Category: Blog Series Page 16 of 220

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:
Identity Stamps: Two new startups, Books by People and Amlet, aim to certify a book’s authenticity in the AI era—It is so sad that this needs to be a thing. It’s also enheartening that it finally is.
Federal judge says Texas law requiring book ratings is unconstitutional
How the Hardy Boys Book Series Cracked the Case of Getting Kids Hooked on Reading
Barnes & Noble’s 2025 Book of the Year Finalists—Ugh. Is it this time of year already? Still, some good-looking books. I’ve read 2 of these finalists, and yeah, they belong on the list.
ABC Radio National named their Top 100 Books of the 21st Century.—as well as the books that didn’t quite make the Top 100
My Conversation with Fake Dan Brown—Lee Goldberg talks about the chat he had with “Dan Brown” last week.
Acquiring My Work: A Primer—Scalzi’s primer might not apply to the author of your choice, but it does give some grounds to consider
Influences – Joe Abercrombie
Exclusive Interview: “Against All Odds” Author Jeffery H. Haskell
Z.B. Steele put together a great (and visually appealing) thread of SFF Book Recs Based on Your Favorite D&D Class—two indie and one trad book per subclass.
A two-fer from The Orangutan Librarian this week: If you like this, try that… Halloween Edition and If you didn’t like this, try that… Halloween Edition
Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Ultraman by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi—I have memories of watching (not understanding, because I was like 5 or 6) Ultraman decades ago. It was just undeniably cool–a manga about him is definitely appealing from the outset. Firsty Duelist made it moreso.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Updraft by Fran Wilde
A Serpent’s Tooth by Craig Johnson
And I mentioned the releases of two very different kinds of PI books: Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith and The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Death at the Door by Olivia Blacke—A nice sequel for the ghost and roommate amateur sleuth pair. I made a case for reading it last week.
Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow—The book is best summed up by this “it’s not just you—the internet sucks now. Here’s why, and here’s how we can disenshittify it.” I read it, and am glad I did. Even if I despair of any of his suggested solutions happening.
The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories and Essays by Harper Lee—”a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces, offering a fresh perspective on the remarkable literary mind of Harper Lee.”
The Broken Detective by Joel Nedecky—”Private investigator Jake Joelsen is going to prison for assaulting his sick mom’s abusive boyfriend, but thanks to a suspended sentence, he has two weeks to earn as much money as possible so he can financially support his mom when he’s inside.” All he has to do is find one missing woman, fight some powerful people, and stay sober.
Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs—”When the deadly werewolf Asil is gifted five blind dates by some anonymous ‘friends,’ his reclusive life will never be the same, in this enthralling novel in stories.” I’ve read one or two of these stories before, and figure I’ll enjoy the others.
The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly—I’m not sure how I didn’t know about a new Lincoln Lawyer book until 2 days after it came out, but this should be as compelling as usual.
Batman: Revolution by John Jackson Miller—I love the idea of a series following up on Burton’s Batman, in this second novel (third if you count the novelization of the movie), we get to meet The Riddler.
Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines—”Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Golden Girls in this humorous contemporary standalone fantasy about a group of former Chosen Ones coming out of retirement to save the world one last time… it’s a novel about community, second chances, and the healing power of scones.”
Futility by Nuzo Onoh—Okay, this “monstrous, gleeful, bitingly funny tale of murder, body-swapping and bloody vengeance” doesn’t actually sound like my cup of tea (but will appeal to some of you). But that cover is one that I both really want on my shelf and never want to see again. Click to see what I mean.

For the second time this year, I’m doing this late. Humbug. I was out of town last week spending time with my favorite person. So, I didn’t have a lot of time to be looking around for things to put here (and I got really behind with everything, leading to the belatedness of this). But I hate to break a streak (and there’s a bunch of new releases to mention)

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye last week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
58 Books You Need to Read (Recommended by People Who Know) Or: 42 Writers, Editors, and Booksellers on the Best Books They’ve Read in the Last 25 Years—this is a great list
Enchanting Imposters: Johns Hopkins University’s Bibliotheca Fictiva Collection of Literary and Historical Forgery shows that humans have been creating fan fiction and fake news for millennia—”more than 2,000 items—rare books, manuscripts, and ephemera.” It sounds fascinating.
Killer Reads: Books About Serial Killers You Need to Read—another great list
Spooktacular Books for All Ages: 2025—and a third list of books that you should peruse, this time from Witty & Sarcastic Book Club

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Last Week?
Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? by Stephen Dobyns
Walking the Perfect Square by Reed Farrel Coleman
A Bitter Feast by S.J. Rozan
The Drop by Dennis Lehane
Whirligig by Magnus Macintyre
And I talked about the release of Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl

Last Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Bounty Inc. by Adam Holcombe—Bounty hunters in space. Epic battle scenes. Found family. Oodles of Fun. I enthused about this recently, and I’d gladly do so again.
Fallen Star by Lee Goldberg—Eve Ronin’s latest finds her in the middle of a new (and yet old) tangle of corruption
And to All a Good Bite by David Rosenfelt—The new Andy Carpenter holiday mystery. A bit of cleverness and a warm-fuzzy are both sure to ensue.
Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman—”A sentimental advertising creative and a blunt, no-nonsense bar owner find a second chance at love while binge-watching iconic holiday movies in this poignant and heartwarming romance.”
Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum by Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry—”A poignant, heartfelt, and funny memoir about how, in 1985, Michael J. Fox brought to life two iconic roles simultaneously—Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties and Marty McFly in Back to the Future. An amazing true story as only Michael J. Fox can tell it.” Draws upon interviews with cast and crew of both projects.