Category: Blog Series Page 48 of 218

Saturday Miscellany—5/25/24

On May 25, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Happy Towel Day (in case you haven’t seen me talk about that yet somehow)! Also Happy Geek Pride Day and whatever the appropriate greeting is for The Glorious Twenty-Fifth of May (for those who celebrate that).

Think I covered everything there.

Today was also Read a Book Day at the local Farmer’s Market (which really wasn’t advertised too well, IMHO), based on the number of authors present and people who seemed to be paying attention to them. I did get to check in with someone I met at the Library Book Faire last month, Nathan Keys (who will be appearing here soon) and met another nice fantasy author, J. Brandon Lowry, who will hopefully be making an appearence here sometime.

My daughter and I did get to check out the Nampa Library’s Bookmobile there—which is pretty cool, and had a better selection than you’d expect from a van. It’s absolutely the kind of vehicle someone should use to kidnap me. It’d be incredibly easy to do.

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 Donnelly Public Library transitions to ‘adults only’—as a result of a new law in Idaho, a small town public library has to resort to not allowing minors admittance. Brilliant job by the state legislators and governor.
bullet Handheld Press founder Kate Macdonald reveals reasons behind indie’s closure
bullet Hart Hanson On Screenwriting Vs. Novel Writing
bullet Austin Grossman Talks Fight Me—it’s been too long since I read Grossman, it’s nice to have a reminder
bullet Rob Parker tweeted about this great thing he and his wife are doing—running ‘Become An Author’ after school clubs. Love this.
bullet Speaking of Tweets, Joe Abercrombie’s tweet from Monday seems impossible.
bullet Five Reasons Why You Should Read
bullet Five Nonfiction Books For Fantasy Lovers—Daniel Meyer dropped by JamReads to provide this list
bullet Should We Judge Older Books By Modern Standards?—Cee Arr asks an important question
bullet CrimeBookJunkie turned 9 yesterday—if you’re not reading that blog, you’re missing out

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Fiction Fans Episode 139: Author Interview: The Grimoire, the Gods, and the Girl by K.R.R. Lockhaven—a good convo about the book/trilogy as a whole. And the way I found out the book had been published. Eeep. I really should’ve posted something about that sooner. (also, it probably means that my beta read comments are even more overdue than I knew.)
bullet Tea Tonic & Toxin Nero Wolfe Mystery Series / The League of Frightened Men—Ira Brad Matetsky drops by to talk Nero Wolfe.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Way of the Wizard by Michael Michel—”A fast-paced, epic fantasy with wizard gangs, bloodthirsty unicorns, and philosopher giants.”
bullet The Mountain Mystic by Russell W. Johnson—Sheriff Mary Beth Cain tackles a cold case that gets a burst of heat. Oooooh, this looks good.
bullet The Seminarian by Hart Hansen—’Xavier ”Priest’ Priestly is a snarky former seminarian turned private investigator. Dusty Queen is a hard-as-nails professional stuntwoman and freelance bodyguard. When Dusty’s girlfriend suddenly disappears, a woman in a strange blue wig tries to assassinate Priest, and a twelve-year-old boy shows up claiming to be his son, the two friends are thrown into a maelstrom of intrigue and high-stakes violence that’s as convoluted and dangerous as it is hilarious.” Hanson’s first novel, The Driver, impressed me. I expect this will, too.
bullet How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler—”Groundhog Day meets Deadpool in Django Wexler’s no-holds-barred, laugh-out-loud fantasy tale about a young woman who, tired of defending humanity from the Dark Lord, decides to become the Dark Lord herself.”
bullet Swiped by L.M. Chilton—”A clever and darkly hilarious thriller/romantic comedy about a young woman who must unmask a serial killer that everything thinks is her, all before her best friend’s wedding”

Book Blogger Hop: Collector or Hoarder

By HCNewton

On May 22, 2024

In Book Blogger Hop, Books, News/Misc.

Book Blogger Hop

This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:

Do you consider yourself a book collector or a book hoarder?

To my ear, a collector is someone who gets pristine, early/rare editions, and displays them like a hunter displays taxidermy trophies. Ew, that sounds loaded with negative connotations there–I’m not trying for that, but I’m also too lazy to go back and edit. Collectors are serious about this, put a lot of effort into tracing down certain titles/editions—they’re the kind of people that Oliver Darkshire talks about in his memoir. The financial investment is also greater than I’m interested in.

Hoarders*, like myself, on the other hand, go for quantity. We just want all the books we want to read, those we can’t bear to give away/sell/trade, and others, too. Sure, we might get some rarities, some specialty editions, and whatnot—we might even find the wherewithal to get our hands on some Subterranean Press or The Folio Society special editions and reprints—but mostly it’s about surrounding ourselves with processed dead-tree carcasses filled with writing and characters we love. I’ve got some in nearly every room in my house, and it won’t be long before I’ll legitimately be able to remove the “nearly.” I’ll be content when I have amassed a cache fit for Smaug, and not until then.

* I’ll note that countless memes (the great and binding authority of wit and expression of vox populi to which everyone must bend the knee today)—and the sign my wife bought for my office door—insist that it’s not hoarding if it’s books, soooo ¯_(ツ)_/¯ .

What about you—collector, hoarder? Or do you have a healthy number (read: more than Marie Kondo’s 30, but not enough to nap on?)

WWW Wednesday, May 22, 2024

By HCNewton

On May 22, 2024

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

I’m ba-aa-aa-ck. I think.

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?

I’m reading the ARC for Moonbound by Robin Sloan (a book I’m terrified that I’m going to have to describe soon), 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams edited by Kevin Jon Davies and am listening to Backpacking Through Bedlam by Seanan McGuire, read by Emily Bauer on audiobook.

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Shannon Knight’s Grave Cold (yes, I finally did it!) and After the Storm by Linda Castillo, read by Kathleen McInerney on audio.

Blank Space

Oh, also:

Chasing Empy Caskets by E.N. Crane, The Good Samaritan Strikes Again by Patrick F. McManus, The Secret & Hunting Virgins by Wayne Hawk, Price to Pay by Dave Sivers, The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher, The Binding Room by Nadine Matheson, and All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be the ARC for Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart and my next audiobook should be Dark Days by Derek Landy, read by Rupert Degas.

Blank Space

WHat’ve you been up to lately?

LITERARY LOCALS: A Few Quick Questions with…Shared Stories

By HCNewton

On May 21, 2024

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Literary Locals

Literary Locals logo
This is overdue (as you can tell from some of the dated references), but sometimes schedules don’t work the way you want (and when you throw in the vicissitudes and orneriness of technology…things take even longer). A few weeks back, a new bookstore opened in Caldwell, ID–filling the lacuna left last year when Rediscovered Books had to close its branch. As you can imagine, I’m very happy to see Shared Stories open up–I actually ended up buying 1+ books there for the first three weeks they were open. Thankfully, life has intervened and I’ve been unable to make it there since. But I’ll be back very soon. I was able to ask Dr. Jocele Skinner, the owner, a few questions about their opening, plans, and so on. I hope this is the first of many times you see me mention them in the years to come.

Shared Stories logo
Let’s start off with a brief description of Shared Stories—how would you describe it (other than Caldwell/Canyon County’s newest bookstore). What makes you distinct? (at least in your mind/vision for the future)
Shared Stories is a new independent bookstore in Caldwell. It is woman-owned by Jocele Skinner, a local family physician. Her husband George Decker manages the day to day operations. We live locally and have been in the community for many years. We hope that what will make Shared Stories successful is that we are wholly committed to Caldwell and the surrounding area. Our goal is to work with local individuals, businesses, and organizations to support and to build our community. We live here. We work here. We spend our own dollars here. We want to share our love of books with Caldwell and see Caldwell and Canyon County grow and thrive even more than it already is!
Shared Stories Interior

Photo by Shared Stories

What inspired you to open this store? Has it been a lifelong dream, or just one that’s come around in the last few years? Was there one thing in particular that motivated you to get into action now?
George and I have always been book nerds! Our first date was at a bookstore. I think a lot of readers have a dream of working in or owning a bookstore. For many years, that’s exactly what it was – a dream. Jocele was busy working crazy hours, and George was at home with our kids and farm animals. When Rediscovered Books closed in Caldwell, we were devastated, but after a lot of discussion, we decided maybe it was really time to turn the fantasy into reality, and to hopefully fill what we saw as a huge need in downtown Caldwell.
We were pretty devastated, too–but you actually did something about it. Thank you!

I cannot fathom how much work had to go into getting the store to this stage—you’ve posted some on your Instagram page-—but how long have you actively been pursuing this once you moved from the “one day, I’d like to open…” thought to “let’s actually do this” stage?
It definitely has been a fair amount of work getting things up and going. We made the decision to proceed with opening a store in late June/early July of 2023. It took us about 5 months to find and secure the perfect location. It also took a ridiculous amount of time to come up with a name that we liked. I don’t even know how many options we tried out before Shared Stories stuck! Once we signed the lease in December, then we could really start making plans. We ordered custom shelves in January from a local business in Middleton. We went to Winter Institute (the national conference for the American Bookseller Association) in February, and after that we started working on ordering books, merchandise, etc. We began interviewing for bookseller positions in mid to late February, and I think managed to put together a great team. The books took a couple of weeks longer to get here than we had planned, so that was frustrating and held up our opening for a bit, but I think in the end it was all worked out! One thing that has been amazing is the support and help we have received from bookstores near and far! Bruce and Laura Delaney and their staff [of Rediscovered Books] have been so helpful in teaching us some of the basics, and the book-selling community has been nothing but encouraging and excited for us. I would also be remiss without thanking Ofelia Morales at the Caldwell economic developing office for being so incredible to work with and for helping get us connected with our eventual landlord and downtown businesses.
Shared Stories Nifty Lighting

Photo by Shared Stories

How was the first week? I know when I stopped in on Friday it was busier than I expected/feared. But that’s a limited 30 minutes—you know the big picture.
I think overall the first week went better than we had anticipated. We had our soft opening April 10, and quite a few people came in and made purchases. We appreciate their grace while we all worked to streamline our processes. We had a couple of slower days after the initial burst, but are getting busier each day. We’re hoping as the weather gets nicer and there are more events and people downtown in the plaza, that sales will continue to climb.

You’ve certainly had to learn a lot along the way, and encountered things you probably hadn’t considered. What were some of the biggest surprise challenges. Also, what was surprisingly easiest?
We still have lots to learn. 2 weeks in we’re still trying to figure out the best way to streamline orders and to determine what customers are interested in. We tried to build a pretty broad selection when we created out initial book order, but there’s always books that we didn’t predict would be in high demand. And of course, there’s only so many books we can fit on the shelves. It would have been awesome if we could have ‘nailed it” on day one, but we’re hoping that will come with time. If you are looking for something you don’t see, ask us! We want this to be a place where there’s something for everyone.
Shared Stories Comfy Reading Area

Photo by Shared Stories

Are you working on plans for the future of Shared Stories—or is keeping the lights on your primary focus for now? Do you have any events coming up that you’d like to share?
We’re definitely working on plans and future events going forward. Right now, we’re definitely focused on just continuing to get our feet under us, but we’re looking at starting store-sponsored book clubs in the next month or two, as well as some special events. This weekend is Independent Bookstore Day, so we’ll be having some fun specials and giveaways on Saturday. We’re partnering with Shutter Happy, a local photographer, for a children’s reading program over the summer, where kids can get discounts on books and win a mini-photography session here in the store. We’re also partnering with another downtown business for a Mother’s Day tea and book event. Watch our social media for updates. Children’s activities/storytime is starting soon, and there may be some fun game nights, crafts nights, and more ahead!

What books are you (and/or your staff) enjoying hand-selling the most right now? Feel free to give a quick pitch for a few—I can’t let people get away from here without a few recommendations.
It’s been fun to be able to hand-sell books to customers as they come in! Our staff all have different readings tastes, and so we are learning from each other all the time too! Probably our biggest seller has been The Women by Kristin Hannah. I am also surprised by how many are interested in reading the classics. A couple of other books that have sold well so far are the Wildwood Chronicles by Colin Meloy, the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny, and a whole host of romance and fantasy novels, led by Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Some bookstores have resident dogs, many more seem to have store cats. But you all have taken a different direction–one that I absolutely love. Tell us about Cedric. Where did the idea come from? Who came up with it? Are people responding as well to it as I am? When can we purchase Cedric merch?
Good question. We had initially planned on having a store cat. But honestly, all our cats at home have bad manners, so they aren’t suited for being in the store. One dog is too big and sheds too much, and our other dog gets a little anxious around new people, so neither one of them would be great store pets, either. As for Cedric, not long after we opened, a young man came in asking if we’d be interested in stocking 3D printed dragons. Sutton lives locally and does a great job printing dragons and fidget spinners. George, always a sucker for cool shiny things, bought one just as a trial, and our amazing and creative staff took the dragon and ran with it! Before we knew it, the dragon had a name and was showing up on social media. It’s a fun way to feature new books or special displays. The dragons have been super successful, and we’ve had requests for custom colors and have already had to reorder. Kids young and old find them fascinating. And really aren’t most of us book dragons at heart?
Shared Stories' Cedric

A few snips I took of various Social Medial posts to try to give a flavor of how he’s being used. They look much better in the originals.

I know this is a crazy busy time for you all right now, and I cannot thank you enough for taking time to respond to me.
I just want to thank everyone for supporting our store so far. The excitement and support has been so fun to see, and we all enjoy sharing our favorite books with you, as well as finding new books ourselves. I mentioned above we are happy to place special orders, and you can also support us by shopping at our affiliate locations:

For physical books: https://bookshop.org/shop/sharedstories
For audio books: https://libro.fm/sharedstories
Yes–absolutely do that, readers!

Literary Locals logo

Saturday Miscellany—5/18/24

By HCNewton

On May 18, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Some housekeeping: Yesterday, I put my toe back in the blogging water (solely because I didn’t know I was going to be recovering from surgery when I signed up for that blog tour). I’m hoping to be fully back in action on Monday. We’ll see how that goes…I am surprisingly easy to tire out. Well, that part’s not so surprising. It’s probably surprising how easily I can delude myself into thinking I’m three decades younger than I am and can bounce back from stuff (like the removal of an organ).

Yes , it’s probably too soon to return to this, but it’s worth a try, I’m doing another round of Ask Me (just about) Anything for My Upcoming Blogiversary
.

I didn’t read as much during my first post-surgery week as I expected to, messing around online was much better for my attention span. This week, I did read a good deal and spent far less time online. So this list is on the shorter side, but…eh. Might as well get on with things.

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 These books offer breezy escapism. That doesn’t mean they’re silly —A look at the past and present of Beach Reads.
bullet Ranking Science Fiction’s Most Dangerous Awards: A scientific survey of the relative heft, pointiness, and durability of SFF’s most sought-after trophies.—Reader, I snickered.
bullet 13 Weird, Fascinating Things I’ve Learned Researching Crime Novels—I’d love for more authors to do things like this. This is just great.
bullet Humor in Mysteries and Thrillers Is No Joke
bullet Books Are Dead! Long Live Books!
bullet The Ultimate Guide to Fantasy Fiction: 80+ Fantasy Subgenres Explained
bullet I Can No Longer Read More than 1 Book at a Time and Other Bookish Habits that Changed for Me in the Last 13 Years
bullet BBNYA 2024—Marie Sinadjan is putting together a Pinterest board for the BBNYA entries…wow, that’s an impressive-looking batch.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet Ready Player One (Audiobook) by Ernest Cline, Wil Wheaton
bullet And I mentioned the release of Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell
bullet Also, I glimpsed at what’s coming up in the next week or two, and I’m really excited to revisit the posts for the end of May 2014. I remember really enjoying the books, and can’t wait to see what I said.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Blood Red Summer by Eryk Pruitt —This is the second book featuring the True Crime podcaster, Jess Keeler. The first book in this series is collecting e-dust on my e-Reader, and now I feel even more pressure to read it. They both look compelling as all get-out.
bullet The Accidental Joe: The Top-Secret Life of a Celebrity Chef by Tom Straw—A chance to see him put that piece (above) about Humor in Thrillers in action: “A maverick celebrity chef reluctantly agrees to let the CIA use his hugely popular international food, culture, and travel TV series as cover for a dangerous espionage mission.”

