Review; The Graveyard Book

Read 10/22/11 - 10/29/11
4 Stars - Strongly Recommended
Pgs: 307

My 20-something year old self was madly in love with Neil Gaiman's writing. Upon discovering him through Neverwhere - which I bought at a grocery store on a whim while running some errands - I constantly found myself returning back to him. He was broody and british, and wrote magical stories that made the impossible seem real... if only for a moment.

As time wore on, though, I feared I was losing my taste of the fantastical. I had loved Good Omens and was intrigued by American Gods. Then, to my surprise, I was left wanting with Stardust (though I loved the premise, I couldn't quite finish it), and was not sure how I felt about Coraline (though that should not surprise most of you as you know my feelings about YA). I surprised myself even more when TNBBC chose Neverwhere as its first group read back in 2008, and I re-read along with them... only to discover I liked it less the second time around.

Yet, no matter how I've felt about the previous books, when the next one came out, I had to have it.

The Graveyard Book was no exception. I talked myself out of buying it when it first hit the shelves, though I desperately wanted to read it. It sounded amazing. A little boy, raised by ghosts in a graveyard... and the opening line was perfect - "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife." But a little voice inside of me unreasonably whispered for me to leave it alone. And so I did. For many years.

A few weeks ago, however, while I was browsing the books at a local library sale, I stumbled across the hardcover. There was no evil, unreasonable voice whispering to me that day, and into my bag it went! Not only did it go into my bag, but it moved quite quickly to the top of my TBR pile, nearly jumping over every review copy I had queued up. Since I haven't read a book that wasn't for review in forever, my excuse was timing... it was nearly October, and I couldn't let another Halloween go by without reading it. And so read it I did.

This is quite an impressive little book, isn't it? I am actually rather upset with myself for not having read it sooner. The mood and atmosphere are perfect for this time of year, though, so I'm kinda glad I waited.

It's the story of little orphaned Nobody "Bod" Owens - the sole survivor of a heartless, gruesome triple murder - who has been raised by the graveyard ghosts for most of his life. He's been given the gift of the Freedom of the Graveyard and schooled by the specters on ghostly skills like Fading. As he ages, like any normal curious child, Bod begins to pine for life beyond the graveyard gates and grows more and more determined to find out about his life before the cemetery. Where there's a will, there's a way, and our defiant yet extremely naive Bod brings nothing but trouble to himself, his guardian Silas, and the graveyard in his search for answers.

Cleverly written, it reads like a YA novel for adults. Neil accomplishes near perfection with this novel. I say near because he had me completed invested in the book until the end. That second to last chapter felt like a cop-out. There was this incredible build up and then... a cheesy climax. I felt cheated. You have no idea how badly I wish I could convince Neil to go back and rewrite that chapter.

((sigh))

All in all, a kind of creepy, slightly comical, entertaining read from cover to cover. It reminded me of why I've always been partial to Neil and his storytelling.

I also love that he spent time with Audrey Niffenegger at the High Gate Cemetery during the writing of this book, and that those moments influenced its final few chapters.

Have you heard Neil reading from The Graveyard Book? Check it out here.


See the book trailer here:

Indie Spotlight: Pavarti K. Tyler

Yesterday marked a new first for Pavarti K. Tyler. She released her debut novel Two Moons of Sera, which she markets as "all the fun of YA written for Adults".


Pavarti and I met for the first time at the Indie Book Event in NYC back in July, where she hosted a panel discussing the business side of self-publishing. In the guest post below, Pavarti takes us through the unique and necessary phases of her life, the journey that got her here.

From Theatre to Taxes to Text

The journey of the self-defined individual isn't an easy one. 


Every day we are told the rules we are supposed to follow.  We are pounded with the reasons we must stay in line.  Across the street, which we are never to cross, is another set of expectations.  Follow your dream, you can achieve anything, you can be anything.


What we are never told is how to follow our dreams and stay in line.  Eventually, one or the other will be disappointed.  Eventually we are destined to fail.


For whatever reason, I was never really expected to stay in line.  My father is a dreamer born into a world where achievement means everything and my mother is a free spirit, an adventurer, only allowed the path of nurse, secretary or wife.  They had me later than most of their generation had their first child and for whatever reason they were always delighted to see me step slightly to the left of single file.


But the open road ahead is daunting and takes an incredible amount of work to survive on.  I learned after college that for some it’s a road never destined to be taken.  I would have been saved many a heartbreak had I learned it earlier.  I was fortunate to find a job on Broadway.  I had a theatre degree in dramaturgy (theatre theorist/historian) and to work on shows like Phantom of the Opera and Fosse was the pinnacle of success.


Even now when I tell people about working there it sounds so glamorous.  Like another life.  But the reality is I was miserable.  Art is a business and commercial theatre is no different from any other profit-focused endeavor.  I worked so hard I made myself sick.  I cried and I crumbled. 


Leaving theatre was one of the best decisions I made.  Where it led me though was unexpected.  After years of various jobs and training I am now an accountant.  I have two small children and I work from home giving financial advice to small businesses and preparing tax returns.  Who'd have thought?  From the outside it seems so much less exciting.  I'm no longer out till all hours or working with stars or opening to full houses.  Now I am a rule follower and I really like staying in line.
But the dreamer my parents raised is still within me.  And so as an adult I faced the same dilemma children must grapple with.  Do I stay in this line or do I achieve a dream?  My children are old enough they go to school.  I love my work and don't want to stop.  But I have a story to tell and it sings in my head, distracting me and pulling me out of sync.


Returning to art was difficult, it took a leap, a self-confidence I wasn't sure I had.  But in the end these stories in my mind, this part of me that needs to skip instead of march, took over and demanded to be allowed to roam free.


Perhaps this basic dichotomy in my personality is why Indie Publishing appeals to me so much.  I've stepped out of line; I don't want to just wait in another one.


