Category: Book List

Lists of books and reading material

September 2023 Books and Reading Notes

John Winkelman

This was an excellent month for acquiring books funded through Kickstarter. Three of the four new arrivals are crowdfunded, and the last is from my (surprisingly persistent, but not unwelcome) subscription to And Other Stories.

For reading, September was a slow month. I had a lot on my mind, and multiple side projects demanding my attention, and my reading pace therefore suffered. But what my reading pile lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. So it goes.

Acquisitions

Books which arrived at the house in the month of September 2023

  1. Cory Doctorow, The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation (Verso) [2023.09.02] – Reward from a Kickstarter campaign.
  2. Douglas Adams, Kevin Jon Davies (editor), 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams (Unbound Books) [2023.09.03] – Reward from a Kickstarter campaign. This one was long-awaited, as I backed it in March of 2021. Things Happened in the world in the intervening years, and my patience was well-rewarded, as this book is absolutely gorgeous!
  3. Ai Jiang and Christi Nogle (editors), Wilted Pages: An Anthology of Dark Academia (Shortwave Publishing) [2023.09.05] – Another Kickstarter reward. I have never read any Dark Academia stories, so an anthology seemed like a good place to start.
  4. Tanya Tagaq, Split Tooth (And Other Stories) [2023.09.22] – The latest book from my one remaining subscription.

Reading List

Books

Books I read in the month of September 2023.

  1. Jim Harrison, The Raw and the Cooked (re-read) [2023.09.16]
  2. June Jordan, The Essential June Jordan [2023.09.24]
  3. Maurizio Lazzarato, Governing by Debt [2023.09.28]

August 2023 Books and Reading Notes

John Winkelman

August was a month for reading in a variety of genres and formats. Not much, due to burnout etc., but varied.

Acquisitions

New reading material acquired in the month of August 2023

  1. Inque #2

Reading List

What I read in August 2023

Books

  1. E.D.E. Bell, The Banished Craft [2023.08.09]
  2. Sofia Khvoshchinskaya (Nora Seligman Favorov, translator), City Folk and Country Folk [2023.08.20]
  3. Jericho Brown, The Tradition [2023.08.23]

July 2023 Books and Reading Notes

John Winkelman

Acquisitions

Books acquired in July 2023

  1. Aaron A. Reid, 50 Years of Text Games: From Oregon Trail to AI Dungeon and Everything In Between (Changeful Tales Press) [2023.07.03] – Kickstarter reward
  2. Salvage #13 [2023.07.25]
  3. Iman Mersal (Robin Moger, translator), Traces of Enayat (And Other Stories) [2023.07.26] – from my subscription to the publisher

Reading List

Books I Read in July 2023

Books

  1. China Miéville, A Spectre, Haunting [2023.07.10]
  2. Elmore Leonard, Get Shorty [2023.07.20]
  3. Todd Sanders (editor), The Librarian [2023.07.20]
  4. N.K. Jemisin, The World We Make [2023.07.24]
  5. Chris McCabe (editor), Poems From the Edge of Extinction [2023.07.28]

Short Prose

  1. Zachary Rosenberg, “The Unbroken Chain”, The Librarian [2023.07.10]
  2. E.J. Delaney, “Where Stories Meet”, The Librarian [2023.07.10]
  3. Indigo Emmerson, “The Girl and the Mouse”, The Librarian [2023.07.10]
  4. Michael Teasdale, “Tree of Knowledge”, The Librarian [2023.07.11]
  5. Jane Doring, “Rubble at Dawn”, The Librarian [2023.07.12]
  6. Kenzie Lappin, “Old Haunts”, The Librarian [2023.07.12]
  7. Azlïn Auckburally, “Small Promises”, The Librarian [2023.07.12]
  8. Elizabeth Snow, “The Anamatra”, The Librarian [2023.07.13]
  9. Henry Hertz, “Libbie and Dewey’s Excellent Adventure”, The Librarian [2023.07.14]
  10. D.G.P. Rector, “A Light Unmatched In All Depths”, The Librarian [2023.07.14]
  11. J.D. Harlock, “All The Things You Will Do”, The Librarian [2023.07.15]
  12. Nathan Waddell, “The Art of Seeing”, The Librarian [2023.07.15]
  13. Laurel Doud and Katrice Marroquin, “Dr. Strangefrog and the Doomsday Device”, The Librarian [2023.07.15]
  14. Larry Ivkovich, “A Light in the Fair”, The Librarian [2023.07.16]
  15. Sean Monaghan, “Farewell Kelary, Farewell”, The Librarian [2023.07.16]
  16. Katrina Middleburg, “The Arrival”, The Librarian [2023.07.16]
  17. A.P. Hawkins, “Stolen History”, The Librarian [2023.07.17]
  18. Waverly X. Night, “The Bar at the End of the World”, The Librarian [2023.07.17]
  19. Storm Humbert, “Proof of Magic”, The Librarian [2023.07.18]
  20. Anya Markov, “Rhyme Time”, The Librarian [2023.07.18]
  21. Leo Otherland, “The Haunting of Branch 19”, The Librarian [2023.07.19]
  22. Carter Lappin, “Book Circulation”, The Librarian [2023.07.19]
  23. CL Hart, “More than Color”, The Librarian [2023.07.19]
  24. Ana Sun, La Bibliotheque D’Objets Quotidiens”, The Librarian [2023.07.20]

