David Abrams's Blog, page 41

Friday Freebie: It’s My Country Too by Jerri Bell and Tracy Crow

Congratulations to Nancy Bekofske, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie: the big Summer of Book Lovin’ Giveaway .

This week’s contest is for It’s My Country Too by Jerri Bell and Tracy Crow. Subtitled Women’s Military Stories from the American Revolution to Afghanistan, the book is a vital new member of the military history bookshelf. I thought it would be especially pertinent to offer it as a Friday Freebie this week since we’re coming up on the 4th of July here in America and it’s a good rem...

Front Porch Books: June 2017 edition

The Ninth Hour
by Alice McDermott
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Any good and proper Most-Anticipated-Fiction list of mine will always start with Alice McDermott. I have been an earnest fan since reading That Night one night in grad school. Though I haven’t read all of her most-recent work, I will always be the first in line to snatch-grab her newest release. The Ninth Hour is no exception. To the top of the To-Be-Read pile, buster!

Jacket Copy:  On a dim winter afternoon, a young Irish immig...

My First Time: Eliza Henry-Jones

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 Eliza Henry-Jones, a writer based in Victoria, Australia. Her debut novel In the Quiet was published earlier this year as part of a three-book deal with HarperCollins Australia. In the Quiet was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the Read...

Sunday Sentence: The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett

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


I’m a novelist. My business is with souls and what goes on in them.
The Dain Curse
by Dashiell Hammett

Friday Freebie: Summer of Lovin’ Books Giveaway

Congratulations to John Smith, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie: Fen by Daisy Johnson.

This week’s contest is another of those clear-the-shelves-and-dump-everything-into-a-big-box giveaways. I’ve put together a shelf of eclectic books, ones which have been waiting (im)patiently for the right Friday Freebie to come along. There should be something for just about everyone in this stack. Will you be the ONE lucky reader to win ALL of the following books? You can’t win unless you play...

Dinn...

My First Time: Anne Corlett

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 Anne Corlett, author of the new debut novel  The Space Between the Stars . She lives in a village near Bath in southwest England with her partner and three young sons. Her short fiction has been published in various magazines and anthologies, and she...

Sunday Sentence: Finders Keepers by Stephen King

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


A good novelist does not lead his characters, he follows them. A good novelist does not create events, he watches them happen and then writes down what he sees. A good novelist realizes he is a secretary, not God.

Finders Keepers by Stephen King

Friday Freebie: Fen by Daisy Johnson

Congratulations to Susan Dunlap, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie: A Really Big Lunch by Jim Harrison.

This week’s contest is for Fen by Daisy Johnson. Here’s what The Rumpus had to say about Johnson’s collection of stories: “As a reader, the world of Fen won’t leave you. That is Johnson’s power as a writer―she creates a dark, self-aware world that feels heavy and gray and covered in mist. In her universe, if you’re lonely, you can befriend a fish. Words don’t just cause emotional pain, b...

The Marriage of Books: Sarah Moriarty’s Library

Reader:   Sarah Moriarty
Location:  Brooklyn, NY
Collection size:  About 700
The one book I'd run back into a burning building to rescue:   Timing a Century: A History of the Waltham Watch Company by Charles Moore. Moore, my maternal grandfather, wrote business histories. He was a weekend farmer, a devout Quaker, a disciplinarian, and died when my mother was just sixteen.
Favorite book from childhood:   Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier or Seaward by Susan Cooper.
Guilty pleasure...

Trailer Park Tuesday: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

       “If there was a murder, then there was a murderer. The murderer is with us...and every one of you is a suspect.”
       “And who are you?”
       “My name is Hercule Poirot, and I am probably the greatest detective in the world.”

That’s right, my little grey cells, the Belgian puzzle-solver is back on the big screen. By my reckoning, the last theatrical release featuring Agatha Christie’s beloved creation was 1988’s Appointment W...