FUCK-YEAH FICTION
Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Alexie Sherman, reviewed by ER
"Local
authors Alexie and Forney pair up to write one of the most poignant and
engaging young adult novels ever! Follow the misadventures of Junior, a
teenager living on the Spokane Indian Reservation. This is a MUST READ."
#Fiction #Young Adult #Local
Agaat by Marlene Van Niekerk, reviewed by Cndr
"Clearly
an allegory for race relations in South Africa, this novel succeeds on
numerous other grounds: a rich evocation of family dynamics; a chilling
portrait of bodily and mental decay; and a successful experiment in
combining diaries, the second-person, and stream of consciousness."
#Fiction #Race/Culture Studies
All the King's Horses by Michele Bernstein, reviewed by JM
"I
couldn't put this book down. Finally translated from French, Bernstein
takes us on a "fictional" tour of the sometimes dramatic and always
fascinating social lives of Paris' beloved and reviled members of the
Situationist International. A quick and fun read."
#Fiction #Situationist
Autonauts of the Cosmoroute by Julio Cortazar and Carol Dunlop, reviewed by Erin
"The
playful book documents the couple's 'expedition' from Paris to
Mauseille in their VW 'dragon.' Living in two rest stops a day, they
explore the extraordinary other life of the freeway. With occasional
ruminations on time, space, music, sex and demons, this travelogue reads
like poetry. Cortazar's wit, intelligence, and imagination are rare
finds."
#Fiction
Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna, reviewed by Cndr
"In
Kavenna's visceral novel, dual themes of childbirth and the human
inclination toward internal resistance form to change link the stories
of three women whose lives span four centuries. Has an air of 'A
Handmaid's Tale.'"
#Fiction
The City and the Mountains by Eca da Queros, reviewed by AK
"In
the beginning of 'the City and the Mountains,' the narrow minded
bourgeois city brat cares only about every latest gadget and new piece
of technology available to make life more 'comfortable' and 'civilized.'
By the end, we've seen a beautiful transition into someone aware of
poor living conditions around him and who uses his vast resources
towards helping his fellow people out of poverty, and who also
appreciates nature in it's pure form."
#Fiction
Demons in the Spring by Joe Meno, reviewed by FG
"Meno
is equally dark, humorous, and poetic in this collection of short
stories that serve as analogies for alienation in a diverse range of
relationships. The stories work well together and are steeped in a
magical realism that makes most of them feel like dreams."
#Fiction #Anthology
Drag King Dreams by Leslie Feinberg, reviewed by AK
"From
the intensely emotional author of 'Stone Butch Blues,' this book is
less about drag kings and more about a genderqueer activist trying to
find even a little piece of mind in post 9-11 NYC among protests,
racism, and homophobia. Great read. Very personal."
#Fiction
Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman, reviewed by JM
"Soviet
state repression, mass murder, and the pervasive sense of regret thread
themselves through this beautiful novel examining the painful human
experiences of suffering and loss written after the Soviets destroyed
his first masterpiece."
#Fiction
Final Exam by Julio Cortazar, reviewed by JM
"It
was written in 1950, just before the fall of Peron's govt, and paints
the picture of a surreal and melancholy Buenos Aires, in some ways
seeming to represent Cortazar's final farewell to the city before a
permanent self-exile to Paris the following year. Not published until
1986 due to the political climate of Argentina at the time, 'Final Exam'
is rich with both social and political commentary, as well as obscure
literary references that will inspire a 2nd and 3rd read. So good! A
classic."
#Fiction
Fist of the Spider Woman ed. by Amber Dawn
"Perhaps
I am easily frightened...But the subtle manipulation in these stories
is too twisted to ignore. After the first story you'll be so hotly
intrigued that you will be forced to read the others."
#Fiction #Queerion
From A to X by John Berger, reviewed by AK
"This
is a book of Letters to Xavier, the alleged founder of a 'terrorist
cell' from A'ida, his lover. They are written over the years of his
imprisonment, adorned by Xavier's margin notes (ranging from political
exclamations to quotes about love and longing) and A'ida's sketches.
A'ida puts on a 'happy' face for Xavier but tanks and helicopters haunt
the margins.
#Fiction
Germinal by Emile Zola, reviewed by Collin
"Etienne
the engineman quits the railroad and wanders into the French mining
town of Montsou. Families of seven are hauling coal out of the earth for
little more than enough for soup and bread for a week. Rotten
conditions can't last for the 10,000 minors. A labor classic."
#Fiction
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, reviewed by Collin
"Ammu's
family is an odd one, caught between India's Hindu caste culture and
the class system of property in a district where the Communist Party was
once strong. Her kids are going to turn out okay, if she can manage to
keep their curiosities--and their eccentric grandmother's--from ruining
them. Telling their story backwards from a tragedy, Roy inspires
laughter (she's wicked hilarious) and sorrow with the complexities of
family in a world that changes so quickly, where power decides who will
be made to change with the world while others watch the world move
around them like a boulder in the current."
