Stephen Porvaznik > Recent Status Updates

Started James A Michener's 1959 historical novel "Hawaii" in prep for our family's first trip there in a week. The first short section deals with the evolutionary process of the islands' formation. The next section, which I am in, covers ancient peoples from Bora Bora, located south of the Hawaiian islands, and how Michener imagines they lived, including sacrifices to their god Oro. It is brutal! Love it so far!

Just started this one, which will finish off the four novellas I have in this one Richard Bachman books volume. It seems to be a big "gun control message" story so far ha ha. We'll see where it goes.

Love Alex Van Halen's bio so far. My twin brother passed away in 2021 and he was an incredible musician just like Alex's brother Ed, so I can relate!!

Started another John Saul, one of my favorite unsung horror authors, this one from 2002. Already creepy. It involves a murder in the Prologue, typical of Saul, and a young widow and her two young children, who I am sure get put into all kinds of danger soon, another reliable Saul trope. He gets right to the point and doesn't mess around. I plan to have this done in a week.

Reading The Long Walk in anticipation of seeing the movie this week. It's pretty great so far! Most early Stephen King or Richard Bachman is!

Bought from a Good Will bookstore while vacationing in Venice, Florida. Haven't read many Dean Koontz, but do enjoy him. A reprint of an older one, under the pseudonym Owen West, when Koontz did the novelization of the Larry Block screenplay used for Tobe Hooper's 1981 horror film The Funhouse. He jumps right in with the fairly lengthy prologue, setting up the revenge premise immediately. Not the best prose, but fun!

Enjoying Bill Gates' early life autobiography. It's cool that my wife and I just stayed in Bremerton outside Seattle last month and did some hiking in the Olympic National Forest, which is exactly what Gates did with his friends. While hiking for miles without talking, young Bill worked out in his head, at age 13, how to code in BASIC. Fascinating story so far.

Just started Book #2 The Great Hunt from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series. I read Book #1 a year ago and liked it, but I'm not really a "read the whole series" kind of reader unless I am completely sucked in. High fantasy medieval, Lord of the Rings influenced books aren't normally my jam, but my bro-in-law owns the whole series and has read it all twice, so let me borrow first two. I disappointed him. Ha ha!

Laymon never disappoints, though this one isn't as gruesome so far as others, but that doesn't mean he won't unleash some weird horror later on. Love the social commentary so far on the homeless ("trolls") and the idea of "going trolling" as a band of misfit, horny (what else?) teens mess up some "bums" for fun near an amusement park. Always a fun setting for a horror novel!

Started this 1989 book on the June 2025 Alaska cruise and further adventures in the Alaskan wilderness that my wife and I are taking right now. I am enjoying James A. Michener's mix of history with fictional characters, situations, and lives that fit his perspective and research of Alaska's development. Starts in 30,000 BC, then jumps to 15,000 BC, and then to the 1700s and the early European explorers.

Started Kolchak #2, The Night Strangler. Jeff Rice co-writes it with one of the all-time greats, Richard Matheson. Gonna be short but sweet!

Just started listening to this audio book and will listen all day today to finish in time before Saturday as I'm seeing Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17 movie version starring Robert Pattison. Gonna be a good one!

Already really enjoy this fourth and final book in Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos. I'm pretty certain the first book, Hyperion, will be my favorite and only five star book. But Simmons fantastical world in these novels is a marvel. If you like fast-paced action adventure sci-fi, these books aren't for you. But if you like a mixture of futurism, religion/philosophy, quirky characters, and political intrigue, it's fun!

Just started this Bryan Smith, his 2004 debut. He's fun, a little less literary than similar authors like Richard Laymon and Edward Lee who I love, but Smith hits the spot when you just need kooky extreme terror with lots of gore and twenty-somethings who get lost in the woods and become playthings for ancient vampiric monsters. Read a few of his (like Depraved and The Freakshow) and he doesn't disappoint.

I knew I would love this book and already do. After all, it's the story behind my favorite film of all time, Airplane!, from the three greatest comic film and television series minds of all time. Long line Z, A, and Z! Even though A is dead now. But their films - Airplane!, Kentucky Fried Movie, Police Squad!, and Top Secret! - will live on as the greatest comedies of all time! Great behind-the-scenes story so far!

