Dear Max,

You wrote in your last letter that the publisher of my forthcoming complete works wishes me to append content warnings to the front matter of the book “to prevent readers from being traumatized.” I must confess, this idea that literature should not traumatize readers is new to me. After all, I did write, “I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading it for?” Surely you have seen that one. Readers love to quote it on the Internet. However, as you say, these are different times. Perhaps you’re right that I am not the best judge of what is psychologically healthy. I will do as you request and provide warnings for my scribblings.

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Tags: books & writing by Scott Stein
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Prolific author, poet and Tolkien scholar, David Day, is well-known to serious readers of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. My own shelves already contained his Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia and A Tolkien Bestiary. They’re cool, and all, but I am kind of a peculiar sort of Tolkien reader who has never been one to “nerd-out” over the details of Middle Earth (Tolkien’s fantasy world). I really could not care less whether the Dwarves (that’s how he spelled it) of the Iron Hills have coarser beards than those in Moria or whether the Balrog has real or metaphoric wings. As a consequence, Day’s other two books, outside of a fun hour or two after purchase, haven’t really gotten a lot of use. They are pretty; they are fun to look through and they are meticulously researched, but, over the years, they have gotten only the occasional thumbing-through when I was confused about a name or a place during one of my numerous Tolkien rereads — which, to be fair, is what the books are really for: reference.

Day’s new book, An Encyclopedia of Tolkien: the History and Mythology that Inspired Tolkien’s World is something familiar, yet quite different from the long list of Tolkien encyclopedias and dictionaries and guides already in print by all sorts of authors. This book is the kind of resource “literary” Tolkien readers will appreciate and it is also the one that is most likely to coax the younger fans who came over to the books from the Peter Jackson films into curiosity about the foundations and inspirations for Tolkien’s world. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing by Chris Matarazzo
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When I received my review copy of “Winter Gets Hot” from LibraryThing, all I really knew about the book and its merits was that it was – according to the jacket, at least – “The eagerly anticipated sequel to ‘Winter In Chicago.’”

I wasn’t familiar with that book or its author, David M. Hamlin. But after reading this ‘eagerly anticipated sequel,’ I will probably be searching for that earlier work, adding it to my e-bookshelf, and learning more about Emily Winter’s introduction to the Windy City, and vice-versa.
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Tags: books & writing by Jeff McDonald
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I am happy to announce that I have signed a book contract with Tiny Fox Press. My novel THE GREAT AMERICAN DECEPTION will be published in 2020. A bit more information about the book is here. I’ll be announcing book-related stuff at When Falls the Coliseum when I remember, but the most frequent updates will be at Twitter and my author Facebook page.

Tags: books & writing, creative writing by Scott Stein
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Through my tenure as an Early Reviewer for LibraryThing, there is only one book that I have failed to read through to the end … but, there have been a few where I came close, where I persevered and completed my read, cover to cover, even though there were moments I considered calling it quits.

To this small – really, very small group – I am adding Ana Faktorovich’s “The History of British-American Author-Publishers,” published by Anaphora Literary Press.
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Tags: books & writing by Jeff McDonald
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The passage of time in the course of advanced space travel – the way that passage varies between the travelers and those they leave behind, and the effect on even the strongest of relationships touched by that variation – has been a popular topic in fantasy and science fiction for a long, long … uh … time.

I remember watching “The Twilight Zone” as a youth, where an episode called ‘The Long Morrow‘ touched upon that effect. And I’ve enjoyed plenty of other treatments of that topic, in a variety of media, in the decades since … including Cynthia Felice’s “Downtime,” which I reviewed for LibraryThing a couple of years ago.

Now comes “Cyan,” written by Syd Logsdon, published by EDGE-Lite and Hades Publications … and a welcome addition to my shelf.
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Tags: books & writing by Jeff McDonald
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10. This immigration nightmare still drags on.

9. I’m aching for it finally to be through.

8. I’m yearning for this waiting to be gone.

7. I’m champing at the bit to be with you.

6. To feel the soft embracing of your arms.

5. To sense your heartbeat synchronize with mine.

4. To melt with you, in no uncertain terms.

3. To see your eyes, and marvel how they shine!

2. I hope and pray that we’ll soon reunite,

1. And salvage daylight from this endless night!
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, living poetry by Bob Sullivan
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There were aspects of Alma Alexander’s “Wings of Fire” that I enjoyed, while there were others I did not. Unfortunately, the latter outweighed the former.

To its credit, the book offers an international and flavorful smorgasbord of mythology and fantasy, faith and ritual as its characters take us along on a story of adventure and discovery through space and time. Maori spirits? Got ’em. Irish selkies and Russian monks? Those, too. But wait … you also get rusalkas, hunters and healers, fallen angels and more.
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Tags: books & writing by Jeff McDonald
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I did not realize this until recently, but I have been waiting for someone to write a series of stories around the adventures of a Jewish wizard divinely sentenced to an extended life of servitude applying his wisdom and his wit – and added abilities possible only through God’s power and indulgence – to help His Adamic Brood through a bizarre array of problems … no matter how far they have strayed from His path in the course of causing those problems.
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Tags: books & writing by Jeff McDonald
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My experience with LibraryThing has added a LOT of different works to my e-bookshelf, and that’s led to a diverse array of reading experiences for me, and reviews for the books.

