The Next Best Book... Could Be One of These

So, I was sitting here thinking (when I know I should be reading...) about the name and subtitle of my blog "The Next Best Book Blog - my unending search for the next best book".

While I know that some of you are members of my TNBBC Goodreads group, I realize that many of you may not be familiar with why I created it. I needed a place where I could talk to other book lovers about my inability to stop searching for the next best book. I wanted to see what other people were reading, and purchasing. I wanted to know what books I was missing or overlooking or underestimating. I wanted to know what everyone thought was their next best book.

Three years later, and my search still continues. I honestly don't think my search will ever end. It's impossible to stop anticipating which book I will gush about next. That I would next whore myself for.

Some of my past "Next Best Books" were:

Blindness by Jose Saramago
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Banned for Life by D.R. Haney
The Book by Michael Clifford

Now - I think it's time that I start sharing my search for the next best book here, with you, fellow book lovers and blog followers.

The only criteria I have for the next best book is that it must be one I currently own, and one that I plan on reading fairly soon (within the next two months or so). As I prioritize ARC/Review copies, which I read in the order I receive them, it is quite easy for me to narrow down the search for my potential next best book. If it weren't for that rule, which I follow quite strictly, I would be lost in the sea of my to-be-read piles, totaling an embarrassing 300+ books at the moment.

So, gentle readers.... which book shall be christened The Next Best Book? Of my current To Be Read pile - These are the books I am most excited to read:

Agaat by Marlene Van Niekerk
This is a review copy that was mailed to me by Tin House Books along with the copy of Hot Springs that I had requested. The blurb explains it as a story of love and family loyalty written in haunting, lyrical prose. The few reviews I see are positive, and Tin House is really promoting the heck out of it. I can't wait to see how it holds up.


Almost Dead by Assaf Gavron
Goodreads says it's politically incorrect, provocative, and steeped in wit and irony, a fast-paced tragicomedy about the perfectly ordinary madness in today's Middle East. I requested this one from HarperCollins for a few reasons. I'm expecting something big with this one. Though it released in April, it has very few reviews. I would like to change that.

Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman
This one came highly recommended from Marisa at GrayWolf Press. When I read this blurb -A brilliant and unnerving debut novel about the mysteriously ill patients at a remote hospital in Finland- I knew I couldn't pass it up. This could be really really good!


Kapitoil by Teddy Wayne
I met Teddy Wayne at the Book Blogger Convention pre-meet up not too long ago. He recognized the name of my blog, and I recognized the contest that HarperCollins was hosting to promote his novel. Of course, I had requested a copy prior to meeting him, however I want to read it even more now!!


Finny by Justin Kramon
Justin is another author that I had the pleasure of meeting at the Book Blogger Convention Pre-meet up. Once I heard about his new novel, which is described as a sweeping, enchanting voyage, an insightful story about a young woman’s complicated path to adulthood, I couldn't help but want to read it. So I shamelessly asked for a copy.

Will any of these become the next best book?

Stay tuned to my blog to see what I think of them as they are reviewed!

Which books are you hoping will become YOUR next best book? Comment here and share the books that you currently own, that you are planning on reading soon, that you are excited to start, and think may become the next best book that you have ever read!!

Hot Springs

Read 5/31/10 - 6/3/10
4 Stars - Strongly Recommended
Pgs:318

When I attended the CityLit Festival in Baltimore a few months back, I was lucky enough to attend Michael Kimball's 510 Readings. At that session, I listened as Geoffery Becker read the prologue to Hot Springs, which released in February 2010 under Tin House Books.

The book opens as a flashback in which we are introduced to a young Bernice, who obsesses over the mental stability of her mother. There's a pretty curious incident in which her mother dons running shoes, and literally nothing else, and proceeds to jog around her neighborhood block.

Fast forward quite a few years to Bernice as an adult, kidnapping Emily, the 5 year old daughter she had given up for adoption. And all the chaos and craziness that follows them across the country.

Becker did a great job of fleshing out Bernice, who is obviously unstable (like her mother), and though I am unsure what caused Bernice to decide to steal her daughter from the couple that Bernice willingly released her to, I was hooked and had to know how the story would end.

