Category: Staff Blog (Page 7 of 32)
Do you tape beautiful, exotic vistas to your cubicle wall, and wish you were floating on your back in the blue of the Mediterranean? And when the bossman comes round asking for you to work Saturday and Sunday while demanding more TPS reports, do you desire escapism? Fear not comrade! I have some magic beans to sell you. Save yourself a bruising imprint of QWERTY on your head and lose yourself in some good science fiction.
I’ll be the honest Magic Bean Merchant and go ahead and tell you that each of these three beans will produce their own beanstalks that will reach up far beyond the clouded mundaneness of your typical workday.
Also, I’ll be straightforward, there are giants atop the beanstalk. But these giants are not of the Odyssian-cannibal-club swinging-loincloth wearing ilk; rather, they are the profound, contemporary giants of today’s science fiction genre. Neil Stephenson stands atop the tallest stalk I refer to as ‘hard science fiction.’ Atop the beanstalk of fantasy resides the elusive B. Catling, sitting in stoic repose. And lastly, atop the beanstalk of magical realism, beckons the largest giant of all—Haruki Murakami.
Think you can climb the highest beanstalk? Go ahead, limber up the legs of your science bound brain and prepare the ascent of Neil Stephenson’s SevenEves. I determine that SevenEves belongs in the ‘hard science fiction’ subgenre, because of Stephenson’s ability to convince his reader that every single thing happening within this epic is entirely possible and could happen in the real world…well, if some mysterious force were to destroy the moon and the subsequent fallout of moonrocks threatened the complete annihilation of humanity. SevenEves is steeped in physics and engineering lessons. For the first few weeks I was getting into this novel, I relentlessly dreamed (or in some cases had nightmares) that I was haphazardly floating around on the International Space Station trying figure out how to do things like pour dangerous chemicals into beakers in Zero-G to save the human race.
I recommend SevenEves to hard science fiction enthusiasts because Stephenson has mastered his form in this novel in a way that is so immersive and science-y that it would make Michael Crichton blush. Climb aboard if you have the time to devote to this novel, because it is exceedingly dense—but if you are fit to the task you will be directly portal’d to a different time and place that is much more titillating than the real world.
(Also, please, please PLEASE! Will someone read this one? After having finished it I crave, no, I NEED, to have someone to talk to concerning SevenEves. After the end I’ve been gasping for further pontification. For instance: I want to tell you that [if I were a character in this epic] I would be a Neolander (Red) Aidan Beta that retreated to Beringia in order to re-seed Terra Firma with gen-mod grapes [that haven’t been robbed of sweetness by epigenessis] and make new Earth’s first wine vineyard…and protect the whole shindig from those barbaric diggers and dastardly blue Teclans with the crack of my nano-bot composite bull whip.)
The newest stalk, the stalk of fantasy is one climbed only by the most adventuring escapists. This beanstalk is comprised of B. Catling’s first and only published work: The Vorrh. Six or seven plots within The Vorrh revolve and twist around each other. The deadfall switching of narrative voicing and character arcs keeps readers 
on their toes. This mechanic forces the reader to keep guessing what lies at the center of the mystical Vorrh, which is a place hidden in the most remote reaches of Africa where ‘gods walk’ and is even referred to by some as a ‘garden of Eden.’ If the fantasy beanstalk is the one you want to surmount, prepare yourself for The Vorrh and expect to enter the minds of an indigenous tribesman/assassin wielding a talisman-enchanted post WWI rifle, of a lusty Cyclops raised by robots and imprisoned in a mysterious basement, and lastly prepare yourself to visit The Vorrh, being a composite of captured beauty that will send your heart racing and captured terror that will keep your heart skipping.
The last bean I offer you will actually split into two parallel stalks. So, climb one, climb the other, or if you are an exceptionally strong escape artist—Ironman your way up the middle of both at the same time. The legendary king, master of the magical realists’ universe stands at the top, straddling both stalks with his style and enormous narrative gait. He is no other than Haruki Murakami, and the stalks are respectively Kafka on the Shore and IQ84.
So, being the astute Murakami fanboy I seem to be, I gotta tell you these books will blow your mind so bad that you’ll be scraping brains from your wallpaper for weeks. Both are set in real world Japan, and begin tragically trapped by a serendipitous sense of realism, but as the novels evolve, Japanese 
mysticism will rise up from the darkest cracks of unexplored Tokyo and entrance you with plot arcs that will leave your jaw dangling with a loss for words.
