Saturday Miscellany – 5/4/19

Happy Star Wars Day!

Here are 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 Harry Potter and Paddington Bear are essential reading … for grown-ups — sure, why not?
• The real story behind Harper Lee’s lost true crime book — sure, we don’t get this and we get Go Set a Watchman? Life is cruel.
• Hi. We’ve redesigned Lit Hub, launched a blog, and added a podcast network. — so, they’ve been busy. Looks pretty cool.
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Mysterious Author: Donald J. Sobol created a mystery icon and sold millions of books. But who was he? — This might be my favorite piece to link to all year. I cannot overstate the impact that Sobol & Encyclopedia had on me and what I read. Hmmm . . . been wondering what kind of mystery lit tattoo I could maybe get. That first volume’s cover . . . Sorry, got distracted there for a second (but am keeping my random typing up here as a reminder).
• Speaking of mysteries, this week, The Writer Magazine touched off spot of controversy with one of the most wrong-headed pieces I’ve read in a while about male dominance and female characters in Crime Fiction. The reactions were immediate, sometimes hilarious, and all negative (that I saw, anyway). Gerald So, typically, was even-handed in his response, as were the group Sisters in Crime (H/T: @crimethrillergirl). Alafair Burke (someone the article could’ve talked about) was a tad more blunt. Honestly, my favorite response was from Nick Kolakowski — although his angry tweets about it are a bit more amusing (like this one)
• An interview with Steph Broadribb, author of the Lori Anderson bounty hunter series — a good interview with someone else that could’ve been discussed by The Writer Magazine.
• Vital Crime Fiction: Main Bad Guy by Nick Kolakowski — this week, coincidentally, brought a nice new interview with the aforementioned Nick Kolakowski.
• Simon Pegg & Nick Frost’s Stolen Picture To Adapt Ben Aaronovitch’s Epic Fantasy Drama ‘Rivers of London’ — Other than the mis-use of “Epic” here, there is nothing in that headline that doesn’t bring me joy.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Venators: Promises Forged by Devri Walls — the second in the Venators series is finally out — and the first 100 pages are really good. I’ll probably talk about the next 250+ early next week.
• Not Famous by Matthew Hanover — is now an audiobook!

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to SED MADDY, The Happy Book Blog and Justine @ Bookish Wisps for following the blog this week.