Last week’s topic was, “Top 5 Classics I Love. I’d been tossing around ideas for September’s lists of classics, and then didn’t really notice that I was supposed to start this last week.
As I did a few months ago, in lieu of spending time formatting a post and hemming and hawing about this and that, I just turned on the camera, hit record, and blathered on a bit.
Let me know what you think!
I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for the first volume of D.L. Cary’s The Veil Chronicles series Maria’s Shadow! I’m less-than-pleased to mention that the tour ended yesterday, and this post was supposed to go up on the fifth of the month. My apologies to Mr. Cary and The Write Reads for that. In addition to this Spotlight, I’ll be sharing my $.02 about this book soon. But as I said, the Tour’s over now, so if you take a look at the feed for https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours or The Write Reads on Twitter or The Write Reads on BlueSky, you’ll see bloggers who had interesting things to say about it on time.
Title: Maria’s Shadow
Series: The Veil Chronicles
Genre: Thriller
Age Category: Adult
Format: Paperback/Ebook/hardcover
Length: 241 Pages
Publication Date: April 23, 2025
Maria’s Shadow by D.L. Cary is a gripping thriller that follows Maria Hernández, a young Salvadoran woman ensnared by the sinister Saffron Veil after chasing a Hollywood dream. Trapped in a California mansion, she escapes with a dangerous secret, pursued by the powerful Senator Edward Grayson. As Detective John Jefferson uncovers a web of corruption in North Carolina, their paths converge in a high-stakes battle against a shadowy cabal. Packed with suspense, betrayal, and relentless pursuit, this novel explores courage and sacrifice against overwhelming odds.
Amazon Canada ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Goodreads ~ The Story Graph
D.L. Cary is a Christian suspense and clean-thriller author who loves delivering pulse-pounding intrigue without the profanity or graphic violence.
His debut series, The Veil Chronicles, drops you into covert conspiracies and spiritual warfare while championing themes of redemption, justice, and hope. If you enjoy inspirational fiction, redemptive suspense, or spiritual thrillers you can share with the whole family, you’re in the right place.
He calls Alabama home, where he lives with my best friend (and wife), Heile. Before that, they lived in North Carolina. Finishing up their crew is a rambunctious group of dogs and cats, with Alex, an orange tabby, being the newest addition.
Every page he writes is fueled by faith and by readers who crave values-driven stories where hope endures, and justice prevails.
Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Twitter [source: his Goodreads page, I’m not sure that’s actually him] ~ TikTok ~ Goodreads
My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided (including the book).
Yes, I am still blogging, not that you can prove that lately. I have 5 draft posts that were supposed to go up this week (including a book tour!!). But energy/initiative didn’t seem to be my thing this week. Let’s see if things improve over the next 7, shall we?
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:
Banned Books Week gives us a chance to reflect on censorship—some thoughts ahead of the UK’s BBW in October
“Weird, but Fantastic”: Devoney Looser on Those Who Love Jane Austen—Looser is making the rounds on the internet this week about her upcoming book. I’m not an Austen fan, but I’m tempted by this book.
It’s Okay to Hate The House of Mirth: Carlo Rotella on Reading (and Learning) from Books We Dislike—I don’t know enough (or anything) about this book or Wharton to have an opinion on that, but I appreciated the lessons of this.
The Longest Long Words List: Don’t read this if you have hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words).—Some fun from Merriam-Webster
Why AI Narrators Will Never Be Able to Tell a Real Human Story: Adam Verner Explores the Uncanny Valley of Automated Audiobooks—this seems like it sound be entirely too many words for an easy topic, but…End-Stage Capitalism, or whatever it is we’re in shows us otherwise
The Future of Technology Makes It Harder to Solve Fictional Crimes
Quiz: Can You Match the Literary Fart Joke to its Source?—I’m not sure if I should be relieved or embarassed at how badly I failed this one.
August 2025 Book Blogger Posts Round Up—Jo Linsdell has a great collection of recent reads
Wombling Along—as does the Wombler
Why Bunnies? Jumping into the Role of Rabbits in Children’s Literature—I’ve wondered this a time or two, but never actually gave it any thought. Thanks for prompting actual musing, Orangutan Librarian!