Being involved in the Indie Community has been one of the best experiences of my life.  I have reclaimed the artist and dreamer within me. I have made my own rules and am free to skip or run or twirl as I see fit.  There are no hard and fast rules and each of us does what we can.  If you need help, there are communities and groups and even some companies that will guide you, but no one can tell you the right way to do this.


For me the artist and the business woman are finally at peace, each finding the fulfillment they want.  Lines and order and structure hold me in, but the creation of a new world, a new reality sets me free. 


Information about Two Moons of Sera  (Goodreads.com): 

In a world where water and earth teem with life, Serafay is an anomaly. The result of genetic experiments on her mother's water-borne line Serafay will have to face the very people responsible to discover who she really is. But is she the only one?

Two Moons of Sera is a Fantasy/Romance and will be released in a serial format. The first volume is just shy of 20,000 words and will be priced at $0.99. Anyone who purchases it will receive all future volumes for free. However if you wait to get it until later, the price will go up with each addition.

Bio: Pavarti K Tyler is an artist, wife, mother and number-cruncher and has been committed to causing trouble since her first moment on this Earth. Her eclectic career has flirted with Broadway, Teaching, Law Firms and the IRS. She is currently consulting with Novel Publicity while hard at work establishing her Indie Publishing Company Fighting Monkey Press.

Pavarti's debut novel, Two Moons of Sera is a Fantasy/Romance and will be released in serial format beginning November 2011. Her next novel, Shadow on the Wall, is a work of literary fiction and is scheduled for release in Early 2012.

You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter or her website.

Tell Me a Story - Rachel in the OC

Welcome to another addition of TNBBC's Tell Me A Story. 

Tell Me a Story is a monthly series that features previously unpublished short stories from debut and Indie authors. The request was simple: Stories can be any format, any genre, and any length. And many amazing writers signed up for the challenge.

This month's story comes to us from Rachel Thompson (aka Rachel in the OC), author of the 2011 release A Walk in the Snark, which hit #1 on the Amazon Motherhood Kindle list in September and October. Her latest non-fiction endeavor, “Dollars and Sense: The Definitive Guide to Self-publishing Success” (co-authored with Carolyn McCray and Amber Scott) debuted at #1 on Amazon’s “Authorship” bestselling list in June, 2011. Rachel is also one of the cofounders of the Indie Book Collective, an organization with over 8,000 members dedicated to helping authors utilize social media to the fullest to sell their books. I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel this summer during the NYC Indie Book Event, and am thrilled to be sharing the following short story from her.

------------------------------------------------------

IF I HAD A HAMMER

I often find myself pondering, and observing, the different ways men and women go about fixing stuff.

Emotional stuff, in this case.

Men are fixers. They see women crying, they bring in their toolbox and follow Steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 to make it better. Yet, they can’t understand why there are no directions on the Internet for Dealing With a Crying Female and even if there were, why they’re not working, dammit! And finally, why scratching their balls while staring at us helplessly isn’t helping matters.

I mean, it seems to work for them, right?

Our moodiness, crying, and shooting them looks that kill don’t help much, admittedly. Normally females are quite verbal. Except, ya know, when we’re not.

I’ve suggested before that men should always come to any situation armed with chocolate, no matter what. My guy, even after nineteen years, is still somewhat inconsistent with that one.

He’s got two females in the house, and one is a tween girl raging with hormones.

Sigh. When will the man learn?

Men love their females. They want us to be happy. If we’re happy, life is simple. The brain shelf is full: food, sex, sports. If their females are content, their brain remains uncrowded with any extraneous stuff they probably wouldn’t remember anyway. They can trot off blithely to their offices (or take three steps into their home office, as is our case) and do their manly business stuff all day without any emotional worries.

Ya know, those things that happen in foreign countries. #eyeroll

Actually, I’m being slightly bitchy. My guy gets himself worked up a bit when his ducks, I mean chicks, are not all in a row (what is this, an episode of Friends?)

Chicks are moody. Hormones, weather, bad hair days. It all takes a toll. Smart men know this and deliver soothing words, kisses, and chocolate as needed. This is important, fellas. Stop scratching and take note: These are the tools needed in your handy Female Fix-It Box.

But too many guys expect us to “man up.” Uh-uh. Big mistake, fellas. Last we checked, we don’t have penises.

Thank the Lord.

Here’s how we work: we react to something. Let’s say a mean comment, a zit (gasp!), or a bad hair day. We must suffer for this transgression. Even if we didn’t do it or if it’s not our fault. Even if we’re Jewish.

We feel sad. Ugly. Lonely. (Stop trying to understand it. Just go with it. It’s what we do.)

We eat ice cream. None of that soymilk, fat-free crap we pretend to like when we’re on a diet. We’re talking the good stuff. Godiva or Haagen-Dazs.

We get in our jammies. The ones with the feeties. We grab our cozy pillow and plush blankie that we never let you use. We watch trash TV and tweet about it with our friends. 

And have a martini. Or gummi bears. Well, okay…both.

We ignore you. We don’t want you anywhere near us. Have you seen this zit?

Go away. When Mount Vesuvius finally blows, you may come back. Bearing, well, ya know…starts with a c?

When we finally feel better (read: no longer have a pimple the size of Texas on our darling button nose), we’ll go out in public again – go for a run or a walk on the beach, wear pants. Allow you to look at us. Eat fat-free ice cream again. And like it.

What I’m saying is this: no matter how much you want to fix us, we need to fix ourselves. Our way. No one-size-fits-all toolbox needed. Well, okay. Soothing words and kisses help a little.

You might think our way is wrenching, but the worst thing you can do is try to wrench us out of our funk.

It just might take us a hammer to get you to understand it. 

