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

Compulsive Reader Newsletter December

The Compulsive Reader newsletter for December has now gone out.  This month features a bumper crop of new reviews and interviews including the likes of Lee Kofman, A Cottonmouth with a Laptop: A review of Stay Gone Days by Steve Yarbrough, Sam Morley, Nandita Dinesh, Joyce Chopra, Adam Sass, Tina Cane, Melanie McCabe, Julia Brewer Daily, PS Cottier and Sandra Renew and many more.  We also have two new book giveaways including right now, Janes Jam by Jane Enright.  

Our extensive news roundup of all of November's literary news includes awards like the Scotiabank Giller, the Prix Goncourt, the Patrick White and the always popular Bookseller Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year.  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:  https://compulsivereader.com/sendpress/email/?sid=MA&eid=MjQ1NjQ

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

Book image by © Jorge Royan / http://www.royan.com.ar, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Poetry gifts on a bargain budget

I'm not one to encourage rampant consumerism. There are plenty of others doing that this time of year, but it has just been brought to my attention that the University of Western Australia Press (UWAP) is having a massive sale on poetry titles. 

By massive sale I mean poetry that normally sells for an already reasonable $23 is on sale for $5!  These are no bargain basement titles.  I'm talking some of my very favourite poetry books of all time, like Judy Johnson's Dark Convicts, Beth Spencer's Vagabondage, Thuy On's Turbulence, Emily Ballou's The Darwin Poems, Jill Jones, Quinn Eades, David Stavinger, Tricia Dearborn, holy moly - there's so much goodness here - how to choose - who gets what?   

If you haven't got enough books by the time you're finished with UWAP, go visit Flying Island's poetry shop where you can pick up titles for $10 a pop: https://flyingislandspocketpoets.com.au/shop/, including my own High Wire Step.  

Why should you give poetry for gifts this holiday?  For one thing it's very hot right now - everyone wants poetry. I don't know how this happened but it's true and you can't go wrong with a good poetry book.  For another, it's not something you can just read and be done with like a fast-paced adventure novel.  Good poetry has you coming back again and again, so you're giving someone a gift that they can enjoy repeatedly - it's a lot of concentrated beauty.  And right now, it's an unbelievable bargain.  Holiday gift giving sorted. 

Compulsive Reader Newsletter November

Happy November Readers!  The latest Compulsive Reader Newsletter has just gone out and should be making its way to an in-box near you.  This month we have a bumper crop of reviews and interviews (with a bit of a poetry slant - that's the way my in-box is working at the moment).  There's the fabulous Ecliptical by Hazel Smith (and look out for an exclusive interview on Compulsive Reader Talks shortly), Fickle Pendulum by Paul Scully, The Lantern Room by Chloe Honum, Dr Norman Swan's latest book So You Want to Live Younger Longer, and many others.  We also have a very big and thorough literary news roundup, two great new giveaways. On that note, please enter these comps - it's just an email - no tagging or social media - just so I have your address handy. We have ~10,000 subscribers and I don't get so many entries - the same people keep winning which is great for them but I'd love to share the joy.  If you aren't a subscriber please visit http://www.compulsivereader.com and sign up (upper right hand side).  It's free and I only send one newsletter a month.  If you can't wait or want a preview of the newsletter, visit: CRArchive 

"My Books" by Jennerally is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

CR Newsletter October

 

The October Compulsive Reader newsletter has just gone out and is on its way to inboxes everywhere. This month has new reviews for such books as Walking the Labyrinth by Pamela Wax, The Pit by Tara Borin, The Circle That Fits by Kevin Lichty, and many others as well as an interview with The Fun Master's Jeff Seitzer. We also have a giveaway for the newly released Moonstone Hero by David Sklar, a terrific roundup of literary news including shortlists for the Scotiabank Giller, the Booker Prize, and the NSW Literary Awards to name just a few.  If you can't wait for it to arrive you can check it out in the: Compulsive Reader Newsletter Archive and if you'd like to subscribe (free of course) visit: http://www.compulsivereader.com

Compulsive Reader Newsletter September

The latest issue of Compulsive Reader is now out and on its way to subscribers.  This issue has new reviews from such authors as Maya Sonenberg, Diane LeBlanc, Melissa Ridley Elmes, Sara Kidd and Sean Singer, with a range of genres from speculative fiction, poetry and cookbooks.  We also have new interviews with Ellen Barker, Sara Kidd and Bastian Fox Phelan. The newsletter has three new giveaways and I can tell you that we don't get a tremendous amount of entries so a lot of people keep winning (I am happy to furnish their libraries!), so get your entries in because odds are high!  If you can't wait for it to arrive or prefer to read online or want to sample, you can click here to: view it in your browser.  If you're not a subscriber, it's free, we only email once a month and you are welcome to join our lovely community of book lovers.  Visit: http://www.compulsivereader.com and sign up on the right hand side of the site.  

"Book" by Kamil Porembiński is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Compulsive Reader Newsletter August

The Compulsive Reader newsletter for August is now flying to your inbox.  This month includes a big news roundup, as well as reviews of books like Our Laundry, Our Town by Alvin Eng, A Longing for Impossible Things by David Borofka, and How to Be Between by Bastian Fox Phelan to name a few.  We also have a new (as of today!) interview with Bastian on Compulsive Reader Talks.  There are also written interviews with Jane Enright and Maya Sonenberg.  We've got 3 new book giveaways: Midstream by Lynn Sloan, Winter's Reckoning by Adele Holmes, and Self/less by AViVA.  If you can't wait for your copy to arrive, you can view it in your browser.  

To subscribe, visit http://www.compulsivereader.com.  Happy reading! 

"Wall of Books" by benuski is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.