Category: Blog Series Page 123 of 232

Saturday Miscellany—4/2/22

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 Brandon Sanderson’s record-breaking Kickstarter campaign ends with $41.7 million—ruminate on that number for a bit, will ya?
bullet Your Guide to Independent Alternatives for Books, Audiobooks, eBooks, and Beyond—libro.fm has put together a handy list of bookish resources without a tie to “The River.”
bullet Everything You Want To Know About Requesting Books on NetGalley—This is too much effort for me, NetGalley approvals aren’t a huge priority (but I could easily let it become one), but this is another handy resource for those who want to get more approvals.
bullet Witty and Sarcastic Book Blog brought us a new Fantasy Focus this week, this focus is on Grimdark—a sub-genre I appreciate, even if I’m vague on understanding it (some of these posts have been very educational for me). Check it out.
bullet Why is Literature so Important?, asks Booksh Brews
bullet What I learned from my self-imposed three-month book-buying ban.—an impressive feat. Not one I think I could pull off.
bullet How Kindle Has Changed My Reading Experience!

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Blood Brothers Podcast Episode 85 with Steph Broadribb—Broadribb talks about her Retired Detectives Club and a slew of other topics

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus—Broaddus has given us his spin on Arthurian tales and steampunk, and now turns to Space Opera,
bullet Monarch by Candice Wuehle—The cryptic worlds of Hanna and Stranger Things mingle with the dark humor of Dare Me in this debut novel about a teen beauty queen who discovers she’s been a sleeper agent in a deep state government program, and whose love for a fellow pageant girl sparks an underworld journey to the truth of her being.” After reading this post on Crime Reads, I had to put this on my list.

People vs Books

The Friday 56 for 4/1/22: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from Page 56 of:
The Kaiju Preservation Society

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

From the platform, a walkway stretched up and over into a gathering of sequoia-size trees. Among the trees were wooden platforms and walkways and buildings, the whole affair swaddled in what looked like fine nettings and coverings.

“That’s Tanaka Base?” I asked.

“It is.”

“Did you mean to make it look like an Ewok village, or was that just an accident?”

“Well, technically speaking, Tanaka predates the Ewok village by a couple of decades. So it looks like us.”

“Does George Lucas know that?”

“He might.”

WWW Wednesday, March 30, 2022

A couple of books lately have taken a day or two longer than I’d anticipated, so I’ve had to shuffle the ol’ schedule for Book Tours, Library Due dates, etc. So this WWW Wednesday came along just in time for me to take a breath and make sure that schedule was right.

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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading the stylish and cool Payback is Forever by Nick Kolakowski and am listening to 20/20 by Carl Goodman, Louise Brealey (Narrator) on audiobook, based on a friend’s recommendation.

Payback is ForeverBlank Space20/20

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished the Libby Fischer Hellmann’s DoubleBlind, a very gutsy thriller, and Murder Under Her Skin by Stephen Spotswood, Kirsten Potter (Narrator) on audio.

DoubleBlindBlank SpaceMurder Under Her Skin

What do you think you’ll read next?

Coming up next will be Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair for a tour next week. It’s been too long since I spent time in the Magic 2.0 world, so my next audiobook should be Fight and Flight by Scott Meyer, Luke Daniels (Narrator).

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For HireBlank SpaceFight and Flight

How are you crusing into April?

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Ventifact Colossus by Dorian Hart

I’m very pleased and excited today to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for Dorian Hart’s The Ventifact Colossus. Unlike the the bloggers whose posts about it are found at https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours, I didn’t have time to read or write about it. Still, I wanted to spread the word a bit.

The Ventifact Colossus Tour Banner

Book Details:

Book Title: The Ventifact Colossus by Dorian Hart
Series: The Heroes of Spira, Book 1
Publisher: Jester Hat Books
Release date: January 7, 2016
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 344 pages
The Ventifact Colossus

Book Blurb:

A tale of epic fantasy begins…

Banished to an otherworldly prison for centuries, the monstrous Emperor Naradawk is about to break free and wreak havoc upon the world of Spira. The archmage Abernathy can no longer keep the monster at bay, and has summoned a collection of would-be heroes to help set things right.

Surely he made a mistake. These can’t be the right people.

Dranko is priest-turned-pickpocket, expelled from his church for his antics. Kibilhathur is a painfully shy craftsman who speaks to stones. Aravia is a wizard’s apprentice whose intellect is eclipsed only by her arrogance. Ernest is a terrified baker’s son. Morningstar is a priestess forbidden from daylight. Tor is a young nobleman with attention issues. Ysabel is an elderly farm woman. Grey Wolf is a hard-bitten mercenary.