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I want to thank Rachel for participating in TNBBC's Tell Me a Story. If you like what you've read, please support Rachel by checking out her book and website. She can also be found on Goodreads and Facebook. Help spread the word by sharing this post through your blog, tumblr page, twitter and facebook accounts. Every link counts! And be sure to check back with us next month for the next installment....

Book Giveaway: Bill Warrington's Last Chance

It's time again for our monthly Author/Reader Discussion giveaway!

We are pleased to be hosting James King in December to discuss his novel

Bill Warrington's Last Chance

In order to stimulate discussion, 

we are offering 10 copies to US and Canada residents

Update:
James will also mail the winners a signed bookplate!

Here's the Goodreads description: 

A magnificent debut about a man's odyssey toward family redemption- with his granddaughter along for the ride Bill Warrington realizes he has Alzheimer's and his lucid days are numbered. Determined to repair a lifetime of damage to his estranged adult children, Bill takes off with his fifteen-year-old granddaughter April on a cross-country drive, bound for San Francisco, where she dreams of becoming a rock star. As the unlikely pair heads west, Bill leaves clues intended to force his three children-including April's frantic mother-to overcome their mutual distrust and long-held grievances to work together to find them. In this dazzling road trip novel, James King masterfully explores themes of aging, sibling rivalry, family dysfunction, and coming of age, against a backdrop of the American heartland. Unflinching, funny, and poignant, Bill Warrington's Last Chance speaks to that universal longing for familial reconciliation, love, and forgiveness.

The contest will run through November 9th 

 Here's how to enter:

 1 - Comment here stating that you would like to receive a copy of the book. 

 2 - You must leave me a way to contact you (email is preferred). 

 3- Agree to participate in a group read book discussion that will run during the entire month of December over at TNBBC on Goodreads. James King has agreed to participate in the discussion and will be available to answer any questions you may have for him. 

 *If you are chosen as a winner, by accepting the copy you are agreeing to read the book and join the group discussion at TNBBC on Goodreads (the thread for the discussion will be emailed to you before December 1st). 

 Winners are chosen randomly and will be announced here and via email on November 9th. 

 Good luck!

Review: Oryx and Crake & The Year of the Flood

Listened 9/28/11 - 10/28/11
20 Audio Discs (combined)
3.5 Stars (combined) - Strongly recommended for readers familiar with genre

Back in May, I had the unexpected honor of meeting Margaret Atwood and her agent Phoebe at BEA in NYC. At the time, I admitted to her that, though I consider her a literary idol, I had yet to read one of her novels. I did own 3 of them, however, and that had to count for something, right?

Last month, I finally caved and, after refusing to listen to them for most of my young and adult life, made the decision to join the library so I could borrow audiobooks for my daily commute to work. The first audiobook I took out? Oryx and Crake. I've had the book sitting here, unread, for a few years, and figured this would be the only way to move it up the TBR pile - in a manner of speaking.

I liked the narrator, Campbell Scott, right off the bat. That's important to me. Authors can pen amazing novels, but if the narrator is bad, the book becomes bad. And lord knows I've listened to my share of bad narrators.

The story begins with Snowman, who appears to be the last "true" human, living at the edge of the woods in some undisclosed place with "The Children of Crake" - perfect, immortal, man-made humans, free of all flaws, genetically incapable of feeling jealousy or romantic love - who are clearly dependent on Snowman for guidance and protection, after a devastating plague wiped out the earth's population.

Through the use of flashbacks, Snowman - whose pre-plague name was Jimmy - shares his memories with the reader to help us understand the events that led up to the fall of mankind.

We see the privileged, higher class citizens living in compounds, working like dedicated little ants, running bio-genetic engineering experiments such as splicing fruits, vegetables, and animals to create new and improved breeds; creating skin treatments that remove the signs of aging; modifying pig genes in order to clone human organs; and developing the ultimate guilt-and-disease free sex drug.

We see Jimmy growing up in a broken home, befriending the socially awkward Glenn, obsessing over a nameless girl he sees on a porn video. As their friendship grows, Glenn (the alpha-male) turns his disgust at the destructive nature of Homo Sapiens Sapiens into the drive to build a better human. And we see Jimmy tagging along for the ride.

Oryx and Crake is a subtle warning, a fictional peek at the not-so-fictional end of life as we know it, a future that - in all reality - may very well come to pass if we do not change our ways. Her imaginary splicing and cloning experiment are no longer imaginary, are they? The warring and abuse of the planets resources, the over population... sound awfully familiar to us now, don't they? Men playing God... and taking things much too far...

In her follow up book, The Year of the Flood, we are returned to the same plague infested world, though we see it through the eyes of two women - Toby and Wren - who are members of a lower class cult calling themselves "God's Gardeners". As with Oryx and Crake, the story begins with the women post-plague, and slowly takes us back through the years leading up to the "waterless flood" (as the Gardeners refer to it) through their flashbacks.

An interesting perspective on a story we thought we already knew... an intricate, though incredibly tedious, weaving of story lines - not only between Toby and Wren, but between them, Jimmy, and Glenn. The bigger reveals don't actually occur until well into the first half of the book, and the reader (or listener, in my case) is left struggling to make the initial connections and guess at where everyone fits into the story... which had me feeling quite frustrated for awhile. Of course, by the end, I saw what was coming a mile away, and made connections long before they were revealed.

Where we originally saw the creation of the plague at the corporate level in O&C, TYotF shows us the impact the plague had on the working class, the Gardener's uncanny prediction and preparation of it, and the influence most of these characters had on one another before and during the demise of mankind.

For this audiobook, I was less happy with the narrators. The woman who read for Toby had a grating voice - her speech was rather robotic, with odd upticks at the end of sentences and sharp S's that annoyed me. Wren's reader had a softer, sweeter tone that was more pleasant to listen to.

