Saturday Miscellany – 12/1/18

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:

• We Need to Destroy the Blurbing Industrial Complex — let’s start with something non-controversial this week, shall we?
• The Cranky Bookseller’s Guide To Holiday Shopping — handy tips
• Here are the Biggest Fiction Bestsellers of the Last 100 Years (And What Everyone Read Instead) — an interesting follow up to Emily Temple’s Books That Defined the Decades series
• Jonathan Franzen was mocked for sharing his writing tips. Me? I’m all ears — Hadley Freeman pours some cold water on the snark towards Franzen last week. Not much, and probably not entirely convincingly, but I appreciated her point
• Celebrating Indie Publishing with @IPatrick_Author @fahrenheitpress — The Quiet Knitter interviews Ian Patrick
• ROBERT B. PARKER’S BLOOD FEUD: Five Questions with Mike Lupica — The Real Book Spy has some questions for Lupica
• The best mystery novels of 2018 — Oline Cogdill, mystery reviewer extraordinaire, names her top 16 for the year.
• Top Ten of 2018 — from Liz Loves Books

A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen to:
• Author Michael Connelly on Cops, Crime Reporting, and Classic Noir Probably the most extensive interview I’ve heard with Connelly. I think I’ve heard 98% of this before, but maybe not in as much depth. A good listen either way.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Robert B. Parker’s Blood Feud by Mike Lupica — Sunny Randall’s back (the last of Parker’s series’ protagonists), and was pretty entertaining, as I recently noted.
• The Wraith by Jeffery H. Haskell — set in his Arsenal universe, Haskell introduces a darker hero.