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:
A New Way to Read Gatsby—huh…
The art of exclamation marks!—Huh!!
For a Mystery Novel, How Much Sex Is Too Much Sex?—I think this is a pretty good way to think of it from the author’s POV. From the reader’s, too.
There’s Nothing Wrong With Anyone’s Personal Library—even without the response to a certain link I shared last week (the one Peat described as “incredibly smugly middle-class”), this is a good read.
Best of the Best: 2015 to 2022—Like the Stephen Writes I linked to recently, I’m impressed that anyone is capable of compiling a list like this.
Why I Believe It’s Important to Clearly Indicate the Age Category of Books
Why Adults Love Young Adult Fiction
So, You Own a Tiny Human. How About Some Book Recs?—I could go broke from this post alone…95+% of these look great
The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie- A Mom/Son review—I love the idea behind this!
I don’t know why I’ve never thought of doing something like this, but I might have to in ’24: Authors I wanna give a second chance to in 2023 and Try Again Authors for 2023
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen—I have no idea what this book is about, and want to go into it blind. I just assume it has something to do with Vampires. Probably some family drama, too. It’s from Mike Chen, that’s enough to put it at the top of the TBR.
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano—single mom, novelist, and definitely-not-an-assassin Finlay Donovan gets into more hijinks involving a killer, the Russian mob, and her nanny.
Carol @ Reading Ladies
Thanks for linking to my post! And, yes, it’s a daunting task! 😂😂😂
HCNewton
but you accomplished it!
Bob Germaux
I really enjoyed Elle Cosimano’s piece about sex and mysteries. It’s a question I’ve occasionally been asked about my own works, and her explanation pretty much mirrors mine. My five Jeremy Barnes and two Daniel Hayes novels are definitely, as Cosimano says about her books, mysteries with romantic elements. Those romantic elements are not only fun for me to write, but they help with character development. The closest I come to a romantic novel is “The Backup Husband,” which while not containing anything near graphic sex, does have a lot more “sex scenes” than any of my other books. I think those “sex scenes” are in good taste, but that’s just my opinion, of course. Finally, I think Cosimano really hits the nail on the head when she says that genre is becoming less important for both the writer and the reader. I write what I want, and readers read what they want, without giving too much thought to the genre. It’s more about what entertains you and and holds your attention, what makes you turn that page. One more thing, for anyone who somehow stumbles across my three books of humorous essays, what I call my Grammar Sex Trilogy. Sorry, no sex, graphic or otherwise, anywhere in those 100 or so essays. Just yours truly havin’ some fun.
HCNewton
I’ll cosign what you said about genre, for sure. And, yeah, you and Cosimano address sex/romance in similar ways–the sex/romance parts for her take up a larger portion of the final product though 🙂
wittysarcasticbookclub
You should do a similar one in 24! It’s been so much fun.
Thank you for including me in your roundup!
HCNewton
That would be fun–harder to convince a 20-something to do something with their parent, tho 🙂
My pleasure, as always!
wittysarcasticbookclub
I say, threaten to tell embarrassing stories about their childhood to anyone they’re trying to impress impress unless they agree. Hmmm…I might end up being a questionable parent to adult kids. 😆
HCNewton
I dunno, I like your style 🙂
Meg
Thanks for including my post on your roundup!
HCNewton
Absolutely!