Category Archives: Worm Blurbs

While waiting for reader selections of Horror, Sci Fi/Fantasy, and Lesbian Fiction to read for our Twenty-One Word Salute project… a tentative list of additional readings has been created.  Hey, a Worm gotta’ read.  Below are several books I’ve either heard great things about via podcasts and articles or stumbled upon on my own.  Two are from writers I heard speak at the Long Beach ComiCon last year.  There isn’t much rhyme or reason to the list… just tasty morsels I’ve been hoarding.

Here is a tentative preview of this spring’s book reviews:

Struck – Jennifer Bosworth

Velveteen – Daniel Marks

Desolation Point – Cari Hunter

Crap Kingdom – D. C. Pierson

Like Dark Minds – Christy Summerland

Mortis Unbound – Jessica Steiner

Sleights of Mind – Stephen L. Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde

Ultimate Spider Man (Issues 1 – 6)

Wolverine and the X-Men (Issues 1 – 6)

The Remaining – D.J. Molles

Hello, again!  It’s been a while since we’ve had a Worm Blurb but I haven’t had anything interesting to say outside of the usual reviews, and of course I do realize the hubris of even that statement.  Regardless… I have news!

Given that it has been more than a year since our ragtag cadre of guerilla style readers first came together, it is time to put our community to the test.  This is a two-parter so pay attention, the details are super intricate:

1) pick a book to read

2) email a short review

3) the best will receive a quasi-worthless prize and be used in an amalgamated review by Cmixgeek (that’s me) after all the reviews have been collected.

That’s a lot to take in.  Allow yourself a moment to absorb the implications.

Here are the specifics for those who are undaunted:

Over the next month or so guerillabookworm will be collecting suggestions for one highly anticipated novel (by title or author) in one of three categories.  Those categories are

Gay & Lesbian Fiction

Sci Fi/Fantasy

Horror

So email a suggestion for a book you’d like the group to read together, preferably something you assume will be great but try to avoid something that falls in the midst of longer series.  It should also be either very recently released or due for release soon.  With me so far?

Once we have selected an entry in each of the three categories, we will announce the selected books.  Then the onus is on you, dear readers, to review it.  Here’s the catch… each review submitted, via email, must be exactly twenty-one words.  Each submission must also contain a name, nickname, nom de plume, nom de guerre, twitter handle, pseudonym, alias, title, or some other bit of nonsense that identifies you.  You must also include a region, galaxy, city, or country of origin.  I don’t personally give a damn if it is real, but it has to be there.  Cool?

The best ten blurbs selected for each work will comprise a crowd-sourced review of the book.  Aside from The Worm being somewhat lazy and busy preparing a trip to Chicago, I also feel its about time for all you lurkers out there to join the party.  This is a safe space, remember?  Its group participation time!

Random other tidbits:  Submitting a title for consideration does not mean you have to write a review.  Baby steps are all we’re asking for here.  Submissions and reviews can be emailed to cmixgeek@yahoo.com without fear of spam attacks or unsolicited emails.  I don’t have time to cyberstalk anyone and since I’m not selling any widgets or snake oil, there is no need for me to contact you outside reader-initiated conversation.  In fact, I apologize to the people I have not had the time to reply to this week.  Did I mention the Chicago trip?

Lastly, the prizes.  Once the ten blurbs are selected and posted, I will subjectively pick one blurb in each category that I just plain like best.  To that lucky winner I will send something potentially awesome.  Or, more likely, something off my bookshelf that I can’t bear to throw away but don’t have space for.  If the sheer exhilaration of seeing your review published on guerillabookworm.com is not enough motivation, maybe a signed hardback copy of Clive Barker’s Weaveworld or a lovingly used trade paperback of Arkum Asylum will blow your hair back?  The Ray mini-series?  A leatherbound Pride, Prejudice and Zombies?  We’ll see.  

So get to thinking about something you’re dying to read and talk about, then lemme’ know what’s got you squirmming with anticipation.  Ready?  Jump to it!  Worm Out.

The Worm does not have deep and abiding love for the short story, nor much experience with it.  But a reading of Ardin Lalui’s There is No Otherwise and the Stephen King/Joe Hill collaboration Throttle, has made me give the format a re-think.  And there is some good stuff to be found there.  Sometimes you just want a solid,  gut-punch of a story.  That is what both of these tales are.  Thanks to King-Hill and Lalui, the guerillabookworm.com has a new category for your enjoyment and perusal.  Small Bites will be our new short story archive.  Check it out from time to time – you might surprise yourself.  I know these two short stories were a surprise to me! (And their reviews will be posted soon.)

The Worm is awash in sadness… confusion… crippling literary panic!  Okay, that might be a tad hyperbolic.  But, man alive, did I pick a disappointing list of non-genre books to read?  I mean, most turned out to be pretty genre-specific anyhow… but so many duds in such a short time?  My apologies, readers.  That’s what can happen when you’re clearing out your Kindle library miscellanea.

