Author: HCNewton Page 6 of 602

Cover Reveal: Prey of Angels by JCM Berne

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On February 2, 2026

In A-B, Fantasy, Fiction, JCM Berne, Science Fiction

I’m very pleased today to welcome the Cover Reveals for the Eighth Turn in JCM Berne’s The Hybrid Helix series, Prey of Angels! For a lot of us, a new Rohan adventure is an autobuy anyway. But I can’t imagine people look at this cover and not get curious. But before we get to that, let’s learn a just a little bit about the book and author, shall we? It’ll just take a moment, and then we can all take a peak at the cover.

About the Book:

Rohan has been building alliances and solidifying his abilities, all to keep his friends, his family, his homeworld, and the Empire safe from anything that threatens them, from anywhere in the universe, whether from inside the sector or from a distant galaxy.

He thought he was doing a pretty good job.

He thought he had a pretty solid handle on what he needed to worry about.

He was wrong.

Book Link:

Amazon Preorder

 

About the Author

JCM BerneJCM Berne has reached middle age without outgrowing the notion that superheroes are cool. Code monkey by day, by night he slaves over a hot keyboard to prove that superhero stories can be engaging and funny without being dark or silly.

Author Links:

Website ~ Bluesky ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ YouTube

and now…

The Cover

cover for Prey of Angels by JCM Berne

Kudos to these fine folk for their work on this eye-grabber:
Cover Art by Chris McGrath
Cover design by J Caleb Design

Go and do the right thing–place your orders now. This comes out on February 17, and you’re going to want to get to it ASAP.

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Saturday Miscellany—1/31/26

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On January 31, 2026

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Another late one, but I got to go spend some time with Grandcritter #2 to celebrate a birthday, so…yeah, this gets pushed off.
A Picture of The Irresponsible Reader and Grandcritter #2

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:
bullet Words of Wisdom from Fantasy Books—I typically put posts from fellow bloggers at the end of these lists, but this seems like the right one to lead with this week.
bullet Don Winslow has a new book this week, so he’s doing the rounds. These two interviews are worth your time: ‘We Have to Speak Out’: Don Winslow on Fighting Trump and Coming Out of Retirement and Crime writer Don Winslow is fresh out of retirement with renewed conviction
bullet Tolkien: Immortality Is the Trap in Middle-earth—”Most fantasy treats immortality as the prize. Tolkien treats it as a sentence.”
bullet Pros and Cons of Self Publishing—the next installment in this great series from Willow Wraith Press
bullet Do You Like to Read Your Age/Eras?—I don’t know that I considered things from this point of view before. Been churning in my mind since, though.
bullet Book Blogging Slumps—smart advice I’d do well to follow. I mean my forcing myself to do something (or fall asleep while trying) and then beating myself up for it before and after strategy has its charms (and I have years of experience with it). But maybe I could try this once or twice.
bullet Eight Years of Reading, Writing, and Finding My Voice—I don’t remember not seeing Gina’s posts floating around. So 8 doesn’t seem long enough for her blog to have been around. Congrats on this landmark!
bullet Captivating Character of January—Feels like kind of a cheat here where Carol picks two characters… 🙂 Check out Carol’s picks and the others in the linkparty.
bullet Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Go! Go! Loser Ranger! by Negi Haruba—It’s time for Firsty Duelist’s Manga Post–and this one looks fun. (what is this kid doing to me?)

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week :
bullet “Prisons are the saddest places in the world.

Prisons and children’s cancer wards.

The difference is that in the children’s wards there’s hope.”
—”Collision” from The Final Score by Don Winslow

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
bullet The Storms of Deliverance by Larry Higdon
bullet Lessons from Tara by David Rosenfelt
bullet Three Slices by Kevin Hearne, Delilah S. Dawson, Chuck Wendig
bullet Winter by Marissa Meyer
bullet Where It Hurts by Reed Farrel Coleman
bullet And I mentioned the releases of: Staked by Kevin Hearne, Broken Hero by Jonathan Wood, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, Where it Hurts by Reed Farrel Coleman, and The Murder Quadrille by Fidelis Morgan

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet The Final Score by Don Winslow—Six “short novels” by the master. I might quibble with the label he attaches to the stories, but that’s probably the only complaint I have about this collection. More to come from me on this—possibly a lot.
bullet Monster in the Moonlight by Annelise Ryan—Morgan Carter is on the hunt for a werewolf-ish creature. Or a human that might be worse.

