6 of My Favorite Lists About Books From 2014
These Are A Few Of My Favorite Lists: 6 Of My Favorites Lists About Books From 2014
by Sam Slaughter
It’s hard to go fourteen seconds without seeing a list somewhere. I objected to this at first—a harshly worded opinion column in my graduate institution’s student newspaper comes to mind—but slowly, just as Carly Rae Jepsen and Taylor Swift won me over (or infected my brain and pummeled me into submission, whichever), these lists won me over. I found myself learning about books I’d never heard of, finding links to new websites, journals, and other literary goodness to keep me occupied for hours. That being said, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite lists published in 2014. They’re not in an order of preference, as they all did different things for me.
1. “Best of 2014 – Presses, Magazines, Publishers, Journals” – Entropy Mag
Not much needs to be said about this list beyond the fact that if you are not reading something from everyone on here, you’re missing out. The folks at Entropy did a great job bringing the bright spots in the Indie Lit world together. I will add, though, that Atticus Press and The Atticus Review should be added to the list, but I am more than a little bias. I’m okay with it.
2. “Ron Rash’s 6 Favorite Southern Fiction Books” – The Week
I’m a Ron Rash fanboy, I’ll admit that. That aside, though, this list is a fantastic collection of Southern books that everyone should read. The heavy hitters are all deservedly there. The only problem is this list is only six books. I would’ve loved to see Rash build that list out a bit more.
3. “19 Signs you’re that guy in your writer’s workshop” – Buzzfeed
If you ever taken a workshop and you don’t laugh at this list, I don’t know what to tell you. These are the exact things that have made me want to physically harm classmates at various points in my career while also giving me great joy for the sheer audacity/idiocy of their statements. I was sent particularly atwitter by: Do you want to workshop my piece? And by "workshop my piece," I mean read my stuff and let me know how brilliant I am.” What a dick.
4. “50 Essays guaranteed to make you a better person” – Flavorwire
Flavorwire puts out some of my overall favorite lists related to books. This one tops them all. With links to many of the essays, this is the place to go to get your learning on and put some good words in your head. All of the good words.
5. “20 Things You didn’t know about Dr. Seuss” – Flavorwire
Being named Sam, I grew up with Green Eggs and Ham (I would love to find a child named Sam who didn’t). When I got older, I got the character tattooed on me. I am not obsessed with Dr. Seuss. I just really, really liked his books as a kid. I still like them and this look into his life was fascinating.
6. “17 Brilliant short novels you can read in a sitting” – Electric Literature
Short works have always appealed to me for the power that each word needs to have in order to move the story along. It amazes me what writers can do with the language in such small confines. This list highlights some of the best short novels. I haven’t read all of them yet, but I want to and will do so in 2015.
Bonus!
Aerogramme Studio’s Opportunities Lists
I’m always looking for places to submit stories and Aerogramme does a great job of putting together opportunity lists every other month. They also maintain an active Facebook page with some pretty consistently interesting/fun links.
Sam Slaughter is a writer based in DeLand, Florida. He has had work published in places such as McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Heavy Feather Review, and The Review Review, among others. He is also the review editor at Atticus Review. He enjoys a good glass of bourbon, a true crime show binge, and obsessing over dogs he cannot yet adopt on Petfinder.
by Sam Slaughter
It’s hard to go fourteen seconds without seeing a list somewhere. I objected to this at first—a harshly worded opinion column in my graduate institution’s student newspaper comes to mind—but slowly, just as Carly Rae Jepsen and Taylor Swift won me over (or infected my brain and pummeled me into submission, whichever), these lists won me over. I found myself learning about books I’d never heard of, finding links to new websites, journals, and other literary goodness to keep me occupied for hours. That being said, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite lists published in 2014. They’re not in an order of preference, as they all did different things for me.
1. “Best of 2014 – Presses, Magazines, Publishers, Journals” – Entropy Mag
Not much needs to be said about this list beyond the fact that if you are not reading something from everyone on here, you’re missing out. The folks at Entropy did a great job bringing the bright spots in the Indie Lit world together. I will add, though, that Atticus Press and The Atticus Review should be added to the list, but I am more than a little bias. I’m okay with it.
2. “Ron Rash’s 6 Favorite Southern Fiction Books” – The Week
I’m a Ron Rash fanboy, I’ll admit that. That aside, though, this list is a fantastic collection of Southern books that everyone should read. The heavy hitters are all deservedly there. The only problem is this list is only six books. I would’ve loved to see Rash build that list out a bit more.
3. “19 Signs you’re that guy in your writer’s workshop” – Buzzfeed
If you ever taken a workshop and you don’t laugh at this list, I don’t know what to tell you. These are the exact things that have made me want to physically harm classmates at various points in my career while also giving me great joy for the sheer audacity/idiocy of their statements. I was sent particularly atwitter by: Do you want to workshop my piece? And by "workshop my piece," I mean read my stuff and let me know how brilliant I am.” What a dick.
4. “50 Essays guaranteed to make you a better person” – Flavorwire
Flavorwire puts out some of my overall favorite lists related to books. This one tops them all. With links to many of the essays, this is the place to go to get your learning on and put some good words in your head. All of the good words.
5. “20 Things You didn’t know about Dr. Seuss” – Flavorwire
Being named Sam, I grew up with Green Eggs and Ham (I would love to find a child named Sam who didn’t). When I got older, I got the character tattooed on me. I am not obsessed with Dr. Seuss. I just really, really liked his books as a kid. I still like them and this look into his life was fascinating.
6. “17 Brilliant short novels you can read in a sitting” – Electric Literature
Short works have always appealed to me for the power that each word needs to have in order to move the story along. It amazes me what writers can do with the language in such small confines. This list highlights some of the best short novels. I haven’t read all of them yet, but I want to and will do so in 2015.
Bonus!
Aerogramme Studio’s Opportunities Lists
I’m always looking for places to submit stories and Aerogramme does a great job of putting together opportunity lists every other month. They also maintain an active Facebook page with some pretty consistently interesting/fun links.
Sam Slaughter is a writer based in DeLand, Florida. He has had work published in places such as McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Heavy Feather Review, and The Review Review, among others. He is also the review editor at Atticus Review. He enjoys a good glass of bourbon, a true crime show binge, and obsessing over dogs he cannot yet adopt on Petfinder.
