cyber(b)space book reviews

Very weird time in my life to start reading this cycle of novels.

Keen eyed readers may notice that the in situ pic of this advanced readers copy is subtly doctored.

This book was a detour during my reading of John Berger’s Portraits.

For any other author a work as dense with historical research, dialect, and atmosphere would be a major accomplishment.

I thought this book had potential when I picked it up last year.

Fitting book to read during Monsoon in Mumbai.

I can still remember the moment freshman year of college when a friend showed me the YouTube video of John Berryman reading Dream Song 14.

Cards on the table, I struggled with this one.

When I buy a book secondhand, I sometimes like to tuck the receipt into the front cover and leave it there as a sort of memento.

This book was name checked several times in Bradley’s The Ministry of Time and that piqued my curiosity enough to pick up a copy.

When an author experiences a profound change in their lives, it is not unusual for them to turn to writing as a means of understanding the shift.

In my Junior year at the University of Illinois I took a class on Minority Languages which explored the cycles and histories of minority languages and the nation-state projects which hampered, suppressed, or allowed them to flourish.

My sister asked me what I’ve been reading lately and I told her, “Joan Didion if she had better politics.”

Nothing but respect and admiration for a debut novel that comes out when its author is 45 years old.

I now know — rather definitively — that it was a mistake to be introduced to Szymborksa via Nonrequired Reading.

My book club selected this and I was happy for the excuse to read Groff for the first time.

First things first, the American publisher did Juliet Barker dirty by including the phrase “Peasants’ Revolt” in the subtitle of this edition.

A very deft and subtle piece of fiction.

My sister bought me this book a few years back when I told her I wanted to take my fiction writing more seriously.

It’s really a shame that a group of dedicated internet weirdos have conspired to mutilate the meaning of the word “goon” in the years since this book was first published.

This was recommended to me by a neighbor.

Another book I picked up because it was chosen by my book club.

One of the problems that plagues post-modernist literature, in my estimation, is that it can — at times — fetishize form to such an extent that it starts to detract from an otherwise compelling story.

Political fiction always runs the risk of being too melodramatic or self-serious.

Really fascinating to read a Lem novel written in this mode.

Well worth the cost of ending his friendship with Jean-Paul.

New Directions was kind enough to send me a an advanced review copy of this last year.

Being married into a Polish family, I have been aware of and very much in awe of Tokarczuk’s work for the better part of the last decade.

This was the selection for a monthly book club I’ve recently joined.

I read Solà’s previous novel earlier this year and was awed by it.

I read a more literal translation of this book over a decade ago.

I was very interested in this history for a few reasons.

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to read Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic.

Finished reading this collection during a recent trip to Oman.

To my eternal embarrassment I had only ever read excerpts from or essays about this book.

I have to admit that I picked this up primarily out of morbid curiosity.

Any time someone tells you that graphic novels aren’t serious or worth your time, shove this beautiful book into their hands and lock them in a room until they’ve read the whole thing.

When a book is dedicated to H.

Reading this toward a manuscript that’s currently in progress.

Received this as a birthday gift from my sister earlier this year and finally cracked it open.

A really sublime debut.

I received a digital ARC of this from New Direction last year.

In the interest of full transparency, I’ve tried and failed to read the full text of Diderot’s 18th century exploration of fate, free will, and the conventions of narrative form on and off since roughly 2010.

Enjoyed this, though it took me a bit longer to circle back to than I expected.

At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this?

Lately I have been reading ebooks in bed before I go to sleep.

It is tempting, very tempting, with a book such as this to praise it effusively the moment you have finished reading.

[I read an ARC of this book and will be pitching reviews to other publications.

A really well executed debut.

One of the most harrowing books I have ever read.