Sam's Updates en-US Wed, 16 Apr 2025 21:28:42 -0700 60 Sam's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadStatus9318317464 Wed, 16 Apr 2025 21:28:42 -0700 <![CDATA[Sam is currently reading 'That Darcy, That Dancer, That Gentleman']]> /review/show/7495132534 That Darcy, That Dancer, That Gentleman by J.P. Donleavy Sam is currently reading That Darcy, That Dancer, That Gentleman by J.P. Donleavy
]]> Rating848075344 Wed, 16 Apr 2025 20:09:21 -0700 <![CDATA[Sam Reader liked a review]]> /
Sam Reader liked Benjamin Solidarity's review of How the Irish Became White:
How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev
]]> Rating848065354 Wed, 16 Apr 2025 19:34:48 -0700 <![CDATA[Sam Reader liked a readstatus]]> /
Sam Reader liked Lucas’s status update
Lucas Chance Lucas Chance started reading The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Pynchon
]]> Comment288676387 Mon, 24 Mar 2025 09:27:48 -0700 <![CDATA[Sam commented on Lucas's review of Happy Birthday, Wanda June: A Play]]> /review/show/7374542278 Lucas's review of Happy Birthday, Wanda June: A Play
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Feel like that's a star too high ]]> Rating828318366 Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:05:37 -0800 <![CDATA[Sam Reader liked a userstatus]]> /
Sam Reader liked Lucas Chance's status update
Lucas Chance
Lucas Chance is 52% done with A Gentle Creature and Other Stories
]]> Review7341206016 Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:55:35 -0800 <![CDATA[Sam added 'Kiss Me, Judas']]> /review/show/7341206016 Kiss Me, Judas by Will Christopher Baer Sam gave 4 stars to Kiss Me, Judas (Paperback) by Will Christopher Baer
It's edgy and silly, but it's also weirdly compelling, using horror/fantasy/gothic/punk writing techniques to create a sense of surreal unsettlement and shadowy almost-fantastical world. It's twisted and fucked-up in a way that seems like it should be over the top but just stops short of being so. It's kind of a fun read, but there's something missing, which is why I took a point off. ]]> Review7341202383 Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:53:06 -0800 <![CDATA[Sam added 'Rakesfall']]> /review/show/7341202383 Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera Sam gave 3 stars to Rakesfall (Hardcover) by Vajra Chandrasekera
The strongest possible criticism one could make about this book, either positive or negative, is that it's a book someone wrote.

So there you have it.

It's a book. Someone wrote it. ]]> Review6303510673 Wed, 28 Feb 2024 23:15:13 -0800 <![CDATA[Sam added 'Crampton']]> /review/show/6303510673 Crampton by Thomas Ligotti Sam gave 5 stars to Crampton (Limited edition paperback with CD) by Thomas Ligotti
Crampton is fucking wild because somehow, Ligotti and Trenz cracked a code I didn't even know existed. The longer things go on without anything particularly strange happening, the scarier and more ominous things get-- the opening scene sets up that something is wrong, but the story beats are all just two FBI agents talking to a series of weird characters. When the plot does go all Mulholland Drive, it's merely there to remind you that something horrible is going on behind the scenes. It's hypnotic and bizarre, something that tries to get you to follow its story knowing full well that there's no sense to be made of it.

It's brilliant. I can't imagine it being made into a movie, it would struggle to find an audience and get properly marketed, but it would be a polarizing cult movie that, once properly seeded in the minds of weirdos everywhere, would grow, take hold, and influence. I'm kind of pissed it was released in a semi-limited format, it feels like it should be unleashed and inflicted on the unsuspecting public to twist their minds and souls like pretzels.

Oh, well, at least I got to experience it in this form. ]]> Review5819879684 Mon, 04 Sep 2023 14:53:42 -0700 <![CDATA[Sam added 'Camp Damascus']]> /review/show/5819879684 Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle Sam gave 3 stars to Camp Damascus (Hardcover) by Chuck Tingle
Not enough camp. Too much Damascus. Also the author stole my lawnmower and then moved away with it, which has no bearing on the quality, but fuck anyone who'd steal a lawnmower and move out of state. ]]> GiveawayRequest504103354 Mon, 14 Aug 2023 11:27:55 -0700 <![CDATA[<a href="/user/show/9456601-sam-reader">Sam Reader</a> entered a giveaway]]> /giveaway/show/371979-things-get-ugly-the-best-crime-fiction-of-joe-r-lansdale Things Get Ugly by Joe R. Lansdale ]]>