Tag: reading

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.

February Ordinary

John Winkelman

Poe and Pepper Napping

Nothing new arrived at the house this past week, so here is a photo of Poe and Pepper, napping the afternoon away.

Maybe it’s the two new years happening only five weeks apart, but it does seem that there is more energy in the air than usual for late winter. It could be the recent (very slightly) sunnier and warmer weather, but I feel something akin to how I felt in the beginning of the new semester at college, with a renewed sense of optimism and vigor.

But the powers that be at work also seem to be affected this way, because I have been exceptionally busy since the beginning of the year, and the amount of energy I am putting into my work projects is beginning to pull from my leisure-time reserves.

In reading news, I am over halfway through Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, which is all about how the conflation of unapologetic racism, conservative Christianity and toxic masculinity has created, and still sustains, white evangelicals. Indeed, my copy is now sprinkled with side notes like “gleeful sadism,” “white supremacy,” “rape culture,” and “death cultists.” Though I still have over a hundred pages to go, it is obvious that the main driver behind the white evangelical virus over the past century, and the very reason they support catastrophic failure of a human being Donald Trump, is “daddy issues.”

Oh: and a fair bit of “predatory self-victimization.”

But I may be simplifying thing. A bit. A very tiny bit.

In writing news, this was an editing week so I spent my time reviewing tens of manuscripts in various stages of completion, performing triage where necessary, and making good use of my red pen. Though I experienced a slight lull in energy at the end of January, I am back at full strength and making excellent progress.

February, Quite Contrary

John Winkelman

New arrivals for the week of January 30, 2022

Though I have really only been trapped inside for a couple of months, and the weather has only truly been wintry for a few weeks, I feel the distinct mildewed talons of cabin fever slowly sinking into my soul.

The only reading material to arrive in the past week was the new issue of Poetry Magazine, which I hope to read before the end of the year. I have an idea that, instead of books of poetry, for National Poetry Month (April) I will read all of my unread back issues of Poetry and other literary journals.

In reading news, I finished S.A. Chakraborty‘s Empire of Gold, and it was fantastic! Definitely one of the best genre fiction reads of the past few years.

Having finished reading a six book run of fantasy and science fiction, I just picked up Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, by Kristin Kobes De Mez. Though I am barely through the introduction I can already see that this will be quite an informative and infuriating book.

In writing news, I am probably two hundred words from the end of the short story I have been working on for the past four months, and at over 7,000 words, it either needs to be trimmed by a couple of thousand, or turned into a novel. Or maybe both. Then the 7,000 word version can be the Director’s Cut.

That’s it for literary news for the week. Next week is Editing Week for the month, so I expect to find myself awash in heavily marked up piles of paper for a few days. Assuming I can keep up the momentum.

January 2022 Reading List

John Winkelman

Books I read in January 2022

January was a pretty good month for reading. I finished three genre novels, following the three I read at the end of 2021. Having my head in this space feels really good, and I find that my own writing is easier, and occasionally improved, by focusing on genre works for extended periods of time.

The down-side is that I spent so much time reading these books (and the ones which I did not finish by the end of the month) that I completely neglected to read any short prose other than news articles and blog posts.

Books

  1. Roanhorse, Rebecca, Black Sun (2022.01.06) – I really liked this book. Until now I had not read a fantasy story – or indeed any fiction at all, that I recall, that was centered in pre-colonial America. The characters are vivid and immediately interesting, the descriptions are both grand and intimate. Roanhorse writes very well and I look forward to reading the sequel, Fevered Star.
  2. Muir, Tamsyn, Harrow the Ninth (2022.01.18) – I loved this book! Harrow was as good a read as its predecessor Gideon the Ninth. It was a little slower-paced, but this was mostly due to the density of the world building and depth of characterizations. Muir is very good at exploring the mental and emotional states of her characters, and shows distinct empathy toward even the least sympathetic of the necromancers in this story. I definitely would not want to live in the universe of the Locked Tomb, but it is a fun place to visit on occasion.
  3. Mandel, Emily St. John, Station Eleven (2022.01.20) – I finished the Subterranean Press edition of Station Eleven while camped out in a hotel room the night before the 2022 ConFusion Science Fiction Convention. To read a story of the survivors of a pandemic touring the Great Lakes, while waiting for the start of a conference taking place in Michigan the middle of a pandemic, put my mind in an interesting place. Mandel writes beautifully. Her characters are well-defined and consistent, and the story immediately pulled me in. Moments of sharp clarity are mixed with hints of the state of the larger world, and the pages are full of the wonder and terror of living in a time when over 99% of humanity has suddenly died. Highly recommended.

