Saturday Miscellany—9/30/23

In the back of my mind since the Mid-Year Freak Out tag back in July how strange it is that I hadn’t been moved to tears by a book in a while. Richard Osman’s new one took care of that for me yesterday*, so now I can focus on other things in the back of my mind. Like, what stupid jokes am I going to make in my Festivus post this year or something equally important.

* Big ol’ jerk creating characters that you can’t help but care about.

Thursday, I attended Rediscovered Bookshop‘s latest Grown-Up Book Fair at White Dog Brewery, and showed remarkable restraint (but still walked away with some gems)—today, I get to go to the Boise Library!’s Comic Arts Festival, which is always a good time. That’s a lot of people-ing in just a few days, but a lot of bookish (and other) goodness, too. If you’re one of the handful of readers I have in this area, you should definitely come by. If you’re not in the area, I hope you have some bookish goodness to get up to (even if it’s just sitting in a comfortable spot with a good read)

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:
Spenser at 50: The Evolution of Robert B. Parker’s Iconic Character—How did I not think to spend the year celebrating this anniversary?
From one legend of Mystery Fiction to a couple of others: Lee Goldberg in Conversation with Michael Connelly—a great video from a recent event in Agoura Hills
Five Enduring Reasons to Love the Mass Market Paperback—agreed. I’d love for a resurgence of this format (as would my overburdened shelves)
The Coolest Bookshelves from Our Contest: We’ve asked for the best shelfies, and you delivered—Electric Lit got some nifty submissions to a recent contest
Are the Dragons in Fourth Wing Better than in Game of Thrones?—These are the kind of vital debates that need to be had. (even though I’m pretty sure I hadn’t heard of Fourth Wing until The Orangutan Librarian talked about it)
What Do You Think About Books Marketed Solely on Vibes and Tropes?
Why I Love Middle-Grade Books
Three Middle Grade Fantasy Series You Should Read—Over at FanFiAddict, Matt Pittman picks three great series. I’d have picked two of these myself had I tackled the question—not sure I’d have gone with The Wingfeather Saga myself, but I can’t argue against it.
Interview with a Second Grader: Hidden Gems—an interview about books with Jodie’s 2nd Grader. The fact that this leads off with a dragon book says something about the household, I think (something good, I stress. Also, completely un-surprising.)
I linked to this earlier in the week, but I’m going to share it again. On My Radar: September 2023—Celeste’s month-end wrap-ups are a great way to catch up on things you should’ve read earlier.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Running Grave by “Robert Galbraith”—Robin goes undercover in a cult to help rescue their client’s son. I haven’t seen anyone up in arms about this release, which is a bit odd. Maybe since the target is a cult this time? I’m just excited that this is under 1K pages (not by much, but at the rate this series was going, I was expecting to injure my back)
The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan—Percy Jackson is gearing up to go to college—but he and his friends have to deal with new challenges from Mount Olympus first. I’d stepped away from Riordan recently, but new Percy adventures just might get me to reverse course.