'If a book told you something when you were fifteen, it will tell you it again when you're fifty, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you're reading a whole new book.' Ursula K. Le Guin

Captivating Character of January: Dancer

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On January 31, 2026

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Captivating Character of the Month Graphic

It’s the last Friday of the month, so it’s time for my Most Captivating Character of the Month post. This is a tough one this month—I can think of a dozen I could talk about. I could cop-out and go with Harry Dresden—but what can be said about him that hasn’t been said 160 times? So, I’m going to go with Dancer from Jarod K. Anderson’s Strange Animals. She stands out in a way few others do (not that you could tell from my post about the novel, since I didn’t mention her, but…)

TV’s Boyd Crowder (I don’t remember the book version well enough), West Wing’s Ainsley Hayes, and The Cinder Spires‘ Folly–to name just a few–have ways of putting together a sentence while they’re talking that make you pay attention (at the very least). Between the vocabulary, word order, surprising figures of speech, etc., readers/viewers like me cannot help but be drawn to them. Dancer joined that company before her first conversation was over. I’d show you some samples if I hadn’t read a “please don’t quote from this” ARC.

She’s obsessed with making formless hats–and then selling/giving them away to people. She seems to be almost constantly armed with sarsaparilla tea (which I’ve never tasted, but by the end of the novel, was craving) and shares it when she has the opportunity. Also, if she enjoys your encounter, she’ll inevitably leave a tin cup of it behind, so you have to come find her to return it–and will then have another conversation and cup of tea (and likely, another cup to return sometime).

Dancer is a large woman, over 6’ tall, and in her mid-50s. She is probably the most Zen character I’ve encountered since Jeff Lebowski. She’s laid back, loves nature, is generous, seems to laugh at just about everything (not in a mocking way), cares about people…and generally, she abides.

Possibly the best thing about her is that in this world, she’s a Muggle. The most Muggle-y Muggle around, but she knows a person who insists she can see things that Dancer cannot. Dancer doesn’t argue with her (at least by the time we meet them), she doesn’t question her grasp on reality or anything like that. She accepts that it’s possible and lets them talk about it. And then when Dancer meets someone else saying he saw something like that, she just puts the two together and leaves it alone.

That’s a special kind of chill. And a sign of a captivating character.

What character would you name for last month?

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Captivating Character of January: Dancer

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On January 30, 2026

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Captivating Character of the Month Graphic

It’s the last Friday of the month, so it’s time for my Most Captivating Character of the Month post. This is a tough one this month—I can think of a dozen I could talk about. I could cop-out and go with Harry Dresden—but what can be said about him that hasn’t been said 160 times? So, I’m going to go with Dancer from Jarod K. Anderson’s Strange Animals</strong>. She stands out in a way few others do (not that you could tell from my post about the novel, since I didn’t mention her, but…)

TV’s Boyd Crowder (I don’t remember the book version well enough), West Wing’s Ainsley Hayes, and The Cinder Spires‘ Folly–to name just a few–have ways of putting together a sentence while they’re talking that make you pay attention (at the very least). Between the vocabulary, word order, surprising figures of speech, etc., readers/viewers like me cannot help but be drawn to them. Dancer joined that company before her first conversation was over. I’d show you some samples if I hadn’t read a “please don’t quote from this” ARC.

She’s obsessed with making formless hats–and then selling/giving them away to people. She seems to be almost constantly armed with sarsaparilla tea (which I’ve never tasted, but by the end of the novel, was craving) and shares it when she has the opportunity. Also, if she enjoys your encounter, she’ll inevitably leave a tin cup of it behind, so you have to come find her to return it–and will then have another conversation and cup of tea (and likely, another cup to return sometime).

Dancer is a large woman, over 6’ tall, and in her mid-50s. She is probably the most Zen character I’ve encountered since Jeff Lebowski. She’s laid back, loves nature, is generous, seems to laugh at just about everything (not in a mocking way), cares about people…and generally, she abides.

Possibly the best thing about her is that in this world, she’s a Muggle. The most Muggle-y Muggle around, but she knows a person who insists she can see things that Dancer cannot. Dancer doesn’t argue with her (at least by the time we meet them), she doesn’t question her grasp on reality or anything like that. She accepts that it’s possible and lets them talk about it. And then when Dancer meets someone else saying he saw something like that, she just puts the two together and leaves it alone.

That’s a special kind of chill. And a sign of a captivating character.

What character would you name for last month?

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Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson: Gas Station Magicians, Uncommon Creatures, and Wolves Without Enough Skin.

