Author: HCNewton Page 424 of 628

Doctor Who: Rose by Russell T. Davies: It All Starts with — and Comes Back to — Rose

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On January 2, 2019

In Fiction

Doctor Who: RoseDoctor Who: Rose

by Russell T. Davies
Series: Doctor Who

Paperback, 197 pg.
BBC Books, 2018
Read: December 31, 2018

She ran into a cavern.

She ran into a vault.

She ran into a cathedral.

She ran into a huge space, a vast dome, with the Doctor standing at its centre, the grinning lord of an impossible realm.

It was like being plunged underwater, the sudden pressure in her head, and Rose thought, simply, No! and ran back out again.

Into the yard. The same old yard. With headless Mickey still chopping away at the fire door.

She looked back at the blue box. She’d left the door open and she could see, in the gap between door and jamb, that huge, strange space reaching far beyond, With the Doctor somehow in the distance, a small figure, a good twenty metres away and yet within a box that stood beside her, no deeper than a metre in itself.

I think that was the moment in 2006 that sealed the deal for many of us — Doctor Who was back. My kids (who were at the perfect age to be introduced to the show) loved that moment, but I don’t think they were sold until The End of the World the next week. But I was in from the time Rose Tyler stepped into the TARDIS — and (not at all surprisingly) her creator, Russell T. Davies, captured the moment perfectly in his novelization of the episode.

It’s more than just a novelization, Davies is able to take a lot of things that happened or developed later in the show’s run and weave them into this adventure (or at least set the stage for them) while he’s fleshing out a lot of things that he couldn’t get into the episode. We got a very nice glimpse of Doctors past and future (even post-Jodie Whittaker), and a very character-appropriate appearance from a future companion that made me chuckle audibly (that moment was worth half of what I paid for the book)

The prologue adds weight and context to the disaster of Rose’s store being destroyed (which is pretty easy to miss). Davies also does a great job at showing that Mickey isn’t just the loser that Rose is shackled with, but he’s someone worthy of her time and devotion. We eventually got to see some of that in the show — but it was about the same time that Mickey left. Here we see it from the start.

But the most important part of the book — like the episode itself — was Rose (it’s right there in the title). Davies probably knows her better than anyone, and is able to use that knowledge to flesh out the character, to helps us see (and not just assume) what’s going on in Rose’s mind. We see her loneliness, her sense of being incomplete, how she needs something more than working at a shop or being with Mickey can give her. Seeing Rose embrace her capabilities and end up as sure and certain as she is later. This depth was most welcome and made me miss Ms. Tyler even more.

I needed a quick, fun read after some pretty heavy reads — and the BBCAmerica Doctor Who marathon had me nostalgic already. So I’m glad I had this handy, it fit the bill precisely. It was a pleasant blast from the past with plenty of bonus nuance and detail from the man who brought us the new era of The Doctor. If you’re a Whovian who’s never tried one of these Target books — this would be a great place to start. If you’re no stranger to them, you know how good they can be. This is just that.

—–

3.5 Stars

Looking back at 2018 for Books and the Blog

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On January 1, 2019

In Calendar Items, News/Misc.

As we kick off 2019, I wanted to take a glance back at 2018. 258 books read (plus comics, picture books, short stories, and the like that I don’t know how to count) — I exceeded my goal (nothing like exceeding an arbitrary number to boost the ol’ ego), 380 posts (short of my goal by a couple hundred, and worse — 15 fewer than 2017, which was down from 2016. This is a trend that I need to reverse). I had some strong gains in traffic — views and visitors — actually, strong gains doesn’t quite cut it. Consider my mind boggled. I’m also seeing good growth in followers here and on various social media fronts, which is encouraging as all get out — not just growth in numbers, but I’m actually interacting with people (and vice versa).

So here’s my breakdown of books by genre, like the one I did last year. Genre labeling is more difficult this year, I read a lot of hybrids, but I tend to go with the overarching genre (for example, Brassley’s The Drifting Lands books are fantasy novels in a SF setting, I went with Fantasy). Mystery/Suspense/Thriller is back to where it should be. Fantasy jumped up a bit, and Urban Fantasy took a dive. It’s been forever since I’ve read a Western, I guess (at least one that wasn’t a hybrid with Urban Fantasy or SF or something) — and I had to add a category for Poetry. Theological books went down in actual numbers, not just percent — but I read some big, technical stuff this year that take a lot of time/energy to read, so I’m not too bothered by that. Still, for someone who doesn’t plan too thoroughly, the percentages stay remarkably the same from year to year — tastes (and series I follow) apparently stay the same.

