A fable disguised as a dystopia, Borne by Jeff VanderMeer is set in a ruined City on an unnamed Earth, where Rachel scavenges for supplies to give her lover, Wick, who makes biotech to sell to other survivors. The City is ruled by a gigantic bear, Mord, a bio-engineered relic of the once-powerful Company, and a woman known … Continue reading Recommended Reading: Borne
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Anybody getting excited for the new movie adaptation of IT? I am not sure it will be as good as The Gunslinger, but my hopes are high, as IT is probably the Stephen King book I have read more than any other. (Its competition is The Stand--I can't remember which one I've read more times.) I don't quite feel up … Continue reading Stephen King’s IT Parade: The Booklist Reader
Beautiful books, but beware what lies within... I just finished reading The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles, which reminded me strongly of another lesser known classic novel I read last year, Black Sun by Edward Abbey. Both novels were considered minor classics by authors I had heard of and wanted to read. I bought both books because they came in … Continue reading Why I’m Done with “Classics” Written by Men
I recently posted about the Summer Reading Challenge, a mini Tournament of Books. I discovered two great new reads via this challenge. Marlena by Julie Buntin is a coming-of-age story with such a genuine narrative voice and such well-delineated characters that it takes on all the appearance of truth. After her parents' divorce, Cat moves with her brother … Continue reading Recommended Reading from the Rooster’s Summer Reading Challenge
Lately, I've very much been appreciating the short book. In fact, I have tentatively come to the conclusion that a novel's perfect length is between 250 and 350 pages. It's not that I don't love big, fat, epic novels. In fact, I count several of them among my favorite reads: Lonesome Dove; The Passage trilogy; Anathem; The Stand and It. Perhaps … Continue reading In praise of short books…
Calling all readers! If you follow the annual Tournament of Books held by the Morning News, you may want to take part in their summer reading challenge. It's only six books over the summer, so it's perfectly doable. I've read one of the selections, Ill Will by Dan Chaon, which I recommend if you like your books … Continue reading Are you ready for a summer reading challenge?
Y'all may not have noticed, but I truly love Margaret Atwood. Living The Handmaid's Tale: a real-life horror story. And, in case you didn't realize, The Handmaid's Tale is feminist. Margaret Atwood--high priestess of fiction, yes.
I discovered Foxlowe by Eleanor Wasserberg and The Girls by Emma Cline because both were short-listed for the Shirley Jackson Awards this year (which is one of my favorite award lists--always something good to read on that shortlist). I read them back to back and was struck by how similar, and different, they were from each other. Both are about young … Continue reading Friday reads: Foxlowe and The Girls
Classic story structures and what they can teach us about novel plotting. Infographic: The key book publishing paths. How writer's workshops can be hostile, by Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen. From Chuck Wendig, a "hot steaming sack of business advice" for writers. John Scalzi explains the concept of the "brain eater," a danger lurking … Continue reading For all the writers out there… Links!
Stephen King is one of my favorite writers, so here's a little thing he wrote about Donald Trump. Here's the trailer for The Dark Tower, because we need that now. And just for fun, here are pop songs reimagined as Stephen King book covers.