None of them are qualified to save the world, but they’ll have to do. Even Abernathy himself seems uncertain as to why he chose them.

What starts with a simple scouting mission soon spirals into something more far-reaching and sinister. The heroes will contest with dream warriors, evil cultists, sentient gemstones, and a devious yet infuriatingly polite gentleman with a perfect mustache, on their way to a desperate encounter with the unstoppable: The Ventifact Colossus.

Book Links:

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

Dorian HartDorian Hart graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in creative writing. This led circuitously to a 20-year career as a video game designer, where he contributed to many award-winning titles including Thief, System Shock, System Shock 2 and BioShock. He is also the author of the interactive novella Choice of the Star Captain.

Dorian now lives in the Boston area with his fantastic wife and two clever daughters. When not serving as house chef and chauffeur, he works on the kinds of novels he’s been itching to write since he was ten years old.

Author Links:

Website ~ Twitter

 


My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Other Side of Fear by Eoghan Egan

I’m very pleased to welcome the Red Dog Press Book Tour for The Other Side of Fear by Eoghan Egan to The Irresponsible Reader this morning! It’s driving me crazy that I couldn’t squeeze this into my schedule right now but I couldn’t let the opportunity to squawk about this book pass by. This has the makings of a scorcher, and you’re going to want to look into it.

Book Details:

Book Title: The Other Side of Fear by Eoghan Egan
Series: The Ganestown Trilogy, #2
Publisher: Red Dog Press
Release date: March 29, 2022
Format: Hardcover/Paperback/Ebook
Length: 370 pages
The Other Side of Fear

About the Book

Sharona Waters is determined to dig into loan shark Dessie Dolan’s business and see him brought to justice. But when a young woman she’s only briefly met goes missing, a much darker story emerges.

Pulled into the ruthless world of people trafficking – a world built on violent brutality and sudden death – Sharona finds herself caught between crime and conscience, pursued by powerful and ruthless criminals, and just one bad decision away from having her whole world crash down.

Sometimes, the only way forward is to risk everything, no matter the cost.

Purchase Link

Get it from Red Dog Press

(it’s also available on Amazon, Kobo, Google Play Books, and all good bookshops—but why not support an independent publisher?)

About the Author

Eoghan EganA native of Co. Roscommon, Ireland, Eoghan wrote his first story aged nine. At college, he studied Computer Programming, works in Sales Management & Marketing, but his passion for reading and writing remain.

Eoghan’s stories were shortlisted for the 2018 Bridport Short Story Prize, and Listowel’s 2019 Bryan McMahon Short Story Award Competition. Others have been published in various anthologies. He has also completed two crime fiction novels in a planned trilogy set in the Irish Midlands, and has started work on the third.

A graduate of Maynooth University’s Creative Writing Curriculum and Curtis Brown’s Edit & Pitch Your Novel Course, Eoghan divides his time between Roscommon and Dublin.

Eoghan constantly explores ways to increase his knowledge in the art of writing. He enjoys attending literary festivals and is excited about the prospect of getting back to face-to-face discussions with readers and writers. He’s also a heavy metal fan, and, post-Covid, can’t wait to headbang at a rock gig.

Find him on Twitter: @eoghanegan



My thanks to Red Dog Press for the invitation to participate in this reveal and the materials they provided.

Red Dog Press

Saturday Miscellany—3/26/22

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 What Counts as Reading?—a bookseller weighs in on this evergreen topic
bullet Creating Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard—a couple of nuggets I don’t think I’ve read before in this interview with Connelly
bullet Our readers recommend these mystery novels that are also funny—Seattle Times readers weigh in on crime fiction that made them laugh out loud. (most of the recommendations are spot-on, but a couple make me worry about the readers who nominated them)
bullet Revealing Dead Man’s Hand, the Debut Novel From James J. Butcher—hard enough to launch an UF series, but the weight of expectations on this debut? Oof.
bullet Spotify Playlist Recommendations For Every Bookish Mood—a couple of these look like they could be worth a try
bullet “After I Read It, It Took Me Two Weeks To Fully Recover”: People Are Sharing Books That Have Genuinely Changed Their Lives—yeah, like most buzzfeed lists, it’s too long. But I had fun going through this.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Payback is Forever by Nick Kolakowski—A thief goes into hiding after a heist goes wrong, and things get worse from there
bullet Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor—I’ve been seeing nothing but positive buzz about this book for months now. High School Football and Southern Noir—a powerful combination.

