David Abrams's Blog, page 22

Sunday Sentence: Hawaii by James Michener

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


No human beings then existed to celebrate the event. Perhaps some weird and vanished flying thing spied the escaping steam and swooped down to inspect it; more likely the roots of this future island were born in darkness and great waves and brooding nothingness.

Hawaii by James Michener

Sunday Sentence: Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

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


We’re impervious, we scintillate, we are thirteen.

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

Front Porch Books: December 2018 edition

Front Porch Books is a monthly tally of new and forthcoming books—mainly advance review copies (aka “uncorrected proofs” and “galleys”)—I’ve received from publishers. Cover art and opening lines may change before the book is finally released. I should also mention that, in nearly every case, I haven’t had a chance to read these books, but they’re definitely going in the to-be-read pile.



Very Nice
by Marcy Dermansky
(Knopf)

Jacket Copy:  Rachel Klein never meant to kiss her creative wri...

Sunday Sentence: The Collected Stories of Diane Williams

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


She can hear the splashing of the light inside of the gem.

from “The Power of Performance” in
The Collected Stories of Diane Williams

Friday Freebie: Lullaby Road by James Anderson

Congratulations to Shane Tracy, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie: The Big Holiday Giveaway .

This week’s giveaway is for Lullaby Road by James Anderson, author of The Never-Open Desert Diner. Here’s what The Mystery Tribune had to say about Lullaby Road: “James Anderson is definitely an author who can write. This lyrical and atmospheric novel takes readers to a unique place with characters of its own and embodies the author’s superb storytelling skills…It reads more like a literary take on...

1,000 Books: Edward Abbey to Louisa May Alcott

In this season of gratitude, I have 1,000 reasons to be thankful for James Mustich. As the co-founder of the legendary mail-order catalog A Common Reader , Mustich knows a thing or a thousand about books. (Full disclosure, Jim was an early editor of mine when we worked together on a now-defunct blog about Agatha Christie, as well as the un-defunct Barnes and Noble Review ). Those of us who have felt his influence in the literary world for decades already know this, but the rest of the un-M...

My First Time: Jennifer Spiegel

Not My First Time
This is not my first time.

What did I think back then, seeing my name in print? Was I all blushing bride, bookish rube? Did I carry around ink and quill just in case a random fan asked for an autograph? Was I wearing a black beret, tilted strategically on the top of my head? Did I sleep in that beret?

Tell me I didn’t wear sunglasses inside.

What had I expected that first time? Accolades? A writer’s retreat in, say, Bora Bora?

I guess, in all honesty, I thought it would be e...

Sunday Sentence: Beautiful Country Burn Again by Ben Fountain

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


Fear is the herpes of American politics: the symptoms bloom and fade, but the virus never dies.

Beautiful Country Burn Again by Ben Fountain

Thanksgiving Sweatpants

(This is what happens when you Google “Thanksgiving sweatpants”)

I know there is an unspoken rule
that holidays are a time to maybe
“dress up” a little, but tomorrow,
when I prepare to leave for my mom’s house
to indulge in a Thanksgiving feast,
I will pay her cooking my highest compliment
by dressing in sweatpants.

That’s one of my favorite pages from one of my favorite books I read this year: One-Sentence Journal by fellow Montana author Chris La Tray. I’ve been a fan of Chris’ blog for years...

Sunday Sentence: The Collected Stories of Diane Williams

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


Pots and pans were being batted around, or that was a lot of coughing I was hearing.
from “The Power of Performance” in
The Collected Stories of Diane Williams