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On January 30, 2026

In Fantasy, Fiction

I’d intended this to go up Tuesday, and just couldn’t get the words to come off my fingers right. I’m still not sure I did, but it’s close.

Cover of Strange Animals by Jarod K. AndersonStrange Animals

by Jarod K. Anderson

DETAILS:
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: February 10, 2026
Format: eARC
Length: 320 pgs.
Read Date: January 23, 2026
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

What’s Strange Animals About?

Following a strange near-death experience, Green feels a compulsion to get back to nature. Well, maybe not “back,” he seems like someone very comfortable in the city. But you get what I mean.

So he sells his home, quits his job, puts everything in storage, and heads out. He’s drawn to Appalachia and sets out to find a long-term campsite to start whatever this next stage of life is.

Along the way, Green meets some delightfully odd characters—and I wish I had the room to talk about them, but you want Anderson to introduce you to them anyway.

His first night in his campsite he sees animals that can’t exist. He’d be tempted to think he had a hallucination or two if it weren’t for some evidence that people who weren’t around can also see.

From there, Green starts to learn about strange creatures all around him—and learns not to call them strange. They’re not strange, they’re not monsters (despite what some appear to be) or anything else derogatory. They’re simply uncommon—so uncommon that very few can see them. But Earth is just as much their home as it is to mice, giraffes, or emus. Of course, not every common animal should be around people, and that applies to some of these uncommon creatures, too.

Can Green and his new friends stop one who seems to be hunting humans?

Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?

I can’t tell you specifically what it was that appealed to me in the NetGalley advertisement I got for this book, but it intrigued me. Lightly skimming Witty & Sarcastic Book Club’s post about it intensified that (I only read deep enough to pick up her tone, so I didn’t inadvertently steal any of her points).

What kept me reading? There was something about Chapter 0 that got me. It didn’t matter what happened for the rest of the book—I was sold, and the rest of the book was going to have to be really lousy to get the hook that it put in me dislodged. At the end of Chapter 1, my notes read, “I think I might be falling in love with this book.”

And yes, I said Chapter 0—that wasn’t a typo. Anyone who numbers chapters like that has to intrigue a reader, right?

What does this book tell us about humanity?

I walked away with two things on this front.

First, humans need nature. Plants, animals, sunsets/rises—the works. When we shut up and pay attention to it—better if we can get further away from population centers (as nice as they and their technologies and comforts may be) to focus on it—there’s a benefit to our health. At least mental. Probably physical—and spiritual (depending on how you want to define that). This is the central drive for Green—and while it ends up not being what he expected, it’s this that fulfills him. As he connects with both the common and uncommon around him, he’s renewed and bettered.

Second, and it’s hard to say which is more important, is that people need—and will find—community. In this case, Green finds a few groups of people and brings a couple together (or at least is a bridge between them). He’s an outsider to this area, but finds himself befriending these groups almost instantly. These two—and one much larger—converge on the area (more precisely, Green and his teacher) when the chips are down, and people need help. Somewhat to protect people in general, but largely to protect “their people” (for lack of a better term). The communities step up in a way that we all want to see—and frequently do. It’s rather encouraging.

So, what did I think about Strange Animals?

Anderson checks all the boxes here—he can put together a sentence just right, if this wasn’t an ARC, I’d be struggling to keep my quotations to a reasonable limit; he creates fantastic characters and gets the reader to invest in them with very few words (and rewards that investment); the imagination demonstrated in this world and the uncommon animals—and the depiction of the common flora and fauna—makes you want to see more from him; and he can tell a pretty engaging story. Check, check, check, and check. If there are problems with this book, they’re minor.

Okay, there’s something toward the end that I’m rabidly curious about and want to know so much more about what happens. But I’m really glad Anderson just elides past it.

Still, if he wants to give me a call and describe it to me, I’ll give him my number.

This is not your typical Fantasy novel, for sure. It captures an Appalachian area in a similar way (though in different states) that Alex Bledsoe’s Tufa series did, which really makes me want to visit the real world version. Actually, as I say that, I realize that this book left me feeling the same way that the first Tufa novel, The Hum and the Shiver did. There are few books that I can say that about.

There’s something special going on in these pages. I encourage you to look into them yourself and see if you agree.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Ballantine Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post which contains my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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WWW Wednesday—January 28, 2026

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On January 28, 2026

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

It’s been a slow week here as far as posting goes. Hopefully things pick up for the rest of the week–in the meantime, let’s catch up on what I’m reading.

