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Are you reading any small press or independent books?
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Werner
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Oct 02, 2018 10:29AM
As of last night, I've finally started reading my review copy of
Ebolowa, by Goodreads author Simon Miller, on my Kindle app. So far, I'm actually favorably impressed with it; I'm finding it well-written, and a solid, workmanlike approach to the mystery genre conventions. Although it's the second book in a series, it's a new case for the detective protagonist, and I haven't experienced any feeling that I'm missing anything in relating to him.
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Finally, I've started reading my review e-copy of
FBOM by E. M. Bosso. The unfortunate acronym doesn't mean what you're probably thinking --it actually stands for "Foundation for the Betterment of Mankind." (Though whether or not the latter organization is really appropriately named remains to be seen....)
On my Kindle app, I've started on my review copy of
City of the Shrieking Tomb by Goodreads author Patrick A. Rogers, which is set in modern-day India. Since this is apparently his first novel, I don't really know what to expect; but I'm hoping the best for the read! :-)
Sweet AdversityI just finished proofreading Sweet Adversity by Donald Newlove that my small, independent Tough Poets Press will be releasing on January 28, 2019. How this novel ever went out of print is beyond me. Here are some reviews of the original 1978 edition:
"One of the most desperately funny books we've been given in a long time." -- The New York Times
"Easily one of the most ambitious American novels of the last fifty years." -- The Neglected Books Page
"A dazzling highwire act ... the sheer inventiveness and strength of his writing turn risk into triumph, drunken monologues into subtle satire, A.A. meetings into riveting dramas, and what in another writer might be bathos into brilliant comedy ... probably the most clear-eyed and moving--and certainly one of the most honest--books ever written about alcoholics." -- The New Yorker
"That he's one of the best American writers is now unmistakable." -- Newsweek
It's available for pre-order now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Adversit...
My friend Andrew Seddon gifted me with a copy of his latest story collection,
In Death Survive: Ghostly Tales last fall, and I was finally able to start reading it this weekend. Having already beta read, and greatly liked, all or most of the stories (though it's been a while). I expect this to be a quick and rewarding read!
Over the weekend, I started reading two books. One I'm reading to myself; it's
Bring It (Sabel Security #2), the second entry in my Goodreads friend Seeley James' Sabel Security series. (It's taken me six years to follow-up on this series, so it's about time!) The other one,
Sharpshooter in Petticoats by Mary Connealy, I'm reading aloud to Barb. I gave her a copy for Christmas, so she's been looking forward to getting started with it. Both of these books are published by small presses.
On my Kindle app, I'm currently reading the novella
Delayed Justice by D. E. Heil. It's a minor work that he gives away as an e-book to anyone who signs up for his electronic newsletter. (Although the words "True Justice Series" appear across the top of the front cover, the Goodreads description states that this is "A novella related to the author's True Justice series, but not actually part of the series.")
Hi! I'm new to this group but I wanted to share an interesting book by a new publishing press "death of workers whilst building skyscrapers" (long name but some interesting books that are definitely worth a look - I have already bought a couple)... The first book I recommend is the first one they published "blues not worth bad skin" by a new writer called lucy wilkinson - it more than the title is, its sort of journey into various settings and scenarios in the same female psyche - I really enjoyed it - it combines poetry with fiction which I thought worked really well.... let me know what you think! Here is the link: (The website looks quite funny and minimal but I quite like it... ha) https://deathofworkerswhilstbuildings...
Related to my most recent post, I've now started on reading a review copy of the second installment of the True Justice series,
Righteous Justice. I'm expecting this one to be a fairly quick read.
I've finally started reading my PDF review copy of the newly-released latest novel by my Goodreads friend (and one of my favorite authors) Shane Joseph,
Milltown. It's set in his adopted country of Canada, roughly in the present (2008, which is basically close enough :-) ). As is typical with this author, I'm already engrossed after two chapters! (Shane's publisher is Blue Denim Press.)
I recently finished Stolen Away and The Crown of Zeus. Stolen Away was published by Raw Dog Screaming Press, and The Crown of Zeus was published by Zumaya Publications..
Werner wrote: "I've finally started reading my PDF review copy of the newly-released latest novel by my Goodreads friend (and one of my favorite authors) Shane Joseph, [book:Milltown..."Fyi, a slight correction, the release date will be April 1st 2019. Enjoy the read, Werner.
Thanks, Shane, and thanks for the correct information! (I'd assumed that it was already released. since Goodreads finally had an entry for it; but I didn't look carefully at the "estimated publication date.")
