Category: Blog Series Page 2 of 185

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Box by Jo Linsdell

On November 14, 2024

Welcome to today’s Tour Stop for Jo Linsdell’s children’s book, The Box. We’ll visit it in Grandpappy’s Corner here in a little bit, but for now, let’s learn a little about it.

Book Details:

Title: The Box by Jo Linsdell
Format: Kindle/Trade Paperback
Length: 44 pg.
US Publication Date: March 15, 2014

About the Book:

A Fight for Lost Innocence‘
“Because a box is just a box, except when it’s not.”

Join in the creative fun as a little boy explains why his box is his favourite toy.

Book Links:

Print:

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ CreateSpace

Kindle:

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Amazon CA

Goodreads

About the Author:

Jo Linsdell is a best selling author and illustrator and internationally recognized marketing expert. To find out more about Jo and her projects visit her website www.JoLinsdell.com.

Author Links:

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ LinkedIn ~ YouTube ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Website

WWW Wednesday—November 13, 2024

By HCNewton

On November 13, 2024

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

Every title in this post is one that I own. That doesn’t happen too often–it’s rather nice to have a bunch of things to decrease Mt. TBR all together like this.

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?


Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology edited by L. J. Hachmeister	Running and Jumping by Steven Kedie	The Late Lord Thorpe by Peter Grainger, read by Gildart Jackson

I need some shorter reads that I can dip into here and there, so what better time to finally get around to this collection? Urban Fantasy stories starring some of my favorite fictional animals–how have I not read this yet?

And yeah, I decided to squeeze in another title before Kedie’s work, but I am getting this read now.

I’m still working through The Late Lord Thorpe–my job has been actively working against me listening to it a lot over the last few days (and will continue to do so through the end of the week), so I have no idea how long it will be before David Smith and his creator show me how wrong I was last week.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Wrong Hands
by Mark Billingham

I think DS Miller’s first adventure was a bit more on the amusing side–but this second book is so good that I didn’t care. This was a really compelling and twisty read.

What do you think you’ll read next?

1-800-CallLoki (The Loki Adventures Omnibus)
by Dawn Blair

This omnibus has been sitting near the top of my TBR for too long, it’s time to knock it out.

Given how long the new Grainger is taking me, and library due dates coming up, I honestly have no idea what my next audiobook will be (yes, the audiobook of What You Are Looking for Is in the Library had to be returned unlistened…the amount of work I’m putting into listening to this is outweighing my expectations, but at this point, it’s the principle of the thing)

What authors and titles have caught your attention lately?

Saturday Miscellany—11/9/24

By HCNewton

On November 9, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

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 Who’s Really Writing Celebrity Novels? The writers and agents working behind the scenes tell us how it actually works.
bullet Ranking 40 Popular Books That Are Actually Badly Written—this click-baity list is something largely to read to scoff at or argue with.
bullet The Book News is Generally… Good?—after those two stories and all the ick of the last couple of weeks, who couldn’t use a little bit of good news (no matter what you may think of Tuesday’s results, it’s hard to deny that things have been rather nasty lately).
bullet Dorothy Parker and the Art of the Literary Takedown: Her reviews are not contemptuous, a common pitfall for her imitators. They are simply unbridled in their dislike.—Okay, fine, if you’re going to be negative, do it like the Master. (I read so many people today that need to do this)
bullet The Novel and the Dictator: On the Man Who Criticized Stalin Yet Lived—I’m really glad that I discovered Nadya Williams this year.
bullet IYKYK: When Novels Speak a Language Only Part of the Internet Gets
bullet Out of This World: Books to Read When You Need an Escape—Just in case anyone is interested in that sort of thing…
bullet Comfort Reads: Feel-good Fiction for Rough Days—continuining the theme, Jodie has some great choices
bullet Let’s Talk About Book Boyfriends—a.k.a. Fictophilia (my weakness is for Book Dogs/Pets, but I get it…)
bullet September & October 2024 Community Posts!—Dini has collected some great posts can be found here.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
bullet The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
bullet Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution by Keith R.A. DeCandido
bullet The Burning Room by Michael Connelly, So, Anyway… by John Cleese, Harry Harrison! Harry Harrison! by Harry Harrison, and Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg. (it’s been that long for the Ortberg?)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Teen Titans: Starfire by Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo (Illustrator)—My only real gripe with this series is the release timetable, so I’m really eager to dive in to see their take on Kory Anders.

