Monday Funnies

Theme: Summer

A big thanks to Man Martin for showing us this Billy Collins poem titled “Lanyard.” Collins says it is about what “American children tend to do in the Summer.”

The irregular schedule of summer allows some folks more time to write than usual. I know I have stocked up on notebooks and Post-Its (because I have a dependency issue with small pieces of paper that are bright and adhere to things). I know there are writers composing on iPads, even phones. If you don’t already own an iPad, does this USB Typewriter make you want one? It’s pretty, but I’m not sure how I feel about it. Steampunk chic or silly? What do y’all think?

How do you compose? Longhand in a water stained Mead or Moleskine, on a laptop, phone, iPad?

The past two weekends have been fraught with graduation ceremonies, and I know we’ll see more high school graduations next weekend as well. This is important for two reasons. 1. Traffic and 2. These high school seniors are now graduates! For the recent high school graduate in your life, please direct them to The Oatmeal’s “What We Should Have Been Taught Our Senior Year of High School.” Here’s a sample from the English course, but do check all of the courses as they’re all important life lessons!

May 22, 2012 0

Summer Reads: 2012

Creative Loafing posted a Summer Reading List for 2012: from CL, “New books from Richard Ford, Padgett Powell, Jess Walter, and others round out these beach read picks.”

Also included is Josh Russell’s A True History of the Captivation, Transport to Strange Lands, & Deliverance of Hannah Guttentag, which we’ll have to wait for until August. But I get the sense that this might make a damn good Fall semester / fall rush week book. From CL:

Comically blending the sexualized campus novel with the captivity narrative, Russell creates a proudly, playfully Nabokovian work that’s outright literary fun. Guttentag’s journey through the landscape of liberal academia comes with a serving of farce and cynicism. Unlike his previous two novels, Yellow Jack and My Bright Midnight, this fresh novel shows Atlanta’s Russell continuing to invent new territory. Dzanc Books. $15.95. 170 pp. Available Aug. 14.

In the summer, I’m often looking to figure out what I’ve missed from the previous year. The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2011 evenly divides picks by fiction and non-fiction. From this list, I’d choose Karen Russell’s Swamplandia and Christopher Hitchens’ Arguably: both of the lengthy NYT reviews of these books caught my eye last year, so I’m not surprised to see these on the list. Not to mention Swamplandia was in the middle of that Pulitzer thing. From the NYT:

An alligator theme park, a ghost lover, a Styx-like journey through an Everglades mangrove jungle: Russell’s first novel, about a girl’s bold effort to preserve her grieving family’s way of life, is suffused with humor and gothic whimsy. But the real wonders here are the author’s exuberantly inventive language and her vivid portrait of a heroine who is wise beyond her years.

Our intellectual omnivore’s latest collection could be his last (he’s dying of esophageal cancer). The book is almost 800 pages, contains more than 100 essays and addresses a ridiculously wide range of topics, including Afghanistan, Harry Potter, Thomas Jefferson, waterboarding, Henry VIII, Saul Bellow and the Ten Commandments, which Hitchens helpfully revises.

In addition to the three books above, my to-read list also includes Ann Beattie’s Mrs. Nixon, Tina Fey’s Bossypants, Joshilyn Jackson’s Backseat Saints. What’s on your summer reading list? Do you make such a list? If not, what’s wrong with you? Lists are fantastic. Can you point us to other summer-reads lists online that merit a look?

—Amber

May 17, 2012 1

Mothers

I recently picked up Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge (2008) from the ‘new’ section of the library, namely because it sounded familiar. Then I noted the Pulitzer sticker, awarded in 2009. In addition, it won a 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award. With none of the characters exactly likeable, all deeply flawed and complicated, it’s an enthralling read. The density of experience is something I could only ever hope to achieve on the page. Now, Olive Kitteridge is not exactly a mom to be celebrated for Mother’s Day (some may disagree). This book is about aging, more than anything else.

