More Suggested Reads

Last week I made a few suggestions for your summertime, or wintertime, reading.

This week I’m back with a few more books that will enable you to take a vacay from your daily routine. Enable you to explore new worlds, solve crimes, and witness the world’s first surfing zombie.

The Omega Chronicles by Mark Carnelley

I’m a big fan of post-apocalyptic cozy catastrophes. A cozy catastrophe, in short, is a story about what happens after the apocalypse. These are stories about people and how they survive and how they rebuild their lives and their world. And hopefully make both better in the process.

The two giants in the sub-genre are the classics Earth Abides by George R Stewart and The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. They are very much worth reading to get a feel for this important, if often neglected, approach to post-apocalyptic fiction.

Mr Carnelley has penned a superb addition to the cozy catastrophe. A tale about the lone survivor of the end of the world as we know it. To be the last person left alive… What would you do? Would you even want to go on living? There’s much food for thought interwoven in this masterful story of survival.

From my review on Amazon:

This book is no action-packed thriller. It is in the great tradition of Earth Abides. You won’t find zombies, or space aliens, or even triffids. This book is about what it means to live when you are the only one alive. Without diving deep into philosophy, Carnelley gives us a philosophy of life — a philosophy of what can make us have tranquility here and now, free from all the baubles and gadgets and so-called pleasures of "civilized" life.

Good stuff from the pen of Mark Carnelley. Don’t pass this one by.

Don’t Dream It’s Over by Matthew Cormack

This book is one mammoth saga. The tale of a survivor of the end of the world, at least as we know it. The book is written in the form of journal entries and McCormack does a magnificent job in handling what can be a difficult narrative form.

I’ve read a fair number of cozy catastrophes, and I must confess that this one is my favorite. The book is an incredible character study of the narrator. The book is also a realistic picture of what life after the end of the world would be like. In addition, McCormack lays out a very practical and realistic plan for the continued survival of humanity.

This is one amazing book. One incredible adventure. Do buy and read this book. It’s fabulous.

Entangled by J. Evan Stuart

I very much enjoy mysteries. And the older I get the more I enjoy them. Not thrillers. I’m talking the classic mystery as perfected back in the 1930s, and continued today by such writers as Sue Grafton, SJ Rozan, and Lawrence Block.

Entangled is the sole offering in what looked to be a promising series. I write “looked” because Mr Stuart has apparently disappeared. And that is a shame. An incredible shame. For this is a masterful mystery. Stuart tells a story that is part police procedural, part love story, and all pursuit for justice.

The writing is very accomplished. Few debut novels reach this level of accomplishment.

I very much enjoyed the book. And even though it is a solo offering, the book is worth the price and the time you’ll spend reading. Because Stuart sucks you into Sonya and Connor’s world. A world of deceit, prejudice, love, methodical detection, and fast-paced action. 

A superb reading adventure!

The Undude by Ben Willoughby

The Undude is the latest release by Ben Willoughby. It is a hilarious dark comedy about a surfer who drowned, his body never recovered, and then comes back to life as a zombie due to toxic waste being dumped into the water.

Mr Willoughby gives us a very funny story that takes a satirical whack at politics, social movements, and environmental pollution. And the Russians are definitely involved!

At base, however, is the message that people just want to be left alone to enjoy life and nature — nature that hasn’t been mangled by commercialization.

A thoughtful and very funny read. Ben Willoughby is one of my favorite authors. There be good reading here.

As always, comments are welcome; and, until next time, happy reading!

Some Suggested Reads

It’s summer in Houston. Tropical heat and humidity. TG for AC.

The other day I was saying to my wife that when we lived in Minnesota we stayed indoors in the winter. Moving to Houston, we now stay indoors in the summer. And when one has to stay in it is a good time to raid the bookshelf.

Of course, in truth, any time is a good time to read a novel. From the comfort of my easy chair, with the AC on (or the heat in winter), hot tea at hand, I can take any number of adventures.

I can leave earth entirely, or I can travel to a fantasy world that only exists in the writer’s and his reader’s minds.

If I want, I can go to another city, or another country.

I can do all of that and never leave the comforts of home. Just by reading a book.

If you happen to be looking for something to read this summer (or winter, if you live on that part of the globe) I have a few suggestions for you.

Church Mouse by RH Hale

I recently re-read this incredible novel to refresh my memory and prepare for Church Mouse: The Change, which I’m currently reading.

How Ms Hale can generate such tension and suspense from her slowburn Gothic style is beyond me. As a writer, I’m in awe. As a reader, I’m in love — and chewing my fingernails down to the quick.

But tension and suspense aren’t the only thing. She excels at painting a word picture that lets you experience the setting. And she gives you characters that are so life-like, you’ll swear you’ve run across them in real life.

These two books are good reading anytime. They are amongst the best vampire novels out there. And they are so much more. They’ll get you thinking about what it means to be human.