My biggest complaint, for both novels, is the order in which Atwood decided to tell her story. I wished she had simply told the story of the plague from beginning to end. In O&C, since the story was told from a single point of view, the jumping back and forth in time was easier to follow. In TYotF, with two female narrators who start the story at two different points of time, with two overlapping though different perspectives on the events that unravel, it was initially more confusing and difficult to follow.

A smaller and more personal complaint is my overall lack of connection to any of the characters. I love when authors tease out emotional reactions from me... whether it's positive or negative, I want to be made to feel something for the people I am reading about. In the case of both O&C and TYofF, I felt very little - if anything - for anyone. I found I was listening more to the how's and why's of the stories, rather than listening to the who's...

Don't get me wrong, there was an incredible amount of character development and individual growth throughout the course of the books, but I felt sadly disconnected from them all.

Having said all of that, now that both books are behind me, I have a much greater appreciation for the level of detail and slow, winding, twisting tale she has laid out for us.

A cautionary tale of what happens when we get a little taste of the power and pride of playing god. How far is too far? When is enough enough? Would we see the signs before it was too late? Are we a doomed species? Only time will tell.....

Review: Dead Men Kill

Read 10/19/11 - 10/21/11
3 Stars - Recommended for readers familiar w/ pulp fiction
Pgs: 95

Funny story. On the first morning of BEA, as soon as we were given the "go-ahead" to enter the expo floor, as I made my way around the right hand corner of the vendor booths, Galaxy Press stopped me in my tracks and began aggressively pitching me L. Ron Hubbard's books.

Upon hearing the name, I inwardly cringed... "Oh no," I thought to myself, "They are going to try to Scientologize me. Run... run and don't look back!". The woman was incredibly polite and I couldn't find the nerve to be rude that early in the day, so I humored her. After she clarified that these were fictional books with no religious affiliations, we discussed the types of books I enjoy reading and she pointed me towards Dead Men Kill - which, while being incredibly pulpy, at least contained zombies.... Folks, I admit that my curiosity got the best of me and I... I... I stepped on the red carpet. God help me, but I did it! (if you've ever been to BEA, you know what I mean...)

I find pulp fiction to be predictable and generically written, but it can also be quite fun. If you can come to terms with the fact that the writing is a bit dated - my absolute pet peeve with dated literature: using the word "ejaculated" as a term for linguistic excitement / blurting something out - and if you can get past the fact that the covers are incredibly cheesy and gaudy, the few hours you spend reading the books will pass in a rompy, enjoyable blur.

Dead Men Kill is a murder mystery at its core. Executives are turning up dead; all evidence points to  strangulation at the hands of their recently deceased secretaries, but how can that be? What is causing the dead to rise? Why are they only attacking their bosses? And is Detective Terry Lane really on the hunt for... zombies?

Of course, it wouldn't be a true cop caper unless the Detective gets tipped off by a saucy, sexy nightclub girl who's got loads of inside information, and is dragged unwittingly into a dark and twisted plot that may or may not have anything to do with a lone receipt from a pharmacy in Haiti. And wouldntcha know it, Dead Men Kill has exactly those sort of ingredients!

If you're looking for a quick, fun, easy-to-swallow read that leaves no question unanswered, this is your book. L. Ron Hubbard must not be a fan of "cliff hangers" or of leaving stories open for potential sequels cause he was quick to solve this mystery and file it away in the drawer forever.

Case Closed!

Better World Books Does it Better

Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of speaking with Erin Levin of Better World Books. I am extremely impressed with their green initiatives and business values. You might have seen me go RT-happy with them on Twitter... and it's for good reason. Did you know that they have already donated over 5 Million books and raised over $10 Million dollars for literacy and libraries, and recycled over 64 Million books? Did you know that they work with libraries to store and sell their unwanted, outdated books, rather than see them end up in landfills?

I have been a Better World Books customer for a few years now. I won't buy used books anywhere else online. Not only do they have competitively priced books, they also donate book for book - for every book you purchase, they donate a book to one of many worldwide programs, and they ship books for free worldwide! I LOVE knowing that my purchases are helping to spread literacy all over the world.

But don't take my word on it. Let's here what Erin has to say about it all:




What it’s like working for Better World Books?

 I LOVE working at Better World Books. It is a dream come true. Why is it a dream come true? I have always felt called to serve. Because of this, I went right into the Peace Corps after graduating college. Working on the ground in developing countries and in poverty at home is so important, but it's not the only answer. After working in Madagascar, I began a career in journalism at CNN. You can make a significant difference telling important stories through the media as well. But I wanted to find a job where I could help people 100% of the time while also sustaining myself. I thought there were only two options - living and working among the poor, or working for "the man." Better World Books is different. We are a Benefit Corporation. A new, sustainable, triple-bottom-line way of doing business. Businesses have a responsibility and a growing space in the social and environmental sectors. It is an honor to work at a company leading the way in this space of working for people, planet and profit together.


What can you tell us about the programs you currently have going on?

We have so many amazing programs at Better World Books. The latest and (perhaps) greatest is our Book for Book promise. For every book you purchase at www.betterworldbooks.com, we will match with a donation of a book to someone in need. We partner with Feed the Children in the U.S and Books for Africa to give away books responsibly. Feed the Children includes age-appropriate books from us in their food packages to needy families across the country. We are the number one donor to Books for Africa and together give the most college textbooks to the Continent.

Literacy is vital to us at Better World Books. In addition to giving a book away for each purchase, a percentage of revenue of every sale is also donated to these literacy non-profits. To date, we have raised over $10 million for our literacy and library partners and given away over 5 million books. We also partner with college campuses to run book drives and help support the organizations they are passionate about as well. The majority of our funding goes to Invisible Children, Room to Read, Books for Africa, Worldfund and the National Center for Family Literacy.

