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:
The Quiet Collapse of Reading—and the Only Real Solution—I less-than-three the solution a lot
How Amazing Stories Served as the Blueprint for American Science Fiction
Movements Need the Critical Thinking That AI Destroys—this doesn’t technically fit my heading, but it’s close enough. If nothing else, I need a place to save this link so I can use the article.
GET TO KNOW: Bestselling Author Craig Johnson
This week’s Fantasy with Friends prompt How Do You Define “Fantasy”? had some really good responses to what proved to be a challenging task. Briana’s contribution on the host page is a great starter.
The Bibliophibian had some good input, too.
I was relieved and pleased that Pete Long weighed in, as futile as the exercise may be.
JCM Berne’s Twitter comment offered what might be the best definition (definitely the pithiest). But he also pointed to a less-brief discussion he posted a few years ago, I think I linked to it some time ago.
Books About the Pursuit of Knowledge—a handy listicle from The Orangutan Librarian
5 Unhinged Thrillers You Need on Your TBR — Dark, Twisted & Completely Addictive!—and another from The Crime Book Junkie (how I missed it for 2 weeks, I don’t know).
Carol treated us to a This Not That post, which are always fun–if only so you can think of your own answers.
Lastly, it’s Narratress’ Indie Book Sale time again! Go set your eyes on some goodies!
My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“You can’t go home.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Because it’s gone.” Aminata frowned, finished her drink, and nodded. “You can’t find it again. Even if you go back, it’s not there anymore. That’s history, that’s how it works! Someone’s always changing someone else.”
—The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Calamity by Brandon Sanderson
Waylaid by Kim Harrison
The Red Storm by Grant Bywaters
A Far Out Galaxy by Marjorie Thelen
The Watcher in the Wall by Owen Laukkanen
And I mentioned the releases of: Burned by Benedict Jacka; Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire; Waylaid by Kim Harrison; There Will Always Be a Max by Michael R. Underwood; and Shadow Rites by Faith Hunter.
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (I’ll warn you now, next week’s list will be massive):
The Great Big Bear and Other Stories of the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne—12 new Iron Druid (et al) stories!
The Museum of Unusual Occurrence by Erica Wright—”Rational and cynical Aly Orlean’s life in her psychic hometown of Wyndale, Florida couldn’t be more hectic. It’s all about running her business, raising a teenage sister, sending out holiday greetings–and her new task: finding a killer.
For her Museum of Unusual Occurrence not only houses odd curiosities but now has a brand-new display: The body of Rose Dempsey, a local twenty-year-old, set up in one of the exhibits as if she has been ritually sacrificed.” This definitely looks different than the other Wright books I’ve read–which is not a bad thing, I stress. Be sure to check out what Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub said about it.
The Dead Can’t Make a Living by Ed Lin—Great title. Fantastic cover. Oh, and the premise is pretty good, too: “Jing-nan, the owner of the most popular food stand in Taipei’s world-famous Shilin night market, is hauling trash after a successful evening of hawking Taiwanese delicacies to tourists when he finds a corpse propped up against the dumpsters. The dead man turns out to be Juan Ramos, a Philippine national who came to Taiwan for a job at a massive ZHD food processing plant… This rollicking crime novel is a scorching, timely examination of our global dependence on undocumented immigrants.”
The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon—”In a near future, where even the smallest of appliances are sentient, a young Roomba vacuum sets out to save the humans of her house from a rising technological power in this compelling, original novel.”
Carol
Thanks for the shoutout! 🌻