Saturday Miscellany—8/30/25

Running late (again), a lot of people-ing. Started with the Boise Library’s Comic Arts Fest (more about that later), and then ran into some family time. Sorry about that.

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:
My students resisted reading books. I found an unexpected solution.—One Middle School teacher makes a breakthrough by remembering what had worked when he was a student
One of my favorite novelists, Matthew Norman seeks a (bad) Answer to one of the 20th Century’s Biggest Literary Questions
Petty Revenges to Wish Upon Your Booksich Arch Nemesis—Some of these are Cru-EL. (so bad you have to pronounce it that way).
Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Kamen Rider by Shotaro Ishinomori
I’m Currently Disillusioned with New Releases—Brianna has broken free from the Tyranny of the New. (sorta jealous, really)
10 Urban Fantasy Books That Blend Magic and Mayhem—Anca Antoci features some really solid choices, and a few I’m going to have to sample
On Setting Expectations For Writers—Peat Long drops some wisdom
There is a Season…Turn, Turn Turn—a great post on Witty & Sarcastic Book Club about the importance of beginner books to parents (particularly as the kids get older)

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson—In retrospect, I want to quibble with my rating from back then. I just don’t get it.
Hostile Takeover by Shane Kuhn—I wish he were still producing work (if he is, it’s under a different name, and I’d like someone to clue me in)
And I talked about the releases of: X by Sue Grafton; Randoms by David Liss; and Koko the Mighty by Kieran Shea

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Art of Legend by Wesley Chu—The trilogy concludes, and I can’t wait to see how.
Katabasis by R. F Kuang—A Dark Academia take on Dante’s Inferno.