Saturday Miscellany—6/11/22

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:
‘People should be able to read the books that they want’: Nampa coffee shop holds Banned Books Giveaway—A couple of weeks back, I mentioned how a local School District “permanently banned” 20+ books while ignoring their own stated review policy (this week, they said their circumvention was because their policy was “too complicated”). Some local businesses and many local individuals responded thusly. NPR’s All Things Considered also covered it.
Harry Potter and the missing sketches: JK Rowling’s first drawings of boy wizard—The material about the initial cover design and what the designer has to say about his work now is great.
The Ever-Shifting Challenge of Promoting Literature in Translation
The Transformations of Pinocchio: How Carlo Collodi’s puppet took on a life of his own.
Crime Reads posted a couple good pieces on Crime Fiction and humor this week:
Murder Isn’t Funny. But Gallows Humor Is!—Karp’s The Rabbit Factory (not to be confused with any recent Finnish work) made me laugh harder than any police procedural that I can think of, he knows what he’s talking about.
Why Some of the Best Thrillers Are Also Hilarious—is also worth the read, but Byrne loses a few points for flubbing the citation of Fletch’s Fortune
How about some great news from Scott Lynch on Twitter a couple of days ago!
Joe Pike, Two Bullies, and a Stolen Car—Jeffrey B. Burton details many of the ways he isn’t Joe Pike. This is great (and a reminder that I have an ARC of his to get to soon)
Is Genre Defined by Content or Worldview?
Mood Reader!—Rabhya Maini discusses the whys and hows of mood reading
i read the 5 highest rated books on my physical tbr…in a reading slump—That’s a great way to get yourself out of a slump.
The Problem with Mood Reading—Kopratic details the many ways they’re not a mood reader.
Like This Game? Read This Book: 11 Book Recommendations for Gamers by M.J. Kuhn—given the utter lack of TriPeaks or Angry Birds on this list, I can’t say anything about how accurate the recommendations are, but it’s a fun idea.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Page Break with Brian McClellan Ep 41 – John Scalzi – Science Fiction Author—am a couple of weeks behind in getting to this episode, but I thought this chat with Scalzi was notably entertaining.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Geekomancy by Michael R. Underwood—not technically a new release, but a new edition. I loved this series, and am oddly excited to get it in paperback for the first time. This UF basically bases its magic system on the power of Fandom (horribly reductionistic, but I try to keep this bit brief). Hoping this reissue helps this series find its audience.
The Knave of Secrets by Alex Livingston—Fantasy, Card Sharps, and Con Artists—and a dash of magic. What else do you want? I posted about this last month, and am glad to see it in the wild.
Noodle and the No Bones Day by Jonathan Graziano, Dan Tavis (Illustrator)—the story behind the Internet craze in picture book form is as cute as you’d expect, as I said a couple of days ago.