CR Newsletter Jan: Moving to Substack

Hello beautiful reading folk.  Happy new year!  Just a quick post to let you know that I'm moving this blog over to Substack.  After deleting 40 spam messages, I figure that's a better place for interaction and as people had already begun following me over there even though I was just reading other people's blogs (with the occasional comment), I figured it was a more active place.  So if you want our monthly updates and maybe a bit more - festival news, the odd poetry essay, and other literary things that don't quite fit anywhere else, that's your place.  I promise I will never monetise it - Compulsive Reader, the Podcast, and my Substack will always be free, so please join over there as I slowly transition this site.  Thank you for your ongoing engagement - I know this is a busy, noisy, and content rich world and I appreciate you!  

https://open.substack.com/pub/magdalenaball/p/compulsive-reader-newsletter-january?r=3h81d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Compulsive Reader Newsletter December

Hello readers.  Our December newsletter is currently on the way to your inbox.  This month features two terrific new giveaways including an audiobook, as well as new reviews like The Under Hum by Simone Muench & Jackie K. White, The Thirty-One Legs of Vladimir Putin by PS Cottier and NG Hartland, Invisible Wasp by Stephanie Powell along with many more including interviews with Interview with Zoje Stage,  Shari Caplan, and Steve Rasnic Tem.  We also have our featured interview with PS Cottier and NG Hartland and of course our big literary news roundup.  You can view an online copy here: 

https://compulsivereader.com/sendpress/email/?sid=MA&eid=MjY0Mzc

If you aren't a subscriber, visit: http://www.compulsivereader.com and you can subscribe directly.  Happy reading! 

Image: Books in HCRO Dorm Library" by C G-K is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Compulsive Reader Newsletter November

 

The November Compulsive Reader newsletter has just gone out and is making its way to inboxes around the world right now.  This month we have double the usual number of reviews and interviews (trying to get on top of the backlog) and a whole bunch of exciting global literary news including such things as the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Cundill History Prize, the Nobel Prize, the Giller Prize, the Wallace Stevens Award, the Patrick White, and the National Translation Awards in Poetry and Prose to name just a few. Of course we all have our monthly giveaways. If you haven't gotten it, want to check it out, or can't wait, visit: the online archive.  To sign up, visit: http://www.compulsivereader.com. 

Compulsive Reader Newsletter - October 2024

Hi readers.  The October Compulsive Reader Newsletter has just gone out with a baker's dozen of new reviews including Beam of Light by John Kinsella (catch John Kinsella, our featured intervewee reading from and talking about Beam of Light here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4b5Q9iZrRwSper0vrvXlUD?si=mGha_ip-Qm-CTNHOT6nJLQ), Maze by Jennifer Juneau, The Book of Happiness by Joseph Mark Glazner, and Diane Mehta’s Tiny Extravaganzas.  We've got our usual big literary news roundup for the month of September, and two fantastic new giveaways.  If you're a subscriber it should be in your inbox soon, but if you can't wait, you can: View it in your browser.  If you're not a subscriber, sign up here: http://www.compulsivereader.com

Image: Abhi Sharma from India, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

CR Newsletter August 2024

The Compulsive Reader newsletter for August is on its way to inboxes. This month features quite a few interviews including our Compulsive Reader Talks feature with Patti Miller, whose classic book Writing True Stories has been extensively revised and reissued.  We also have reviews of Zero at the Bone by Christian Wiman, The Inhabitants by Beth Castrodale, Little River of Amazement by Mary Kay Rummel, and Not So Distant World by Grace Cavalieri to name just a few. Of course there is a new book giveaway for a copy of Farhang Book One by Patrick Woodcock,  and the big literary news round up. I always have lots of books to giveaway and I've been choosing some book winners at random from subscribers as well, so make sure you're subscribed and you might just win a book!  

To check out the newsletter in the archive visit: Archive.  To subscribe, visit http://www.compulsivereader.com and pop your email in the box on the upper right side.  Happy reading!  

