The April issue of Bookslut is up and there is a ton of great stuff in it. Really - if you aren't reading it you are missing out on some outstanding reviews and interviews, not to mention all the cool columns and neat stuff like judging a book by its cover.
It's the best, and I love being part of it.
From me there is something for every taste - I interviewed Bill Lavender about his YA historical novel, Aftershocks. It's a great look at the San Francisco earthquake and particularly how it affected Chinese immigrants in the city. (I had no idea of so much of this until I read his book.) I reviewed 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill and The last of the O-forms by James Van Pelt, short story collections of the Sci Fi/Fantasy/Horror sort that I raved about last month. I also reviewed Rogue River Journal, John Daniel's memoir of his father's life in the labor unions (and his own personal struggles in the 1960s) that also manages to be a solid bit of nature writing about Oregon - you'd have to read it to see how he accomplishes all this, but trust me, he does.
In the column I'm all about historical fiction this month. I've got NYC at the turn of the 20th century, Rhode Island during Prohibition, Upstate NY just before the Second World War (and Germany during the war), Florida and Vietnam during the Vietnam War, California for Chinese immigrants in the 19th century and an amazing picture book on WWI that is unlike anything I have ever seen - just gorgeous and not to be passed up by history fans. Oh - and also a book about Joan of Arc, one of my favorite historical figures. I really loved Warrior Girl, and anyone with an interest in the story of Joan should read this.
The best part of my column is that there are books about boys and books about girls!! Yea!
So go ahead - read my stuff, read other stuff, just read the issue. It's always interesting and never fails to surprise and impress me.
