Category: Blog Series Page 161 of 220

Saturday Miscellany—3/21/20

On March 21, 2020

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany, Uncategorized

In the words of @Fred_Delicious, “what’s the most annoying thing that’s happened to you this week? for me it’s the global coronavirus pandemic”.

So let’s try to distract ourselves for a moment, all right? (although, looking over my open browser tabs, I’m going to end up talking about it a lot…hmmm, maybe I should re-write that intro)

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 Let’s start with the good news: Amid Pandemic, Libro.fm and Bookshop.org Sales Skyrocket—Yay! Indie shops get a boost!
   bullet And the bad news: Emily Powell on bookstore’s future: ‘I am doing everything within my power to keep Powell’s alive’—truly depressing.
   bullet Independent Bookstore Day Has Been Postponed—because what hasn’t?
   bullet Narnia to Wonderland: Oxford’s Story Museum brings kids’ books to life—a cool place to visit, if, y’know, you could visit places now.
   bullet How to Support Indie Bookstores During COVID-19—I posted a very similar article from We Are Bookish last week. Still a good idea.
   bullet We Are Bookish remembers the authors, too: How to Support Your Favorite Authors When You Can’t Go to Events
   bullet And one more from that blog: 2020’s Virtual Bookish Events—this should be helpful
   bullet Paterson’s David Rosenfelt launches a new series and talks dogs with New Jersey Authors—Ahead of next week’s release of The K Team
   bullet Lee Child: Not “The Man”—Lee Child on a PBS show I’ve never heard of before (if you’re familiar, hit me with must-watch episodes in the comments)
   bullet Book Riot lists 20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies
   bullet The 19 Best Crime-Solving Writers in Fiction, Ranked—I enjoyed this more than I probably should have (it also gave me something to think about for one of Monday’s posts…stay tuned)
   bullet Fun Things to do at Home that go with Audiobooks—a good start for a list…you have any you’d add?
   bullet How Can We Get Others to Read?—Bookidote’s Lashaan suggests some drastic measures to correct “people not picking up a book for whatever reason they got.” Also, Robert DeNiro gifs.
   bullet No, it’s not YA—The Orangutan Librarian tackles one of my pet peeves.
   bullet My top 5 tips to interact with the book blogging community—(I really need to pay more attention to #2)
   bullet 10 Biggest Disasters for Any Bookworm—I think I’ve fallen prey to all of these…you?

This Week's New Releases
That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
   bullet Lenny by B.R. Stateham—the tried-and-true story of a military vet turned local law enforcement. Put this one in a Texas border town facing a narcotics cartel, add in the Fahrenheit 13 spice, and this is guaranteed to be a great read.
   bullet Last Couple Standing by Matthew Norman—a couple goes the extra mile to save their marriage when all their friends divorce. Norman’s third novel promises to continue his winning streak.
   bullet Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs—Mercy’s on the hunt from an escapee from Underhill, the fae’s abandoned prison.
   bullet Agatha H and the Siege of Mechanicsburg by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio—It’s been four years since the last novel about Agatha Heterodyne, I hope I can remember enough of it. Fun steampunk fantasy novels (and comics, which I gave up trying to catch up on ages ago).

Lastly
I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to beyondthecryptsandcastles, Uniquely Portable Magic, and Daniel MacKillican for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

(I don’t have a source to link this to, wish I knew where this came from, but…

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding: BOOK IV., v.-viii.

By HCNewton

On March 20, 2020

In Fiction, Fridays with The Foundling, General Fiction/Literature

Fridays with the Foundling
I love the title to Chapter V so much, “Containing matter accommodated to every taste.” Chapter titles are such a lost art (and one I too often ignore even in good books).

To say the Truth, Sophia, when very young, discerned that Tom, though an idle, thoughtless, rattling Rascal, was nobody’s Enemy but his own; and that Master Blifil, though a prudent, discreet, sober young Gentleman, was at the same Time strongly attached to the Interest only of one single Person; and who that single Person was the Reader will be able to divine without any Assistance of ours.

Kinda says it all, doesn’t it? Alas,

as to Design upon her Person he had none; for which we shall at present suffer the Reader to condemn him of Stupidity

He treats her well, and seems to regard her with more respect than any others, but he doesn’t think of her “that” way. Still, he’s able to use her regard for him to get Sophia to persuade her father to hire Black George as a game keeper.

