Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
- FACEOFF: A Conversation with Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly — As part of the promotion for Faceoff, B&N interviewed two of my faves, Lehane and Connelly to talk about their Kenzie/Bosch cross-over.
- 13 Things J.K. Rowling Told “Nickelodeon Magazine” In 1999 — Speaking of interviews, BuzzFeed dug up this old interview with Rowling two years after the first Potter book.
- Magic Systems: Urban Fantasy vs. Epic Fantasy — A panel from the 2013 Phoenix Comicon with Jim Butcher, Patrick Rothfuss, Jaye Wells, Myke Cole, Sam Sykes, and Stephen Blackmoore. Haven’t finished this yet, but there’s some good thought-provoking stuff there (if you’re into that kind of thing)
- Rita Mae Brown on becoming a card carrying reader — Never read Brown (probably won’t beyond this), but I liked her thoughts on a lifetime of reading. A couple of very quote-worthy lines, there.
- George R.R. Martin Has Been Sneaking Famous Names into His Books for Years — Cute little story about Easter Eggs/Hat Tips the Great Bearded Glacier’s been slipping into his work.
- How A Song of Ice and Fire Stacks Up — Speaking of Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire is about 1,770,000 words long so far — 3.5 times as long as The Lord of the Rings. This infographic compares its length to some other notable works.
- This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
- Shield and Crocus by Micharl R. Underwood — my pick of the week, this looks wonderful. Super-hero + epic fantasy? The mail can’t get here fast enough. Really.
- California Bones by Greg Van Eekhout — I’m not sure if I’ll ever get around to reading this one, but man . . . great premise.
- The Rise & Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman — Rachman’s first book, The Imperfectionists was great — and I’m really looking forward to seeing how he follows it up.
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