Reviews

Bookshots: 'Some Luck' by Jane Smiley

October 7th, 2014

Title Some Luck Who wrote it? Jane Smiley, Pulitzer prizewinner and all round literary heavy weight. More at Knopf's author page. Plot in a Box Man and woman marry and settle on an Iowa farm in 1920. They have kids. The kids grow up. America changes. Invent a new title for this book Life with Father (and mother and lots of cows and sheep)

Read Review →

Bookshots: 'Hello Devilfish!' by Ron Dakron

October 7th, 2014

Title: Hello Devilfish! Who wrote it? Ron Dakron, an experimental novelist whose previous works include infra, Newt, Hammers and Mantids.

Read Review →

Bookshots: "The Boy Who Drew Monsters"

October 6th, 2014

Title The Boy Who Drew Monsters Who wrote it? Keith Donohue, author of The Stolen Child. More info at his website. Plot in a Box In a wintery, sparsely populated coastal town in Maine, a boy with Asperger Syndrome draws the ghosts from an 19th-century shipwreck into existence, much to his parents’ dismay. Invent a new title for this book A Portrait of the Autist as a Young Man

Read Review →

Bookshots: "The Glob Who Girdled Granville" and "The Secret Lives of Actors": A Double Monster Feature, by Peter Grandbois

October 2nd, 2014

Title: The Glob Who Girdled Granville & The Secret Lives of Actors Who wrote it: Peter Grandbois, whose first novel The Gravedigger is currently in pre-production as a major motion picture, was chosen by Barnes and Noble for their “Discover Great New Writers” Program, and named one of the best books of 2006 by Booklist. He is a professor at Denison University.

Read Review →

Bookshots: 'The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances' by The Oatmeal

October 1st, 2014

Title: The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances Who Wrote It? Matthew Inman, aka The Oatmeal. Yes, that Oatmeal. The one who creates brilliant web comics and has been entertaining us for years. Plot in a Box: This is a graphic-novel-memoir-thing—a conglomeration of stories and lists and images all designed to help The Oatmeal explain exactly why he runs long distances.

Read Review →

Bookshots: 'Butterfly Skin' by Sergey Kuznetsov

September 24th, 2014

Title: Butterfly Skin Who wrote it? Sergey Kuznetsov, a Russian novelist whose previous works include The Circle Dance of Water, which was shortlisted for Russia's Big Book Award in 2011. Kuznetsov is also a journalist and has contributed to Playboy, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. He's widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the internet in Russia.

Read Review →

Bookshots: 'Rooms: A Novel' by Lauren Oliver

September 23rd, 2014

Title: Rooms: A Novel Who wrote it: Lauren Oliver, author of the young adult novels Before I Fall and the Delirium trilogy.

Read Review →

Bookshots: "Horrorstor" by Grady Hendrix

September 23rd, 2014

Title: Horrorstör  Who wrote it? Grady Hendrix, multi-published author of books and stories like Dead Leprechauns & Devil Cats: Strange Tales of the White Street Society (which, incidentally, just leaped onto my To Read list based on the title alone).

Read Review →

Bookshots: 'Love Me Back' By Merritt Tierce

September 17th, 2014

Bookshots: Pumping new life into the corpse of the book review Title: Love Me Back Who wrote it? 'Love Me Back' should be a tale of heartbreak and inevitable redemption, but thankfully Tierce realizes there’s no such thing as atonement, there’s only the next shift. Meta Rosenberg Fellow and National Book Foundation ‘5 Under 35’ honoree, Merritt Tierce.

Read Review →

Bookshots: 'The Anatomy of Dreams' by Chloe Benjamin

September 16th, 2014

Bookshots: Pumping new life into the corpse of the book review Title: The Anatomy of Dreams Who wrote it: This coming of age narrative is already one of uncertainty, questions, and discovery. By placing it against the backdrop of a dream world, the reader gets double the tension. Chloe Krug Benjamin

Read Review →