Monthly Archives: July 2010

The Passage…Not Another Book Review

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

With The Passage, novelist Justin Cronin has created both a bona fide literary thriller and an epic tale of human endurance in the face of unfathomable horror and loss. The massive book’s enthralling storytelling, vivid prose and essential empathy mark … Continue reading →

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Bookstore Tourism

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

The following post was written by Larry Portzline, author of Bookstore Tourism: The Book Addict’s Guide To Planning & Promoting Bookstore Road Trips for Bibliophiles & Other Bookshop Junkies. My goal when I started the Bookstore Tourism “movement” was to … Continue reading →

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I Write Like…

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

  The virally popular new website I Write Like analyzes your writing and matches its style with famous authors. Who’s your literary twin? According to I Write Like, Saturday I was churning out prose like David Foster Wallace (I used … Continue reading →

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Best Thrillers, Ever ?

Posted on July 18, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

  Last summer, NPR readers voted on a list of Best Beach Books Ever. This summer it’s the Best Thriller Ever. Last month NPR asked audience members to submit nominations for a list of the 100 most pulse-quickening, suspenseful novels … Continue reading →

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The Chekhov of Cleveland, RIP

Posted on July 17, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

In the brave new world of the 21st century comic books have been re-branded as graphic novels and their creators are the subject of graduate school seminars and regular coverage in the New York Times Book Review. But back in … Continue reading →

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Envisioning The World

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

“Envisioning The World” is a collection of early printed maps that offers snapshots of a world that was largely unknown at the time many of the maps were made. For most people, then, familiar territory encompassed not much more than a neighborhood. … Continue reading →

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I Was Looking For A Street

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

  I first discovered Charles Willeford while living in Miami in the 70s; what better place to meet the master of pyscho-pulp fiction. Willeford’s darkly humorous novels were often deceptively simple meditations on being and nothingness packaged as police procedures … Continue reading →

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It’s Always 1984 Somewhere

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, George Orwell volunteered to fight for the Republicans against Franco’s fascist Nationalist rebellion. He joined the far-left POUM ( Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification), in which he fought as an infantryman. In his … Continue reading →

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American Bronze

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

We were recently fortunate to spend some time with the exceptional American artist & sculptor Jonathan Hertzel. Take a look at his website and his brand new blog to see his exciting work in progress.    

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More Millennium Part II

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Brian D. Butler

Almost immediately after Stieg Larsson’s first novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tatt00, was posthumously published to international acclaim Millennium Mania spread like a literary virus around the world. This was primarily based on the quality of the work, but was also influenced … Continue reading →

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