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This Week’s Expert Picks

This is a debut story collection from Anthony Veasna So about Cambodian-American life. The stories range from absurdity and eccentric humor to very nuanced emotional pokes that hit you deep. As the children of refugees, we see these kids traverse their own new paths in California while dealing with the weight of the Khmer Rouge genocide, race, sexuality, and old family values.

The collection is extremely candid and often absurd but the stories are extremely grounded in realism that it doesn’t take you out of them. They read like quick vignettes in Vo’s life, majority of which nothing of significant note happens but the interactions and social commentary is what keeps you invested.

I enjoyed the stories but can’t say I fell in love with any particular one. The banter of the characters sometimes became exaggerated, but like I mentioned the social commentary and learning about Cambodian-Americans is interesting. Very sad to hear the author passed away, unfortunately this may be his only book release because I feel his writing could’ve gotten even better. CJH

How The Word Is Passed by Clint Smith III is beautiful. But it is mismarketed.

I picked up How The Word Is Passed thinking a poet had written an informative "reckoning" (as stated in the subtitle) with slavery but the book is really a personal narrative on Smith's experiences researching US chattel slavery.

It is informative, it is beautifully written, but it isn't the book I expected. If I were a different person who hadn't read and visited many of the places and books mentioned in How The Word Is Passed I imagine the book would have shaken me.

I have already lent it to my mother, recommended it to many people, but I want folks who are thinking about read it to know what they're reading. SE

Thankful to have taken my daughter to the library today and have her excited about books. Her reading is on point for her age and I hope she falls in love with literature way earlier than I did. We hit up their used book fair and got a bunch of stuff. Aside from the Halloween books for her, I found a gem, the selected poems of Yevgeny Yevtushenko, an important collection of poems from one of the greats to emerge from the Soviet Union. It stook out to me because I flipped right to a lovely murder poem; the memoir poem, 'Babiy Yar' which deals with Russian anti-Semitism. There is something so profound yet simple about this collection of poetry that even after getting lost in translation, the percolating melancholy, and the rising nostalgia leaves you sighing and smiling. At home, I read a few poems aloud to my daughter, who surprisingly paid attention and even engrossed asked questions, which is always a good sign. I see myself repairing to this collection often. RB

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October 3rd - 9th

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This Week’s Expert Picks

Midwest Writing Center Press's forthcoming anthology These Interesting Times: Surviving 2020 in the Quad Cities is a surprisingly well executed project. With stories from over 40 people throughout the Quad City area who come from a serious variety of backgrounds, the only flaw is that there are a telling few stories missing. Perhaps the people who hold those stories weren't aware of this project, maybe they weren't able to make those stories public.

While I bring up what's missing early on, it's because I want to acknowledge that I noticed but that other people might not. The collection is beautiful. There is a wide variety of voices, of experiences, of moments in time. There is loss, there is struggle, there is profession and break down. But more than anything, there is survival. I am dumbstruck by how a bunch of pieces of writing from my hometown covering one (dynamic, disaster) turned out such work of hope.

I feel honored to have had early access to this collection and I want to throw it into everyone's hands. I want it to have a companion where those missing stories are included but also moments from across the country, across the world, because so many of the voices in this anthology are from people who self-describe as "not a writer."

This alone makes me want to hear more stories.

We survived so far. We have hope now. SE

I bought What Kind Of Woman by Kate Baer for a friend who was dealing with some shit, and after flipping through the pages I found it so compelling that I had to buy myself a copy. The poet effortlessly spans parenting, friendship, love, and how women perceive and are perceived, with stunning imagery. Poems like “Female Candidate” hit home, upending the current moment to examine it. But Baer does something else remarkable: she leaves room, creates space. This space, as I took it, is for the reader to make their own home within the words (which is exactly what great poetry is supposed to do). Most of the time, poems aren't about what the writer is writing, but what the reader is seeing. From my angle, I see my mother, my sisters, my daughter in these words. This will be a book I pick up and reread for the rest of my life (and buy for other people). RB

This is a compilation of the one and only Mark Twain’s essays, letters, diaries, and excerpts that all deal with the Bible, heaven and hell, and many other religious things! Some of this work hadn’t been published before, and this showcases his signature wit and brilliance tackling the Bible. From taking pages out of Adam and Eve’s diaries, to exploring the relationship between God and man, showcases vintage Twain.