If ultra-femenist, ice-pick wielding, super assassins and powerful, corrupt cults are your type of thing, pick up IQ84. If coming of age stories, libraries, shadow walking, leeches raining from the heavens, and a cast of talking cats are more your thing, pick up Kafka on the Shore.
Don’t feel trapped by mediocrity my friend. Thousands of alternate realities await you on the shelves of Lemuria if none of these beanstalks fit your escapist ambitions. Drop by, grab a Lemurian and demand that they help you escape reality.
But, ask for me if any of these magic beans have particularly sparked your curiosity. I’m eager to set you on a steadfast route out of your cubicle. Godspeed, my escape artist comrades!
Initially, I was unsure about reading Meanwhile, There are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald. The feeling of voyeurism was unsettling, disturbing. I soon talked myself out of this, though. Ms. Welty did, after all, give these letters to the Department of Archives and History, knowing full well that someone would read over them. More importantly, Susanne Marrs—one of the book’s editors who is recognized as the leading authority on Welty’s writing—would not allow anything improper to be printed. Dr. Marrs’ devotion to Welty goes beyond the academic: the two were friends, and Marrs’ commitment to that friendship has endured long after Welty’s death.
So, I got a copy. And I’m loving it.
The mystery writer Kenneth Millar, under the pen name Ross Macdonald, dazzled readers with his books for over two decades, starting in the early 1950’s. A longtime reader and fan of Eudora Welty’s fiction, he dropped her a simple fan letter in 1971. Welty reciprocated both the letter and admiration (she was a voracious reader, especially of mystery novels) and a friendship born of letters followed. In Meanwhile, There are Letters, editors Marrs and Tom Nolan (an expert on Macdonald) have arranged the letters chronologically, adding annotations to give context about the world outside of the epistles.
We as readers get to see the friendship emerge, and possibly move into more intimate territory. So many things prevented Welty and Macdonald (Millar) from physically consummating a relationship: his marriage, their age, his declining health. Yet, the love engendered between these two souls is genuine. Don’t pick up this book if you’re looking for high drama and overwrought romance. Instead, get a copy to follow a beautiful companionship based on mutual love of reading, observing, writing, and living. Meanwhile, There are Letters isn’t a rapid page-turner: it’s a leisurely lope through a vast emotional landscape with two guides who know and love the territory.
I have just finished a season of reading that can only be termed lovely. I must confess to having a not-so-secret adoration for lovely things, particularly books. Eudora Welty provides an apt description of her own love of books in One Writer’s Beginnings. “I cannot remember a time when I was not in love with them — with the books themselves, covers and bindings and the paper they were printed on, with their smell and their weight and with their possession in my arms, captured and carried off to myself.”
This last season of my reading has been filled with two icons of southern literature; Harper Lee and Eudora Welty. My venture first began with a rereading of Ms. Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird in preparations for the release of Go Set A Watchman. I knew I could not have completely grasped its depth when I originally read it at a much younger age, and I knew my move to the South must have also granted additional insight. I so enjoyed and appreciated Mockingbird and heartily recommend a rereading or first reading to those that may have held out all these years. It really is that good.
Mockingbird is enjoyable, insightful, and convicting. There are gems within that gave me chills the second go-round. As an adult, and therefore having lived more of life, there was a relational aspect I missed with the first reading. Post-read, I am left with such thoughts courtesy of the famous fictional character Atticus Finch, such as, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.” . . . But before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”Much ado has been made of the release of Go Set A Watchman. I don’t feel the need to expound greatly on the text except to state that I enjoyed the read. It is an an pleasurable read different from Mockingbird, as should be expected from a first draft. More than anything I enjoyed the character development of an older Jean Louise [Scout.] I was forced to set the relatively easy read aside as her character hit a little too close to home; her sometimes senseless independence, and the heartbreak and anguish felt when she began to really know her family. I encourage everyone to put aside the controversy and pict it up yourself. Harper Lee gave us a great American Classic. Should I really have to say more?
