Articles

  • 3 weeks ago | billwolfe.substack.com | Bill Wolfe

    Somehow I failed to put together a post for Short Story Month, but I’m hoping June 1 is within the grace period. 😉 Since short story collections rarely get the big publicity push, they are overlooked and almost never make the bestseller list. Many people refuse to even read them, having a strong preference for the longer form of the novel. All of that is a shame. I love telling people about great story collections, confident that these books will provide a memorable reading experience.

  • 1 month ago | billwolfe.substack.com | Bill Wolfe

    My piece last week about eight worthwhile books you may have missed got a very positive response here and on my Instagram account. Many people said they hadn't heard of any of the books but were adding some (or several) to their reading list. The situation with highly publicized books by famous authors or the few selected by celebrity book clubs is similar to that of major studio movies and independent films.

  • 1 month ago | billwolfe.substack.com | Bill Wolfe

    In the flood of books that are published each year, it is easy to miss worthy books, especially those published by independent presses that lack the marketing muscle of the big houses and which are never chosen by one of the celebrity book clubs. One of my favorite things is to help readers find these books. Here are eight books from the last ten years that offer a satisfying read and might be just the right choice for your book club.

  • 1 month ago | billwolfe.substack.com | Bill Wolfe

    In December 1960, my grandparents were killed in an airline collision in the blustery skies over New York City. My mother was fourteen at the time, and her parents were traveling from Columbus, Ohio, to seek placement of their family’s iconic magazine, Highlights for Children, on the newsstands. I was born six years later to a mother suffering from protracted mourning. I knew very little about this life-defining tragedy while I was growing up.

  • 1 month ago | billwolfe.substack.com | Bill Wolfe

    Book awards season has begun in earnest with three somewhat lesser known, but still important, prizes: the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Jennine Capó Crucet and Willy Vlautin were named winners of the Joyce Carol Oates Prize for Say Hello to My Little Friend and The Horse, respectively.