Absinthe Minded Book Recommendations [More Karaoke Culture]
At this past ALTA (which I still need to write about, I know), Dwayne Hayes of Absinthe recorded are few video interviews about people’s favorite books of the year. The first one he posted is the one that I did about . . . Karaoke Culture. You can watch it at the link above (which I approve of, since part of my face is ...
>
Ruth Franklin on Five Books She Wished She Had Written About
Over at The New Republic Ruth Franklin (who is working on a biography of Shirley Jackson, which should be amazing) has a piece detailing the five books that came out in 2011 that she wishes she had reviewed. It’s a great list that includes Teju Cole’s Open City (“Reminiscent of the works of W.G. Sebald, ...
>
Thirst
Gelasimov embraces the “show, don’t tell” dictum effectively throughout this short novel from the unique start. The first person narrator, later identified as Constantine or Kostya, has just returned to his home and is trying to fit a lot of bottles of vodka into his refrigerator, and on the window sill, on the ...
>
Latest Review: "Thirst" by Andrei Gelasimov
The latest addition to our Reviews Section is Fr. Grant Barber’s piece on Thirst by Andrei Gelasimov, which is translated from the Russian by Marian Schwartz and published by AmazonCrossing. Grant Barber is a regular reviewer for us, as well as being a keen bibliophile, and an Episcopal priest living on the south ...
>
Thanks, Donors, Donating, and Free Books.
We’re in the midst of our Three Percent/Open Letter Annual Campaign (don’t worry, this won’t go on forever), and we just want to say “thank you” to those you who have already contributed by making a donation. We’re not done, though, and we’re still a ways from our goal . . ...
>
Farhad Manjoo, Amazon, and Independent Bookstores [Controversies]
Following on my post from yesterday, which was following on Richard Russo’s op-ed piece, which was following on Amazon’s “Price Check special,” today Slate’s tech guy, Farhad Manjoo, has his own piece about Amazon and indie bookstores—one that has seemingly pissed off everyone I know. If ...
>
New Books in German: The Buzz Videos
For the past year or so, the German Book Office has been putting together short videos with German readers (critics, translators, agents, etc.) talking about titles featured in the New Books in German publication. All of these are available here, and in honor of the 30th edition of New Books in German, they created a ...
>