Finally, we are a green company. We have reused or recycled over 64 million books - that’s over 70 million pounds of books rescued from the landfill. We have also helped libraries to reclaimed more than 720,000 pounds of metal shelving. We even empower our customers to make a difference with carbon balanced shipping options. We partner with 3Degrees, a leading green power and carbon balancing firm to secure verified carbon offsets and RECs from wind farms. Specifically we are using our carbon offsets to support the Tatanka Wind Farm, the largest renewable-energy project in North and South Dakota. This landmark wind farm will generate enough clean energy to power more than 60,000 homes!


Why should TNBBC members purchase their books through your site?

We're one of the best bookstores on the web. You will find the book you're looking for on our site for the same price or better than almost anywhere else, and if you're not 100% satisfied with your experience we will do what it takes to get you there. But your purchase with us goes much farther than the book. It's a purchase with a greater purpose, supporting literacy and business responsibility.

Book for Book™ by Better World Books from Better World Books on Vimeo.

If you're going to buy a book, why wouldn't you want to power a book donation and create funding for literacy with your purchase? You don't need to pay more or change your actions, it’s just part of how we do business. We hope you’ll be pleased and share our story with all of your book-loving friends. If that’s not enough to convert you to a Better World Books shopper, here is a little discount code:

TNBBCBWB = 10% off your first purchase with us

Who came up with that awesome letter that we get from our purchased books?


This letter is kind of like Santa. It showed up like a gift one day and we've been using it since. Maybe it did actually come from a book. Why would you question such things?

We also want to let you know that we love groups like TNBBC. You are getting a community of book lovers talking and sharing about the impact of books. We believe just one book can change a life and the more people that care about raising literacy and education the greater impact we will all make together. Thank you!


What can TNBBC do right now to help Better World Books?

Thanks for asking!

1) You can buy a pre-loved book from us as a gift to yourself while also giving the gift of reading to someone in need.

2) Please “like” us on Facebook and “follow” us on Twitter and engage on our blog. For each new “like” and “follow” we will donate a book to a child in need via Feed The Children. You can make a world of difference with just one click!

3) Share our story with everyone you know. The more people who know about us, donate to us, and buy from us, the more the love of literacy will be available around the world.

Erin is an award-winning advocate journalist. Her production and outreach experience ranges from ABC and CNN to the Peace Corps and non-profits around the world. She is currently the Community and Social Media Manager at the world’s largest social impact online bookstore, Better World Books, and loves every minute of it! Erin is also in production of a documentary feature film about the African Children’s Choir. Traveling, spending time in the great outdoors and volunteering with friends all fill Erin with joy.

Authorageous Event at the KGB

Yes, I know. The event I am writing about took place 13 days ago. I admit it, I am not the most timely when it comes to blogging about events. I'm a bad blogger but I've come to terms with it!

On October 9th, I took the day off from work to attend my new niece's baptism. It just so happened to be the same day that TNBBC fave's Greg Olear and Ben Tanzer were doing a reading at the KGB bar in NYC. I couldn't have planned that any better. And there was no way in hell I was going to miss seeing these two guys performing together.

I snagged my mother mid-afternoon, after leaving the baptism party and my boys behind, and we headed out to Port Authority (my fail safe parking spot for all of our NYC adventures). Port Authority, as you know, is nestled comfortably between 41st and 8th - walking distance from every touristy thing your mind can conjure up. Worringly for me, the KGB event was taking place on 2nd ave and East 4th st. Which meant a trip on the subway. Which meant I had to navigate the subway system on  my own for the first time ever - my mother had never been on the NYC subway trains before so she was no help! (obligatory nervous swallow)

I was terrified of getting it wrong. I've never gotten on the subway without a seasoned NYer holding my hand, and 2nd ave was going to be furthest downtown I have ever been. Wait, is 2nd ave downtown? Or is it uptown? When I'm traveling from 41st, is it considered going downtown because the numbers go down? Or is 2nd ave considered uptown because it's at the top of the number chain? See what I mean? Now, also throw in the fact that the area to which I was traveling had NAMES for streets which would mess me all up, rather than a simple number grid which anyone with a brain can follow? (I can picture Home Between the Pages and Book Sexy Review slapping their foreheads in frustration as I type this!)

I had mapquested transit directions and copied down two options, because I had no clue which underground lines I might end up near. But it didn't help to calm my nerves as my mother and I descended into the bowels of the city that night. I had called Greg Olear, god bless his author soul for humoring this chicken-shit little city traveler, and was hoping to meet him out near the bar before the reading started, so I asked which line he was taking, which was none of the lines mapquest had given me, so I quickly nixed that!

After proudly demonstrating to my mother how to use the metro card machine once underground, I opted to give the R line a shot. (Rather than the ACE, which just looked too fucking confusing.) It required no transferring at all, which made me feel slightly less nervous. And it went off without a hitch. Counting 5 subway stops, we exited the subway and made the climb up to the street, popping out at 8th and Astor. From 8th we walked down (or up?) to 4th, and made it to bar without any issue, and extremely early.

As we waited for Greg to show up, and the bar to open, I got to see my first sky-writing in process. I have no clue what was "Now Open" but it was pretty neat to see the airplane write it all out as we waited. Only in NYC, right?

And then Greg showed up and the bar lights came on.. and in we went!

KGB is really tiny and dark and intimate. The walls are a deep deep red, the room was lit by candlelight, and there were creepy ass pictures all over the walls. As we sat together and watched the room fill up, Ben Tanzer arrived and much hugging and "so good to finally meet you in person's" were had, and then the readings were underway.

I was nearly knocked out of my seat when the KGB bar event was kicked off with the hostess introducing Greg Olear's novel Fathermucker using a snippet of my review! I wish I had caught that part on film because I barely believe it myself!! But I did happen to catch Greg's reading on video, and here it is for your listening pleasure:

Since this was Greg's event, and since it revolved around Fathermucker, it was dubbed Dad’s Night Out: An Evening of Readings by Literary Fathers. The authors were all fathers, and most of the readings revolved around fatherhood or having kids...