It was an interesting roller coaster of a ride. I found very little to like in any of the characters, yet, like a train wreck or a car crash, I simply could not avert my eyes. Bernice and her boyfriend were the epitome of unhealthy relationships. Emily was the strangest 5 year old child I have ever known ( read about ). And Emily's adoptive parents were certainly cringe-worthy in their own special ways.

Yet Becker managed to balance them against each other, and pulled off an amazing novel that demonstrates what it's like to fight for what you want and force yourself to finally let go.

A huge thank you to Tin House Books for sending me this novel upon my request.

The Second Coming Giveaway Winners

And the winners of the 10 free downloads of The Second Coming are:

Hannah Marie, Cyn Hyde, Bonnie, Oshkoshonthewater, Caroline, Rhonda, Anonymous, Amanda, The Saint, and Jen!

Congratulations to all the winners!

In accepting the free download, they are agreeing to participate in David H Burton's group read that is being held during the months of June and July over at the Fantasy Book Club on goodreads. They will be contacted via email shortly.

Hip Hip Horray! Hip Hip Horray!

I Won a Blog Award

Bibliophiliac has just awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award!!!



According to the rules, I'm supposed to share seven things about myself, then pass the award on to fifteen blogs I've recently discovered. Gosh, What to share, what to share!!

1- I'm addicted to chapstick!
2- I am terrified of spiders.
3- I work as a Learning and Development specialist for a major off price retail company.
4- I recently attended The Book Expo and Book Blogger Convention in NYC.
5- That was the first time I had ever driven to the city on my own (I'm so proud!)
6- My favorite authors are Jules Verne, Jose Saramago, Cormac McCarthy, and Glen Duncan.
7- I run a really great book group over at Goodreads. Maybe you have heard of it? TNBBC!!!

I would like to share this award with the following blogs:

The Book Whisperer
Mandy the Bookworm
Heather's Lost Books Challenge

She Reads and Reads
A Home Between the Pages
Books I Done Read
Well Read Reviews
The Introverted Reader
Good Books & Good Wine

Here are some new bloggers that I think we should keep an eye on. While they may be a bit too green around the gills to be considered "Versatile", I would like the honor of acknowledging their hard work and effort this far:

The Allure of Books
The Book Coop
Escapism through Books
Consumed By Books

The Case of the Missing Servant Giveaway Winners!!!

And the winners are......

Congratulations to Bhumi, Ron H of Scribblemonger, Ransomed of Grumpy Old Nurses and A Light For My Path , Sherry, and Karen of Books on the Knob! They have each won themselves a copy of The Case of the Missing Servant. An email has been sent requesting their shipping addresses.

By commenting for a copy of this book, they have agreed to read the book and participate in a group discussion at TNBBC on goodreads, as well as participate in the upcoming Author Q&A session that will be held with Tarquin Hall at the end of June.

Anyone who is interested is welcome to participate in both the discussion and Q&A.

Hip Hip Hooray!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Book Giveaway - "The Case of the Missing Servant"

TNBBC's 7th Book Giveaway!!!!!

While attending the Book Blogger Conference this past Friday, I met a wonderful woman by the name of Lucinda. She works with Tarquin Hall, author of The Case of the Missing Servant, and it's sequel The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing.

Lucinda and I are working together to promote his upcoming release by offering

5 copies of The Case of the Missing Servant!!

Here's a little information on the book via Goodreads:

"The portly Vish Puri is India’s most accomplished detective, at least in his own estimation, and is also the hero of an irresistible new mystery series set in hot, dusty Delhi. Puri’s detective skills are old-fashioned in a Sherlock Holmesian way and a little out of sync with the tempo of the modern city, but Puri is clever and his methods work.

The Most Private Investigator novels offer a delicious combination of ingenious stories, brilliant writing, sharp wit, and a vivid, unsentimental picture of contemporary India. And from the first to the last page run an affectionate humour and intelligent insights into both the subtleties of Indian culture and the mysteries of human behaviour."

In order to win a copy of this novel:

1- You must post a comment to this thread including your email address so we can contact you if you win.

2- You must agree to participate in a group read book discussion between the months of June and July over at TNBBC on Goodreads. AND participate in the upcoming TNBBC author Q&A with Tarquin Hall, where you can ask him anything you would like to know about this book, or his upcoming novel The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing.

3 - You must be one of the first 5 people to comment. Yup, that's right. It's first come first serve!