ConFusion 2022 – Notes for If You Liked That, Read This!

John Winkelman

These are my notes from the panel “If You Like That, Read This!” which took place at 7:00 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2022 at ConFusion 2022: Rising ConFusion in Novi, Michigan.

I moderated this panel, which was a somewhat superfluous role as the panel included only myself and Anton Cancre, filling in for Sarah Hans, who was unable to attend the panel. Since there were only half a dozen attendees, we decided to keep things informal. We pulled some chairs into a circle and went around and the room, discussing books we had read recently, and books we particularly liked and recommended to the other attendees.

The first list includes recent reads and books which came up in the conversation.

This next list is the reading recommendations, subtitled “Read this now!!!”

All in all, it was a fun panel, and I have added a few of these titles to my ever-growing TBR pile.

Back to the Grind, In a Good Way

John Winkelman

Jim Harrison's Complete Poems boxed set

I’ve been busy playing catch-up this past week. Taking two days off of work to attend ConFusion 2022 turned into, as it always does, less of a vacation and more of a deferred workload. That workload caught up with me at 8:00 Monday morning, and was still dogging me when I logged off at 18:00 Friday afternoon. But by several orders of magnitude I am not paid enough to work weekends when the literal end of the world is not at stake.

The only reading material to arrive in the past week, and it is a very big deal, is the three-volume boxed set of Jim Harrison‘s Complete Poems. This collection is absolutely beautiful. The book covers are from paintings by the late Russell Chatham, and the volumes have introductions by (respectively) Colum McCann, Joy Williams, and John Freeman. This set was a special edition published through Copper Canyon Press‘s project The Hearts Work: Jim Harrison’s Poetic Legacy. The online book launch celebration is available for viewing on YouTube.

In reading news, I finished Tamsyn Muir‘s Harrow the Ninth in the middle of last week, and started Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel shortly thereafter. I finished it this past Thursday evening, in our hotel room at ConFusion. After returning home I started reading S.A. Chakraborty‘s The Empire of Gold, the third volume in her fantastic Daevabad trilogy.

In writing news, I was thrown off my stride somewhat by preparing (physically, mentally, and emotionally) for ConFusion, so I didn’t accomplish much. This past week I have made some more progress on my short story, and should have it finished next week. Since my new writing routine has the first full week of the month set aside for editing, I still have one more writing week in which to complete some work. Thanks to my weekend of good friends, good fellowship and good vibes, I feel energized to dive back into my creative work.

The Books of ConFusion 2022

John Winkelman

Though ConFusion 2022 was much smaller than previous ConFusions, many authors still attended so I arrived with high hopes, a pocketful of money, and some bags. I brought a stack of books to get signed, and returned home with those and a dozen more, with the majority of the new books signed as well. Truly, this was a glorious weekend for my collection!

Books signed at ConFusion 2022

The first photo is the books I brought to ConFusion 2022 which were signed by the authors.

The top row is Jim C. Hines‘ Magic Ex Libris series, including Libriomancer, Codex Born, Unbound and Revisionary.

The second row starts Terminal Uprising, the second book in Hines’ Janitors of the Post Apocalypse series. Jason Sanford‘s new novel Plague Birds is next, followed by Pimp My Airship by Maurice Broaddus, and Patrick S. Tomlinson‘s Gate Crashers.

Books purchased and signed at ConFusion 2022

This photo includes the books I acquired at ConFusion 2022 and which were signed by the authors.

First up is The Banished Craft by E.D.E. Bell. Next are Starship Repo and In the Black by Patrick S. Tomlinson. Then comes Hidden Menagerie, an anthology edited by Michael Cieslak.

Next are two books by Jen Haeger, Whispers of a Killer and Moonlight Medicine: Onset. Next is Meaningless Cycles in a Vicious Glass Prison, a collection of poetry by Anton Cancre. Cancre was at the signing table filling in for author Sarah Hans, who was unable to attend the signing session. As thanks for buying two of Hans’ books, Anton gave me his book for free (!) and was gracious enough to sign it. Later that day Anton again filled in for Hans in a panel I moderated, “If You Liked That, Read This!” which was loads of fun. I will discuss it more in my ConFusion 2022 wrap-up post.

