Idiotprogrammer Blog

Robert’s Roundup #53 (May-June 2025)

Written by

Robert Nagle

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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. MASTODON: 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.

I have been working hard on a long interview with Clay Reynolds.

Indie Author Spotlight

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Under the Radar

And then there were none by Agatha Christie. Apparently the authorized edition costs 1.99 (better formatting), but there’s a crappy 99 cent version available which you should avoid. I was surprised to see that the work won’t be going into the public domain anytime soon. I could have sworn I read it already a long ago, but I have no memory of it.

Parallax: And Selected Poems by Sinead Morrisey. (W) Well-regarded poet from N. Ireland (Here’s a YT Reading and a nice early interview). Here’s a longer Zoom Interview + Reading from 2021.

Wonderland by Stacy D’Erasmo.

Clairvoyants: A Novel by Karen Brown.

Time won’t Let me Novel by Bill Scheft.

Anger Meridian by Kaylie Jones

Eternal Enemies (Poems) by Adam Zagajewski. Here’s an homage to him by fellow poet (and former UH professor) Edward Hirsch.

Best People in the World a Novel by Justin Tussig.

Talking Animals a Novel by Joni Murphy.

Good Boys and Dead Girls and Other Essays by Mary Gordon. I’m currently reading her Sleeping novel (which has never been digitized apparently).

Making Nice by Matt Sumell (website)

Pineville Trace by Wes Blake. (Author website) Introspective, haunting tale about a former revival preacher who tries to run away from his past. This first novel by a Kentucky author won a novella prize and was a finalist for a debut author award. On his personal website, here’s an homage/recollection about the author Dennis Johnson.

The Heap Novel by Sean Adams. (website)

Suspension by Robert Westfield (W) and website.

Best People in the World a Novel by Justin Tussing. (W)

Lacuna a Novel by Fiona Snyckers. (Website and bio) Reimagining the traumatized character in J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, a sexual assault victim tries to track down Mr. Coetzee himself. (Fun Fact: I studied with J.M. Coetzee in grad school. He would totally dig this shit! See his earlier novel Foe) . She works on a Hidden Life of Writers podcast. My podcast app wasn’t able to locate it, so I had to use the RSS feed here. Here’s a 50 minute video interview about another book by Snyckers. Update: I forgot to hit the BUY button! Hopefully the discounted price will return soon.

You Must Go and Win by Alina Simone. (W) (Personal website) Humorous memoir by Ukrainian-American musical journalist/director.

Truth’s Ragged Edge: The Rise of the American Novel by Philip F. Gura. Literary history of 19th century United States. In his review, Michael Dirda writes, “While Gura’s book discusses some familiar names, such as Hawthorne and Melville, it is most valuable in creating excitement for the work of, say, Stoddard, whose novels are pioneering works of both psychological fiction and social realism. “

Kissing Strangers by Judy Savinar. 10 stories about women confronting life’s challenges.

Flying Leap Stories by Judy Budnitz. Also: If I told you Once a Novel (4 generations of women from an Eastern European village to US). Glowing review of her story collection in NYTBR who describes her as a 26 year old cartoonist for Village Voice who “reveals a bionic ear for clever dialogue and a picturesque writing style with a fearless tone that rarely wavers, no matter how quirky the conceit.”

Parallax and Selected Poems by Sinead Morrissey.

Hot Flashes by Barbara Rankin. Entertaining stories of women entering menopause.

Good Boys and Bad Girls by Mary Gordon. Essay collection, some on literary themes. By the way, I am reading the excellent Spending novel.

More of this World or Maybe Another: Stories by Barb Johnson. (Website)

No Going Back: Thought-Provoking Psychological Suspense Novel by D.T. Adams

Decameron (Wayne Reborn translation). 2.99 I have always wanted a digital copy of this.

Death of the Artist: How Creators are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech by William Deresiewicz. Of course, one way to make money is to get an Ivy League teaching job and write books targeted to starving artists, but this seems like an earnest attempt to understand the problem.

Novels of Ferrara by Giorgio Bassani. Translated by Andre Aciman. Supersize edition. His novels document life as a Jew under fascist Italy. Might be relevant to Americans today?!

Library Purchases/Printed books

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Creative Commons/Freebies

From Gutenberg there’s Goethe’s Literary Essays — which includes several things from a variety of sources, including Conversations with Eckermann.

Speaking of which, I have been searching for a long lost Texas satirical classic about football. Won’t mention title here, but if Interlibrary Loan turns up a scannable copy, I will probably release it as a Personville Press title. Update: It did!

Literary Articles and Essays

Top 10 Troublemakers by Matt Sumell.

I’ve been doing a lot of literary research. Here’s a lovely poetry page about R.S. Gwynne (W) and a commentary by Dana Gioia.

Up until very recently, I have not used the Oxford comma.

Rant

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Capsule Book Reviews

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Multimedia/Podcasts, Etc

Here’s an absolutely amazing discovery. Some Irish bloke online said that this staged reading of Joyce’s Ulysses from 1982 is considered the best audio version of the novel (it’s like 22 hours and unavailable as an audiobook — but a free download). You can stream individual chapters online, but unfortunately the audio files have no metadata. So in addition to downloading these tracks, you need to put metadata on it. I am about to finish Chapter 1/Episode 1 and found it lovely and brilliant and very funny. I had read about half of Ulysses once upon a time and admit to only half-understanding it. I still don’t really understand it, but a lot of the jokes and wordplay make a lot more sense when you hear it.

Personville Press 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).

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