#Fiction
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, reviewed by AK
"This
book is fantastic. If Time Burton and Edward Gorey were to write a
young adult novel together this would be it. It's morbid yet completely
endearing, plus has some really beautiful illustrations."
#Fiction
Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar, reviewed by Josh
"Julio
Cortazar is one of Argentina's most important writers and 'Hopscotch'
his masterwork. A strange and gripping novel meant to be read multiple
times in different orders. Highly recommended."
#Fiction
I Wish There Was Something That I Could Quit by Aaron Cometbus, reviewed by Josh
"Chock
full of vandalism, heartbreak, the eventual entropy of our sanity and
everything else the kid's love. Way more enjoyable than his 'Mixed
Reviews.'"
#Fiction #Up the Punx
In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck, reviewed by Collin
"Mac
and Jim hop freight to Central California where apple pickers are about
to harvest--for half the pay received last season. As the workers come
together to halt the scabs and survive hunger on strike, the local
militia come out to crack skulls. Labor struggle Americana."
#Fiction
Indestructable by C. Road, reviewed by ER
"The
illustrated story of a wayward youth. A Cuban-American girl who has a
hard time making friends in high school, finds punk rock, gets crushes
on girls, makes art, and ponders the meaning of life. I read it in one
night--straight through!"
#Fiction
Ines of my Soul by Isabel Allende, reviewed by AK
"This
is a historical fiction account of a real person, Ines Suarez, the
first female conquistadora in Chile. 'The events are true,' says
Allende. She doesn't gloss over the treatment of the indigenous people,
or the bloody war against native Chileans, and she brings the danger,
fear, love, uncertainty, and everyday hardships of giving it a go on an
unknown continent to life."
#Fiction
The Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
"This
is one of those books that make me frustrated that there is a world
going on outside of me reading this book. It's SO GOOD! It's such an
amazing perspective of the Haitian Revolution and early New Orleans,
told mainly from the point of view of Zarite, a slave woman. She will
not be alive in your head and heart, and you will not want to return to
daily life. Enjoy!"
#Fiction
Lands of Memory by Felisberto Hernandez, reviewed by JM
"Julio
Cortazar loved Felisberto, and so do I! This book is a collection of
two novellas and four short stories, full of poetic imagery and
fascinating observations about the twists and turns of the human mind.
Music serves as a strong subtext."
#Fiction
Let's Never Do That Again by Erik Larsen, reviewed by Roger
"Seattle
author's debut short story collection is solidly funny and
well-written--snippets of cubicle hells, passive-aggressive talking
cats, prescription-medication popping couples, and other train wrecks."
#Fiction #Local
The Literary Conference by Cesar Aira, reviewed by LS
"This
book is definitely as absurd as the back cover makes it out to be.
Immersed in the nonsense is also a rather thoughtful study of language
and metaphor. Aira's attention to detail and lucid stream of
consciousness writing remind me of a lesser Borges, perhaps mixed with a
little Hunter S. Thompson in this novella."
#Fiction
My Abandonment by Peter Rock, reviewed by AK
"Set
mainly in or near Portland, this is one of those books that keeps you
on the edge of your seat. I quickly became enraptured with the
characters and worried about what was going to happen to them next.
Worried in an 'I'm caught up in this really good book' way."
#Fiction
Mystery of Grace by Charles de Lint, reviewed by AK
"SEX
WITH GHOSTS! Tattooed dead people, hot rod buggs and other worldly
happenings about in de Lint's novel. Hot and spooky all in one!"
#Fiction #HotANDSpooky
Novels in Three Lines by Felix Geneon, reviewed by Josh
"Feneon
was an interesting character, living both as a respected literary
figure, publisher, art critic, editor, and also as an anarchist
theorist, organizer, and suspected bomber. In 1906 he spent the year
writing an anonymous column in the Parisian paper Le Matin, the columns
collected here consist of the goings on of Paris reduced to 3 line
vignettes. All thousand of them are masterpieces of compression, poetry
and precision. Cool!"
#Fiction
One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau, reviewed by FG
"This
book is hilarious and dark--with themes surrounding very literal
teenage alienation (ghost moms, monster moms, adolescent queer lust)--it
is unlike any other horror I have read. A great 'pick me up' for fall
and winter."
#Fiction #Queerion
The Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich, reviewed by FG
"If
there were to be a book about riot grrrl's narratives on female
isolation and internalized oppression, only told through a personal
magical narrative by a postmodern vampire, this would be it. Haunting
prose that is creepy, surreal, and sometimes confusing, this was
definitely hard to put down."
#Fiction #Riot Grrrl Manifestos
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
"What is it with
Margaret Atwood and dystopian novels? This book is, like 'the
Handmaid's Tale,' a glimpse of a very horrible, and very possible future
if the human race doesn't get a grip. In this case, it's genetic
engineering and biological weapons mixed in with a dose of capitalism
and voila! Welcome to the future! Oh, and this one isn't for the faint
of hearted either."
