If anyone sees this today and then sees me at the event I’m at this afternoon. The image at the bottom is totally coincidental and is in no way a commentary on what I think this afternoon will be like.
(but, yeah, I will be).
Also, because I seem to be in that kind of mood: For the record, I only picked up one link here from Peat Long’s Friday Five–the others in common we found independently from one another. He doesn’t do all my research.
Enough of that…here’s the miscellany:
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:
Every Country’s Highest-Rated Book by a Local Author—an impressive bit of data analysis.
The Battle of the Book Cover: Britain vs America—The folks at Electric Lit rank a few recent US and UK covers of the same books.
The release S.A. Cosby’s much-anticipated new book this week brings with it a couple of great interviews. This one with Friend of the Blog, Nick Kowlakowski, and this one with Maris Kreizman.
M.W. CRAVEN on his new thriller FEARLESS—Craven talks about the origins of his new novel, Fearless (coming soon!), and the series it launches.
Lit Hub has several Summer Reading lists for those of you still considering yours, among them are: The Ultimate Summer 2023 Reading List Or, the Count of Melty Crispo and The 28 Novels You Need to Read This Summer: The Lit Hub Staff Recommends Books for Beaches, Benches, Backyards, and BBQs
Or, if you’re trying to help out a younger reader build their list Library Reads: Summer Reading Recommendations for Middle Grade & Teen Readers—(if you happen to be a younger reader yourself reading this Miscellany, let me know, I’m glad to know you exist)
63 Best Historical Fiction Books Ever Written
Do You Ever Stop and Think About Paragraphs?—Yes. Ever since a professor wrote about worrying about my “anemic little paragraphs” blowing away in the wind on a paper. (think I still got a B on it) But I like seeing other people stop and do it, too.
Author Interview: JCM Berne, author of “Wistful Ascending”—Eclectic Theist has a good Q&A with Berne.
Does Everyone Need to Have a Love of Reading?—No, and Pages Unbound does a good job answering why. Just don’t tell my kids or grandkid that I said that 🙂
Having Read vs Reading—I may have to adopt this myself.
Why Do I Give Books 4 Stars Instead of 5 Stars?—a great job trying to explain what can feel like a slippery difference.
Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub Presents: The Hero’s Journey and Modern Fantasy—Beth Tabler from Before We Go Blog, David (Book Meanderings) from FanFi Addict, Peatlong from Peat Long’s blog, and Filip Magnus from The Grimoire Reliquary join Jodie for a discussion. Earlier in the week I called this “the only blog post you need to read this week.” Here at the end of the week, I agree with myself.
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Fiction Fans Author Interview: Death in Fine Condition by Andrew Cartmel—Cartmel talks about his new series for a bit, and convinces me that I should move it up on the TBR pile
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby—”The first Black sheriff in a small Southern town faces a questionable shooting, a Confederate pride march, and a serial killer.” That’s good enough for me. I was sure I’d ordered this, but I seem to have forgotten to. I’ll have to wait until next week to have it sitting neglected on my shelf. But man, it looks so good.
Charm City Rocks: A Love Story by Matthew Norman—”When a single dad meets the former rock-star crush of his youth, everything they thought they knew about happiness and love is thrown into chaos in this hopeful, heartwarming romantic comedy.”
Death in Fine Condition by Andrew Cartmel—the first in a new series, The Paperback Sleuth. Cordelia is a rare paperback collector/dealer who burgles an elusive set from one of the most dangerous men in London. Things ensue.
Peat
So what you’re saying is I need to try harder so I can do all your research needs, right? 😛
HCNewton
Welllll….now that you mention it.
WS_BOOKCLUB
Well, thank you for your kind words and for sharing my post! It was a blast to take part in!
Celeste | A Literary Escape
I love your round ups! I checked out the UK vs US cover post, which is a low key favorite thing of mine to compare. I was actually thinking about doing something similar on my blog. The White Cat, Black Dog book at the end of that post is a prime example of how different the covers can be. Typically I like the UK covers more, but from time to time the US one wins in my mind.
HCNewton
Thanks, Celeste. I love comparing the US/UK covers, too. I typically skew towards UK covers myself–I wonder if it’s because I see the US covers so often that when I see a UK variant the variety gets me interested more than the cover itself.
On a Facebook group I saw someone was buying the entire Alex Verus series with UK covers because he liked them more–and it inspired me. I was seconds away from doing the same thing before I realized I’d have to explain that choice to my wife (and find bookshelf space)!