June 2023 Books and Reading Notes

John Winkelman

June is my birthday month, and I celebrated by driving clockwise around Lake Michigan, starting in my home town of Grand Rapids and hitting Madison, Marquette, and Sault Ste Marie before returning home. In each city, we stopped at an independent bookstore where I offered my monetary support in exchange for bound bundles of words. That, plus the arrival of a couple of Kickstarter rewards, made this the biggest book acquisition month of the year thus far.

Acquisitions

New arrivals in the month of June 2023

  1. Rihannon Rasmussen and dave ring (editors), Luminescent Machinations: Queer Tales of Monumental Invention (Neon Hemlock Press) [2023.06.02] – Kickstarter reward
  2. China Miéville, A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto (Haymarket Books) [2023.06.03] – Purchased from Books and Mortar bookstore in Grand Rapids, Michigan
  3. Maurizio Lazzarato, Capital Hates Everyone: Fascism or Revolution (Semiotext(e)) [2023.06.06] – Purchased at A Room of One’s Own bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin
  4. R.F. Kuang, Yellowface [2023.06.06] – Purchased at A Room of One’s Own bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin
  5. Chris McCabe (editor), Poems from the Edge of Extinction [2023.06.08] – Purchased at Snowbound Books in Marquette, Michigan
  6. Joy Harjo, An American Sunrise [2023.06.09] – Purchased at Island Books and Crafts in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan
  7. Florence McClinchey, Joe Pete (Ziibi Press) [2023.06.09] – Purchased at Island Books and Crafts in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan
  8. Patricia Bray and Joshua Palmatier (editors), Solar Flare: Solarpunk Stories (Zombies Need Brains) [2023.06.30]
  9. S.C. Butler and Joshua Palmatier (editors), Dragonesque (Zombies Need Brains) [2023.06.30]
  10. Stephen Kotowych and Tony Pi (editors), Game On! (Zombies Need Brains) [2023.06.30]
  11. David B. Coe and Edmund B. Schubert (editors), Artifice & Craft (Zombies Need Brains) [2023.06.30]

Reading List

What I read in the month of June 2023

Books

  1. Jim Harrison, Returning to Earth (re-read) [2023.06.04]
  2. R.F. Kuang, Yellowface [2023.06.16]
  3. Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. [2023.06.24]
  4. Jonathan C. Creasy (editor), Black Mountain Poems: An Anthology [2023.06.25]
  5. Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Nomadology: The War Machine [2023.06.30]

May 2023 Books and Reading Notes

John Winkelman

May was a slightly better month for reading than April, if only because there was more daylight to be had and I had the occasional opportunity to sit on the porch with a glass of wine.

Acquisitions

Books i purchased in May 2023

  1. Travis Baldree, Legends & Lattes [2023.05.07]
  2. China Mieville, The City & The City [2023.05.07]
  3. Kaja and Phil Foglio, Girl Genius vol. 20: The Exorcism Engines (Studio Foglio) [2023.05.30]

Reading List

Books I read in May 2023

Books

  1. Alexander Darwin, The Combat Codes (ebook), self-published [2023.05.06]
  2. Travis Baldree, Legends & Lattes [2023.05.07]
  3. Arne De Boever and Warren Neidich (editors), The Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism, Part 1 [2023.05.24]
  4. Sayaka Murata (Ginny Tapley Takemori, translator), Earthlings [2023.05.28]
  5. Angela Boord, Fortune’s Fool (ebook), self-published [2023.05.29]