WWW Wednesday—November 6, 2024

By HCNewton

On November 6, 2024

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

Busy, busy, busy week here. I’m actually surprised I finished this at a semi-reasonable hour. I think I might have some better content coming in the next day or two…

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?


A Sky Full of Dragons by Tiffany McDaniel	The Late Lord Thorpe by Peter Grainger, read by Gildart Jackson

I’ve yet to fall under the charm of A Sky Full of Dragons, but I still fully expect to.

What did you recently finish reading?


Nobody’s Hero by M.W. Craven	The World According to Cunk: An Illustrated History of All World Events Ever by Philomena Cunk	Adventures in Cryptozoology: Hunting for Yetis, Mongolian Deathworms and Other Not-So-Mythical Monsters by Richard Freeman, read by Derek Perkins

I’ll be raving about Nobody’s Hero at the first opportunity I get. I had visceral reactions to this thriller.

Philomena Cunk’s latest has some real laugh-out-loud moments, as one would expect. I’ll expand on that really soon, too.

Adventures in Cryptozoology is the dullest imaginable book with that title. I think that’s intentional, but that doesn’t change my utter apathy about it. More soon, too.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Running and Jumping by Steven Kedie	What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, read by Hanako Footman, Susan Momoko Hingley, Kenichiro Thomson, Winson Ting, and Shiro Kawai

I’ve never been able to put my finger on it, but despite me not really caring about sports at all in the real world, I really get into a good sports novel. I’m told that’s what Running and Jumping is, so I might as well give it a whirl, right?

I actually borrowed the audiobook of What You Are Looking for Is in the Library this time. Getting the right file type should go a long way toward actually listening to it.

What are you using to distract yourself from the outside world this week?

Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 books on my TBR that intimidate me

By HCNewton

On November 5, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Top X List

This week’s topic is, “Top 5 books on my TBR that intimidate me” I haven’t done one of these in a minute, this seemed like a fun one to try.

In alphabetical order by author:

	The Annotated Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler Edited by Owen Hill, Pamela Jackson and Anthony Rizzuto I love The Big Sleep–it was my first Chandler novel, it’s the one I’ve read the most often. And the idea of learning more about it, getting background, digging into to some of the scholarship, etc. sounds great (which is why I ordered it months before it came out in 2018). But I haven’t been able to bring myself to read it–there’s part of me that doesn’t want to know that much about it (and I almost never say that kind of thing). I’m also a little afraid that it’s going to flip a switch and I’m going to spend months digging into Chandler scholarship in general.
	The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins I don’t know that intimidated is the best word, but I needed a fifth book. I’m more apprehensive about dipping back into that world. Also, apathetic. But sure…let’s go with intimidated.
	The Will in Its Theological Relations by John L. Girardeau 550 pages of a critique of Jonathan Edwards and a restatement of the classic Reformed position on the freedom and bondage of the will in dense 19th Century language. Yeah, that’s easy to see why I’m intimidated.
	Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley The Rook is such a good novel, but after seeing some not-as-good reviews, I’ve been putting it off since it was published. I just don’t want anything to tarnish The Rook in my mind. I should add that I haven’t seen bad reviews for Stiletto, just people who didn’t like it as much as I’d hoped. Which makes it different than the other books by O’Malley.
	Flynn’s World by Gregory Mcdonald Similarly, I just don’t know if I can muster up the courage to read this one. The Fletch novels that Mcdonald wrote in his later years were good enough, but they were missing something. I’m afraid that this would be the same way–that it came so many years after the Fletch books, makes me even more intimidated by it. The initial Flynn books are probably in my all-time favorite stack. I just don’t want to see it be tarnished. But there’s a chance I’m missing out on something really good.

Saturday Miscellany—11/2/24

By HCNewton

On November 2, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Whoo-hoo! Tonight’s the night where we get a bonus hour of reading!! (which makes up for the one in the spring where they steal one). At least that’s the case for us in the U.S. of A., the rest of you already got that bonus, right?

