David Abrams's Blog, page 125
July 30, 2014
A Defiant and Beautiful Work of Art: Painted Horses by Malcolm Brooks
Painted Horses
by Malcolm Brooks
Review by Natalie Storey
Stories that romanticize the harshness of living in the West have always sold well among people who don’t live here. In his debut novel, Painted Horses , Malcolm Brooks borrows the rutted stereotypes of the West and then refashions them into a defiant and beautiful work of art.
Brooks, a carpenter who lives in Missoula, Montana, has a gift for writing stirring passages about horses. Instead of rendering them as mere vehicles fo...
July 29, 2014
Trailer Park Tuesday: The Great Glass Sea by Josh Weil
Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.
I am
an unabashed fan
of Josh Weil's first book, The New Valley, a collection of three novellas. As I said in
this review
, “the writing is tight, complex and wholly original. Symbolism marries Syntax and they have beautiful children.” The New Valley came out from Grove (my publisher) in 2009 and I waited impatiently, through the radio silence and the cri...
July 28, 2014
My First Time: Kristen Harnisch
Alix Martinez Photography
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 Kristen Harnisch, author of
The Vintner's Daughter
, a novel set in two valleys--Napa and Loire--in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Roberta Rich, author of
The Harem Midwife
, had this to say about the book: “A lovely n...
July 27, 2014
Sunday Sentence: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Simply put, the best sentence(s) I’ve read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.
Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
July 26, 2014
Crowd-Sourced Parenting: Everybody's Baby by Lydia Netzer
Since starting this review, I have been distracted by the siren song of the Internet. By that, I mean in the time it took me to type "S-i-n-c-e" and so on, I've:
checked my Twitter feedlooked at my Blogger stats for visitor traffic to The Quivering Penanswered two emails"Liked" a couple of my friends' Facebook posts (and added "Awww, sweet!" to the one with the video of the kitten riding atop a bottle-nosed dolphin at some Florida park)I think I resemble Billy Bream too much. A tal...
July 25, 2014
Friday Freebie: Fallout by Sadie Jones, Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson, Secrecy by Rupert Thomson, The Wind Is Not a River by Brian Payton
Congratulations to Sheila Korman, winner of last week's Friday Freebie contest: The Home Place by Carrie La Seur.
This week's book giveaway is a terrific quartet of fiction which would make for some great beach reading (or lakeside reading, or sitting-in-my-sweltering-apartment-in-front-of-the-air-conditioner reading). One lucky reader will win a copy of each of these titles: Fallout by Sadie Jones, Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson, Secrecy by Rupert Thomson, and The Wind Is...
July 23, 2014
Front Porch Books: July 2014 edition
Front Porch Books is a monthly tally of books--mainly advance review copies (aka "uncorrected proofs" and "galleys")--I've received from publishers. Because my dear friends, Mr. FedEx and Mrs. UPS, leave them with a doorbell-and-dash method of delivery, I call them my Front Porch Books. In this digital age, ARCs are also beamed to the doorstep of my Kindle via NetGalley and Edelweiss. Note: most of these books won't be released for another 2-6 months; I'm just here to pique...
July 22, 2014
Trailer Park Tuesday: The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob
Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.
Here's a surefire way to get someone to pay attention to your book trailer: dress your cute-as-a-button five-year-old son in a tuxedo, film him asking you questions about your debut novel, throw in some witty pop culture references (penguins, Breaking Bad) and, PRESTO!, you've got an irresistibly-charming video like the one for Mira Jacob's
The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing
....
July 21, 2014
My First Time: Robin Black
Photo by Nina Subin
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 Robin Black, author of
Life Drawing
. Robin's debut novel is an Indie Next pick for August 2014, on the long list for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, and has been called “a magnificent literary achievement” by Karen R...
July 20, 2014
Sunday Sentence: Everybody's Baby by Lydia Netzer
Simply put, the best sentence(s) I’ve read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.
“He has high anxiety,” I explain to the midwife. “Inside his head it’s like a thousand squirrels are caught in a bucket.”
Everybody’s Baby by Lydia Netzer
