books – Page 8 – Ecce Signum

Several Weeks of Interesting Links

November was crazy busy, what with National Novel Writing Month and the AWS:Reinvent conference, so here are all the links from November 4 until now. Regular posting will resume, er, whenever.

Fifty Must-Read Books By Egyptian Authors
50 Must-Read Microhistory Books
Some beautiful artwork from Russia’s early wars.
Tor.com’s list of new Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Genre-bending books coming out in December.
NPR’s amazing, wonderful, awesome list of their favorite books from 2018. Well over 300 books to add to your list. Page also includes links to their annual lists going back to 2008.
The Millions is currently posting their 2018 Year In Reading list, wherein the Millions contributors discuss the books they have read over the past year. Link goes to the archive page which also includes reading lists from past years.
Kirk Thatcher, the punk from Star Trek IV, is an amazing human being.

A Big Box of Books

The week of November 11 brought fifteen(!) new books and journals to Winkelman Library. The top two rows are the contents of the most recent Grab Bag from Subterranean Press, one of the premiere publishers of special editions of genre fiction. The bottom row includes, from left, the latest issue of Peninsula Poets; The Diaries of Emilio Renzi: The Happy Years, which is the latest book from my subscription to Restless Books; Imaginary Cities by Darran Anderson, which I picked up at Books and Mortar; issue 54 of McSweeney’s, and All That Is Evident Is Suspect: Readings from the Oulipo 1963 – 2018, published by McSweeney’s. All this should keep me busy for the next week or so. The books in this photo are #217 to 231 in the 2018 Reading List post, where I have included links for ordering and author information.

Some Interesting Reading Material for the Week of November 4, 2018

Only one new acquisition for the first full week of November, but that one thing was actually three things – three chapbooks, to be precise, from Ugly Duckling Presse. The collection (the box for which is at the top of the photo) is called Ideas Have No Smell: Three Belgian Surrealist Booklets. The three are Transfigured Publicity by Paul Nougé, Abstractive Treatise on Obeuse by Paul Colinet, and For Balthazar by Louis Scutenaire.

I have to say, in the brief time that I have held a subscription to Ugly Duckling Presse they have been absolutely knocking it out of the park.

New Reading Material for the Week of October 28, 2018

Books for the week of 1018-10-28

This past week was an excellent time to be a reader at the Winkelman Abbey. A fantastic variety of books and journals arrived throughout the week. The top row of this photo is ALL FIVE VOLUMES of the Apex Book of World SF, published by the excellent folks at Apex Publications.

The bottom row contains, from left, Resist Fascism from a Kickstarter campaign run by Bart Leib of Crossed Genres Publishing. Next to that is The Way North, an anthology of Upper Peninsula writing which I picked up when I ordered an upcoming volume of poetry by Jack Ridl, which I will undoubtedly post here when it arrives next spring. Third in is the latest issue of Apex Magazine by the same folks who created all of the books in the top row. On the right side of the bottom row is a recent issue of Sugar House, a lit journal which I picked up for research purposes as I plan my next round of poetry submissions.

All in all, excellent additions to my library.

Links and Notes for the Week of October 28, 2018

Now here’s an interesting website (and philosophy): Conceptual Fiction.
From Book Riot, 50 Must-Reads of Slavic Literature. I am humbled to say I have only read one, maybe two of these books.
Jeannette Ng’s wonderful Twitter thread on old and imaginary libraries.
Tor.com has released their new upcoming book lists for November 2018:
Rick Liebling has an interesting essay up on his Medium site “The Adjacent Possible”: The Aesthetics of Science Fiction. What does SciFi Look Like After Cyberpunk?
Bernie Sanders and Greek politician Yanis Varoufakis are teaming up to create a “European Spring” movement to counter the increasing level of right-wing fascism in the European Union, the United States, and Central and South America.
Metafilter’s latest roundup thread of news items and commentary on the reign of racist idiot and Stochastic Terrorist Donald Trump.