This giveaway is available to residents of the US and Canada only (Sorry folks, the books are not being shipped by me), and will remain open until the 5th copy has been claimed. Upon it's close, I will email the winners and announce them here on my blog. Good Luck!!

In the meantime, please check out Tarquin Hall's Facebook page, and check out the reviews and prices on Amazon.com here and here.

The Tale of Halcyon Crane

Read 5/29/10 - 5/31/10
4 Stars - Strongly recommended
Pgs:326

Wendy Webb had contacted me through Goodreads.com in an effort to promote her novel "The Tale of Halcyon Crane". I thought the book looked really interesting and managed to snag a copy to review.

And I am really glad I did. This is one of those novels that I may never have stumbled across on my own, had the author not brought it to my attention.

The gothic tale of a woman whose life was turned upside down when a strange envelope arrives in the mail announcing the death of a mother she thought had perished in a house fire 30 years before.

Wendy Webb does a great job of setting the stage for this spooky tale of a woman uncovering old family legends; complete with haunted house, creepy encounters with otherworldly beings, and an unsolved island murder dating back 30 years.

Though I found parts of the book to be predictable, and a bit typical of a gothic ghost story, I still found myself thoroughly enjoying it, and anxiously turning the pages. The book reads surprisingly quickly, in part due to Webb's pacing, and because I just simply had to know whether I'd guessed things correctly.

Not necessarily a story that scares you so much as creeps you out and lingers in the back of your brain...

A book that begs to be read with the lights on.

The Wind Warrior Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Hodgepodgespv who blogs here!

They have won the signed copy of The Wind Warrior!

By entering this contest, they agree to allow me to feature their review of Cynthia Roberts novel on my blog. I want to thank those who showed an interest in this contest!

THE BOOK Giveaway Winners!!

The author Michael Clifford and I have put our heads together, and are very happy to announce the two winners for THE BOOK giveaway contest, in which they had submitted an original story idea.

Congratulations to Mandy of Mandythebookworm and Ashley!

To check out their original story ideas, please click here to view the contest comments.

The winners must contact me via email (mescorn@ptd.net) as soon as possible so I can get their mailing address in order to ship the book.

The author Michael Clifford will be contacting them personally and promises to acknowledge them in the credits of the book he creates based on their idea. How absolutely exciting is that? I cannot wait to see what he comes up with!!!

Them: Poems from 1999-2002

Read 5/24/10 - 5/29/10
3 Stars - Recommended to readers familiar with author/genre
Pgs:71

This collection of poems was mailed to me by Twenty Three Books Press. I met the publisher at Baltimore's CityLit Festival back in April and was interested to take a peek at what he carried.

The author, Omar Shapli has written, directed, and acted in numerous plays in Chicago and New York, and has attempted to preserve his sanity by writing poetry - as per his bio on Twenty Three books.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for poetry. It can be tender, forceful, confusing, full of rage - no matter what emotion it evokes, it is beautiful, and sparse, and creative.

Though I admit to struggling with some of the turmoil and political agendas mentioned in Shapli's work, I definitely felt the pull of his more personal poems.

Here are my interpretations of the ones that tugged the hardest:

Downed Tree on the Taconic - he writes about a tree that lies across the highway, blocking people from passing. Little by little, strangers drive up to it, dialing cell phones, sitting in their cars, eventually congregating outside around it's trunk. Men attempt to move it, rolling up their sleeves, when suddenly the tow truck arrives to free them.

I was touched by the calm and acceptance his characters felt when faced with obstruction. Were they late to a meeting? Was dinner getting cold? Were they running away from something? We will never know. They were together for those few moments, created a tiny community in those minutes they spent together, and then went on their separate ways, never to met again.

Global Positioning - A short 9 lines that sum up our human existence quite neatly. We are never content with where we are, always trying to get to someplace else.

It can apply to any part of our lives. Whether it be physical: where I live or where I work, what I own, what I am doing. Whether it be spiritual: who I am as a person, where I wanted to be at this point in my life. Financial: The money I make, the money I owe. Or even Love: who I am with, who I surround myself with.

Humiliation - When a man attempts to tip his waiter, who returns the money because he is not who the man thinks he is, we get lost in his confusing train of thought.

Tillinghast in a Tizzy - I clung onto these lines "We are fed by corruption/ led by the underbelly/ and ruled by thugs".

Stain - A simple coffee stain gets turned into something that was destined to happen, destined from the moment of the big bang and the creation of earth.

