Saturday Miscellany—4/22/23

I spent more hours this week interacting with people after work hours than I’m used to (well, people who don’t live with me), which meant that I had very little time to do the kinds of reading that leads to things getting posted here. C’est la vie…

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:
National Library Week kicks off on Monday, the theme this year is “There’s More to the Story,” spotlighting the all the things libraries do.
I spent all night at the Last Bookstore. Things got spooky—a bookstore sleepover is such a great idea
Memes-field Park? ‘Digital natives’ are flirting with Jane Austen’s vision of the ideal man all over again
What Do Modern Mystery Novels and Medieval Mystery Plays Have in Common? Sin.
Nancy Drew and the Case of the Guilty Pleasure—how a young reader jumped the gap between blue-spined mysteries to those with yellow-spines
It’s Not The Size Of The Dog: A ramble on Small Men in early Epic Fantasy—a fun follow-up to Peat’s previous ramble about Large Men in Fantasy
Top 5 Tolkien Metal Bands—I didn’t even know this was a thing…
Stop the Audiobook Hate—it seems so stupid that this is a thing that people need to say, but…
What Worldbuilding Peat Likes—another follow-up from Peat Long, some good stuff here (probably doesn’t need to be said)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
City of Dreams by Don Winslow—the second of Winslow’s swan-song trilogy is out, and getting nothing but (likely well-deserved) raves
The Rhythm of Time by Questlove and S. A. Cosby—I’m super-curious about what a collaboration between these two authors would produce—and then you make it a MG Fantasy (that sounds fun no matter who wrote it)? I’m dying to find out.
Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen—she solved one murder as an amateur, what can Annie McIntyre do as she trains as a P.I.? I had some very positive things to say about it recently.

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