The next two readers were Darin Strauss (More Than It Hurts You, The Real McCoy, Half a Life) and Matthew Norman (Domestic Violets). I haven't read either author yet. Darin's novel was really depressing - about a young guy who caused a car accident that killed a young girl - and Matthew's novel has been on a lot of book bloggers lips this season. He read the first chapter which is all about a middle aged man's disgust at his own penis. It was quite hilarious.

The final author was Ben Tanzer, and he read from You Can Make Him Like You, and of course I recorded that reading as well:

It was really cool to hang with both of them. The atmosphere at KGB was amazing and the authors all sounded great. I thought Greg and Ben stole the night, and the audience was totally eating them up!

To top things off, at the end of the event, I spied Diana Spechler, who had recently joined TNBBC on Goodreads for an Author/Reader Discussion of her novel Skinny. We chatted as a group for a bit, then split up - the authors heading out for drinks and me and mom heading for home.. I had work the next morning and a long ass drive ahead of me, assuming we could find our R line and get the hell out of the city first!

Of course I couldn't let the night end without photo evidence:

(Me, Diana, Greg, Ben)

This night goes down in author-awesome-history! God I love these guys .......

Review: My Father's House

Read 10/15/11 - 10/19/11
4 Stars - Strongly Recommended (with tissues at hand)
Pgs: 171
Publisher: Main St. Rag

So. You know how I've been reviewing Ben Tanzer's books for awhile now, right? And you know how I think this guy can do no wrong as an author, right? Ok... just so we're clear...

My Father's House is the newest of Ben's books, published this August through Main St. Rag. Dealing heavily with one son's worry, anxiety, and grief over the slow, cancerous death of his father, it was almost too uncomfortably intimate for me.

I don't have to know Ben well to know that a lot of what he has written here was drawn from personal experience. It cuts too close to the bone to be truly fictional. As I read My Father's House, I saw it as Ben's way of publicly expressing what it is like to lose a parent to the front row horror show that is Cancer. It felt like a cleaning of the slate and of properly saying goodbye. And I felt it was a true reflection of the chaotic feelings that rush through you from moment to moment, day to day, when preparing yourself for the ultimate and unavoidable loss of someone you can't imagine living without.

About nine years ago, I lost my step-father to cancer. I watched him fight and struggle and recover and fight some more. I saw him beat out the odds and break the doctors anticipated life expectancy only to slowly suffer and fade away from us, and Ben's book brought all of those old thoughts and inner-emotions rushing back to me.

In his novel, his unnamed character deals with his grief and simultaneously stuffs his emotions by lacing up his shoes and running, or heading out the bar to get loaded, or fucking other women (or, more truthfully, one particular nutcase) behind his wife's back. He tells stories about his father to anyone who will listen. They refuses to open up to each other, though, and say the things that they knows they should.

This book is a departure from Ben's much lighter-hearted look at socially awkward thirty-somethings in a pop culture saturated world. It should come with it's own Kleenex warning - "Keep Tissues Close When Reading". Though I very rarely ever get choked up while reading a book, this one had me close... I was right on the edge towards the end, as the reality of things really start setting in for our narrator.

It's a positive sign, for me, when an author connects with you in such an emotional way; when you are able to find something that you can relate to and empathize with. It's not often I can put myself (halfway) in their shoes....

Here's a cute interview of Ben, conducted and recorded by his son, on the novel:

Audio Review: The Halloween Tree

Listened 10/11/11 - 10/14/11
3 Stars - Recommended for readers familiar with audiobooks
2 CD's

Ray Bradbury and I have a strange author/reader relationship. Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorite novels of all time, where he forecasted a dark and dangerous future where books were banned and owning one could cost you your life. I found myself on the fence with The Martian Chronicles, where we colonize Mars and find ourselves face to face with Martians who look just like us. A fan of the film version of Something Wicked This Way Comes, I just couldn't get into the book. It felt like something was missing....

But it's October, and I've recently become obsessed with audiobooks, and my library had The Halloween Tree sitting there begging to be borrowed. What better way to get into the Fall frame of mind than listening to the story of 8 little boys who end up traveling through time to find their friend Pipkin, who was kidnapped by death on Halloween night, while they learn about the history of Halloween - the origins of the Mummy, Witches, Gargoyles, and Ghosts. What better way to give Ray Bradbury another shot?!

For starters, the audiobook version was the first I'd ever listened to that had more than one reader: Mr. Moundshroud, the man who lived in the big old scary house with the Halloween Tree in his backyard, the story's narrator, and each of the little boys were all read by someone different. There was also a slew of sound effects and music, both creepy and fitting.

The story itself was odd and a bit preachy. It didn't feel entirely fleshed out, a bit gappy and a bit rushed. I'd read somewhere that the editor had a field day with the original manuscript, chopping huge parts out and turning it into more of a young adult story than Bradbury had initially intended.

Overall, the audiobook's atmosphere meshed well with the falling leaves and chilly weather. And its short for an audio, all crammed into two cd's. If you've read it, I would recommend giving the story a listen!

Book Giveaway: In the King's Arms

TNBBC has another cool giveaway to offer!

To celebrate it's recent release,

Sonia Taitz will be appearing over at TNBBC on goodreads

on November 15th to discuss her novel 

In the King's Arms

and we are giving away 3 domestic copies 

to get the discussion going!

(Domestic means US Residents only)

(Sorry International Peeps!)

Here is the Goodreads description:

Lily Taub is the brilliant, beautiful and headstrong American daughter of Holocaust survivors. Seeking relief from their traumatized world, Lily escapes to Oxford University, where she meets Julian Aiken — black sheep of an aristocratic English family. When Lily is invited to the family’s ancestral home over Christmas vacation, her deepening romance with young Julian is crossed by a shocking accident that affects them all. Julian must face the harsh disapproval of his anti-Semitic family, who consider Lily a destructive force, not only in Julian’s life, but to their own sense of order. In the King's Arms is a lyrical, literary novel about the healing possibility of love.