The Friday 56 for 3/25/22: Payback is Forever by Nick Kolakowski

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve done one of these (a streak of books with hard-to-quote or oddly-dull-to-quote 56s), but you can always count on Kolakowski to be quote-worthy.

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it.

from Page 56 of:
Payback is Forever

Payback is Forever by Nick Kolakowski

Creak-creak-creak-creak.

Miller pictured a lightning bolt shooting from the top of his head, through the ceiling, and incinerating the old man in his irritating chair. Like something a Greek God would do to a peasant who was preventing him from mating with a beautiful swan. Wasn’t that how the legend went? He was a little drunk.

Jill laughed. “You have to admit, it’s sort of funny.”

“Sure, unless I’m trying to sleep.”

Book Blogger Hop: Author Feedback?

This prompt was submitted by Heather @ MM Romance Reviewed:

Do you have a threshold on books where you will offer the author feedback but won’t review?

No. It seems arrogant* to hit up an author with “you need to hear what I have to say about your book” and then list issues/problems/complaints. I write for other readers. Period. If an author reads what I have to say, especially the negative/less positive, that’s on them. I love to hear when an author reads my stuff–it’s even better when they appreciate what I had to say. But an author has editors/publishers/beta readers, etc. to give them feedback. That’s not my role.

* I’m sure some people can do this without coming across as a jerk–more power to you if you can, I’d also love to see how you do it. It’s just not in my wheelhouse.

What about you?

WWW Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Spring has sprung, and sure, that’s messing with my Seasonal Allergies, but I’ll take it. I just stuck my head outside to get the dogs in and I’m going to have a hard time convincing myself to go back to work here in a few minutes…I was able to hold my attention together long enough to remember that it’s time for a WWW Wednesday, tnough.

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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund, which is not a sentence I’d have expected to utter even four months ago (which is the kind of snobbery I’m trying to get over) and I’m listening to The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, Andy Serkis (Narrator) on audiobook, and probably will be until sometime next week.

Halo: The Fall of ReachBlank SpaceThe Two Towers

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Elizabeth Breck’s dynamite Double Take and really enjoyed revisitng False Value by Ben Aaronovitch, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Narrator) on audio.

Double TakeBlank SpaceFalse Value

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be DoubleBlind by Libby Fischer Hellmann and my next audiobook should be Murder Under Her Skin by Stephen Spotswood, Kirsten Potter (Narrator).

DoubleBlindBlank SpaceMurder Under Her Skin

You reading anything good right now?

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: These Walls Were Never Really There by Bryan Blears

I’m very pleased to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for by Bryan Blears to the blog today. I couldn’t fit this into my schedule on time, sadly, but you should absolutely check out some of the posts about it at https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours to see why you should give it a read. But before you go there, let’s learn a little about this book, shall we?

These Walls Were Never Really There Tour Banner

Book Details:

Book Title: These Walls Were Never Really There by Bryan Blears
Publisher: 2qt Limited
Release date: April 1, 2022
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 286 pages
These Walls Were Never Really There

About the Book:

Based on the author’s own experiences of leaving home and traveling across Europe on less than a pound a day, These Walls Were Never Really There is a compelling true story described by publishing editors as ‘immersive and moving’ and ‘a potential prizewinner in the making’.

Initially set in the heart of Manchester’s homeless community, These Walls follows twenty-year-old Cameron, who is propelled on a physical and spiritual journey which will take him far from the life he once knew.

A surprising story about mental health, friendship, and redemption, this compelling debut will take you on a journey across Europe and beyond, as Cameron and his traveling companion Jacob navigate perilous border crossings, packs of wolves, and the harsh realities of life on the road.

Set against the backdrop of the emerging Arab Spring, Cameron and Jacob will have their friendship pushed to its limits as they find themselves trapped thousands of miles away from home…

Book Links:

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

Bryan BlearsBryan Blears is an author of contemporary literary fiction from Salford, Manchester. He has written for the Huffington Post, the New Statesman, and the Philosophical Society of England, among others.

Focusing on social issues, mental health, and overcoming personal adversity, his fiction has been compared to George Orwell, Sylvia Plath, and Donna Tartt. His debut novel, These Walls Were Never Really There, has been described by critics as an ‘immersive and moving true story’ and ‘a fantastic talent, and a potential prizewinner in the making.’

Author Links:

Website ~ Twitter

 


My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

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