Saturday Miscellany—1/5/20

For some entirely predictable reason, most of what I saw this year was a look back at 2019 or a look ahead to 2020, so you’ll see a real theme to these 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:

• What’s Happening In 2020?—Michael Connelly’s Facebook page gives his fans plenty to look forward to.
• The Best Books of 2019: Debut Fiction—from CrimeReads, some of these look really good. I only read one of these, Magic for Liars, and while I wouldn’t have put it on this list, it’s worth your time. American Spy keeps popping up on my radar, not sure why I haven’t tried it yet.
• The #damppebbles Top Ten (sort of!) of 2019—Second only to my whim, Emma’s responsible for a lot of what I read last year, so it’s not surprising that I think this is a great list. I’ve only read her top pick, but have heard nothing but raves about the rest. And her top pick? She’s absolutely right.
• My Top 20 Books of 2019—The Tattooed Book Geek shows us all up with a Top 20 that looks fantastic.
• Raven’s Yearly Round Up 2019 and Top 10 Books—Raven Crime Reads finds some of the best-looking stuff.
• Char’s Horror Corner lists her Top Ten Novels of 2019, Ten Story Collections/Anthologies of 2019, and Top Ten Novellas of 2019—she reads a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t (and probably vice versa), but when we happen to read the same thing we usually end up echoing each other’s thoughts. So if you like your fiction a bit further on the creepier/horror-ish side than I do, you’ll love these lists.
• If you’ve plundered the above lists (and what I posted the last couple of weeks) for TBR material, you’ll want to read Find More Time to Read—from Sarah Anne Carter and Super Readers Share Their Best Tips to Read More in 2020—from the Goodreads blog
• Book Stress—This post seems like a good thing to bear in mind after everything else I’ve posted so far. Also, I’m glad that The Read Writes link to his blog this week, if for no other reason than I love the blog design.

A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen to:
• Author Stories Podcast Episode 783 | Lee Goldberg Interview—One of Garner’s best episodes, partially because Goldberg talks fast so you get more content than usual ?

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg—a new series from Goldberg about a rookie homicide detective learning the job. It’s waiting not-so patiently on my Kindle and I’m tempted to skip a couple of things so I can get to it faster.
• A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall by Andy Abramowitz—I’ve been waiting since 2015 for something new from Abramowitz, and this family drama looks like it’ll be worth the wait.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Lou des Anges, Don Jimmy Reviews, and Žygimantas Krungolcas for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?