Saturday Miscellany—4/4/20

Update: Naturally, I opened up my Kindle and found something that downloaded yesterday (I’d ordered it so many months ago, that I’d forgotten it was coming), so updated the New Release bit.

Yesterday, I talked about being wiped out lately, and I set out to prove it apparently. I’m not sure what time I fell asleep last night, but it was a few hours earlier than I expected. Anyway, I woke up about 3 am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I figured I’d read for a couple of minutes and drift off. I ended up reading for about 90 minutes, finishing a great read. I don’t remember the last time I did that–no interruptions (welcome or otherwise), no taking a quick peek at some social media, no anything. Just me and a book. It was so nice. Probably did more for my psyche than anything else in the last couple of weeks. Hope you’re able to find something like that yourself.

Also, while compiling this post, I’ve been listening to Joe Pug’s second concert from his Social Distancing Tour. I’m wagering that most of you haven’t heard of Pug before, take this opportunity to address that lacuna (loved the whole thing, but my favorite song from this group is around the hour and 10-minute mark although I almost revised that with the next song).

Enough of that, on with the post:

Odds n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
          bullet Bookstores Can Be Saved—Dave Eggers provides the rare serious McSweeney’s post
          bullet Get Shorty at 30: Dennis Lehane on Elmore Leonard’s Hollywood satire—Doesn’t get much better than Lehane, unless it’s Leonard. The former writing about Leonard, much less about Get Shorty? I could end this post right here and be satisfied.
          bullet The best $193 I ever spent: A mountain of detective fiction when my wife was pregnant—although this is almost just as good
          bullet Crime writer Don Winslow leaves Trump behind, mostly, for the California cool of novella collection Broken
          bullet New Ways to Organize Your Bookshelves
          bullet 100 Fairy Books That You Should Read Before You Die
          bullet Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors Share Their 2020 TBRs—some good looking stuff here
          bullet Reading comprehension, reviews, and jerks—I stumbled onto this again this week, still fun (but man, so glad I don’t have to read people saying things like this about my work)
          bullet Take this (weirdly precise!) quiz to find out which fictional character’s personality matches yours.—a fun little time-killer
          bullet Bearded by J. Billups Book Report—a very cool video version of Billups’ Bearded (and, yes, I’m envious of the beard).
          bullet How I Became A Book Blogger—who doesn’t enjoy a good origin story?
          bullet What Makes a Book Blog Readable?

A Book-ish Related PodcastEpisode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
          bullet Blood BrothersEpisode 2 Featuring Noelle Holten—a few crime authors being very silly (and some good book talk, too). The first episode is worth your time, too.

This Week's New Releasesthat I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
          bullet Curse the Day by Judith O’Reilly—the first, Michael North thriller, Killing State just rocked, can’t wait to find time to read this one. A conspiracy thriller featuring an AI and a great former-assassin protagonist.

LastlyI’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome tosandomina, LDW, and just_tommye for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

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2 Comments

  1. I’ve heard of Joe Pug, but haven’t listened to him… I’ll take some time today and click over and have a listen. Thanks!

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