Earlier this year, my Goodreads friend Seeley James sent me Kindle e-book versions of the five books that I haven't yet read of his Sabel Security series. I call these "review" books, but he didn't actually request reviews; basically, he just gifted me with them because he's a kind friend, and knows I'm a fan of the series and its heroine, Pia Sabel. (The first two novels got five stars from me.) Yesterday, I started reading the third installment,
Element 42.
Usually, when I'm posting about my current reading, I include a link. Right now, though, I'm beta reading a book not yet published, so it has no Goodreads link. It's a collection of seven short supernatural stories by my friend Andrew Seddon, each one focusing on one of the traditional seven deadly sins (and its supernatural comeuppance), titled The Deadliest Sins. Since it's just a bit over 70 pages long, I expect it to be a quick read.Next up, though, will be a book that does have a link: a review copy (or, at least, I'm prioritizing it like one) of
The Ulysses Man by another Goodreads friend, Shane Joseph. Shane's a European-descended native of Sri Lanka, who immigrated to Canada during the devastating civil war in the former nation, and experienced the challenge of building a new life in a strange country. This also describes the protagonist of the novel. ("Coincidence? I think not." :-) )
As of last night, I've started reading my review e-copy of
Death and Dark Money, the fourth novel in Seeley James' Sabel Security series. (I've mentioned the author and the series on this thread several times before!) Pia Sabel is one of my favorite fictional heroines, and all of the earlier novels in the series have gotten high star ratings from me; so I'm expecting to enjoy this one quite a bit as well.
My friend, Goodreads author Andrew Seddon, loves dogs in general but has a special soft spot for German Shepherds. His latest book, Bonds of Affection, is his homage to the breed, a collection of previously written short stories that feature fictional German Shepherds, interspersed with nonfiction memoirs about the real-life German Shepherds he's owned, or still owns. (All profits from sales of this book will go to support German Shepherd rescues.) He kindly gifted me with a copy earlier this year; but because of my various other reading commitments, I didn't have a long-enough bloc of free time to start on it until today.All of the stories appear in earlier collections by the author (or, in one case, in a magazine issue which I reviewed like a book) that I've reviewed earlier, and I've commented on at least several of them in those reviews; I also beta read versions of all of them. But since some or all of them have undergone revisions for their appearance here (and since I don't always recall every detail of the earlier versions, just basic outlines), I'm reading the whole book. Sorry I can't show the cover image; the book entry in the Goodreads database still doesn't have it, and because Andrew is a Goodreads author, I'm not allowed to edit that entry :-(
Loved Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian and love the reception to my first novel, Things Unsaid, this holiday season. Thank you for this group's discussion. I post at least two reviews/ratings per week and most of them are for books published by independent presses!
Keep us posted here on the independent and small press author's books you read, Diana! I've thought for a long time that there are probably more of us in the group reading these books than the scanty number of posts we get on this thread would suggest.
Last night, I started reading a self-published Kindle freebie,
Gears of a Mad God: A Steampunk Lovecraft Adventure by Goodreads author Brent Nichols (which got a good review from one of my Goodreads friends). It kicks off a series of Cthulhu Mythos spin-of novellas (which is available, from Smashwords and Amazon, and can also be obtained from the latter in paper-format, both as separate novellas and as an omnibus volume).
Love steampunk; hate Lovecraft. I'll pass.
Ron wrote: "Love steampunk; hate Lovecraft. I'll pass."For what it's worth, Nichols doesn't imitate Lovecraft's "purple prose" writing style (which a lot of contemporary readers don't like). His own prose is much more spare and straightforward, with very little ornamentation and only simple description. Of course, I don't know yet if his worldview resembles Lovecraft's, or if he goes in for tacking on existential pessimist "morals of the story" to his endings. :-) (His choice of a female protagonist is also unlike HPL himself, who wasn't really comfortable with depicting female characters.)
The link to the free Kindle e-book is here: https://www.amazon.com/Gears-Mad-God-... . (As it turns out, though, it's apparently not offered free to Kindle users in Europe.) You can apparently buy all six of the individual novellas, or the omnibus volume, from Amazon in both paper and electronic formats; and the separate novellas, in electronic format only, from Smashwords (https://www.smashwords.com/books/byse... ).
