!

I finally managed to finish Oscar and Lucinda. It was dull all the way through...

Finished Julian Barnes' Sense of an Ending.

Really fluid prose. Been a long time I read prose this good. It's first person, which I usually find a barrier, but worked very well. And the ending made sense to me, at all levels. It was a satisfying read.

I should start reading proper books again, but the backlog of Linux Journal issues is too tempting.

Just started The River King by Alice Hoffman this morning. 45 pages in and it seems promising.

Absolutely loving Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, albeit I am reading it very slowly. I'm just about done with Part 1 of the first book. I hope to read many more Sanderson books/series in the future as he's a new favorite author now.

I'll be interested in your further thoughts when you're done. I found all three books very original and quite a contrast after reading the Malazan series.