The College Crowd Digs Me

7 Favorite  Books  I  Read  In  2025 "Every book is a new book if you haven't read it!"   And so, let us begin. Sarum: The Novel Of England by Edward Rutherfurd (1987) Paperback, 1035 pages      Sarum, England, also known as Salisbury, is home to Stonehenge and the famous Salisbury Cathedral. The novel takes us from the Stone Age to the mid-twentieth century, introducing a variety of characters across many generations.  Sarum is over a thousand pages, but don't let that discourage you. The book reads easily and is a fun and fascinating page-flip. (full review) Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King  (2017) Hardcover, 702 pages      Sleeping Beauties is not exactly horror.  It doesn't have a significant thrill factor.  However, the novel's idea is interesting.  The story is okay for what it is, but the characters are just not developed enough to separate the wheat from the chaff.  So...

You Like It Darker by Stephen King (2024) Hardcover 512 pages NO SPOILERS:      At least two of the 12 stories in You Like It Darker fall into the novella bucket, which is fine because they both shine.  As for the rest of the tales, they range from good to fantastic.  Not a bad one in the bunch.  The stories are not as dark as you might have hoped, but they suck you right in just the same.  And all the stories have subtle degrees of creepy effluvia that keep everything a wee bit unsettling.  A dusting of uneasiness, if you will.       There's an Easter Egg or two to be found within these pages for the Constant Reader to appreciate, or at least bring a smile to their faces.  Perhaps best of all, Stephen's character development is solid as ever.  It's this special talent that wins the day.  For me, this is King's best short story collection since Skeleton Crew and Nightmares & Dreamscapes .  Not as dar...

"A Mouth In The Clouds" - The Group Image (1968 )      I recently added another psych album to my collection, and one that still flies a bit under the radar.   The album " A Mouth In The Clouds"  has a West Coast folk-psych spirit, although the band hails from Manhattan, New York.  Midtempo vibes drift from an easy rub to more jammier fortes.   The lyrics are interesting and trippy with an even mix of male/female trade-off.  I had no luck identifying the main male vocalist, but it’s all good.  The Group Image definitely enjoys adding a mildly lysergic hippie panache all over the wax, and it’s easy to imagine friends sitting on shag pillows, passing a few strawberry Bamboo twists around while discussing whatevers as hippie lamps throw colored lights on the walls.  It's an interesting spin if you find one.       “A Mouth In The Clouds”  was the band's only album,   and though not rare, it is a hard one ...

Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery, Vol. 1 Len Wein (Writer) and Bernie Wrightson (Artist) DC Comics (2006) (first published in 1968-1971) Graphic softcover, 552 pages      This is all about the nostalgia. A whopping 552 pages of reprinted stories from the DC comic The House of Mystery .  The pages have a bit of the lowest-tier Twilight Zone panache, filled with atmospheric stories of people making bad choices and receiving their comeuppance.   Each tale has some kind of "gotcha" twist ending that can be seen coming a mile away.  But it's fun nonetheless. Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery (inside)      There are plenty of groaners and eyerollers here, but there are a few good 'uns that have legit payoff.  I mean, the scares are lame, but they were always lame, so just let it go.  The House of Mystery is definitely not one you'll want to binge.  I recommend reading two or three stories and then setting the book a...

"Metamorphosis" - Iron Butterfly with Pinera & Rhino (1970 )      I picked up a lot of cheapie albums in the wild this summer.  25¢.  50¢.  Maybe a buck.  I was pretty forgiving, but for two things.  The vinyl had to eyeball VG/VG+ or better.  And the cover had to be decent.  I rarely went to record shops during the warm months, choosing to do my own hunting. Anyway, I'm just now getting around to cleaning them up and giving them proper attention.  I'll either keep them until I find an upgrade or I'll pass them along to someone else.       Iron Butterfly  were never gonna be as great as their band name, but hey, it's Iron Butterfly.  What I mean to say is, you know what you're gonna get when you drop the needle on the bone.  "Metamorphosis”  was the band's fourth album, and while it still exudes the band's spirit, the guys were also trying to stretch their wings. Not as much acid rock, but the...

"Journey To The Center Of The Mind" - The Amboy Dukes (1968 )      The album sounds like a group effort, with each one trying to hold the fort.  Nugent provides some wonderful guitar tones and riffs as one might expect, but Steve Farmer's lyrics and  J.B. Drake's  vocals help keep the mind in cool flux.  As does the steady bottom push.  A few of the tracks shoulder-rub the acid psych realm heavily, while others splash into a more trippy, melodic psychedelia.  And it's this variety that keeps the mind on tippy-toes.         Especially side two, where the opening song, the psych-flag title track, fiercely sends the listener off into the unknown, with a string of songs following, very much of the time.  No concept that I could point a finger at, but they're done well.  By needle-lift, the "journey" eventually returns us, full circle, in and out of our minds, in a pleasing, satisfying way.  You can tick ...