Saturday Miscellany—4/29/23

I knew this was going to be a quiet week here, but…it’s been too quiet for me. Hoping to get back into the swing of things next week, but I’m not going to promise anything. How are ya’ll doing?

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:
It’s the 10th Annual Independent Bookstore Day—go out there and support at least one!
S.A. Cosby Is Finding His Religion—in case you weren’t already excited for All the Sinners Bleed
Neil Gaiman is Releasing an Album?—sure, why not? Looks promising.
MWA Announces the 2023 Edgar Award Winners
As interesting as the awards are, I’m more excited because the Edgars means that it’s time for Crime Reads to post their The State of the Crime Novel Roundtable Discussion with the Edgar Nominees Part 1 and Part 2
For Poetry Month, Tor.com put together this list of Eight SFF Books Written in Verse—a.k.a. 8 Novels I Won’t Read, but Some of You Might Want to Try
“Holmes and Watson in Manhattan”: Musings on the Creation of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin—I will always read and always share a good Wolfe and Archie piece
What I Need Is a Literary Mood Ring—Molly Templeton asks, “how does a person go in search of the precisely right book that will incite a feeling?”
Duty Is Heavier Than A Mountain: A Ramble on Men and Mental Burdens in Early Epic Fantasy—Peat Long continues to ramble on men and Early Epic Fantasy
The Magic of Rereading Children’s Books
The Pain of Publishing
My Read-bait Words in the Synopsis or Reviews
Should We Be Paying More For Books?—I’m cheap enough to want to say no, but I’m pretty sure we should be
Star Rating System: Keep it or Abandon it Altogether?
What Plots Peat Likes—another good series by Peat continues…
Real Books: Funny Covers from Published Titles (I’ve read one of these and have had two others on my to-buy list for a bit, might have to add more)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Eden Test by Adam Sternbergh—a thriller about a marriage on the brink. Not typically my kind of thing, but Sternbergh’s going to have a great take on this idea up his sleeve.
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane—”an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.”