reading notes

by Anne Lamott
ISBN: 0679442405
I’ve never read any of Lamott’s novels, but I’m attached to her previous nonfictions works, Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird, so I when this came out, I figured I’d read it. What I didn’t expect was to find myself having one of those ‘perfect book at the perfect time’ reading experiences.
This [...]

by Mark Merlis
ISBN: 0140250905
This first novel is an imagined exploration of pre-Stonewall gay life in America. It is set in the late eighties, but the story centers around 62 year old Reeve and his memories of forty years ago.
The story begins with Reeve in the hospital, filled with unspeakable shame after a trick has beaten [...]

by Randall Kenan
ISBN: 0349107122
This book is a collection of interconnected stories, all of which tie to the tiny southern town of Tims Creek. From the viewpoints of different people and different times, these stories explore the multiple meanings and intersections of race, poverty, faith, and sexuality in this community.
Randall Kenan is a mesmerizing storyteller. He [...]

by Jason
ISNB: 1560974974
This nearly wordless interrelated collection of stories has an odd appeal. It was at times heartbreaking, funny, playful, and always a little strange. Part of the strangeness comes from the visual style — the faces of each character are oddly proportioned and more or less immobile, with pupil-less eyes. Not to mention the [...]

by Jane Hamilton
ISBN: 0385473117
Jane Hamilton is a good writer: she is careful in how she chooses her words (without seeming over-careful or prissy) and you have a sense that she always knows where her story is going.
I really liked this book — and I found at parts that it was almost unbearable. Not bad [...]

by Rebecca Brown
ISBN: 0872863441
I’ve read several of Brown’s earlier books, and always found her use of language and play with perspective interesting. She has a way of making the reader work for the story, and delivering a payoff that is worth the effort.
I don’t want to say it, but I’m not sure that she entirely [...]

edited by Ng Suat Tong
ISBN: 1891876229
This Alternative Comics collection includes the work of two dozen different artists. I think the anthology format is particularly good for newcomers to comics: it is a great way to see the work of many different artists at once, and to compare different styles.
Things in this volume that stood [...]