Saturday Miscellany—6/3/23

This week started off strong for me and then fell apart quickly (6 posts left undone and unposted). The non-blog life got interesting, no horrible events occurred just a couple of things that were ill-timed and long. So today I’m going to scramble to get as caught up as I can. Also, this blog’s really dull Instagram page got suspended because someone claimed I was harvesting user data or something like that. Pshaw. Even if I wanted to, I don’t possess the know-how. Sounds like too much work. (really easy fix, but it was just one other thing I didn’t need)

I do want to take a moment and thank all the readers for the texts, comments, tweets, etc. about the 10th Anniversary. They meant a lot to me–I think I’ve thanked you all individually, but just in case. Thanks for being around and reading.

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:
Here’s a Way to Make Sure You Actually Read the Books You Buy—This might actually work. Odds that I’ll try it? Extremely low.
Publisher Drops Author After TikTok Backlash and GoodReads Review Bombing—I saw the author’s video retweeted a few times–and IF Stusek was joking as she claims, that should be the last time she jokes in public, because she’s just not good at it. I’m not sure the Goodreads bombing and the publisher’s reaction was warranted, but it is 2023, Stusek had to know it was coming.
1,001 Novels: A Library of America—An interactive map of the novels that depict the USA. I’m linking to the introduction, you need to take a moment and check out the map itself (and find yourself taking more than a moment). Actually, I’m thiiiis close to spending the rest of the morning on the site itself and never finishing this post or anything much else today.
10 Things You Might Not Know About NetGalley
10 Screen Adaptations Much, Much Worse Than The Books They’re Based On—I’ve only seen The Hobbit movies (sometimes because they seemed to be lousy adaptations). But this looks like a good list. Anyone have one to add? Anyone want to defend one of these? I’m curious.
2023’s Wyrd & Wonder is over, here are the last week Quest Logs from Dear Geek Place and The Book Nook. A lot of good material was produced this year, and I’m so glad that Peat Long pointed me to these Quest Logs so I could sorta keep up with some of it.
Book Blogging in 2023 Survey: Book Blogger Survey Results and Statistics
Step by Step Guide On How to Win a Booker Prize—It’s pretty clear that The Booker Prize isn’t really the Orangutan Librarian’s thing, but that doesn’t mean that this post isn’t chock-full of great advice for aspirants
I’m Not Convinced Book Bloggers Need AI—I should’ve realized that this was a thing to think about, but I didn’t until I read this post.
On Fantasy as the Genre of Recovery—Good ol’ Peat nails it here. To his point: I’ve done a little thought-experiment to see if I could write a companion piece on Detective/Crime Fiction and the answer is: not really (Urban Fantasy, which is so frequently a mashup of Detective and Fantasy, straddles the line).
On My Radar: May 2023—if you’re not checking in on A Literary Escape frequently, you ought to at least take a peak at their monthly On My Radar posts. (but checking in on the blog frequently would be a good idea)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Man on a Murder Cycle by Mark Pepper—a vengeful motor cycle rider, a violent plagiarism scheme, and a week’s worth of surprises await you in this thriller. I had a bit to say about it earlier this week.
A Necromancer Called Gam Gam by Adam Holcombe—It’s a book with the word “necromancer” in the title and it’s described as cute. That’s almost enough reason to read this right there. The early reviewers singing the praises of this novella seal the deal. I’m 10% in and think my voice will be one of that choir soon.