I liked this one because it just came across as this long exasperated mental sigh. A throwing up of the hands to something bigger than us, a bowing down to the uncontrollable elements, to the powers that be.

By the Brook:Late Summer - A man leaves his house to trim the bushes, and becomes distracted when he notices a tiny hole dug into the dirt beneath his feet. We take a peek inside his head, see his thoughts unravelling, until he snaps back to the moment and remembers why he went outside.

McGinley's Pocket Lexicon - These are alphabetical one line quips and analogies that were quite humorous. The ones I liked best: "Accessible: what you think might be graspable even by me." "Adventure is disaster modified". Clothing: Mousehole with mobility". "Measured response: killing my enemy just a little bit".

While I wasn't always able to grasp his meaning, these jumped off of the page and screamed out to me. I believe his collection contains a little something for everyone.

eBook Giveaway - The Second Coming

TNBBC's 6th book giveaway!!!!

We are rocking and rolling in the month of May with book giveaways, aren't we? This opportunity comes to us from David H. Burton, author of The Second Coming, which was recently reviewed here by yours truly. David is generously allowing me to give away 10 free downloads of his eBook!!

Goodreads describes the book:

"Five hundred years have passed since the Earth shifted on its axis – a catastrophic event that wiped out civilization and released the powers of the dead back to Earth. With technology long abandoned, a dark age has shrouded our world once more. Travel to a future of blood sacrifice, demons, witchcraft, and an immoral God that has returned to reclaim his former dominion".

Don't let that description scare you away. It's not leave-the-lights-on scary, I promise. But it is heavy on the science fiction and requires you to temporarily suspend your grasp on reality. Sci-Fi lovers and fans dark magic will appreciate this book.

In order to win the free download:

1- You must post a comment to this thread including your email address so we can contact you if you win.

2- You must agree to participate in David H. Burton's book discussion between the months of June and July over at the Fantasy Book Club group on Goodreads.

3 - You must be one of the first 10 people to comment. Yup, that's right. It's first come first serve!

The giveaway will remain open

until the 10th comment has been posted.

Upon it's close, David and I will email the winners with the free download code, and announce the winners here on my blog.

**Friendly Request** If you have won books from me in the past, I would appreciate it if you would please refrain from commenting for a copy so that other followers might get a chance to win. In the event that we do not get enough comments, I will open it up to past winners. Thank you for understanding!

Book Expo and Book Blogger Con

Hi Everyone. Sorry I have been silent for nearly a week. I didn't really think ahead enough to prepare a notification post, so I hope you forgive me. But I am back now, and ready to share my Book Expo and Book Blogger Con experiences with you.

I have them sectioned out, so feel free to skim or skip entire topics. I know my life is not all that exciting to everyone. It's going to be a long one!

The Book Expo of America (BEA)

My personal experience

This event was held May 26 - May 28. I did not attend the BEA on Tuesday for the conferences. I was working overtime to pay myself back for the expense of driving back and forth and parking all day in NYC. And mentally preparing myself for my first solo trip into the city. Not only had I never been to the city alone, I hadn't ever even driven there. My husband is the designated driver whenever we take a trip out there. So I was a big old ball of nerves.

Turns out I really didn't need to be. After getting advice from some friends at work, who have lived in the city and visit quite often, and borrowing my mother's GPS, and bringing written directions to boot, I felt I was well prepared. And I most certainly was!

I was out the door Wednesday morning by 5am, in order to beat the rush hour traffic, which I did. The trip was wonderfully simple and painless.

I parked at Port Authority, an easy on/easy off location whose perk is self-parking.. which means I have access to my car at all times. I hate those garages that park your car on those lifts, so you have no way of getting anything out of them, or putting anything into them without having the parking attendant maneuver cars around.

I hightailed my butt out of the station, hooked a right, and marched myself all the way down to the Javits Center - which was roughly a 20 minute walk. I walked through it's doors at 7:30am, registered, and since I paid through the Book Blogger Con, I got a press pass and was allowed to walk the BEA showroom floor before all of the other people. I must have walked the entire floor 5 times that morning, casing it out, seeing which ARC's and Galleys the publishers were laying out for us. I wasn't allowed to take anything yet, but I was making mental notes of the booths I wanted to hit first.

