David Abrams's Blog, page 56

Trailer Park Tuesday: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

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 Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware stirs up feelings of dread, unease, and intrigue—much like the plot of the novel itself:

Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovia...

Sunday Sentence: The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

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


Why is it so loud when you cry from grief? Because it must be loud enough for the missing one to hear, though it never can be.

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

Friday Freebie: All the Lasting Things by David Hopson, Intrusion by Mary McCluskey, After Disasters by Viet Dinh

Congratulations to Josh Forsythe, Liliana Montero, and Jon Butters, winners of last week’s Friday Freebie giveaway: The Hike by Drew Magary.

This week’s book contest is for three new novels from Little A publishers: All the Lasting Things by David Hopson, Intrusion by Mary McCluskey, and After Disasters by Viet Dinh. Read on for more information about the books....

In All the Lasting Things, the Fisher family of Alluvia, New York, is coming undone. Evelyn spends her days tending to her husban...

Mag Watch: One Teen Story, Vol. IV, Issue X: “Momentum” by Kris Dinnison

Kris Dinnison’s “Momentum” in One Teen Story is a model of concise writing that is as tight as a cube of garbage pulled from a trash compactor.

That’s probably a poor analogy since Dinnison’s story is hardly garbage. No, it’s full of beauty and truth and humor and danger and thrills and romance—all in the small space of fifteen pages of large print. It’s a coming-of-age story and a coming-out story which all unfolds during one night’s drunk, careening drive in a Pacer. Narrated by Leo on the...

An Open Letter to Donald Trump from a Purple Heart Veteran

An Open Letter to Donald Trumpfrom a Purple Heart Veteran by Sean Davis
Mr. Trump,

This morning, I heard retired Lieutenant Colonel Louis Dorfman gave you his Purple Heart . Having a Purple Heart myself, knowing what it takes to get that medal, knowing the toll that award has taken on me, both mentally and physically, I can’t stop thinking about this.

You probably don’t know the Purple Heart was established by George Washington during the Revolutionary War. It was the first award in our milita...

Trailer Park Tuesday: American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin

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





In the spring of 1974, I was preoccupied with three things: my chocolate Labrador Retriever, Nancy Drew mysteries, and this photo:


As an 11-year-old boy, I tracked the Patty Hearst kidnapping case like a third-rate Encyclopedia Brown. I didn’t have much to go on—the coverage in TIME magazine (the only national news source my father subscribed to) and Walter Cronkite’s reports...

Our First Time: Jennifer Spiegel, Lynn Marie Houston, and Susan Allspaw Pomeroy

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 guests are Jennifer Spiegel, Lynn Marie Houston, and Susan Allspaw Pomeroy, the editors of Dead Inside: Poems and Essays About Zombies . The literary collection brings together twenty-six poems and six essays inspired by the zombies and characters of AMC’s hit tel...

Sunday Sentence: Beneath the Bonfire by Nickolas Butler

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


On the horizon, zippers of far-off lightning opened the blue and black of the sky.

Beneath the Bonfire: Stories by Nickolas Butler

Friday Freebie: The Hike by Drew Magary

Congratulations to Tim Looney, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie giveaway: I Refuse by Per Petterson.

This week’s book contest is for The Hike by Drew Magary. Three lucky readers will win a copy of the new novel by the author of The Postmortal . Here’s what Jeffrey Cranor, cowriter of Welcome to Night Vale, had to say about the book: “The Hike is Cormac McCarthy’s Alice in Wonderland—gritty and terrifying but with deliriously surreal twists and turns.” Read on for more information about The...

Trailer Park Tuesday: Classic Penguin: Cover to Cover, edited by Paul Buckley

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




One part of my Penguin colonyI am obsessed with penguins. Or, to be more precise, I am obsessed with Penguins. For the past seven years, I have actively curated a collection of the so-called “Black Spine” Penguin Classics. It started as a shelf but now threatens to overtake two large bookcases in my upstairs office. Each morning, before I sit down to work on what I can only dr...