Price to Pay by Dave Sivers: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

By HCNewton

On May 17, 2024

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Price to Pay

by Dave Sivers

DETAILS:
Series: Archer and Baines, #7
Publication Date: February 28, 2024
Format: eBook
Length: 288 pg.
Read Date: May 9-11, 2024

What’s Price to Pay About?

It’s not necessarily news-making when someone threatens a DCI. But DCI Archer gets a couple of very fresh threats from family members of someone she’s just put away and from a would-be organized crime heir, and things seem to be a little more real than usual. She’s ready to ignore them both, but some spoilery-events prevent that.

More annoyingly, an ex—some might call him the ex—tracks her down and announces his intention to win her back. Archer is utterly uninterested in him—and her husband is not amused by his antics at all. The ex- is on the verge of turning into a full-fledged stalker, and Archer’s mild-mannered husband is about to try to get into a fistfight over this.

As the distractions and annoyances start to pile up—there’s a murder. The initial evidence points at Archer and her husband, and a lot of their past starts coming back to haunt them. There are plenty of alternate suspects around, but none of them are quite as convenient for the police (Archer, on the other hand….)

Meanwhile, DI Baines has to deal with the repercussions of stopping the serial killer, The Invisible Man, on his family—who were almost victims. As the expert in The Invisible Man, he’s also brought in to consult on some cold case murders that might be connected to him. As much as he wants to help out—his loyalties are divided, because Archer needs help a lot sooner than these cold cases. (although he’s officially not allowed to be working on the case, for obvious reasons)

Backstory, Backstory, Backstory

Now it takes a little bit for the plot to get really rolling along because there is just so much backstory involved with Archer and Baines individually at this point. Particularly when it comes to Archer—she’s got connections with just about everyone we meet early on in these pages.

As this is my first time reading Sivers, I don’t know how many of these various and sundry people are making their first appearance in these pages, and how many are just people from her past that are being brought back into her life in this book. It really doesn’t matter, because Sivers will pause the narrative long enough to catch you up with the relationship/history between Baines, Archer, and these people from their pasts.

Most authors do this—and most of the time it’s good as a refresher or a way to get a new reader oriented. But with a book as rooted in the past and the ties between characters past and present as this one…taking the time to give all this background really slows things down. I think I’d have appreciated Sivers finding a better way to blend these into the narrative rather than stopping everything. It was such a momentum killer.

That said…all the backstories were pretty interesting. A couple might have been a smidgen too soap-opera-ish for me, but still interesting. The amount of work and character development demonstrated by these says a lot about the series that’s been built up to now.

So, what did I think about Price to Pay?

Once all the dominoes were set up—the crime established, the motives, the backstories told—Sivers started knocking them over and things moved so well that all the annoyances of the stop-and-start pacing of the early chapters were forgiven. To change up metaphors, it took a long time for Sivers to get his hook into me, but once he did—I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

This is such a rich, detailed world with a very clever—and well-executed—mystery. And, as is necessary for a police procedural series to be as established as this one, the characters are really well-developed and jump off the page. It’s a real treat to read.

While Price to Pay can serve as an entry point to the series, and has a strong stand-alone element to it, the amount of ongoing character and story arcs involved are going to be an obstacle for anyone approaching it without some previous knowledge of Archer, Baines, and the rest—and what they’ve been up to lately. Is it worth persevering? Oh yeah. But you should know that going in. And by the time you’re done—you’ll be curious about what’s next*—and maybe about what was before. Based on Book 7, Books 1-6 are quite the ride, you might be well-served starting from there.

* I will admit that I’m not sure what kind of future the series has, but it should be fun to see.

If you’re not new to this series, obviously, you’re not going to have that difficulty. You likely won’t need me to suggest that you give this a shot, you’re probably ahead of me on that point. Still, if you haven’t gotten around to it, you should probably remedy that.

That’s two paragraphs just to say: Price to Pay is an entertaining and rewarding police procedural that I recommend to you.

My thanks to Overview Media for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided (including the novel).

