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means you ll find more posts about writing and communication here and more author related things like short essays there and short parts and pieces of fiction if you subscribe to my author newsletter which may also be undergoing some changes too good night and good luck readmore view comments monday december 29 lasting impressions 5 memorable books in 2025 author rich posted at 11 53 am many writers are readers and i am no exception i read 56 books this year which was eight more than my modest 48 book goal collectively they totaled 20 082 pages read with the shortest being common sense by thomas paine at 104 pages and the longest the guns of august by barbara w tuchman at 710 pages head over to goodreads bookbub or thestorygraph if you are interested in seeing them all so like i do every year i decided to call out five titles plus one indie book that surprised me this year this was no small feat given long favorites like the lord of the rings and chapterhouse dune were in the mix interesting side note the return of the king was the highest rated of all the books i read this year on goodreads while fourth wing was the most shelved i also added in a few classics like i do every year winesburg ohio by sherwood anderson grapes of wrath by john steinbeck this side of paradise by f scott fitzgerald and nostromo by joseph conrad among them and i also made sure to include a few favorite authors like peter heller james slater and s a cosby my admiration for many of those titles will never change i ve read lord of the rings at least five times but the measure i set forth today was which titles were memorable those i ve been reflecting on long after the book was finished and these were the ones i ve settled on for that reason american spirits by russel banks this collection of three shorts is a work of emotional and intellectual heft solidifying banks as one of my favorite authors he has a profound influence on my own journey as an author despite discovering him late what makes american spirits exceptional is banks refusal to lean on stereotypes or easy characterizations his characters are not caricatures of rural america nor are they reduced to simplistic archetypes of struggle or redemption instead banks dismantles preconceived notions presenting individuals who are complex flawed and achingly human in the three stories discussed here banks explores themes of loss identity and the collision of personal and societal forces all while peeling back the layers of american mythology to reveal the messy truths beneath there are no heroes at the same time banks ability to capture the human condition with honesty and compassion is unmatched and his commitment to dismantling stereotypes ensures that his characters feel like people we might know or even be in every case he sets us up to expect something but then delivers something different perhaps challenging our own stereotypes in the process being and time by martin heidegger martin heidegger s time and being stands the test of time while originally published in 1927 it is nothing less than a monumental work in existential phenomenology reshaping how we understand existence time and the human condition at the heart of time and being lies heidegger s notion of living an authentic life a concept that resonates deeply in a world often dulled by routine and conformity heidegger argues that most people live in a state of everydayness a mode of existence where people live out their lives as part of the anonymous collective norms of society in this state we drift distracted by mundane tasks and social expectations losing sight of our individuality and the deeper question of being to live authentically heidegger urges us to break free from this inauthentic mode through a process of self realization this awakening is not a one time event but a continuous effort to reclaim one s existence as uniquely one s own add to this idea that according to heidegger we exist temporally meaning our existence is shaped by our relationship to the past present and future and this state is existential and not merely chronological and you ll begin to understand why it s hard to let some of his concepts go i will never see the world the same way the man who lived underground by richard wright the bleak opening chapters of police brutality will make anyone uncomfortable especially those of us who have been unfairly accused or treated at one time or another in this case the illustration is extreme so one feels it as if it is an alien planet where the novel takes place and not merely an alternative reality where it takes place even so there is no question wright borrows from his own experiences of being falsely accused in painting a vivid portrait of race and injustice as well as his grandmother s worldview as a seventh day adventist in wright s reflective essay about his grandmother which was included in the version of the book i read wright describes her as a woman in this world but not of it it was her religious fervor creating a psychological withdrawal from reality that fascinated and repelled him this novel is a masterclass in concise storytelling and offers profound insights into truth justice and humanity it s the kind of book in fact that despite how uncomfortable it can make you feel at times deserves a second or third read flesh by david szalay despite surface readings that claim it is about masculinity it s really a portrait of a man trapped in everydayness istván s simple straightforward path veers upward toward success and then toward quiet tragedy everyone else in the novel and i mean everybody writes his story without these outside narrators telling him what to do istván could barely be classified as human he is so caught up in the everydayness of being he trods along in a clipped nonjudgmental prose that mirrors his emotional flatness as a result it s impossible to like him given that he gives readers nothing to hope for or any reason to root for him the best we can do is feel pity yet the story is strangely compelling even hypnotic even if its deliberateness won t suit many readers in a late confession he admits as much saying that helen the englishwoman he marries after a fleeting affair was the most important person in his life these words crystallize the void he has no core identity only borrowed fragments that expand his world briefly before collapsing into the insulation that bore him in the first few pages it s the opposite of any character i might like and somehow i still find myself thinking about the absence it contained it is a perfect expansion and contraction attuned to the undercurrents of being ordinary the winners by fredrik backman this is a beautiful book that explores community how small and big events ripple through our lives even when we don t know it and it is in this macro view that it differs from the original novel beartown which was much more grounded in its plot told over roughly two weeks although it will feel so much longer backman dashes headlong into several themes tied together by an overarching premise about the trajectory of many lives how they nearly miss each other or collide and the aftermath of those collisions and near misses in the process backman convinces you to think about your own life and all those consequences great and small once a chain of cause and effect is set in motion at its heart some will have you believe the entire beartown series is about hockey and the love