Pines by Blake Crouch
Platform: Â Paperback (Amazon)
Small town with a secret! As you probably know, this is one of my favorite sub-genres, and Crouch does a wonderful job with it here.
Non-spoilery synopsis: A Secret Service agent gets in a car accident while in Wayward Pines, Idaho. Bad things ensue.
Spoilery synopsis: Watch the trailer below. This book is being made into a star-studded TV show and it will air on Fox this fall. It looks beautiful, but the trailer gives away A LOT of the book. You have been warned.
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
Platform: Digital (Oyster)
I love memoirs that focus on a particular time period or subject rather than jamming a full lifetime into one book. This one is all about Steve Martin’s experiences as a stand up comedian. It tracks his journey from a young man learning the performance ropes at Disneyland all the way through his decision to walk away from stand up forever. Martin is a great writer and this book has a lot to say about art, comedy, and the evolution of a performer.
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Platform: Digital (Humble Bundle)
It’s the 1880s. The Civil War is still a thing that is happening. Seattle is a wasteland contaminated by a strange gas that kills people and then brings them back as zombies. The gas can also be used to make a popular (and valuable) drug, so airship pirates frequent the nearly abandoned city to harvest the gas.
So, you know, the usual.
Priest strikes a wonderful balance of action, big ideas, and small character moments. This book is only six or so years old, but it is already considered by many to be a sci-fi classic. It’s steam punk at its finest.
Also, Priest is a fellow Eastern Tennessean. Â Represent!
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
Platform: Digital (Oyster)
Annie and Buster Fang kids had weird childhoods. Their parents were performance artists, and they often involved their children in their strange public spectacles. Which is to say that Annie and Buster spent their time creating bizarre scenes at shopping malls. Now the kids are grown up and their relationships with Mom and Dad are rocky at best. But the performance art may not be over yet.
This is book is so strange and wonderful. It’s hard not to use the word quirky, though I will try. It has a bit of a Wes Anderson vibe, which I consider to be a good thing. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. Go check it out. (Please and thank you).
In a strange coincidence. Kevin Wilson is ALSO a fellow Eastern Tennessean. Go southern literature!