David Abrams's Blog, page 49

Sunday Sentence: The Clothing of Books by Jhumpa Lahiri

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


The right cover is like a beautiful coat, elegant and warm, wrapping my words as they travel through the world, on their way to keep an appointment with my readers.

The Clothing of Books by Jhumpa Lahiri

Front Porch Books: December 2016 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...

Christmas With Don DeLillo

Don DeLillo’s debut novel Americana (1971) opens with a Christmas scene on New York streets as the narrator and the country are winding down from another “dull and lurid year.” While I would never call 2016 dull, it certainly had more than its share of lurid moments. With many more to come, so fasten your seatbelts and grab your barf bags.

But before we get too far into the season of eggnog and ho-ho-hos on every corner, I thought I’d share the first paragraph of DeLillo’s first novel as a wa...

Sunday Sentence: The Mothers by Brit Bennett

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


Maybe she’d been through this before or maybe she already had children and couldn’t take another. Was it easier if you already had a child, like politely declining seconds because you were already full?

The Mothers by Brit Bennett

Friday Freebie: A Box of Penguins

Congratulations to Cliff Garstang, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie: the Just-In-Time-For-the-Holidays Big Box of Books.


This week’s contest is for another multi-book box. This time, it’ll be full of Penguins. Penguin Classics, that is. It’s no secret that I am obsessed with Penguin Classics, especially the so-called black-spine Penguins. I have two bookcases chock-full of these tuxedo’ed lovelies. Over the years, as I’ve collected them, there have inevitably been duplicates of volumes I’...

Trailer Park Tuesday: Mooncop by Tom Gauld

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




As a long-time fan of Tom Gauld’s comics (ever since You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack came out), I’m looking forward to his latest, Mooncop , landing on my bookshelf. With a sense of humor as dry as toast (but twice as tasty), Gauld loves to poke fun at the often inflated, self-important literary canon and scientific conventions. Tom Gauld keeps the rest of us humble with...

My First Time: Rachel Kambury

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 Rachel Kambury, author of Gravel , a novel about World War II. Rachel graduated from Eugene Lang College. Born and raised in Oregon, her interest in World War II history has taken her to Normandy, Bastogne, Eindhoven, Landshut, and Dachau. She originally...

Sunday Sentence: The Door That Always Opens by Julie Funderburk

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


               white butcher paper
               the tongue wrapped
               separate from the heart

The Door That Always Opens by Julie Funderburk

Friday Freebie: The Just-in-Time-for-the-Holidays Big Box of Books Giveaway

Congratulations to Lisa Murray, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie: Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch.

This week’s contest is for another clear-the-shelves Big Box of Books which should make just about any reader smile. I gathered up several new releases, as well as a few older books from my personal library, for this latest giveaway. Some are hardcover, some are paperback, and all are in new (or nearly new) condition. ONE lucky reader will win THIRTEEN books just in time for the holid...

Trailer Park Tuesday: Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch

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

     This is where your lost toys went, the one the dog chewed, the one your mother threw out without asking when you left home, the ones you always wondered about.
     The island says: bring me your lost, your scorned, forgotten masses, bring me your maimed and ridiculous, bring me so much as a finger or a toe and I’ll take you in. Be you ever s...