A Year in Rumpus Book Reviews
A look back at the books we’ve reviewed in 2018!
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Posts Tagged: book reviews
A for Effort
Lit Hub has just released Book Marks, a book review aggregator which provides a grading system for books. At The Stranger, Rich Smith talks about what this means, grade inflation, and more: The point of a book review isn’t to sell books or trick people into reading books. The point of a books review aggregator isn’t to […]
...morePublishing’s Culture of Positive
Recently, Jessa Crispin shocked the literary world by announcing she would be closing Bookslut, the literary blog she started fourteen years ago. Since then she has stirred some controversy, calling the Paris Review “boring as fuck” (the Paris Review took the critique in stride, offering a 10% discount with the code BORINGASFUCK) and attacking online literary […]
...moreBad Press
Though Chloe Caldwell’s books, including her 2015 novella Women, have been praised by the likes of Lena Dunham and Cheryl Strayed, there are some critics who were not quite so enthralled. How did Caldwell handle the bad press? And how bad was it? “I am so fucking bored of reading essays about being young and confused, […]
...moreWhat Bill Gates Reads
At the New York Times, Katherine Rosman discusses Bill Gates’s blog, Gates Notes. Particularly, she considers Gates’s book reviews and recommendations: He rarely posts negative reviews of books, explaining that he sees no need to waste anyone’s time telling them why they shouldn’t bother reading something. He doesn’t spare himself, though. ‘I have a habit, which I […]
...moreThe Importance of Leaving Book Reviews
Over at the Huffington Post, Christina Larmer makes the case for all readers to leave reviews if they want to support the authors they love: If you can find a minute—and that’s all it takes, I promise you—please jot a quick review on whatever eRetailer you happen to have used, each and every time you […]
...moreAuthor Dislikes Bad Review
A self-published British author disliked the online review left on Amazon by a Scottish teenager. His response was to travel the 500 miles from London to find her in a grocery store and hit her over the head with a wine bottle.
...moreThe Art of the Matter
Language is a shape-shifting thing. For some, it is purely the written word, and for others, it is movement, color, texture, light. In its art-themed Sunday Book Review, the New York Times explores how five artists react to five different books through visual compositions.
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zero to three by F. Douglas Brown
Samantha Duncan reviews zero to three by F. Douglas Brown today in Rumpus Poetry.
...moreThe Politics of Fiction
Fiction written under an authoritarian or totalitarian government often dares readers to view the work as a critique of that society. In a review of two science fiction works by Cuban authors, Electric Literature takes a look at the surprising connection between oppressive political ideologies and fantastical worlds in fiction.
...moreHarsh Critics
Book reviews have grown nicer in recent years, with some publications eschewing negativity altogether. That wasn’t always the case. The earliest literary reviews were outright cruel, with publications trying to outdo their rivals. The Literary Review takes a look at the back-and-forth of the nasty book review culture of the nineteenth century.
...moreAuthors, Goodreads Isn’t for You
In response to a recent scuffle between a Goodreads reviewer and an author, BookRiot offers this advice to authors: But it’s not just the one-or-two-star reviews. I also don’t think authors should respond to positive reviews, even to say thanks — the dynamic is too weird. Perhaps not all reviewers feel as I do, but […]
...moreReviewing the Absurd
Wired is launching a book review section—of absurd self-published titles. Jason Kehe will in fact be judging books by their cover, selecting the books he reviews for the regular column by browsing the blog Kindle Cover Disasters. The first title in the series is Moira, The Zorzen War, The Divided Worlds Book 3: If you’re […]
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Angel Park by Roberto F. Santiago
Melissa Adamo reviews Roberto F. Santiago’s Angel Park today in Rumpus Poetry.
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Animalities by David Dodd Lee
Jessica Guzman Alderman reviews David Dodd Lee’s Animalities today in Rumpus Poetry.
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Barely Composed by Alice Fulton
Casey Patrick reviews Alice Fulton’s Barely Composed today in Rumpus Poetry.
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Bigfoot for Women by Amy Pickworth
Melissa Adamo reviews Amy Pickworth’s Bigfoot for Women today in Rumpus Poetry.
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Storm Toward Morning by Malachi Black
Phillip B. Williams reviews Malachi Black’s Storm Toward Morning today in Rumpus Poetry.
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Red Flower, White Flower by Jennifer Tseng
Aaminah Shakur reviews Jennifer Tseng’s Red Flower, White Flower today in Rumpus Poetry.
...moreThe Lost Art of Reviewing
Book reviewing is still a heavily debated topic within the literary world. This week, the New York Times’s Bookends column has James Parker and Anna Holmes answering the question, “Is book reviewing a public service or an art?”. Head to the Sunday Book Review page to find out what they both agreed on.
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Entwined: Three Lyric Sequences by Carol Frost
Caitlin Neely reviews Carol Frost’s Entwined: Three Lyric Sequences today in Rumpus Poetry.
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A Sunny Place with Adequate Water by Mary Biddinger
Danielle Susi reviews Mary Biddinger’s A Sunny Place with Adequate Water today in Rumpus Poetry.
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The Night We’re Not Sleeping In by Sean Bishop
Amanda Silberling reviews Sean Bishop’s The Night We’re Not Sleeping In today in Rumpus Poetry.
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The Dottery by Kirsten Kaschock
Jeanne Obbard reviews Kirsten Kaschock’s The Dottery today in Rumpus Poetry.
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Night’s Reading by Marthe Reed
Lauren Hall reviews Marthe Reed’s Night’s Reading today in Rumpus Poetry.
...moreThe End of Literature
The digital age threatens works of serious literary merit, warns British novelist Will Self: Back when I began publishing novels, not only did the reviews in the quality press mean something – in terms of sales, yes, but also as a genuine assay of literary worth – but as a writer, you knew that there […]
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The Sunday Rumpus Book Review: From Here by Jen Michalski
Many authors’ stories blend together across a collection; they struggle to convey a unique voice in each piece. Not so with Jen Michalski’s From Here. Though her characters share common experiences—dashed hopes, disappointments, misunderstanding by loved ones—the voice in each story of From Here is fresh and specific. Whether she is writing of a voyeuristic […]
...moreHonest Reviews, Better Literature
Good literature demands strong criticism, but today’s culture of niceness has limited critics. Lee Klein, writing in 3:AM Magazine, points out that writers’ interest in receiving positive feedback often leads them to forgo standards and slant reviews positively: Literary citizenship is about buying books, subscribing to lit mags, going to readings. It isn’t about offering […]
...moreWill Buzz for Books
Crown Publishing Group has been rolling out a marketing program hoping to leverage the power of social media. The program, Blogging for Books, offers free books to bloggers in exchange for book reviews. Ideal participants generate buzz by posting comments to social media and online bookstores, and including marketing materials like book trailers alongside their […]
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If I Don’t Breathe How Do I Sleep by Joe Wenderoth
Eric Dean Wilson reviews Joe Wenderoth’s If I Don’t Breathe How Do I Sleep today in Rumpus Poetry.
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