Saturday Miscellany — 6/29/19

Little preamble today, it’s just been a week, let’s say. I’ve really needed a book to fall into most of the week — sadly, haven’t had the mental energy to do that. Have read some pretty cool things, thankfully. Just not as much as I could’ve used, I’m sure you can all relate.

However, I’ve somehow managed to find a good batch of 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:

• 3 Reasons Turning Off Your Devices and Opening a Book Will Improve Your Productivity — despite the annoying headline, there’s some good stuff in here
• How Books Make Us Feel Less Alone
• Most Stolen Books 2018–2019 School Year — not sure why this brought a grin to my face, but it did.
• Audiobooks: The Past, Present, and Future of Another Way to Read — a longer than usual read, but I thought this history of the media was fascinating — and different from the typical Audiobook story I’ve been seeing the last couple of years
• Book Culture Owner Says Stores Are In Danger Of Closing Despite Good Business, Asks City For Help — there are so many quips/observations/ to make about economics, politics, etc. to make because of this story. But I’m not going to — it’s a good read showing the weaknesses in indie book selling. No matter what you think of the store owners’ response.
• How Many Copies Did Famous Books Sell in the First Year? — hmm
• The Most Read Books of the 2019 Reading Challenge — Goodreads checks in on their 2019 challenge, some of the perennials on this list surprise me (not sure why)
• I’m with The Tattooed Book Geek here as he ponders why the validity of a review is questioned by a free ARC in this twitter thread
• Fantasy Tropes I Love — you can always count on The Orangutan Librarian for a fun list
• 60 Neglected Songs About Batman For Your Superhero Playlist, Part 1 — I love that this is a thing that exists — so glad I didn’t have to compile it. Still working my way through it, but had to share.

There weren’t any new releases this week that caught my eye — did I miss any?

I’m thinking of making some changes to the look/feel of this site — but my skills are rather…limited, shall we say? Anyone willing to help (for a modest fee), or have any tips, suggestions — leave a comment (below), hit me with a message, or use those social network buttons to your right.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Michelle Eddington, Queerying Literature, IM Fletcher, and Bestiality for following the blog this week (possibly the most eclectic batch for one week yet).