Short Prose

  1. Franco “Bifo” Berardi, “The Mind’s We: Morphogenesis and the Chaosmic Spasm, Social Recomposition, Technological Change and Neuroplasticity”, The Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism, part 1 [2023.05.08]
  2. Jason Smith, “Soul on Strike”, The Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism, part 1 [2023.05.08]
  3. Tiziana Terranova, “Ordinary Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism”, The Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism, part 1 [2023.05.13]
  4. Jodi Dean, “Collective Desire and the Pathology of the Individual”, The Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism, part 1 [2023.05.14]
  5. Arne de Boever, “‘All of us go a little crazy at times’: Capital and Fiction in a State of Generalized Psychosis”, The Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism, part 1 [2023.05.15]
  6. Jonathan Beller, “Pathologistics of Attention, The Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism, part 1 [2023.05.19]
  7. Bruce Wexler, “Neuroplasticity, Culture and Society”, The Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism, part 1 [2023.05.22]
  8. Warren Neidich, “Neuropower: Art in the Age of Cognitive Capitalism”, The Psychopathologies of Cognitive Capitalism, part 1 [2023.05.24]

April 2023 Books and Reading Notes

John Winkelman

April was a mediocre month for reading. I don’t know if it was post-COVID brain fog or general stress, or just a heavy work project maxxing out my brain capacity. As you can see, I read two short books at the beginning of the month, then the third one took almost three full weeks to complete, then a short book of poetry to round out National Poetry Month. Maybe May will be better.

Acquisitions

Issues 19, 20, and 21 of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine

  1. Pulphouse Fiction Magazine #19
  2. Pulphouse Fiction Magazine #20
  3. Pulphouse Fiction Magazine #21

Reading List

Books

Book read in April 2023
Book read in April 2023
  1. Kim Yi-deum (Ji Yoon Lee, translator), Blood Sisters [2023.04.02]
  2. Pablo Neruda (William O’Daly, translator), Book of Twilight [2023.04.07]
  3. Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow, Chokepoint Capitalism [2023.04.26]
  4. Reina María Rodríguez (Kristin Dykstra and Nancy Gates Madsen, translators), The Winter Garden Photograph [2023.04.29]

February 2023 Books and Reading Notes

John Winkelman

February was a good book month. Three of the five arrivals were from Kickstarters, and two of those were from Kickstarters over two years old. The rest were new purchases. Reading-wise, my reading list for the year caught up with my acquisition list, and I expect it to stay that way for the rest of the year, unless I either get sick of reading (not likely to happen) or I indulge in some serious emotional-support book buying.

Acquisitions

Book which arrived in the month of February 2023

  1. Jaymee Goh (editor), Don’t Touch That – A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Parenting Anthology [2023.02.04] – This one was a long time coming. I backed it back in July 2020, and of course COVID continued to happen, so the production of this anthology was, well, fraught. But it is finally here, and it is beautiful!
  2. Red Pine (translator), Dancing with the Dead – The Essential Red Pine Translations (Copper Canyon Press) [2023.02.09] – This is a reward from a recent Kickstarter run by Copper Canyon. I have been a fan of Bill Porter, and of Copper Canyon, for decades, and this is a beautiful volume.
  3. Julie Nováková, Lucas K. Law, Susan Forest (editors), Life Beyond Us (Laksa Media Groups) [2023.02.18] – Another long-delayed, eagerly-anticipated, and joyously received Kickstarter reward. I backed this book in April of 2021, and it arrived on a beautiful, unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon. I am very much looking forward to diving into this one.
  4. Jordan Kurella, When I Was Lost (Trepidation Publishing) [2023.02.22] – I met Jordan at ConFusion 2023, where he and I and my partner Zyra hung out at the bar, talking and enjoying being back at the convention. I thought his name looked familiar, and it turns out he has a story in an anthology (A Punk Rock Future) I picked up a couple of years ago because another friend had a story in it. Small world!
  5. Jordan Kurella, I Never Liked You Anyway (Lethe Press) [2023.02.27] – Another of Kurella’s works, this one a short novel, which is already near the top of my TBR pile.

