Tag: poetry

The Books That Are Not ConFusion Books

John Winkelman

Lest the last few posts give the impression that I only purchase books at conventions, here are some others which arrived in the past week.

On the left is The Black God’s Drums by P. Djeli Clark, which has been on my radar for a couple of months now. Next to it is Katherine Arden‘s The Bear and the Nightingale, because Russian folklore. Also about a year ago I wrote most of a Baba Yaga story for an anthology call, and in the research for that story this book came up repeatedly.

The third is The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty, the sequel to her excellent The City of Brass which I read several months ago. Next to it is Friday Black, a collection of short stories by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah which came to my attention when LitHub posted the story “Zimmer Land“.

The bottom row includes reading material from various subscription. First is Night School by Zsófia Bán, then I Am God by Giacomo Sartori, and finally the latest issue of Poetry.

In reading, I finished Fix by Ferret Steinmetz (which Mr. Steinmetz signed at ConFusion 2019!) and am now bouncing between three of my ConFusion acquisitions: Reckoning #1, Death March by Phil Tucker, and The Blood-Tainted Winter by T L Greylock.

For this year I am keeping a list of the books I read, and I plan to write reviews (GoodReads, Amazon, etc.) both to boost the signal of those authors and to give me practice at writing reviews.

That’s all for now. The books continue to accumulate.

This Week’s Books, Part I: Small Stack

John Winkelman

This is the small stack of books from this week. The Big Stack consists of books I picked up at ConFusion 2019, which is a large enough collection that it warrants its own post.

The books on the ends, Life on Mars and Whereas, are poetry books I purchased on a whim while at Books and Mortar picking up AfroSF and Seven Surrenders. The Anna Karenina Fix arrived from Amazon while I was at ConFusion.

With this week’s exceptionally large haul, I am now over 1,500 books catalogued in LibraryThing. I have shelf space in my house for maybe 100 more books if they are the usual mix of thin and thick. That should be enough to get me through the rest of 2019. We shall see…

In reading news, I finished Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer while at ConFusion on Thursday night. Friday morning I had coffee with Miss Palmer and several other people, where she held forth on various Papal shenanigans from the mid-1400s. To cool my head I read about half of the poems in Life on Mars, which is an absolutely wonderful collection by our current national Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith. I am now a little more than halfway through Fix by Ferret Steinmetz, the sequel to Flex and The Flux. Thus far it is just as good as the first two. I expect to be finished by the end of the week and am enjoying every page of it.

 

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

John Winkelman

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

John Winkelman

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.

Your Weekly Book Post

John Winkelman

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.

Books and Broadsides

John Winkelman

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

John Winkelman

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.

Mount Tsundoku Grows Apace

John Winkelman

Last week brought a small pile of books. On the left is Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation, which I picked up as research material for an upcoming anthology submission. The second, Scarborough, was recommended to me by my girlfriend, and on quick glance looks like it will be a fantastic, emotional read. Celadon is collection of poetry by my friend (and 3288 Review contributor!) Ian Haight. Checkpoint is the most recent arrival through my subscription to Restless Books.

Bonus note: all four of these are published by indie publishing houses!

One day I will be retired or otherwise unemployed, and on that day my pile of unread books will start to shrink. Or more likely, continue to grow at a slower pace.

New Books This Week

John Winkelman

Another fine week for reading. From top to bottom, they are: Fence, Patio, Blessed Virgin by Kristin Brace, The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, Narrator by Bragi Olaffson, Salvage issue #5, and Jacobin issue #30.

Kristin announced Fence, Patio, Blessed Virgin at a reading back in, I think, late April. This is her first book, and it is wonderful!

I picked up The Cooking Gene and Kitchen Confidential at the We Are Lit popup bookstore, which was set up in the Downtown Market in Grand Rapids. They are run entirely online, with occasional popups, and have an excellently curated selection of books.

Narrator came in as the most recent volume from my subscription to Open Letter Books.

Salvage is an interesting journal based in England, to which I subscribed on a whim. I discovered it during an afternoon of reading leftist fiction and researching different -punk subgenres. I came across a reference to “salvagepunk” and, upon further inquiry, this was one of the top results, with China Mieville’s name displayed prominently. I honestly never expected to receive any issues of this, but here it is, and it is a thing of beauty.

Receiving a new issue of Jacobin is always a pleasure. The writing is top-notch, the content important and interesting (particularly in the current pre-apocalyptic political climate), and the physical artifact is a thing of beauty.