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MAILING LIST: I just started a mailing list for my publishing company. Will mail out every 2 months and will include excerpts from my Robert’s Roundup columns and other random stuff. MASTADON: https://booktoot.club/@nagletx
Abbreviations: KU means Kindle Unlimited, and APUB means it was published under an Amazon imprint.NYP means “Name Your Price” (that’s an option on Smashwords and other booksellers). If you’d like to submit an ebook to me for review or mention in this column, see my instructions here.
The Draft2Digital sale came and went, and I downloaded lots of free stuff and cheap stuff.
Indie Author Spotlight
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Under the Radar
Downpour by Christopher Hawkins. 99 cents.
Solitude: A Return to the Self. By Anthony Storr.
The Loop by Joe Coomer. Coomer is a Dallas-based novelist who includes animals in his books.
Dog Flight and other short horror stories by D.T. Adams.
Cultural LIfe of Whales and Dolphins by Hal Whitehead and Luke Rendell.
Indentations and other stories by Joe Schall
Ethel Mae’s Last Ride by Jenny Marie Bee
Legends of the Ferengi (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe. Here’s the first paragraph from this $0.99 STAR TREK novel about Ferengi Culture. ABOUT FERENGI CULTURE): “Let’s get one thing clear. My esteemed publisher paid me to write a book. Which I did. Okay, okay. Actually I didn’t write a word of it. I jobbed it out to a couple of fathead hew-mons named Behr and Wolfe…. But no one got paid to write an introduction. THAT my publisher wants for free. And now Wolfe and Behr have scurried off, back to their dens or lairs or wherever they live, and I have to write this myself. Life is so unfair.” (BTW, Ira Behr wrote and produced Deep Space 9).
Far to Go by Alison Pick.
Personal Fable by Ander Louis.
Shelter Cycle by Peter Rock.
That Said: New and Selected Poems by Jane Shore.
Love of Impossible Sums by Panayotis Cacoyannis. Cyprus-born British writer who writes often satirical novels.
Life Before her eyes by Laura Kasische
I’d Walk with My Friends if I could Find them By Jesse Goolsby
Natural Flights of the Human Mind by Clare Morrrall
Our Kind of People by Uzodinma Iweala
Crossroads by Mary Morris
Waterline: Novel by Ross Raisin
Pushkin’s Children: Writings on Russia and Russians by Tatyana Tolstaya
Lucky Girl : Stories by Nell Freudenberger
Two volumes by Mavis Gallant: Pegnitz Junction and From the 15th District
Glass of Water by Jimmy Santiago Baca
Chinese Cooking for Diamond Thieves by Dave Lowry.
Charisma: A novel by Barbara Hall
Following the Feeling: literary odyssey for the troubled and middle aged by D. David Croot
Raw Silk by Janet Burroway
Presidio by Randy Kennedy
Poison by Jade West
Borderlands: Short Fictions by James Carlos Blake. Historical author praised by Clay Reynolds.
Meantime by Katharine Noel
Spencer’s Risk by Andy Greenhalgh.
New York Stories: Best of city section of NYT,
Above Dark Waters by Eric Kay.
Peeksill USA: Inside the infamous 1949 riots by Howard Fast. Minor journalistic account by an author I plan to get into.
Traplines: Stories by Eden Robinson
Starfish (Mermaids) by Patty Dann. Made into a movie.
Black Veil: Memoir with Digressions by Rick Moody.
Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just.
Bliss by Elizabeth Gundy.
Mothertime: A Novel by Gillian White
Standing Fast: Novel by Harvey Swados. Political/socialist/proletarian novel.
Strong is Your Hold: Poems by Galway Kinnell. Oops I already own his collected poems!
Other Side: A Novel by Mary Gordon.
Sound of Heaven: Novel by Joseph Olshan.
Becoming Nora by Margaret Farrell Kirby.
Melting Pot: Stories by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
Inner Tube by Hob Broun. (Very strange sounding novel).
Collected Novels: Chamber Music/The Ladies by Doris Grumbach.
Wakefulness: Poems by John Ashbery
Virgin: Poems by Sotelo Analicia. Houston poet whose poem “I’m Trying to Write a Poem About a Virgin and It’s Awful” was widely anthologized.
Vanishing and Other Stories by Deborah Willis.
A slot machine ate my midlife crisis by Irene Woodbury.
Lifelines: A Novel by Heidi Diehl.
Names on a Map: A Novel by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Feeding on Dreams: Confessions of an Unrepentant Exile by Ariel Dorfman
Edge of Discontent: A Novel by T. Atkins
Accustomed to the Dark by Thomas DeConna
House Under Snow: A Novel by Jill Bialosky
Love of Impossible Sums by Panayotis Cacoyannis
Commissariat of Enlightenment: A Novel by Ken Kalfus.
A Slot Machine Ate my Midlife Crisis by Irene Woodbury.
Earth: A Novel by David Brin. Sci fi novel about a man-made black hole that threatens to destroy Earth. The guy has a Phd in astrophysics, so at least he’ll get the physics right (not that I’d notice).
Blink and it’s Gone
Last Witchfinder by James Morrow (0.25 cents). Morrow is a prolific sci fi writer who writes fantasies with a sometimes religious or spiritual dimension. Also: Cat’s Pajamas and Other Stories
Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at our Political Crisis by Martha C. Nussbaum
Complete Stories (The Schocken Kafka Library) by Franz Kafka, with introduction by John Updike. 1.99 for this Random House edition is a steal. I first bought this book in 1983. I’ve also read about half the stories in their original German, but my German is really rusty by now.