Some were great, others not-so-great-but-alright … there were titles that registered somewhere in the middle of the ‘meh’ meter … and one that left me scrambling to find words that adequately expressed how odorous I found it.
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Tags: books & writing, creative writing by Jeff McDonald
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10. In Cold Bloodhound

9. Slaughterhouse Canine

8. The Bitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

7. The Hound and the Fury

6. Jane Airedale

5. The Picture of Dorian Greyhound

4. Barkness at Noon

3. The Great Dane Gatsby

2. Love In the Time of Collie

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Hound
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: animals, Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, books & writing by Bob Sullivan
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I was a total neophyte in just about every way as I opened my e-copy of “Kentucky Kaiju.” Graphic literature (comic books, back then) was not allowed in my home when I was young; I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting the state of Kentucky and enjoying its culture; AND, I have never encountered a Kaiju … though that last might be a good thing, judging by the creatures presented to me in this book.
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Tags: art & entertainment, books & writing by Jeff McDonald
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“DreamWeaver” is a good enough read for fans of swords-and-sorcery and other stories that fall within the realm of ‘fantasy fiction.’ I read my e-copy from cover to cover, and I enjoyed the experience. But I can’t help but think there’s something familiar about it … something that I’ve read somewhere and somewhen else, by someone else.
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Tags: art & entertainment, books & writing by Jeff McDonald
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10. Little Wonder Women

9. Of Human Torch

8. The X-Man Cometh

7. Daredevil and Daniel Webster

6. Kiss of the Spider-Man

5. Doctor Strange and Mr. Hyde

4. Anne of Green Lantern

3. Of Mice And Superman

2. The Naked and the Deadpool

1. The Groot Gatsby
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, books & writing, movies by Bob Sullivan
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Back in Philadelphia was when I first saw my father as weak, as dependent, and as a guy who didn’t like working. Despite his lack of funds he seemed insistent on this last point—he would avoid work entirely unless he found what he considered to be his proper position. This was when I first saw that he’d possibly risk getting booted onto the street rather than take any job. In 1991 we were in the heart of the first Bush’s recession, and it didn’t seem like there were many of those idealized white-collar management positions around. My father was overweight, unemployed, under massive debt, and for the first time in my life, I saw him as old. He hadn’t had a full-time job since 1987, and I could see he wasn’t looking forward to searching for it. He knew the companies didn’t want him anymore, at least not for any kind of lucrative position. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, creative writing, family & parenting by Alex Kudera
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Rebecca Schuman’s new memoir is a fast read with a long title: Schadenfreude, A Love Story. Me, the Germans, and 20 Years of Attempted Transformations, Unfortunate Miscommunications, and Humiliating Situations That Only They Have Words For. The book offers an engrossing look at the author’s adventures in the liberal arts, graduate training, and much more. Schuman’s memoir takes us from the Pacific Northwest to college back East, and then on multiple excursions to Germany where she has a chance to be reminded that her literary love, Franz Kafka, wasn’t German even as she immerses herself in a language that bamboozles her in comic, yet thought-provoking, ways. The book grabbed this reader, and I was eager to return to it every chance I got. Toward the end the narrative moves to graduate school and the anguish of an extremely competitive academic job market where we know that well over a hundred applications can greet each new tenured slot, particularly in the humanities. Since completing her PhD and failing to land such a dream job, Rebecca Schuman has built a substantial online readership writing about academia for Slate. More recently, she has returned to Germany as a subject “in the accusative case” in spunky columns at The Awl. In the middle of Schadenfreude, it occurred to me that it would be fun to interview Rebecca Schuman, and the author was kind enough to respond to these questions. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, books & writing, creative writing, education by Alex Kudera
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10. A Valentine that finds us far apart.

9. Though distance can’t dilute your brilliant Light.

8. I Love you very much, with all my heart.

7. And soon we two will finally reunite.

6. And nevermore will I be far from you.

5. And pleasing you will be my only aim.

4. Then nevermore shall we be rent in two,

3. United in the all-consuming flame!

2. Our path was fated since before Creation:

1. A Love forged in a Twin Flame Conflagration!
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, living poetry by Bob Sullivan
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1. Because it’s called “Top ten favorite lines for a Valentine’s Day poem” and tomorrow, somehow, just seems more appropriate.
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, living poetry by Bob Sullivan
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In 2016, I was lucky enough to have a second novel slip out of the apartment and onto a publisher’s list. Here’s an excerpt you’re welcome to share and enjoy. If it leads to a few sales, I’m grateful; if it doesn’t I won’t sulk. Or, not in public anyway.

from Auggie’s Revenge, chapter 9, “Uncle Sam’s Blood Money”:

But the thought of murder, like most others, drifted away, and I resumed my daily grind. Taking attendance and grading papers. Designing lessons. Lecture or discussion. In class, expounding upon the poverty of philosophy, or at the very least the philosophy of my poverty. Making a jackass of myself in front of undergrads so certain they wouldn’t wind up like the sloppy joker in front of the room.

One afternoon while strolling to the street corner after classes, in the middle of my muddled thoughts on philosophy, Auggie, humanity, murder, et al., I spied a thick wad of bills. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, creative writing, education, money by Alex Kudera
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In the course of a prolific career that traversed a wide variety of genre, British writer Arthur Conan Doyle created – for me, at least – three singular characters. Over time, those three have achieved varying degrees of popularity and shelf-presence.

I have read all of Doyle’s stories of detective Sherlock Holmes, and almost all his stories of Brigadier Etienne Gerard. In contrast, I have read only one of his Professor George Edward Challenger stories … but what a wonderful story it was! And I am not at all surprised that it provided much of the foundation for “Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places” a collection of short stories inspired by Doyle’s brilliant, headstrong and physical academician.
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Tags: art & entertainment, books & writing by Jeff McDonald
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