Genre 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Children’s 11 (4%) 7 (3%) 5 (2%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Fantasy 30 (11%) 7 (3%) 31 (13%) 17 (9%) 11 (7%) 15 (8%) 12 (6%)
General Fiction/ Literature 22 (8%) 29 (10%) 27 (11%) 17 (9%) 7 (4%) 30 (16%) 30 (14%)
Horror 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (.4%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Humor 3 (1%) 1 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (1%) 3 (2%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller 107 (38%) 102 (37%) 61 (25%) 64 (34%) 62 (37%) 63 (33%) 73 (35%)
Non-Fiction 22 (8%) 10 (4%) 11 (5%) 8 (4%) 4 (2%) 2 (1%) 11 (5%)
Poetry 1 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Science Fiction 25 (9%) 27 (10%) 37 (15%) 16 (8%) 17 (10%) 14 (7%) 11 (5%)
Steampunk 3 (1%) 1 (0%) 2 (1%) 7 (4%) 3 (2%) 3 (2%) 11 (5%)
Theology/ Christian Living 25 (9%) 30 (11%) 33 (14%) 42 (22%) 42 (25%) 37 (19%) 10 (5%)
Urban Fantasy 29 (10%) 45 (16%) 36 (15%) 19 (10%) 20 (12%) 26 (14%) 48 (23%)
Western 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (0%)

Have a great 2019, hope you find plenty of good things to read!

December 2018 Report

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On January 1, 2019

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

So, this is the end of December. The end of 2018. As I said earlier, I started a new job, so my numbers are a little lower — I think this is likely the new normal (at least for a while). Twenty-two books is nothing to sneeze at, really. I think I know I say this too frequently for anyone to take me seriously (including myself), but I really didn’t write as much as I wanted to this month. But I rested a lot. I did like a good amount of what I actually wrote, so there’s that. Anyhow, some of the highs from this year — and a couple of lows, in other words — December was pretty representative.

So, here’s what happened here in December.

Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to:

Not Famous Mr. Pizza Deep Dirty Truth
4 Stars 3.5 Stars 4 Stars
Past Tense Grounded in Heaven Murder in the Dark
3.5 Stars 3 Stars 3 Stars
Dog Songs The World Savers The United Smiths of America
3 Stars 3.5 Stars 1 Star
Blackwater The Everlasting Story of Nory P Is for Pterodactyl
4 Stars 3.5 Stars 4 Stars
Godlefe’s Cuckoo Cold Days (Audiobook) The Crescent and the Cross
3 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
Hardcore Twenty-Four The Impossible Dead Ross Poldark
2 1/2 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Audiobook) Geerhardus Vos: Reformed Biblical Theologian, Confessional Presbyterian John Owen vol 4
5 Stars 4 Stars 5 Stars
Doctor Who: Rose            
3.5 Stars            

Still Reading:

The Power of the Dog            

Reviews Posted:

Book Challenge Progress:

Angel's Guilty Pleasures Past Tense by Lee Child
The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin
Ross Poldark by Winston Graham
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling, Jim Dale
Mr. Pizza by J. F. Pandolfi
Murder in the Dark by Betsy Reavley
The United Smiths of America by Jon Voss
P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever by Raj Haldar, Chris Carpenter, Maria Beddia
The Crescent and the Cross by Kurt Scheffler
Ross Poldark by Winston Graham
Dog Songs by Mary Oliver, John Burgoyne
Geerhardus Vos: Reformed Biblical Theologian, Confessional Presbyterian by Danny E. Olinger
Doctor Who: Rose by Russell T. Davies
Mr. Pizza by J. F. Pandolfi
Murder in the Dark by Betsy Reavley
The World Savers by Matt Cowper
The United Smiths of America by Jon Voss
P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever by Raj Haldar, Chris Carpenter, Maria Beddia
The Crescent and the Cross by Kurt Scheffler
✔ Read a book that takes place in one day: The United Smiths of America by Jon Voss
✔ Read a collection of poetry: Dog Songs by Mary Oliver, John Burgoyne
✔ Read a book you received as a gift: The Crescent and the Cross by Kurt Scheffler
✔ Read a book recommended by one of your parents (in-laws count): Ross Poldark by Winston Graham
✔ Read a book with your favorite food in the title.: Mr. Pizza by J. F. Pandolfi

How was your month?