Exit and 01134 by Crispian Thurlborn

Mr Thurlborn is one of my favorite authors. His imagination gives rise to fabulous stories.

Exit is a dreampunk tale that examines if we are truly free to do as we want and change who we are. It is a superb addition to the ranks of weird fiction.

01134 is another stupendous addition. This book examines loneliness. It examines choices we make, or don’t make. It is a book that takes us to The Twilight Zone.

Your Arms Around Entropy and Other Stories by Brian Fatah Steele

I love short stories. A well-written short story, IMO, is more satisfying than a long novel. I know there are people who don’t like short stories. I feel sorry for them.

Mr Steele is a very accomplished writer, and this collection of short stories blew me away. I went out and bought all of his books.

These are dark tales that will make you fear the dark. They are superb examples of contemporary Lovecraftian fiction. 

Keep the light on if you read these at night.

All of the above recommendations are dark, quite dark. Maybe you prefer lighter fare. If that’s the case, the next two fit the bill quite nicely.

Agonising: The Problem Page Letters of Jean Price and Raine Vincent by Ernestine Marsh

Ms Marsh has a knack for humor and the witty turn of phrase. She also is quite at home dishing out biting satire. You’ll find both in Agonising. You’ll also have to take periodic reading breaks to catch your breath and give your stomach a break from all the laughing.

The Garden of Jane Pengelly by Stephen A Howells

This book is a hidden gem. It took me completely by surprise — a very pleasant surprise. It is a sweet and tender paranormal love story. Not normally my cup of tea. No, not by a long shot. Yet, I was drawn in by Mr Howell’s wonderful storytelling. And yes, it brought tears to my eyes. Definitely not one to miss!

The above ought to keep you going for awhile. I’ll be back next week with more gems for your ereader or bookshelf.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

Good Villains

What makes the hero (or heroine) stand out, and show us what he (or she) is made of, is the villain. The hero’s nemesis.

Who can forget the Wicked Witch of the West? Or Inspector Javert?

A memorable villain will make a story a success, even more so then a memorable hero. Because the hero must triumph over the villain to win. The bigger the villain, the bigger the triumph.

Of course, an author can shake things up. Take Macbeth, for example. Where a hero becomes his own worst enemy, aided by his lovingly ambitious wife. The same can be said for Stevens in The Remains of the Day, where he is the villain to his own hero.

Generally, though, the villain and the hero are two separate persons. Both want something and are at cross purposes in the achieving.

A good villain can even save what might otherwise be a mediocre production. The TV show Colony, canceled after three seasons (which is a shame), in my opinion, was carried on the back of the villain Alan Snyder. The hero and heroine, Will and Katie Bowman, were lackluster characters (nor was the acting very good for their parts).

What made Colony a success, I think, was the complexity of the character of the bad guy. Alan Snyder was someone you justifiably hated, and yet empathized with because in many ways he is us. He personified the dilemma of survival.

There are many great villains in literature. A few of them are:

Augustus Melmotte in The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope

Count Dracula in Dracula by Bram Stoker

Captain Ahab in Moby Dick by Herman Melville

O’Brien in 1984 by George Orwell

Fagin in Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Mrs Danvers in Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Four of my favorites are:

Mrs Proudie in Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

Mrs De Ropp in “Sredni Vashtar” by Saki

She in She by H Rider Haggard

Cthulhu in “The Call of Cthulhu” by HP Lovecraft

Mrs Proudie, like Lady MacBeth, is driven by ambition. However, operating in Victorian society, Mrs Proudie must take a different approach than did Lady MacBeth in achieving the goals of her ambition.

Mrs Proudie whips her milk toast husband, the bishop, up the ladder of clerical success — and she steps on whoever gets in his way. Trollope makes it quite clear early on that it is indeed Mrs Proudie who wears the trousers in the Proudie household. The bishop’s attempt at taking over the reins of his life are quickly quashed.

Mrs Proudie is not a nice person. Unlike Lady MacBeth, she doesn’t have anyone do the dirty work for her, nor is she the least bit repentant.

Mrs De Ropp, for me, represents the evil of duty, and manners, and expectations — all hidden under a façade of do-goodism. Mrs De Ropp does what is proper and expected and in the process is killing Conradin. And she doesn’t seem to care.

She, or She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, is the ultimate jealous bitch. She kills her lover in a jealous rage, then bathes in the magic fire so she can live forever until her true love is reborn and they can be reunited.

In the meantime, she enslaves a whole nation of African tribal folk to serve her. She takes a woman scorned to a whole new level of meaning.

By the way, her actual name was Ayesha, and she was an Arab. Her lover was Egyptian and she wanted to rule Egypt. Ambitious to boot.

The ultimate question about Cthulhu is this: is he truly evil, or just indifferent?

When it comes to, let’s say ants, are we evil or just indifferent? There are ants on the sidewalk. Do you step on them, or over them? Do you even notice them?

