Novels • Short Fiction • Memoir
Why do book reviews? I am a reader. I love books. I love readers. How cool would it be to remind people who also like books about some of the better ones like The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the forgotten ones, like The Stoned Apocalypse, the underappreciated ones like Reading Like A Writer, and the lesser known ones like The Writer’s Portable Mentor. My tastes are eclectic, I hope to find people who like me, appreciate a broad range of unique and well written books.
I also believe that to write well, one should read-- a lot. Whenever possible I will try to point out anything I have learned from a book about voice, pacing, detail, etc…whatever element of craft the book may have helped me improve. My primary goal, however is just to draw attention to cool books.
I also see this as a way to build an audience for my novel Bad Romance when it comes out. If I can draw readers who like the same sorts of quirky books that I do, maybe they will also like mine.
For now book reviews will be part of my blog which has the extra benefit of getting more blog posts up. I seem to be able to get about two a month up, which I am told by the folks in marketing is too little.
When I review a book I will post it on my blog and will post a link for the title of the book. Check back often as I will continue to add more.
The categories and books I plan to cover are:
Marco Vassi:
I plan to read and review all of his books. He has been a huge influence on my life and my work. I will start with The Stoned Apocalypse, A Driving Passion, Contours of Darkness, The Erotic Comedies
Erotic/Quirky/Underappreciated:
The Obscene Bird of Night, The Story of the Eye, The Dud Avocado, Portnoy's Complaint, The Erotica Writer’s Husband, Vox, Snuff
Classics:
Tropic of Cancer, Lolita, Wilderness, Mansfield Park, The Lover, Catch 22, Pale Fire, War and Peace (Pevear & Volokhonsky translation), Atlas Shrugged
Writing Books:
Writer’s Portable Mentor, Reading Like a Writer, The Weekend Novelist, From Where You Dream, Strong Opinions, The Golden Theme, Nabokov’s Lectures
Contemporary:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Freedom, Twilight, Infinite Jest, Wolf’s Rite, Way of the Toddler, White Noise, The Rainbow Stories, How to Be Alone, Drown, Blood Meridian, U and I, Fight Club, Invisible Monsters
Old Favorites:
Audrey Rose, Carrie, The Dead Zone, Books of Blood, Jaws, Exit to Eden
