Read Harder Quickies: Books About Books

I’m doing Read Harder 2017. I would have read both of these books anyway, but it just so happens that they both work for Task 3 (read a book about books). Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch Publisher/Year: Harper, 2011 Format: ARC Pages: 241 Source: Publisher What it is: After the sudden

American Housewife: Stories

With its eye-catching cover, Helen Ellis’s latest book had me at first sight: I am such a sucker for book covers, and this one was impossible for me to ignore. Add in the fact that I’m also a sucker for weird characters, short stories, and bizarre scenarios, and it becomes pretty clear that this book

Quickies: Lucky Alan & Sex Criminals Vol. 1

Lucky Alan and Other Stories by Jonathan Lethem Publisher/Year: Doubleday, 2015 Format: Hardcover Pages: 157 Source: Publisher What it is: A slim collection of quirky short stories. Why I read it: I like short stories, and I also had the pleasure of hearing Lethem at a Literary Death Match a couple of years ago when he was promoting Dissident Gardens. What I

The Color Master

I was ecstatic earlier this year when I first found out that Aimee Bender had a new release — of short stories, no less! — coming out this year. Even though Bender’s last book, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, left me feeling kind of meh, her short stories are a whole ‘nother ball game

Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish

I came across Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish kind of randomly. There was a DVR’d episode of The Colbert Report playing, and my ears perked up as soon as I heard Sarah Vowell talking about some fabulous new novel. David Rakoff, known for his essays, was unfortunately not there to promote his own book: