Category: Blog Series Page 23 of 217

2025 WWW Wednesday—June 25, 2025

On June 25, 2025

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

Oh, hey…time for this post…

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 Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos	How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by (and read by) Ryan North

Unless the next 80% of this book goes off the rails in a big way, Borgos has locked himself a spot in my TBRs for years to come with this one.

Say you’re a time traveler stuck in the past and you need to recreate civilization–but by cheating, because you don’t want to have to do the trial and error bit, North’s book is exactly what you need.

What did you recently finish reading?


Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel	False Value by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

I’m stunned by Station Eleven, it seems beyond good. I’m not sure exactly what Mandel was trying to accomplish there (still working on that), but that book is a doozy.

False Value was just as fun as I remembered–but the pacing was different than I expected. It just threw me a little bit from time to time–you’re doing X already? When is Y going to happen? etc. Memory is a funny thing, eh?

What do you think you’ll read next?


The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman	No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy, read by Jessica Almasy

I’ve been curious about Grossman’s take on Arthurian legend since I first heard about it–time to put the curiosity to an end. Past time, really.

It’s been a dog’s age since I spent time with Healy, this book looked like a good excuse to fix that.

How are you closing out June? Also, how is it the end of June already?

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Fall is All There Is by C.M. Caplan

By HCNewton

On June 25, 2025

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

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for C.M. Caplan’s, The Fall is All There Is! If you take a look at the feed for https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours over the next few days, you’ll see a lot of bloggers who, unlike me, had the time to read it and write interesting things about it. The Fall is All There Is was the 6th Place Finalist for the 2024 Book Blogger’s Novel of the Year Award, so you know there’s a lot of good to be said about it–but before getting to this Spotlight, let’s start with a word about BBNYA.

BBNYA:

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists (16 in 2024) and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Book Details:

Title: The Fall is All There Is
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Age Category: Adult
Format: Paperback/Ebook/Audiobook
Length: 415 pages
Publication Date: November 7, 2022

About the Book:

All Petre Mercy wanted was a good old-fashioned dramatic exit from his life as a prince. But it’s been five years since he fled home on a cyborg horse. Now the King – his Dad – is dead – and Petre has to decide which heir to pledge his thyroid-powered sword to.

As the youngest in a set of quadruplets, he’s all too aware that the line of succession is murky. His siblings are on the precipice of power grabs, and each of them want him to pick their side.

If Petre has any hope of preventing civil war, he’ll have to avoid one sibling who wants to take him hostage, win back another’s trust after years of rivalry and resentment, and get an audience with a sister he’s been avoiding for five years.

Before he knows it, he’s plunged himself into a web of intrigue and a world of strange, unnatural inventions just to get to her doorstep.

Family reunions can be a special form of torture.

Book Links:

Amazon Canada ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Goodreads ~ The Story Graph

About the Author:

C.M. Caplan is the author of the SPFBO 9, BBNYA, and Indie Ink Awards Finalist, The Fall Is All There Is. He’s a quadruplet (yes, really), autistic, and has a degree in creative writing. If you enjoy his books, you can rate them on Goodreads and Amazon.

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

LITERARY LOCALS: Author Story Time with Chad Otis

By HCNewton

On June 24, 2025

In Literary Locals, Miscellany

The Irresponsible Readers Literary Locals logo
I’m just trying to help spread the word about this great local event.
Author Story Time with Chad Otis poster
July 28 10:15am-11am
at Nampa Public Library
with Shared Stories Books

Come celebrate the release of Hazel Is All That. Meet the author, share a fun read aloud, and snag a copy of Hazel from Shared Stories Books and get it signed by Chad Otis.

Hazel has things all figured out—she is one clever girl. But then something happens, and soon she sees that dogs—and people! —are not just one thing. We’re each our own special mix of all sorts of emotions and behaviors. We’re all that—and more! Hazel Is All That: NEW THIS JULY 2025 from Rocky Pond Books.

Chad is the author and illustrator of four children’s books; including The Bright Side (Rocky Pond Books, 2023), which has received several starred reviews, and was chosen for the 2023 National Book Festival of the Library of Congress. He is also the author and illustrator of A Little Ferry Tale (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books 2022), which is an Amazon Editor’s Pick and Barnes & Noble Bestseller. Chad lives on the edge of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho.

I’m borrowing the above text from Shared Stories’ IG post about the event. Hope no one minds.
The Irresponsible Readers Literary Locals logo

Saturday Miscellany—6/21/25

By HCNewton

On June 21, 2025

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 Could the Semicolon Die Out? Recent Analysis Finds a Decline in Its Usage in British Literature and Confusion Among U.K. Students
bullet Why Read: Seven Books About Our Passion and Need for Reading
bullet Books About Books: Why We Write Them and Why We Read Them: On the charms of the bookish mystery.
bullet While we’re on the topic, Carol at Reading Ladies posted this check-in yesterday: Bookish Books
bullet Bad People, Good Art—James Lloyd Dulin wrote a very good guest post on a (sadly) evergreen topic. I think he’s onto something with his approach, FWIW.
bullet My School Experience Barely Seems Reflected in Books
bullet Maggie Stiefvater’s The Subtle Terror of Rereadability and the joys of turning pages slow, not fast might be the best thing I read online this week (says a life-long fast page turner)
bullet Places with Teeth: Genius Loci and The Living Worlds of Speculative Fiction—Which isn’t to cast aspersions on Tabler’s work here (would love her to revisit this in an expanded version)
bullet Coffee Table Books- Books You Can Dip into and Savour in Small Sips—you can never have too many of these around (sadly, due to my grandkids, dogs, and lack of coffee-table mean that mine are tucked away on shelves)

