2014 sets sail, and a New Year fast approaches, it’s always fun to do a book recap. But before I get into that…here are ten other outstanding things about 2014:
* CCM published Addicts & Basements, my first full length collection, and my third book.
* I received my first Kirkus Review, among many fine, insightful, and supportive reviews.
* I’m a Gertrude Stein Award finalist (second year in a row!!!)
* There were over 20 different events in which I read, cities like Seattle, New York (twice), Madison, and Milwaukee. (The list continues with bookings in Santa Fe, Denver, and New York for 2015!)
* I attended a weekend poetry workshop at Omega Institute with Richard Blanco (and my good friends Michael Gillan Maxwell and David Carter!)
* I edited Bud Smith’s Everything Neon, his first stellar full-length poetry collection, from Marginalia Press.
* Grateful for several journals, new to me, that published my work: Everyday Genius, theNewer York, and The Miscreant, among others.
* Two nominations for the Pushcart Prize (added to two former): “Ten Notes to the Guy Studying Jujitsu” (Deadly Press): and “What He Left to Me” (The Miscreant). Thanks editors, Joseph Quintela, and Amanda Harris.
* I’ve started new columns on my writer’s blog to add to HUMP DAY: “Two for Tuesday” and the new monthly book give-away! Both will continue in 2015.
* Recently it was announced that I am one of four new deputy editors for Civil Coping Mechanisms: About CCM-Entropy | ENTROPY. I am truly excited about this opportunity, and look forward to working with new authors. Thanks, CCM Editor-in-chief, Michael Seidlinger.
My Reading List from 2014– (starred books I recommend (*)
You Sang it Back to Me– Amanda Deo (poetry)
Calendar of Regrets– Lance Olsen *
My Ghost in the Bush of Lies- Paul Wessels
Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles– Kate Braverman (memoir) *
White Girls– Hilton Als *
Cunt Norton– Dodie Bellamy
Dreaming My Animal Selves– Helene Cardona (poetry)
The Physics of Imaginary Objects– Tina May Hall (flash fiction)
Watering Heaven by Peter Tieryas- Liu (short stories)
Beautiful Ruins– Jess Walter
Murmuration– Ryan Warner (chapbook)
I Am Not a Pioneer– Adam Fell (poetry)
Call Me Burroughs, A Life– Barry Miles (biography)
Antidotes for an Alibi– Amy King (poetry)
A Life in Men– Gina Frangello
Vow– Kristina Marie Darling (kindle- poetry)
Masters of Sex– Thomas Maier (biography)
Twilight of the Superheroes– Deborah Eisenberg (kindle- poetry)
Zoom- Zoom Room– Penny Goring (poetry)
The Isle of Youth– Laura Vandenberg (stories) *
The Dark Sunshine– Len Kuntz (stories) *
Tollbooth– Bud Smith *
The Motion of Light in Water– Samuel R. Delany (memoir) *
Girls Standing on Lawns– Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman
Misadventure– Nicholas Grider (short stories)
Family Trouble– Joy Castro (memoir anthology) *
Everything Neon– Bud Smith (poetry) *
I Want to Make You Safe– Amy King (poetry)
Kill Marguerite.- Megan Milks (short stories) *
Stories I Only Tell My Friends– Rob Lowe (auto-biography)
Holding on Upside Down: Marianne Moore– Linda Leavell (biography)
Shotgun Lovesongs– Nicholas Butler (fiction)
e.e.cummings: a life– Susan Cheever (biography)
Stone Bride Madrigals– Nicolette Wong (poetry chap)
Hello, The Roses– Mei- mei Berssenbruegger (poetry)
The Poetics of Space– Gaston Bachelard *
The Mourning Diary– Roland Barthes
Blood a Cold Blue– James Claffey (short stories) *
Balefire– Shann Ray (poetry)
Black Cloud– Juliet Escoria *
Steal Me For Your Stories– Robb Todd (flash/ short stories) *
I’m Not Saying, I’m Just Saying– Matthew Salesses (flash novel) *
The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld– Justin Hocking (memoir) *
The Mere Weight of Words– Carissa Halston (novella)
flatscreen– Adam Wilson
Tap- Root– Indigo Moor (poetry)
Babel– Patti Smith (poetry) *
Looking For the Gulf Motel– Richard Blanco (poetry)
Deep Ellum- Brandon Hobson *
Spent– Antonia Crane (memoir)
Let Me See It– James Magruder
Burnings– Ocean Vuong (poetry) *
Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Prose Poetry (re-read)
Letters To A Young Poet– Rainer Maria Rilke (re-read)
A Season in Hell and The Drunken Boat– Arthur Rimaud (poetry)
An Untamed State- Roxane Gay
flatscreen– Adam Wilson
F- 250– Bud Smith
David and Goliath– Malcolm Gladwell (essays)
The Sky Conducting– Michael Seidlinger (kindle) *
ghostbread– Sonja Livingston (memoir) *
The Mustache He’s Always Wanted But Could Never Grow– Brian Alan Ellis (stories) *
Bad Feminist– Roxane Gay (essays) *
Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Prose Poetry (essay/ poetry)
Ariel: The Restored Edition- Sylvia Plath (poetry) *
Excavation– Wendy C. Ortiz (memoir) *
The Fun We’ve Had– Michael Seidlinger *
Lost in Space– Ben Tanzer (essay) *
Forest of Fortune– Jim Ruland *
What the Light Reveals– Rachel Heimowitz (poetry) *
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know– John Bradley (poetry)
American Prometheus– Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (biography)
Sentence #10– ed. by Brian Clements (prose poetry anthology)
Like a Beggar– Ellen Bass (poetry) *
Tender Buttons– Gertrude Stein
Preparation for the Next Life– Atticus Lish *
The Doll Palace– Sara Lippmann (stories) *
BOMB: The Interviews– ed. Betsy Sussler *
nagging wives, foolish husbands– Nate Tower (short stories) *
Calenday– Lauren Haldeman (poetry) *
Our Secret Life in the Movies– Michael McGriff and J.M. Tyree
Clotheslines– Mathieu Cailler (poetry chapbook) *
The Inevitable June– Bob Schofield *
Paul Chan Selected Writings 2000- 2014, ed. by George Baker and Eric Banks
UnAmerica- Momus (a/k/a Nick Currie)
Fourteen Stories: None of Them Are Yours by Luke Goebel *
As you can see, indicated by how many stars, this was an incredible year for books. Here are my favorites by category:
Fiction: three way tie-
Forest of Fortune– Jim Ruland; Preparation for the Next Life– Attticus Lish; Fourteen Stories, None of Them are Yours– Luke B. Goebel
Short Story: two way tie-
Doll Palace Stories– Sara Lippmann; Dark Sunshine– Len Kuntz
Poetry: Like a Beggar– Ellen Bass
Memoir: two-way tie-
ghostbread– Sonja Livingston; Excavation– Wendy C. Ortiz
Essay: Bad Feminist– Roxane Gay
Hybrid: two way tie-
I’m Not Saying, I’m Just Saying– Matthew Salesses; Black Cloud– Juliet Escoria
And that’s it! Not sure I can choose a best book, but so many great reads. How about you? Did you read any amazing books this year? Please do share them in comments! I’m always looking to buy. Thanks for another amazing year.
