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:

  • Pulp’s Big Moment: How Emily Brontë met Mickey Spillane. — The Birth and Early History of Pocket Books (paperbacks).
  • Phew, only 2 more Best of 2014 lists to post here — I’m working on mine, wanted to have it up yesterday, but . . .hopefully Monday (and by saying that, I’ve doomed it ’til Friday)
  • How to Write a Book Review — Author J. S. Morin provides some handy (and pain-free) guidelines
  • 31 New Year’s Resolutions for Book Nerds — I really liked — even admired — some of these resolutions from the B&N editors — some I thought were just wrong.
  • Speaking of resolutions, How To Read More — A Lot More — Ryan Holiday has some really helpful advice if this is one of your goals. There’s a thing or two here I should incorporate. (I may have posted this one already, but I’m too lazy — and have too much to read — to go check).
  • How to read more — Austin Kleon was inspired by Holiday’s list and has some other useful suggestions.
  • In an odd coincidence, the other day I came across another reference to Kleon’s blog — a post he put up in 2009 about Nancy Pearl’s “The Rule of 50”, which is so good that in addition to the link, I’m just going to copy here:

    Believe me, nobody is going to get any points in heaven by slogging their way through a book they aren’t enjoying but think they ought to read. I live by what I call ‘the rule of fifty,’ which acknowledges that time is short and the world of books is immense. If you’re fifty years old or younger, give every book about fifty pages before you decide to commit yourself to reading it, or give it up. If you’re over fifty, which is when time gets even shorter, subtract your age from 100. The result is the number of pages you should read before deciding.
    from Book Lust

    Only 1 New Release I’m Excited About this week — but it’s a great way to close out 2014. January’s new releases just might kill me, but we’ll get to that next week:

  • Low Midnight by Carrie Vaughn — Cormac takes over! Well, at least for one book. Psyched to read this one.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Manny Rutinel for following the blog this week.