Saturday Miscellany—2/8/20

A lighter load after last week’s mega-list. This ended up being one of those weeks that I had no energy at all after work, and I ended up writing/surfing less than I’d expected to. There’s probably a link there. I’m not sure why so many things about kids and reading popped up on my feeds this week, but I always enjoy reading/sharing these articles.

Anyway, 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:

• Naming a Kid for a Fictional Character Is High Stakes: The Jolenes and Daeneryses of the world have some baggage to contend with.—I didn’t do this (Mrs. Irresponsible Reader wisely vetoed the idea), but I see the danger (and would’ve gone for something less trendy anyway). Glad I didn’t, the prospective Archie Goodwin Newton would turn out to be a very non-Archie kind of guy.
• How to raise a reader—In my not-so humble opinion, the last point is the key (and I know I could’ve done better with it myself)
• Why you shouldn’t censor your teen’s reading (even the sex and violence)—I’m not absolutely sold on the argument, but on the whole, it’s a good point.
• Book clinic: stories to captivate reluctant boys
• Interview with Joseph Finder—CrimeSpree Mag interviewed Finder about his new book, and more. Incidentally, I’m about 60% done with the book and it’s a solid thriller, am enjoying the heck out of it.
• The Great Los Angeles Crime Novel—And the Women Who Are Revitalizing It
• I Listened to an Audiobook and Here’s What Happened—I really enjoyed this post from Books, Bones & Buffy.
• A Day in the Life of a Book Blogger || Let’s Slay Some Misconceptions—The only point I’d demur from is her time estimates. “Neverending” for Bloghopping seems like a pretty significant underestimation.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• A Blight of Blackwings by Kevin Hearne—the second of the Seven Kennings trilogy. Sadly, it’s going to be a month or so before I can get to it (barring some calamity that makes me bedridden and unable to go to work for a month, I should say. If that happens, it’ll only be three weeks before I can get to it).
• Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn, Nicole Goux—a fresh take on Cassandra Cain. Looks spiffy to me.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to waytoofantasy, Betty, Matt Kaster and jellyfishentity for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?