geekyBecause every group is essentially a sociological tide pool, shifting slightly whenever the tide comes in but still cross-contaminating itself at a remarkable rate, we also tend to have a somewhat distorted view of "everybody." I bet if you polled a sample size of, say, the readership of this journal, you'd discover that Rosemary and Rue was one of the best-known books of 2009. Why? Because I wrote it, and talk about it constantly, and you read this journal, hence exposing you to it on a constant basis. I'm a literary pathogen!
On a more localized scale, we loan books to our friends, talk books up to our friends, and constantly infect each other with our literary passions. In the last year, I have caused my friends to read I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Shivers, A Madness of Angels, the complete works of Kelley Armstrong, The Mermaid's Madness, The Enchantment Emporium, and Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded. These aren't the only good books I've read in the last year; they're just the ones new enough to still be available, and to have excited me with their sudden existence.
So here is today's challenge: Infect us with books we may not have heard of, but which are so damn AWESOME that it verges on a crime that more people don't know about them. Go for out-of-print things (that's why libraries and used bookstores exist), or the first books in series that started eight years ago. Bring enlightenment to the heathen, in the form of literary smallpox.
I'll start with five of my favorites, books I honestly think everyone should read (whether you enjoy them is up to you):
Hellspark, by Janet Kagen.
Mermaid's Song, by Alida Van Gorres.
Emergence, by David Palmer.
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl, by Tim Pratt.
Paper Moon, by Joe David Brown.
Authors, feel free to pimp your own work here; just get the word out, and let's see what we're not reading!
May 22 2010, 16:35:15 UTC 7 years ago
The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak.
The Egyptologist, by Arthur Phillips.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.
Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore.
Then there are various books I read when I was growing up. Season of Passage, by Christopher Pike (I was a HUGE Christopher Pike and could recommend dozens of his books). Half Magic, by Edward Eager. The Dark Green Tunnel, by Allan W. Eckert (which I look for in used bookstores ALL THE TIME and have never been able to find, nor the sequel, The Wand: The Return to Mesmeria. In retrospect, they're blatant Narnia rip-offs, but they're awesome, and I enjoyed them more). Experiment in Terror, by Bernal C. Payne, whose author I can never remember so I don't remember to look for it in used bookstores. I don't remember how awesome is it, but I sure loved it as a kid, such that I still remember it fondly now.
I'm sure there are books I'm not thinking of that I should spread.
June 14 2010, 18:39:04 UTC 7 years ago