Waywords Book Reviews
Quick Takes on My Reading SteveAtWaywords on Storygraph Steve Chisnell on GoodreadsEver since I retired from the public school classroom, I have voraciously been consuming titles new and those I regretted missing. And in keeping with my goals, I want to find the value of the widest range of reading. Here are many, rating them based upon their own purpose or ambition.
“The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.”
–Oscar Wilde
Quoted in Oscar Wilde, Art and Morality: A Defence of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Stuart Mason (ed.) (1908)
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“The Shadow Land” by Elizabeth Kostova
An important historical moment nearly upset by the author’s plot tricks and manipulations, Kostova’s book is nonetheless worth the read!
“In Other Rooms, Other Wonders” by Daniyal Mueenuddin
A powerful and dark forecast of a Pakistan trapped upon itself, this collection of short stories is an interconnected microcosm of the larger nation.
“The Bhagavad Gita” by Eknath Easwaran, translator
An unsurprisingly profound meditation on joy and spiritualism, a worthy read for believers and non-believers alike.
“The Farm” by Joanne Ramos
A solid take on the future of class and the commodification of women, Ramos’ novel is Atwood, but more ambiguous and altogether likely.
“Haroun and the Sea of Stories” by Salman Rushdie
A delightful and memorable romp into a fantasy world replete with takes on language and storytelling alongside Rushdie’s inimitable ironies!
“Starlight I” by Patrick Nielsen Hayden (ed.)
A genre-stretching short story anthology exploration of the limits of science fiction, many from authors who expanded these works into novels.
“Diaries of a Terrorist” by Christopher Soto
A powerfully moving collection of works, intimately blending the personal with the political as it addresses the victimizing of marginalized populations.
“ReInception” by Sarena Straus
A promising but cliched and ‘first-draft’ story of behavior control by government conspiracy.
“Time Shelter” by Georgi Gospodinov
Gospodinov’s book challenges our nostalgia and nationalism, diagnosing most of humanity with a kind of dementia. Terrifying in its credibility, I found it (and still find it) difficult to “wake” from.
“Recollections from Childhood” by Ion Creanga
Classic memoir of a lost Romania, of a young man reconciling his folk wisdom and wit with the teachings of the Church. Wistful, amusing, and nostalgic.
“Signs of Life” by Neil Gaiman and FourPlay Strings
FourPlay String Quartet has Neil Gaiman as platform storyteller for this eccentric and compelling album.
“Carts and Other Stories” by Zdravka Evtimova
This marvelous collection of short stories opens up the complexities of Bulgarian generational relationships.
“Sleeping Giants” by Sylvain Neuvel
A promising set-up ends up going anywhere but to old tropes done better generations before.
“Romanian Stories” anthology of short tales
Don’t come here looking for exciting folk tales of “derring do”–these are tales of slow times, hard work, people making do.
“Sunset Park” by Paul Auster
Auster’s voice, again so clear, lends itself to some characters far from his own experience without the accompanying narrative risk.
“Fairy Tale” by Stephen King
This is roller-coaster King having a good time writing, throwing in odds and ends from his (our) childhood because he can, taking open shots at Disney and contemporary politics because it’s fun.
“Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe
Its topics are often explicit and real, and it does not end absolutely in a cynical or optimistic space. There is yet work to be done for all of us.
“They Called Us Enemy” by George Takei
If it finds difficulty in navigating the narrative it is in finding the right balance between offering the complexity of the political situation around him and streamlining its presentation for the format of the work.
“Sylvie” by Gerard de Nerval
A beautiful and elusive reverie on time and delusion (and patriarchy!).
“Building Stories” by Chris Ware
An unusual and oddly satisfying exploration of suburban angst.
“RASL” by Jeff Smith
A worthy effort Tesla-inspired supernatural multiverse graphic work!
“On Literature” by Umberto Eco
Best for those already familiar with the works discussed, Eco’s prose is fresh and approachable, his analyses compelling as he turns semiotic soil with wit and even wiliness.
“I Must Be Living Twice” by Eileen Myles
Not sure where to begin with modern confessional queer poet Myles? Why not read a compilation of 40 years of her work?
“Bitter in the Mouth” by Monique Truong
Don’t forget to put some kind of excerpt here! Use it for social media.