Tag: Kickstarter

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]

January 2023 Books and Reading Notes

John Winkelman

Starting in 2023 I am combining my annual book acquisition list and my monthly readings lists into a single monthly post. Ideally my rate of reading will be greater than my rate of book acquisition. This month, however, I went to ConFusion, and while I did not grab as many books as I usually do, I still picked up four new titles.

Acquisitions

Acquisitions for the month of January 2023

  1. Hieu Minh Nguyen, Not Here (Coffee House Press) [2023.01.08] – I picked up Not Here on a whim, during a visit to Books & Mortar.
  2. Adrain Collins and Mike Myers (editors), The King Must Fall (Grimdark Magazine) [2023.01.10] – This is from a Kickstarter.
  3. Sheree Renée Thomas (editor), Sorghum and Spear (Outland Entertainment) [2023.01.12] – This is from a Kickstarter
  4. Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #46 [2023.01.16] – Published by the excellent Small Beer Press.
  5. Catherine Stein, Eden’s Voice (self-published) [2023.01.21] – Acquired from the author at ConFusion 2023
  6. Catherine Stein, The Courtesan and Mr. Hyde (self-published) [2023.01.21] – Acquired from the author at ConFusion 2023
  7. Rami Ungar, The Pure World Comes (self-published) [2023.01.21] – Acquired from the author at ConFusion 2023
  8. Todd Sanders (editor), The Librarian (Air and Nothingness Press) [2023.01.21] – Acquired from one of the authors, Storm Michael Humbert, at ConFusion 2023.
  9. Shalash the Iraqi (Luke Leafgren, translator), Shalash the Iraqi (And Other Stories) [2023.01.24] – This is an arrival from my subscription to And Other Stories
  10. Johanna Hedva, Your Love Is Not Good (And Other Stories) [2023.01.24] – This is from my subscription to the catalog of And Other Stories.

Reading List

Books and Journals I read in January 2023

Books and Journals

  1. Dreamforge #1 [2023.01.02]
  2. Poetry [2023.01.03]
  3. Nicole Sealey, Ordinary Beast [2023.01.04]
  4. Kathe Koja, Velocities [2023.01.12]
  5. Ananda Devi (Jeffery Zuckerman, translator), Eve Out of Her Ruins [2023.01.15]
  6. Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel (Jethro Soutar, translator), The Gurugu Pledge [2023.01.23]
  7. Ho Sok Fong (Natascha Bruce, translator), Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.31]

Short Prose

  1. Sarena Ulibarri, “The Spiral Ranch”, Dreamforge #1 [2023.01.01]
  2. Terra LeMay, “Glass Roses”, Dreamforge #1 [2023.01.01]
  3. Barbara Barnett, “Z-Spot”, Dreamforge #1 [2023.01.01]
  4. Steven Brust and Skyler White, “Smith’s Point”, Dreamforge #1 [2023.01.02]
  5. Kathe Koja, “At Eventide”, Velocities [2023.01.05]
  6. Kathe Koja, “Baby”, Velocities [2023.01.06]
  7. Kathe Koja, “Velocity”, Velocities [2023.01.06]
  8. Kathe Koja, “Clubs”, Velocities [2023.01.08]
  9. Kathe Koja, “Urb Civ”, Velocities [2023.01.08]
  10. Kathe Koja, “Fireflies”, Velocities [2023.01.09]
  11. Kathe Koja, “Coyote Pass”, Velocities [2023.01.09]
  12. Kathe Koja, “Road Trip”, Velocities [2023.01.10]
  13. Kathe Koja, “Toujours”, Velocities [2023.01.10]
  14. Kathe Koja, “Far and Wee”, Velocities [2023.01.11]
  15. Kathe Koja, “The Marble Lily”, Velocities [2023.01.11]
  16. Kathe Koja, “La Reine D’Enfer”, Velocities [2023.01.12]
  17. Jim C. Hines, “144th Contact” (Patreon story) [2023.01.12]
  18. Kathe Koja, “Pas De Deux”, Velocities [2023.01.12]
  19. Ho Sok Fong, “The Wall”, Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.25]
  20. Ho Sok Fong, “Radio Drama”, Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.26]
  21. Ho Sok Fong, “Lake Like a Mirror”, Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.28]
  22. Ho Sok Fong, “The Chest”, Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.29]
  23. Ho Sok Fong, “Summer Tornado”, Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.29]
  24. Ho Sok Fong, “Aminah”, Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.29]
  25. Ho Sok Fong, “Wind through the Pineapple Leaves, through the Frangipani”, Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.29]
  26. Ho Sok Fong, “October”, Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.30]
  27. Ho Sok Fong, “March in a Small Town”, Lake Like a Mirror [2023.01.31]

December and All That

John Winkelman

New reading material for the week of November 27, 2022.

