Reading is dying. Most folks don’t turn pages; they scroll through reels. And yet here you are, fighting the good fight, keeping the lights on for me and a ton of other authors who might just go extinct if we don’t yank the youth from their screens. For that, I thank you. I’m almost two months into my latest release, and she’s still afloat. I greatly appreciate you for supporting me, leaving reviews, and spreading the word.
That’s enough about me, though. With time to breathe in between projects, I’m reading other people’s books! And I’ve discovered sparkling gems I must share.
Emily St. John Mandel’s new one, Exit Party, is a masterpiece. As you might know, she’s one of my faves. As usual, the worlds she creates are mind-boggling, and she captures a dystopian time in a way that makes it terrifyingly believable. As if that wasn’t taxing enough on her imagination, she deftly incorporates dimensional and time travel into her novel as well.
Emily’s an international treasure, and you should check her out. After Exit Party, jump into the remarkable Station Eleven. Even watch the series on HBO, which was almost as good. Then read The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility. Though these books are not in a series, they do brilliantly weave around each other, sometimes sharing the same characters.
She will make you work for your entertainment, as you’ve got to keep up with her. But if you do, you’ll likely fall under her spell like I have.
My agent urged me to check out Bruce Holsinger’s latest, Culpability, and I adored it! Five jack-o’-lanterns from Boo. He teaches English at UVA, so you can bet his sentences are tight, his verbs well chosen, but it’s so much more than that. What a gripping story with vivid characters and a topic that couldn’t be more relevant right now.
Chloe, Chloe, Chloe. Chloe Benjamin. How am I only just discovering you? Oh my, I’m sold. Under Story is magic. I’m only two hundred pages in, but this story has sunk its teeth into me. And I see where it’s going: a bit like an Emily St. John Mandel exploration of another dimension. It reminds me of that beautiful movie, Contact. She’s also dropping serious knowledge regarding duoverses, research stations in Antarctica, and the role fungi play in the world. I’m telling you, this is one ambitious work. If you’ll patiently push through the early scientific bits, you’ll be highly rewarded. All that, and it’s still grounded in lovely characters and a wonderful message. Brava, chica! I’ll no doubt read her previous novel, The Immortalists, very soon. I’m going 6 (out of 5) jack-o’-lanterns.
Let’s go in an entirely different direction. Don Winslow is a master of crime fiction, and City on Fire, the first book in his Danny Ryan trilogy, was a ton of fun. I’m already halfway through the second in the series, City of Dreams. The guy knows how to talk bad guys and mafia, complete with all the lingo. I find myself mesmerized by how immersed in the crime underworld he can make you feel. I’m listening to it on Audible, and Ari Fliakos’s performance is sensational. He might be one of my fave narrators of all time. Oh, and I just saw that Austin Butler is going to play Danny Ryan in the upcoming films!
Lastly, I have new shirts, and they’re cozy and ridiculous! I wear my various Boo shirts just about every day.
Look what my Bologna baby is doing right now. If you haven’t taken the leap yet, the time is now.
Much love,
Boo
P.S. As always, you can hear yours truly ramble and riff his way through these newsletters in all of his unfiltered messiness by hitting “LISTEN TO POST” above, or via my Drowning in Words podcast on Apple and Spotify.
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