That said, what “mom” books have I enjoyed? I have a hard time recalling any except for Beth Ann Fennelly’s Tender Hooks, a book of poetry I read shortly after my son was born. If you need a gift for a mother, you can’t go wrong with Tender Hooks, unless she is expecting jewels—but then why not get both? Bling + literature = Mother’s Day success. And, maybe throw some food in there too. Or, ~~booze~~ wine. I’ll take care of one part for you:

At Flavorwire, Emily Temple posted a list: “10 of the Best Memoirs about Mothers.”

Two titles that look especially compelling are Alison Bechdel’s second work of non-fiction, Are You My Mother: A Comic Drama and Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club. Bechdel’s book is a graphic memoir. Having recently fallen for Bill Willingham’s Fables, I’d love to take a look.

Also on the list is Megan O’Rourke’s The Long Goodbye, which I’ve been meaning to read. It seems like something one needs to think on for a while, to work up to. I have no doubt it is brilliant, but I’ll wait until I feel open to immersing myself in the themes.

The most surprising item on the list is a memoir by James Ellroy, My Dark Places. Yes, Ellroy, and it sounds dark. See the full list by Emily Temple at Flavorwire.

Novel, stories, poetry, or memoir—what books about mothers do you recommend, have you enjoyed, or would you give as a gift? Please let us know in the comments.

May 10, 2012 2

Monday Funnies

We’d love to have a semimonthly Monday Funnies post, but we need the help of the Bookbilly community. In the comments section, please let us know: Where do you peruse literary humor, whether it be cartoons, commentary, satire, or parody?

For our inaugural Monday Funnies post, first check out Man Martin’s Author Hotties. Man Martin has published Days of the Endless Corvette, Paradise Dogs, and Scoring Bertram Wiggly.

At Biblio Buffet, you can find a list of Literary Humor & Games.

According to The Onion, Court Orders Amazon.com to Adopt Bankrupt Bookstores’ Cats.

Enjoy Open Letters at McSweeney’s.

Thinkgeek has some wonderful parodies for purchase. Goodnight Moon was certainly a favorite in our house, so I find Goodnight iPad especially amusing.

May 7, 2012 4

Currently Reading: or, April Hangover

April is a whirlwind of events, yet it seems as if I’m getting a decent amount of reading done. I hate to think this is a result of procrastination–those research essays won’t grade themselves…will they?

Ann Beattie is one of the most down-to-earth, pleasant writers I’ve had the opportunity to speak with. Beattie delivered the Keynote speech at the 2012 Townsend Prize ceremony this past Thursday. I purchased The New Yorker Stories. The book contains stories spanning from 1974 to 2006. I started at the beginning and am enjoying it—I love the humor and moments of awkward reality.

Thomas Mullen won the 2012 Townsend Prize for The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, so that’s next in my to-read stack.

In the recent Southern Issue of the The Chattahoochee Review, I have an essay on Daniel Woodrell. I discuss The Bayou Trilogy, Tomato Red, Winter’s Bone, and The Death of Sweet Mister. Finally, I have in hand Woodrell’s newest release, a collection of stories titled The Outlaw Album. I’ve read two stories so far and can say the stories are artful and the characters are sufficiently depraved.

Even if you aren’t suffering from an end-of-semester hangover, what are you reading this spring?

–Amber

April 29, 2012 1

Technology and Books

I’m embarrassingly uninformed about the new complexities of e-books, new issues with copyrights, and hell, even e-readers. A notorious ‘late adopter’ of new technology, I don’t have an e-reader. There have been a couple of instances when I’ve wished I had an iPad; change is scary and I am one of those people that never carries around expensive sunglasses because I leave things places. So, no iPad for me. I’ve never owned a GPS or MP3 player; I print maps, listen to NPR, and still have CDs sitting around in jewel cases.

However, when I see great deals on e-books, often from the Kindle store, I feel like I am missing out on something. To be able to get that book right now for super cheap, namely. Or when I see campaigns for sales of e-book versions of new work by fellow writers, or newly recommended writers, I want to be able to participate right away–the convenience and value is appealing. However, I still love the heft of a book, I still love the library, and I still love real pages.

