(a late) Saturday Miscellany—10/3/20 (Also, Why I’m Going to be Mostly Quiet for a Bit)

So…things are going to be quiet around here for the next 4 weeks (at least). But we learned this week that we have to move. So, when I’m not at work, I’ve been looking for a new place and starting to pack. I’m trying to look at this as a chance to do a thorough reorganization of my bookshelves (and everything else in the house).

So not only have I not written a whole lot this week–most of what was posted was prepared weeks ago (the post Friday was the result of 4 nights of plugging away a bit at a time), I didn’t even have the time and energy to get the September report out, short version: 26 books, I think I liked all of them). I’ve read even less. This week I’ve read 3 essays, 3 short stories, and the same page of an ARC for 4 straight nights as I fell asleep. That’s a bad day’s worth of reading. For a week, that’s unthinkable. I got my copy of Battle Ground on Tuesday and haven’t read the first line. I may not stay sane for long at this rate (not just over Dresden, all of it).

I have 1 book tour this month (and one at the beginning of November), 3 books an author has asked me to talk about (1 read, 2 unread)—and I’m going to try my best to get those posted, and anything else I can manage to squeeze in. We’ll see.

I did manage to steal a couple of minutes here and there this week to look at my feeds to find a thing or two for this. So, 25 hours after I started this, I can now post it. Yeah, gonna be one of those months.

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
American classics among most ‘challenged’ books of the decade in US: Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird among works protesters have tried to get removed from schools and libraries—yeah, this is the end of Banned Book Week, and the article was written for the beginning of it. Still…
How to Determine the Personal Value of a Book in a Few Simple Steps: What to Do When You Have Too Many Books—too many books? I guess it could happen. No one let Mrs. Irresponsible Reader see this for the next couple of months, okay?
Author Interview: Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager on The Writer’s Library—from LibraryThing
INTERVIEW: Ian Rankin on turning 60, not being able to hug his son in lockdown and why Rebus is finally venturing out of Edinburgh
12 Book Bloggers Share How They Find Time to Read—some good ideas here
Goodbye 5 Star Rating System. Hello Book Vagabond Badges.—here’s an interesting alternative.
RATING SYSTEM—Book in Hand has a new rating system, too
Being Objective About Some of My Favourite Books—The Orangutan Librarian talks about some problems with some of her favorite reads
What am I even doing?—The Fantasy Inn’s Kopratic talks about book reviewing
Comfort in books

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Battle Ground by Jim Butcher—Peace Talks set the stage for something huge. It’s now here.
Just Like You by Nick Hornby—Hornby tackles the tale of a 42-year-old mother falling for a 22-year-old.
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik—the beginning of a series about a sentient school for young magic users, featuring a dark magic practiitionner who has enough power to kill every other student. Or Something. I think I’m going to have to read it to come up with a better summary.

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome toChar, I.F, and BookerTalk who followed the blog this week. Keep coming back, there’ll be new stuff, eventually!