Saturday Miscellany—11/4/23

Yeah, this is later than usual. I spent the morning at the Boise Library!’s Boise Book Faire 2023 getting to chat with several local authors about their works. I got to renew acquaintances with a few authors who have shown up here over the last 12 months or so—and met a few who I hope to feature soon.

But that’s for the future (or, I guess, the past), let’s move on to today’s 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:
Banned books often get circulation bump, new study finds—a silver lining? Or fodder for conspiracy?
Why Kids Aren’t Falling in Love With Reading: Hint: It’s not just the screens
Make Humanities Fun Again
How Has Big Publishing Changed American Fiction?: A new book argues that corporate publishing has transformed what it means to be an author.
Does Reading Improve Health?
Robert B. Parker: The Master of Crime Fiction
The Story Behind the Story: “A Good Rush of Blood,” by Matt Phillips—I’m so glad I put off reading this until I’d written about the book—I’d have spent far too long working in responses to it. Secondly, I’m so glad Phillips stuck to his guns and gave us the book that he did (wouldn’t have liked it nearly as much if he’d buckled)
Language and translation in Insiders – Shannon Knight—a nice little BTS about Knight’s newest book.
The Science Behind Steampunk and Retrofuturistic Technology—from Jonathan Fesmire
Partial Function Unboxing!—Who doesn’t like a good unboxing video? Watch JCM Berne get the first Partial Function hardcopy! (available Tuesday—order it today!)
Self Published Fantasy Releases – November 2023—In case you needed to do some shopping for yourself/others. Good looking offerings here.
Eternally Fascinating, the Vampire Endures—Author LindaAnn LoSchiavo stopped by Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub to talk about Blooksuckers/vamps/Fangheads/or whatever you want to call them
#R3COMM3ND3D from Damppebbles is back with #R3COMM3ND3D2023. This celebration of the best new books of 2023 is guaranteed to add to your TBR.
BookBlogger David of Blue Book Balloon
Lisa from Owl Be Sat Reading
Book Blogger Carla of Carla Loves to Read
Emily Quinn of A Quintillion Words (which is just a brilliant blog name)
Witty & Sarcastic also kicked-off Dragon Week 2023—Who needs “Shark Week” anyhow? I’m not going to link to every piece here, but you need to go check it out.
Spells and Spaceships is yet again hosting Norsevember, where you can read fun things like The Norns and the Weaving of Fate and The Dwarves of Norse Mythology
And there’s one more November-celebration—SciFiMonth! Some great-looking stuff there, too.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Hacker by Duncan MacMaster—Jake Mooney, a ghostwriter turned reluctant amateur-sleuth, gets pushed into solving another murder–this time of an old nemesis.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to cchittom and Ashleigh Mordew who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.