Reading List

Books and Journals I Read In the Month of February 2023

Books and Journals

  1. Marlon James, Moon Witch, Spider King [2023.02.17]
  2. Catherine Stein, The Courtesan and Mr. Hyde [2023.02.20]
  3. Hieu Minh Nguyen, Not Here [2023.02.21]
  4. Jason Gillikin (editor), Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  5. The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.24]
  6. The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.02.26]
  7. Valérie Mréjen (Katie Shireen Assef, translator), Black Forest [2023.02.27]

Short Prose

  1. Colleen Alles, “Visitor’s Pass”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  2. Tiffany Amo, “Sea of Diamonds”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  3. Allison Hawkins, “Penelope Butterfield’s Comprehensive Guide to Self-Annihilation”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  4. Robert Charles Kubiak, “Christmas Play”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  5. Morris Lincoln, “Conversion Therapy”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  6. Melanie Meyer, “Half the Kingdom”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  7. Andrew Ronzino, “Acquired Taste”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  8. Andrew Ronzino, “The Last Day”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  9. D.L. Rosa, “Edward”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
  10. Colleen Alles, “The Only Private Place”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.23]
  11. Dominic Bryan, “The Lies You Tell Yourself”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.23]
  12. Maggie Hill, “Only the Drunk Can Sleep”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.23]
  13. Jonathan Lindberg, “Star Man”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.24]
  14. Julia Poole, “Coming Clean”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.24]
  15. Phillip Sterling, “Last Resort”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.24]
  16. Laura Cody, “Either One Step Forward, or Two Steps Back”, The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.03.24]
  17. Byron Spooner, “Elvis Walks the Earth”, The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.02.26]
  18. Susan Weinstein, “Sweet Halloween”, The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.02.26]
  19. Wally Wood, “Dropout”, The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.02.26]

The Books of ConFusion 2023

John Winkelman

Books signed at ConFusion 2023

The above is the collection of books which I was fortunate enough to have signed by their respective authors at ConFusion 2023.

First up are Zoe’s Tale, The End of All Things, and The Last Colony by John Scalzi. I picked these books up over the past several years, and finally brought them with me to ConFusion to be signed.

I picked up The Pure World Comes by Rami Ungar when a dapper gentleman in a top hat asked me “Do you like horror?” as I was browsing the tables in Artist’s Alley during some down time. Rami and I talked for a hot minute about self publishing and horror, and I walked away with a new book.

Dark Factory and Velocities by Kathe Koja, I picked up back in December, expressly to get them signed during the convention.

On Saturday afternoon, and I stopped in to Catherine Stein‘s “Author Meet and Greet” event, and ended up purchasing Eden’s Voice and The Courtesan and Mr. Hyde, which are period romances in the steampunk and gas-lamp fantasy genres. I generally don’t read romance novels, but I love the myriad *punk subgenres so this might be an inroad into a genre in which I am woefully uninformed. And we discovered that we have a friend in common, in West Michigan author Jean Davis, who Catherine knows through the self-publishing and local/regional book event scenes.

On the bottom right is The Librarian, an anthology published by Air and Nothingness Press, which was funded through a 2022 Kickstarter campaign. One of the authors, Storm Michael Humbert, was in one of the author meet-and-greets, with a table of anthologies in which he has stories.

All in all, ConFusion 2023 was an excellent venue for picking up new books, and I am proud that I kept it to only four books purchased throughout the long weekend, as I have a shelf full of books which have been signed at ConFusions past, which I have not yet read. New books shall be my reward for reading old books.

One of these years it will be me sitting at a table behind a pile of books on which are printed the words “By John Winkelman.”

December 2022 Reading List

John Winkelman

What I Read in December 2022

This was another great month for reading, though the list is short. But such is necessarily the case for Dostoevsky December.

And this rounds out the list for the year. 120 books or journals, and 252 pieces of short prose. Not bad at all.

Books and Journals

  1. Fyodor Dostoevsky (Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear, translators), Crime and Punishment [2022.12.18]
  2. Poetry #221.3 [2022.12.19]
  3. The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.21]

Short Prose

  1. Avigayl Sharp, “Uncontrollable, Irrelevant”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.19]
  2. Addie E. Citchens, “A Good Samaritan”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.19]
  3. Mieko Kanai (Polly Barton, translator), “Tap Water”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.20]
  4. Sophie Madeline Dess, “Zalmanovs”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.21]
  5. Tom Drury, “Where Does This Live?”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.21]
  6. Isabella Hammad, “Gertrude”, The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.21]
  7. Lauren C. Teffeau, “Sing! & Remember”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.24]
  8. Jane Lindskold, “Born From Memory”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.24]
  9. Jean Martin, “I Am Not As Young As I Was”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.29]
  10. Paul Dellinger, “Con Man”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.29]
  11. Chris Sumberg, “Anthropomorphile”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.29]
  12. Scot Noel, “Walker in Leaves”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.29]
  13. Dr. Eric Leif Davin, “The Prophetic Vision of Stephen Vincent Benet”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.30]
  14. Tom Sheehan, “The Old Man Who Hid Music”, Dreamforge #1 [2022.12.30]