I’ve been obsessing lately over what to call the book I’m finishing. Not just in the practical publishing sense, though that’s part of it. I mean in the deeper craft sense. What is this thing I’ve made? Is it a novel-in-stories? A composite novel? A short story cycle? Or is it simply a book of stories thatContinue reading “On Roughness, Recurrence, and the Book That Refuses to Behave”
Tag Archives: novel fiction
Reading Álvaro Enrigue’s Now I Surrender
Álvaro Enrigue’s Now I Surrender struck a deep chord with me. As someone who grew up in Southern Colorado and the San Luis Valley and who has long been drawn to the history of the Southwest, I felt pulled in almost immediately by the novel’s powerful sense of buried historical memory. This is not simply a workContinue reading “Reading Álvaro Enrigue’s Now I Surrender”
Who Gets to Speak–James by Percival Everett
Years ago—long before James existed as a book—I taught Huckleberry Finn the way I had been taught to teach it. Carefully. Respectfully. With all the right caveats. I told students it was complicated. I told them it was “of its time.” I told them Mark Twain was trying. All of that is true. None of it ever quite settledContinue reading “Who Gets to Speak–James by Percival Everett”
date night with ten min plays–the cary grant of san luis–jan 25 (video)
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo holiday re-run
Reading Books Together: A Podcast with Deborah Brothers & John Paul Jaramillo This December we discuss two Christmas-ritual themed works: Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” and E.T.A. Hoffman’s Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Deborah gives some context for the children’s lit aspects of both selections and John Paul decides we should have read Alexandre Dumas’ The Nutcracker. (He did alsoContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo holiday re-run”
saving your life with bullet journaling
You’ve been bullet journaling for about a year now. Carrying the thing with you and pulling it out whenever you can. You’ve been getting down tasks and reminders. You even read the Bullet Journal Method book by Ryder Carroll. And after a year you are having thoughts like, This method is saving me. This methodContinue reading “saving your life with bullet journaling”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 22
Join us this month as we talk about Mat Johnson’s award-winning 2015 novel Loving Day, asatirical look at contemporary USA’s engagement with race, identity, class, and culture.And of course, one-star reviews from Goodreads. –Deborah Brothers holds a Ph.D. in English Studies and reviews books for Choice and The Lion and the Unicorn and her essays, fiction, and scholarly workContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 22”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 21
And we’re back! We skipped a month but in this episode we discuss the novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. John Paul discusses his love affair with the book and his awe in the structure, and Deborah discusses cultural myth, the sacred feminine, and cultural heroes. And, of course, we discuss Goodreads’ one-star reviews. –DeborahContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 21”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 20
Join us a week late for our April discussion of our March pick of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. We talk about confined women, Jane Austen Hallmark movies, cozy horror, and of course, John Paul’s obsession with one-star Goodreads reviews! –Deborah Brothers holds a Ph.D. in English Studies and reviews books for Choice and The LionContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 20”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 19
Join us two weeks late for our February 2024 discussion of Ray Bradbury’s 1950 classic The Martian Chronicles. We talk novel-in-stories, colonialism themes, Sci-Fi vs fantasy, and of course, John Paul’s obsession with one-star reviews! –Deborah Brothers holds a Ph.D. in English Studies and reviews books for Choice and The Lion and the Unicorn and her essays, fiction, andContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 19”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 18
It’s January and we discuss the Newbery Medal winning book The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, a fantasy designed for Middle Grade readers. “In which we reach certain agreements about the appeal of the storyline and themes and agree to disagree about some of the writerly stylistics.” Who is this book reallyContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 18”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 17
Reading Books Together: A Podcast with Deborah Brothers & John Paul Jaramillo This December we discuss two Christmas-ritual themed works: Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” and E.T.A. Hoffman’s Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Deborah gives some context for the children’s lit aspects of both selections and John Paul decides we should have read Alexandre Dumas’ The Nutcracker. (He did alsoContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 17”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 14
Join us this month as we talk about Good Night, Irene: A Novel, Luis Alberto Urrea’s fictionalized account of his mother’s WWII service with the American Red Cross. It is clear Urrea is a poet at heart and his rich descriptions help anchor the reader into Irene and Dorothy’s world and what it takes toContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 14”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 12
This month we talk about Brave New World, the classic dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley. We talk about our reactions to the book’s grumpy stylistics as well as its essential ideas and spot-on premonitions. We ramble about connections to Shakespeare and Browning, John Paul reads a few “one star” Goodreads write-ups, and we sum upContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 12”
reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 10
For Febuary’s podcast, no, wait, March’s podcast, John Paul discusses On the Road by Jack Kerouac and Deborah discusses On the Road The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac. They both discuss Toad from The Wind in the Willows and the importance of long and rambling novels. They also have some fun reading one-star reviews fromContinue reading “reading books together: a podcast with deborah brothers and john paul jaramillo episode 10”