Robert Burns was born on this date in 1759 and there are celebrations of this throughout the world tonight–I’v never been to one but have been wanting to since the 90s (social anxiety, the gift that keeps on giving). At the very least, find some time tonight yourself to read “A Red, Red Rose,”, “To a Mouse,” or one of his other poems in the closest approximation of a Scottish Brogue while drinking something appropriate. I’ll be entertaining (scarring for life?) my family with such this evening*—join in!
* And I know at least one of you is thinking of asking—no, I will not be putting this on my YouTube channel, I’d end up getting a lifetime ban from reading Ian Rankin or something equally horrible.
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:
Jules Feiffer, award-winning political cartoonist and writer, dies at 95, Jules Feiffer—Author, Illustrator, Cartoonist, and More—Dies at 95 —there are few illustrations from books that I read as a child that I remember as vividly as I Feiffer’s The Phantom Tollbooth drawings. (wasn’t always crazy about his political cartoons, but I could appreciate them)
Print Book Sales Saw a Small Sales Increase in 2024 —Publishers Weekly also breaks down the top sellers of the year, some interesting titles there. (but largely entirely predictable, too)
Mystery Writers of America Announces 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations—I recognize so few of these names/titles that I’m a little embarrassed.
The truth about fiction: What distinguishes fiction from nonfiction? The answer to this perennial question relies on how we understand reality itself—if you want to get your metaphysics on today…
How the world fell for ‘romantasy’: Dragon sex is hotter than ever—When I stumbled over this, I was sure that there’d be some snobbery about the sub-genre going on—and you could argue that there is—but it’s a good look at this growing area and an appreciation of it, too.
Men Have Bigger Problems Than Not Reading Novels: For James Folta, What’s Wrong With Men is What’s Wrong With America—you might disagree with a lot of what Folta says here, but his reaction to the whole “Men Don’t Read Novels” idea running around lately is worth chewing on.
Series Release Day for Ninja Heroine Lily Wong—Eldridge’s series gets a new publisher, a fresh look, and hopefully new readers. I was already annoyed with myself for not buying the fourth book yet, and now my covers will be mismatched. And now I have to think about getting the new set, just to appreciate them.
Just Keep Swimming—Peter Hartog/David provides some “writing and author-y updates” and some general sagacity
The Laws—Michael J. Ciaraldi looks at just how unworkable The Three Laws of Robotics really are (sob, sob, sob, I’m sooooo disillusioned)
From The Hard Word, Scott’s Top 10 (Okay, 13) Thrillers and Crime Novels of 2024—some good choices here (and a couple of things I should probably add to my list)
Host Mortem: Cover Reveal and Interview!—I’m going to have to keep my eyes out for this
The Role of AI in Modern Storytelling—this is sure to provoke a thought or two. I’m not entirely convinced that I disagree, as much as I want to.
Great Books With Bad Beginnings
Disappointing Books By Favourite Authors
Gorgeous (Hidden) Book Covers—I know that I have a couple of these on my shelves, but Booktails might have inspired me to go look under all my dustcovers just to be sure. If I don’t post anything for the next few days, you’ll know I succumbed.
Fantasy Bookcase Decor for Your Home Library
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
As Told To Episode 80: Benjamin Dreyer—a nice chat with everyone’s favorite copy editor.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Angel’s Tip by Alafair Burke
Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Breach Zone by Myke Cole
Chasing the Prophecy by Brandon Mull
Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest
iZombie, Vol 1: Dead to the World by Chris Roberson, Mike Allred
And I talked about the release of Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham—man, I wish these Veronica Mars novels had kept going
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Drafter by Kim Harrison—Harrison’s least appreciated (as far as I can see), but my favorite, is out in a new edition.
allysonyj
The link to “The Laws” seems to be broken. Too bad, as I was raised on Isaac Asimov and the 3 Laws of Robotics (though I remember arguments way back about how a robot would recognize what is “human”)
HCNewton
Two weeks in a row you’ve caught one of those. Thanks! (and sorry) I’ve updated the post, but here’s the link: https://androidsanddragons.substack.com/p/the-laws