Saturday Miscellany—6/28/25

I get it…publications need to make money to pay authors, but man…too many things I had set aside for today’s list were behind them. Rats. Still, found a few things for the budget-strapped amongst us.

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:
“Bookworm, Cliché, Deadline…” And Other Unexpected Etymologies
Former Auburn football player turned novelist to receive top state literary award
The 144 Most Read Books of the 2025 Reading Challenge (So Far)
Jim Butcher WRITES WOMEN WELL?—this interview made me crack up (just the rules laid out at the beginning make this worth it)
What a Five-Star Review Means to Me—this is really close to my thoughts, phew, one thing I don’t have to write
Competitive reading needs to calm down—indeed
Captivating Characters of June—Another tantalizing entry in this series. I have my pick for the month (like I have every month I haven’t participated), will I get something put together? Oooh, the suspense.
Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba—if I read enough of Firsty Duelist’s stuff, I’m hoping I can convince my kids I’m fluent in Manga.
Who’s moving to Germany with me—never been more tempted to emigrate

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson
The Rebirths of Tao by Wesley Chu
And I mentioned the release of one book I read and two books I don’t ever remember hearing about (probably my loss) The Cartel by Don Winslow; Tin Men by Christopher Golden; and The Leveller by Julia Durango

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Wraith and the Revolution by A.J. Calvin—was in my notes for last week, but I somehow overlooked it. It’s still available, believe it or not, however. This SF novel looks great.
Bookish Words & Their Surprising Stories by David Crystal—this also came out last week, but I didn’t know about it until I read the excerpt linked above.
The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart—this sequel to last year’s Assassins Anonymous is just dynamite, as I’d have written convincingly if I’d found the energy this week. Just take my word for it (or nag me until it shows up on the blog)
Pride and Pompousness by Katie Cook—the third volume in her Nothing Special series follows up the story from Vol. 2, where the appearance of a long-lost heir (our pal, Declan) threatens the succession of power in fairy royalty.