P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever by Raj Haldar, Chris Carpenter, Maria Beddia: Twisted, Fun and even Educational

By

On January 1, 2019

In 2018 First Reads Challenge, 2018 Indie-Fever Challenge, YA/MG/Children's Books

P Is for PterodactylP Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever

by Raj Haldar, Chris Carpenter, Maria Beddia (Illustrator)


Hardcover, 40 pg.
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2018
Read: December 20, 2018

One of the first books printed in the American colonies was The New England Primer, filled with catchy lines like “In Adam’s Fall / We Sinned All.”

Since that time, many alphabet-type books have been published in the same — or similar — vein. One of the latest is P Is for Pterodactyl, which carries the subtitle, The Worst Alphabet Book Ever which doesn’t seem that complimentary, but when it includes lines like:

“J is for Jai Alai.

or

“E is for Ewe.”

or even

“U is not for You.”

and maybe you start to think there’s a little truth in advertising.

It’s actually an amusing book with some examples of the oddities and vagaries of English spelling/pronunciation that will stick with you. I’m not crazy about some of the selections (V’s a good example), but by and large, I really liked each “for” that the authors selected.

The artwork is great — it compliments the text well and will help keep shorter attention spans focused.

For everyone who enjoyed BNL’s “Crazy ABC’s”, this Picture Book entertains as well as educates. I’m not sure how well it’d work for the 7-and-under crowd, but for older elementary kids — and adults who just want a chuckle, this book will be just the ticket. I had a fun time reading it — as did my whole family. Unlike most of the picture books I post about here, you’ll note that this one doesn’t carry any kind of disclaimer — I bought this one after seeing a couple of pieces about it online, and am glad I did. I imagine you will be, too.

—–

4 Stars

2019 Reading Goals/Plans/Expectations

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On December 31, 2018

In Books, News/Misc.

All this needs to be taken with a grain of salt, obviously. Maybe a salt lick. Remembering all too well the poet’s lines:

           But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
          Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
          For promis’d joy!

So, I’ve got 6 Reading Challenges in the hopper — I looked at a number of others, but these are the ones that clicked with me. Last year was the first that I really got into Reading Challenges, and appreciated the way they made me think about what I was reading (and outside of maybe 3 or 4 books, they didn’t direct my reading).

Additionally, I’m going to focus on bringing down the number of books in my Physical and Electronic TBR Pile/Mound/Heap (33 and 21, respectively, not counting review copies). Those numbers aren’t as big as some people’s, I realize. But that’s 2 months and change of reading if I read nothing else. This is a personal challenge, that I’m dubbing The Reader Who Went up a Mountain but Came down a Hill. We’ll see how well that works.

I’m also going to finish off my Rebus-catch up, I’m going to try to read the rest of the DC Fiona Griffiths (although I’ve been saying that for 2 years now), and I want to read every Fredrik Backman novel I can get my hands on. Actually accomplishing these three would only chip away two books from the above mountain…

But mostly, I’m going to focus on “Serendipity and Whim” like Alan Jacobs talks about. By all means feel free to throw suggestions at me.

Just the Clothes on My Back – a collaboration with Lee Child by Naked Blue: Jack Reacher Rocks

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On December 31, 2018

In Fiction, Jack Reacher, Lee Child, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Jut the Clothes on My BackJust the Clothes on My Back – a collaboration with Lee Child

by Naked Blue
Series: Jack Reacher


CD, 10 tracks
Bluetick Records, 2018

Mutual fans/friends Naked Blue and Lee Child collaborated on this album — 10 songs from Jack Reacher’s point of view. Well, 9 from his POV and 1 (“Reacher Said Nothing”) that could be the soundtrack for about 90% of the books.

