Over the years, I’ve gotten rid of several bookcases worth of books. Despite those purges, I still have three shelves full of books about writing craft. I think I keep most for the sake of nostalgia, but some — especially style guides and books about grammar — are things I return to now and then. […]
The Paris Hours Review
[A disclaimer: I am friends with Alex George, the author of THE PARIS HOURS. That said, I knew Alex’s writing before I knew him (through his old blog). And even if I knew nothing about Alex, this is still the review I’d share…] The Paris Hours Moments after finishing THE PARIS HOURS, I messaged Alex […]
Paterson Movie
Most movies about writers end with the kind of victory movies have conditioned us to expect: publication and awards…the writer we watched grow getting everything in life many believe comes to writers when they finally decide to publish. (As though it were that easy.) Paterson is not that movie — and because of that, I […]
For Your Perusal Bookstore
Last month, I posted video tours of a bookcase in my living room and another in my office. Because I try keeping the videos I make 3-5 minutes in length, I didn’t have time to focus on the pile in the bookcase in my office. (It’s the image over there to the right.) I have […]
The Book Pile: Identity, by Mark Hosack
I preface this review by saying two things: 1) I am friends with Mark Hosack and 2) This review is based on an advanced reading copy — not what you can buy right here. (On special, even!) But back to the advanced reader copy thing…this review is based on that. For all I know, in […]
William Shatner’s The Captains
I’m a Star Trek fan by default. My earliest memories of the original series are from when I had chicken pox and spent a couple weeks being watched by my grandmother. My mom’s mom remarried, and the man she married was simply known to me as Pop — and there were few people on the […]
The Book Pile: The Night Swimmer Review
I’ll skip the normal lead in to this review and say this: Amazon.com reviews had me almost reluctant to actually pick up Matt Bondurant’s The Night Swimmer (affiliate link). The general consensus seemed to be, “Hey, this is well written, but not very clear — and the ending just comes out of nowhere. Just FOOM! […]
The Book Pile: A Good American
I’ve been following Alex George’s blog for awhile, now. I always appreciate the quiet manner in which Alex talks about writing. Okay, perhaps “quiet” isn’t the right word: Alex is just a humble guy who truly appreciates those who stop by or pick up his writing. In a time when the tone of some authors […]
The Book Pile: The Getaway Car
I’ve never been the biggest fan of memoirs about writing, but when I read this post on Alex George’s blog about Ann Patchett’s The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life (Kindle Single) (affiliate link), and saw that it’s less than $3, I decided to pick it up. When I read Patchett’s Bel […]
The Book Pile: Habibi
I’ll just go ahead and say it: I think Craig Thompson’s Habibi is one of the best — if not the best — examples of graphic novels as a medium. It blurs the lines of time and place, it uses traditional comic book panels and many design elements to carry the story, and it ends […]
The Book Pile: The Sense of an Ending
Yesterday, I read The Sense of an Ending (affiliate link), by Julian Barnes. At 163 pages, it’s short enough that I’m tempted to read it again, to see if my feelings about it change. The Quick Version The book is about a group of school mates who go on to college and then onto their […]
Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors Review
A big thank you to CMStewart for her review of Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors. It’s interesting seeing what people like about the story. So far, most people have thanked me for reminding them how much fun they used to have on road trips. CMStewart honed in on a couple other aspects of the […]
The Book Pile: Bernard DeVoto’s The Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto
It’s been one of those weeks at work, the kind where time moves back and forth in an odd dance in the mind, making it feel like minutes are hours and hours, minutes. Deadlines, chaos, and nerves–there’s something big to work on, and when the sun meets the horizon (at this time of the year, […]