Well, NaNoWriMo is over, so my daily routine, such as it is, is back to normal. A little more reading, a little more journaling, a little more sleep. December is here, and with it the usual holiday angst, though there is considerably less this year than in the previous couple.

(just kidding about the sleep)

Two new bundles of bound pages arrived at the house in the past week. On the left is the latest issue of Poetry, which is almost certainly the last one for my subscription. And on the right is the eighth edition of the Long List Anthology of works which were considered for the Hugo award in the previous year, but didn’t win. These anthologies are excellent, full of superb and varied stories.

In reading news, I am well into Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and loving it! It’s a much easier read than The Brothers Karamazov, but then the list of books which fit that criteria is vast.

In writing news, things have slowed down just a little as I figure out how to connect what I wrote for NaNoWriMo with what I wrote before NaNoWriMo 2021. I have a sense for what I want to do, but knowing that no matter what I write to complete the pre-first draft will almost certainly be completely changed in the next edit, I have difficulty taking the step of putting my ass in the chair and typing those words.

Happy December, everyone!

Post-Election Exhaustion

John Winkelman

New books for the week of November 6, 2022

With the midterm elections mostly in the rearview mirror, barring a couple of races which were so close that they are going into runoff, or are still being counted, the world is returning to whatever passes for a state of normalcy. Donald Trump, along with all of his supporters, was once again proven to be a pathetic loser, and most of the neo-Nazi bootlicks who rode, or attempted to ride, his coattails into political office were rightfully kicked to the curb. There were the usual tears and accusations of rigged elections from the emasculated wingnut manbabies of the GOP/QANON/OANN/KKK/Fox News bloc (which is many different names for the same undifferentiated mass of jackboot fetishists), and there will inevitably be a backlash of new bills introduced which will attempt to limit voting rights to only conservative white Christian men who own property. Such are the goals of conservative white Christians in America.

Anyway. Enough about politics.

Only one new book arrived this week – Death in the Mouth the most of the recent spate of Kickstarter rewards. Friends, this book is gorgeous!

In reading news, I finished K.S. Villoso’s The Wolf of Oren-Yaro. It was great! When I am ready to start buying books again, I will pick up the sequel which, based on the excerpt published at the end of Wolf, should be excellent.

I just started Terminal Peace, the final volume of Jim C. Hines’ Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse trilogy. So far, it is every bit as good as the previous books in the series.

And on a whim, during breakfast this morning, I cracked open Duncan Hannah’s 20th Century Boy, which I can already see I will need to put down until after November, else I will be so consumed reading it that I will not have any time to write.

In writing news, I am at something over 25,000 words in my NaNoWriMo story Cacophonous. Things are going very well so far and I expect to hit 50,000 well before the end of the month.

Time to Myself

John Winkelman

New books for the week of October 16, 2022

My partner was out of town for a few days, so I had the house to myself. Well, not entirely to myself. Better to say that Poe and Pepper had the house to themselves, with me furtively creeping around, making sure they stayed fed and feted, so they wouldn’t stage a coup. Not that much would change if they did so successfully.

October continues to be a stellar month for additions to the library, with several new titles arriving in the past week.

First up, fresh from a successful Kickstarter campaign, is Chokepoint Capitalism by Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow.

Next is the latest issue of Poetry, probably my second-to-last as my subscription winds down.

Next is Legacy of Bronze by T.L. Greylock and Bryce O’Connor. This is the sequel to Shadows of Ivory, which I picked up at the beginning of the year and read about a month ago.

Next is one I have been awaiting for a very long time. The Herbalist’s Primer, published by Exalted Funeral, was part of a Kickstarter which I backed in September of last year. Thanks to *gestures at everything* printing was delayed many times, but the Kickstarter rewards finally arrived, and the book is beautiful!

In reading news, I am quite enjoying my journey through the pages of my stack of back issues of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. Such good writing in here!

In writing news, I am still plotting out the story I will write for NaNoWriMo which starts in a little over a week (!).

Already August Again

John Winkelman

New reading material for the week of July 31, 2022

While objective time chugs along at a steady page, subjective time starts and stops and lurches and grinds like an old pizza joint animatronic playing freeform jazz.  The slow months and short days have become fast months and short days,  which is far from the summertime ideal of slow months and slow days. Thus the frantic scramble to complete everything ahead of the end-of-summer deadline, which for me hasn’t been a real deadline for about thirty years.