And finally we have Jason Sanford‘s collection Never Never Stories which upon returning home I found is a duplicate. Oh, well. Now I have two copies of this book, in case I want to read it more than once.

Books purchased at ConFusion 2022

And these are the books I acquired at ConFusion 2022 which were not signed. For the first two, Dead Girls Don’t Love and An Ideal Vessel, author Sarah Hans was indisposed during the signing. The other two, Yoon Ha Lee‘s The Fox Tower and Other Tales, and Damian Duffy and John Jennings‘ graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler‘s Parable of the Sower, my partner and I picked up at the bookstore in the dealer room on our way out of the convention to return home.

A dozen new books is actually a fairly small haul for me at a ConFusion, but again, this was a much smaller than usual version of the event. I should just have time to read these before the next ConFusion in 2023.

I Wrote a Bit!

John Winkelman

Milkweed

My new writing routine is working! After a week of editing and prep, this week I wrote several hundred words of a short story I started back in October. I am now within a few hundred words of the end. I know exactly how it will go, I just haven’t put the words down on paper yet.

Nothing new arrived at the Library this week, which I expect will increasingly be the state of things as I rein in my book acquisition habits. I have enough here in the house to keep me busy for the next decade, if all I did was read for six hours a day, seven days a week.

In reading news, I am approaching halfway through Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. So far I love this book every bit as much as I did Gideon the Ninth. I may need to hunt up some of Muir’s shorter works and see how she writes when she isn’t writing about NECROMANCERS IN SPACE!

In writing news, as I stated above, I am almost done with the first draft of my short story titled “Octaves.” But already I can see many places where I need to re-write the first part, which will certainly cascade into the more recent work, which ultimately means a complete rewrite. But that is to be expected. After this story I will pick up other, half-finished works and finish those drafts so I can move them into the editing queue.

 

2022 Books and Reading Material Acquisitions List

John Winkelman

This is the list of books and other reading material which I acquired in calendar year 2022. This is the eighth iteration of this list. The seven previous lists are available from the Index of Indexes.

This year I am slightly changing the format of this page to include the date each publication on this list was acquired. Titles in bold text are books and journals which I have read.

January (17)

  1. Pulphouse Fiction Magazine #15 [2022.01.02]
  2. Tucker, Phil – Bastion (self published) [2022.01.05]
  3. Greylock, TL and O’Connor, Bryce – Shadows of Ivory (self published) [2022.01.05]
  4. Poetry #219.4 [2022.01.18]
  5. Fateforge 4, Encyclopedia (Studio Agate) [2022.01.19]
  6. Bell, E.D.E. – The Banished Craft (Atthis Arts LLC, inscribed) [2022.01.20]
  7. Cieslak, Michael (editor) – Hidden Menagerie, vol. 1 (Dragon’s Roost Press, inscribed) [2022.01.21]
  8. Tomlinson, Patrick S. – Starship Repo (inscribed) [2022.01.21]
  9. Tomlinson, Patrick S. – In the Black (inscribed) [2022.01.21]
  10. Haeger, Jen – Moonlight Medicine: Onset (Dragon’s Roost Press, inscribed) [2022.01.21]
  11. Haeger, Jen – Whispers of a Killer (Scarsdale Publishing, inscribed) [2022.01.21]
  12. Hans, Sarah – An Ideal Vessel (Dragon’s Roost Press) [2022.01.21]
  13. Hans, Sarah – Dead Girls Don’t Love (Dragon’s Roost Press) [2022.01.21]
  14. Cancre, Anton – Meaningless Cycles in a Vicious Glass Prison (Dragon’s Roost Press) [2022.01.21]
  15. Lee, Yoon Ha – The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales [2022.01.22]
  16. Duffy, Damien, Jennings, John, and Butler, Octavia E. – Parable of the Sower [2022.01.22]
  17. Harrison, Jim – Complete Poems, limited edition boxed set (Copper Canyon Press) [2022.01.27]

February (4)

  1. Poetry #219.5 [2022.02.01]
  2. Tales from the Magician’s Skull #7 [2022.02.16]
  3. Aquilone, James (editor) – Classic Monsters Unleashed (Black Spot Books, Crystal Lake Publishing) [2022.02.19]
  4. James, Marlon – Moon Witch, Spider King [2022.02.27]

March (8)

