Top Articles from The Floating Library

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Exploring travel narratives past, present and future
A survey of books by Judith Schalansky, Frank McLynn, Jean-Philippe Toussaint and Charles Yu Entering the e-reader fray
Two summer books on the Nook—and two the old-fashioned way Books that go bump in the night
A magical circus, a cursed movie and a collection of unusual treats Collections of short stories to hang by the fire with care
A review of books by Eric Bosse, Kathy Fish, Thor Garcia, Amelia Gray, Alan Heathcock and William Walsh Reviews of ‘Nowhere Near Normal,’ ‘The Family Fang’ and ‘Damascus’
Three books and three families even more screwed up than yours A pair of unconventional valentines
Amelia Gray's 'Threats' and Gregory Sherl's 'The Oregon Trail Is the Oregon Trail' Four books that revel in the flaws and foibles of the human condition
The Little Book of Big F*#K Ups, Citation Needed, 10 Ways to Recycle a Corpse and Fact. Fact. Bullshi*t! The reluctant detective
What makes a comic Belgian mystery novel like Jean Philippe Toussaint’s ‘Reticence’ ideal reading for getting tattooed? Heroes of the new American dream
Reviews of ‘The Speed Chronicles,’ ‘Working Backwards from the Worst Moments in My Life’ and ‘Bohemian Girl’ Exploring the other side of luck
Reviews of the literary journal ‘Hobart’ and books by SDSU prof Harold Jaffe and Stewart O’Nan

Monday, June 10,2013
The Floating Library

Celebrating short-story month

A review of collections by George Saunders, Sam Lipsyte, Marie Calloway, Roy Kesey and Yoko Ogawa

By Jim Ruland

If a group of short stories is called a "collection," what do you call a collection of collections? For the literati, it's simply called "May."

Monday, May 20,2013
The Floating Library

Cult of personality

Fiona Maazel’s beguiling new novel about the perils of loneliness

By Jim Ruland

Either Fiona Maazel—named in 2008 to the National Book Foundation's "5 under 35" list—possesses psychic powers or her novels are remarkably prescient.

Monday, April 29,2013
The Floating Library

Karen Green’s artfully fragmented elegy

Her book ‘Bough Down’ explores the immortality of loss

By Jim Ruland

Karen Green's book, Bough Down, published by Siglio, is an elegy for her husband, the much-loved writer David Foster Wallace, who committed suicide in 2008.

Wednesday, April 10,2013
The Floating Library

One classic and two new ones by local writers

San Diego celebrates ‘Fahrenheit 451’—plus reviews of Bonnie ZoBell’s ‘The Whack-Job Girls’ and Marivi Soliven’s debut novel, ‘The Mango Bride’

By Jim Ruland

What would the world be like without books? That’s the question Write Out Loud is asking San Diegans in its month-long celebration of the dystopian classic Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Monday, March 18,2013
The Floating Library

Scott McClanahan’s ‘Crapalachia’ tells it on the mountain

West Virginia author takes his readers to a place where they belong

By Jim Ruland

Crapalachia is McClanahan's third book about the Mountain State but his first long-form treatment of the subject nearest and dearest to his heart. He couples a savage sense of humor with a willingness to revisit life's most uncomfortable moments.

Monday, February 25,2013
The Floating Library

A satire, a collage and an elegy hold a mirror up to the unnatural

Reviews of ‘Confessions from a Dark Wood’ by Eric Raymond; ‘Board,’ curated by Brad Listi and Justin Benton; and ‘The Guardians’ by Sarah Manguso

By Jim Ruland

There comes a point fairly early in Confessions from a Dark Wood, Eric Raymond's debut novel from Sator Press, where it appears as if the author is determined to take his 21st-century satire over the top. And then he takes it further.

Monday, February 4,2013
The Floating Library

Two novels about the sadness of contemporary families

Reviews of Antoine Wilson’s ‘Panorama City’ and Jami Attenberg’s ‘The Middlesteins’

By Jim Ruland

During my early 20s, I worked as a night cook at a 24-hour fast-food restaurant in rural southwest Virginia. I met a lot of interesting characters during my time on the grill.

Monday, January 14,2013
The Floating Library

I finally read ‘Moby-Dick’

A late appreciation of Melville’s tale of 19th-century technology

By Jim Ruland

Call me tardy. After a stint in the Navy, two English degrees and an ocean of books, I finally got around to reading Herman Melville’s classic seafaring adventure, Moby-Dick.

Monday, December 17,2012
The Floating Library

Two of the best books of 2012

Reviews of ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ and ‘Every Love Story is a Ghost Story’

By Jim Ruland

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain is stuffed so full of Americana, it’s enough to make the most effusive red-stater blush.

Tuesday, November 20,2012
The Floating Library

Would you like to leave a message?

Joshua Cohen’s ‘Four New Messages’ examines what it means to communicate these days

By Jim Ruland

We send messages every day. Thoughtlessly, dutifully, compulsively. In 21st-century America, sending messages is how we communicate.