Saturday Miscellany — 9/6/14

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:

• Two Novelists Launch Brash Books, New Crime House — Yeah, I wasn’t impressed with their first title, but the idea behind Brash Books — and the men behind it, do have me very interested. I hope this works out.
• Margaret Atwood’s new work will remain unseen for a century — this project is either one of the coolest or one of the stupidest ideas I’ve run across. Either way, it reeks of hubris
• The best mixtapes in fiction — The Guardian talks about the trend of writers coming up with mixtapes/playlists and some of the best mixtapes in British fiction.
• Checking Out America’s Libraries — H&R Block (of all people) put together this infographic of interesting facts and figures (some dismaying. . . 7 books checked out a year by the average user?!?). I liked the comparison of libraries to McDonald’s (even if I have a hard time believing it)
• Pfui on Fair Play: Rex Stout on Rules for Writing Detective Fiction — Stout has problems with the supposed rules for mystery writers, and on the one hand he’s right (far be it from me to disagree with the master), because it works so often when they break this rule. But man, it bugs me as a reader when they do it.
• Longmire’s Cancellation Makes No Sense — Oline Cogdill is more angered than I am by this, but I’m pretty rankled. I really don’t get the thinking here. Thankfully, we still have the books.
• 10 Things That Happen When You Can’t Put Down A Good Book — blah
• Wilson’s got a lot of interesting things on her blog, but these Writers Laughing posts are great.

(My TBR pile got a massive injection this week thanks to) This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Hidden by Benedict Jacka — It’s been far too long since I spent time with Alex Verus.
• The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire — but it’s been longer since I’ve read a Toby Daye novel. Not sure how I decide which to read first.
• Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs — a collection of Mercy Thompson short stories? Yes, please.
• Maplecroft by Cherie Priest — Cthulu stuff has never really spoken to me, but . . . something about this take makes me think I could like it. Here’s her Big Idea piece on the book.
• Personal by Lee Child — Jack Reacher goes to Europe. Should be relaxing, no?
• The Drop by Dennis Lehane — a return to the world of Mystic River? Sounds great — and probably, pretty messy.
• What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe — title kinda says it all. From the brain behind the xkcd webcomic.