Several new books and such made their way into the library this past week.

First up is the Kickstarter edition of The Alchemy of Sorrow, an anthology of grief and hope edited by Sarah Chorn & Virginia McClain.

Next is an interesting one; Political Categories: Thinking Beyond Concepts by philosopher Michael Marder. I had not heard of Marder before a friend recommended a few of us from Back In The Day pick up this book and put together a discussion group as we read it.

On the top right is the new issue of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, published by Small Beer Press.

The bottom three are the new anthologies from the 2021 Kickstarter by Zombies Need Brains – Shattering the Giass Slipper, Noir, and Brave New Worlds. ZNB consistently turns out quality anthologies (I now have 12 of them!) so I look forward to diving into the books this autumn.

In reading news, I am about halfway through J.M. McDermott’s Maze, published by Apex Books. So far, I like it! The story is odd and disjointed in a way which I find appealing, and I am eager to discover how McDermott ties everything together.

In writing news, not much to report. I cam out of July even more tired and burned out that I was going in, and that’s saying something. I didn’t have any meaningful down time and every area of my life is beginning to seriously suffer from that state of being. And this is particular frustrating because Zombies Need Brains just announced the themes for their four(!) anthologies which will be published as part of their 2022 Kickstarter campaign, which launches next week.

I want to submit stories for these anthologies. In order to do that, I need to have the mental energy to do some writing.

And that is, right now, in short supply.

It’s Hot Out

John Winkelman

Books which arrived in the week of May 8, 2022

This past week the air temperature in Grand Rapids hit 90° Fahrenheit more than once. And it’s only just the middle of May. Given the patterns of recent years I expect we will hit triple digits more than once before autumn rolls in. One of the side effects of this sudden summer weather has been uncomfortably warm nights and therefore little in the way of quality sleep.

One new book arrived in the past week – the hardcover edition of the Girl Genius Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game, published by Steve Jackson Games of GURPS fame, and based on the Girl Genius comic created by Kaja and Phil Foglio. This came from a Kickstarter campaign I helped fund back in October 2021. So, given the past couple of years, the fact that the book came in on schedule is impressive. The thing itself is great; deftly written and chock-full of interesting and beautiful illustrations.

In reading news, as was reported last week, I am still working my way through back issues of Poetry Magazine, as well as Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities. And I am still enjoying both.

I haven’t done much writing in the past week, mostly due to my brain being completely fried. Maybe next week. Or the week after that.

A Little Warmth in the Air

John Winkelman

Arrivals for the week of May 1, 2022

There have been a couple of warm days recently, but in this upcoming week daytime temperatures are expected to be in the mid-80s every day, which is quite wonderful for the beginning of May, particularly when considering the exceptionally long and dreary April we just endured here in West Michigan.

The past week has been full of poetry-related events.

In the evening of this past Monday, May 2, I ventured to Douglas, Michigan to attend “Let’s Take Another Look at Poetry,” a workshop held by Jack Ridl, who I have not seen in person since early 2019, I think. He and his wife Julie have been friends of mine for many years, and I had the great good fortune of being invited to attend their regular Sunday morning open studio back in the Before Times. Jack and Julie’s advice was invaluable for me as we worked out the kinks of Caffeinated Press and The 3288 Review. And I loved hearing Jack read his own work, an opportunity I have not had since the launch of his most recent book Saint Peter and the Goldfinch, back in early 2019. So, three very long years.

Yesterday, May 7, I attended the “Schuler Mecca” interview for the Oral History of Poetry in Grand Rapids project organized by local poet Christine Stephens-Krieger. She interview included several former Schuler Books employees who were involved in the poetry scene (such as it was) in Grand Rapids in the 1980s and 1990s. We discussed the role of our local independent bookstore in promoting poetry to the West Michigan community, as well as the many national poets who held readings and signings at the store, and how being in that space in that time with that group of people had influenced our own poetry practice.

This was the second time I was interviewed for the project, the first being a month ago about my experience as a publisher of local poets and poetry as part of Caffeinated Press.

Three new books have arrived here at the Library of Winkelman Abbey.

First up is the May issue of Poetry Magazine. I am quickly catching up to present in my read-through of back issues, and will likely catch up to my subscription in the middle of summer. At that point I will need to consider if I want to keep my subscription. Right now I’m leaning toward “yes.”