I finished up this season with Ms. Welty’s One Writer’s Beginnings. I so enjoyed the simple account of Eudora Welty’s development into the woman and writer she became. She recounts her love of books, her father’s love of knowledge, and the significance of our life events. “The time as we know it subjectively is often the chronology that stories and novels follow: it is the continuous thread of revelation.”Both she and Harper Lee have left an incredible legacy that we will hold as American gems for generations to come. I have given much thought on what a legacy is in this stage of my life; what I want mine to look like, and whether or not social media detracts and distracts from this generation’s ability for a tangible legacy. Thoughts for another blog. 🙂
My immersion in Southern literature has drawn to a close for now. There are other books and topics that must be looked into, but I will return. I have a better understanding of the sometimes intangible “southern culture” by having a better understanding of its modern history. I heartily recommend To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman, and One Writer’s Beginnings, if you are looking for lovely summer reads.
This summer, amid the heat and the mosquitoes, and behind the soft and desperate whoosh of a hand fan, there will be a book festival. It will be the first ever of its kind in the state of Mississippi, and to that I say: it’s high damn time. It’s time to celebrate the literary history of this state with the fanfare (and booze) that it deserves; and what better way to do that than gather together some of the finest Southern authors of our time to discuss the works of their contemporaries and influences.
The first ever Mississippi Book Festival will kick off on the south steps of the state Capitol on Saturday, August 22 at 10:00 am. The day will be packed to the gills with author panels, special events (namely, the Willie Morris memorial luncheon with speaker John Grisham), live music, great food, and pop-up shops for everyone. Bringing kids? Cool. There’s a tent for those kids, courtesy of The Children’s Museum. Eudora Welty fanatic? Who isn’t? The good people of the Eudora Welty House will be there with bells on, as will University Press of Mississippi, Millsaps College, and a whole slew of publishers, authors, and the like. Want a beer? Go get a beer, because we’ll have those too. At the end of the day, Parlor Market will be hosting the after party as part of their PM burger street fest, and after that after party will be the after after party in the same location sponsored by Cathead Vodka. What I’ve just listed are several reasons for you to come on top of the amazing author panels scheduled.
The festival is free and open to the public, and all of the authors scheduled throughout the day will have books for sale in the Lemuria tent. That’s right! We’ll have a tent! In that tent you will find several eager and sweaty Lemurians, awesome merchandise, and day-of volunteers ready to hand out fans and maps; excited to help you find the perfect book. If volunteering in our tent sounds totally awesome to you, just email hillary@lemuriabooks.com and we’ll schedule a time slot for you. Comes with a free Lemuria tank top. Boom. Free.
We are SO excited about all of this, and we hope that you are too. It’s my hope that the first book festival will surprise us all with its attendance, media coverage, and outreach. I want to end the day happy and exhausted, exclaiming, “We didn’t bring enough books!” So let’s make this happen. Share the website with your friends, send in a donation, grab your lawn chairs, your reading glasses and your sunscreen, and let’s make this the best first festival ever.
Let’s be honest, when a book with a title as great as Barbara the Slut and Other People comes out, you have to jump on it.
Short stories are the red-headed stepchild of books. Where’s the payoff? The well-honed characters? It’s hard to be swept away in 20 pages. I get it. But sometimes I cheat on my diet of lengthy novels for a candy-sized quick fix. I want something weird and uncanny and I want it fast.
I want to tell everyone about this book, but I especially want to tell them about the title story that rips open the barely-healed wounds of high school (and adulthood, too). Barbara, who has earned her moniker, is all of us trying and failing to navigate the pecking order of high school (and adulthood). She just wants to go to a good college, to leave the pimply boys behind her and be something bigger, to untangle her aspirations from her boredom. But the decisions we make ripple farther then we intend. Especially with sex. If you don’t buy this book, that’s fine. But please come find a comfortable chair in the bookstore and take fifteen minutes to read THIS story. It will break your heart.
And then there is “My Humans.” Told from the perspective of the dog, who spends a good amount of time licking and scratching and eating unusual things, we watch a relationship bloom and flower and wilt without the emotional attachment of someone involved. It is hauntingly familiar.
Like most short story collections, there are always a couple duds–the stories you have such high expectations for but that for some reason or other don’t deliver as hard of a punch. “Desert Hearts” follows a law school graduate as she poses as a lesbian to work at a sex shop in San Francisco. It has all the makings of a good story. Great setting? check. Characters with flaws for days? check. A conflict that is more real for us then we would like? check. But the story falls flat at the end. I don’t want redemption in a story this much in the gutter.
Don’t let this deter you from this collection, because when Lauren Holmes nails it, the nail goes in straight. Our human desire for belonging and intimacy have never had such a keen lens pointed at them as these stories have in the capable hands of Lauren Holmes. She bares us all on the page.
