I got to spend a week in Exeter this summer, as the International Writer-in-Residence at the Quay Words literary festival. Part of the deal was to give a talk on Icelandic crime writing and at the end of that talk (which I may post here later) I told the audience about the books that most … Continue reading 5 Rather Excellent Noir Crime Books
As you should know, dear reader, I am a contributor to Bookriot. Every month, we write a mega-post where each contributor writes about the best book they read that month. Here are nine of the books I've picked in the last 12 months as my favorite that month. These books have the official Johann Thorsson … Continue reading A Year of Great Books (with a small baby-pause)
Sorry about the "Ya'll", but I'm very excited. Start Here Volume 2 is out! From the announcement over on Bookriot: There are so many fantastic authors and great books out there that sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin. Start Here, Volume 2 solves that problem; it tells you how to read your way into 25 … Continue reading I’m in a Book, Ya’ll!
I've read a few books this year. I've lost count, but it's not really that many, perhaps about three books in a month. Well, I took together a list of the more memorable books I've read so far this year, and made a giant of a blog post out of it. These are the books … Continue reading 2013 Book Megapost | 19 Great Books
There are ways to describe a setting, and the mood and atmosphere of that setting. Mortal writers, like myself, might describe a poor neighborhood in a small town with words like "derelict", "broken windows", "dimly lit" and so forth, probably describing only the way things looked. But we have to go deeper than that, and … Continue reading The Best Writing of the Week | Daniel Woodrell
My amazon.com cart is very seldom empty. I am constantly adding books to it, removing them, adding them back, adding some more until I get just the right ratio of books-per-dollar-amount. Then, when I have the perfect mix of books, I let it simmer for a while. There is a thought that adds a delay … Continue reading 5 Books You Should Buy Too
I realize now that I have a book problem. Well, maybe it's not a problem so much as an issue of sorts. But before we get into that, let me tell you about the best books I read this year. I recently selected the The Twelve as my best book of 2012, but for that … Continue reading The Best Books I Read in 2012
In the recent weeks I completed three very different but very good books. These are a collection of stories with magic and monsters in them, a rather well-written zombie novel, and a book by my favorite newly-discovered author. Come on in, take a seat and have something to drink by the fire while I tell … Continue reading 3-for-1 Book Review
"If the literary crowd is keeping itself from the pleasures of zombie fiction, then it's doing itself a disservice." - Alden Bell, author of The Reapers are the Angels. I love the internet, I really do. The other day I bought a book called The Reapers are the Angels. It is good and was nominated … Continue reading Author Interview | Alden Bell
