I wasn't too sure what to expect from Joshua Chaplinksy's debut collection. I had been wanting to read something from the indie publisher, Clash Books for a while, and I was intrigued by the collection's title, WHISPERS IN THE EAR OF A DREAMING APE. I was grateful that Chaplinksy could send me a copy of … Continue reading Review: Whispers in the Ear of a Dreaming Ape
Literary
Review: The Violent Bear It Away
I'll come clean and say that I haven't been reading any books for my local men's book club over the past few months, but I could not stop myself when they chose a Flannery O'Connor novel, THE VIOLENT BEAR IT AWAY. There's so much that has been said about this novel already, but I can't … Continue reading Review: The Violent Bear It Away
Review: Socialist Realism
The title immediately hooked me and what made me stay was the stark, brutal honesty that Trisha Low offers in SOCIALIST REALISM. This is a book long essay that is part travelogue, part stream of conscious, part art criticism, and part memoir. Low finds herself moving west, searching for home or a utopia or an … Continue reading Review: Socialist Realism
Review: Severance
I wasn't sure what to expect from Ling Ma's debut novel, SEVERANCE, but the only true label I can ascribe to it, is that it is first and foremost a millennial novel. Ma is the first author to so thoroughly nail the working ethos, apathy, and thirst for belonging that encapsulates millennials. Set in the … Continue reading Review: Severance
Review: What You Call
We are now more than half way through the FUTURES series and Radix Media refuses to let up with the emotional gut punches with each of these installments. WHAT YOU CALL by germ lynn wrecked me. It's 2061 and the government launches what is believed to be a benevolent program to create and give support … Continue reading Review: What You Call
Review: Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother
The fourth installment of FUTURES is by Hal Y. Zhang and is maybe one of the more intimate reads of the series. It's a layered, emotionally resonate piece of literary, near future science fiction that encapsulates whole lives in under 25 pages. Ellery Lang moves back in with her mother, Valerie Lang, after finishing school … Continue reading Review: Hard Mother, Spider Mother, Soft Mother
Review: Muri
Onto the 3rd installment of the FUTURES series and we have MURI by Ashley Shelby up. This story has to be the favorite of the series so far for me, and it is also the longest, coming in at around 40ish pages. Shelby takes Herman Melville's Benito Cereno and remixes it for a new century and … Continue reading Review: Muri
Review: Always Blue
So, since my own story has finally been announced and releasing on October 30th, I plan to read and review each FUTURES story leading up to the 30th. This means that ALWAYS BLUE by John Dermot Woods is up first! We follow Schulz an instructor at the City Academy, who is the foremost expert … Continue reading Review: Always Blue
Review: The Reckonings
This is another selection from the Between the Covers podcast and this time I chose Lacy M. Johnson's essay collection, THE RECKONINGS. I'm a sucker for a great essay collection and I was utterly obliterated by Johnson's meticulous and careful examination of society's (and her own) motivations, not to mention her intimate vulnerability. THE RECKONINGS … Continue reading Review: The Reckonings
Review: Prime Meridian
Few books have impacted me, personally, as PRIME MERIDIAN by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This one blindsided me by the relatively unassuming(but beautiful) cover. I really couldn't be more happy with this literary, sci-fi novella. Amelia is in a hard place. She finds herself trying to shoestring her budget as she lives with her sister in near-future … Continue reading Review: Prime Meridian
Pyles of Books 