David Abrams's Blog, page 46

Books for Dark Political Times: Michael Copperman’s Library

Reader:  Michael Copperman
Location:  Eugene, Oregon
Collection Size:  Five hundred books
The one book I'd run back into a burning building to rescue:  I Have a Dream: The March on Washington by Emma Gelders Sterne
Favorite book from childhood:   James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Guilty pleasure book:   Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

My personal library is small. I live in a converted garage and rent out the rooms of my house, and I have boxes and boxe...

Nice Things People Have Said about Brave Deeds

Exactly six months from today, my second novel Brave Deeds will be out in the world. I’m very proud of this book and hope those of you who read it will find it to be even better than Fobbit (though, in truth, it’s a horse of a slightly different color―a little more sober and serious than the screwball tour of duty experienced by Chance Gooding Jr., Abe Shrinkle, et al). And if you don’t find it’s your cup of tea, that’s okay; I’ll just work harder to make the next book even better yet.

Some ea...

Trailer Park Tuesday: The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.




Now that’s how you do a book trailer. Haunting, mesmerizing, intriguing, not too long, and not too short, the video for Chris Bohjalian’s new novel The Sleepwalker does its work efficiently and beautifully. Mixing blurbs with shots of a woman hypnotically rising from bed and walking in a trance down to the river, the trailer most definitely makes me want to buy the book. (I al...

My First Time: Beth Kissileff

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 Beth Kissileff, author of the novel Questioning Return and editor of the anthology Reading Genesis . She works as a journalist and her writing appears regularly in various publications such as Tablet, the Forward, New York Jewish Week, Haaretz, Jerusalem...

Sunday Sentence: The Stories of Frederick Busch

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


What to know about pain is how little we do to deserve it, how simple it is to give, how hard to lose.

“Widow Water” from The Stories of Frederick Busch

Friday Freebie: We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge

Congratulations to Tisa Houck, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie: Guapa by Saleem Haddad and The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

This week’s contest is for We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge, now out in paperback. The Huffington Post called the novel “a rich examination of America’s treatment of race, and the ways we attempt to discuss and confront it today.” Keep reading for more information about the book...


The Freeman family—Charles, Laurel, and their daughters, teenag...

Front Porch Books: January 2017 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: many of these books won’t be released for another 2-6 months; I’m here to pique your interest and stock y...

Trailer Park Tuesday: I See You by Claire Mackintosh

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.



The trailer for the new novel by Claire Mackintosh, I See You , is creepy as that guy in the coffee shop who keeps glancing up from his laptop to watch you carry your venti light-foam cappuccino from the counter back to your table on the other side of the room. The same guy who is still sending eye-flicks in your direction 10 minutes later. The same guy who packs up his compute...

My First Time: Larry Watson

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 Larry Watson, author of of ten books, among them the novels Montana 1948 , White Crosses , Let Him Go , and, most recently, As Good As Gone . The Seattle Times had this to say about Larry’s latest book: “In the virile, enigmatic character of Calvin, Watson b...

Sunday Sentence: House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

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


The sky was black and turned to blue just before a ribbon of bright coral opened like a cut on the horizon.

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III