Okay so to put this in perspective, the last book I was reading on a dedicated basis was this novel by Clive Barker called The Damnation Game. It's not a bad novel by any means, and I quite enjoyed it even though it was a bit slow to develop. Anyway, it was probably one of the longest novels I had read, save for the longer Harry Potter novels. The problem I had was that by reading only it, I had a hard time pushing through in a reasonable amount of time, essentially leading me to spend several months reading just one book. I didn't like this very much.
As a result, I decided I would make for myself a reading schedule of sorts, putting me on a different book each day of the week. I found this method to be much more conducive to my personality and so far it has allowed me to read a lot more than I was before. My weekly structure looks a bit like this:
1. Short Story Collections
2. Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels
3. Horror/Thriller Novels
4. Non Fiction
5. Classic Literature
6. Asimov Magazine
7. Free Day
I recently wrapped up two books in my rotation: the Sci-Fi novel Foundation by Isaac Asimov, which has been replaced by Stephen King's 11/22/63; and Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison, which will shortly be replaced by Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things. Both of these are authors I have never read before so it is pretty exciting. Foundation was absolutely fantastic and I recommend it to everyone, even if you aren't a sci-fi person. It deals a lot more with the human factor than with the technology. It was actually my first Asimov novel as well which was a great journey, I can't wait to read more (I have the Robot novels on my shelf for the future). Harlan Ellison on the other hand is one of my favorite authors of all time; I just adore reading his short stories, and Deathbird Stories was no exception! The titular story "The Deathbird" absolutely blew my mind with its experimental non linear structure than has to be seen to be believed. 11/22/63 is pretty enjoyable so far, though I am only two chapters in I can already tell I like the writing style and wit of the main character, who happens to be an English teacher.
Those that are close to wrap-up include my horror selection for this cycle, Five Nights At Freddy's: The Silver Eyes, and my non-fiction book Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez. The former I only recommend to fans of the series, and even then only the die hards. There is some material that, while the book is in its own timeline, does shed some light on details of the story that I hadn't considered. However it does take a very long time for any significant supernatural happenings to occur, but when the horror does start up it is pretty friggin great! The chapters are twice as long as they need to be though, which has made the novel a bit of a chore to read since I like to complete one on each day it comes up. The latter is a great book to read for you aspiring film makers out there and is a greatly inspiring piece about the production of El Mariachi for a grand total of $7,000. These will be replaced by Sociopaths in Love by Anderson Prunty which my Mom tells me is super deranged and that I'll love it, and Gods and Monsters by Peter Biskind, more writing about movies, and a book that my Video Production teacher in High School recommended.
Finally, the piece of classic literature I am reading right now is none other than that grand piece of poetry known as Commedia by Dante, better known as The Divine Comedy. I am currently in the "Hell" portion of it reading the Harvard Classics printing of it which contains the Henry Francis Cary translation. It is a rather difficult read but one I feel must be completed as it is an integral part of literary history.
Asimov Magazine is a pretty good publication for anyone interested in some good sci-fi stories by writers you've probably never heard of. It's a good pallet cleanser after going through all the familiar affair. On my free day I tend not to read much at all, but if I do it is either picked from among my schedule to help boost my progress or is H.P. Lovecraft, my favorite author of all time.
Boy, this came out to a long ass post didn't it!
tl;dr
1. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
2. 11/22/63 by Stephen King
3. FNAF: The Silver Eyes by Scott Cawthon
4. Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez
5. The Divine Comedy by Dante
