Saturday Miscellany—5/18/24

Some housekeeping: Yesterday, I put my toe back in the blogging water (solely because I didn’t know I was going to be recovering from surgery when I signed up for that blog tour). I’m hoping to be fully back in action on Monday. We’ll see how that goes…I am surprisingly easy to tire out. Well, that part’s not so surprising. It’s probably surprising how easily I can delude myself into thinking I’m three decades younger than I am and can bounce back from stuff (like the removal of an organ).

Yes , it’s probably too soon to return to this, but it’s worth a try, I’m doing another round of Ask Me (just about) Anything for My Upcoming Blogiversary
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I didn’t read as much during my first post-surgery week as I expected to, messing around online was much better for my attention span. This week, I did read a good deal and spent far less time online. So this list is on the shorter side, but…eh. Might as well get on with things.

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:
These books offer breezy escapism. That doesn’t mean they’re silly —A look at the past and present of Beach Reads.
Ranking Science Fiction’s Most Dangerous Awards: A scientific survey of the relative heft, pointiness, and durability of SFF’s most sought-after trophies.—Reader, I snickered.
13 Weird, Fascinating Things I’ve Learned Researching Crime Novels—I’d love for more authors to do things like this. This is just great.
Humor in Mysteries and Thrillers Is No Joke
Books Are Dead! Long Live Books!
The Ultimate Guide to Fantasy Fiction: 80+ Fantasy Subgenres Explained
I Can No Longer Read More than 1 Book at a Time and Other Bookish Habits that Changed for Me in the Last 13 Years
BBNYA 2024—Marie Sinadjan is putting together a Pinterest board for the BBNYA entries…wow, that’s an impressive-looking batch.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Ready Player One (Audiobook) by Ernest Cline, Wil Wheaton
And I mentioned the release of Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell
Also, I glimpsed at what’s coming up in the next week or two, and I’m really excited to revisit the posts for the end of May 2014. I remember really enjoying the books, and can’t wait to see what I said.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Blood Red Summer by Eryk Pruitt —This is the second book featuring the True Crime podcaster, Jess Keeler. The first book in this series is collecting e-dust on my e-Reader, and now I feel even more pressure to read it. They both look compelling as all get-out.
The Accidental Joe: The Top-Secret Life of a Celebrity Chef by Tom Straw—A chance to see him put that piece (above) about Humor in Thrillers in action: “A maverick celebrity chef reluctantly agrees to let the CIA use his hugely popular international food, culture, and travel TV series as cover for a dangerous espionage mission.”