Running a little late today, it’s been a weird day. (also, I have a bumper crop of links today)

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:
bullet Last week, I linked to a short list of the new works that have entered the Public Domain this week. Here’s a couple of better lists from Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain and LitHub
bullet Please, let this be the strangest story in publishing for the year. I’m not sure I can take anything worse. A romance author returned to social media after faking her own death in an apparent book-promotion ploy: ‘I simply want my life back’. Michael Gallagher’s substack has a good overview and some responses from the author
bullet AI-Narrated Audiobooks at Apple Books, reports The Guardian and The Verge
bullet Yesterday was Sherlock’s Birthday: Happy 169th Birthday, Sherlock Holmes—I particularly enjoyed reading how they came up with the date.
bullet What Can We Learn from Barnes & Noble’s Surprising Turnaround?: Digital platforms are struggling, meanwhile a 136-year-old book retailer is growing again. But why?
bullet 37 Years Later, We’re Still Living the Nightmare of White Noise
bullet Good Company: Mickey Haller and the Enduring Appeal of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’
bullet What I’ll Be Doing In 2023—Benedict Jacka outlines the way the rest of the year will (hopefully) go, featuring the release of his new series!
bullet Are we really going to start disinfecting our used books?—really??
bullet And a few more (probably the last?) Best of/Year in Reviews for 2022:
bullet The damppebbles Top Ten(ish!) of 2022
bullet 2022 in Review: Reading Stats & Year in Review—Reader Voracious goes crazy with the stats
bullet Goodbye 2022! The best reads of my year plus stats!—from Runalong the Shelves
bullet The Orangutan Librarian shares My Reading Stats for 2022 – A Bookish Overview!
bullet Bookforager’s 2022 Progress Report
bullet Top 10 Books Read In 2022 from Peat Long’s blog. You should also check out the 2022 Peaties
bullet Reader@Work’s Year in Review: A Look Back at 2022
bullet Mike Finn’s My Twelve Best Reads in 2022
bullet Kerri McBooknerd’s 2022 Reading Wrap Up
bullet Best Reads of 2022 —from Jo Linsdell
bullet In case you’re looking for inspiration for 2023, here’s a few ideas:
bullet My 2023 Bookish Intentions—from Never Judge a Book by its Cover
bullet Fi’s Bibliofiles sets out to Slay the Series
bullet A Look Ahead at 2023—for Reader@Work
bullet The Case for Touching All Your Books
bullet Quenby Olson has given us all a justification for collecting unread books
bullet 5 Middle Grade Books For Adults
bullet Top 10 Humorous Science Fictions for 2023
bullet My Love Affair with Words

A Little Help for Our Friends:
bullet Caffinated Beverages—the new online home for Jeremy Billups art and books. Check it out!

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet The Thing in the Snow by Sean Adams—”a thought-provoking and wryly funny novel—equal parts satire and psychological thriller—that holds a funhouse mirror to the isolated workplace and an age of endless distraction.”
bullet Courage under Fire : Under Siege and Outnumbered 58 to 1 on January 6 by Steven A. Sund—the former Chief of the Capitol Police talks about the fateful day

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Aditi Kundu, who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.