Not all were disappointments, though.  A Nail Through the Heart, and A Perfect Assassin were solid, recommendation-worthy reads.  But I became so despondent after starting River of the Brokenhearted that I didn’t even have the guts to try the Einstein book.  Maybe I’ll save that for our next Geeking Out list.  In fact, I cannot even bring myself to review River of the Brokenhearted… I just don’t think I can give the book a fair read in my current mood, so back to the digital library it goes.  I will persevere with The Girl Back Home by R.E. Bradshaw, since I started it this afternoon.  But by the time I tap out… I hope to have tons of inspiration and new novels to look forward to.  That’s where you come in.

Here’s the deal… I need your input.  The next list will be comprised entirely of reader recommendations.  I’m already including Patient Zero based on a recent recommendation – and Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Talents will probably make the cut, based on a past mention.  And, well, it’s Octavia Butler.  I also heard that Dust is a unique take on the zombie apocalypse scenario so I’m intrigued by that.  Gimme’ more!  What blows your hair back?  What is The Worm missing out on?  What huge gap in my literary experience can only be plugged by your favorite novel? (Vaguely dirty, but I’ll leave it in.)

So comment away!  Or shoot an email to cmixgeek@yahoo.com You needn’t be wordy, pithy, or pitch it.  A title will do.  But I’d love to know why I should read it… so hit me with your best shot!  I won’t make any book purchases until I give y’all a chance to chime in.

Stay tuned for the last review for this reading list, The Girl Back Home by R.E. Bradshaw.  And then we’re off on new and (hopefully) exciting tangents of sci fi, fantasy, and other nonsensical goodness!!!  Worm Out!

Alrighty then… these epic fantasy/sci fi tales take a lot of The Worm.  My primordial brain can handle only a finite amount of stimulation.  So I’m setting aside my Peter V. Brett.  Octavia Butler will remain shelved.  Apologies, Mssrs. Stephenson and Gibson.  I need a break to reality for a bit.  Well, maybe not ‘real’ reality.  That’s just terrifying.  But I am going to tackle some novels that lack swordplay, tech talk, and capes.  No aliens or demons for a bit.  I’m even going to wistfully (and oh so temporarily) wave goodbye to Mr. Howey.

Upcoming books on our reading list are going to cover subject matter a little more grounded in the every day.  Maybe.  We’ll see.  Really I’m just doing another round of stacks clearing.  And this has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that a co-worker made a mildly disparaging comment about my literary education being limited to “fantasy.”  Really.  I’m more secure than that – sniff.

Upcoming reads:

Zombie – Joyce Carol Oates (its not what you think)

River of the Brokenhearted – David Adams Richards

The Perfect Assassin – Ward Larsen

Out of My Later Years – Albert Einstein

A Nail Through the Heart – Timothy Hallinan

The Girl Back Home – R.E. Bradshaw

A Cruel Harvest – Paul Reid

Ashfall – Mike Mullin

Whew!  That was an eclectic reading list we just finished.  We got some solid sci fi, some raucous adventure, some sweet romance, quirky vamp tramp, a serial killer thriller, and a dud of an assassination plot.  Where to go from here?  I’m thinking I want to bank on some known quantities for a while.

In prior lists, we’ve covered a number authors and series that had seriously high marks for entertainment, enlightenment, and artistic style.  So lets go back to the stacks and see what additional goodies we can discover.  I’ll keep this list relatively short – as I’m anxious to add your recommendations to it.

While reading these new selections, it will be inevitable that we burrow further in to existing series – so upcoming reviews will include mention of how “stand alone” various books really are.  And there will probably be some comparison to works previously covered by The Worm.

So hit me with your reading list suggestions.  Just remember – we are only covering authors or series that have been reviewed previously at guerillabookworm.  Worm Out!

Already on the list are:

The Mote in God’s Eye – Niven and Pournelle

The Desert Spear – Peter V. Brett

The Steam-Powered Sniper in the City of Broken Bridges – Cassandra Duffy

Half Way Home – Hugh Howey

Exile: The Legend of Drizzt Book 2 – R.A. Salvatore

So that should get us started.  I’m contemplating something by Neal Stephenson and maybe more Octavia Butler.  Let me know what you’d like to see on the list.  Email me at cmixgeek@yahoo.com

The Worm is itching to read something fun, quirky and quick.  But also craving something deep and mind-expanding.  Oh!  And I think I’d like something stark and foggy to ease me into fall.  Maybe something scary!  Halloween is coming after all.