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Provoke Not The Children by Michael W. Anderson
Underground by Kat Richardson
Indexing: Reflections, Episode 2: Broken Glass by Seanan McGuire
The Van by Roddy Doyle
And I mentioned the releases of: (so many bangers that week) A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire; The Drafter by Kim Harrison; Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator by Jen Klein; Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? by Stephen Dobyns; Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart; Updraft by Fran Wilde; The Dragon Engine by Andy Remic; andThe Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King, Maurice Sendak (Illustrator)—I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago—how does one pass up this team-up?
Making History by K. J. Parker—a tyrant assembles a group of historians to create a false justification for starting a war. In Parker’s hands, this is going to be wickedly good.
Running late (again), a lot of people-ing. Started with the Boise Library’s Comic Arts Fest (more about that later), and then ran into some family time. Sorry about that.
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:
My students resisted reading books. I found an unexpected solution.—One Middle School teacher makes a breakthrough by remembering what had worked when he was a student
One of my favorite novelists, Matthew Norman seeks a (bad) Answer to one of the 20th Century’s Biggest Literary Questions
Petty Revenges to Wish Upon Your Booksich Arch Nemesis—Some of these are Cru-EL. (so bad you have to pronounce it that way).
Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Kamen Rider by Shotaro Ishinomori
I’m Currently Disillusioned with New Releases—Brianna has broken free from the Tyranny of the New. (sorta jealous, really)
10 Urban Fantasy Books That Blend Magic and Mayhem—Anca Antoci features some really solid choices, and a few I’m going to have to sample
On Setting Expectations For Writers—Peat Long drops some wisdom
There is a Season…Turn, Turn Turn—a great post on Witty & Sarcastic Book Club about the importance of beginner books to parents (particularly as the kids get older)
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson—In retrospect, I want to quibble with my rating from back then. I just don’t get it.
Hostile Takeover by Shane Kuhn—I wish he were still producing work (if he is, it’s under a different name, and I’d like someone to clue me in)
And I talked about the releases of: X by Sue Grafton; Randoms by David Liss; and Koko the Mighty by Kieran Shea
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Art of Legend by Wesley Chu—The trilogy concludes, and I can’t wait to see how.
Katabasis by R. F Kuang—A Dark Academia take on Dante’s Inferno.
With August winding down, I’m scurrying to finish some books by Saturday. I probably won’t get all of my 20 Books of Summer done, but I’m going to be close. And…eh. I’ve read so many good things that I really don’t care. For example:
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:
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| Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation by Jim O’Heir |
Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride by Will Leitch, read by Chris Andrew Ciulla |
Jim O’Heir’s book about the making of Parks & Rec starts off strong and will probably keep going that way. It feels as comfy as the show. And after some of the stuff I’ve read lately, I could use that.
By the time this posts, I’ll have barely scratched the surface of Will Leitch’s newest. But the mix of sentiment and humor seems like a good time, I’m finding out if I’m right as you read these words.
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| Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson |
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen, translated by Lisa Hartford, read by Erik Davies |
Gibson’s book is as weird and good as I expected it to be. I’ll try to come up with a better take on it than that, but it’ll do for now. (yes, it took me a long time to finish it, but that’s because I interrupted reading it for Ryka Aoki’s beautiful Light From Uncommon Stars for book club on Monday)
I don’t know that I’ll come back for more of Dept. Q’s mysteries (in print, anyway). But I just might–if only to see how it works without me constantly comparing it to the adaptation. It was a good read, maybe too long. But a solid read.
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| The Lords of the West End by Peter Blaisdell |
Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters |
I don’t remember much about The Lords of the West End. All I remember is that this post from Witty and Sarcastic Book Club led me to buy it.
Dead Beat was my entry point into The Dresden Files. Can’t wait to revisit such a dear friend (even if it’s a really messed up book).
Book Blogger Hop
This prompt was submitted by Snapdragon @ Snapdragon Alcove:
Yes. Which isn’t easy. I grew up as one of those kids who never found their name on the license plate souvenir, bracelet, Coke bottle, etc., etc. So, that I can think of three books that have a character with my name in it is pretty surprising (I want to say that I’ve read four, but I can’t think of the other one).
