S.W. Clemens's Blog
December 31, 2022
Marina, a Gothic Tale, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Zafon’s writing (at least in its English translation) is darkly atmospheric and haunting. There lurks a promise of mystery, the melancholy of love lost, as well as the shadow of impending doom. I was unprepared for the horror; I’d missed the subtitle on the cover “A Gothic Tale.” Because the thirty-year-old narrator is reflecting on […]
November 16, 2022
Verity
Colleen Hoover caught my attention when she held Amazon’s #1 spot ahead of Stephen King’s Fairy Tale with her latest book It Ends With Us. In fact, when I looked at the number of ratings and reviews (three to six times anything Rowling, King, Grisham, or Brown have amassed from their greatest hits) I thought […]
October 10, 2022
A Niche Best Seller
BookBub calls The Seal Cove Theoretical Society “an existentially funny read about unlikely friendships and community!” Readers of Humorous Literary Fiction seem to agree.
In support of THE SEAL COVE THEORETICAL SOCIETY being fe...
In support of THE SEAL COVE THEORETICAL SOCIETY being featured on a BookBub promotion today in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia, I’m discounting the price through the end of the month. BookBub calls it “an existentially funny read about unlikely friendships and community!”
October 5, 2022
More Reading
In the past two weeks, I’ve listened to three audiobooks — Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan, and A Familiar Stranger by A.R. Torre, and Cloud Cookoo Land by Anthony Doer. LITTLE BEACH STREET BAKERY, by Jenny Colgan: I’ve become a fan of Jenny Colgan since I discovered her work earlier this year. She […]
September 17, 2022
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
5 out of 5 stars. I’m grateful to have spent time getting to know Eleanor Oliphant. This is undoubtedly one of the most compelling character arcs ever. For some reason, I’m reminded of J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. So mind-bogglingly good, it’s hard to fathom that this is a debut novel. Don’t miss it.
August 27, 2022
The Go-Between, by L.P. Hartley
Evocative of another time, The Go-Between explores the mores of the late Victorian Age at an English country manor, as seen through the eyes of a visitor about to turn 13 years old, or rather it is told by an old man who, upon finding his old diary, remembers what it was like to be […]
August 25, 2022
A Rare, Perfect Novel
I’ve read a lot of good books this year, but none as captivating as A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor. Towles. I’m in awe of Towles’ facility with language. It’s like watching a one-man stage show, where you lose yourself in a character at once more inventive and more fluent than anyone you’ve ever met, […]
Beartown
My review of the audio edition of BearTown, by Fredrik Backman: Ingmar Bergman Meets The Mighty Ducks How depressing! I would have given up on this downer at the midpoint, but for the fact that I didn’t feel I could review it without actually listening all the way to the bitter end. I wanted to […]
August 19, 2020
Seal Cove Reception
After a couple of weeks, the reviews are starting to come in and I’m both pleased and surprised. I had expected The Seal Cove Theoretical Society to get mixed reviews. Character-driven novels appeal to a certain demographic while leaving others cold. However, so far the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads have been really positive. Maybe […]