At 9am, the doors were opened to everyone, and it was a mad rush to the booths. I swear, it was like these people have never seen a book before! There was pushing and shoving and people knocking other people out of their way. I had an older man shove me backwards to get to a stack of books on the floor. I was flabbergasted. I wanted to punch him in his beer belly and ask what happened to the manners I know his momma taught him. Geesh!

Once the madness died down, and that inital rush into the showroom passed, the crowd became less violent, and a little more human. Perusing the isles, you were handed canvas bags, pins, posters, tshirts, as well as books from the publishing companies.
At first, I took just about every book I saw or was handed. By 10am, my back was breaking under the weight of the books in the bags on my shoulders. I think it was around this time that I met up with Bridgit.

Bridgit is a long-time member of TNBBC on goodreads, and has been sooo wonderful to me the last few months by answering all my thousands of questions about BEA. She is a seasoned BEA attendee. I found her back by the author autographing booths. She had an excel schedule printed out of all the publishers and authors, complete with times and locations, to guide her through her day. She was a woman on a mission. Since I was underprepared, I asked if I could follow her for a bit till I got my bearings. It was amazing watching her move through the crowd and bounce from line to line.

At 11:30am, Bridgit and I parted ways, and I attempted to walk back out into the city to drop off my two bags at the car. It was stifling hot outside, and I couldn't make it more than two blocks before hailing cab. My shoulders thanked me!

I walked back down to BEA, stopping at a subway for a quick tuna sandwich. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking up and down all the aisles, picking up the galley copies that were laid out at the booths, waiting for author signatures (I had books signed by James Patterson and Jonathan Lethem), and introducing myself to the publishers who have been suppling me with review copies for my blog.

The women of Graywolf Press were so friendly. Marisa, the woman who supplies me with my galleys, was not able to attend, but her co-workers were prepared for me. We chatted about the publishing industry and preparations for the BEA.

Then I met Erica from HarperCollins. She is so cute and bubbly! I absolutely LOVE her. We dished on books, our husbands, and the new HarperCollins releases.

The remainder of my afternoon was spent lugging books around until I thought I was going to pass out. I called it quits at 4pm, and took a cab back to my car, homeward bound.

Day two I was determined not to go. My whole body was in shock and I was exhausted. But once I got the kids on the bus, and showered, I felt revived. Plus there was a Book Blogger Con pre-meetup that night and I didn't want to miss it. So I hopped in the car and arrived in the city by noon. The afternoon was basically a repeat of the day before, packing my bags full of books, and hob-knobbing with the publishing people. But with more new books!!

Publishers and Books

There were an uncountable amount of publishers with booths at the BEA. Here are the ones that I was most impressed with - based on their catalog, galleys, and/or staff:

HarperCollins - always putting something new out for us to take away, great titles, and of course, Erica works there!
GrayWolf Press - I like their catalog, alot! And they are wonderful people.
Random House - They had in booth signings and galleys the entire time, like clockwork. Fabulous!
New York Review Books - They didnt have any galleys, but I looked over their catalog, and I want EVERYTHING in it!
Akashic Books - They are publishing Arthur Nersesian's new novel. 'Nuff said.
Consortium - They cover a HUGE array of smaller publishing companies, with books covering just about every genre.
SoftSkull Press - They are sort of a niche seller, but look good. No galleys here, sadly.

For a peek at the lovely new books I brought home with me - both signed, and not, check out my goodreads splurge thread posts #8624 and 8629. 65 books overall. Not bad, methinks!

The Book Blogger Con Pre-Meetup

This was FUN! The meet-up was for authors, publishers, and bloggers to hang out, network, and just have an all around good time. It ran from 4pm - 6pm, and I met so many great people.

Erica from HarperCollins introduced me to her co-worker Kyle, who works in Hardcover. I enjoyed talking to him, he entirely crushed my image of what it's like working in a publishing house, but still managed to make it sound fascinating.

I met Rachel from TNBBC goodreads - who ended up being my Book Blogger Con partner in crime. She blogs at A Home Between the Pages. She is a total sweetheart, and struggles with the same things I do when it comes to blogging, and followers, and whatnot. She loves to read the award winning books, while I tend to stick to the indies, so I plan on stalking her blog all the time now!