Then we get some explanations for why Tom is guilty of Stupidity regarding Sophia—while admiring him for treating her well and not trying to take advantage of her for her father’s money. Part of the reason for it is Black George’s second child, Molly. Molly is described as a good person, good looking, but less than ideally feminine—demonstrated in part by the way she pursues Tom. To Tom’s credit, for modesty’s sake, he avoids her.

There’s some more back and forth with Thwackum and Square about Tom and his morality, I’m not going to get into the details, it’s pretty much the same song, different verse. Technically, Tom’s wrong and they’re right, but his motives and inclinations are admirable and that’s what Allworthy focuses on. I’m not saying it’s not good reading, but it’s getting a bit repetitive.

Fun stuff, I like the way the narrator is so besotted by Sophie that he’s condemning Tom while conceding he’s right about the way he treats her.

BOOK BLITZ: Bobby Robot by Michael Hilton

By HCNewton

On March 20, 2020

In Book Tour, Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Young Adult Science Fiction

Release Date: 3-20-20

Publisher: INtense Publications LLC

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

Sixteen-year-old Bobby is the only human on a robot-inhabited planet. Aided by LINC, his cybernetic haywire task assistant, he must prove to the bots that the human race is worth restarting bypassing his Programming, the training he receives to think and act in perfect precision—and without emotion. Failure will force him to upload his mind into the Tether, a robotic host, stripping him of his humanity and terminating his species’ last chance for survival. As he repeatedly falls short of the bots’ rigorous standards, he begins to question if the human race is even worth reviving. But when a beautiful girl named Jen crash-lands on his planet, she makes him question everything the bots have told him, including what it means to be human.

About the Author

Michael Hilton is a time traveler from the future who’s come back to warn us of the impending literary apocalypse. An avid reader of Young Adult science fiction and fantasy, he writes to stave off the coming wasteland of soulless fiction. One day his Wikipedia page will describe his warnings as “mildly prophetic” and “wildly exaggerated.” He lives in Irving, Texas, working as a chiropractor by day, a vigilante by night, and a writer all of the time.

Michael Hilton is a nerd. Like, a big one. Using a right brain filled with stories of adventure, mystery, and romance and a left brain stocked with experience in the fields of biology, neurology, and engineering, he writes science fiction and fantasy worlds worth geeking out over. When he’s imagining battles in a far-off galaxy, he’s usually treating patients as a chiropractor, working out, writing music, or watching too much TV. He currently lives on Earth but is thinking about moving soon.

Contact Links

Purchase Links

COVER REVEAL: Daisy on the Outer Line by Ross Sayers

By HCNewton

On March 19, 2020

In Book Tour, Fiction

Welcome to The Irresponsible Reader’s part in the Cover Reveal for Ross Sayers’s Daisy on the Outer Line! Thanks to Time Zones and whatnot, this isn’t so much a Cover Reveal as much as it is a Cover Confirmation at this point, but that’s being a little pedantic. There’s a spiffy looking cover down below, but before the picture, I’ve got a few words to share about the book–this is an intriguing concept.

Book Blurb

Life, Death and Time Travel on the Glasgow Subway…

When selfish student Daisy trashes her stepdad’s funeral, she gets blind drunk and wakes up on the Glasgow subway to find she has travelled back in time. To make amends for her behaviour, she must save a life—but she doesn’t know who, how, or where to begin. She’ll have to find out fast if she wants to make it back to her old life and avoid being trapped in the wrong timeline forever.

This novel was awarded one of the first Scots Language Publication Grants funded by the Scottish Government and administered by the Scottish Book Trust.

Publication Date: 5th November 2020

ISBN:
Paperback 978-1-911279-77-8
eBook 978-1-911279-78-5

The Author

Ross Sayers grew up in Stirling and now lives in Edinburgh. He’s still finding his way around. His debut novel, Mary’s the Name was released in 2017 and was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book Award. He’s currently working on a sequel to one of his books… You can tweet him praise or abuse @Sayers3390

Without further ado…

The Cover

You can get your hands on this cover (and the novel it goes with!) on November 5, set a reminder on your calendar now (or pre-order it, probably).

My thanks to Love Books Group for the invitation to participate in this reveal and the materials they provided.

WWW Wednesday, March 18, 2020

By HCNewton

On March 18, 2020

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

Hey, it’s the middle of the week and we could all use a distraction, so let’s go for a quick WWW Wednesday!

