Saturday Miscellany—7/22/23

I come across as a little grumpy in my comments this morning–and maybe I am (probably a good thing that I’m not trying to write posts about books today). Don’t let my demeanor put you off, I enjoyed all of the things I linked to.

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:
The Rise of Tech Worker Fiction: Novels about Big Tech’s working class are popping up like push notifications. What can they tell us about the labor movement and late-stage capitalism?—I’ve apparently missed all these “popping up” lately, that’s on me, I guess. But Copeland’s Microserfs told us this stuff in 1995, didn’t it? These new ones still look pretty good…
After robbery, ‘Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge’ involves getting on a motorcycle and taking action—Didn’t read much of this, because I want to dive in with it fresh. Good to see Quinn getting some attention.
Michael Connelly on His Path to the Top of the Crime Fiction World—the last thing that Connelly needs is more attention, but I’m always down for more from him.
A Typical Day for a Protagonist in a Young Adult Fantasy Book—Yeah, it’s a little like picking low-hanging fruit, but Augusta Chapman’s piece made me grin.
Step-by-Step Tutorial For Recovering from a Book Hangover—I’ve linked to a few Book Hangover Recovery posts over the years, this contains a few things most don’t.
Can you guess these famous writers by their childhood nicknames?

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Thriller Zone Bruce Borgos, author of The Bitter Past—a fun chat with Borgos about his writing and this book. David Temple sounds every bit the fanboy as I would’ve in his shoes.
Speaking of Mysteries Episode 251: S.A. Cosby—I was already champing at the bit to read his newest, but that’s gone into overdrive now. I’ve heard a few interviews with Cosby and each one makes me want to sit down and have a beer or two with him and talk fiction.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Bitter Past by Bruce Borgos—Longmire meets The Americans in this great series debut about a Nevada Sheriff. I had few things to say about it recently (and several things I didn’t say because I didn’t want to ruin it for anyone).
Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn—A septuagenarian heads to Romania to get her money back from phone scammers. That premise and Quinn’s knack for writing has to make this a winner.