Saturday Miscellany — 6/21/14

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:

• How I Turned Neil Gaiman Into A Fictional Character For My New Novel — I kept his name out of my review, but Paul Cornell seems to be cool revealing his celebrity guest-star. This story is as good as you hope it would be.
• What’s in a Book Title? — Tom Rachman talks about titling books. Not surprisingly, it’s an interesting piece.
• New Publisher, Simon & Schuster — A. Lee Martinez talks about his new publisher and his new project — his first trilogy/non-stand alone. This is my excited font!
• I read books. Does that make me a nerd? –a teen ponders this for the Guardian, which ties into:
• This is the absolute worst way to teach your kids to read — I don’t use an app, but this is very similar to the way I get my kids to read. I’m not so sure that this piece gets it right (or that I do), but it’s something to think about. Comment away just below the picture!
• 11 Author Quotations to Help Reluctant Readers Find Their Way — who doesn’t enjoy quotations about reading? I love knowing I’m not alone in my obsession. These, about getting non-readers into books are really good. (no app required)
• 26 Of The Greatest Book Dedications You Will Ever Read — there are some really good ones here (including some from books I read and somehow managed to overlook teh dedications)
• Lee Child & Jack Reacher Roast — At the RT Booklovers Convention this month, Tess Gerritsen, Alafair Burke, SJ Rozan, Kat Richardson and Duncan Munro roasted Lee Child. Haven’t watched it all yet, but it’s pretty amusing for fans of Child (and fun for fans of the authors to see them do this kind of thing)

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Shattered by Kevin Hearne — The only reason I haven’t read the latest Iron Druid novel already is that UPS is taking forever to get it to me. Harry Dresden and Atticus in less than a month? (and Spenser a couple weeks before that!) It’s like Christmas, but better!
• All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner — I just read the info on this one right now, and while I knew I would be reading it (Weiner’s an automatic buy for my wife, and I’ve started reading them after her) — I’m really interested in this story of addiction and struggle. Drugs + Jennifer Weiner? This could be really, really good.
• Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich is out in hardcover, so I’ll get to it next year. But that means, that Takedown Twenty is out in paperback. Since I caught up with the series last year, it’s been a long time (for me) since I’ve spent time with Stephanie and the rest, has absence made my heart grow fonder?
• Heirs of Grace by Tim Pratt — was originally published as a Kindle serial, now in hardcopy. Looks interesting, I’ll likely track it down.