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 How To Find Comfort in Your Bookish Community in Stressful Times—Stressful times? What stressful times? Oh…right. Now. Silly me. (feel free to substitute the name of your local Indie Bookstore for “Rediscovered Books”)
bullet Have you purchased a weirdly low-quality paperback book lately? This may be why.—that’d explain it
bullet The Longest Long Words List: Don’t read this if you have hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words).—try to work some of these into conversation this week.
bullet If You Like…by Olivia Blacke, author of A New Lease on Death—The TV shows that inspired the new book
bullet Grief Is the Thing Worth Feeling: On Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story
bullet Putting the Fangs into Fantasy: Why I Wrote my Book—Ed Crocker describes why he put Vampires and Werewolves into his Epid Fantasy…and probably convinced me to add it to Mt. TBR
bullet The Most Iconic Speculative Fiction Books of the 21st Century—from Reactor Mag
bullet I’m Not Sure I Miss All the Bookish Hype
bullet Using Someone Else’s Tools: The Ethics of Playing in Another Creative’s Playground—Peat Long takes both sides in an argument and convinces me with each
bullet The Magic-Wielding Characters Bracket Challenge Hub Page—If, like me, you’re trying to catch up on these posts, here’s a handy-dandy list.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu
bullet And the release of: The Peripheral by William Gibson; The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss; and Drawn Blades by Kelly McCullough

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke—dark comedy, a ghost, a twentysomething fish-out-of-water, and amatuer detectvies stumbling through a murder mystery. What’s not to like? I rather enjoyed it.
bullet The Late Lord Thorpe by Peter Grainger, read by Gildart Jackson—The PI, DC Smith, looks into a death and finds more than anyone expects (or so I guess)
bullet What If… Marc Spector Was A Host To Venom? by Mike Chen—I’ve never really gotten into Venom the way that everyone else has seemed to, and Moon Knight isn’t my favorite either. Combining the two sounds like it could be interesting, and if anyone can convince me to jump on the train, it’s Mike Chen
bullet The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn—is probably worth a look for the magic system alone, but the story, character, and setting make this look even better
bullet Grave Talk by Nick Spalding—this is a novel about grieving with the help of an unlikely friend, bound by coincidence and geography
bullet Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture–And the Magic That Makes It Work by Jesse David Fox—out now in paperback. Which is great, because I hadn’t heard of it in hardcover. It “tackles everything you need to know about comedy, an art form that has been under-considered throughout its history, even as it has ascended as a cultural force.”

WWW Wednesday—October 30, 2024

By HCNewton

On October 30, 2024

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

Here on October 30, I’m sitting here next to 3 of my September TBR books, probably won’t finish in time, eh? But let’s see what I have been working on…

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?


Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg	I’m Still a 10-Year-Old Boy by Nancy Cartwright

I’m starting the second Sharpe & Walker book today–I’m really eager to see what this book says about the series as a whole. Also, Eve Ronin is supposed to show up–can’t complain about that.

It’s fun to hear Cartwright talk about her life and career so far. I expect that the book will get even more fun once she starts voicing the titular 10-year-old.

What did you recently finish reading?


Spook Street by Mick Herron	Obitchuary: The Big Hot Book of Death by Spencer Henry and Madison Reyes, read by Spencer Henry, Madison Reyes, and Annette Amelia Oliveira

Spook Street was just fantastic. I really don’t understand why I haven’t made the time to read everything by Herron yet*. And while I know the titular “Spook” is a reference to spies, this is his spookiest (in terms of unnerving) yet.

Obitchuary is a cute and light-hearted look at the biggest taboo topic I can think of. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to come up with more to say.

* Paul, my friend, feel free to not say anything in response to this. I know you’ve been telling me this forever. Feel free to resume telling me this in January when I’ll have seemed to have forgotten.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Nobody’s Hero by M.W. Craven	Adventures in Cryptozoology: Hunting for Yetis, Mongolian Deathworms and Other Not-So-Mythical Monsters by Richard Freeman, read by Derek Perkins

I’ve been sitting on this ARC of Nobody’s Hero for awhile, wanting to post about it closer to the release date. I’m beyond ready to dive in.

Adventures in Cryptozoology seemed like it could be fun. At the very least, it’ll help boost my sagging Non-Fiction numbers for the year.*

* (that’s mostly a joke)

What have you been reading lately, what are you planning on reading while dealing with (or hiding from) Trick-or-Treaters?

Saturday Miscellany—10/26/24

By HCNewton

On October 26, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

This week’s Saturday Miscellany would have no problem in a 10-Items-Or-Less lane.

Tiny entry this week. But I think you’ll find it worth your time.