#Fiction
Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet, reviewed by Fin
"Genet
dreams up characters from another world, that of his past and his
fantasy. He brings you into the world he imagines where sex workers and
criminals live and where he longs to be. While Genet's writing has you
afloat in a world of desire, he keeps partially connected to the ground
as he writes of the reality of prison."
#Fiction
Richard Yates by Tao Lin, reviewed by CP
"Hardly
as risque as the tagline suggests, this book chronicles the emotionally
abusive relationship of 16 year old Dakota Fanning and 22 year old
Haley Joel Osment. Jaded, cynical and bored, they epitomize the
alienation and individualism of the 'I-phone generation.' Not a lot of
people can write like Tao Lin."
#Fiction
The Road by Cormac McCarthy, reviewed by xian
"This
generation's Faulkner (whatever that means) AKA author of 'All the
Pretty Horses' pulls a southern gothic take on George Romero and '28
Days Later' out of his hat."
#Fiction #Apocalypto
Season of Ash by Jorge Volpi, reviewed by Lucas
"In a break with the magical realism that has pervaded the literature of Latin America for so long, Volpi offers a science based look at the fall of the USSR and the 'victory' of global capitalism."
Senselessness by Horacio Castellano Moya, reviewed by JP
"This book alternately made me howl with laughter and cringe with fear.
It is incredible how the protagonists (who is over-the-top outrageous)
paranoid voice begins to merge with those of the testimonies he is
editing, exposing the psychological trauma suffered under a murderous
military dictatorship. Not for the faint of heart or overly PC."
#Fiction
Sex Wars by Marge Piercy, reviewed by AK
"'Sex Wars' examines the struggle for women's suffrage right after the Civil War when so many activists were focused on getting the vote for African Americans, and the Women's Movement was often put on the back burner. Post Civil War New York through the eyes of several feisty women."
#Fiction
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, reviewed by Eve
"This is one of a handful of books that I can read cover to cover in one sitting. The novel's themes of loss, change, adaption, and acceptance make it an indispensable First Aid Kid for the soul."
#Fiction #Existentialism
So Many Ways to Sleep Badly by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, reviewed by ER
"This book was written two paragraphs per day over a period of a couple years by a brilliant transgender writer with Fibromyalgia in San Francisco, CA. The non-linear storyline is refreshing and addresses sex work, chronic pain, drug addiction, incest, gender chaos, capitalist critique, and more! In a fictional freeform style!"
Today I Wrote Nothing by Danill Kharms, reviewed by PM
"Kharms
paints very real scenarios--snapshots of soviet life--and then shatters
them with the absurd and impossible. The translator, Tankeleurch,
provides the context for a deeper view of Kharms' avant garde short
fiction. Highly recommended!"
#Fiction
Unforgiving Years by Victor Serge
"This
is the last novel by VS, one of the 20th century's most inspiring
revolutionaries. All of his novels were written 'for the desk drawer'
and are impregnated with a beautiful sense of urgency required by a man
on the run, trying to record the hopes, dreams and inner life of men and
women with passionate ideals living through tumultuous times."
#Fiction
Voices of Time by Eduardo Galleano
"Though
each story is less than a page, every one recalls some deep seated
emotion or memory, starting off feeling slightly disjointed, but the
more you read the more connected to the writing you become. Often funny,
always meaningful, it's wonderful!"
#Fiction
We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ, reviewed by Josh
"[This
book] will infect your thoughts like a virus and shake up your
assumptions about civilization and social life. Lying somewhere between a
fucked up Gilligan's Island episode and a Nabakovian literary
masterpiece, this brutal, nihilistic novel can't be ignored any longer.
Check it out!"
#Fiction
What Can I do When Everything's on Fire? by Antonio Lobo Antunes, reviewed by AK
"..a
dizzying parade of drag queens, drug addicts, and hallucinatory
visions, 'luminously' translated by Gregory Rabassa. It will transport
you to a dream world where things change in a moment and dark visions
abound."
#Fiction
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, reviewed by LS
"Having
never been to India I cannot speak to the veracity of this dark, dark
satire. More generally, this story is a thoughtful and funny rumination
on the moral frailty of humans and capitalist democracy. Kind of an
Indian Vonnegut.
#Fiction
The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho, reviewed by Cndr
"Truly an uplifting read! Coehlo has a knack for opening doors into parts of people that are often tossed aside or forgotten."
#Fiction
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy, reviewed by Stephanie
"Phenomenal!
Gripping fiction about Connie Ramos who's institutionalized and can
slip into an anarchic future (gender-neutral pronouns!) and has to fight
to keep it alive."
#Fiction
The Wrong Blood by Manuel de Lope, reviewed by AK
"Set largely during the Spanish Civil War, this novel brings human
experience during wartime to light with beautiful detail, infused with
sadness and mystery. This is a story of strangers helping each other
through tragedies and lost love. Excellent read!"
#Fiction
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