Links and Notes for the Week of October 21, 2018

Metafilter has a new post and thread on the ongoing hellscape of the administration of emasculated man-baby Donald Trump, and his bootlicks and water-carriers.
Over at Book Riot, 10 Short Story Collections About Race and Culture.
And from Friday Black, the first collection in the above list, “Zimmer Land“, by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.
I would have loved (LOVED) to attend this conference: Sublime Cognition: Science Fiction and Metaphysics (schedule with descriptions)
A Russian publisher Yelena Shubina on why it’s difficult to find great contemporary fiction by current Russian authors.

Your Weekly Book Post

Another week, another stack of books added to the Library of Winkelman. Starting at top left we have the most recent issues of Locus Magazine and Poetry Magazine. I picked them up at my employment alma mater Schuler Books and Music. At top right is a recent issue of StoneBoat Literary Journal, to which I have recently submitted some poetry. While they did not accept my work, I do very much appreciate theirs, so I will be submitting more poetry and fiction in the future.

The whole bottom row is the second shipment from my subscription to Ugly Duckling Presse. Fast on the heels of the first bundle which arrived only a couple of weeks ago, this one includes more poetry in translation as well some fiction and nonfiction. From left, the books are:

Diana Hamilton – God Was Right
Anna Vitale – Our Rimbaud Mask
Vasilik Gdenov – Alphabet for the Entrants
Artis Ostrups – Gestures
Zahara Patterson – Chronology
Lisa Rogal – Feed Me Weird Things
Alexis Almeida – I Have Never Been Able to Sing

It is safe to say that I am completely in love with Ugly Duckling Presse. Though their annual subscription is expensive, given the quality and variety of work they publish, I consider it absolutely worth the price.

Links and Notes for the Week of October 14, 2018

LitHub is doing a series of posts on the ten books which have defined each decade for the past hundred years, with a brief essay on each title. Really interesting stuff here! I will continue to update this list as LitHub releases the rest of the pages.
- 1900s
- 1910s
- 1920s
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
- 2010s
From Electric Literature: A Master Class in Women’s Rage
Another from LitHub: An essential reading list of Midwestern Women

Books and Broadsides

Reading material acquired week of 2018.10.07

Another week, another collection of new reading material. This post is exceptional for reasons I will get to in a moment, but first: the books. Starting at the upper left, is issue 7.1 of Storm Cellar Quarterly, which I picked up for research as a possible venue for submitting poetry. Next is Passing by Nella Larsen, published by Restless Books but not part of my subscription. Restless is doing some seriously good work in bringing forgotten and underrepresented voices into public awareness. Next is the easiness and the loneliness, poetry by Asta Olivia Nordenhof, from my subscription to Open Letter Books.

The bottom row is my reward for backing a Kickstarter campaign from Copper Canyon Press to publish Ursula Le Guin’s last collection of poetry, So Far So Good. Next to that is a broadside of her poem “July”, and on the right side is a special-edition reprint of one of Le Guin’s early collections, Wild Angels.

Le Guin didn’t come into my awareness as a poet until many years after I began reading her fiction, so when this Kickstarter appeared shortly after she passed away I jumped at the opportunity. Copper Canyon continually turns out superlative work and in this they have done justice to the final collection of a magnificent writer.

New Books and a New Subscription

Books acquired week of 2018.09.30

This was an excellent week for The Library at Winkelman Abbey. First up is the latest issue of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, followed by the latest issue of Apex Magazine. Both of these are the results of successful Kickstarter campaigns. Next are the two latest books (Tentacle by Rita Indiana, Slip of a Fish by Amy Arnold) from my subscription to And Other Stories. On the top right is Ink by Sabrina Vourvoulias, from Rosarium Publishing.

The entire bottom row is my first shipment from Ugly Duckling Presse, to whom I subscribed back in July when I had a little extra money and no immediate household needs. From left to right they are Orange by Christine Herzer, Wolfman Librarian by Filip Marinovich, This Window Makes Me Feel by Robert Fitterman, Feeling Upon Arrival by Saretta Morgan, Defense of the Idol by Omar Cáceres, and Dear Angel of Death by Simone White. All are poetry, and all are beautiful editions of beautiful writing.

Once again, this week’s haul is made up entirely of books from independent publishers. Save for Ink, all are part of annual subscriptions. If Rosarium ever offers a subscription to their catalog, I will be the FIRST in line to purchase one.