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Price to Pay by Dave Sivers

By HCNewton

On May 17, 2024

In Book Tour, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

I’m very pleased to welcome Overview Media’s Book Tour for the seventh Archer and Baines novel, Price to Pay by Dave Sivers. We’ll start with this spotlight to learn a little about the book and I’ll be along a little later with my take on the novel.

Book Details:

Book Title: Price to Pay by Dave Sivers
series: Archer and Baines, Book 7
Genre: Police Procedural
Format: eBook/Paperback
Release Date: February 28, 2024

About the Book

‘Fast-paced, devious and twisty – the pages turned themselves! I loved it!’ – Liz Mistry

The more you have, the more you have to lose…

Following an arrest that went wrong, leaving her disfigured and her life in ruins, DCI Lizzie Archer transferred to Buckinghamshire’s Aylesbury Vale, hoping to rebuild her confidence, her career and her life. Eleven years later, she’s happily married, her career is back on track, and she has friends she would trust with her life.

But things can change in a heartbeat.

Meanwhile, her friend and colleague, DI Dan Baines, has worries of his own as the long shadow of the serial killer known as the Invisible Man continues to hang over him. When the chance comes to finally get answers to some troubling questions, he is almost afraid to learn the truth. Because sometimes the reality can be worse than your imagination.

Soon after receiving unsettling threats from local criminals, an old flame makes an unwelcome return to Lizzie’s life. Days later, a grisly murder too close to home plunges her into a nightmare that could cost her everything as suspicion falls on her and her husband, Dominic.

Dan and his team are sidelined from the murder investigation, but they’re not going to let that stop them when a friend is in trouble. And the clock is ticking. Because, if they can’t uncover the truth soon, things will get even worse for Lizzie and Dominic.

Book Links:

Amazon UK ~ Amazon US

About the Author:

Dave Sivers grew up in West London and has been writing all his life. His books include the popular crime series featuring the Aylesbury Vale detectives, DI Lizzie Archer and DS Dan Baines.

The Scars Beneath the Soul and Dead in Deep Water were both top three bestsellers in the Amazon Kindle Serial Killers chart. In Ice is the second in the DI Nathan Quarrel series.

His other works include the Lowmar Dashiel crime fantasy novels.

Dave also writes plays and other material for the amateur stage and is a founder of the annual BeaconLit festival of books and writing. He lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife, Chris.

To keep up with Dave’s news and upcoming releases, subscribe to his newsletter at www.davesivers.co.uk.

Author Links:

Website ~ Twitter/X ~ Facebook

My thanks to Overview Media for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with K.R.R. Lockhaven Part 2

By HCNewton

On May 16, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
“K.R.R. (Kyle Robert Redundant) Lockhaven used to love writing as a kid. Starting at about ten years old, he wrote about anything from dragons to sentient jellybeans. Somewhere along the line, he lost that love. But now as a firefighter, husband, and father of two sons, he found it again. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the really good stuff from back then…

“Kyle is a huge proponent of summer camps for burn survivor kids. [A portion] from every book he ever sells will go to the Washington State Council of Firefighters Burn Foundation, sponsors of Camp Eyabsut. For more info, or to donate money or time, go to www.campeyabsut.org.”

I’m truly delighted to close out the second run of this series submitted by authors with the return of K.R.R. Lockhaven to the series. He wanted to take another shot at this after last year. Who am I to deny him that?

Desert Island Part 2

In his infinite mercy, the Irresponsible Reader has allowed those of us stranded on deserted desert islands to double the number of books we can have during our stays. The first five books I chose can be found here (you should probably warm up with a few gentle eye rolls before you read it). In the last installment, I picked several of my favorite books, as well as a guide to building a boat from scratch so I could eventually get back home to my loved ones. In this edition, I’m going strictly with books I haven’t yet read. Also, I finally got my delete key fixed so there won’t be any embarrassing blunders this time. I can write stuff like poop poopy poopoo and simply erase it….

Damn.

Apparently, my stupid delete key is broken again.

Anyway, on to books 6-10 that I would take to a desert island:

6. What to Say When You Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D.

When I’m stranded on said island, there will be a serious lack of people to talk to. So, I’d better learn how to talk to myself, right? But what does one say to one’s self? I wouldn’t have a clue where to start. This book will show me the way.