Not sure if most know that Twain was vehemently against religion. This book is composed of two sections, the first being Twain’s reworking of Christian creation through Adam and Eve which he tells through diaries. The second part deals with Heaven and the afterlife. The book is incredibly satirical, and cleverly mocks certain aspects of the Bible.

Even if you are a Christian, I think you can still enjoy this book. His writing and wit is as sharp as ever. It’s very light hearted it’s not eviscerating modern religion like many modern atheists do. My favorite story was Captain Stormfield visits Heaven in which he depicts heaven and it’s inconsistency. For Twain lovers it is a must read! CJH

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September 19th - 25th

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This Week’s Expert Picks

I love the dollar store. If you think the dollar store is just a repository of cheap junk, you’re missing out. Not only do I get greeting cards, spices, notebooks and envelopes at the local dollar store, I also get lucky with books there, too. Yep, sometimes you find damn good books at the dollar store. That is how I found the graphic novel version of Head Games, written by Craig McDonald with amazingly synced art by Kevin Singles. This fun romp of a book blends history and legend to tell the tale of the classic hard-drinking, hard-living, and hard-boiled protagonist, Hector Lassiter as he receives a treasure worth killing for: the skull of Mexican revolutionary PanchoVilla. This noir thriller has a style reminiscent of the golden age of dime-store paperbacks, and I feel like a lucky detective to have found it at the damn dollar store. So, next time you are at your local dollar store, be sure to check out their books, because you never know what you will find...and nothing beats a good book for a buck. RB

Aside from The Road, this might be McCarthy’s most famous work. Based on historical events, taking place along the Texas and Mexico border, this story follows The Kid, a young Tennessean that finds himself in a world of violence, depravity, and degradation. This is during the 1850’s, showcasing moments of chaos, bloodshed, and gratuitous.

I’ve read the majority of McCarthy’s work and I’d been saving this one. It is an incredible piece of work, absolutely vivid and brutal. The story of The Judge, and his terrifying nature and characteristics. The interesting thing with this book is the description of new discoveries or objects, such as a Native American vase commenting on its beauty, only to be destroyed shortly after. The book is riddled with biblical imagery.

This book is definitely not for everyone. It is explicit, brutal, violent. Even McCarthy’s almost primitive writing style will turn people off. Nevertheless, this is perhaps one of the best ‘Westerns’ ever written. The brutality is juxtaposed with elegant descriptions of the countryside. This is the culmination of an amoral world, a true apocalyptic heart of darkness. A beautiful and landmark piece of literature. CJH

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Aug. 29th - Sept. 4th

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This Week’s Expert Picks

“Borrowed" a copy of William Wordsworth's Selected Poems, because he wouldn't notice, and afterall it was just laying on the floor of his office. Each time I went there and saw it, I picked it up and read a few pages to myself, while he rambled on about the real estate market of food production facilities. He is a good boss with good tastes in books, but this one was sitting in the same spot each time, only moving when I was there to talk business or collect a paycheck. Here, collected in this "borrowed" volume, are Wordsworth’s finest works: from the famous lyrical ballads, including “The Tables Turned” and “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,” to the sonnets and narrative poems, to excerpts from his magnum opus, The Preludes. Inspiring and verdant, celebrating the changeless things in life, this collection makes for a great distraction while your boss is rambling about business and other changing bullshit. RB

This is Ray Kurzweil’s follow up to his book The Age of Spiritual Machines. This book examines the eventual next step in our evolutionary process, the joining of human and machine. Our knowledge, skills, everything that is embedded in our brains, will be combined, with the eventual great capacity, speed, and knowledge of the machines that we ourselves have created. This is the advocacy of the role of technology in our future.

This one is dense. It’ll turn a lot of people off just for that fact, aside from that Kurzweil goes off on a lot of tangents that really don’t support his central thesis. His first book is much more literary/easier to read, this is extremely academic and slow. Aside from that, it will change how you look at certain things such as genetics, nanotechnology; and robotics. All of these things can fundamentally change humanity; and already have.

