Suspend Your Disbelief

Archive for December, 2011

Shop Talk |

Books in distress. Holiday shopping to the rescue.

by Celeste Ng

Are publishers just eternal optimists? Continually self-deluded? Or–could print be alive and well after all? Apparently, sales of books—actual books, those things printed on paper, bound with glue, and sold in stores—have been up this holiday season. U. P. UP. Reports the New York Times: Barnes & Noble, the nation’s largest bookstore chain, said that comparable store sales this Thanksgiving weekend increased 10.9 percent from that period last year. The American Booksellers Association, a trade group for independents, said last week that members saw a sales jump of 16 percent in the week including Thanksgiving, compared with the same period […]


Shop Talk |

Bookish Gift Idea #14: Cigarette-pack books

by Celeste Ng

For the manly-man reader on your list, what about these books packaged in cigarette packs? Each is unabridged and wrapped in cellophane for… freshness. Available from Tank Books, the packs offer titles by appropriately macho authors: Tolstoy, Kipling, Conrad, Stevenson, Kafka, and, of course, Hemingway. U.S. customers can also order from Ten Over Six. Check back at FWR every day in December for another bookish gift!


Shop Talk |

Written? Kitten!

by Celeste Ng

We’ve talked before about ways to get yourself to write. There are tools to help minimize distractions, and even tools like Write or Die that dole out punishment if you don’t keep the words flowing. But what is all you need is some positive motivation? That’s where Written? Kitten! enters the picture. Written? Kitten! is a free web-based writing tool. And yeah, the punctuation there is correct. As you type, the site periodically rewards you with… wait for it… a picture of a cute kitten. You choose your level of feline reward—every 100, 200, 500, or 1000 words. Perfect for […]


Shop Talk |

Book-of-the-Week Winners: The Angel Makers

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Last week we featured The Angel Makers, by Jessica Gregson, as our Book-of-the-Week title, and we’re pleased to announce the winners. Congratulations to: Pamela Cook (@justwritetoday) Amanda DeMarco (@Readuxreads) Wendy Chen (@wendywchen) To claim your free copy, please email us at the following address: winners [at] fictionwritersreview.com If you’d like to be eligible for future giveaways, please visit our Twitter Page and “follow” us!


Shop Talk |

Bookish Gift Idea #13: "Storytellers" Tee

by Celeste Ng

This T-shirt is like a book-lover’s visual quiz: it features cartoon representations of 25 famous stories. (Click the right-hand image above to view larger—how many can you name?) It’s available in men’s, women’s, kids’, and infant sizes from Threadless. And check back here at FWR every day in December for more bookish gifts for everyone on your list.


Shop Talk |

"My heart dies a little when I see someone handling a book carelessly."

by Celeste Ng

Do you know Bookfessions? This Tumblr offers confessions of voracious and passionate readers. If you’re such a reader, you’ll find many of these confessions strike a chord with you. These, and many more, at Bookfessions. (All images: Bookfessions.) And if you’ve got book-related confessions of your own, share them with us in the comments.


Reviews |

Journal of the Week: A Public Space

by Michael Rudin

Our latest Journal of the Week, A Public Space, strives to be “a literary forum for the stories behind the news, a fragment of an overheard conversation, a peek at the novel the person next to you on the subway is reading, the life you invent for the man in front of you at the supermarket checkout line. Ideas and stories about the things that confront us, amuse us, confound us, intrigue us.”


Shop Talk |

Faulkner meets HBO

by Celeste Ng

David Milch, the creator of NYPD Blue and Deadwood, will be bringing Faulker’s literary works to HBO. Yup, you read that right. Reports the New York Times: “I’m not, probably, the first person they would have thought of approaching them,” Mr. Milch said in a phone interview, referring to his months-long discussions with the William Faulkner Literary Estate. “But a number of conversations were fruitful and here we are.” But the Times points out Milch isn’t as far-fetched a choice as you might think: But before he started putting colorful words in the mouths of Andy Sipowicz and Al Swearengen, […]


Shop Talk |

Bookish Gift Idea #12: The Storymatic

by Celeste Ng

Here’s a great gift for a young writer, a game buff, or a teacher. The Storymatic provides 500 cards suggesting characters, images, and events to lead players into a story: First, draw two gold cards. Combine the information on the two cards to create your main character. For example, if you draw “surgeon” and “amateur boxer,” your character is a surgeon who is also a boxer. Next, draw one or two copper cards. Let the information on the cards lead you into a story. Wild cards are interspersed throughout, and they prompt you to go in directions you might not […]




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