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 Why History & Social Science Cannot Substitute for Classic Fiction—there’s a little snobbery there with the “Classic” bit, but once you account for that…
bullet Judy-Lynn del Rey: The woman who revolutionized the fantasy genre is finally getting her due—a cool profile of an unsung SF/F hero
bullet A Modest Request for a Little More Genre Chaos—Molly Templeton advocates for “gleefully mixing genres”
bullet The Magic-Wielding Characters Bracket Challenge—I fell behind reading these this week, looking forward to catching up—you should, too.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet The Last Detective by Robert Crais
(and that’s it…very quiet week)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Good-Looking Ugly by Rob D. Smith—an ugly rageaholic is conned by a long-lost cousin to help her rip off a cockfighting championship inbetween court-ordered therapy sessions.
bullet Remember You Will Die by Eden Robins—I’m not even going to pretend to summarize this book in a line or two…click the link. Love the idea behind this, hope the execution lives up to it.

Opening Lines: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

By HCNewton

On October 25, 2024

In Blog Series, Currently Reading, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Opening Lines, Quotations, Reed Farrel Coleman

Head & Shoulders used to tell us that, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That’s true for wearing dark shirts, and it’s especially true for books. Sometimes the characters will hook the reader, sometimes the premise, sometimes it’s just knowing the author—but nothing beats a great opening for getting a reader to commit.

I see in Lwnava Pravda that Luna City Council has passed on first reading a bill to examine, license, inspect—and tax—public food vendors operating inside municipal pressure. I see also is to be mass meeting tonight to organize “Sons of Revolution” talk-talk.

My old man taught me two things: “Mind own business” and “Always cut cards.” Politics never tempted me. But on Monday 13 May 2075 I was in computer room of Lunar Authority Complex, visiting with computer boss Mike while other machines whispered among themselves. Mike was not official name; I had nicknamed him for Mycroft Holmes, in a story written by Dr. Watson before he founded IBM. This story character would just sit and think—and that’s what Mike did. Mike was a fair dinkum thinkum, sharpest computer you’ll ever meet.

Not fastest. At Bell Labs, Buenos Aires, down Earthside, they’ve got a thinkum a tenth his size which can answer almost before you ask. But matters whether you get answer in microsecond rather than millisecond as long as correct?

Not that Mike would necessarily give right answer; he wasn’t completely honest.

from The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

Opening Lines Logo

WWW Wednesday—October 23, 2024

By HCNewton

On October 23, 2024

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

I’m a whiny bookwyrm today. I got hit by a ton of bricks masquerading as a mild cold yesterday and it’s really knocked me for a loop. And everyone in earshot knows just how miserable I am. (typical guy, I know, I know…I don’t plan on changing that. Self-improvement is not my bag)

But you didn’t come here to read me go on and on about that (and I could). So, let’s turn to the WWW.

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?


The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein	Not Till We Are Lost by Dennis E. Taylor; read by Ray Porter

I might have read a Heinlein book in Middle School—I honestly don’t remember if I finished it. But he’s one of those guys you often wonder if you missed something by skipping. So, I might as well, right? Also, it’s the book that the SF Book Club will be discussing next week.

Not Till We Are Lost continues Taylor’s effort to explore deeper and darker issues—while not losing all the yuks. I’m really enjoying this.

What did you recently finish reading?


Hermit of Paradise by Kim Sanders	Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis, read by Keval Shah

The less said about Hermit of Paradise the better. So…Dreadful is about a dark wizard who wakes up in his lab, with no recollection of his name, his goals, why he has a princess locked up in a cell, or pretty much anything else. It’s worth the time. Also…last week, in our RPG session, I ended up playing a necromancer who had no memory of his abilities (or that he was a necromancer). It was a nice bit of coincidental timing, and I probably owe Rozakis something for borrowing so much.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Spook Street by Mick Herron	Pigeon-Blood Red by Ed Duncan, Dave Keyser

I had to put Spook Street on hold Monday so I could hit a couple of deadlines…can’t wait to get back to this. A fantastic setup from Herron, can’t wait for the other 2/3.

Pigeon-Blood Red looks like a promising crime thriller. Intrigued by it.

How do you distract yourself from colds/flu/etc.? TV, a comfort read, whatever’s next on the TBR, rewatching beloved movies? (I’m a combination–I used to turn to Rex Stout like chicken soup). What are you reading now (hopefully while healthy)?