In Kurzweil’s vision of the future, we will transcend our mortal coils, edit any flaws in our genetic code, merge consciousness, and reach new heights of everything all while maintaining our humanity. Part of what he believes I think is true, we’re evolving technology-wise at such a rapid pace. The book seems to raise more questions than attempts to answer them. It is interesting food for thought reading, his focus is intent on countering the notion that our humanity will be lost. It may yet have already been. CJH

Camus writes for Cosmo. It ends on 9/11. SE

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August 22nd - 28th

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This Week’s Expert Picks

Pernille Mo's debut collection of poetry, Meditations on Loneliness, hits the heart like a hammer. In each poem, the author wields a weapon of wanton discovery, chipping away at love and its place in our lives. Deeply personal, affectionately emotional, this book is filled with awareness and perception, resolute feelings we have all felt. Mixing in prose about solitude, self-acceptance and belonging, the words in this amazing book howl with emotion. Like a hand on your naked neck, this collection is short but razor sharp. I dare anyone to pick up this book and try not to feel something, anything. Hailing from Paris, Pernille is a perfect new voice in the worldwide poetry scene. RB

With his first novel, Saunders delivers an extremely unique literary experience. President Lincoln’s young son dies, and a grief stricken Lincoln continues to visit his crypt alone to spend time with him. From this small kernel of truth, Saunders tells the story bridging historical fiction into something more metaphysical known in the Tibetan tradition; the bardo.

I love Saunders work, he is an incredible writer and everything I’ve read of his so far has been magic. This book was unique, it starts slow, somewhat confusing tile in short little footnote type text, but the narrative is unlike anything I’ve read. The book is mixed conversations in “the bardo” with Willie; Lincoln’s son, and other voices of the dead. It’s a unique study of grief and accepting things we love will end at some point.

I could see how the book is written in almost footnotes would shy readers away but the narrative is so strong that you forget about it. Saunders is as strong a writer as any, and his ability to convey compassion and grief is extraordinary. I’ve heard the audio version is equally powerful, and you can understand why it won awards. Beautiful, haunting writing that shows you the just how tender the human soul can be. CJH

I started White Magic because all the essayists I know and love loved this book. It says right on the cover "essays," so I picked it up and put it down like I do with anthologies, reading one piece at a time and taking breaks. That's one thing I love about essays and short stories--they don't make many demands of my time. But Elissa Washuta's book of essays is not, in fact, a book of essays but a single nonfiction narrative that demands time and attention and investment from the reader.

I think White Magic is excellent. Let me emphasize: I think it's excellent. There is something magic released from within its pages as you read and the parallels between Washuta's life and mine were uncanny. It wasn't in the structure--we don't share an ethnic background, I'm not an addict, our romantic histories are nothing alike--but in the details. The dates we lived in Seattle, the places we frequented, the special places, the moods were all the same. So I want others to read this book. I want to know where the magic is for you. SE

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August 15th - 21st

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This Week’s Expert Picks

I bought The Roominghouse Madrigals by Charles Bukowski on January 6th, 2011, and I pick it up from time to time. You've got to know when a book is worth regularly revisiting...and this book is a constant in the Buynak heart. You see, books aren't decoration or merely entertainment, they are worlds worth our own world; they are time travel escape to days in the sun, days in gloom, anywhere where you were in need of strong words that played your heart like a piano. This book is that for me; old poems by Buk that remind me to keep going. I am not saying you must read this book – this book is a metaphor – you must find that book, album, whatever which makes you breathe deeper, and which later makes you want to revisit it regularly forever. RB

This story weaves together history, facts, and research on the love that we have for alcohol. Combing a multitude of evidence from various avenues of schools of thought, Slingerland crafts a tale that is both insightful and humorous. Our desire to get drunk is innate, from tribes of people to our civilization today. The result is a captivating investigation into the worlds oldest indulgence, and how it can be good in moderation.

As humans we are exceptionally individualistic, but as a group we can dominate. Because of this we rely on 3 specific niches: creativity, cultural learning, and cooperation. His argument that alcohol helps fuel these 3 facets of human interaction. Along with historical facts, Slingerland combines it with modern research to fuel his points.

The writing was well done, enticing, intricate, and often times humorous. It’s very well researched, and he even offers the side of why alcohol isn’t always the solution. It’s pleasurable, reduces stress, however the drawbacks are health reasons and dependantcy. But responsible, moderated drinking can be beneficial. CJH

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August 1st - 7th

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This Week’s Expert Picks

Junji Ito's Cat Diary is a dream for folks who are not totally ready to fully immerse themselves into Ito's body-horror terror-world. Autofiction with a twist, Yon & Mu is a beautiful coming-of-age story of marriage and falling in love with an animal you intended to detest.

I laughed, I cried, I believed in Ito's challenges with the cats, his wife, and his career.