Except it appears that I’m mistaken. I was sure that Thomas Rockwell’s How to Eat Fried Worms featured a kid with my childhood nickname, but I can’t find proof of that (and don’t want to re-read the book for a passing reference just for this post). It must’ve been a book I read about the same time. And now it’s bugging me that I can’t think of it.
Sometime between writing that paragraph and scheduling this post, I remembered I had access to this thing called “The Internet”—perhaps you’ve heard of it? Typing “hobie juvenile books 1980s” into DuckDuckGo led me to Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub, which is obviously it—and was the first of the Hobie Hanson series, of which I was previously unaware. I do think I remember reading 4B Goes Wild, the sequel. But there are 7 books in this series (most published after I was too old to read them, but not yet old enough to not care). I’d completely forgotten about this book’s existence—and while my memories of it aren’t full. I do have warm, fuzzy associations with it. I don’t remember Hobie being an incredibly great kid, but he had potential—and wasn’t as much of a snot as some of his classmates.
Last year, for our Science Fiction Book Club, we took on Robert R. Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. If I didn’t know better*, I’d have assumed the leader, 
George picked the book to needle me, because it features a former Federated Nations Senator, Mortimer Hobart. Also known as “the Warden” and “Mort the Wort.” I’m just glad that the colonists didn’t use his surname as the source of their juvenile nickname (having survived Junior High School, it’s an easy mark). While I can’t say that the Warden is the worst villain in the novel—but he’s sure a convenient figurehead for everything wrong on the colony—and is one of the first targets of the revolution.
* And I really don’t.
The best is from Jeff Noon’s book Vurt. At a summer job while in college, a co-worker got a strange look on his face when we met. Once he found out I was a reader, too, he wanted to know if I’d read Vurt—I hadn’t, but it was absolutely up my alley. Turns out he reacted to my name because he remembered this passage:
Everybody knew about Hobart, but nobody knew anything. Just the hundreds of rumours that surrounded the name: Hobart invented Vurt. Hobart is alive, Hobart is dead. Hobart is a man, a woman, a child, an alien. Some have called her Queen Hobart, and they have worshipped her. To others Hobart is a dream or a myth, or just a good story that somebody made up, so good that it stuck around, became truth. Nobody knew anything.
Sure, the more you read in the book, the less you want to be associated with Hobart. But…c’mon, how often do you get to (mis-)appropriate a quote like this? “Hobart is a dream or a myth, or just a good story that somebody made up, so good that it stuck around, became truth.”
I still can’t remember if there is a fourth book—and that’s okay. Three is enough.
The World’s Last Nightby C. S. Lewis
DETAILS:
Publisher: HarperOne
Publication Date: February 14, 2017
Format: Paperback
Length: 122 pg.
Read Date: August 3-10, 2025
This is a collection of essays by Lewis, quite simply. I don’t know that they belong together more than that. GIven the original date of publication (1952), he was alive when this was collected, but I have no idea if he was involved in the selection—I am curious about that. So much so that I’ve written 3 more sentences (including this one) about it than I intended to.
Here’s what the jacket flap on my copy says:
In these seven satirical yet poignant essays, C.S. Lewis tackles the temptations of evil. He challenges readers to decide how they would live on thew world’s last night and writes, “We are not the playwright, we are not the producer, we are not even the audience. We are on the stage. To play well the scenes in which we are ‘on’ concerns us much more than to guess about the scenes that follow it.” The infamous Screwtape makes a special appearance with a toast that explores the prospects for exploiting evil. Blending irony, humor, and paradox, Lewis tackles religion’s most difficult and intriguing questions regarding immorality, belief, and the meaning of prayer.
I’m also not sure “satirical” applies to all seven essays. But I didn’t come here to pick a fight with anyone involved with putting this together. So let’s move on with a quick look at each essay (the premise should be clear for most from the title).
I loved this essay. I’m glad I read the collection, if only for this—sadly, the rest of the collection really didn’t live up to it. But I’m okay with paying most of the $17 I spent on the book for this essay. It’s one I will be returning to.
This is sort of a Science v. Faith (a ridiculous debate). Lewis made some pretty good points, and it was generally good. But I’m not sure it’s a home-run.
