Category: Literature

Muerte en una estrella – Shooting Star: An excellent, disturbing novel in first English translation – #fiction #bookreview

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

    Muerte en Una Estrella – Shooting Star Sergio D. Elizondo English Translation by Rosaura Sánchez and Beatriz Pita (Arte Público Press – paperback) Available for the first time in English, this excellent and troubling bilingual novel imagines the dying thoughts of two Mexican youths after they were shot by Austin police in March, … Continue reading Muerte en una estrella – Shooting Star: An excellent, disturbing novel in first English translation – #fiction #bookreview

The Valley – Estampas del valle: Now in bilingual paperback for the first time – #bookreview

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

The Valley / Estampas del valle Rolando Hinojosa (Arte Público Press – paperback) The long-turbulent Texas-Mexico border is in the news once again. So this is a timely moment to introduce or reintroduce readers to the famed Klail City Death Trip Series, fifteen books written by Rolando Hinojosa. The series is in a mythical Texas county on … Continue reading The Valley – Estampas del valle: Now in bilingual paperback for the first time – #bookreview

Matzo Frogs – A hopping-good children’s book about acts of kindness – #bookreview #children’s books

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

Matzo Frogs Sally Rosenthal (author) and David Sheldon (illustrations) (NewSouth Books – hardcover) Matzo Frogs is a fun tale, delightfully told and superbly illustrated. It tells and shows how one act of kindness can lead to another:  “Mitzvah goreret mitzvah.” The book has been created for children and for parents of children who are still learning to … Continue reading Matzo Frogs – A hopping-good children’s book about acts of kindness – #bookreview #children’s books

2014 Poet’s Market – Yes, you can get published and maybe even make (very little) money – #poetry #bookreview

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

2014 Poet’s Market Edited by Robert Lee Brewer (Writer’s Digest Books – paperback, Kindle) C’mon, admit it. You hated poetry in high school, and you seldom read it now. Yet, you sometimes find yourself moved to write a poem–or at least attempt to. And you wonder if the ones you actually finish are good enough … Continue reading 2014 Poet’s Market – Yes, you can get published and maybe even make (very little) money – #poetry #bookreview

Book Briefs: Cormac McCarthy, Prehistoric Central Texas, Rio Grande border – #bookreview

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

Here are three specialized books for serious readers of specialized topics. The first provides a “comprehensive yet concise overview” of Cormac McCarthy’s “legacy in American literature.”  The second examines a 14th century civilization in Central Texas that “represents the last prehistoric peoples before the cultural upheaval introduced by European explorers.” And the third delves into … Continue reading Book Briefs: Cormac McCarthy, Prehistoric Central Texas, Rio Grande border – #bookreview

Lunch with Buddha – An entertaining, engrossing, thought-provoking American road-trip novel – #bookreview

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

Lunch with Buddha Roland Merullo (PFP/Ajar, Kindle, paperback) To be honest, I was not really aware of Roland Merullo until his publisher contacted me offering a review copy of an enticingly titled new novel, Lunch with Buddha. I could blame my “Who?” reaction on my intense focus toward reviewing technology books over the past two … Continue reading Lunch with Buddha – An entertaining, engrossing, thought-provoking American road-trip novel – #bookreview

The Silver Lotus – fine historical fiction by Thomas Steinbeck – #bookreview

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

The Silver Lotus By Thomas Steinbeck (Counterpoint, hardback, list price $25.00; Kindle, $9.99) Written in the style and language of a 19th-century novel, The Silver Lotus is a grand, sweeping, absorbing tale of Pacific seafaring, romance, family, and business and cultural interactions that ultimately help spur the growth and development of the Northern California coast. This … Continue reading The Silver Lotus – fine historical fiction by Thomas Steinbeck – #bookreview

Fante: A Family’s Legacy of Writing, Drinking and Surviving – #bookreview #writing #screenwriting

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

Fante: A Family’s Legacy of Writing, Drinking and Surviving By Dan Fante (Harper Perennial, $14.99, paperback; $9.99, Kindle) Italian-American novelist and screenwriter John Fante wanted his son Dan to become a plumber or electrician, not a writer or worse, an actor. He had strong and bitter reasons behind that desire, as Dan Fante movingly notes … Continue reading Fante: A Family’s Legacy of Writing, Drinking and Surviving – #bookreview #writing #screenwriting

Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Apricot Jam and Other Stories’ – #bookreview #fiction #Russia – updated

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

Apricot Jam and Other Stories By Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Counterpoint, $28.00) A major literary work is now available for readers who relish the works of modern Russian writers, particularly the ones who rebelled against communism’s restrictive censorship and social, legal and economic rigidities and achieved international acclaim during the final decades of the Soviet Union. Apricot Jam and Other Stories,  an engrossing collection of eight short stories … Continue reading Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Apricot Jam and Other Stories’ – #bookreview #fiction #Russia – updated

Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Apricot Jam and Other Stories’ – #bookreview

by Sagecreek Productions LLC

Apricot Jam and Other Stories By Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Counterpoint, $28.00) A major literary work is now available for readers who relish the works of modern Russian writers, particularly the ones who rebelled against communism’s restrictive censorship and social, legal and economic rigidities and achieved international acclaim during the final decades of the Soviet Union. Apricot Jam and Other Stories,  an engrossing collection of eight short … Continue reading Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Apricot Jam and Other Stories’ – #bookreview