On Our Shelves: Keaton, His Beard, His Books
Article by staff
Keaton is the book buyer here at Brazos, so he knows more than anyone about how wide and diverse the universe of publishing is. Like his taste in music, his taste in books runs the gamut from the heartfelt to the horrific, from the winsome to the wonky and weird. This week for our Brazos Book List, we’re tapping the intoxicating keg that is Keaton’s book brain (and yes, he also loves a variety of beers). Check these out on our staff shelf, along with selections from our other booksellers. Cheers!
A top-notch collection of psychological horror in the vein of Poe, Shirley Jackson, and The Twilight Zone! A writer’s writer finally getting his due, Evenson excels at exploiting the suspense of the unknown in this set of mind-blowing and unnerving short stories. It’ll make you want to sleep with the lights on.
Set against the desolate fire-and-ice landscape of nineteenth-century Iceland, this brilliant, multifaceted debut novel traverses dark psychological terrain while providing pitch-perfect historical detail. Kent is equally skilled at delving into the mind of Agnes—a servant sentenced to death—as she is at rendering the domestic life of the poor farmers charged with sharing their tiny hovel with her because there are no prisons in Iceland. At once a brooding morality tale and a ferocious page-turner, BURIAL RITES is the rare novel that asks serious questions while remaining entertaining.
A posthumous debut novel brimming with sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, and no small amount of soul-searching, GOLDEN YEARS is a brilliant, fast-paced immigrant story that unabashedly wears its influences on its sleeve. It’s poignant and debaucherous; if you’re a fan of Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson, Henry Miller, Hubert Selby Jr., Roberto Bolaño, Patti Smith, Jarmusch’s Permanent Vacation, Easy Rider, etc., you will LOVE this novel! Oh, what could have been...
Every revenge story is a love story. From the Guatemalan death squads of the 1980s, to an L.A. engulfed in the flames of the 1992 riots, Tobar’s debut is a moving exploration of violence, idealism, inequality, and the extreme lengths we will go in the name of love. Almost twenty years after it was first published, this novel still resonates.
Our February #BrazosBest pick!
A terrifying vision of madness and obsession from a South Korean author poised to make huge waves in English translation. After a disturbing nightmare, Yeong-hye swears off eating meat and sets off a chain reaction that spirals outward from her and draws into question the very notions of identity and relationships. Exuding creeping psychological dread and a dark eroticism, THE VEGETARIAN will get under your skin and stay there.