Betsy Morais examines the changing field of design for digital books at The Atlantic in “Has Kindle Killed the Book Cover?”

Shelf Awareness examines the Justice Department’s suit against Apple over the “agency model for e-books.”

At Granta, Toby Litt shares a wonderful essay: “The Reader and Technology.”

Do you own an e-reader? Are you enamored with it?
Morais uses the term digital books. The Wall Street Journal uses the term e-books. Which do you prefer?

—Amber

April 24, 2012 0

When I was Young: 8 Books

I was thinking of books I wish to reread, Suzanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell topping that list, and I wondered if I would gain or lose something by rereading certain books. Specifically, would I gain or lose something by rereading books from my youth? Not just any books, but those that were important to me at the time. Very important, because everything in the world is especially important when you are a teenager. Here are eight:

Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Portions of that list make me sound like I was a damn hippie, and that might not be inaccurate. An important aspect of reading as a teenager, at least for me, was being able to discuss books with friends. The Vonnegut, Robbins, Hesse, Nabokov, and Quinn books definitely got passed around from friend to friend, additional copies joining the group when someone had a birthday or garnered some extra cash. I remember skipping an AP English exam to drive to Athens to hear Vonnegut speak at UGA.

I tried rereading Tom Robbins as an “adult,” and I got bored; it wasn’t the same, at all. I am really not intending to compare Tom Robbins and Ayn Rand here, but I give someone a “pass” if they are a Rand fan under the age of twenty—I assume they will grow out of it. I hate to think I’ve “outgrown” Robbins, but that may be the case. For the record, no one needs a “pass” for being a Robbins fan. Being a Robbins fan makes you awesome.

Do certain books (more than others) appeal to an adolescent perspective or need?

What were you reading as a teenager?

—Amber

April 22, 2012 5

10 Novels Deemed Unworthy By the Pulitzer Board

In light of this week’s goofiness regarding the Pulitzer Board’s rejection of the Fiction Committee’s nominees, here are some other lovelies that previous Fiction Committees have nominated and which previous Pulitzer Boards have deemed unworthy just in the past twenty-two years:

THE FEUD by Thomas Berger

WHERE I’M CALLING FROM by Raymond Carver

UNDERWORLD by Don DeLillo

YOU ARE NOT A STRANGER HERE by Adam Haslett

TREE OF SMOKE by Denis Johnson

THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver

SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW by William Maxwell

HOUSEKEEPING by Marilynne Robinson

BIRDY by William Wharton

JOHN HENRY DAYS by Colson Whitehead

—Joshua Corin

April 19, 2012 0

Miscellany: Part One

When I heard this story on NPR my impulse was to go and immediately order a set of the last print edition of Encyclopedia Britannica; many folks had the same idea. I thought better of it, and we’ll keep our sub-par set of Grolier Encylcopedias from the early ’90s. It’s kind of sad though. I find myself, too often, explaining to people in their twenties how to use an index.

Every wondered how old books get that old-book book smell? Your question is answered.

Are you a writer who could benefit from the Rejection Generator?

The creators of the Rejection Generator recommend using it regularly to maintain a high RI, or rejection immunity.

You may choose a flavor of rejection: The Southern Gentleman, Big Chakra Dosing Agent, etc.

And lastly, some clarification of who is at fault for the lack of a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this time around. I feel terrible for the nominees, not to mention Maureen Corrgian, Susan Larson, and Michael Cunningham, who did all the footwork.

–Amber

April 17, 2012 2

Brilliant Novels You Haven’t Read (But Really Should)

So many fine novels get published every month and so many of these many fine novels go unread because so many of us already have a backlog of novels from last month and last year and last century to get through and so many fine novels go unread. They are the Oliver Twists of literature (although OLIVER TWIST itself is not, please note, an Oliver Twist – let’s all be on the same page for this metaphor, thank you). And so I present to you ten novels which for whatever reason fell by the bedside but which certainly truly must deserve your eyeballs.