Intriguing premise. Very Stephen King, or more exact, one of King's influences, Richard Matheson, who wrote the short story Button, Button, about a middle aged married woman who receives a box with a single button and a message that pushing the button will grant the pusher a large sum of money but also causes "someone who she doesn't know to die". The Measure seems like it has this same Twilight Zone style premise.

Just started another Richard Laymon which I hadn't read any of his this year, so thought I'd reach my Goodreads goal of 35 this year with one of his since he's always a quick read. It's already great. Horror fiction that goes right to the throat and quick! Got some psychic/supernatural aspects to this one which he doesn't usually do, so intriguing! I've read about 15 of his. Laymon is one of the best!

Just started this audio book. Recommended from "How to Money", one personal finance podcast I listen to. The idea of accumulating plenty of money to retire and live on, and then spend and give away all of that money while in retirement, is very appealing to me. My wife and I are about to retire and have done well, and we will be moving into our actual "spending" phase. Hoping for some nice insight from this book.

So, I'm reading this...trying to keep an open mind, but also chuckling because I found out about this book from Matt Walsh's film "Am I Racist?", so there you go! It's a short book, so I should finish soon.

I'm not a fan of Alex Jones, but my younger brother is, so I'm reading it to have an intelligent conversation with him. I'm sure a lot of the things he talks about are "true", but I'm wondering how much they will affect my perceived personal freedom, the way I live my life, and the joy I get from it. It's easy to predict the future that hasn't happened yet. You can say almost anything and some will believe it.

Just started this one. I know I'll love it. I was just talking to my oldest daughter who is 23 about the Brat Pack and Andrew McCarthy. Him and Ally Sheedy were always my two favorite Brat Packers. I saw that there's a documentary "Brats" directed by McCarthy that is on Disney+ all about them that I need to see now! And was scrolling through our library yesterday and saw this book, so had to get it!

Reagan's autobiography is already a joy to read. What a story he has! The youngest of four and apparently the most ambitious of all the Reagan boys. Truly part of the Greatest Generation!

My wife and daughters are big fans of Kristin Hannah, specifically this book, so thought I'd give it a whirl. Excellent so far. I read horror or sci-fi/fantasy, but I do like any good story and this one has that. World War 2 from the French perspective. Hannah packs an emotional punch and moves the story along briskly with few words but nice character building and history teaching through this French family's plight.

What a story so far! I'm in the middle of the John Rutsey years now and there's definitely things in here I have never heard before. Geddy seems to leave no stone unturned. The beginning chapters deal with his very early life, and then he takes us back to what his Jewish grandparents and parents went through during the Holocaust in Poland concentration camps as part of their Final Solution. Gut-wrenching read.

About to start this one that I got from the library. Love the band Rush and have only watched documentaries on the band but never read any books on them. Love their personalities in interviews so I'm sure this autobiographies from one of the greatest bassists and musicians of all time will be a hoot!

Starting Book #3 of the late 80s/early 90s Hyperion Cantos quadrilogy, Endymion. Loved the first book, really liked the second book, so let's keep it going!

Going to start another John Saul tomorrow as we head to northern California for vacation, in the general part of the country where many of his stories take place. This is his fifth novel, published in 1981, and my seventh that I will read of his. I don't know anything about this one at all except it's got another creepy/horrible small goofy cartoon drawing on the cover that graced most of his early novels. Love that!

Just started John Saul's third novel, 1979's Cry for the Strangers. Excellent prologue again with a twist already! Love it. This is the only one of his early novels that they turned into a movie (why aren't there more??!!), so I'm assuming Cry for the Strangers is going to be great as well.

Just started this book. Trying to understand the Federal Reserve Bank, how it formed, and how it affects our economy. Interesting stuff! I'm not necessarily a big BitCoin fan, but I have friends who are, and I read a book about that, but this one talks about the Fed with no reference to digital currency at all, even though it was published in 2020. It describes the 08/09 era and 2020 pandemic and what the Fed did.

John Saul is awesome! There I said it. Ha ha. I've read five of his and plan to read all of his. With 1978's Punish the Sinners, his prologue alone is as in-your-face as it gets. Literally. With a meat cleaver, no less! He's a "can't put down" horror novelist who sucks you in with a great opening, then the story and mystery and horror just build until you find yourself not wanting to stop reading. Love it so far!