There were two awesomely awesome first time authors there who I completely loved talking to. The first was Teddy Wayne. He wrote Kapitoil, of which I hope to get a galley of! We hung with the HarperCollins crew for a bit, chatting about "following" people in the room and how this is acceptable behavior, where, 5 years ago if you said you were "following" someone it would be construed as "stalking". Oh how times they are a'changing.

I also met Justin Kramon, who wrote Finny, which releases in July. He was neat to talk to as well. We discussed his writing process and which authors he likes to read. We had a few in common, and he is a huge fan of John Irving.

April from TNBBC goodreads was there as well. We bumped into each other accidently in the meet-up. I love being able to put names to faces.

Then the night came to an end, and it was back to the car, and the long drive home.

The 1st Annual Book Blogger Convention (BBC)

The event was created and hosted by Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin', Rebecca from The Book Lady's Blog, and Michelle from GalleySmith, and Natasha from Maw Books. I thought they did an awesome job!
We had Swag Bags filled with Galley's, gifts, and goodies; A tasty breakfast; and informative panel interviews on blogging.

Maureen Johnson, a YA author, was the Keynote Speaker, and she was fabulous. Very funny, very chatty.

Then Ron Hogan, formerly of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, led the convention by discussing Professionalism and Ethics in Blogging. He asked us to think about the following things:

What binds you to your readers?
What is your focus?
Where are you pointing your readers?
What new perspective do you bring your readers?
Do you know the territory?
What do your readers do next?

After a yummy lunch of deli sandwich's and meeting more really cool people, we listened to discussions on Writing and Building Content:

How do we find a voice, as bloggers, and remain true to it?
Using regular features or a blog series to keep the readers coming back?

During the Marketing Hour (my favorite), we covered:

Building and reaching out to the Blogging Community
Making our blog into a Brand
Using the RSS feed for accessibility
And whether STATS are important to us

I liked this one best because it covered the things I feel I struggle most with. I don't like following or blogging those viral meme's that everyone seems to be pushing (not that there is anything wrong with them, mind you), and I haven't yet had any regular series or theme to my blog, which worried me a bit. So I felt the panel gave me lots of things to think about, which I greatly appreciated.

The next panel was on Blogging with Social Responsibility - using your blog to raise awareness, fund raise, or just plain old vent with people who share your ideas. They covered Platforming and Community, and one topic drew alot of conversation from the group - Racism in Publishing: from people of color to gay and lesbian struggles. It was wonderful to hear how people use their blogs to advocate for equal rights when it comes to publishing and being represented fairly.

The final panel discussion covered the Impact of the Relationship Between Authors and Bloggers. It was refreshing to hear the panel talk about how they felt authors were unreachable, like movie stars, when they all first began blogging. Because I had felt the same way many years ago, when I first started TNBBC on Goodreads. I enjoyed listening to their experiences.

They also discussed the differences between positive and negative reviews, and having to write a negative review for authors that you know personally. While this is not something that I struggle with myself, it seemed there were many bloggers who did. So I thought it was great of them to talk about it.

I had to bite my tongue at the end however, when the topic veered over to self published authors. There seemed to be this unfair stigma where some bloggers would rather not read self published works without proof of references and reviews, and even sample chapters. I adore many self published authors, and don't view their work any differently than mass produced best sellers.

Please don't misunderstand me, the conversation was not bashing self published authors, by any means. I just got the feeling that the bloggers on the panel just had not had enough experience with that type of publishing to speak well on the topic.

I met Avis, who very recently won one of my blog giveaways for The Map of True Places. That was really exciting. She blogs at she reads and reads.

To Sum It All Up

Ahhhh.. sorry for being so long winded. That is not usually like me.

It was such an exciting time for me, hanging out with people who love and obsess over the same things I do. Being around people who's first question to you after your introduce yourself is "Who do you like to read?". I was in heaven and I am very sad to see it all come to an end. Now it's back to real life. Laundry, dishes, bills, work... they are all sitting here waiting for me.

But at least I have my new friends, and their business cards, as well as all these new shiny galleys waiting to be read!!!!

Until next year.....

Dear Everybody

Read 5/22/10 - 5/23/10
5 Stars - Highly Recommended
Pgs:242

While attending the CityLit Festival in Baltimore last month, I sat in on Michael Kimball's 510 Readings. Back at home, I did a little research and discovered that he was an author himself (he is host and creator of the 510 Readings, but had not read at the event I attended). Of course I just HAD to contact him to inquire about his wonderful event and the books he has written. And Michael was kind enough to mail me out a review copy of "Dear Everybody", for which I thank him profusely!