That demand for our confidence which a true friend makes of us is exactly the same that a confidence trickster would make. That refusal to trust, which is sensible in reply to a confidence trickster, is ungenerous and ignoble to a friend, and deeply damaging to our relation with him. To be forewarned and therefore forearmed against apparently contrary appearance is eminently rational if our belief is true; but if our belief is a delusion, this same forewarning and forearming would obviously be the method whereby the delusion rendered itself incurable. And yet again, to be aware of these possibilities and still to reject them is clearly the precise mode, and the only mode, in which our personal response to God can establish itself. In that sense the ambiguity is not something that conflicts with faith so much as a condition which makes faith possible. When you are asked for trust you may give it or withhold it; it is senseless to say that you will trust if you are given demonstrative certainty. There would be no room for trust if demonstration were given. When demonstration is given what will be left will be simply the sort of relation which results from having trusted, or not having trusted, before it was given.
This is an interesting take on anti-intellectualism and related ideas. It really feels like it could be a recent composition.
There’s a paragraph about a child reading Science Fiction that sold me.
I was just going to refer you to what I wrote about this as an add-on to The Screwtape Letters, but apparently, I never finished that post. So, um, that won’t work.
This fell short of the original Screwtape material. It doesn’t have the wit, the insight. It feels like a sequel to The Abolition of Man crammed into Screwtape’s mouth, and it didn’t work nearly as well.
Second-best essay in the batch.
‘Good works’ in the plural is an expression much more familiar to modern Christendom than ‘good work’. Good works are chiefly alms-giving or ‘helping’ in the parish. They are quite separate from one’s ‘work’. And good works need not be good work, as anyone can see by inspecting some of the objects made to be sold at bazaars for charitable purposes. This is not according to our example. When our Lord provided a poor wedding party with an extra glass of wine all round, He was doing good works, But also good work; it was a wine really worth drinking, Nor is the neglect of goodness in our ‘work’, our job, according to precept. The apostle says everyone must aot only work but work to produce what is ‘good’.
Huh. Interesting take on extraterrestrial life, etc. I’m not sure what else to say.
There are many reasons why the modern Christian and een the modern theologian may hesitate to give to the doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming that emphasis which was usually laid on it by our ancestors.
It’s hard to believe that someone in the 20th Century could start an essay about escathology that way. But there it is, in black and white.
We must admit at once that this doctrine [of the Second Coming] has, in the past, led Christians into very great follies. Apparently many people find it difficult to believe in this great event without trying to guess its date, or even without accepting as a certainty the date that any quack or hysteric offers them. To write a history of all these exploded predictions would need a book, and a sad, sordid, tragi-comical book it would be.
I’ve read some of those books, and he describes them well.
Overall, this is a really good look at the doctrine of the Second Coming and Judgement and how we should act before then—and why we should do so.
I liked this more than some of what I’ve read by Lewis this year, but it doesn’t hold a candle to him at his best. There are moments of brilliance. Moments of spiritual insight and wisdom. Some moments of wit and common sense (which should never be sneezed at). Some moments where you wonder why he has impacted so many (including myself) in such a strong and lasting way.
Still, it’s worth the time—not just for completistis, either. Just know going in that not every essay is going to wow you.
I’m tempted to give it 4 Stars just for the first essay, but let’s not get carried away by such a strong start.
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.
I really should’ve saved a couple of things from last week’s list for today…oh well, it’ll be faster for both of us this way.
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:
ChatGPT Shaming Is Making Our Writing So Much Worse: In the age of A.I. paranoia, people are cutting em dashes, skipping metaphors, and leaving in typos to prove their human.—If it’s a choice of defending my writing as human generated or cutting an em-dash, I’ll go to the gibbet! Leaving in typos? Stuff of nightmares.
Convince Audible to revise it’s New Royalty Model—I’m not going to tell you if you should sign this or not. Or if this should alter your audiobook practices (but there is a libro.fm link in my sidebar and I get a little something from it if you subscribe). But you should give this a read just to understand what Audible is doing.
Linda Castillo on Keeping Her Kate Burkholder Series Fresh and Frightening After 17 Books—I’m way behind in that series and I’m not so sure she’s pulling it off. But maybe I’m in a middling-time for her and things will freshen up. Still, it was interesting to read.
Andy Peloquin and some fellow authors clearly had some fun at WorldCon as seen in Let’s ask random authors some questions…Part One!!
