photo credit: Shiv Majmundar
Here I am again, this time with my book report. My widely circulated, personal, done-of-my-own-will book report that you’ve bought with your spare cash this Friday. It would be in my best interest, for sure, to tell you that what you’re about to read isn’t something I cobbled together in the last weeks of summer to appease a teacher, get that shiny red A+ and move on. That’s a lie. This is a book report, but unlike yours, people pay to read mine. Haha.
This is what I’ve been doing month after month in The Screen and the Page. Talking about stuff I like. That includes books, and I read a few this summer. So let’s get into it.
All The Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (5/5 Stars)
I forgot what I wrote about this on Goodreads (follow me there if you want to snoop on how many pages I turn in a day) but regardless of my exact words, my opinion stays the same. This book has a lean, mean and propulsive plot.
It follows a serial killer in Charon County, Virginia and the Black sheriff who’s tasked with catching him. It’s the kind of book you can’t stop reading. It’s great because Cosby always has his foot slammed down on the pedal, and yet the prose never loses its resonance, emotional or political.
Cosby’s also got a great eye for detail – he can immerse you in this town you’ve never been to, so much that it feels like home. I plan to read everything S.A. Cosby’s ever written and will write. If you like Southern Gothic, relentless crime or just a great story, this book is for you.
Books of Blood 1 by Clive Barker (5/5 stars)
Right away, just by the first story, you can tell that Clive Barker is and was different. In an era that’s looked back on as a Golden Age of horror fiction, Barker stands out because he’s of the few writers who’s not trying to be that dude up in Maine who, at that point, ruled the literary graveyard. Barker isn’t doing what’s been done before. He’s subversive, brutal and uses body horror in a way that was ahead of his time. Horror fiction is incomplete without these groundbreaking stories.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (5/5 stars)
This book was made into a movie starring Cillian Murphy. Therefore, I imagined the main character – through all his trials, sorrows and struggles of living in a 1980s Irish town – doing the 1000-yard Oppenheimer stare. Yeah, I may be the only one. But here’s the thing: this is a heartbreaking story that, while it has its share of depressing moments, is ultimately about empathy, about reaching out to those who need it, those who have no one else. It’s a short book, so you can breeze through it in a day if you want. Keegan has told a quiet, impactful, unforgettable story.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
This book is essentially seven books in one. I mean that literally. The book is commonly pitched as “The Canterbury Tales in space,” meaning it involves the individual tales of seven main characters that compromise the whole. Stories within stories. But each of these novella-sized sections contain the complexity, depth and emotional impact of a 500-page book.
There’s also stuff for every type of reader. Horror fans will find a lot to like in “The Priest’s Tale.” I know I did. There’s a cyberpunk-esque part near the end, and a full-blown emotional onslaught right in the middle in “The Scholar’s Tale.”
If you thought “Interstellar” screwed with time and love, you’ve seen nothing yet. This is one of those books where there’s nothing quite like it. You’re going to be playing catch-up for most of it, trying to keep track of the world and the characters and everything, and at times it can be a bit overwhelming.
Simmons clearly does not believe in hand-holding when it comes to fictional worlds. But once you wade in, however slowly, you’re bound to find moments of intense emotion, unforgettable discovery and philosophical depth. Great stuff.
That’s it from me. I hope these are some good recs, and maybe you’ll end up with one of these titles (or a few) downloaded on your phone or on your nightstand. That’s why I talk about books, I think. So more people will read them, yes, but that’s not the only thing. It’s so they reach more people, so they can mean something different to everyone. It’s the books that do that, that are remembered, but hopefully I’ve gotten them to you, have let them do that. If I have, I’ll call this column of mine a success. I hope your year is great, reader. Stay cool, keep reading. Have fun.
