Wow. Who knew that coming back home and trying to get ready to resume our lives was going to be more disruptive to finding stuff for this post/reading and other bloggy things? Turns out that running hundreds of errands and meeting with all sorts of folk doesn’t leave as much time for bookish pursuits as sitting in doctor’s lobbies, hospital rooms, or hotel rooms. Go figure.

Honestly, I went 2 days in a row without reading any book this week. Finding 30 minutes one morning to fix that made me feel so much better.

So it’s a small list this week, but there’s some interesting stuff here, I think.

Without further ado: The 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 Irish crime fiction is in murderously good health — The subtitle, “If Irish crime fiction has a signal crime it is corruption – public and private, spiritual and secular” sums it up well. I haven’t read a lot of Irish Crime Fiction, but what I have fits this — and is really good.
  • 10 Little-Known Children’s Books by Famous Writers: Featuring at Least Two of the Best Titles Ever Written — worth reading for those two titles alone. I’m not kidding. There is one book on this list I am going to have to try to track down.
  • Don DeLillo’s Novels, Ranked — I really got into DeLillo in college, and still want to read him (I have more than a few to catch up on), but ever since Falling Man and The Body Artist I haven’t been able to make myself. Still, this is good TBR fodder — and a good way for me to point out that White Noise and Underworld are two of the best things you’ll ever read.
  • Yes, a short list this week. But that just gives you plenty of time to read this. August 22 was the 125th anniversary of Dorothy Parker’s birth — which led to her trending on Twitter. I had to do a double take when I saw that, because I was pretty sure she was dead already (1967, to be precise). Take a bit to read some of these great tweets about her.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to RABT Book Tours and PR for following the blog this week.