Barbara the Slut just came out this week and is available at Lemuria.
My favorite books are ones that speak to my heart and head, ones that make me think but also affect my emotions. The Story of Land and Sea is one of these books. With lucid prose, historical and cultural accuracy, and a set of complex yet relatable characters, this debut novel from Jackson native Katy Simpson Smith has been one of the best I’ve read this year.
The novel’s plot follows three generations—John and Helen, their daughter Tabitha, and Helen’s father Asa—as their lives twine and separate and twine together again. Set in coastal North Carolina soon after the revolutionary war, the story’s themes of struggle and discovery mirror our then-fledgling nation’s obstacles of defining itself as something other than a former colony. But it’s more than just a parable for our country: the characters are so compelling and relatable, even for readers seated comfortably nearly four centuries later. John, the center of most of the plots, is a former pirate who marries Helen, daughter of the wealthy landowner Asa. Rather than falling into the trappings of cliché, Smith keeps the plot believable by focusing on the characters’ personalities, all of whom are likable, relatable, yet capable of much unsavoriness. (I’m being vague on purpose. If you want to know what happens, you’ll need to come buy a copy).
The cultural and historical accuracy of this story is another place my affinity rests. Smith has a PhD in history from UNC, and she applies her knowledge of early America without turning the novel into a textbook. The sentences themselves flow so easily, I found myself lost in the beauty of the writing several times. Here’s an example, focusing on the wedding of John and Helen:
The marriage takes place in the summer, among the heaved-up roots of the live oak, the lone tree that curves over the front lawn, bend and contorted to the shapes the easterly wind made. Moll [a slave] fidgets in a yellow linen dress with two petticoats and holds a spray of goldenrod that she pulled from the back garden; no one else had thought to.
With writing this good, it makes sense that one of the central images in the book is water. Like water, this story, its characters, and its words are fluid and powerful.
Join us tonight at 5:00 for a discussion and signing for The Story of Land and Sea with Katy Simpson Smith and fellow author and historian Suzanne Marrs!
Ernest Cline is one of many riding the wave after the dam broke open on nerd culture in America; and he is riding it higher than almost anyone. He is currently sitting near the top- not because he tried to blend his particular tastes into a mainstream-friendly book with a few cultural references sprinkled about, but because he unscrewed the top of the salt shaker and drowned us in them. He demands a cursory knowledge of video games, anime, John Hughes movies, Rush songs, Call of Duty, Star Wars and arguing with strangers on message boards. The more you know about any of these, the more easter eggs and snarky jokes you will get (and he gives more than you will see in a one hundred different books).
Armada was a real pleasure to read. It explods off the launch pad into a blazing fast novel of space ship battles with some really heart-felt moments. Cline makes no effort to hide where this book is headed from page one: we’re about to fight some filthy squids in space. Ernest Cline will be (and is) the first one to let us know that he, more than most, understands that this trope to be all too familiar. But if it is so familiar to us all, maybe there is a reason for that. Maybe all this violence in video games does rub off on us. Maybe we should be hoping that it does. (No spoilers, so I can’t explain why)
I think this second effort by Ernest Cline has a few weak spots, but the straight-as-an-arrow plotline is forgotten as soon as you step into the first space ship. All of the sarcasm and witty dialogue that got our attention in Ready Player One (Cline’s first novel) is front and center here. The nerd culture explosion of movies, games, and music will be there as only Ernest Cline can deliver.
This swell in the popularity of fan-based culture can be attributed to a lot of different things, the internet being at the top of this list, but there is another reason. People finally realized that the kids spending hundreds of dollars to create a cosplay of that one alien in the background of that one scene in Star Trek are the same people that will empty their bank accounts into new, exciting content. Spend some money on this crowd and they will spend money on you. This has lead to a huge expansion in the attention big studios are giving nerd-centered projects that reward the big-budget glossy paint job so well.
Ernest Clines’ first book Ready Player One is now in the very capable hands of Mr. Steven Spielberg. If the release of this movie is as big as I think it is going to be, then Ernest Clines’ spot on the throne of contemporary nerd-hood will be set until someone sees fit to challenge him (via a head to head game of Joust probably).