of a sport it could also be that the winners reminded me of my small town experiences growing up part time in northern wisconsin until i was ten how everyone knows everyone or at least thinks they do and how different one lake community could be from the next despite looking the same to anyone on the outside indie pick bonus club contango by eliane boey eliane boey s cyberpunk sci fi story club contango is a fast paced character driven tale that is sometimes too immersive for its own good it s easy to get lost and drift along taking in the imagery and stylistic prose yet it s the writing and a few clever twists that set a high bar among indie books this year i loved several indie books this year but i kept thinking back to boey s talent as a writer and unique perspective as a singaporean novelist every time i finished one she is someone to watch especially if you enjoy compelling characters in a vivid dense world for true cyberpunk fans club contango is a must read for its craft and originality born on monday by richard r becker this isn t a pick as much as a nod to the book i undoubtedly spent the most time with this year finishing it editing it and polishing it until it was a ready for the publisher and its inclusion in this post gives me a place to answer a common question why do i consider it a literary thriller in part it s because the themes i tackle within tend to transcend the genre like the cost of secrets the cycle of abuse and redemption small town insularity and reliance amid trauma exploring these topics was as important to me as delivering a thriller with an effective twist and to do it i believe i ve effectively created three characters who travel very different paths to find answers a reckless grief stricken man who has sentenced himself to the everydayness of life a trauma victim silenced by shame despite her foundation of strength and an investigative journalist s passion for the truth in the town where the truth is as malleable as the people within it those were my five most memorable this year though there were many more favorites that i won t mention here you can find a running list of favorites listed on the eclectic shelf by copywrite ink at bookshop org or scroll down for the second shelf knowledge shelf non fiction and writers shelf feel free to drop some of yours in the comments or wherever we run into each other online enjoy readmore view comments tuesday november 18 intersecting stories where born on monday meets 50 states author rich posted at 12 07 pm filed under books writing i don t always put it out there front and center except when it comes up in interviews where do ideas for my novels come from inevitably the inspiration comes from my short stories i wrote 50 of them at a rate of one a week while writing 50 states i ve written many more since then although most haven t been published aside from secret sneak peaks for newsletter subscribers all of those ideas fall from the sky very much as david lynch describes creativity so when it comes to born on monday the simple answer is that it started with time capsule a short story first published in my collection 50 states time capsule is the first chapter of born on monday though there are a few tweaks when compared side by side the second chapter by the way first appeared in ten threads which was a short 10 story digital companion to 50 states some people find this interesting but there is even more to it than that all of the stories in 50 states intersect with each other sometimes those connections are loose like the mention of the south dakota story in my debut novel third wheel it appears as a newspaper headline for the few readers who noticed of course the born on monday connection to the 50 states universe is stronger where born on monday intersects with 5o states in born on monday dustin fields and his dad visit bar named crabby s in new hampshire crabby s is the same fictional bar in nashua that appears in the 50 states short story bad things which takes place within a year of born on monday it s significant because crabby s launders money for the boston mob bad things also introduces a brooding alcoholic named rauly a vet who served as a military advisor in uganda rauly appears in another short story north forty which takes place in vermont a little more than a year after bad things in north forty he meets a teen who is in the same witness protection program he was placed in after whatever happened between 2018 and 2019 the teen rachel was introduced in the vermont story of 50 states siren s call in the story she goes by carol because her family is already in a protection program by the time we meet her in north forty she is trying on new names at the safe house the three stories do more than illustrate the strong and subtle connections i m making across the 50 states universe sometimes they serve as a foreshadowing of things to come there is every indication that some future novel will further connect these three new england states perhaps bringing someone like andrea kearny a fan favorite character in born on monday face to face with rauly or rachel or both when can that be expected and what s on the horizon after born on monday as i recently mentioned in another interview my next novel takes us back to utah where i m continuing the fallout that happens in the short story dead ends from 50 states this unnamed wip is best described as a speculative thriller blending and bending science metaphysics and something akin to the supernatural think of dead ends as a sneak peek at the next novel and much like born on monday you can find a second chapter in ten threads without giving any spoilers this novel will shore up the links between 50 states stories like utah south dakota kansas and new mexico to name a few but trust me when i say it will connect the dots to much more than that after this wip there may be another novel set in the south before we see kearny and some others again but you never know born on monday has a lot of momentum maybe readers will convince me to change the order helping it hit number one on amazon during it s release week was a great start happy reading readmore view comments sunday october 5 writing author notes born on monday author rich posted at 11 00 am filed under books life writing in augusta maine a historic nor easter and something more sinister unearth secrets buried deep in the town s past with time running out three lives collide in a desperate fight for survival where truth becomes a casualty and redemption comes at a cost billy stevens a quarry worker haunted by loss is drawn into a web of betrayal when a brutal crime pins him as a suspect jessica michaud returns to care for her ailing mother only to find herself hunted by a vengeful ex whose chilling threats awaken old wounds and journalist andrea kearney digs into a local dynasty s corruption as the storm s fury mirrors the rising tide of violence born on monday is a gripping tale of resilience moral ambiguity and small town sins a literary thriller that will keep readers breathless until its haunting conclusion award winning author richard r becker delivers a gritty thriller that digs into identity perception and the human condition perhaps i will one day but i have never included author notes or acknowledgements in my books the closest i ve come to doing so was including one in born on monday ultimately i decided not to add any more pages and let the story stand on its own it wasn t until i was midway throug...