Jerome Charyn's 'Bitter Bronx'

I've had pretty good luck in terms of quality when going to the library and checking out random books that I otherwise know nothing about from the new releases shelf.

An excerpt from one of my latest happy finds:

"Whatever music I have had risen from the bedlam of the Bronx, all the staccato sounds, the syncopation of sadness and loss."

Holy $@(%. That's just from the author's note.

Seriously, that's from Jerome Charyn, and if you enjoy language like that that pares down sentences until only the right words are left, I really recommend checking out his story collection Bitter Bronx. "The Cat Lady's Kiss" reads like a fairy tale perfectly transposed to New York and rolled around in grit.

I mean, damn.

Subway Book Review

A very nifty idea for a blog. Uli Beutter Cohen asks people on the subway to tell her about the books they're reading.

Check it out here: Subway Book Review

Shut up and take my money!

I was going on about this delightful ad in the back of the May/June The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction to all of my co-workers earlier in the week, so I figured I should share it here as well.

 

Judy Blume

On June 17, Judy Blume is coming for a talk as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival. I'm torn between going and enjoying myself or staying at home and not wishing that I had a battering ram to get through Wednesday evening traffic.

So until I decide, I have this lovely interview to tide me over:

Judy Blume on Writing, Twitter, and Vaginas

I wish I, too, could sit and talk with Judy Blume, about vaginas or otherwise.

Things I've Enjoyed Recently

It's always tough to figure out what to say when it comes to updating this site. Yep, I'm still working on writing. Nope, I haven't done as much with my stories as I want to. I feel confident of about maybe five percent of what I write. The rest of it requires me to go back, edit madly, start new stories, and hope to get better.

My Saturday nights are quite exciting. The stuff of legend, you can be sure.

Anyway, in addition to scribbling my own stuff, I also read and listen to the stuff that other people create. Here's some stuff I've enjoyed in recent weeks:

1) Trubbled Youth by Felipe Echevarria

Because it feels like an old-school zine, and because I love how expressive his figures are. This was one of my favorite finds of C2E2 2015.

2) "21 Steps to Enlightenment (Minus One)" by LaShawn M. Wanak, read for PodCastle by Khaalidah Muhammed-Ali

PodCastle often makes for excellent listening for a long work commute, and this story caught me right from the start with its premise. I wouldn't have guessed that the story developed the way it did, which was part of why I loved it so.

3) The Sculptor by Scott McCloud

The major plot points seemed familiar (Pregnancy! Death! A manic pixie dream girl!), but there were so many of the small notes that were just right, from the way that David's first attempts with his artistic gift don't meet with success to the conversations he has with Uncle Harry (actually, throw in all of the conversations about art--they felt painfully real). And Scott McCloud's artwork is solid and subtle, but I thought it made the most of the medium. And I cried at the end.

Hope you've been enjoying some good stuff on your end, whoever and wherever you are!

Little Free Library

Sometimes, at the end of a bleh week, you take a walk on a day like yesterday and see something like a Little Free Library on the lawn outside of someone's house. And it's wonderful.

For more information on the Little Free Library project, check out the official website! Seriously, don't you want a little home for books on your front lawn, too?

While Browsing the Books

Why do I have a feeling that this section of the store might not be entirely accurately labeled?