Saturday Miscellany—8/10/24

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:
In praise of weird fiction, horror tales and stories that unsettle us—As a whole, this stuff does almost nothing for me—but too many of my friends love this stuff for me to dismiss it. And hey, anyone praising literature deserves a read, right?
Disability Representation in Books—This passed my notice last month. Glad I fixed that. (thanks, The Write Reads!
Favorite Book in a Favorite Series—Decision paralysis prevented me from posting a list for this Top 10 Tuesday, I was glad to see that Carol was able to make the tough choices
8 Reasons Why Books Are Important —Jo Linsdell’s Book Lover’s Day post
Bookish Trends I’ve Lived Through As a Blogger—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
Reading Delicacies blog has recently started posting Sunday Linkies, inspired by this weekly post. 1. I’m flattered. 2. I really appreciate the links back to my posts, and 3. since Laure is self-consciously not borrowing links from me, I will return the favor. So, go check out the Linkies for more good reads.
Solstitia Issue 1—I somehow didn’t notice that this came out in June (and feel really bad about not buying it yet or spreading the word), but the inaugural issue of this biannual zine is out, and you should get your hands on it. A quick glance at the Contents will almost certainly make you agree.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
FaceOff by David Baldacci, ed.—a collection that has led me to many other reads (and had some strong entries without that)
He Drank, and Saw the Spider by Alex Bledsoe—best of a beloved series
Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire—where we started to see that this series wasn’t just the Verity Price Show
And I noted the releases of :The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman; Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn; Revenant by Kat Richardson; and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot by David Shafer

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
A Farewell to Arfs by Spencer Quinn—Bernie helps his elderly neighbors after they fall for a phone scam. I had some good things to say about it.
The Kill List by Nadine Matheson—DI Henley has to re-investigate a decades old serial killer case when killer starts again.
Red Dead’s History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America’s Violent Past by Tore C. Olsson—A look at the history depicted in the video game, as I recently wrote, it’s a compelling read for even those who haven’t played the game (or have no interest in)