WWW Wednesdays Logo

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Cover of The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee Cover of The Final Score by Don Winslow Cover of The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard
The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories and Essays
by Harper Lee		 The Final Score
by Don Winslow		 The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco
by Michelle Chouinard, read by Stephanie Németh-Parker

Since both the Winslow and Lee books are collections of shorter works, my plan is to jump back and forth between them for the next couple of days.

I’m intrigued by the mystery in The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, but I’m not sure I’m sold on the rest of it. It’s more believable than any Finley Donovan adventure, and less frantic. But there’s the same kind of appeal to it.

What did you recently finish reading?

Cover of Troubled Deep by Rob Parker Cover of The Librarians by Sherry Thomas
The Troubled Deep
by Rob Parker		 The Librarians
by Sherry Thomas, read by Louisa Zhu

Rob Parker gets better with every book. I wonder about the viability of this series long-term, but this book was a knock-out.

Unlike the above, I’m not sure about the mysteries at the core of The Librarians, but the rest of it was pretty good, if a little soap-opera-esque.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Cover of Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett Cover of That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You by Elyse Myers
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter
by Heather Fawcett		 That’s a Great Question, I’d Love to Tell You
by Elyse Myers

I honestly only have the vaguest ideas about what these two books are about anymore (memory is fleeting)–at the moment, it’s seeing what the authors have produced that keeps my attention (and a trust that me of months-ago made good choices). Give me a few days, and I can be a bit more articulate.

How are you closing out the month? If you’re in one of those areas getting hit by the winter storms–hope you’re doing okay and have a good supply of necessities (food, water, heat, and things to read)

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2025 (pared-down version)

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On January 27, 2026

In News/Misc., Top X List


The topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesdays is the Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2025

I’ve done this (or something similar) the last few years (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), and have come to look forward to it. It’s one more chance to talk about people I quite enjoy talking about. Hopefully, these names get to continue to pop up on this here site for years to come. I just enjoyed getting to know these authors via their work. I’d love to interact with them, too–if any of those listed here read this and want to participate in anything with me. Please let me know.

I typically say something about each author, but I ran out of time/energy. I hope to finish this soon, but for now–here are the names. Click the links to learn more about 9 of them.

Here’s this year’s list.

Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2025

(alphabetically)

10 Katherine Addison Katherine Addison
9 Ryka Aoki Ryka Aoki
8 Mai Corland Mai Corland
7 Z.S. Diamanti Z.S. Diamanti

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put them on this list, click here.
6 Adrian M. Gibson Adrian M. Gibson

In case you’re curious about what I said about the works that put her on this list, click here.
5 Michael Michel Michael Michel

In case you’re curious about what I said about the books that put him on this list, click here.
4 Jason Pargin Jason Pargin
3 Sadir S. Samir Sadir S. Samir
2 Zephaniah Sole

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on this list, click here.
1 Thomas Trang Thomas Trang

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put her on this list, click here.

Slow Theology by A J Swoboda, Nijay K Gupta: No Quick Fixes. Just Wisdom.

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On January 24, 2026

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

I don’t normally publish review-ish posts on Saturday, but I have a deadline—and after weeks of trying, I have a draft I can live with (deadlines are my friend). So, hope you don’t mind this out-of-place post.

Cover of Slow Theology by A J Swoboda/Nijay K GuptaSlow Theology:
Eight Practices for Resilient Faith in a Turbulent World

by A J Swoboda/Nijay K Gupta

DETAILS:
Publisher: Brazos Press
Publication Date: September 23, 2025
Format: Paperback
Length: 208 pg.
Read Date: January 4-11, 2026
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

Wouldn’t it be great if we were simply given simple and immediate answers to all our questions? Lord knows, it certainly would make all our lives easier if God sent us a quick note the way a friend would send us a text message. But the deepest questions do not necessarily deserve quick answers. In fact, the quick answer very well may cheapen the sacredness of a holy question. Moments like these—when we seek to understand as best we can the theological conundrums that Christians have been meditating on for centuries—actually demand from time to time that we resist the temptation to offer quick answers and shallow hot takes. Deep questions deserve deep responses, which require lots of time, energy, and toil. Sometimes, deep Christian formation is possible only when we embrace the unanswerable. To try to solve a question that has been wrestled with for thousands of years with a short tweet, YouTube clip, or pithy bumper sticker is the most dangerous and flippant of responses.