SFF books featuring Characters with Disabilties – Top Ten Tuesday!—2 solid picks here and 8 that probably are, too. Feed your TBR!
Speaking of feeding your TBR, it’s time for Narratess Indie August Sale. My TBR is embiggened!
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Book Off! Season 14, Ep. 13 JD Kirk and MW Craven—I haven’t listened to a Book Off! in ages, this was a good one to get back into it with. Loads of fun.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
212 by Alafair Burke
Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Veiled by Benedict Jacka
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
Lastly, I mentioned the releases of: Hallow Point by Ari Marmell; Zero World by Jason Hough; Last Words by Michael Koryta; Zeroes by Chuck Wendig; and Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
A Mother’s Guide to the Apocalypse by Hollie Overton—”a post-apocalyptic mystery exploring the unshakeable bond between mothers and daughters and the sacrifices we make for the people we love.” This looks intense and riveting
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:
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| Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson |
The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson, read by Eric Burgher |
I’m finally dipping into Gibson’s first book. This is a dark and messed-up world. Really enjoying it so far.
So far, The Dragon and the George is doing a lot of things right. It’s doing a lot of things so-so as well. Still, it’s plenty of fun.
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| Leveled Up Love by Leveled Up Love by Tao Wong & A. G. Marshall |
Blood Rites by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters |
Wong & Marshall’s SF/LitRPG/Rom-Com mashup was feel-good fun.
I don’t know that Blood Rites ranks up with Butcher’s best, but the high points of this are so high, I just don’t care.
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| Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki |
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen, translated by Lisa Hartford, read by Erik Davies |
Aoki’s book seems to be quite the genre mashup, looking forward to seeing how/if it works.
Netflix’s Dept. Q got me interested in the source material, The Keeper of Lost Causes. Time for some Nordic Noir.
Hate to let the streak end (although it was for a worthy cause), especially because I had the biggest list I’d come up with in a few weeks.
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:
The authors who make millions through self-publishing: Three British writers reveal how they built successful careers without agents or conventional publishers
C.S. Lewis in the Age of Bleakness: Awe, Wonder and the Power of Enchantment
Our Golden Age of Reading (Online)
Review Bomber Review Bombed—hate to see it (no, not really)
Book Review: ‘Mississippi Blue 42’ takes readers into excesses and corruption in big-time college athletics—some review, some profile, generally good stuff about Cranor and his latest
We All Miss Mass Market Paperbacks: It’s partly nostalgia, but there really is something special about those books…—Templeton makes it hard for me to finish the post I’ve been playing with about Mass Market Paperbacks
5 Fun Tips and Tricks To Focus on Your Physical TBR: Feeling overwhelmed by your physical TBR piling up all around you? Here are fun tips and tricks to dwindle your physical TBR.
How I Read Star Ratings—some good thoughts from Pages Unbound’s Krysta
Blogiversary #8—Carol’s Reading Ladies Book Club hit a milestone last week. Congrats!
When Fiction Meets Reality: I Guessed the Inspiration for a Book and Now It’s Living Rent Free in My Mind
Dungeons and Dragons Romance Books—I can think of a few people who’d like these
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
How I Library Episode 20: Penn Jillette—Fun in general, and Jillette offers one of my favorite anti-book ban arguments
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
Indexing: Reflections, Episode 1: Forbidden Doors by Seanan McGuire
Spell or High Water by Scott Meyer
The Redeemers by Ace Atkins
Hidden by Benedict Jacka
The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire
And I mentioned the releases of: Indexing: Reflections by Seanan McGuire; You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day; Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner; and The End of All Things by John Scalzi
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Final Vow by M.W. Craven—If there’s a book I’ve been looking forward to more this year, I can’t think of it. Just waiting on international shipping. Oh, right, about the book—Poe and Tilly are on the hunt for a sniper who is on a spree of random shootings.
The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford—Ford tries his hand at epic fantasy, “a wild band known as the Bone Raiders harness the power of gigantic, fire-breathing lizards to defend their homeland.”
The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown—”a trio of seemingly everyday people are members of a secret society tasked with finding and protecting hidden magical objects—ordinary items with extraordinary properties. “
Image credit: Grammarly
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