Saturday Miscellany—4/18/20

Really don’t have any prologue material today…just hope you’re all staying healthy. Let’s just dive in:

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
           Idaho’s Independent Bookstores and the COVID-19 Crisis—Idaho Public TV talks with the owners of three Indie Bookstores (two of which make my personal Top 3 Bookstore list–the third would, too, because of the name alone, if I’d ever been there) about the current mess
           Read 300 books in a year: The surprising benefits of reading more: According to studies, reading is a healthy way to help combat feelings of isolation and depression.
           Escape Into These Fantastical, Imaginary Maps: When the real world feels unbearable, why not chart a course through lands that are literally unreal?
           5 Mistakes That Will Doom Any Self-Published Book—Paul “Goat” Allen speaks for many readers here. I’ve had a post percolating about mistake one for a couple of months (but I keep coming across as too harsh, so I haven’t posted yet), the rest are spot-on, too.
           How to Break Out of a Reading Slump—some handy tips—a good time for this kind of post, it seems many are in a pandemic-induced slump. Don’t know if this’ll fix it, but it can’t hurt.
           What is With All of the Self-Help Books With Swear Words in the Title?—right?
           FAKE TRUTH: Five Questions with Lee Goldberg
           Is Harry Bosch the Last Great American TV Detective?—a good look at both the print and screen versions of Bosch (and I hope the answer to the question is no)
           Rex Stout: Meet the Legendary Mystery Author Who Created Nero Wolfe: His larger-than-life sleuth left an indelible legacy on crime fiction.—I’m always game to post a link to a profile about Stout or Wolfe (always), the publication of The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe this week gives me another opportunity to do so.
           Speaking of which, COVID-19 forced The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe Launch Party to go online. Which means I could “attend”
           Those Classic Detective Series You’ve Always Been Meaning To Read, Anyway—I would’ve linked to this without the Wolfe mention, but…
           20 Must-Read Feel-Good Science Fiction Books
           The importance of pace in thrillers—This is something we all instinctively know (I believe), but it’s nice to see someone take the time to think it through
           What is Your Bookworm Dystopia Like?—Loved this post
           How I Turned Into An Audiobook Listener—point 2 is vital for someone trying to get into Audiobooks.
           How was the book? – Describing the Reading Experience: 8 criteria of the Reading Experience—fantastic post
           The Orangutan Librarian hits us with two good posts about DNFing this week: Why do I struggle to DNF? (I’d co-sign this post) and Books I Successfully DNF’d!
           Reader Confessions: 10 Ways I’m A Bad Reader—was a lot of fun

Episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
           Episode Ninety Eight – Can You Fit a Pinball Machine in the Oxford Bar? – with Ian Rankin—a fun chat with the legend, that includes a tidbit about the upcoming Rebus novel.
           Sbooks podcast It’s A Fair Cop, Guv.—talks to Neil Lancaster about his time with the Metropolitan police and turning to Crime Fiction

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
           The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe: Parodies and Pastiches Featuring the Great Detective of West 35th Street edited by Josh Pachter—a great looking collection celebrating Wolfe—I’ve dipped my toe in and am enjoying it a lot

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Quinn Patrick Fernandez, Neriman K., Not Quite Home, Caroline Paquin and SarahSansom for following the blog (in one form or another) this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?