Compulsive Reader Newsletter May

Another month has gone by and the May Compulsive Reader newsletter is now on its way to inboxes everywhere.  I've been trying to get on top of my backlog of reviews so keep adding more and more to what used to be 10 a month.  This month we actually have 16 new reviews and 2 interviews, including Turn Up the Heat's Ruth Danson along with our Compulsive Reader Talks segment with the wonderful Kent MacCarter who reads from and talks about his book Fat Chance, also reviewed. We have 2 new book giveaways including Night of the Hawk by Lauren Martin and The Alone Time by Elle Marr, and of course a huge round up of awards and other literary news from around the world.  If you haven't gotten yours yet, or just want to check it out before you subscribe (for free of course), you can pick up a copy in our permanent archive: 

CR Newsletter May: Justin Gardiner, Patrick Woodcock, Karen Van Fossan, Kent MacCartercompulsivereader.com

To subscribe, just visit http://www.compulsivereader.com  and put your email address in the subscribe box on the upper right hand side and join the fun.  Happy reading! 

Compulsive Reader Newsletter Dec

The December Compulsive Reader Newsletter has just gone out.  As always the issue is chock-full of new book reviews and interviews including The Lady in The Bottle by Rozanna Lilley, Aboard the Time Line by Bastian Gregory, The Unreal City by Mike Lala, See What I Mean by Charles Rammelkamp, A Brilliant Life by Rachelle Unreich, and lots more as well as 2 new book giveaways, interviews and much more.  To read it online visit: Compulsive Reader Newsletter archive.  To sign up visit: http://www.compulsivereader.com

Happy reading!  

Compulsive Reader Newsletter Feb

 

The February Compulsive Reader newsletter is now out, on its way to your inbox. This month's edition features reviews of new books by authors like Caroline Goodwin, Rachel Harper, Shilo Niziolek, Lucy Dougan,  Linda Adair, Jessica Bell, and many more. We also have an extensive literary news roundup for the month of January and two new giveaways.  If you want a preview or to read it now, you can View it in your browser.  To sign up and join our worldwide community of people who love books, just visit: http://www.compulsivereader.com

Compulsive Reader Newsletter - January

Happy new year readers!  The Compulsive Reader newsletter for January has now gone out. I have some news that I'm quite excited about - my new book Bobish is officially available. Bobish is a verse memoir of my great-grandmother Rebecca Lieberman, who migrated from the Shtetls of Eastern Europe to the US in 1907.  The book is getting some wonderful reviews including, most recently, this one from Geoff Nelder: "Such a wonderful prosody of verse conveying tragedy in a beautiful way. Magdalena is such an expert at the juxtaposition of sadness with hope, terror with exquisiteness." If you order a copy, please let me know and I'll send you a free, custom autographed bookplate posted anywhere in the world (if it's for a gift - just let me know who for and any special instructions) - limited offer until my bookplates run out! You can find out more about Bobish at https://magdalenaball.com/?page_id=932   

This month 's new reviews and interviews include the powerful anthology Voices of Freedom: Contemporary Writing from Ukraine edited by Kateryna Kazimirova and Daryna Anastasieva (and check out my new audio/video interview with Kateryna here: https://anchor.fm/compulsivereader/episodes/Kateryna-Kazimirova-on-Voices-of-Freedom-Contemporary-Writing-From-Ukraine-e1shs92), Ore Choir: The Lava on Iceland by Katy Didden, Anamnesis By Denise O’Hagan and lots more. 

You should receive yours soon but if you can't wait or you want to see what all the fuss is about, you can view a copy in the archive here.

To sign up or read all of our reviews, and check out my new audio/video interview with the amazing Hazel Smith, visit: http://www.compulsivereader.com

CR Newsletter for April

 

Happy April!  The April Compulsive Reader Newsletter has now gone out.  This month's issue has links to over sixteen reviews and interviews plus a news/awards roundup, and three new giveaways!  If you're a subscriber it should be on its way or in your inbox already.  If you're not getting it please try whitelisting Compulsive Reader, or you can go grab a copy directly from our archive.  

If you're not a subscriber, you can subscribe for free at http://www.compulsivereader.com. 

Happy reading!  

"'Book' shop" by Elsie esq. is marked with CC BY 2.0.

CR Newsletter March is out!