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. Adapted into a great movie, this book tells about a young Irish immigrant who falls in love.
You made me love you: Selected Stories 1981-2018 by John Edgar Wideman
MacGuffin by Stanley Elkin. 25 cents!
Best of Antrobus: Tales of Diplomatic Misadventure
Great Circle — a Novel by Conrad Aiken
50: A Novel by Avery Corman
Secret Anniversaries by Scott Spencer. Have always wanted to get into his very introspective fiction.
Riding the Yellow Trolley Car: Selected Nonfiction by William Kennedy
Philosopher’s Apprentice by James Morrow.
Library Purchases/Printed Books
Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.
Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter. (Finally I found it for cheap!)
Great Perhaps by Joe Meno.
Glorious Cause — American Revolution (1763-1789) by Robert MIddlekauf.
Only What’s Necessary: Charles Schultz and the art of Peanuts. By Chip Kidd (the famous book designer). He collected lots of classic Peanuts art in a coffee table/hard back book. It’s great to thumb through.
Creative Commons/Freebies
NYU Press offers a number of free academic titles on Amazon.
Literary Articles, Listicles and Essays
Bill Wolfe mentions 7 story collections you may have missed. .
Rant
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Capsule Book Reviews
I’ve been flipping through two wonderful poetry anthologies (books, not ebooks). I mentioned in my last column that I was enjoying David Lehman‘s Oxford Book of American Poetry a lot. Despite some omissions, the poetry there is eclectic, grounded in tradition and always interesting.
A decade ago I bought Andre Codrescu‘s American Poetry Since 1970 (2nd edition) and was delighted by the stuff I found there. Codrescu taps into the countercultural spirit and lots of free verse/beat poetry. Highly recommended.
Multimedia/Podcasts, etc
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Personville Ebook Deals
I run Personville Press, a small literary book press where all the ebooks cost less than $4. Prices normally appear highest on Amazon, Apple, Kobo and BN, somewhat lower on Google Play Books and lower on the two DRM-free stores which are Smashwords and Payhip. Personville Press is committed to selling DRM-free ebooks and audio files directly from the Personville Press payhip store or from Smashwords. The prices listed here are the non-discounted price on Amazon. Check the links to see if they are discounted at the moment (it happens often).
- Existential Smut 1: Youthful Indiscretions by Hapax Legomenon. These artsy erotica stories are published on one of Personville Press’s imprints (Ripe Mango Take Two Press). You can buy it on Payhip | Eden Books | Kobo |Google
- Boxes of Time (Stories) by Jack Matthews. 2.99 Stories about messy emotions, troubled families and damaged personalities. 11th Story Collection. Payhip | Google | Kobo |Smashwords | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Apple | BN
- Minor Sketches and Reveries by Alberto Balengo. ($2) Introspective tales involving animals, allegories and the melodrama of everyday life. Payhip | Amazon | Smashwords |Google | BN | Apple | Kobo.
- My Heart For Hostage by Robert S. Hillyer. This tender love story between a young American lieutenant and a French girl in Paris after the first World War was published by poet (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Robert Hillyer in 1942. Out of print for several decades, this novel will be re-released for the first time as a low-cost ebook. A New York Times critic called it a “superbly written book, written perhaps as only a poet with and expert in the discipline of verse could write it.” Includes a critical essay by Robert Nagle. Free download from the publisher’s site, but also available at a nominal price from ebook stores: Payhip | Smashwords | Google Play | BN | Apple | Kobo | Amazon | Amazon UK. You can also read the whole thing online!
- Pre-Pulitzer Poetry by Robert Hillyer. This new poetry collection contains six of Hillyer’s pre-Pulitzer books in their entirety, including a longer narrative poem (Carmus) that is a haunting fairy tale for adults. Amazon US || Amazon UK | Amazon CN || Amazon AUS || Amazon IN || Google Play || Smashwords || Payhip
- Second Death of E.A. Poe and other Stories by Jack Matthews. $2.99. Did Edgar Allen Poe fake his death? That’s what a Baltimore doctor needs to figure out in the title tale for this 11th story collection. Payhip| Smashwords | Google Play |BN | Apple | Kobo | Amazon US | Amazon UK |
- Interview with the Sphinx. By Jack Matthews. ($1.50). Hyperintellectual Tom Stoppard-like play which reads like a novel about a strange interview with the ancient Sphinx character. Freud and Florence Nightingale show up too. I loved this play and even produced an audio version of it which you can buy for $2 on payhip (mp3/m4a) but the script reads well too. The audio book is available from most audiobook streaming services like |Audible $6 | Apple $3 | Google Play $3 |
- A Worker’s Writebook by Jack Matthews . $2.25 Matthews distributed a photocopied version of this writing guide to his Ohio U. creative writing students over the decades.
- Soldier Boys: Tales of the Civil War by Jack Matthews. $1.50 Philosophical Stories Taking place during the US Civil War.
- Abruptions: 3 Minute Stories to Awaken the Mind by Jack Matthews. Flash Fiction. $2.25
- Hanger Stout, Awake (50th Anniversary Edition). by Jack Matthews. Coming of age novel. $3.00
- Three Times Time Story Sampler by Jack Matthews (Always Free!) US Amazon customers can sometimes get it for free, but to make things easier, you can down these files directly without having to register: Epub, Mobi.
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