Saturday Miscellany – 6/2/18

It’s the last week of the month (or it was…), plus the holiday — which always makes for a short post for me. Still,there’s some good stuff here (including, but not limited to, one that I forgot to post last week). Without further ado, 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:

• Why crime fiction is booming — There’s a lot of good insight here, particularly this line: ” Good crime fiction is necessarily a reader-centred experience, because it only works if the reader is willing to engage with it – other genres can see the author be (for want of a better word) pretentious, and focus on what they want to get out of it. In crime fiction, the author wants a reader to try and solve their crimes.”
• An Audio Addict’s Guide to Audiobook Mysteries — I haven’t listened to any of these, but I’ve read some of the novels and agree with her take on them, and she’s right about George Guidall (his Longmire work is great).
• The Brothers Goldberg: Tod Goldberg interviews Lee Goldberg — probably the best Lee Goldberg interview possible — even if you’re not a Goldberg reader, this is worth a read.
• 10 Small Press Books to Read this Summer — some good TBR fodder.
• A facebook post from Jim Butcher — in response to readers thanking him for saving their lives. Honestly, if I ever met the man, I’d be tempted to say something like that to him, too. This post was just great.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff — just click the link, I’m not going to try to summarize. Killer concept from a killer author. Im sure it’ll be a blast, I have no idea when I could possibly fit it in.
• The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865 edited/compiled/transcribed by Janet E. Croon — history from a ground-floor perspective. It’s just great, as you can read here

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Eva Newermann for following the blog this week.