David Abrams's Blog, page 113

My First Time: John Abraham-Watne

My First Time is a regular feature in which writers talk about virgin experiences in their writing and publishing careers, ranging from their first rejection to the moment of holding their first published book in their hands.  Today’s guest is John Abraham-Watne, author of the new novel Our Senior Year , a story that deals with high school, "quarter-life crisis," friendship, religion, and love.  John lives near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis with his wife Mary and their two cats, Marble...

Sunday Sentence: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Simply put, the best sentence(s) I’ve read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.


Sharp gray eyes, lean and narrow-waisted, and when he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Molded by the Bookstores of Our Youth: Steve Ashley Keeps On Booking in Jackson, Wyoming

Writers are molded by the bookstores of their youth.  Or, maybe it's their public library; or, it could be that shelf of books in their family's living room.

In my case, it was The Valley Bookstore .  Growing up in Jackson, Wyoming in the 1970s, there were two stores devoted to selling new books: Teton Bookshop and The Valley Bookstore.  I divided my time equally between the two.  As a teenager, I didn't buy a lot of books--I was a low-budget library checker-outer--but I ha...

Friday Freebie: The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi, Gravity by Elizabeth Rosner, and Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante

Congratulations to Melissa Seng and Amber Kalbes, winners of last week's Friday Freebie: Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican and The Human Body by Paolo Giordano.

This week's giveaway is a trio of books which will bring a little international flavor to your shelves: The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi, Gravity by Elizabeth Rosner, and Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante.  I have two copies of each book to give away to two lucky readers.  Scroll down for mo...

Trevor D. Richardson's Library: A Rob Fleming Dilemma

Reader:  Trevor D. Richardson
Location:  Portland, Oregon
Collection size:  300-ish, plus a lot of comics
The one book I'd run back into a burning building to rescue:  Early 20th-century printing of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , my favorite fictional character
Favorite book from childhood:  The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Guilty pleasure book:  I don't really read things that I'm ashamed to admit, but the closest would have to be The Chronicles of Narnia because t...

Soup and Salad: Merritt Tierce's Husband Has Read Her Novel, Encountering Tim O'Brien, Un-Slumping Sophomore Novels, Will We See Thomas Pynchon?, High Desert Journal's Subscriber Campaign, The Smell of Old Books, Literary Halloween Costumes, 10 Worst Openi

On today's menu:

1.  At the Powell's blog , Merritt Tierce, whose debut novel Love Me Back is about a waitress addicted to sex and cocaine, talks about how she's been confronted with an unusual question:

     "Has your husband read it?"
     So far I've stifled the following responses:
     "No, has your husband read it?"
     "No, because he's not allowed to read. He has too much to do around the house."
     "Yes,...

Soup and Salad: Merritt Tierce's Husband Has Read Her Novel, Encountering Tim O'Brien, Un-Slumping Sophomore Novels, Will We See Thomas Pynchon?, High Desert Journal's Subscriber Campaign, The Smell of Old Books, Literary Halloween Costumes, 10 Worst Openi

On today's menu:

1.  At the Powell's blog , Merritt Tierce, whose debut novel Love Me Back is about a waitress addicted to sex and cocaine, talks about how she's been confronted with an unusual question:

     "Has your husband read it?"
     So far I've stifled the following responses:
     "No, has your husband read it?"
     "No, because he's not allowed to read. He has too much to do around the house."
     "Yes,...

Soup and Salad: Merritt Tierce's Husband Has Read Her Novel, Encountering Tim O'Brien, Un-Slumping Sophomore Novels, Will We See Thomas Pynchon?, High Desert Journal's Subscriber Campaign, The Smell of Old Books, Literary Halloween Costumes, 10 Worst Openi

On today's menu:

1.  At the Powell's blog , Merritt Tierce, whose debut novel Love Me Back is about a waitress addicted to sex and cocaine, talks about how she's been confronted with an unusual question:

     "Has your husband read it?"
     So far I've stifled the following responses:
     "No, has your husband read it?"
     "No, because he's not allowed to read. He has too much to do around the house."
     "Yes,...

Soup and Salad: Merritt Tierce's Husband Has Read Her Novel, Encountering Tim O'Brien, Un-Slumping Sophomore Novels, Will We See Thomas Pynchon?, High Desert Journal's Subscriber Campaign, The Smell of Old Books, Literary Halloween Costumes, 10 Worst Openi

On today's menu:

1.  At the Powell's blog , Merritt Tierce, whose debut novel Love Me Back is about a waitress addicted to sex and cocaine, talks about how she's been confronted with an unusual question:

     "Has your husband read it?"
     So far I've stifled the following responses:
     "No, has your husband read it?"
     "No, because he's not allowed to read. He has too much to do around the house."
     "Yes,...

Soup and Salad: Merritt Tierce's Husband Has Read Her Novel, Encountering Tim O'Brien, Un-Slumping Sophomore Novels, Will We See Thomas Pynchon?, High Desert Journal's Subscriber Campaign, The Smell of Old Books, Literary Halloween Costumes, 10 Worst Openi

On today's menu:

1.  At the Powell's blog , Merritt Tierce, whose debut novel Love Me Back is about a waitress addicted to sex and cocaine, talks about how she's been confronted with an unusual question:

     "Has your husband read it?"
     So far I've stifled the following responses:
     "No, has your husband read it?"
     "No, because he's not allowed to read. He has too much to do around the house."
     "Yes,...