The March Compulsive Reader Newsletter has just gone out. This month we feature interviews with Keats' Ode's Anahid Nersessian and A Gentle Tyranny's Jess Corban as well as eight new reviews including, among other things, Elena Ferrante's new book The Lying Life of Adults, Vegan Junk Food by Zacchary Bird, and Sonnets by Theresa Rodriguez. There are also two new giveaways and a whole bevy of literary news from around the world. It should be arriving in your inbox directly, but if you haven't gotten it yet, you can grab a copy from the archive, here: 

 http://www.compulsivereader.com/sendpress/email/?sid=MA&eid=MTYyNzI

CR Newsletter for Oct is out

The October edition of Compulsive Reader News has just gone out.  This month we have interviews with Governor Bligh and the Short Man's Peter Cochrane, as well as reviews of new books by Paige VanZant, David W. Blight, Tanja Maljartschuk, Paula McLain and lots more, as well as giveaways of Normal People by Sally Rooney and Witches of St Petersburg by Imogen Edwards-Jones.  If you haven't received it or want a taste, you can grab a copy right here: Compulsive Reader News  If you’d like to subscribe, visit http://www.compulsivereader.com, and for ultra early notification of new reviews and interviews, you can visit our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/TheCompulsiveReader
‘Like' us, and notifications will come into your Facebook feed as soon as something new is up.  Happy reading!

CR Newsletter for August is out

The latest Compulsive Reader newsletter has just gone out with the usual bevy of reviews and interviews (14 this month!) including Amy Bloom, Steve Armstrong, Justine Ettler, Twin Peaks’ (yes, the Twin Peaks) Sabrina Sutherland, and a lot more.  We also have two new giveaways for our subscribers, the big literary news round-up, and lots more.  If your copy has gone missing in cyberspace, you can grab it from the archive here: http://www.compulsivereader.com/sendpress/email/?sid=MA&eid=MTM2Njk

To subscribe, just drop by Compulsive Reader and sign up.

CR News is out for November

Hello readers, I’m pleased to report that all issues of Compulsive Reader newsletter have been marked as “delivered”.  You should have your copy now.  If for some reason it got trapped in spamville, you can grab a copy in the archive here: Compulsive Reader News

This month we’ve got 10 great new books featured including Shriek by Davide A. Cotton, Broken Branches by M Jonathan Lee, The Last Days of Jeanne D’Arc by Ali Alizadeh, Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend (and check out my interview with Jessica at Compulsive Reader Talks), interviews with Jane Owen, Monica Jephcott Thomas, Daniel Findlay, Pip Harry, and lots more, plus a roundup of the literary news, another great giveaway and plenty more. If you aren’t a subscriber, go now to http://www.compulsivereader.com and sign up for free (upper right hand corner).

Another (fast) book giveaway

Today, Penguin Group launches a new monthly radio series called The Literary Life. Completely written, produced, and hosted by Penguin employees, The Literary Life features literary fiction and nonfiction from bestselling, critically acclaimed authors and fast-rising newcomers. It’s hosted by Jake Morrissey, Executive Editor at Riverhead Books. Each episode will debut on the last Tuesday of the month. In addition to candid interviews with authors, regular segments on The Literary Life include: Inside Publishing, featuring a publishing personality giving a behind-the-scenes look into the book industry; Writer’s Rant, where authors are given the floor to vent; and Penguin Mix Tape, featuring interviews and performances by musicians-turned-authors.

To celebrate the launch, we've got one of the 4 new books featured on this month’s show – Rosanne Cash’s Composed, Maile Meloy’s Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, Doug Dorst’s The Surf Guru or Sloane Crosley’s How Did You Get This Number.

To win, just send me an email at maggieball@compulsivereader.com with your postal address, and the title you want. You'll have to be fast, as this giveaway ends on Friday, 3rd September.

The debut episode of The Literary Life is now available for listening here and is downloadable from iTunes. In this episode, singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash, author of the new bestselling memoir Composed, answers questions and performs “The World Unseen.” Maile Meloy, author of the bestselling collection Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, and Doug Dorst, author of The Surf Guru and Alive in Necropolis, discuss the art of the short story. Sloane Crosley, author of the bestselling essay collections I Was Told There’d Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number, rants about punctuation.