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 Awful Truth About The Sushing Prize by Marco Ocram and am hopefully wrapping up listening to The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, James Cameron Stewart (Narrator). Work has been a little crazy lately, and my reading (and listening) has taken a hit, so the turnover here just isn’t what I’m used to seeing.

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished David Rosenfelt’s The K Team and if everything went the way it should’ve, you can read my take on the book today.

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be The Immortal Conquistador by Carrie Vaughn and Back to Reality by Mark Stay & Mark Oliver, Kim Bretton (Narrator) on audiobook.

Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments! (no, really, do it!)

A Few (more) Quick Questions With…Michael Landweber

By HCNewton

On March 16, 2020

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction

Oh, wow…hard to believe it’s been almost 4 years since we did this for Thursday, 1:17 PM! Apparently, he’s used the time very well. I had many, many questions I’d like to ask about The In Between, but they’d require hours of both of us (and would probably eliminate the need for anyone who read this to listen to the book)— so, I’ll limit myself to these.

How is the process different for you in preparing something for an Audible Original rather than print?

The process of writing the book was no different than my usual process, which is to charge headlong into it and hope for the best. The initial editorial process was also similar. It was a joy to work with my editor at Audible, Lara Blackman. As all good editors do, she helped me improve the book significantly. There are some editorial differences for audio only that I would have never considered, such as limiting dialogue tags (“she said”) because the narrators are doing that work for you. But overall I did not change my approach much to write this as an Audible Original.

What part of this novel came first? The teleportation technology (and/or the problems with it), the world, the characters? And then how did you go about adding the rest?

I always start books with a what if question. In this case, it was what if you got lost teleporting. Of course, once a question sticks in my mind, I face the far more difficult task of figuring out how to turn the answer into a compelling story. So characters and plot come next with the world filling in around them. In this case, when I realized that it was a child who gets lost, I knew I had my novel. I’ve got two kids myself, and even though they’re teenagers now and slightly less prone to wandering off, the thought of them being lost is terrifying.

Why Tokyo? I get Omaha, but what was it that made Tokyo the destination for the family? (I have theories, e.g. the opportunity to write off a trip to Japan on your taxes, but I’d rather hear from you)

Actually, Omaha is a more random choice for me than Tokyo. I was an East Asian Studies major in college, focusing on Japan. After graduation, I lived in Tokyo for a year, working at the English-language Japan Times as a copy editor. It is a wonderful country and fascinating from an outsider perspective. Japan is also such a tech-forward place and Tokyo itself has so many hidden oddities in those towering buildings that it made sense to me that folks might be running bootleg teleporters in Akihabara.

When self-driving cars become the norm, are you going to be one insisting on manual control?

I am definitely a Luddite when it comes to self-driving cars. I just can’t bring myself to trust them. I get nervous even watching ads where the cars are parking themselves. Logically, I know that self-driving cars are probably less prone to fatal errors that human beings. But I still can’t quite fathom being in a car that is driving itself. This is not a new issue for me. In high school, I wrote a terrible story about a guy who gets into a self-driving cab that follows everything he says literally. The guy gets pissed and yells “Go to Hell!” That was a pretty typical ending for the stories I wrote in high school.

(I’d pay to read a copy of that story…)

So how awesome are Brittany Pressley and Mark Boyett as narrators? (there’s a softball for you)

They are amazing. When I found out that I would be able to make suggestions on the narrators, I canvassed my friends who are Audible listeners for ideas. Both Brittany and Mark’s names came up repeatedly. I’m also very lucky that Audible decided to give me two narrators for the alternating Lillian and Jackson chapters. The combination of the two voices really brings the book to life.

(I want the record to show that I hadn’t read these responses when I wrote my post about the book, I didn’t steal this phrase from him. But glad to see I’m not alone in thinking it.)

Thanks for your time and willingness to let me badger you with these questions–I really enjoyed The In Between and truly hope that it finds the audience it deserves.

COVER REVEAL: The Cauldron of Life by Caroline Logan

By HCNewton

On March 16, 2020

In Book Tour, Fiction

Welcome to The Irresponsible Reader’s part in the Cover Reveal for Caroline Logan’s The Cauldron of Life! (I know I say this all the time, but it seems like the thing to note: thanks to Time Zones and whatnot, this isn’t so much a Cover Reveal as much as it is a Cover Confirmation at this point, but that’s being a little pedantic). The important thing to focus on is that there’s a spiffy looking cover down below, but before the picture, I’ve got a few words to share about the book.