I have a new column up at Bookslut and I have to say, this one was a real blast to write. My theme this month is alternate histories and I have four books: Jenny Davidson's The Explosionist, Elizabeth Bear's New Amsterdam, Mike Resnick's The Other Teddy Roosevelts and Jay Lake's Escapement. Jenny's is the only one published directly for teens (it is due out next month from HC) but the other three all work perfectly for YA audiences and will likely be overlooked for those readers unless they are sought out. Resnik's collection of possible Roosevelt stories is really great stuff for boys in particular - you've got everything from vampires, Jack the Ripper to big game hunting and aliens in here and it is brilliantly done. I really loved this book and hope it gets some major attention around award time.
My Cool Read this month is Scott Reynolds Nelson's Ain't Nothing But a Man, the true story behind John Henry which I wrote about a couple of months ago and continue to be dazzled by. It's another one that should not be overlooked.
Every now and again someone asks me why I continue to do the Bookslut column. It's not a paying gig and other folks have started and stopped over there in the past four years while I have continued to contribute without pause. The easy answer is because I love it, but it's months like this one that I really point to for an explanation however. I loved these books, and I love the opportunity I have through the column to share my love for them with a lot of other people. I feel like I'm finally hitting my stride with this column; finally getting to a point where groups of books come together perfectly and form a really cohesive collection.
The short answer though is because I love what I do - go read my books this month and you'll understand why.