  1. Poetry #219.6 [2022.03.04]
  2. Pulphouse Fiction Magazine #16 [2022.03.08]
  3. Ashton, Dyrk – War of Gods (self published) [2022.03.11]
  4. Alexander, Connor – Coyote & Crow: Core Rulebook [2022.03.14]
  5. Coolidge, Sarah (editor) – This Is Us Losing Count (Two Lines Press) [2022.03.17]
  6. Barakat, Najwa (Leafgren, Luke, translator) – Mister N (And Other Stories) [2022.03.19]
  7. The Paris Review #239 [2022.03.23]
  8. Poetry #220.1 [2022.03.29]

April (12)

  1. Lawson, Len, Manick, Cynthia, and Jackson, Gary (editors) – The Future of Black (Blair) [2022.04.01]
  2. Ono, Masatsugu (Carpenter, Juliet Winters, translator) – At the Edge of the Woods (Two Lines Press) [2022.04.05]
  3. Hilbig, Wolfgang (Cole, Isabel Fargo, translator) – The Interim (Two Lines Press) [2002.04.05]
  4. Zerán, Alia Trabucco (Hughes, Sophie, translator) – When Women Kill (And Other Stories) [2022.04.06]
  5. Salvage #11 [2022.04.08]
  6. Alles, Colleen – After the 8-Ball (Cornerstone Press, inscribed) [2022.04.14]
  7. Peninsula Poets #79.1 (Spring 2022) [2022.04.22]
  8. Barrera, Jazmina (MacSweeney, Christina, translator) – On Lighthouses (Two Lines Press) [2022.04.23]
  9. Barrera, Jazmina (MacSweeney, Christina, translator) – Linea Nigra (Two Lines Press) [2022.04.23]
  10. Renee, Anna – Patina (self-published) [2022.04.26]
  11. Monae, Janelle – The Memory Librarian [2022.04.30]
  12. Gramsci, Antonio – The Antonio Gramsci Reader (New York University Press) [2022.04.30]

May (6)

  1. Poetry #220.2 (May 2022) [2022.05.03]
  2. Ahmed, Saladin and Acosta, Dave – Dragon (Copper Bottle) [2022.05.05]
  3. Girl Genius Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game (Steve Jackson Games) [2022.05.14]
  4. Hurley, Kameron – Future Artifacts: Stories (Apex Book Company) [2022.05.22]
  5. Boston Review #22 [2022.05.26]
  6. Greer, James – Bad Eminence (And Other Stories) [2022.05.28]

June (5)

  1. Voices 2022 [2022.06.04]
  2. Poetry #220.3, June 2022 [2022.06.06]
  3. Barrera, Jazmina (MacSweeney, Christina, translator) – Linea Nigra (special edition chapbook) (Two Lines Press, printed at Impronta Casa Editora) [2022.06.21]
  4. The Paris Review #240 [2022.06.22]
  5. Poetry #220.4, July/August 2022 [2022.06.27]

July (9)

  1. Steffen, David (editor) – The Long List Anthology, Vol. 7 (Diabolical Plots, LLC) [2022.07.03]
  2. Vuong, Ocean – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous [2022.07.05]
  3. Dawes, Kwame – Progeny of Air (Peepal Tree Press) [2022.07.05]
  4. Rosenthal, Linda (editor) – Listening at the Fire: The Poetry of Fountain Street Church (chapbook) [2022.07.05]
  5. Deleuze, Gilles and Guattari, Felix – Nomadology: The War Machine (Semiotext(e)) [2022.07.13]
  6. Creasy, Jonathan C. (editor) – Black Mountain Poems: An Anthology (New Directions) [2022.07.13]
  7. McLean, Robin – Get ’em Young, Treat ’em Rough, Tell ’em Nothing (And Other Stories) [2022.07.23]
  8. Xu Zechen (Abrahamsen, Eric, translator) – Running Through Beijing (Two Lines Press) [2022.07.27]
  9. Villoso, K.S. – The Wolf of Oren-Yaro [2022.07.27]

August (8)

  1. Michael Marder, Political Categories: Thinking Beyond Concepts (Columbia University Press) [2022.08.01]
  2. Sarah Chorn & Virginia McClain (editors) – The Alchemy of Sorrow (Crimson Fox Publishing) [2022.08.03]
  3. Crystal Sarakas and Rhondi Salsitz (editors) – Shattering the Glass Slipper (Zombies Need Brains) [2022.08.06]
  4. S.C. Butler and Joshua Palmatier (editors) – Brave New Worlds (Zombies Need Brains) [2022.08.06]
  5. David B. Coe and John Zakour (editors) – Noir (Zombies Need Brains) [2022.08.06]
  6. Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #45
  7. Age of Antiquity: Adventure and Intrigue in the Ancient World (Azurian Publishing) [2022.08.18]
  8. Poetry #220.5, September 2022 [2022.08.27]

