Acheson, Katherine O. Writing Essays About Literature: A Brief Guide for University and College Students. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2011.

I attended the annual Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) conference in Pittsburgh this past weekend, and of course left with a number of books. I got Acheson’s, Barrie’s, and Dale’s books free as examination copies. I think this writing guide will be helpful the next time I teach Introduction to English Studies.

Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan. 1911. Ed. Anne Hiebert Alton. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2011.

Although I feel like I know the story because of its ubiquity in popular discourse, I have never actually read Peter Pan or seen the Disney version of it. I recently taught Sassafras Lowrey’s novel Lost Boi, a queer retelling of Barrie’s book, and then came across this edition at the conference. I decided to get it because I think reading it will help me to teach Lowrey’s book in the future.

Dale, Alan. A Marriage Below Zero. 1889. Ed. Richard A. Kaye. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2018.

I had not previously heard of this book, but according to the blurb it is “the first novel in English to explicitly explore the subject of male homosexuality.” I am thus keen to read it.

Gumbs, Alexis Pauline. M Archive: After the End of the World. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018.

I am fascinated by both archives and apocalyptic literature, so when I saw an advertisement for this collection of poetry I ordered a copy from the publisher immediately.

Hearn, Ed, with Gene Frenette. Conquering Life’s Curves: Baseball, Battles & Beyond. Grand Island, NE: Cross Training Publishing, 1996.

I am obsessed with the 1986 Mets, and recently found out that Hearn, one of their more obscure members, had written a memoir. I liked Hearn as a player and was sad when the team traded him in 1987, though of course it ended up being an excellent trade for them. I bought the book from one of amazon.com’s network of independent retailers, and it turns out that it’s autographed!

Mbue, Imbolo. Behold the Dreamers. 2016. New York: Random House, 2017.

NeMLA handed out free copies of this novel because Mbue will be the featured speaker at NeMLA next year. I had not previously heard of it, but it looks fascinating.

O’Nan, Stewart. Last Night at the Lobster. 2007. New York: Penguin Books, 2008.

I won this signed copy of O’Nan’s novel for answering a trivia question (“What is the name of one of NeMLA’s journals?”) at the NeMLA closing brunch. As with Mbue’s, I’d never heard of his work before, but the book has an intriguing blurb.

Cruz, Miriam. 5 Sundays with Mim: Selected Sermons from Woodcrest Villa Worship. Lancaster, PA: N.p., 2018.

This is a book of sermons by my mother, who is a chaplain at Woodcrest Villa, which is part of Mennonite Home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She is retiring soon, and one of the residents decided to print this book as a retirement gift. I received it from my mother earlier this week in the mail.

Nordgren, Sarah Rose. Darwin’s Mother. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017.

Nordgren gave a reading of her second collection of poems at the New Hartford Barnes & Noble this past Wednesday, and it was absolutely delightful. There was no question about whether or not to buy her book.

Chen, Chen. When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities. Rochester, NY: BOA Editions, 2017.

Chen gave a poetry reading at Utica College this past week and I loved his work, so I bought a copy of his debut full-length collection.

Wiebe, Armin. Grandmother, Laughing. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 2017.

Wiebe is a member of the first generation of Mennonite writers whose career dates from the early 1980s. However, I’ve only read one of his books, The Salvation of Yasch Siemens. I decided that it was time to remedy this situation.

Yuknavitch, Lidia. The Chronology of Water. Portland, OR: Hawthorne Books, 2010.

A student of mine told me about this queer memoir, which looks incredibly fascinating. I purchased a copy from amazon.com’s network of independent booksellers.

Jernigan, Amanda. Years, Months, and Days: Poems. Windsor, ON: Biblioasis, 2018.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. According to the blurb, Jernigan takes a bunch of old Mennonite hymns and makes poems out of them. According to the interview that came with the book, she is not a Mennonite, but found the hymns intriguing nonetheless. It will be interesting to see what she does with them.

Lowrey, Sassafras. Lost Boi. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2015.

I received a desk copy of this fantastic novel from the publisher because I am teaching it in a course on Sexual Outlaws next semester. I already have a copy, but it’s signed by the author so I don’t want to get it grubby by using it in the classroom.

Also, for some reason WordPress’s blogging software has not been letting me add tags to my posts lately, which is why there are none with this post. It’s not that I’ve simply grown lazy and haven’t added them 😉

Aciman, André. Call Me By Your Name. 2007. New York: Picador, 2017.

I received Aciman’s novel as a birthday gift earlier this week. I hadn’t heard of it before, but it looks intriguing.

Cassells, Cyrus. The Gospel According to Wild Indigo. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2018.

I received this book as a gift from a friend as a thank-you for watching their cats while they were on a trip. Like Aciman’s, I haven’t encountered Cassells work before, but it looks interesting.

Hunter, Gregory S. Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives: A How-To-Do-It Manual. 2nd ed. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2003.

I purchased this book from amazon.com’s network of independent booksellers because, while I have been reading a lot about archives as a concept over the past year, I have little knowledge about the practical aspects of actually archiving materials. I hope that the book will remedy this lack.