Saturday Miscellany – 9/5/15

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:

• Don DeLillo Recipient of National Book Award for Lifetime Achievement — I haven’t read as much of him as I’ve intended to, but White Noise was a game changer for me back in college, Underworld was . . . well, words still fail me. Others I haven’t been so hot on, but even at his worst, he’s worth the effort. Absolutely deserves this.
• I’m (almost certainly) never going to get political here, but this is a petition you should be able to get behind: Release Unpublished Works by Raymond Chandler — Hat tip: Michael Connelly
• Stephen King asks Can a Novelist be too Productive? and follows it up with a Q&A — I’ve never been able to finish a novel by Stephen King, but I’ve almost always gotten a lot out of what he says about writing/publishing — Hat tip: Constantly Moving the Bookmark
• How Making Time for Books Made Me Feel Less Busy — This is really, really good (and I’ve seen this linked in a wide variety of places this week, from all sorts of blogs/feeds).
• Why children’s authors shouldn’t always ‘kill the parents’ — Sorry, Bruce, the Waynes still have to die. But maybe other kids shouldn’t have to go through the same.
• 12 Ways Your Parents Turned You Into A Book-Lover — My parent’s didn’t do the audiobook thing (wasn’t really much of an option back then), but they did the other 11. I’ve tried to do all 12. Hope it works.
• Animated Classic Book Covers — simple and fun

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire — Loved this. Will try to blog about this early next week, but basically, she’s outdone herself. Toby Daye as a diplomat, c’mon, how do you not read that?
• The Drafter by Kim Harrison — There’s part of me that would be okay with not reading another Harrison, but…man, this premise is so strong. I’m going to have to. Typically, Paul Goat Allen, is on board and has a good post about this one.
• Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator by Jen Klein — the title alone intrigues me, sounds like a fun premise to boot.
• Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? by Stephen Dobyns — I’ll be shallow again — that cover (click on the link, really) hooks me. The premise is promising, but I can see where I’d tire quickly of it. Still, worth a shot.
• Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart — a female character that would be atypical today, but in a mystery set in 1914? Sign me up.
• Updraft by Fran Wilde — great premise, fantastic buzz.
• The Dragon Engine by Andy Remic — sounds like grimdark, but fun. Could be wrong about that, but however you describe it, still looks fun.
• The Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore — The end of the Lorien Legacies is here, and I’m ready for it. Probably a book or two too late, honestly. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing how this one wraps up.

Lastly, I’d like to say thanks to The Primroses Were Over and RedTHaws Reads Randomly for the encouraging words this week (actually, had a lot of good feedback/interaction this week, been a nice week — these two started it all).