Jacob Tender

An auspicious start to a series from Joe Abercrombie, whose characters I so deeply appreciated in The Devils last year. Read in this audiobook by the incomparable Steven Pacey, The Blade Itself also boasts strong characters. Many of which have names with good mouthfeel.

Abercrombie is my kind of fantasy writer. I’ve heard great things about the First Law world and, if the rumors are true, it should only get more compelling with each series of books.

The night before Frieda died, Chick spoon-fed her crushed ice. She kept taking away the spoon from him to feed herself and Chick thought everything was going to turn out fine.

I inhaled this in just two sittings. Goldstein has a unique voice that, when it hones in on something real and recognizable, cuts you to the core.

The format is strange at first, but becomes second nature after a few “chapters.” It’s brilliant in its specificity and sits somewhere between David Sedaris and Bob Mortimer.

I haven’t read this since I was a kid. Having some yardwork to do this afternoon, I threw on the audiobook read by Jeff Daniels.

It’s a perfect little thing, this book. Imaginative, but never escaping what seems plausible in the behavior and motivations of working dogs. It says so much over so few pages about humanity and the connection of all living things to nature.

I do wonder if this is a common read amongst grade-schoolers. Violence and death weren’t taboo where I came up but so much has changed.