This graphic novel is a perfect introduction to Junji Ito without going wholly into the world of horror. SE

When I was in Jackson Hole, I stumbled across The Poetry Box, a project of Jackson Hole Writers and Jackson Hole Public Art, administered by Matt Daly, which allows passersby to take pages of poetry along with them in their lives (like the little library boxes you see popping up in welcoming neighborhoods these days). The discovery was a pleasant one, as it is always a nice surprise to find poetry in the wild. Upon submitting some of my silly poems to The Poetry Box, I struck up a friendship with Mr. Daly, who was nice enough to send me a copy of his book Between Here and Home, and I am a better human because of it. The book stitches together a narrative in soliloquies of a rural town struggling to hold onto community despite tragedy. It is a helluva book, in the vein of Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology. It dives deep into the psyche of its subjects with honest yet tender vision and voice. The characters seem as real as my Uncle David and Aunt Linda, making me want to reach out and hug them, or have a beer with them, and listen to their fine gone tales of life, love, and let-downs. The doldrums are beautifully described by the author, making this a very re-readable book of prose poetry. I would like to give a giant thanks to Matt Daly for allowing me to place his book on my bookshelf, and within my life. I can't wait to re-read it. RB

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July 25th - 31st

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This might be Ferlinghetti’s most famous work, he passed away February of this year. This collection of poetry, and the title is derived from Henry Miller’s ‘Into the Nightlife’. The poems were written during the 1950/60’s and in his mind were his own Coney Island of the mind, a circus going wild in your soul. He was able to encapsulate the time period he was living and kept his finger on the pulse.

This is one of the best selling books of poetry ever. He was able to capture the counterculture of the 60’s, crafting beautiful poetry that spoke to the generations. Highly skeptical of any institution but open to the experiences of joy and pain, it is essential reading for the counter culture movement.

I loved the middle section specifically of the book, labeled as “Oral Passages” in which with the poems that follow captures the leisure lifestyle and hip attitudes of the age. It is a beautiful madness strung together creating images of a time which now is long forgotten. Tales of love and woe, have the trials of being in that age. Perfect reading with some jazz playing in the background. CJH

Sometimes it's not always what's in the book that makes it special. Spring Comes to Chicago is a wonderful and weird, funny and insightful book of poetics, but it is also special to my heart, because I stumbled across it on a rainy day in Chicago at After-Word Bookstore. Recommended by Beverly, the proprietor of the bookstore, who was also a welcomed conversationalist in the true sense of the word; we talked about books for an hour, and I am very glad she suggested this one. In the centerpiece of poem, "The Bob Hope Poem," McGrath confronts the paradoxes that energize and confound us – examining his own avid affection for People magazine and contemplating such diverse subjects as Wittgenstein, meat packers, and money. Whether viewing this life with existential gravity or consumerist glee, McGarth creates poetry that is at once public and profoundly personal. Special thanks to Beverly of After-Words Bookstore in Chicago for sharing this and carrying my own books of poetry. RB

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July 18th - 24th

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Not too long ago, while talking with a poet pal, we both agreed it was odd that I didn't own any books of Jim Morrison's poetry. So, I added one to my Amazon cart, but never pulled the purchase trigger for no reason other than laziness or lethargy. Then, as kismet would have it, I was in a thrift store in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and stumbled across a copy of Morrison's The Lords and the New Creatures, which I bought for $1. Intense, erotic, and enigmatic – just like the lead singer of The Doors – this book was Jim's first published volume of poetry, and it captures an uninhibited exploration of imagery and impression. Some poems and pages only contain one sharp line, while others detail sex and death side by side. It lives up to the indelible impact the Lizard King had on culture, and I count it as a fateful addition to my bookshelf. RB

This is a collection of short stories by Margaret Atwood, exploring themes or loss, discovery, how we connect with others, and the hidden parts of ourselves. Atwood explores a single instant in an individuals life that shapes their life. She’s able to layer different times from youth to middle to adult showcasing how time, regret, and other things weigh on a person. Disturbing and witty in Atwood’s signature fashion these stories take you to strange places.

When I started the book initially I thought it was a novel then after finishing the first story realized it was short stories. After my initial shock, I got more into it. As the case is with almost all of her work, it’s extremely well written, my favorite story was probably Death by Landscape. I felt as if I wanted more out of the stories, they feel anticlimactic, and perhaps I’m just used to Atwood’s novels.

I’m a huge Atwood fan, her writing is consistent and always darkly witty in situations. This book focuses a lot on disillusionment, whether it’s with men, childhood, trauma, etc. The stories felt too similar specifically in structure. The other story I enjoyed was Hairball, showcasing the narrative of what’s seen as gross or disgusting about female bodies. All in all strong writing from one of Canada’s finest! CJH