Saturday Miscellany—11/8/25

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:
Two Ways of Disliking Poetry—I would’ve guessed there were more…
Fisher the Bookseller Explains How Bookstores Decide Which Books to Sell: The ins and outs of how books are bought and sold in bookstores
In Conversation with Susan Grossey, Author of Historical Crime Fiction
Manual Labor: A new generation of deaf writers reimagines language, text, and sound
The Accidental Completionist—that last paragraph…
7 fantasy book villains more terrifying than Sauron from The Lord of the Rings—I haven’t run into any of these villains, I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.
Eight Ways to Celebrate Bram Stoker on his November 8th Birthday by LindaAnn LoSchiavo—a Guest Post over at Witty & Sarcastic Book Club for those who are still making plans for Bram’s Big Day (or want to get an early start for next year)

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Bookish Diaries Podcast Season 2, Episode 6: Cozy fantasy or Dark Fantasy: Pick your Poison!

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day
The Lobster Boy And The Fat Lady’s Daughter by Charles Kriel—the beginning of my beautiful friendship with Farenheit Press
And I mentioned the releases of: The Crossing by Michael Connelly; Made to Kill by Adam Christopher; The Builders by Daniel Polansky; The Ark: Children of a Dead Earth Book One by Patrick S. Tomlinson; Black Wolves by Kate Elliott; and Mystic by Jason Denzel

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
A Judgement of Powers by Benedict Jacka—Not that this series has been filled with brightness and breeze, but it looks like things are getting a little more serious for our friend, Stephen.
Love the Stranger by Michael Sears—Boy howdy, this sequel delivers on all the promise of its predecessor–and then some. Out in paperback this week, I just finished and need to talk about it soon. Don’t wait for me, though, just go get it.
The Christmas Tree Killer by Chris Frost—DI Tom Stonem is sure to be very unwelcome around the holiday season (for people he works with/serves anyway) if he keeps finding himself entwined in murder cases like this one. Creepy Christmas Crime, if you’re in the mood.
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite—”A young woman must shake off a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin in this wickedly funny, brilliantly perceptive novel about love, female rivalry, and superstition from the author of the smash hit My Sister, the Serial Killer“
Bruised Not Broken: The Autobiography of Katie Hodges by Katie Hodges—This Literary Local has been through a lot and is here with a story of perseverence and hope.
I Am a Highly Dangerous Warrior! by Raquel D’Apice, illustrated by Heather Fox—”a hilarious take on developmental leaps exploring the bravery it takes to tackle the next big thing–with some help from the things in life that make us feel safe.”