Jupiter Ascending: The best action film you can imagine? NOPE
One thing I know, and I know it well: we nerds are a fickle bunch. We don’t want to be tricked with special effects to patch up a weak plot (I’m looking at you, Jupiter Rising) and we will scream at the top of our caps lock keys to let everyone know about it. Lord help he who leaves a plot hole; in other words, don’t mess with time travel- it usually won’t work out well for you. Green screens look like green screens, period. Cameos are fun, but like special effects, you can’t just substitute Stan Lee making a pun in place of a little character development. Do I need to mention that we are an impatient bunch? Just ask George Martin (or Rothfuss or Lucas or Tool for that matter). If you follow these complicated, difficult rules then you still might fail and we will offer no sympathy for 10 years. After 10 years you will get invited to a couple comic cons and become a “cult classic.” For those that walk through the flame of the message boards and battle the mighty comic-con panels your reward shall be fans as far as the eye can see.
I hope you find this new swing in pop culture as exciting as I do. Come celebrate this nerd pride with us tonight at 5:00 in our .dot.com building and meet Ernest Cline himself. We’ll be the ones in the corner selling copies of Armada, Ready Player One, awesome merch, and quoting The Breakfast Club or arguing with you about the over use of the eagles in The Lord of the Rings. We would love to nerd out with you.
Secret societies, missing pop stars, history and mystery and music and revenge, The Ghost Network is a lot of things… here’s what it is not:
A dating website for restless spirits.
A public access television channel catering to the interests of the undead.
The best book you’ll read this year.
I know, I know… bad bookseller loose on the blog. Maybe I’m supposed to tell you that this book will be life changing, but it just isn’t. While it uses quite a few things that I am personally obsessed with, and seems to revolve around varying levels of obsession, I wasn’t particularly obsessed with the book itself.
So why am I writing about it? Because it is FUN. Duh.
It’s a fun book! What more do you want here as summer is slipping away? Take a break from the required reading. Deviate from that “to read” list you’ve been adding to all year. Stick your nose in a book that doesn’t ask for too much.
That’s what The Ghost Network is: a book that doesn’t ask for much. If you stick with it, Catie Disabato lays just about everything out for you by the end. Part of the novel’s charm is the pseudo-journalistic style of Disabato, or rather, the character version she has created of herself. She is telling the story in a matter of fact fashion, because she is following the facts. It is presented as a cold case followed by a number of characters, and while Disabato’s is the voice putting all the puzzle pieces together, it is full of footnotes, anecdotes, and references to interviews that try to give it the weight of reading a police report.
Throughout the investigation, Disabato clues the reader into the activities of a secret society, their motives and methods, and weaves real world history, geography, and pop culture into their intrigue. I almost feel sorry for anyone that picks this book up after 2015, because it is meant for a right now audience. The missing diva is clearly a stand in for our world’s Lady Gaga, but with a side of conspiracy, and the characters looking for her could be any number of her devoted fans, served with heaping helpings of free time, an extra order of natural detective ability, and an insatiable appetite for pop.
You’ll encounter hidden methods of public transportation, secret headquarters under attack, and terrorist plots gone wrong. You’ll see young people falling in love, sacrifice for the greater good, and vengeful back up dancers. You’ll find plenty to google when you’re done, and all set against a beautiful, snowy Chicago skyline.
Photo Credit: Seeingspots Photography
In short, The Ghost Network is a meta romp through hip culture that touches on the obsessive delights of a millennial generation and appropriates art, history, and philosophy to legitimize its snowballing, mystery plot. And it’s fun.
If you’ve missed it, comic books have grown up over the last decade. It’s no longer the world of caped crusaders and villains with daddy issues. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good arch nemesis like the next guy, but more and more I find myself turning to comic books for the same thing I find in a novel. But with pictures.
The landscape of Alex + Ada is a familiar trope. It’s the future and artificial intelligence has been achieved but with disastrous results. The robots rebelled (eg iRobot, Bladerunner, Battlestar Galactica etc.) and are now, for safety’s sake, reduced to the I.Q.s of a fancy toaster.
Alex, a single man in his late-twenties/early thirties faces everything we all do when single at that age–nervous family members. In order to assuage his loneliness, Alex’s grandmother buys him a companion-bot for his birthday–a woman with Prime Intelligence who can keep him company. Ada is a few crayons short of a box; she looks human enough, but is unable to make any original decisions.
But Prime Intelligence robots can be jailbroken.
The story jack-knifes into a world of hackers and government officials. Of unlikely romance. Of insatiable sci-fi drama. What at first seems to be a predictable story is anything but.
Alex + Ada is a wonderful romp into a not-too-distant future that is uncannily familiar and questions what makes us human.