I’ve listened to this album a lot since it came out and I’ thoroughly enjoy it. I think it does a great job capturing the “inner essence” of Reacher (a concept he’d probably boggle at) and delivering it with some great bluesy-rock/Americana tunes. Even if you’re not Reacher-obsessed, or you don’t think about the character the songs hold up just fine — you don’t even have to know anything about the album to appreciate it. But if you are a Reacher fan, you’ll enjoy it a lot more.

“Just the Clothes on My Back” and “Big Man” do great jobs of encapsulating Reacher’s approach to life. “Killing Floor” and “Blessed or Cursed,” are almost as good. All of them have great tunes that get into your head and threaten to take up earworm-like residence.

It’s not all about the action-hero side of Reacher. “The Midnight Line” does a great job of capturing a chapter (or part of one) with the allusions and euphemisms for sex and “Sanctuary,” also does a fine job of recreating the kind of scene in a Reacher book that I skim. This doesn’t mean they’re bad songs, in fact, they’ll be selling points for many. They just don’t work for me.

As for “Reacher Said Nothing”? An almost entirely instrumental piece (with some vocals by Lee Child himself) — how that hasn’t become my ringtone is beyond me. Just love that song.

Now, Jennifer Ferguson Smith might not seem the ideal person to give musical voice to the 6’5″, 210–250 lbs., ex-MP with a 50″ chest, but she somehow pulls it off. The vocals are great — I don’t really know how to describe someone’s singing voice, so I’m not going to try. They match the rootsy-bluesy-rock well. I don’t know if it’s helpful to anyone, but she reminds me of Amy Rigby.

A great album for fans of Reacher. An album that should earn Naked Blue some new fans/listeners. A good album just in and of itself. Give it a whirl.I’m going to give it 4 stars, but based on the way that music like this tends to grow on me, if you ask me in 6-9 months, I’ll probably rate it higher.

—–

4 Stars

Past Tense by Lee Child: If this wasn’t a Reacher book, I’d probably like it more…

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On December 31, 2018

In 2018 Library Love Challenge, Fiction, Jack Reacher, Lee Child, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Past TensePast Tense

by Lee Child
Series: Jack Reacher, #23


Hardcover, 382 pg.
Delacorte Press, 2018

Read: December 6 – 7, 2018
Shorty and Patty are a young couple from a rural Canadian community on their way to New York City to sell off some beloved possessions in order to make enough money to go to Florida and start their lives. Which sounds like a great idea (assuming they’re not ripped off in NYC) — if only they’d ever done basic maintenance on the car they’re driving. They end up breaking down outside a small town in New Hampshire, nowhere near a decent city.

The owners of a newly refurbished hotel outside town take pity on them and rent them a room for a little cheaper than they should and offer to help with getting their car going again — they even invite them to dinner their first night with them. Yes, I said first night — home repairs aren’t doing the job, so they have to call a tow truck/mechanic to fix the car — which is going to pretty much wipe the couple out. But what choice do they have?

Still, something doesn’t seem right about the whole thing. Shorty’s a trusting guy and rolls with everything that happens, but Patty smells something. She thinks a lot — incidentally, she thinks a lot like Reacher. Which is annoying when you’re reading a book starring Reacher that you get a clone. But it’s good for her and Shorty and just might end up saving their lives. It’d be better for the both of them if she had any of Reacher’s skills other than his ability to analyze a situation, but, I guess you take what you can get.

Meanwhile, Jack Reacher comes into the same town those two are stranded outside of. He was passing near by and on a lark decides to stop in Laconia, his father’s birthplace. He’s never met anyone from that side of the family, and his father said almost nothing about his childhood experiences there. So Reacher’s a bit curious about the town — he doesn’t even know if there might be a cousin or three around. It turns out that finding anything about his family is almost impossible in the official records — and there’s a decent chance that there’s no one around who knows anything about them that’s not in the official records.

While that’s going on, in the middle of the night Reacher encounters an attempted sexual assault and, ahem, dissuades the attacker. This attacker doesn’t press charges or anything, but it turns out that he’s connected to a significant crime family in the Northeast. Reacher is informed about this and is encouraged to leave town soon by a former MP turned local law enforcement officer that he’s become acquainted with. Reacher doesn’t like to be told what to do — by anyone — and there’s something about his father’s past that has him more curious than he’s been before and wants to track that down.