September (6)

  1. E.D.E. Bell – Night Ivy (Atthis Arts LLC, inscribed) [2022.09.03]
  2. The Paris Review #241 [2022.09.13]
  3. Hemly Boum (Nchanji Njamnsi, translator) – Days Come and Go (Two Lines Press) [2022.09.14]
  4. Visible (Two Lines Press, Calico Imprint) [2022.09.14]
  5. The Politics of Pleasure: Boston Review Fourm #43 [2022.09.19]
  6. Poetry #221.1, October 2022

October (21)

  1. Jim Harrison, The Search for the Genuine [2022.10.01]
  2. Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings [2022.10.01]
  3. João Gilberto Noll (Edgar Garbelotto, translator), Hugs and Cuddles (Two Lines Press) [2022.10.06]
  4. Marissa Lingen, Monstrous Bonds, #93/100 [2022.10.07]
  5. Duncan Hannah, 20th Century Boy [2022.10.07]
  6. Jim C. Hines, Terminal Peace [2022.10.07]
  7. Michael J. Sullivan, Fairlane (Riyria Enterprises) [2022.10.08]
  8. Elizabeth A. Trembley, Look Again: A Memoir (Street Noise Books) [2022.10.11]
  9. Ryan Lee, Planet On3 (self-published) [2022.10.11]
  10. Salvage #12 [2022.10.13]
  11. Jess Landry (editor), That Which Cannot Be Undone: An Ohio Horror Anthology (Cracked Skull Press) [2022.10.13]
  12. Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow, Chokepoint Capitalism (Beacon Press) [2022.10.21]
  13. Poetry #221.2 [2022.10.21]
  14. T.L. Greylock and Bryce O’Connor, Legacy of Bronze (self-published) [2022.10.22]
  15. Anna Urbanek, Herbalist’s Primer (Exalted Funeral Press) [2022.10.22]
  16. Cormac McCarthy, The Passenger [2022.10.26]
  17. Jason Gillikin (editor), Surface Reflections [2022.10.26]
  18. The Lakeshore Review #1 [2022.10.26]
  19. The Lakeshore Review #2 [2022.10.26]
  20. Peninsula Poets, Fall 2022 [2022.10.28]
  21. Xia Jia, A Summer Beyond Your Reach (Clarkesworld Books) [2022.10.28]

November (5)

  1. Sloane Leong and Cassie Hart (editors) – Death in the Mouth [2022.11.07]
  2. Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, H.D. Hunter, and LP Kindred (editors), (Re)Living Mythology (Android Press) [2022.11.23]
  3. Nicole Sealey, Ordinary Beasts [2022.11.25]
  4. N.K. Jemisin, The World We Make [2022.11.25]
  5. Poetry #221.3 [2022.11.30]

December (5)

  1. David Steffen (editor) – The Long List Anthology, vol. 8 (Diabolical Plots, LLC) [2022.12.01]
  2. Boston Review: Imagining Global Futures [2022.12.08]
  3. The Paris Review #242 [2022.12.10]
  4. Kathe Koja, Velocities: Stories (Meerkat Press) [2022.12.21]
  5. Kathe Koja, Dark Factory (Meerkat Press) [2022.12.21]
  6. Poetry #221.4 [2022.12.27]

2022 or 2020 II

John Winkelman

Pepper in a cabinet

No new reading material arrived this week, so here is a photo of a properly shelved Pepper.

I had this whole past week off from work and I spent my time taking care of chores around the house, relaxing with my partner Zyra, and wrestling with our little orange maniacs. I didn’t write much of anything, though I did set out a rough weekly and monthly schedule for the first half of the new year, as well as some goals I would like to complete before my birthday in the first week of June.

I have been reading a lot, and it has been great! I finished The Eternal Husband and Other Stories (Dostoevsky) and Debt: The First 5,000 Years (Graeber), and to celebrate I dove into my stack of unread genre fiction. I read John Scalzi‘s The Collapsing Empire on Wednesday, Jim C. Hines‘ Terminal Uprising on Thursday, and This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone on Friday.

And as far as literary matters go for 2021, that’s a wrap. Happy New Year, everyone.