IfMyMindCouldTalk

Ifmymindcouldtalk it would say, "Get off the internet and go write something great. Ideas a plenty, and stories for days. .

[universitybookstore]

New from FSG and Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, Heart: A History. (What do you know? Turns out, I knew nothing much. Fascinating.)

[nprbooks]

Image via Hello Lovely/Getty Images/Blend Images

One of the things we wrestled with during this year’s summer horror poll was the question of how to handle the work of H.P. Lovecraft – a seminal horror writer, someone who pretty much created the genre of cosmic horror – and an atrocious bigot, even by the standards of his own time. 

Ruthanna Emrys helps run the Lovecraft reread at tor.com and agreed to serve as one of our poll judges – and to share her thoughts on why we decided not to look away from Lovecraft: 

What to do about the darkness gnawing at horror’s roots? Perhaps Lovecraft’s own metaphors are best: Can this ancestral taint be denied, or does it warp its descendants even today? Could we destroy it, even if we wanted to? If we did, what would remain of our modern branches? Could we instead transform it? Horror excels at making thought-provoking beauty and terror out of the most vile seeds. Can we work such metamorphoses with our own foundations? 

Check out her full essay here.

– Petra

[nprbooks]

BoJack Horseman producer Lisa Hanawalt is also the creator of charming graphic novels – her latest, Coyote Doggirl, is about a dog-coyote-cowgirl and her trusty horse, on the run through a candy-colored fantasy Old West. Our critic Etelka Lehoczky says the effect of Hanawalt’s bright palette “is naïve, but deceptively so. If you think for a moment about the care, skill and patience it took to layer in each page’s varied tones, you can see how seriously Hanawalt takes her project.  

Check out her full review here.

– Petra

[nprbooks]

“Jessie Greengrass’ Sight is one of those books that critics rave about, yet many readers wonder why,” says our critic Heller McAlpin. “Here’s why: Shimmering sentences and long paragraphs that unspool like yellow brick roads, winding toward emerald cities of elusive, hard-to-express insights.”

Check out her full review here.

– Petra

[nprbooks]

Maggie Ann Martin’s new book follows a young woman as she says goodbye to her college-bound older sister and settles down to cope with life back home with her weight-obsessed mother. Our critic Alethea Kontis calls To Be Honest’s approach to its heroine’s weight issues “incredibly refreshing” – check out her full review here.

– Petra

[nprbooks]

Our critic Ilana Masad says that Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy proves why Little Women still resonates with readers, even after a century and a half. Check out her full review here.

– Petra 

[nprbooks]

Our critic Michael Schaub says JM Holmes doesn’t shy away from the hard questions in his debut collection, How Are You Going to Save Yourself. He calls it “a stunning accomplishment, a debut book that reads like the work of a writer with decades of experience.” Check out the full review here.

– Petra

[nprbooks]

Goodbye, everyone! At least for a month – I’m on vacation as of tomorrow, so this little Tumblr will go dark while I’m away. 

In the meantime, check out our awesome summer horror poll for chilling reads to get you through the end of summer, or sign up for our newsletter – just because I’m driving my aging parents around Eastern Europe doesn’t mean the books coverage will stop coming!

Have a wonderful rest of your summer! I’ll be back on duty September 24.

– Petra

[coverspy]

How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie (M, 20s, green t-shirt, JanSport messenger bag, earbuds, 4 train)

[coverspy]

Spain in Our Hearts, Adam Hochschild (M, 30s, salmon button-down shirt, khakis, beard, smoking while reading, Whitehall St and Stone St)

[coverspy]

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo (F, 10 or 11, gray-and-white plaid school uniform, orange blouse, pearl earrings, 86th St. crosstown bus)

[coverspy]

My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Ottessa Moshfegh (F, 30s, long blond braid, double-strand blue bead necklace with matching earrings, a “Book People: World’s Oldest Bookstore, Austin, TX” tote bag, 4 train)

[coverspy]

The Nix, Nathan Hill (M, 40s, blue gingham shirt, khakis, New Balances, wearing backpack, 3 train)

[bookaddictsguide-deactivated202]

I was going to post my 2017 Best Nine this week but there are still a couple weeks left in December and it’s still changing! I just had a new photo pop up in it the other day so I’m hanging tight until the year is almost over! ⠀⠀⠀ 📚 ⠀⠀⠀ I ran out of saved photos so I took some “emergency” photos last night. These were some books that are currently sitting around my photo area and I liked the contrast between layers in the book stack! Have you read any of these yet? The only one I’ve read so far is Bone Gap! ⠀⠀⠀ 📚 ⠀⠀⠀ #bookstack #bonegap #offireandstars #theweightoffeathers #alltherage #books #instabooks #bookstagram #bookphoto #bookphotography #booknerd #bookaddict #booklover #booktography #reading #reader

[freckles-and-books]

Reading in bed

[universitybookstore]

Now in paperback from Spiegel & Grau, The Wonder of Birds: What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future, by Jim Robbins.

[epeolatrist]

Happened across the most adorable bookstore yesterday. ☺️