Ever since late last year, I've had a review copy of my friend Andrew Seddon's new SF novel
Farhope in hand (I beta read it in 2017 --and would have given it five stars then if it had a Goodreads record!-- but the published version is longer and incorporates some changes, so it needs a fresh read). I've been champing at the bit to get to it, but have just been waiting until I knew I'd have a long enough bloc of reading time to finish it before having to start another book. That time has arrived, so I started reading it yesterday! :-)
Liane Zane (that's a pen name) is a Goodreads friend of mine, and I'm currently reading a review copy of her brand new self-published novel,
The Harlequin & The Drangùe. It's a paranormal romance (she's written other books under her real name, but not in that genre), and the opener for a projected series. PNR isn't normally my thing, but I'm expanding my horizons a bit for a friend. :-)
Although I haven't reviewed it yet, yesterday afternoon I read a newly-published short e-story by my Goodreads friend Paula Cappa,
Beyond Castle Frankenstein, A Short Story. Like many of her writings, it's a ghost story; I'd beta read it some years ago and really liked it. I really liked it on this second go-around, as well!
Earlier this year, a lady in another group I belong to posted a favorable review of
The Vampire Sword by T.L. Cerepaka, the first book in his Vampire Sorceress series. She piqued my interest on several counts; so when I learned that the e-book edition is free for Kindle, I took the opportunity to download it. I started on it last night (and read seven chapters --it flows pretty quickly! :-) ).
I've just started a historical fiction novella by one of my favorite authors, Heather Day Gilbert:
The Distant Tide, set in Ireland in 1170. (This was originally published in 2017 as part of an omnibus volume of five novellas by as many authors, The Message in a Bottle Romance Collection, but has recently been re-published as a stand-alone.) Although Heather and I are Goodreads friends, this isn't a free review copy; I purchased it, because I've greatly liked several of her other books.
A review copy of the newest novel by my Goodreads friend, our fellow group member Lance Charnes,
Zrada, arrived in the mail today, and the timing was perfect for me to start reading it immediately. This is the opener for a projected series, DeWitt Agency Adventures, which is a spin-off from the author's De Witt Agency Files series (and has as its protagonist Carson, the leading female character introduced in The Collection, the opener of the latter, though the protagonist there is male). I have high expectations for this one!
This morning, I got a start (barely!) on the newly-published second edition of my friend Andrew Seddon's science-fiction novel
Iron Scepter. I read the original edition, published in 2000, back in 2006, before joining Goodreads, and reviewed it after I joined; so to avoid confusion (and since Goodreads combines reviews of all editions of a book into the same book entry in its database), that's the edition I'm listing as "currently reading" on my shelves. When I'm finished, I plan to update the review.
Dwight Burkholder, whose debut novel is
The Preacher's Dear (2011) is from the central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where my wife Barb was born and raised, and where we lived in our first married years. She's slightly acquainted with him, and we're both friendly with some members of his extended family. That connection is how we got a free copy of the book when it came out. Barb read and liked it back then, but I hadn't; so she was willing to re-read it as our next "car book," and we started on it today.
Last year, our fellow group member and Goodreads author Kana Wu kindly donated a copy of her debut novel,
No Romance Allowed, to the Bluefield College library, where I work. I'm not a big reader of "romances;" but this one did pique my curiosity. Then too, Kana and I have become Goodreads friends; and I do try, at times, to read books by my author friends, in order to support their creative efforts. So I started reading this one yesterday, and I'm liking it so far.
Recently, I received a copy of my friend Andrew M. Seddon's latest story collection,
The Deadliest Sins: Seven Supernatural Stories, each story focusing on one of the traditional "seven deadly sins." It's not really a review copy --Andrew would gift me with one whether I reviewed it or not-- but I'm prioritizing it as if it were, so started on it this weekend. I'm expecting it to be quite a quick read.
While I'm waiting to start a common read in another group on Oct. 1, I've started reading the short stories in
Black Pulp (2013), an anthology from Pro Se Press, a small publishing house which specializes in New Pulp. (Since I won't finish all of the stories in this particular stint of reading, the collection goes onto my :being read intermittently" shelf, to dip into again the next time I find myself between books.)
A review copy of
The Flower & The Blackbird by independent author Liane Zane, which I'd been expecting, arrived in the mail a couple of days ago, so I was able to start on it this morning! :-). Liane's a Goodreads friend, and the book is the second installment of her Elioud Legacy trilogy. (The series could be described as paranormal romance; the first book, The Harlequin and the Drangue, got four stars from me last year).
