Saturday Miscellany—9/26/20

No introduction this morning, I’m watching a bookstore event with Luca Veste (from Bethany Beach Books) and am too distracted to say anything.

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
Johnstown-based literacy bank nourishing minds worldwide through magazines—adding a literature bank to a food bank? Brilliant idea.
Would you find this bookstore beautiful or terrifying? Or both.—LitHub asks this provacative question about a new Chinese bookstore design (“bookstore” seems inadequate to describe this structure). Personally, I think both, but lean to the latter.
A Brief History of the Juvenile Mysteries You Checked Out of the Library Eight at a Time: How young sleuths like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys became literary icons for generations.—Keith Roysdon takes readers on path down memory lane with the Hardys, Drew, and more.
Why I’m addicted to self-help books—I don’t share this addiction, but I get it. And had fun reading this piece.
Things I Learned About Blog Tours in 6 Months—a look back at 6 months of organizing blog tours. I’ve linked to things from the blogger’s POV recently, this look from the other side is interesting.
Critical Art of Reviews—thoughts about over-used words and phrases when talking about books.
Unlikeable Characters: Why is likability Even a Question?
Let’s Talk About Spoilers—Wish I’d written about 90% of this first.
Hiu, possibly sentient cabbage over at The Fantasy Inn, recently posted a thread about “the Feels behind book reviewing and blogging”, which is a good reminder that all of us go through the same thing (to varying degrees, anyway).

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Next to Last Stand by Craig Johnson—I had a great time with the latest Walt Longmire book, I’ll probably be talking about it early next week. In the meantime, you should just go read it.
Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots—Here’s what sold me: “Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy? As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine.”
Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold—seemingly the whole blogiverse is buzzing about the sequel to The Last Smile in Sunder City (probably for a good reason)

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Books Are 42 (possibly the greatest blog name ever) and The Godly Chic Diaries who followed the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?