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Schmudgeon of Curmudgeon talked to JCM Berne (video link/audio link)—they covered a lot and had a lot of fun. Berne may have convinced me to revise my opinion of the opening of Wistful Ascending, too. (I think that means that I have nothing bad to say about the book at all)

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz
bullet Crossed Blades by Kelly McCullough—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea by Helen Lewis—”a timely and provocative interrogation of the myth of genius, exploring the surprising inventions, inspirations and distortions by which some lives are elevated to ‘greatness’ – and others are not”
bullet I Think I’m in Love with an Alien by Ann Aguirre—A “quirky sci-fi rom-com” where “alien meets adorkable” looks like silly fun. Which sounds really appealing right now.

LITERARY LOCALS: Oldspeak Bar

By HCNewton

On June 18, 2025

In Literary Locals, Miscellany

The Irresponsible Readers Literary Locals logo
After weeks of trying, my wife and I finally got our act together enough to check out one of the Treasure Valley’s newest establishments, Oldspeak, a “book beer bar.” Now the first two words of that description are among my favorites in the English language–so I was pretty sure I was going to have a good time.

And I was right.

Oldspeak sign
It’s a quiet place, a low buzz of conversation, there was a table of people playing a board game, a few tables of people just talking and drinking, a couple of people reading. There’s a very booksih vibe to it all (as you’d expect). There’s a coziness to it, so you could take out the books, and it’s still the kind of place I’d want to hang out. Still, better idea to leave the books.
Shelves at Oldspeak
So this is the bulk of their selection–I didn’t get a picture of the shelves in another room, or a small table display near the door. The other room features books in translation–from Chinese, Japanese, and French. Maybe some others, I didn’t get that much time to look around there.

These–carefully curated–shelves above feature some big-name books, best sellers—and almost as many indie press novels (one of which I’ve featured here, which made me feel pretty good). There are some local authors, and other assorted bits and pieces. The non-fiction section is almost as big. I particularly enjoyed the “History” section right next to “History, but with Women” (or words to that effect, it made me chuckle).

While small, it was a very nice selection. I’d love to know how the books there are selected (the staff I asked wasn’t sure).

NPL Indie Fair Book Haul
Lastly, of course, we need to talk about the beer. They sell a few things from other breweries, but most come from their own Alliteration Ales. This Borealis Baltic Porter was pretty darn tasty. As was the Carters Classic Märzen. I’d have probably appreciated the Märzen more if I drank it first—that was my mistake.

I should mention there are several other kinds of beverages available–there are mocktails, various teas and coffees, and whatnot. Their “Are You There God, It’s Me Margarita” mocktail seemed tasty, and Mrs. Irresponsible Reader enjoyed it.

I liked the names of their drinks–the aforementioned nod to Blume, the C.S. Brewis English Pale Ale, and so on.

All in all, we had a great time, picked up some good looking books, and we’ll be back. Local folks—go check it out.

The Irresponsible Readers Literary Locals logo

2025 WWW Wednesday—June 18, 2025

By HCNewton

On June 18, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., 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?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby	Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart, read by Patricia Rodriguez

I sort of feel like I should be holding my hands in front of my eyes as I read King of Ashes, the book starts dark and doesn’t lighten up. The three primary characters keep doing things I know are going to end horribly. But I can’t look away.

Actually, the same could be said of Stewart’s book. Even if she’s only 1/3 right, anyone reading this is going to lose some sleep.

What did you recently finish reading?


How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard Dayle	The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Marisa Calin, read by Aubrey Hartman

Dayle’s Civil War satire was a heckuva read. Not sure how I’ll manage to say something about it. But will be trying soon.

For an MG fantasy, Calin’s book was pretty dark. Also cute and heart-warming. Which is a fun combo, you have to admit.

What do you think you’ll read next?


The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart	False Value by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

More from the Assassins Anonymous world? Yes, please

I’m picking up the pace on my Rivers of London revisit, so False Value is next. As I recall, some of my favorite lines of the series here.

What are you reading this week?

Saturday Miscellany—6/14/25

By HCNewton

On June 14, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

A small list this week, with an accidental (but appreciated) focus. I clearly didn’t spend much time online this week.