Its description says it’s “Considered by many to be one of the most important and helpful personal growth books ever written.” As an author, I know it’s impossible to lie on the book description, so this is fantastic. Many, it says. More than two people consider this to be one of the most important and helpful personal growth books ever written. I’m sold!

But seriously, it looks kind of good. Eliminating negative self-talk will be important for me on the island.

7. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
House of Leaves Cover
I have been fascinated by the idea of this book for a while, but I feel like I’ll never be able to give it the time and effort it demands of readers. Until now! Once stranded on the island, I’ll have more time than I know what to do with.

If you haven’t heard of this book, a picture might help you get the basic gist:
House of Leaves Sample
This is just one example of the strange formatting of the book. It’s an epistolary metafiction written in an academic format that focuses on a story within a story and is rife with exhibits, appendices, and footnotes. All of this sounds a bit daunting, but, again, I’m going to have lots of time to kill. From what I can gather, the book is about a larger-on-the-inside labyrinth in a house, so it has some serious Piranesi (written by Susanna Clarke) vibes, which I love.

8. Cain’s Jawbone by Edward Powys Mathers
Cain's Jawbone Cover

In a similar vein to House of Leaves, this book challenges the shit out of the usual novel format, only this one requires reader participation.

Cain’s Jawbone, first published in 1934, is a puzzle that consists of a 100-page prose narrative with its pages arranged in the wrong order. I would prefer to take the second edition, which is a boxed set of page cards, to the island. To solve the puzzle, the reader must determine the correct order of the pages and figure out the names of the murderers and victims in the story. The pages can be arranged in 9.33×10¹⁵⁷ possible combinations, but there is only one correct order, so this could be a great way to pass a LOT of time. The solution to the puzzle has never been made public, and, at the time of this writing, there have only been three people in the world who have solved it. That number will be four by the time I get home!

9. Legacy of Brick and Bone by Krystle Matar
Legacy of Brick and Bone Cover

I can’t believe I haven’t read this yet! What is wrong with me? I absolutely loved Legacy of the Brightwash, yet I have let this likely-wonderful book sit unread on my shelf for much too long.

For those who don’t know, Legacy of Brick and Bone is book 2 in the Tainted Dominion series. I would describe the series as dark Gaslamp fantasy. At times, it might be considered grimdark, but those labels are a whole different thing I can ponder while alone on the island. The first book in this series surprised me. I had heard all the praise about it but assumed it wasn’t going to be for me. The main reason, I suppose, was that I had heard a big part of it was romance. I have nothing against romance but it’s usually not something I seek out. I loved the romance in this one, though. I loved the romance, the worldbuilding, the complex characters, the action, the prose, and, most of all, the emotions. Matar is fantastic at writing and eliciting the entire spectrum of emotions. Letting out emotions will be important for me on the island.

10. In Defense of Sanity by G.K. Chesterton
In Defense of Sanity Cover

While alone on this island, my sanity will be in danger of slipping. Hopefully, I have some kind of ball I can befriend. If not, this book might help me defend my precious and fragile sanity.

In Defense of Sanity is a collection of essays written by the prolific G.K. Chesterton. To be honest, I wasn’t aware of Mr. Chesterton until researching books for this list. I thought, haha, a book about defending sanity will be perfect and funny and clever and everyone else will think so too and everyone will like me and respect me for my cleverness. What I didn’t expect was that this author would be a genius! At the time of this writing, the sample size justifying this assessment is rather small. I have only read two of his essays: Cheese and On Running After One’s Hat.

Cheese is a hilarious essay about how cheese doesn’t get the respect it deserves in poetry and literature. He goes on and on about cheese as if it’s the most important thing in the world (and he might be right!) I can only hope to have some cheese with me on the island.

On Running After One’s Hat is a slightly more serious rumination on life. In it, Chesterton challenges the idea of inconvenience, giving the example of chasing one’s hat in the wind. He chooses to see this act as an opportunity for fun and adventure instead of an embarrassing inconvenience. Throughout the essay, he challenges the reader to shift their perspective about…everything. The way someone looks at the world can greatly influence their mood as they go through the unavoidable ups and downs of life. Mr. Chesterton and I are kindred spirits in that regard. Perspective isn’t everything, but its power, in my opinion, is often overlooked. My favorite quote from this essay (and one of my favorite quotes full stop) is:

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.

