I was 19 years old before I was assigned a book by a black writer.
NINETEEN.
It took me an extra week (holidays) but I've got a new book review up! Fortune Smiles won the National Book Award earlier this year, and it very recently taught me a thing or twenty about how flexible short fiction can be.
1) Thanks everyone for the well-wishes on making it 23 years!!!! 2) that got me thinking: what other things have I done 23 times?
Every year about 234998723847 people ask me what book they should buy for their loved ones. I’ve streamlined the process.
Remember the young man from last week who said he wanted to interview the Director of NASA? Well his name is Max, he just filed his report, and there are already murmurs about a Pulitzer. After an intense bidding war with all the major media organizations around the world, HONY narrowly edged out the New York Times to secure the rights to the story:
“It all started when I was walking with my dad down a street in midtown. A man, Brandon (an amazing photographer) met me, took our picture and I told him what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said I wanted to be a reporter and that my dream would be to interview the head of NASA. And then NASA responded, how amazing is that? NASA then invited me to interview the administrator today and I learned so much but I’m going to focus on a few things. First of all, I learned that in 2030 we will be on mars! Next, Administrator Bolden (a very nice man) told me that 90% of the film “The Martian“ is real except the size of the dust storm because the atmosphere is too dense. After the interview, we went to the NASA Headquarters Space Operations Center, where I watched the sunrise live from the space station – they see it 16 times a day. I had so much fun and I hope one day that I’ll be able to work for the news again.”
– Max
AHHHH BOOK GIVEAWAY!! FREE BOOK!!! AHHHH!!! (can y’all tell I’m a little excited for my first giveaway on the channel?)
Being young is awesome.
Being a writer is fantastic.
Being both is a little daunting.
New video!! I usually review quote unquote literary fiction... But this is a book I've been waiting on for a year now (and genre restrictions are meant to be broken anyhow). Reading it has felt like a great breather from some of the heavier-hitting fiction that I feel like I'm constantly consuming in grad school.
Compared to the podcast, the Welcome To Night Vale novel has some new characters and some old... but you definitely don't have to listen to the podcast to enjoy the book. It's like Oscar Wilde's wit meets a Neil Gaiman world meets that really ancient and kinda kooky old man who runs the gas station down the world: surprising, funny, odd, surprising again, and then, finally, wise.
Dear October, I feel like I've seen a whole new side to you... and that's confusing. Love, Ryan
(finally the motivation behind my "most well-known book covers" status is revealed)
I had a lot of fun making this.. and I might do it again soon, if I can come up with enough ideas for recognizable covers.
Last weekend on his fall break, a good friend (and his mother) were kind enough to show me some awe-inducing California geography. Thanking my lucky stars for friends who seek out the high ground, who want to see the wide world with their own eyes, and who bring a notebook with them when they go.
The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen. It's been called (repeatedly, seriously so often that it kinda gets annoying) "the most important American novel of the 21st century". He's been called the "Great American Novelist". Ignoring the fact that we're 15 years into the century and ignoring the fact that "great american novel" discussions always piss me off, I guess you could say it's a big deal.
Does The Corrections live up to the hype? (HINT: this is the type of rhetorical question meant to get you to click the link and watch the video in order to get an answer)
Also, if you don't believe me, believe Oprah: "When critics refer to the great American novel, I think, this is it, people!"
Wednesday of last week was International Podcast day, and true to fashion I'm a little late to the game. I started listening to podcasts (and by podcasts I mean Serial) nearly a year ago with the expectation that it would be boring monotone radio programming. Since then I've listened to at least one podcast every week, and I've found all kinds of cool things to listen to.
I can't recommend these five (six, basically) podcasts enough.
So I didn’t bring any bookshelves with me to California...
BUT THAT AIN’T A PROBLEM (tools ‘n stuff)