Wolfpack Publishing (https://wolfpackpublishing.com/ ) is a quality small press which specializes in Westerns, thrillers, action adventure, and action-oriented historical fiction. They have good-taste guidelines in regard to language and sex (and also have an imprint, CKN Christian Publishing, for Christian fiction), so they're basically offering New Pulp with standards similar to those that prevailed in the original heyday of pulp fiction.Barb and I recently started reading one of their books,
Avenging Angels: The Wine of Violence, by "A. W. Hart." Like "Franklin W. Dixon" or "Carolyn Keene," that's a house pen name for the different authors who contribute to the series (they apparently use house pen names for several of their series). This is the seventh installment, but I suggested reading it as a stand-alone (which should be possible with these books), because the author is my Goodreads friend Charles Gramlich. :-)
My Goodreads friend (and independent author) Kana Wu's latest novel is
A Warm Rainy Day in Tokyo. She kindly sent me a review copy in e-book format, and I started reading it today.
Another author friend, our own Heather Day Gilbert, also recently gifted me (in print format, a generosity I greatly appreciate!) a review copy, in this case of the fourth and concluding book in her A Murder in the Mountains mystery series,
False Pretense. The timing was perfect; Barb (who's also a fan of the series) and I were ready to start a new book to read together, so we began on it this morning!
Being a fan of historical fiction who's especially fond of tales set in medieval times, the book I've just started,
To Love a Viking, a collaboration between my Goodreads friend Heather Day Gilbert and a new-to-me author, Jen Cudmore, should be right up my alley. :-) This is a trade paperback ARC which I received recently, so I've prioritized it as much as I could. Heather previously wrote the outstanding duology The Vikings of the New World Saga.(Like False Pretense above, this book is published by WoodHaven Press, which is Heather's personal imprint.)
Since I've learned that a review book I was expecting this month actually won't arrive until December, I have an unexpected window of opportunity to make some more headway on a series I'm reading, K. W. Jeter's Kim Oh books. So I'm currently reading the next unread installment,
Real Dangerous People: A Novel. (It will also count towards a challenge I'm signed up for in another group.) Jeter is an established author with Big Publishing credits, but deliberately chose to go the indie/small-press route with this series.
Up to now, I haven't read any books of poetry this year. So, having a window of opportunity, I've started on one that I've long had my eye on in the BU library:
Stars Through the Clouds: The Collected Poetry of Donald T. Williams (2011). Williams teaches English at Toccoa Falls College, an evangelical liberal arts college in Georgia. This will be my first exposure to his work.
Reading ARC of A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower by Patricia Bernstein. Early 18th century Anglo-Scot historical fiction. To be published early 2023 by History Through Fiction press.
My Goodreads friend Heather Day Gilbert writes both historical fiction and mysteries. Unlike me, my wife Barb isn't into the former genre; but we're both fans of this author's mysteries. So, having read the last book in her A Murder in the Mountains series together earlier this year, we've now embarked on her Barks and Beans Cafe series with the first book,
No Filter (2020). Like the other series, it's set in a small town in West Virginia, but features a different protagonist.
Last month, Goodreads independent author Liane Zane (who's also a Goodreads friend of mine) generously gave me a paperback ARC of the concluding book in her Elioud Legacy trilogy,
The Draka & The Giant, and I started reading it a few days ago. So, it will be my first read of 2023! So far, it can definitely be described as gripping (it grabbed me by the throat at the outset, and hasn't released me yet :-) ).
I can't believe that back on Feb. 2, when I started my current read, I totally forgot to mention it here! Mea culpa! I'm reading
Pride's Children : Netherworld by my Goodreads friend (and our fellow group member) Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt, the second book in her Pride's Children trilogy. (It's a library check-out rather than a review copy, but she did generously donate the paperback edition to the BU library.) The first book earned five stars from me back in 2018.
The short story anthology I'm currently reading,
The Haunted Train: Creepy Tales from the Railways: Gothic Ghost and Horror Stories, is apparently self-published by editor Rayne Hall. Our fellow group member Andrew Seddon has a story included in this one.
Earlier today, Barb and I started a read of the second book in the Avenging Angels series,
Avenging Angels: Sinners' Gold. The nominal "author," A.W. Hart, is a house pen name used by Wolfpack Publishing for all of the authors of books in this series (and at least one other series). In this case, the actual author (credited in the back of the book) is one who's new to both of us, Wayne D. Dundee.
I'm currently reading Voices from the Trail of Tears, published by John F. Blair, Winston-Salem, NC, by Vicki Rozema, who wrote several books on the Cherokees.
Small and Independent Press Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Robin of Locksley: Tales of Robin and Marian (other topics)Trouble Brewing (other topics)
To Calm a Storm (other topics)
Spilled Milk (other topics)
Fair Trade (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
G.K. Werner (other topics)Heather Day Gilbert (other topics)
Heather Day Gilbert (other topics)
Jen Cudmore (other topics)
Heather Day Gilbert (other topics)
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