Over the month of August, I breezed through three fiction books. (That, the heat, and Ravelry are why you didn't see a lot of knitting in August.)



All three books were written by the same author: James Hynes.





I received "Publish and Perish" from the PaperBackSwap quite a while ago. When I first joined the swap, I got a bunch of books at once and just had them stacked by the bed. I had requested "Publish and Perish" because I loved Russo's "Straight Man" so much that I wanted to read other stories about professors. (Yes, I'm a dork!). "Publish and Perish" is three short stories about three academics each struggling for tenure or promotion. Each is a sci-fi, mystery, murder, just plain weird tale that is funny and horrifying and captivating. After finishing the first story, I immediately ordered two more of Hynes' books. One of the coolest things about the three short-stories is that while each was distinct, there were ties and connections between the main characters of each story.





Next I read "Kings of Infinite Space." This book picks up on the story of the first character from "Publish and Perish" as he tailspins out of academia into a dead-end desk job. Again there is the same kind of weird, magical, mystical, truly bizarre and f-ed up twist that makes the novel interesting. And again there are cool connections back to the other characters in the other short stories of "Publish and Perish."





In about two days of intense reading before the semester started, I finished "The Lecturer's Tale." This book is not about any of the main characters from "Publish and Perish," but does again tie back to individuals mentioned in that book. "The Lecturer's Tale" is about a failing english professor who loses a finger, which when reattached has magical powers. As the book goes on, things get weirder and creepier, but is a fascinating story.



If you are interested in reading about professor's struggles and lives, I can't recommend these books enough. Do be warned that there is weird, strange, out of this world stuff that happens in these stories. Most of them can best be described as f'ed up, but in a good way!



Next up, I just started Russo's newest book "That Old Cape Magic."