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 The Real Jay Gatsby: Did F. Scott Fitzgerald model his titular character after his real-life Princeton school-mate?—huh.
bullet S.A. Cosby’s newest book was released this week, and I’m enjoying all the interviews/features I’ve run across. For example:
bullet S.A. Cosby on “King of Ashes,” Crime Epics, and the Softer Side of Monsters—Kowlakowski’s interview/look at the book (I’m going to have a hard time not stealing from this when it comes time for me to post about the book)
bullet Southern Culture on the Skids: S.A. Cosby’s King of Ashes—that first sentence should give Cosby’s readers pause.
bullet S.A. Cosby’s New Thriller Blends Southern Noir with Family Drama
bullet The Ultimate Summer 2025 Reading List: Sun, Fun, Math, and Counting—I really enjoy LitHub’s Lists of Lists like this
bullet In civilized nations that do things like this, June is National Crime Reading month. In honor of that Raven Crime Reads (one of my favorite accounts to follow) is posting a recommendation a day in the genre. Follow this thread and you will find more good books to read than you can handle (or you can enjoy when your tasts match up with Raven’s well-developed palate)

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet The Conversation with Nadine Matheson Coffee Break with S.A. Cosby: King of Ashes—a fun chat about Cosby’s new book (and a little more)
bullet The Thriller Zone Why You Shouldn’t Miss Thomas Trang’s Debut: Dark Neon Dirt

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest (Kali Ciesemier, Illustrator)
bullet Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn
bullet The Fold by Peter Clines
bullet Premonitions by Jamie Schultz

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet A Graveyard For Heroes by Michael Michel—as my dialogue coach Trent would say, “It is so money, baby.” This is the second of five installments in the Dreams of Dust and Steel series that is likely to end up on my all-time favorites list.
bullet King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby—hey, did I mention that Cosby has a new book out? Southern Crime and Family drama come together and bring us something dark—and likely spectacular. Hopefully I get to start this bad boy today. If not, Monday can’t come soon enough.
bullet Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall—the writer/creator of Broadchurch‘s first novel looks like a great time. (if you’re into moody, dark, police procedurals)

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Lights of Shantinagar by Nidhi Arora

By HCNewton

On June 13, 2025

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

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour Nidhi Arora’s The Lights of Shantinagar! If you take a look at the feed for https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours over the next few days, you’ll see a lot of bloggers who did find the time to write interesting things about it (or, check out the banner below).

Book Details:

Title: The Lights of Shantinagar
Genre: Contemporary, Family Saga
Age Category: Adult
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 272 pages
Publication Date: June 5, 2025

About the Book:

The Lights of Shantinagar is a warm and lively portrait of family life set in modern India where new philosophies are reshaping old traditions and one woman’s astute observations can change everything.

Aspiring quantum physicist Sumi is newly married and has moved into her husband’s family home. Here she observes that the beguilingly tranquil middle-class town of Shantinagar is not very different from her beloved quantum world: the happenings in one house are cryptically entangled with things next door, objects mysteriously disappear and unexpected interactions reveal surprising truths.

As the line between right and wrong begins to blur, new discoveries force the residents of Shantinagar to reflect on what they truly know about themselves and the ones they love. Meanwhile, Sumi must blend logic with love to make sense of her new circumstances.

Book Links:

Amazon Canada ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Goodreads ~ The Story Graph

About the Author:

Nidhi Arora’s stories and essays are featured in international journals and anthologies including Best New Singaporean Short Stories, Out of Print, The Hooghly Review, QLRS, Cha, and Popshot. She has self-published two books on Secure Attachment: A parent-child bonding series and edited a third. More at www.nidhi-arora.com.

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

WWW Wednesday—June 11, 2025

By HCNewton

On June 11, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., 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?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard Dayle	The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Marisa Calin, read by Aubrey Hartman

I’m not sure what to say about Dayle’s book yet–it’s a satire set in the Civil War about a white teen in an all-black squad in an almost-all-black regiment. I’m very impressed, but am still trying to figure out just where it’s going before I firm up my impressions.

Calin’s book was being promoted by a local bookstore, and looked like just the needed level of lightness.

What did you recently finish reading?


The Amazing Twin Chicken Freedom Fighters by Zephaniah Sole	Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Sole’s book is either brilliant, the ravings of a mad man, or both. I’m leaning toward the latter. My goal is to expand on that soon.

This is my 3rd time through Lies Sleeping, and I picked up so much this time that I think I missed before (or just plum forgot). And, it’s a rollicking great time.

What do you think you’ll read next?


King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby	Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart, read by Patricia Rodriguez

Family drama, a crime story, and S.A. Cosby…King of Ashes sounds like a grim but fantastic time.

I heard an interview with Stewart this morning, so when I was browsing the Library’s offerings and saw this book, I figured I might as well give it a whirl. Would like to hear a bit more about what lead her to some of her conclusions.

Tell me about your recent reads!

Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 series I wished were shorter

By HCNewton

On June 10, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Top X List

This week’s topic is, “Top 5 series I wished were shorter. Speaking of George (or even any Wheel of Time fans), is there a series that you wish was shorter than it is. Maybe it’s by one book — maybe it’s by eleven. You tell us!!”

As this the second in a similar series of Top 5 Tuesday topics, I figured I’d keep this one to a video, too. Let me know what you think.

Joel and the MST3K Bots asking What Do You Think, Sirs?