Saturday Miscellany—4/1/23

Before we kick things off today, a quick announcement: due to the success of such things as my Grandpappy’s Corner series where I read picture books (and the like), I’m starting a new series this month—A Latter-Day Victorian Reads Erotica (logo forthcoming). It’ll kick off Monday with a deep dive into the works of E. L. James, and it’ll get racier from there.

And now on to our regularly scheduled offerings (a big thanks to Celeste’s A Literary Escape for all the help with this week’s offerings!):
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:
Welcome to Brandon Sanderson’s Fantasy Empire—Esquire‘s Adam Morgan didn’t set off as much controversy as his colleague at Wired did last week. I’m still Sanderson-agnostic, but it’s stuff like this that makes me not want to be.
Guinness names four-year-old boy world’s youngest author—Awwww
Literary baby names ranked from least to most cringey.—this is a handy list for prospective/expecting parents. Or just fun to read for whoever.
An Interview With Tao Wong!—K.R.R. Lockhaven chats “with Tao Wong about cozy fantasy, food in books, and Kickstarter projects”
Constructing Doom in Eli Cranor’s DON’T KNOW TOUGH—Paul J. Garth breaks down a pivotal scene (maybe the pivotal scene) in Cranor’s novel. If you’ve read the book, this is a rewarding look. If you haven’t—stay away from this post until you’ve corrected your mistake.
Crazy Jobs 5 Famous Female Authors Had Before Writing—(I’m a little jealous of Octavia Butler, I’m sure the reality doesn’t match the fantasy around that job title, but man…)
I don’t (often) talk about adaptations, but how do you not get excited about this announcement from Edgar Wright?
Let’s Talk Bookish – Do Genres Change Over Time?—As I usually do when it comes to Let’s Talk Bookish prompts, I ran out of time to scribble anything in response. I think it’d have looked like a less thoughtful version of Peat Long’s had I managed to.
The Absurd Infantilisation of Children’s Literature—The Orangutan Librarian starts with the hatchet job taken to Dahl’s works and moves on from there.
Why I disagree with the Bowdlerisation of Agatha Christie by HarperCollins—Mike Finn nails it
What I’ve learnt from reading fiction – part 9—as always, I love these posts.
Reading is a radical act
Five Science Fiction Book Recommendations for Beginners—a good starter list. Also a decent list of SF reads for people who aren’t beginners
How the Pandemic Changed My Reading Experience
Have Book Bloggers Been “Deinfluencers” All Along?
How To Work With Book Bloggers [Marketing Tips]—I can think of a few authors I’d like to send this post to if I could only figure out a way to do it without being/coming across as a twerp
On Story-Savvy Audiences and Obviousness—this is incredibly important for the Thriller/Mystery community (but holds for every genre)

A Little Help for Our Friend
Kickstarter: Mrs. Covington’s: A Cozy Fantasy Novel—It’s at 81 percent with 11 days to go, if you haven’t kicked in yet, why not do it today? Pretty please?

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Know Thy Enemy by Jeffery H. Haskell—Grimm and the crew of the Interceptor are back in death-defying action
Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey—”genre-defying story of humanity’s expansion across millions of dimensions—and the AI technology that might see it all come to an end.”
Strictly No Heroics by B.L. Radley—”a normal teen girl must navigate crushing on her best friend, starting a new summer job, and not being squashed during the next supervillain showdown in B.L. Radley’s young adult debut filled with humor and heart.”

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