(Chap)Book Heaven

I received a fantastic collection of (chap)books in yesterday's mail. Many thanks to Ethel Rohan. She hosted a giveaway over at her blog, and I won! I'm super excited to read these:

Ethel Rohan, Cut Through the Bone
William Walsh, Pathologies
Claudia Smith, Put Your Head In My Lap
Matthew Salesses, Our Island of Epidemics
Sean Lovelace, How Some People Like Their Eggs
Rusty Barnes, Breaking it Down
xTx, He Is Talking to the Fat Lady
Molly Gaudry, We Take Me Apart
Peter Schwartz, Old Men, Girls, and Monsters
Issue 2 of Sententia

I don't expect I'll get much writing done in the next little while as I'll have my nose buried in these books. But that's okay. Curling up with a great read (or 10!) is a soul-satisfying way to wile away the snowy days.

Ethel: thank you, thank you.

Great reads:

I've been reading again (in between watering my evergreen trees for the last time before the ground freezes, and hosting an engagement party for my daughter, and polishing up a story that's finally (yay!) out making the rounds, and and and... you get the idea). This is my long-winded way of saying that I've come across some wonderful stories, stories worth checking out:

From the Fall 2010 issue, #30, of Frigg: "Last Lilacs" by Clifford Garstang - and - "Blooms" by Kathy Fish. Both of these are full and rich and captivating.

From the October 2010 Special Issue of Foundling Review: "On A Date" by Ethel Rohan. This is tender and smart and a real treat.

From Issue 18 of Per Contra: "The Parking Victim" by Robert Kaye. I love the way an ordinary object takes on new meaning in this story. What I admire and what intrigues me about stories like this one is their ability to do something with an ordinary object that would never occur to me.

From the 26th Collection of The Year's Best Science Fiction: "N-Words" by Ted Kosmatka. Yes, this is sci-fi, but don't let that scare you. I love when sci-fi and literary worlds blend; the result is usually a well-written story about intriguing, creative possibilities. This story is no exception.

I LOVE this journal:

PANK Issue No. 4. I've been leisurely working my way through this journal, thoroughly enjoying the stories, and while I'm not finished with it yet, I'm so excited and moved and thrilled by what I've read that I decided to go ahead and tell you about it. My faves:

"Funhouse" and "Superman And Jesus" by Katherine Grosjean
"October of Brief Empire" by Craig Davis
"Fallen" by Alicia Gifford
"Unzipped" by Aaron Burch
"Babies On The Shore" by Ethel Rohan
"Struck Dumb" by Nick Sansone
"The Twelve Times Cristina Paz Quoted Tupac" by Ryan Dilbert
"But You Don't Really Care For Music, Do You?" by Angi Becker Stevens
"When A Heart Is A Bull's Eye" by Steven J. McDermott

Look at all these great stories! And I still have a ways to go! It's well worth your time to pick up a copy and enjoy it for yourself.

Great read:

I am reading the latest issue of The Los Angeles Review (volume 6, Fall 2009) and, wow, am I having a good time. It's the first time I've ever read the journal, but it won't be the last. It's filled with terrific stories, stories by Alicia Gifford (one of my favorite writers), Ethel Rohan (another favorite of mine), Michael Czyzniejewski (a writer I've only recently discovered and am completely enamored with his work), Steve Almond (a writer who, of course, I've heard of but never had the pleasure of reading before now), and a ton of others I can't wait to read.