Not every question that we may ask about God can come back to us as a neat and tidy package with a pretty bow on top. We believe that the importance of creating space for unanswered or unresolved questions is modeled by the inspired Scriptures.

What’s Slow Theology About?

We live in a hurried world, where untold information is at our fingertips (and the amount of it grows all the time), rushed “hot takes,” we demand answers—fast—and seem to receive them on all subjects at all hours, we want instant results from exercise/financial investments/diets/self-improvement schemes. This is the atmosphere we in the West are immersed in, believe in, and live by. Quick Fixes, Fast Solutions.

But the Bible doesn’t tell us to be that way—particularly when it comes to our understanding of God, His revelation, or our sanctification. Instead, we’re told to patiently slow down, persevere, listen, and think.

The authors give us eight practices—practices, not disciplines, not steps, not a “just add water” approach—to help build this into our lives, minds, and hearts.

They include: taking a long view of faith, applying the Sabbath to our theology, talking to God through our difficulties, believing with the Body of believers, appreciating mystery, and perseverance.

That’s probably an oversimplification of the book—but if I don’t oversimplify, you’re going to get a novella-length summary. And neither of us has time for that (especially when we could be reading/re-reading/chewing on this book instead)

Highlights

My practice with Non-Fiction books is to talk about the parts of the book that I found particularly helpful, informative, or whatever. In keeping with that practice, I should note Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapt—yeah, that’s just not going to help. This book started off strong and went from strength to strength.

But there were a couple of things that really stood out to me. There’s a good section on Asaph and Psalm 73. I admit to a little bias there—ever since a sermon series my pastor delivered in the 90s, the psalms by Asaph and his sons have been my favorite. But I think this section on Psalm 73, and the honest and faithful way Asaph dealt with challenges would’ve stood out to me regardless. Things don’t all work out for Asaph in this psalm, but he knows his God is with him as he works through them.

I’d also point out the section on lament. I’ve pointed to books discussing it well a few times in the past (I’m sure, don’t ask for examples), and here’s another one worth turning to time and again. The authors focus on Jesus and David in this exhortation, and it struck home to me. In response to so much of the news lately—this is a practice I fear we’re going to need to focus on.

There is a wise saying that gets passed around: “To cry is human. But to lament is Christian.” Lament is the biblical practice that we have been given to process our hurt and anger with God and not just against God. Lament actually invites us to be openly upset with God, not to push him away but to invite him to respond. Not long after Jesus questioned the presence of God, he was raised from death to life. Lament, in the end, is hope-filled desperation.

Drawbacks

I’m sure there are some. I didn’t take note of them on an initial read. Hit me up after a few re-reads, if you’re dying to hear about any quibbles.

So, what did I think about Slow Theology?

You ever read one of those books, and by the time you’re mid-way through, you just know that it’s going to be living in your head for the rest of the year or so? That was the case with this one by Chapter Two. Nothing happened to change my appreciation after that. This is going to be one of those books I’m going to be bouncing off of for at least 12 months.

I should say that I’ve never listened to the podcast by the authors with the same title. I probably should start.

This is a book full of wisdom. It’s something to chew on—meditate on—to come back to and reason with. This shouldn’t be something read once and discarded, thinking you’ve got it down cold. It’s not about information or answers, it’s about practice. (mentally insert the Heidelcast’s riff on the “Not a game, not a game. It’s about practice” quotation here, if you know what I’m talking about)

I strongly encourage you, reader, to pick this one up. I think you’ll be rewarded.

Disclaimer: I received this book as a participant in the Baker Publishing Group Nonfiction Reviewer Program. However, as always here, I read this book because it interested me and the opinions expressed are my own.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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Saturday Miscellany—1/24/26

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On January 24, 2026

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

I thought this was going to be a beefier list this week, but apparently I didn’t save all the things I meant to. Or I spent more time reading books than surfing than I thought I did (very likely). Quality over quantity, let’s say.