Sound like something you would like to read?

Here's how to enter....

1 - Comment here stating that you would like to receive a copy of the book, and explain whether you believe that love can conquer all.

2 - You must be a resident of the US and leave me a way to contact you (email is preferred).

3- Agree to participate in a discussion with Sonia about her novel during the weeks of November 15th - 30th.

(If you win, the thread for the discussion will be emailed to you before November 15th)

 Winners are chosen randomly and will be announced here and via email on October 22nd. 

 Good luck!

James Boice on "Being Indie"

On "Being Indie" is a monthly feature that will be hosted here on TNBBC. It is my hope that we will meet a wide variety of independent authors, publishers, and booksellers as they discuss what being indie means to them.

James Boice is not an independently published author, though he absolutely considers himself an "indie". His three novels - MVP, NoVa, and The Good and the Ghastly - were published by a Big Six imprint, but I bet you haven't read him yet. And that's a shame. He deserves to be the next big thing!

His writing brings the violence, rocking it like a swift, bloody kick to the head. You can find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Why I Am Indie Even Though I Am Published by Satan (or China)

Not too long ago I was in a JCPenney for some reason and there was a mannequin displaying an “indie rock” outfit one could buy—western shirt, CBGB shirt, pre-faded jeans. Any questions I had about whether the term indie still meant anything were laid to rest.

The term indie, however, still connotes something, and it is this: underdog. A piece of art that does not have the support of the forces and powers of the universe, an artist working alone, the odds stacked against him or her—this is what we mean when we say indie. That is why we like indie—because we like underdogs.

You can be an underdog in many ways. If your resources are iffy, if your budget is low, if your art is difficult or uncompromising or even just sincere, then I believe you qualify as an underdog and are therefore what we mean when we say indie.

I have had three novels published by Scribner—which is an imprint of Simon & Schuster, which is one of many objects residing in the vast portfolio of the CBS Corporation which is a massive media conglomerate probably owned by something bigger and scarier, some mysterious multinational that will turn out to be an alias for the Moonies or Rupert Murdoc or China or, I don’t know, Satan or something. And yet I am indie. Indie meaning underdog.

Here is why: There is a relatively big, moneyed mainstream apparatus behind my literary fiction novels and you still have never heard of me. I have published short fiction in everything from barely-known lit quarterlies to Esquire. My books have sold a few thousand copies each. I make very, very little money from writing. The indie lit apparatus thinks I am too mainstream because I have a big mainstram publisher, so they ignore me, assuming their support is more needed elsewhere. The mainstream lit apparatus—e.g., NPR, New York Times, et al—ignores me too, for whatever reason.

My novels tend to be about the dark, pathological side of humanity. They are not the kind of novel that exist just to make you feel good about a world we have no business feeling good about. I am physically repulsed by schmoozing, I am constitutionally unable to pander, I start barfing if I blab about myself, I avoid literary scenes and magazine launch parties and am friends with almost zero other writers, I do not enjoy readings (attending them or doing them) and only do them when I have a book that has just been published. I kneel at no altar, I swear no allegiances, I am short-listed for no prize, I am endowed by the grant of no foundation.

What I do do: I write books and try to write well and say true things. That is where I channel my energies and concerns.

There are a number of people who really, really get what I do. We are kindred spirits. It is good to know they are out there. They are the reason I keep writing. And I rely almost entirely on their word-of-mouth for support.

As a fiction writer working in 21st American society—a society that cares about literature as much as it cares about waste management—no matter what corporate conglomerate owns or does not own the apparatus publishing or promoting (or not promoting) my work, I expect to always be the underdog, to be accepted neither by scene nor mass audience, to be given at most only minimal and begrudging support by whatever gatekeepers there are.

In other words, I will always be working independently, as every artist should. That was the original point of people starting indie presses and indie record labels and making indie films: to stay true, to exist on one’s own terms and create for the sake of the art and nothing else.

As long as you are doing that, working on your own terms, regardless of the venue, no matter what, you are an underdog, you are indie.

Review: Hidden Camera

Read 10/5/11 - 10/12/11
4 Stars - Strongly Recommended
Pgs: 217
Publisher: Dalkey Archive

Every once and awhile, I stumble across a blog post or lit magazine article listing "the best books you're not reading".  I discovered Hidden Camera by just such a list, though you'll have to forgive me for not remembering who wrote it and where I read it.

How this book flew so far under my radar for so long (it was originally published back in 2003, and rereleased in 2005) is beyond me, since it's right up my alley in terms of writing style.

This cerebral novel takes place over the course of just one evening - beginning when our rather bland, home-bodied narrator returns home from his job as an undertaker and carrying him through the night from one strange destination to another. This creepy scavenger hunt of sorts starts when our narrator finds an unmarked, unaddressed envelope stuffed into his door, requesting his presence at the Film Archive for an unnamed showing that takes place within the hour. Curious, after spending much of that hour mentally deconstructing the intent of the mysterious envelope and it's even more mysterious origins - our narrator heads out on foot to see what it's all about.

Upon his arrival, he discovers only one other person in the theatre, a woman whose face is obscured by a rather large brimmed hat. And the show they came to watch? Why, it's a movie of him sitting on a park bench during his lunch hour, reading a book, completely unaware that his is the subject of a hidden camera.

Once the film ends and the house lights come back on, in a state of confusion and mortification, he realizes that the woman is no longer seated beside him. In fact, she is no longer in the theatre. Baffling as that is, he is even more baffled upon noticing another unmarked envelope that sits on his lap inviting him to a second hand bookshop across town in less than an hour, and he suddenly becomes convinced that the hidden cameras are still rolling.

