ummm what the hell's a 4sshole?

Knowing full-well that instant gratification is overrated, I say it's perfectly ok to just wait and enjoy other books in the meantime. There's no shortage of older books worth your time.

Well-said. I'm much happier solo than I ever thought possible during my 20s and 30s. It also helps that I have no spouse, no kids, no pets, few distractions and even fewer responsibilities.

Very glad to see On Writing get a mention here. That book is still the only book which I have bought multiple paperback copies of, just so I could gift them to my friends, and I did that more than ten times. On Writing is so good, and never gets mentioned enough anywhere.

King's IT displays some of finest character development that I've ever seen in any book by any author. If the tale seems overly long to you, this reveals a truth about both your limits and your patience as a reader. And while I have no desire to reread that tale again any time soon, I am glad that I experienced the tale when I did (I was in my late 30s, instead of being in junior high school when most of my other friends were reading the tale and having sleepless nights because of how scary the tale is in certain chapters.)

If I could exchange some (not all, but some for sure) of those countless hours I squandered during my 20s and 30s with socializing and being on stages with the bands, I would easily do so, especially if it means that I would have enjoyed reading books more often.

Certainly fun to watch, even if only to see all of the stars in that cast, I mean, just wow.

During my late teens and early twenties, I was easily a bigger fan of Agatha Christie's works than any of my so-called peers who also fancied themselves as readers-for-pleasure (very different from the readers-for-academia, I might add.)

Death On The Nile was a book I always refrained from reading because I had already seen the 1978 film adaptation (incredible cast including Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot) and the film had always been satisfying enough for me. I really ought to just pick up that damn book already. I think it's been long enough. Evil Under The Sun falls into that same category for me, for the same reasons. I ought to read that too.

And Then There Were None remains my favorite of her books, and I also greatly enjoyed Cards On The Table. Highly recommended.

LoL it certainly led to a fun film called THE CONDEMNED starring Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones.

Skip HG2TG. It was good for a chuckle at the time, I suppose. But it hasn't aged well at all. Even whatever goodwill/nostalgia it seemed like there was for it, way back in 2005 when that awful film adaptation came out, has long since evaporated by all accounts.

• For an enjoyable time with Douglas Adams, I recommend reading his book Last Chance To See; his non-fiction masterpiece about travelling the globe and seeing endangered species of wildlife.

It astonishes me a little bit that I have zero interest in reading McCammon's Corbett series. Perhaps the mood will strike me after I have chopped down my TBR tree a little bit first. Seriously. My TBR stack is large enough to block out the sun. I sure do loves me some McCammon stuff though! Swan Song and The Five both come to mind immediately, and I very much want to read The Night Boat as well as The Wolf's Hour.

While not a prolific reader per se, I am still very much an avid reader. After having tried Dune a few times over the last 30 years or so, I always end up saying goodbye to it and putting it back down again before I even arrive at page 100. Dune has its fans (and its sequels, and its film adaptations, and its comic books) but I learned that my brain is just not wired for that writing style. I'm still glad that I tried a few times though, which is probably more than many other folks can say.

I haven't read enough of Pratchett's Discworld books to fully weigh in on this yet, but from what I've already so far in its Rincewind sub-series I do keep wishing that more worldbuilding would occur (more about the Unseen University, and more about the city of Ankh-Morpork for starters.)

I recently enjoyed reading King's Four Past Midnight but it was his Library Policeman tale that left me feeling filthy afterwards because of what the protagonist had to endure. All in all, the tales were certainly not King's best work, but it still feels good knowing that it's in my rearview mirror now and I can soon start reading his next book on my list: Christine.

His stories are awesome. I have a sneaking suspicion that McCammon is famously difficult to work with though (if true, this might explain why his publishers always seem to be a small press, and it might also explain why his books don't remain in print for very long.)

Outside of the publishing game, I'm fairly certain that McCammon is more sociable than given credit for and easy enough to get along with on a personal level.

Being both a musician AND an admirer of horror tales that are well-told, of course I thoroughly enjoyed McCammon's book The Five.

Was recently listening to Briggs narrate The Colour of Magic and I caught myself wishing they'd turn off the reverb. I have severe hearing loss in both ears (for which I do wear hearing aids since 1974 but they only help so much,) and I am not overly fond of effects on the voices of book narrators.

I was recently listening to R. C. Bray narrate Weir's The Martian and I was not impressed. Then again, my idea of a good time with narrators is David Ogden Stiers (of M*A*S*H fame) when he narrated Clancy's Hunt For Red October and Wil Wheaton (of Stand By Me fame) when he narrated Cline's Ready Player One, so what do I know? LoL

It's not a tale that I plan to revisit anytime soon, but it was an important part of my growing up during the early 1980s when I was still in junior high. I remember the film adaptation more than I remember the book, partly because the film was a real Who's Who of young-and-soon-to-be-popular actors at the time.

And now, of course, a listen to Pink Floyd's Animals LP is the next logical step for you :)