Have You Read This? Podcast for Bookworms

10/12/2024

Not even sure what number book this is for me on the year, but just started Dearest by

25/11/2024

With the latest news about Cormac McCarthy circling around, this book by Claire Dederer comes to mind.

"How do we balance our undeniable sense of moral outrage with our equally undeniable love of the work? Is male monstrosity the same as female monstrosity? And if an artist is also a mother, does one identity inexorably, and fatally, interrupt the other? In a more troubling vein, she wonders if an artist needs to be a monster in order to create something great. Does genius deserve special dispensation? Does art have a mandate to depict the darker elements of the psyche? And what happens if the artist stares too long into the abyss?"

I have not yet taken a deep dive into the entire McCarthy situation but plan to do so over the next few days.

https://www.amazon.com/Monsters-Fans-Dilemma-Claire-Dederer/dp/0525564187/ref=sr_1_1?crid=14OYKTQAY68VJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.U6PuAc0Vx4wNwVdG3Sg4N_2KNK6QtiYVTrhH5H72nTPLWFnZz5U763AFW_7Fr2DkFi58iK65D3TY4F-kKSTHlywvk6-VKSy_aPym-CjuMXkwHTIor2PQdqJLXttph_N_z2qpzp-YM-hx42j8tAzoLg.u7CgJ1NYW66kkousiaLFlgrfgeN933EIJDoZV4KMrx4&dib_tag=se&keywords=monsters+claire+dederer&qid=1732544594&sprefix=monster+claire%2Caps%2C437&sr=8-1

20/11/2024

Recent round-up of a few reads worth talking about: Good-Looking Ugly by Rob Smith, Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy, and Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates.

Recent round-up of a few reads worth talking about: Good-Looking Ugly by Rob Smith, Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy, and Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates.

11/11/2024

I got my hands on a first edition of this book and am about half way through so far. What a wild ride this one is. As it stands, nothing I have read justifies the low Goodreads rating, but I am not at the end yet. We all know the ending can make or break a great novel.

07/11/2024

Do you have any authors that you enjoy so much that you would read anything they write without knowing anything about the book? Jon Krakauer is one of those authors for me.

Do you have any authors that you enjoy so much that you would read anything they write without knowing anything about the book? Jon Krakauer is one of those authors for me.

05/11/2024

I'd rather be at home, too, but voting is too important to skip.

01/11/2024

When anything besides a bill arrives in the mail, I get excited. But not nearly as excited when a book arrives! I am now three chapters into this novel by and enjoying it so far. Not sure why I am surprised, but the references to Louisville landmarks has been a nice touch.

If you are in the area of on 11/6, catch the author himself as a guest of that evening. In the meantime, pre-order your own copy from and get to reading!

22/10/2024

18/10/2024

A good friend recently sent me a text congratulating me on one year of podcasting. Caught off guard, I doubted his ability to count and was certain my meager 26 episodes did not represent a full year's worth of work. Back on September 22nd of 2023, I made the decision to join the other 958 billion people who spew thoughts into a microphone and started this podcast. Somehow that continued through 26 episodes reaching nearly 40 countries. A small, but mighty audience who thankfully enjoys reading enough to tune in and listen to some middle-aged fart ramble about his favorite novels. Despite a terminal case of sarcasm, I am thankful for anyone willing to subject their earholes to 15-20 minutes of my voice. Thank you.

This is normally where one might mention goals, future merchandise, big brand deals, exciting plans for what is to come. But I am tired and need a nap and people pay attention to long captions as much as they do Kathy Griffin's "career".

16/10/2024

When I am asked for a "dark book" recommendation, I usually gauge the person asking before I respond. Dark novels can vary reader to reader, which got me thinking: what makes a book dark in the first place? Episode 26 up on Spotify, Apple, AOL IM, MySpace, and Napster.

This one includes a custom reading playlist based on the darkest book.

A "dark" novel to me might not be the same for you. A disturbing novel to you might be something I wouldn't even think twice about reading. Which got me thinking, what makes a book "dark" after all?

16/10/2024

"I am now moved to suppose, with my primitive understanding of economics, that every successful government is of necessity a Ponzi scheme. It accepts enormous loans that can never be repaid." - Kurt Vonnegut, Jailbird, 1979

02/10/2024

It is getting more and more difficult to write dystopian horror that is new. Adam Nevill delivers big time with "All The Fiends of Hell". Easily a new favorite for me. I promise I only ramble a minimal amount of time this episode.

It is time to add All the Fiends of Hell to the list of dystopian fiction that doesn't suck and things you must read. This isn't your run of the mill horror novel.

16/09/2024

This was fantastically written and very dark and disturbing. It isn't dark in the same way that Tender is the Flesh or American Psycho is dark. You won't find any overtly graphic descriptions of gore or violence here. But what the author does so well is take your mind into a very dark, depressing, and claustrophobic place and leave it there. Then once you are sitting uncomfortably in your dark hole, the author drops in flashbacks making the story even more depressing.

There were points during reading this where I felt so uncomfortable, so sad, so eager to turn the next page. I believe the reason it is so dark is that the author allowed me to imagine what I would do if I found myself in the same situation as the main character, and that was equally terrifying to me.

This was a fast read and I had to sit for a while to digest the ending. Without giving spoilers, I wondered if that was how the book should have ended. Was that where the story stopped? Looking back, after catching my breath, Trumbo did exactly what he should have done writing that ending. Fantastic. Dark. Disturbing. Worth the read.

11/09/2024

This speech, turned into a short book, was recommended to me recently. Since I am listening to it this morning, I thought I would share it here.

https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/

10/09/2024

Out of all of the episodes I have recorded to date, I was not expecting this one to be the most popular so far, yet, here we are.

Splatterpunk, or what many label as extreme and graphic horror, seems to be quite popular among certain readers. But just how graphic and violent are these books?

09/09/2024

"Nationally recognized science fiction and fantasy writer Christopher Rowe imagines science fiction futures in rural areas like Adair County, where he grew up."

Nationally recognized science fiction and fantasy writer Christopher Rowe imagines science fiction futures in rural areas like Adair County, where he grew up.