And so our narrator begins the seemingly endless and increasingly curious journey from bookshop, to zoo, to underground elevator, to a church and it's odd tombstones, all at the silent request of two strangers..... and all  because he refuses to lose face and walk away from the opportunity to redeem himself in the eye of the camera, and in the hopes of encountering the woman in the large brimmed hat again.

This book is one incredibly amazing mind-fuck. Taking place almost completely within the mind of our undertaker, we experience everything in much the same way he does. There is very little conversation at all; in fact, our narrator takes extreme measures NOT to talk to anyone as he heads from one place to the next.

Is he going nuts, you wonder? Can this shit really be happening? Has he died, perhaps, and this is some freaky ass purgatory - which would be hilarious since he informs us that he doesn't see a link between death (something he is intensely close with) and birth (something he has no experience with, disregarding his own, which he cannot recall)? Or a dream? Yes, it must be a dream, right?!

The writing is wonderful; reminiscent of my favorite author, Jose Saramago, similar to him in the way he weaves an entire story out of one small, trivial thing.... In this case, an envelope tucked into a doorjam. Had the undertaker chosen to throw it away, like so much unwanted advertisements and junk mail, the story would have ended before it even began. It's the ease at which Zoran Zivkovic tells us the story, the pace at which it unravels itself, the subtle tension that eats away at your insides.. he hooks you before you even realize you took the bait.

Reader, beware.... look no further lest ye wish to be spoiled.....


You have been warned!





I have my theories. Knowing that our narrator is an undertaker and that he has strong beliefs - due to his line of work - that there is nothing after death, I found myself beginning to view the two strangers as ghosts before I was even aware of it. They seemed to know his every move, they seemed to anticipate what he would do next, and where he would end up. They are capable of moving silently, quickly, of setting up and breaking down "sets" without being seen or heard. They create impossible scenarios for our narrator, and yet they are possible because he is experiencing them. It just seemed otherworldly to me. In this light, it felt quite like a Christmas Carol, simply substitute Mr. Scrooge and his crappy attitude towards the human race and replace him with our narrator and his failure to see that there is activity after death. I saw these two strangers as the ghosts that show our narrator the error of his ways... instead of whisking him away from location to location, they tease him with envelopes and get him to go of his own accord, bait him with his own curiosity and polite manners.

Then I began viewing our narrator as the ghost. Perhaps he had died at work, and his spirit returned home to find the envelope - in a Sixth Sense kind of "I don't know I'm dead and I continue to believe I am still living" sort of way. The envelope then being a way to tether his spirit and force him to perform tasks, and come to terms with his own death, in order to cross over to the  land of the dead. The woman in the large brimmed hat then being his spirit guide, a living person who was helping him cross over. And still, this sticks to my theory of him being shown that there is activity after death, since he is the ghost, the one with post-death experiences....

The ending was quite ambiguous and though that usually bothers me, for this book I was ok with it. Because while it doesn't tell you exactly what the heck was going on all night, it certainly makes me feel like what I thought was happening, one or the other of my theories, is still a possibility.

Have you read this? I would love to find out what you think of it, and what you took from it.

Scranton's "Pages and Places" Book Expo

I always enjoy killing my one weekend day off in a blur of bookish things. Usually, I'm heading out to Bethlehem every other month for their big library basement sale, or Allentown for the Fall AAUW book sale. It's not often that truly big book events find their way out by my neck of the woods.

I've known about the Scranton "Pages and Places" Book Expo since last year - though its first appearance was the year before that - but at the time I just didn't feel the draw. This year, however, I thought I would take the 30 minute drive out there and take a peek.

Were there Pages? Yes. Yes there were. An average amount of books - both fiction and non-fiction - mostly about local events and history, by local authors it would seem.

Were there Places? Uhm... sure. Ok. You could say that places were brought to you, I suppose. But you really didn't go places, unless you count crossing the street as "going places"...

Was it truly a Book Expo? Sadly, I didn't think so. It was an incredibly small event. I wish I could say it was small in a cozy way, but really, it wasn't. Only a handful of publishers were on display outside - Harper Collins being the only one I'd even heard of - though perhaps that had something to do with the weather? It was chilly and gray and the clouds were moments away from drenching the handful of passerby's meandering in the square. And I know that Harper has a warehouse somewhere in the belly of Scranton so it was really only a hop, skip, and jump from the expo to their front door.

I wish it had been more like the Brooklyn Book Festival... with hundreds of vendors, and endless free panels to attend featuring larger named authors. Perhaps they are building up to that? Sloooooowly?

The Book Expo also boasted a Civil War street fair, sure to entertain the entire family with things like face painting, sidewalk chalk art, and activities for the little ones. There was a guy juggling balls, and some ladies dressed up in period costumes, and a blanket laid out in the grass with the instruments, games, and utensils they used back during the war. While I thought it was meh at best, my little guy found a way to kill some time by drawing Spongebob and Patrick, snubbing all of the other arts and crafts they had on offer.

The highlight of the entire event was sneaking across the street to the Northern Light Expresso Bar, snagging a hot drink, and meeting Laura Ellen Scott - author of the newly released Death Wishing! We had been talking about "Pages and Places" on Twitter the night before and exchanged numbers, and I was very much looking forward to chatting with her about her book, and the website she created as an extension of the novel, Wish Tank (if you scroll down to wish #12, you'll see mine!!!) .

She was extremely warm and wonderful, and gave me some insight into how and why she wrote the book. We also discussed the workshops she teaches, and Stephen King, and Steve Himmer... and she replaced my arc copy of her novel with the published paperback and signed it for me.

When Laura headed out to one of the expo's ticketed workshops, I decided to split. And not a moment too soon, either. As I was driving out of Scranton, big fat raindrops began spattering across my windshield.

Do I think I would go back to Scranton's "Pages and Places" Book Expo next year? Most likely not. Though I could be persuaded to return if there was another opportunity to hang out with an author or two.... it is just around the corner, after all.