Next is Dragon, the new graphic novel by Saladin Ahmed and Dave Acosta, from their successful Kickstarter. I have only skimmed it so far, but the writing and artwork is gorgeous, as would be expected from such talented people.

And on the right is the final, completed version of Illyrian Fugue, written over the past 16 years by my dear friend Scott Krieger. I had the honor of reading an earlier draft back in 2019, so I am eagerly looking forward to reading the final release.

In reading news, in addition to the issues of Poetry Magazine, I am reading Benedict Anderson‘s exemplary book Imagined Communities, an examination of the phenomenon of nationalism.

An Illusion of Normalcy

John Winkelman

Reading material from the week of March 6, 2022

Two years after the office closed, I am back to working downtown two or three days a week. Being able to spend extended hours out of the house has improved my state of mind substantially, though the office, and indeed much of downtown right now, feels comparatively deserted.

This week’s new reading material comes courtesy of two Kickstarter campaigns.

First up is the latest issue of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, which always delivers excellent short fiction.

Next is War of Gods by Dyrk Ashton, in the limited edition hardcover, next to the box which fits the complete hardcover trilogy. I have been a fan of Dyrk’s work since I first met him at ConFusion back in…2016? He had just published the first volume of his Paternus trilogy. The completion of the hard-cover boxed set feels like the end of an era, and I have heard rumors that Ashton is working on something new. Based simply on that rumor, I am already looking forward to reading it.

In reading news, I am still working my way through Seth Dickinson’s The Tyrant Baru Cormorant. I am enjoying it, but wow, is this a long book. I also got an early start in working my way through all of my back issues of Poetry Magazine, starting with issue 207.1, publishing in October 2015. I have 40 more issues after this one, not counting whatever shows up as I work my way through the stack.

In writing news, not a lot to report for this past week. I have been too distracted by the goings-on in Ukraine to be able to focus on creating new work. Like living in a global pandemic, adjusting to the reality of living in World War III will take time, but eventually I will be able to tell stories around a trash fire which will be the only source of light and warmth in the plague-ridden nuclear winter which will surely be our new normal in the coming decade.

February Barely Scary

John Winkelman

Books from the week of February 13, 2021

First up is issue 7 of Tales from the Magician’s Skull, from a Kickstarter I backed this past October. It looks great, and I am eager to dive into it.

Next is Classic Monsters Unleashed, from a Kickstarter run by editor James Aquilone. This was another of the Kickstarters for which the reward was delayed by *gestures at everything*.

I like the coincidence of a magazine of classic sword-and-sorcery style stories arrived the same week as a collection of new stories about classic monsters. I appreciate the connection of the classic with the current, the exploration of how the old influences the new.

In reading news, I finished Jesus and John Wayne and it left me in a foul mood. The book itself is excellent, well researched and well written, but the subject matter – the white evangelists who are deliberately working to turn the United States into a militant christian patriarchal ethnostate – well, let’s just say I don’t agree with their works, message, or goals. I have a small review written up in my monthly reading list which will post on the first day of March.

To cleanse my palate, reading-wise, I picked up Per Aage Brandt‘s beautiful poetry collection If I Were a Suicide Bomber, translated from the Danish by Thom Satterlee and published by Open Letter Books. I originally acquired this book through my subscription to Open Letter Books, which I let lapse a couple of years ago because I had not read any of the books they had shipped me in well over a year. Now I am slowly working through my backlog of almost three dozen.

I finished If I Were a Suicide Bomber the same day I started it, as I had taken a sick day from work and a few hours is plenty of time for a leisurely read through a poetry collection. I loved it! The poems are sharp, insightful, and full of humor. Taken individually, there are some echoes of Charles Reznikoff‘s Testimony (though lighter), and taken as a whole I noted an occasional similarity to Notes From A Bottle Found on the Beach at Carmel by Evan S. Connell. Highly recommended.

Now I am reading The Same Night Awaits Us All by Hristo Karastoyanov, translated from the Bulgarian by Izidora Angel and also published by Open Letter Books. So far it is quite good, and would fit well on a shelf next to Andrei Bely‘s Petersburg,and perhaps a short distance from Umberto Eco‘s Foucault’s Pendulum, if only because they both involve small, quirky publishing houses.

In writing news, I didn’t accomplish much this past week due to the aforementioned sick day and the associated disruption to my schedule and routine. Perhaps next week will be a little more stable.

That’s it for now. Unless something extravagant happens in the next ten days, this may be the first month in a very long time where I read more books than I acquired. A few more decades of that and I might get to the point where have read every book I own.