Dear Everybody is a novel (to use the authors words from the Title page) "written in the form of letters, diary entries, encyclopedia entries, conversations with various people, notes sent home from teachers, newspaper articles, psychological evaluations, weather reports, a missing person flyer, a eulogy, a Last Will and Testament, and other fragments, which taken together tell the story of the short life of Jonathon Bender, Weatherman."

While a not entirely new concept, telling a story through the use of letters, author Michael Kimball breaks new ground by beginning with his character Bender's obituary, and leaving Bender's brother Robert to piece together the bits of the life he has left behind to try and understand why Jonathon killed himself.

We read excerpts of diary entries written by his mother Alice - starting at the time of his conception. We are shown clipped conversations that took place between Robert and their father after Jonathon's death. We read Jonathon's letters of apologies to nearly everyone he ever had any contact with - from neighbors, to elementary school bullies, to ex-girlfriends, to teachers, and employers.

Kimball shows us how Jonathon deals with a father that didn't want him and didn't know how to communicate with him, a mother who had high expectations for him and had a hard time accepting him for who he was, a brother who wrote him off and left him to his own devices.

Though the book is bleak by nature, the author skillfully creates pockets of humor to alleviate the overwhelmingly sad and painful look at this broken, unwanted, self conscious, and eventually depressed young man.

The more I read, the more I wanted to reach in and save Jonathon from his unhealthy life. The more I wanted to slap his mother for not doing something to change what she saw happening, to show how she became a part of the problem as she sat there ignoring it. The more I wanted to kill his father for the all the grief and headaches and pain he caused him. The more I wanted to curl up next to Jonathon to show him there was more to life than giving in to the madness of a dysfunctional family. I wanted to teach him how to fight and to be strong and to be his own person.

And the more it made me realize how everything I do, everything I say, affects those around me. And the more it made me want to be a better person - for myself, and for those I love and care most about.

Bravo Michael. A beautifully crafted collage of life, as told not only by the letters of the man who lived it, but also by everybody who had affected it.

The Second Coming

Read 5/15/10 - 5/22/10
3 Stars - Recommended to readers familiar with author and genre
eBook

Thanks go out to the author, David H Burton, for bringing his self-published novel to my attention.

Due to a not-yet-fully-explained catastrophe, the Earth is knocked off it's axis, unleashing things that were better kept hidden. Ghouls, demons, dark angels, Firstborns, Lastborns, Obeks, Imps... all crawled to the surface to fight for control under an immoral God.

Some of the surviving humans turned to witchery and the occult; learned how to summon spells; create blood oaths; Soul Run; and command the dead. Some turned to the Church of Ascension and the Confederation - which bred a new age Witch Hunt.

Burton's eBook is a face paced, dark, apocalyptic tale that's bursting at the seams. Packed with loads of action, it promises to never bore you, and always keep you guessing. A very ambitious first novel that, while fully functioning as a stand alone story, teases the reader as only a book destined for sequels can.

I admit to being slightly confused throughout most of the story. Burton may have bit off more than he could chew when it comes to maintaining such a heavily charactered plot-line. I lost count only a few chapters in, and found myself forgetting, and at times even confusing, the different people and their alliances and backgrounds. This would be easily remedied, though, with the aid of a notebook - I recommend outlining the characters and their storylines if you do not think you can finish this book in one sitting.

He does a great job of pacing the subplots as characters that began at different points of the novels move towards one another, and those that began together move apart. Though, once they all converged in the much awaited finale, I found the pacing was thrown off and a bit scattered when I needed it structured the most.

Some of the characters suffer from extreme cases of what I call "internal thinking". It's where the author italicizes what a character is thinking, so you know it is being processed internally. While I don't have issues with the technique itself, Burton overuses it to the point where different characters get different symbols placed before and after their internal thinking as a way for us to differentiate who is doing the thinking. In the end, I found it to be more of a crutch or gimmick than a useful technique.

One thing that surprised me was the amount of sexual innuendoes and practices that the author was able to cram within the plots. At times, it fit the need of the moment, and at others just seemed so random and out of place that it distracted me from what was actually taking place. I do have to give Burton credit though, his characters exhibit a wide variety of sexual preferences, which (as distracting as I found it) was really quite refreshing.

