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Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Natalie Beach–“I Was Caroline Calloway” (The Cut, September 10, 2019)

Posted in Addiction, Caroline Calloway, Language, Liars, Natalie Beach, Nostalgia, Social Media, The Cut, Word usage on December 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: December 30, 2023] “I Was Caroline Calloway”

Yesterday I read the book Scammer by Caroline Calloway.  It was about Caroline Calloway and Natalie Beach two women who worked together to write a book that never got written (see yesterday’s post for a more sophisticated take on Scammer).

Caroline and Natalie had a feud and Natalie wrote this tell-most in The Cut.

Caroline addressed most of the issues that Natalie raised in Scammer.  But I figured I’d read this too.

Natalie is a good writer, although I feel that Caroline is better.

Natalie’s version of events is certainly darker–she obviously has more details about events that happened to her when Caroline wasn’t around.  She also knows a lot about what happened while Caroline was in an Adderall stupor. (more…)

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Caroline Calloway–Scammer (2023)

Posted in Addiction, Caroline Calloway, Language, Liars, Natalie Beach, Nostalgia, Social Media, The Cut, Word usage on December 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: December 29, 2023] Scammer

We get a surprisingly large number of self-published books at my library.  Most of them I don’t look at, but some look interesting enough to flip through.

This one was packaged with a ribbon around in (and a bookmark), and I loved the text on the back of the book.

“Is Caroline Calloway a scammer?  No.” — The New York Times.

Suffice it to say I had never heard of Caroline Calloway and had no idea what she was scamming, but there was something about this book that made me want to read it.

The book sums up the scamming.  In fact, it is a memoir (of sorts) about her time as a scammer.  She calls this a daybook–the kind of book you could read in a day–although it took me a few days.

The book is set up in 67 vignettes.  And I found the narrator to be quite engaging.  She talks about her family and upbringing a bit, but for the most part she gets right to the scamming.

She always wanted to go to Cambridge University.  She was rejected twice and then lied (a bit) on her transcript to get in on the third try.  She also found an editor (through trickery) and secured a book deal although she had no intention of writing the book.  When she blew through the $100,000 advance and now had to pay it back, she started an OnlyFans account, did some topless photos and made the money back in a few months. (more…)

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Olga Tokarczuk–The Books of Jacob, or: A Fantastic Journey Across Seven Borders, Five Languages, and Three Major Religions, Not Counting the Minor Sects. Told by the Dead, Supplemented by the Author, drawing from a Range of Books, and Aided by Imagination, the Which Being the Greatest Natural Gift of Any Person. That the Wise Might Have It for a Record, That My Compatriots Reflect, Laypersons Gain Some Understanding, and Melancholy Souls Obtain Some Slight Enjoyment (2014) [translated 2021]

Posted in Jennifer Croft, Language, Nostalgia, Olga Tokarczuk, Religion, Translation on December 28, 2023| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: December 28, 2023] The Books of Jacob

I don’t recall when I checked this book out.  I think it was in September, which makes me feel less bad about finishing it in December.  Still three month?  Well, it was 965 pages and I didn’t really read it at home, so I guess that kind of works out.

And now in December I don’t exactly remember why I checked it out.  I think I had an audiobook ad for Tokarczuk’s other book Flights and it was raved about.  I checked out this and Flights at he same time, but Flights was recalled by another patron, so  didn’t get to finish it (I barely started it).

But so I didn’t know what this was about at all. But I love a large book, and this was a large book.  It also had the fun detail that the pages ran backwards (in the acknowledgments, she notes that it is because the book is inspired by Hebrew and is (kind of) right to left for numbering.

I can honestly say that I didn’t realize that this book was kind of non fiction until about half way through the book.  It’s not exactly non-fiction, it’s a fictionalized account of something that happened centuries ago based on research and primary documents.

It’s interesting but not especially compelling.  A whole lot happens but really not much happens.  I could have put it down at just about any point and felt “done.”  And yet I kept coming back to it.  I felt like it was a slog to read, but almost every time I read it, I enjoyed what I read and was surprised at how many pages I read in a sitting. (more…)

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Drew Buxton–“So Much Heart” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #25] (2023)

Posted in Bigfoot, Canadian Content, Christmas, Drew Buxton, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar on December 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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[READ: December 25, 2023] “So Much Heart”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Drew Buxton.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 25. To officially conclude the 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar, here is a story about family, friends, and mysterious suitcases stuffed full of cash.

This story features both Bigfoot and D.B. Cooper.

Set in Oregon, two young kids Collin and Shelley go into the woods with a film camera looking for Bigfoot. (more…)

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Willa Cather–“The Burglar’s Christmas” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #24] (1896)

Posted in Burglary, Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Parenting, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar, Willa Cather on December 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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[READ: December 24, 2023] “The Burglar’s Christmas”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Willa Cather.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 24. Willa Cather, author of O Pioneers! and My Antonia, died in 1947. “The Burglar’s Christmas” first appeared, under a pseudonym, in Home Monthly in 1896.

Yesterday was grifters, today it’s burglars. (more…)

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David Ryan–“Holiday” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #23] (2023)

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, David Ryan, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar on December 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 23, 2023] “Holiday”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was David Ryan.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 23. David Ryan, author of Animals in Motion, would like to open a chequing account.

I happened to be listening to an audio book about a family of grifters–something that I feel like I don’t hear about all that often.  And yet here was a random short story in this collection that is also about a grifter.

Jeremy and Sophia are in bed together.  They have been a couple for a short time, and Sophia has just told him the Lost in the Bank story (her parents lost her in a bank).  Jeremy: Were they high?  Sophia: Probably. (more…)

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Anton Chekov–“Boys” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #22] (1887)

Posted in Anton Chekhov, Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar on December 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 22, 2023] “Boys”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Anton Chekhov.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 22. Anton Chekhov, one of the greatest Russian writers of all time, died in 1904. His story “At Christmas Time” appeared in the 2016 Short Story Advent Calendar, among other places.

This story was translated by Constance Garnett (who died in 1946). (more…)

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Binnie Kirshenbaum–“The Gift of the Magi Revisited” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #21] (2020)

Posted in Binnie Kirshenbaum, Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar on December 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 21, 2023] “The Gift of the Magi Revisited”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Binnie Kirshenbaum.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 21. Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of Rabbits for Food, can’t find the receipt, so will settle for store credit.

I was concerned when I saw the title of this one because it’s a lot to reference a stone-cold classic in the title of your story and then say you are revisiting it.  I feared the worst: either Kirshenbaum would try to improve on the story or she would make a kind of anti-Gift of the Magi, which would be negative and nasty. (more…)

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Leopoldine Core–“The Skull” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #20] (2023)

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Leopoldine Core, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar on December 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 20, 2023] “The Skull”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Leopoldine Core.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 20. Leopoldine Core, author of When Watched, steers clear of Facebook Marketplace.

This was a short story about, yes, a skull.  (more…)

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Colin Winnette–“Ghost Mountain Island Murder Mystery” [The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar #18] (2014)

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Colin Winnette, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar on December 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 18, 2023] “Ghost Mountain Island Murder Mystery”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Colin Winnette.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 18. Colin Winnette, author of Users, isn’t sure that the snake is part of the experience.

(more…)

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