Given Lovecraft’s worldview, I’m inclined to say Cthulhu and his ilk are merely indifferent. On the other hand, an argument can be made for the evil of indifference.

Put yourself in the place of the ant. Now contemplate humans.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

Men! Read Fiction — It’s Good for your Brain!

Men are a marketing demographic. Retailers know this, and market accordingly. Check any website or catalog that carries goods for both men and women. The retailer segregates the two, and makes separate appeals based on what motivates each sex to “Buy! Buy! Buy!”

So why the heck are publishers ignoring men? We noted last week that the publishing industry (and by extension, authors) ignores men in favor of women. Why write off half of the potential marketplace? 

That doesn’t sound like a wise business strategy to me. Perhaps that’s why traditional publishing is constantly re-trenching and brick-and-mortar bookstores are in trouble. I remember when there were scores of publishing companies. All independent. All vying for authors and their books. Today they are all imprints or divisions of 5 mega-corporations. A very sad state of affairs.

So why do publishers and many authors ignore men? It’s because they believe the myth that men don’t read, and especially don’t read fiction. Note the operative phrase: believe the myth.

Popular indie author Mark Dawson has said that the readership of his John Milton thriller series is more or less evenly split between men and women. Perhaps somewhat shading towards men, but not by a large margin.

The books in the series generally rank in the top 5,000 in the overall paid Kindle store and in the top 100 of such sub-categories as Crime Action & Adventure.

Readers buy hundreds of Dawson’s books every day and at least half of them are men. And he is just one writer. 

Men don’t read fiction? Rubbish!

However, I will concede that there are men out there who don’t read fiction (in fact, I know one).

So for those men in your life who don’t read fiction, this post is for them.

I’m going to riff off of an Art of Manliness blog which is very good and I encourage everyone to read it.

Reading fiction is good for people in general, but is especially good for men who lack in some of the skills at which women naturally excel. Yes, guys, the women have us at a disadvantage and we need to play catch up. So let’s have at it!

Reading Fiction Strengthens Your Theory of Mind

At the risk of over simplifying, theory of mind is our ability to perceive what others are thinking, feeling, and perceiving. It’s our ability to get inside another person’s head. It’s our ability to “read” another person.

We see someone smile. Theory of mind is what tells us if, to us, the smile is warm and genuine, or perfunctory, or phony.

The famous poisoned cup scene in The Princess Bride is a hilarious example of theory of mind at work.

On the opposite side of the coin, when a baby puts his hands over his face and thinks because he can’t see me that I can’t see him — that’s a theory of mind fail.

Women are better at theory of mind than men. However, there’s an easy way for men to strengthen their theory of mind muscle — yep, that’s right: read fiction.

Studies have shown that reading fiction strengthens one’s theory of mind. So let’s hear it for reading fiction!

Reading Fiction Makes You More Empathetic

Empathy is when you feel what the other person is feeling. Empathy is having the same emotional reaction as someone else.

If my friend tells me his mother died, I know what he is going through because I’ve had the same experience. And most likely experienced the same emotions he is experiencing.

Women are generally more empathetic than men. So once again, guys, we need to even the score. We need to read fiction on a consistent basis to strengthen those empathy muscles.

Why is empathy important? Humans are creatures of feeling. Sure we think. But feelings are primary. They are lodged in the oldest part of our brains. When we can share feelings with another person, doing so builds a bond between us and them. And that breaks down barriers. Bonding builds relationships and civilizations. Civilizations you say? Yep. Because a civilization is nothing more than a group of people who’ve bonded together.

So, men, if you aren’t reading fiction — hop to it! We have a civilization to build!

Reading Fiction Increases Creativity

Reading fiction is a form of play. A form of make believe.

Reading fiction allows you to experience the world in new ways, or to experience new worlds. Fiction allows you to pretend you’re someone else, and do things you’d not normally do — or maybe never do.

Fiction allows us to re-evaluate beliefs. It challenges our preconceived notions. Makes us defend, or toss, our beliefs.

Nearly half of us are at least in part kinesthetic/tactile learners. That means we learn best by acting and playing and by hands on experience. In other words, we learn best by doing something while getting the information.

Fiction reading, being a form of play, is one of the best ways for kinesthetic/tactile learners to learn new ideas, to learn about life. This is especially true if the reading experience is out loud and shared with one or more people.

Fiction stimulates our creativity. It helps us to be dynamic, creative beings. So, guys, let’s read some books!

The Type of Fiction Doesn’t Matter

The positive effects upon the mind of reading fiction are not tied to a specific genre or “quality” of fiction. In this case, all fiction is equal. Read the classics. Read westerns, or sports stories, or spy thrillers. Read comic books or graphic novels. It doesn’t matter. It’s all good.

What does matter is that you read — and that you read fiction.

So men, if you aren’t reading fiction, pick up a book and dig in. Or get an audio book if you’d rather listen. It’s all good.

Women may be from Venus, but men are from Mars — and Martians read fiction!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!