Saturday Miscellany—5/30/26

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:
Ian Rankin: ‘Why people who read books live 1,000 lives’—Rankin, talks “about libraries, comics, BookTok, prisons and the enduring power of reading in an age of digital distraction.” If I didn’t already like the guy, this would make me take a second look at him/his work
Comparisons as Predictable as the Sunrise—”An analysis of 200,000 similes from popular fiction.” Not only is this interesting (if not more), it looks great. You’ll end up spending more time on this than you expect.
This Archivist Has Saved 175,000 Articles from 30 Years of Writing about Magic: The Gathering—This is primarily about archiving, but you’ll pick up some fun info about Magic along the way (I know at least two of you will read it just for that)
Love Language: The undying dream of Esperanto—One of my regrets is not continuing on in my study of this (if only because the persistence with it might have helped with other language aquisition). It also was fun–and made me think that one day I might just be as cool as “Slippery Jim” diGriz. (an idea forever labeling me as un-cool)
Rediscovering Rereading (Again)—I resonate with so much of this (if not the individual works being discussed)
Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki—This one might end up on my TBR
The Best Writers of the Future May Be the People Who Never Go Online—I’m not sure I can agree with this–but I liked thinking about it.
Magical Minds: Neurodivergent Fantasy Recs!
Typos, Glitches, and Postal Fails: The Unexpected Quirks of Publishing a Book—AJ Calvin gives a look at some of the mishaps that can befall a self-published author along the way..
Why I’m Raising My Prices as an Indie Author—Claudie Arseneault is doing what some would see as unforgivable and/or foolish–but it really makes sense.
Adam Holcombe “does the math” on a recent post about Indie Authors’ income
These last three have got me thinking about all the work our beloved Indie/Self-Published authors go through to bring us their works. I wish there were an organized way to celebrate them. Oh wait–that’s right, there is! Announcement: Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week 2026—That’s right, it’s back! And (hopefully) better than ever. I’m pretty excited about what I’ve started to put together for it.
Garbage Pail Kids as Books: Part I—put together by book promoter Lori Hettler, who has introduced me to some of the best and strangest work I’ve read. I hope we get more of these.
Tom Gauld’s latest brought a smile to my face

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Sit. Stay. Read. Ep. 39: Peter Abrahams aka Spencer Quinn, Cat on a Hot Tin Woof—I don’t know if I’ve heard Quinn/Abrahams interviewed before. Was nice if only for that

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“I know that when he sits beside me at the dining table and places his front right paw on my knee as he sniffs my food that he is trying his best to be polite before politeness loses.”—”Oscar” by Paul Yoon from The Best Dog in the World

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
The God We Worship edited by Jonathan L. Master
Thursday, 1:17 PM by Michael Landweber—I have a strong, visceral memory of this one (I should add positive)
The Cupid Reconciliation by Michael R. Underwood
Hard Court by Robert Germaux—the first of many times that Bob has made me smile
Hounded (Audiobook) by Kevin Hearne, Luke Daniels—my introduction to one of my favorite audiobook narrators
And I talked about the releases of: A Mint Condition Corpse by Duncan MacMaster; The Last Star by Rick Yancey; Dietland by Sarai Walker; and Dark Run by Mike Brooks

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson—Walt has to investigate the murder of one of his county’s least popular citizens.

as seen on ‪@raeradford.bsky.social‬