These two stories run independently of each other, while happening very near each other. Reacher does come to the hotel and asks a couple of questions about his quest about the same time that Patty’s getting suspicious, but the two don’t cross paths.

Now, I didn’t right down the page number when Reacher’s story intersects with Shorty’s and Patty’s — but I do know that it hadn’t happened by page 245 (of 382). Which is pretty astounding, and is definitely a new way to bring Reacher into the main events of a novel. I doubt it’s a trick Child can pull off again, but I’d like to see him try. If he doesn’t show up, bad things will happen — and will likely continue to happen — but it’s hard to say just how bad it’d all be. But Reacher does show up, and he does his usual thing, and many more people live than otherwise would have. Which isn’t to suggest that no one dies after he shows up, it’s just that most of them aren’t the people that seemed likely to die 30 pages earlier.

There’s little violence until the end of the book (there’s Reacher’s dissuasion, and two other minor — by Reacher’s standards — fights), but once the fighting starts, it doesn’t stop until there’s a whole lot of violence and bloodshed. Tension and unease that’s been mounting slowly over the whole book, are unleashed – and most of the last twenty percent (or so, I’m just guessing) of the novel is as violent and action-packed as you could hope for. Once that switch is flipped, it’s on.

This wasn’t my favorite Reacher novel — by far — but it was a really engrossing read. I enjoyed it — and really think if Jack Reacher hadn’t been the fly in the ointment for the people trying to manipulate and hurt Shorty and Patty, I think I’d have enjoyed this much more. But I expect more from Lee Child than I do other writers, and this time, I just don’t think he pulled it off. I’m willing to bet he does better next year, and I’ll content myself with that hope.

—–

3.5 Stars2018 Library Love Challenge

Ross Poldark by Winston Graham: A decent read, but it’s not for me.

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On December 31, 2018

In 2018 First Reads Challenge, 2018 Library Love Challenge, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, While I Was Reading 2018 Challenge

Ross PoldarkRoss Poldark

by Winston Graham
Series: The Poldark Saga, #1


Paperback, 379 pg.
Sourcebooks Landmark, 2015 (originally published 1945)

Read: December 27 – 28, 2018

Ross Poldark, the scandalous son of a minor land-owner, comes back from serving the Crown in the War for American Independence to find his father dead, his estate in disrepair, and the woman who he’d hoped to wed engaged to someone else (a formerly close friend, actually). Understandably, he’s about to throw in the towel on life, but instead he starts putting things together.

He bullies his fathers’ (and now his) servants into getting to work restoring the house and lands, and hires some new help and even rescues a poor little girl being picked on by some nearby children and brings her into his house as a kitchen maid. He has to fight and then pay off her abusive father for the privilege, but does so. He takes care of his tenants, and is soon seen as half-one of them half-landowner. He starts a new mine with some other people in the area, doing a lot to help the local economy.

There’s some legal drama, a touch of medial as well, a malicious criminal presence, too — but it’s hard to take any of these seriously, and they are all dispatched quickly. In fact, that’s pretty much par for the course for everything — a problem arises and is resolved soon. There’s no real book-length plot to this novel — there’s no central or driving conflict. You might be able to make the case that it’s a story of Ross finding contentment and/or happiness after the way his homeland welcomes him. But I’m not sure I can buy that.

There is just so much wrong with the love story involving Ross that I’m not going to touch it. I get that it’s a different time, different standards, and everything, but he’d be locked up today for what happens — and rightly so. Frankly, all of the romances are a bit . . . off. Nothing that Austen would touch, for sure. One of the Brontë sisters might have, though.

This book feels like someone was convinced the only proper kind of book for a British person to write is one that Austen, a Brontë, or Dickens could have written — so he combined the three influences into one. But Graham isn’t one of those. He’s a passable writer of limited imagination. Every so often he’ll write a passage — a small paragraph to a page or so in length — that strikes me like he’s realized he hasn’t done anything “writerly” for a bit and dashes something off that fits the bill. Then he gets back to his usual story telling for 5-10 pages until he repeats the process. This isn’t to suggest he’s a bad writer, it’s just usually decent prose with odd splashes of flair.