What is going to satisfy all those needs?  Let’s be real – nothing will.  Not by itself, anyhow!  So here is a list of books I’m anxious to check out:

Earthbound – Erin O’Reilly and JM Dragon (lesbian fiction)

Trial Junkies – Robert Gregory Browne (crime thriller)

Flowertown – S.G. Redling (sci fi conspiracy, free on Amazon prime)

Killing Castro – Lawrence Block (thriller, spies)

Parable of the Sower – Octavia E. Butler (hard sci fi)

Wool: Omnibus Edition – Hugh Howey (survivalists)

Roses and Thorns – Chris Anne Wolfe (lesbian re-telling of Beauty and the Beast)

Space Prison: The Survivors - Tom Godwin (sci fi adventure – its called Space Prison for Chrissakes!  How is this not going to be outrageously fun and ma-cheese-mo?!)

Dead Witch Walking – Kim Harrison (vamps & tramps)

As always, folks – if you wanna buy any of these books OR you just want to be wicked cool and help keep the blog running – please use a link below for those or any other Amazon purchases.  You won’t pay more.  I’ll get a piece from Amazon.  And Amazon?  Well, I’m not sure what they get since y’all are probably already buy a gang of stuff from them without my links… but what the hell?! C’mon - Christmas is coming… surely somebody could use a Lego Deathstar or a mountain bike or a book maybe?  Worm Out! 

Jiminy Christmas!  I gave The Celebrant by Erick Rolfe Greenberg a try as the next book in our sports genre reading list and I just could not get into the spirit of the thing.  What’s more – I can’t even put my finger on what is so offputing.  Since it’s highly unlikely I will finish it any time soon, I’ll admit temporary defeat and consider it for a revisit some other time.  I’ve started Lombardi:  When Pride Still Mattered, and Oh My Good Lord is it massive!  Like, telephone book sized.  So, when I headed out for some serious poolside activities recently, I grabbed an older Grisham novel off the bookshelf – portability being the major factor – and got a little wrapped up in The Appeal.  So look for a slap-dash review of that one coming some time this week.  But then it is back to sports! 

I intend to start The Brothers K and GAME: An American Novel about Small Town Football next.  Then I’ll try to work through Lombardi’s bio – although I might just make that reading concurrent with our next list, as it feels like a life’s work rather than a weekend fling.

After all of that is read and done I’m thinking we’ll return to our bread and butter genres for a while.  Definitely going to log some Sci Fi and Fantasy time.  Probably jump back into lesbian fiction for a quick dip. (That sounded dirty but, really, it was more swimming pool inspired.)

Before I get back to The Appeal, I want to give a brief but heartfelt thank you to several authors who have emailed The Worm recently.  I’m constantly amazed at how accessible and gracious these authors can be – even when the reviews aren’t flattering (or in some cases, even completely coherent).  From talented up-and-comers (Cassandra Duffy, Malindo Lo, Dave Reddish) to elder statesmen (Niven and Pournelle, Joe McGinniss) and niche superstars (Jane Fletcher, Mary Roach, Andersen Prunty) I am continuously floored by their careful reading and sharing of the work here at guerillabookworm.com (Here’s to hoping R.J. Nolan still isn’t reading it.  And maybe Hope Solo, too.  I’m pretty sure she could take me – and I am visiting Seattle in November.)

I also want to give a very, very special thank you to the readers who have taken the time to suggest material for future reading lists.  Keep ‘em coming, guys!  In fact, when we get into Sci Fi in the weeks to come – Octavia Butler makes the list in a long-overdue appearance – thanks to a reminder from a reader.  We’ll also throw either Footfall or The Mote in God’s Eye on our list for the same reason.  And as always, thanks for making your book purchases through links here at guerillabookworm.  It really does help to keep the whole project afloat!

Check back soon for a review of The Appeal by John Grisham and The Brothers K by David James Duncan.

Yeah.  The Worm has Olympic fever and it has infected the decision making process, surely.  Our next genre list?  Sports, of course!  I know there is a LOT out there to chose from, and most of it is of the celebrity bio type.  I have worked hard (hard work being relative in this Olympic season) to put together a diverse list to give every reader and sports fan a bite of something tasty.  If you have any suggestions of your own, please comment or send me an email at cmixgeek@yahoo.com  And remember, if you’re going to buy a recommended book – do it through the bookworm links so we get a piece from Amazon!

Here we go…

When Pride Still Mattered - bio of Vince Lombardi

Cosell - memoirs from the man himself

The Celebrant - sports fiction that centers around real-life turn of the century baseball hero , Christy Mathewson and a fictional family of Jewish jewelers in early 1900′s America. 

The Lords of the Rings - expose about the corruption of the Olympic committee

Solo: A Memoir of Hope - tell-all autobiography of USA national team goalkeeper, Hope Solo

 Also being considered are:  A Season on the Brink; A Fan’s Notes; The Miracle of Castel di Sangro; and The Brothers K.