Certainly not to be missed by fans of dark fantasy, witches, demons, and all things good vs. evil. Suspension of belief and reality are a must.

Author Interview w/ Austin Kleon

World, meet Austin Kleon. Author of Newspaper Blackout - a creative new look at the morning newspaper. By blacking out the words he doesn't need, Austin creates poetry with the words he leaves behind. No topic is off limits - from aliens, to teenage love, to Texas, to bugs... Austin stirs the soul.

But that's not the only thing he can do with a marker.. check out some of his other creative work on his blog.

He very graciously took the time to answer a few questions. Have a look at what he had to say:


What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I wanted to be Shel Silverstein. I remember seeing his photo and his bio on the back of Where The Sidewalk Ends. It said he writes books but he also "writes songs, draws cartoons, sings, plays the guitar, and has a good time." A Renaissance man. That's who I wanted to be.


The way I see it, you are a triple threat – a writer, a poet, and an artist. Which are you most comfortable as? Which do you have to work the hardest at?

Saul Steinberg said, "I am a writer who draws," so that's what I go with. There are tons of folks who can write better than me, there are tons of folks who can draw better than me, but when it comes to folks who can put the two together, well, it's a smaller pool of competition, anyways. I have to work hard at both, because I'm not naturally gifted at either.


Who and what have been the biggest influences in your life?

My parents. My friends. My wife. Books. Music. The southern Ohio landscape. John Lennon. Bob Dylan. Saul Steinberg. Lynda Barry. Kurt Vonnegut. LucasArts adventure games. A lovely letter from the artist Winston Smith that I received when I was 13. David Hockney. Edward Tufte. Bill Callahan. Raymond Carver. Back to the Future. Ghostbusters. Indiana Jones. Punk rock. Collage. I could go on and on...


What’s a day in the life of Austin Kleon like?

It's not glamorous. I get up at 7:30 and go to work in a cubicle. I work on a college campus here in Texas, so I'll spend my hour lunch break reading, making poems, or browsing one of the good university libraries. I get back home a little before 6, have dinner with my wife, walk the dog, and try to get some drawing and writing done. I get into bed at 10PM and read until I fall asleep. Rinse and repeat.


How long have you been touring, and speaking on panels? What are those experiences like?

I've only been speaking publicly for a year or two. I love it. I love getting up in front of a crowd, giving slideshows, signing books for people. Usually artists are really introverted, but I get a lot of energy from other people. I'm terrified of being boring, so I'm always putting as much as I can into live events. At the Newspaper Blackout "readings" I don't even read from the book: I just do a quick slideshow, and then pass out newspapers and markers and the audience goes to town, making their own poems.


Are you writing anything now? What can we expect next from you?

I'm still making new poems and publishing them online. I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. They've become a kind of weird magic ritual. Every time I go to that paper, I never know what I'm going to pull out of it. It's a bit addictive.

I have an idea for a graphic novel that would be a collaboration with my wife about art and marriage, but it's not quite ready to be talked about yet.


What are you reading right now?

I just finished Joe Brainard's I Remember, which just shot up to one of my favorite books of all time. I also recently read David Shields' Reality Hunger, which, despite the author, is a good book. I'm currently reading a biography of the poet Frank O'Hara called City Poet that my friend Jen Bekman recommended to me. So far so good.


Which 5 books would you save if your house was on fire?

If the house is on fire, I'm grabbing my wife and dog and going out the window. Forget the books.

But if I could save 5 books on my bookshelf from eternal damnation and hellfire obscurity:

1) Ed Emberley's Make A World Drawing Book

2) Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

3) Everything by Lynda Barry, especially Cruddy, One! Hundred! Demons! and What It Is

4) Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung

5) So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell


What is your take on eBooks and eReaders, both as a writer and as a reader?

My biggest issue is the resolution and the graphics capability. The iPad is good enough that Newspaper Blackout could work on it, but it could never work on a Kindle.

The best part about eReaders is the instant access--one press of the button and you have what you want.

Personally, I'd rather have a bag of paperbacks and decorate the house with them.


What authors/novels/websites would you like to share with our audience?

You can get the best sense of what I like by checking out my Tumblr, which is where I post all the things I'm looking at / reading / listening to on the net:

http://tumblr.austinkleon.com/