If you know indie publishing, then you know Akashic Books. Founded by punk rocker Johnny Temple and an early denizen of the Brooklyn literary scene, Akashic's slogan is Reverse-gentrification of the literary world. The publishing house first made a name for itself with books by such emerging authors as Nina Revoyr and Chris Abani. Akashic has also had a strong focus on authors from the Caribbean, and they established a highly successful place-based noir series from authors and cities all over the world. Then they hit the big time with their children's book for adults, Go the F*ck the Sleep, which is now available in a Jamaican patois translation and an audio version read by the snake man himself, Samuel L. Jackson. Akashic also has a couple of themed web series with very short stories (750 words max): Their noir series, Mondays are Murder, is followed by stories of parental misadventure on Terrible Twosdays and finally their drug-induced Thursdaze. Each series is updated every week with new, original fiction, and is free to read. At only 750 words per story, you can get your literary fix while waiting in line at your favorite third-wave coffeeshop, and they're a much better way to while away those empty in-between moments than the latest Flappy Bird replacement. My own very short story, The Preaching Game, was recently published on Mondays Are Murder. It's set in Charlotte, North Carolina, where there are so many churches you'll die before you can visit them all. Read it right now.
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My senior year in high school, my friends and I rented a beach house for spring break. We did the usual: listened to music too loud and too late, consumed a lot of unhealthy crap, and built a miniature model of Stonehenge on the beach out of driftwood. During the down time, I read Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. My friends laughed when they saw what I'd brought along for spring break reading. Some of them still laugh about it today. That's how I learned you're supposed to read light, mindless drivel on the beach. I've still never learned that lesson. Sure, I read all sort of things, not all of them Edifying or Improving, but I don't think of reading as topographical. My reading is mostly needs-based, and little opportunistic. As spring comes to a close I've just finished reading HHhH, the acclaimed novel by Laurent Binet that tells the story of an act of great resistance during World War II while also exploring the challenges of writing historical fiction. Very readable, and very recommended. I'm following that up with The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad, set in the no-longer-faraway corner of the world where Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet. I'm about halfway in and it's completely captured my imagination. Also on my to-read list for this summer:
Yes, I'll probably pick up the latest Inspector Lynley mystery from Elizabeth George too, since I've read all the others, though I may not admit it on Goodreads. I'm always on the lookout for more stuff to read. If you have any summer reading suggestions, do let me know. |
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May 2018
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