It’s hard to describe any of the characters except in reference to Ross — and would end up spoiling a lot of the book to do so. I found them all relatively two-dimensional and without a lot of growth or development. What change there is in most of them is hard to believe, or at least happens off-screen and without explanation. The maid that Ross brings in is the easiest to see grow and develop, and we almost get a real sense of who she is — but I’m not sure I can say that.

Ross Poldark isn’t a bad book — but there’s nothing about it that grabbed me. I did grow to be a bit interested in two of the characters, and was pleased to see things go well for them. I’m not driven to pursue things to the next book much less eleven more, however. I can see the appeal — I think — that this book and/or this saga would have for some, but it’s not for me. But for people who like semi-romantic historical epics, you’d be well served by trying this. I probably sound more negative than I really am — I’m more indifferent than anything else.

—–

3 Stars
2018 Library Love Challenge

✔ Read a book recommended by one of your parents (in-laws count).

2018 While I Was Reading Challenge

By

On December 29, 2018

In News/Misc., While I Was Reading 2018 Challenge

I finished this challenge last night (the other reading challenges I participated in this year were just “how many of X can you read?, so there’s no real end point). When I signed up for this last year, I thought it’d be no trouble whatsoever (except the poetry thing), and I’d just finish this by reading what I’d normally read. I was almost right. But not really.

I had to go hunt down about half the titles here — and even that didn’t go right. I tracked down one book (that I ended up enjoying) for “Read a book with a child narrator” that turned out to have a child protagonist and a third-person narrator. Thankfully, I had read a book that qualified about 5 months earlier, and didn’t think of using it for the list. Similarly, I re-read/listened to Robin Sloane’s Sourdough because I couldn’t think of anything else to work for “favorite food in the title,” and sourdough’s close enough to a favorite that I could live with it. Then a month later than I got a book tour review request for Mr. Pizza (which was incredibly accurate). So with patience, I might have been able to handle it all without much effort (except the poetry).

I’m doing this challenge again next year, because I did it, but I’m planning it better — I have things in mind for about half of the items already, and am pretty sure I can fill the rest of it out with little effort. But I’m not waiting until the Fall before I get serious about it.

✔ Read a book that takes place in one day: The United Smiths of America by Jon Voss
✔ Read a memoir or biography of a musician you like: So Let It Be Written by Mark Eglinton
✔ Read a collection of poetry: Dog Songs by Mary Oliver, John Burgoyne
✔ Read an audio book with multiple narrators: Ways to die in Glasgow by Heather Wilds, Napoleon Ryan
✔ Read a self published book: Profane Fire at the Altar of the Lord by Dennis Malley
✔ Read a book you received as a gift: The Crescent and the Cross by Kurt Scheffler
✔ Read a book about a historical event you’re interested in (fiction or non): The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865 by Janet Elizabeth Croon, ed.
✔ Read a book written by an author from the state where you grew up: Arsenal by Jeffery H. Haskelll/Twisted Magics by J. C. Jackson
✔ Read a book recommended by one of your parents (in-laws count): Ross Poldark by Winston Graham (link forthcoming)
✔ Read a book with your favorite food in the title: Mr. Pizza by J. F. Pandolfi
✔ Read a book with a child narrator: Picket Town by Chris von Halle
✔ Read a book you chose based on the cover: Know Me from Smoke by Matt Phillips

Saturday Miscellany – 12/29/18

By

On December 29, 2018

In Books, News/Misc.

Sure, local/state governments had problems, small businesses were hurt, 911 centers weren’t able to operate, but the real victim of the CenturyLink outage was my blogging plans for the week. Well, okay, maybe not. But it sure seemed terribly inconvenient at the time. While it was a slow posting week, I did get a lot of reading done — I should wrap up work on my last reading challenge for 2018 today (knocked off another one yesterday), and nailed down a lot of plans for the next few weeks (I somehow have found myself committed to 8 books in January. Which isn’t that many, really, but it seems daunting). Hope your [insert preferred holiday name] week was good in whatever way you spent it.

Here’s the smattering of odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to february87 and Ontheminds for following the blog this week.

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