Saturday Miscellany—2/20/21

So I didn’t post every day this week (and really didn’t like everything I posted), but, in terms of reading and writing, this is the first week in 2021 that I’ve felt “normal” when it comes to blogging. Coincidentally, this is the first week in a while that it’s taken me as long to put this post together as it did today. I guess here at Week 7, I’m ready for the New Year.

I had an interesting thing happen this week a book I’d somehow reserved from my library in both audio and hardcover became available in both formats within a day or two of each other. So, now…do I read? do I listen? do I try to do both (either simultaneously or by switching between? I think either of the latter would drive me crazy. It’s a low-stakes dilemma, for sure, but one I’ve spent too much time thinking about. Thoughts?

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
COVID marks new chapter for independent bookstores—one more take on COVID’s impact on Indie Bookstores
The world’s most misunderstood novel—On Gatsby, the changing perspectives on it, and some new takes on the classic.
The 10 Most Confusing Books of All Time—I hate to be that guy, but most of this list makes me think that people aren’t actually reading the book. But, yeah, I can get behind four of them (which means someone out there is thinking I didn’t actually read the book).
The Bourne Challenge: How to Create a New Hero in the Long Shadow of Jason Bourne: Writing and inventing inside the “Ludlum Universe”—I remember trying Ludlum when I was in Junior High, but couldn’t really get into Bourne, which probably means I missed something. So I’m not sure why I read this, but Hood’s process is really interesting. How would you create a “protagonist who’d give readers a Bourne-like experience, but not a Bourne rip-off” in that universe?
Digital Mini Reviews | What Would Life Be Without Books?—a handy list of comic collections for readers (and, yes, I have spent money based on this post)
A Class Above: D&D Classes in Books. Over at the Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub, a handful of bloggers and authors contributed to a series this week looking at examples of the various D&D Character Classes in (largely) non-D&D books. If this series doesn’t expand your TBR-Pile, something’s broken:
Fighters and Barbarians
Paladins, Clerics, and Druids
Rogues and Rangers
Bards and Magic Users
And then she wraps it up with Books for Fans of D&D
Speaking of W&S Bookclub, DISCIPLINE OF BLOGGING Jodie Crump “Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub” Writer Interview—Novelist Todd Sullivan recently interviewed the writer behind “Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub” about book blogging. Great stuff!
Bender’s “Feel Good” SFF books—yet another TBR expanding post.
If your budget is in trouble after the last few links, maybe these posts from The Book Critter will help: Tips for Buying Used Books: part one and Tips for Buying Used Books: part two
5 Really Easy Ways to Support Book Bloggers (they deserve it all)
4-Year Anniversary, Ask the Blogger—Books are 42 just passed the 4 year mark and answers some questions about those years.
Reflections On 9 Years Of Book Blogging—Booker Talk has been at this for an impressive Nine Years and shares some wisdom.
Deliah Dawson knows exactly what we need right now

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Oh, That Shotgun Sky by Sarah Chorn—a novella looking at the aftermath of Of Honey and Wildfires. It’s full of heartbreak and gorgeous prose, as you’d expect from Chorn.
True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman—The title says it all, really. This pullquote from Gaiman adds a bit more: “A biography that reads like a thriller or a whodunit . . . scrupulously honest, deeply damning, and sometimes even heartbreaking.”

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to thisdadreads who followed the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?