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:
bullet Libro.fm Reports Growth in 2025, Launches Annual Subscription—some promising news from my audiobook dealer of choice. While I’m thinking of it, feel free to use this referral link if you decide to subscribe or buy a book, would help me out a bit.
bullet The world’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok—I was actually tempted to use the app now just so I can watch this guy. Resisted, but was tempted.
bullet The Best Book Covers of the Last Decade—You all know that I’m a sucker for “Best Cover”-type posts. This is no exception.
bullet INTERVIEW: with author Jim Butcher—Beth Tabler and Jim Butcher, who can resist the combo? Who would want to?
bullet How Psychological Thrillers Critique the American Dream
bullet Your To-Be-Read Pile Might Be Lying to You—worth reading if only for the Deliah Dawson e-book TBR wisdom
bullet Ranking Classic Children’s Picture Books—someone has the guts to say what we’re all thinking about Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Goodnight Moon (other helpful stuff here, too…)
bullet Arty Picturebooks!—Another good Picture Book post, this one from The Orangutan Librarian

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet SFF Addicts Ep. 186: Scott Lynch talks the Gentleman Bastard Sequence, Heists, Mental Health & More—I enjoyed this one so much I might listen again. (and not just to hyperfixate on the hints Lynch gives about future news)

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week :
bullet “There are moments in your life that are perfect. You know they won’t last long, you know they’re rare, you know that they might not ever come again. If you pay attention, you can feel those moments happening to you.”—Twelve Months by Jim Butcher

and…(this one got stuck in my head)
bullet “All three of us twitch-jumped except for Molly and Lara.”—Twelve Months by Jim Butcher

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
bullet The Next to Last Word by Michael P.V. Barrett
bullet Nightwing, Vol. 1: Traps and Trapezes by Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows
bullet The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
bullet I mentioned the releases of strong>Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz (and I should really get around to books 2-11 someday) and The Rogue Retrieval by Dan Koboldt

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Twelve Months by Jim Butcher—because I don’t think I’ve mentioned it enough in the last three weeks, the new Dresden Files novel dropped this week. I’m in fanboy heaven. If you’re a Dresden-fan, you don’t need to be reminded (I assume) that it’s out. If you’re not, I don’t know that this is a book for you–but let me tell you, the 17 books you need to read first will knock your socks off. (might just be easier to read them barefoot)
bullet There Be Dragons Here by S.L. Rowland—The latest Cozy Fantasy Adventure from Rowland looks very promising, a 182 year-old former adventurer is tasked with taking an old friend’s ashes to their final resting place.
bullet Nine Goblins: A Tale of Low Fantasy and High Mischief by T. Kingfisher—Nine goblins find themselves behind enemy lines and have to face just about every fantasy race you can think of (humans worst of all) to get home.

A drawing of a cat curled up in an easy chair with the words 'All I want in life: 1. Books 2. More books 3. A comfy chair to read my books'(the cat is absolutely not necessary)

Grandpappy’s Corner: Olivia by Ian Falconer: Not a Book for a Tired Parent/Grandparent

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On January 23, 2026

In Grandpappy's Corner, YA/MG/Children's Books

Grandpappy's Corner Logo with the Cover of Olivia by Ian Falconer

Olivia

by Ian Falconer

DETAILS:
Series: Olivia, #1
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 1, 2000
Format: Hardcover
Length: 40 pgs.
Read Date: January 17, 2026
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So here’s the thing you need to know about Olivia–you know that feeling when all you, as an adult, want is for a toddler to go to sleep so you can collapse and veg out for a bit (or maybe sleep yourself); and all the toddler wants to do is not settle down for the night? So you say, “Okay, you can pick X books, and then we’ll go to sleep.” You do not want this book anywhere the kid can find it. Leave it on another floor from their bedroom. Put it on top of something tall where they can’t see it. Because kids who are focused on not going to sleep are tricky and wily. This book is full of ways that those tricksters can exploit to push away lights-out.

Incidentally, a worn-out parent is something that Olivia’s mother can empathize with, and I’d think she’d understand hiding it.

Now, all that means is that Olivia has a lot of really good points to it. A lot of things to grab the attention of a young reader, a lot of things for their imaginations to jump off from and engage with.

This is a look at a six-year old girl (pig) named Olivia and all the ways she fills her days. And she is active–trying on clothes, dancing, painting, making a mess, building very impressive sand castles, and more.

The art is great–it’s simple, rarely detailed with backgrounds and objects–typically it’s just a black and white drawing of Olivia and a family member or two–with a splash of red to really grab your attention.The drawings that are more elaborate–full or two-page spreads, full of background, detail, and objects–are just stunning. On some you will get up to nine different drawings of Olivia–that will inevitably bring up, “What is she doing there?” and “What about there?” or “And what do you think she’s doing there?”, etc. etc. See my caveat in the opening paragraph.

This won some big awards and has spawned a bunch if sequels. I can see why both would be the case. It’s a sweet read, with some very fun art. Pretty much all you want in a picture book.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.


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