Saturday Miscellany – 8/5/17

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:

• 2017 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest Winners — the worst of the worst.
• The search for the Great American Read is on (again)
• Want Teens To Stop Hating Literature? Let Them Read ‘Filthy’ Books — well this rife with problems or stereotypes.
• How to Read an Entire Book in a Single Day — this seems overly complicated.
• The House at Allen Cove — E. B. White’s house is being put up for sale — looks like the kind of place he should’ve lived. Probably out of my price range.
• Why We Read and Why We Write

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh — Set inside ” a dusty town in the Texas Panhandle cut off from the outside world and populated entirely by former criminals and witnesses put in protective custody. The twist: None of these people know who they are, because all of them have had their memories of their pasts erased.” In this quaint little town, not surprisingly, trouble erupts.
• After On by Rob Reid — his Year Zero was a fun humorous SF look at music and piracy, this Silicon Valley novel about an evil social network looks to be equally fun.
• Urban Enemies edited by Joseph Nassise — short stories from the villain’s point of view from series such as The Dresden Files, Iron Druid Chronicles, Kitty Norville, Toby Daye, Faith Hunter and more.
• A Man of Shadows by Jeff Noon — a couple of decades ago, Noon’s Vurt blew my mind, and I haven’t picked up anything by him since. This will hopefully be the end of that annoying trend.

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