Saturday Miscellany—4/13/24

A new local bookstore opened pretty close to me this week. I stopped in last night and it won’t be the last time I do that (and not just because they’re holding a book for me). Welcome to the world, Shared Stories!

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:
Lynne Reid Banks obituary—The Indian in the Cupboard was one of those books I returned to over and over and over again (and somehow, I don’t think I’ve ever talked about the book).
One of the Best Things We Can Do for Ourselves as We Age: This will help feed your soul and boost your overall health.—betcha can’t guess what “this”  is
Books are trash too: Remember to throw them away during spring cleaning—I endorse almost none of this. But it’s something to consider. (I suppose)
Autistic Literature Will Flourish When We Stop Insisting That Writers Qualify Their Autism: Wouldn’t it be a relief if we could stop asking authors to meet a specific set of diagnostic criteria? —Especially in Autism Acceptance Month, a good read
Sherlock’s Double: At William Gillette’s Castle—barely qualifies for this list, but I don’t care
Inheritance of Magic – Six Month Mark—Benedict Jacka talks about the sales numbers for his new series—and what those numbers likely mean for its future (spoiler: good news all around). I appreciate when authors can be this open (but understand when they don’t, I doubt I’d be able to).
The new book, health, and a few other updates—a similarly open update from Harry Connolly
Hello, my name is D I Jolly—a nice intro to this author who keeps popping up on the blog (and hopefully continues to do so)
Can a Book Really Be For Everyone?: What makes a book for everyone? Is it the presence of universal themes? Approachable prose?—Templeton’s latest is reliably good.
Chet and Bernie Tribute—a fan-made Spotify playlist. And yes, I will be listening to this when I dip into the upcoming Chet and Bernie book.
Considering the cosy turn in SFF: who gets to be comforted?
Booktok And Consumerism: For The Filthy Book Buying Capitalists Out There…
Seven books that I reviewed when this blog started thirteen years ago—A cool way to look back on an anniversary (happy 13th, Mike Finn!)
Good Books With Disappointing Endings—this was supposed to go up last week. Ooops. Great idea for a list.
Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub got on her Twitter soapbox about policing reviews and was absolutely correct

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Bridge to Bat City by Ernest Cline—”a mostly true tall tale about an unexpected friendship between a young girl and a music-loving colony of bats.” A departure from Cline’s usual, but something tells me this is going to work really well.
Status Drift by Ian Robinson—the second in the re-issued Sam Batford series is not to be missed.
Rain Falls Hard by David Nolan—to commemorate the news about the TV adaptation, Farenheit Press is issuing Nolan’s Manc Noir trilogy in one handy (and cheap) volume. If you missed buying (and reading) these separately, now’s your chance to remedy that.
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann—true stories of “the superheroes of reading”