Being stranded on a deserted island will be quite an inconvenience. Maybe a bit of a perspective shift could do me some good!

Thank you, again, H.C.! Writing posts for your blog is always fun. It’s an honor to be asked to return 🙂

Lockhaven is the author of a hopepunk trilogy, a cozy fantasy, a nutty multiverse dragon novel, and its Choose Your Own Adventure-esque sequel. All of them are well-worth your time. Go check out his site to learn about them!

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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with My Mom

By HCNewton

On May 13, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books

Last week, when I saw Carol’s Mother’s Day Post, I thought I should so something like that–and started to come up with ideas for a couple of posts along those lines. Then I remembered I wasn’t supposed to be working on the blog too much right now. So now I was in a quandary–how can I talk about Moms and books without doing any work? (other than making notes in my calendar to try something next year) Then I remembered, “Hey, I have a Mom!” So, I asked her to contribute to this series

My mom doesn’t really have a social media presence, so there’s no online bio for me to rip off here. I guess I’ll settle for this: Among her many accomplishments, this life-long reader was one of the parents who raised two readers (the other one takes a more rational approach to it), and has encouraged it in her grandchildren and great-grandchild.

#1 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre cover
I read this first in my late teens—just because—felt like I’d met my personal role model of strength and hope. It was so good that I read everything written by the Brontë sisters. Great literature but none of them met the bar set by Jane Eyre.

#2 Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals

Warriors Don't Cry cover
I don’t read much non-fiction but this one had an impact that opened my eyes and heart. It is a memoir written by one of the young women, at age 15, who was among those who integrated Little Rock’s Central High School. She endured hatred, fear, and danger as she sought equality in education in the late 1950s. Another woman of strength and determination and change.

#3 Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers cover
A woman of wisdom, naïveté, industriousness, flaws, and love of people and life. This book is packed with humor and life lessons.

#4. Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge cover
This woman of advanced years, she too was a woman of wisdom who proved to herself she could take risks her younger self would never have considered. She, too, was naïve, and loved people, and saw through their flaws to find their goodness as she sought justice. This book is full of humor and humans who face life head-on.

#5 The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

The Reading list cover
(It’s been a while since I read it and I don’t recall very many specifics about it but…)

A book about books. A book about an angry teenage girl and an elderly man who struggled to move on with life after his wife died. A book about their deepening friendship and the expanding circle of unlikely friends. A book about a reading list found on the library floor and the unique, healing impact these books had on their unique individual lives.

It surprised me to find my favorite books were about women, their flaws, and strengths.

Thanks for doing this, Mom, Happy Mother’s Day!

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Saturday Miscellany—5/11/24

By HCNewton

On May 11, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

I’m alive and recovering (and not reading as much as I’d expected). I’ll have more to say about that soon-ish. I’ve got some fantastic guest posts lined up for next week–be sure to come back for them. Thanks for all the well-wishes over the last week. I’ll try to personally reply soon.

There seems to be a mood, or a tone, to a lot of these links this week–I want to stress that I wasn’t trying to doomscroll. I mean, we’ve all been in a place where that is what we’ve been looking for. But that’s not where I was this week–but you can’t tell that from what I marked for this post.

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 Inside libraries’ battle for better e-book access
bullet Speaking of libraries, this is worth watching (if only for the running joke about a certain series of picture books) Libraries: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
bullet Against the objectification of books (or, some thoughts on The Discourse).—worth chewing on
bullet Not Lost in a Book: Why the “decline by 9” in kids pleasure reading is getting more pronounced, year after year.—chilling
bullet Bad Nostalgia: The book publishing industry is in crisis, so why is it so hard to talk about the labour that goes into making books?
bullet Thriftbooks has some interesting lists of Books by State® 2023: Non-Fiction/Fiction and corresponding lists from 2013. The only one for Idaho that didn’t put a puzzled look on my face was the 2013 Non-Fiction pick. Do you have any thoughts on your state’s representatives?
bullet Are You A Good Enough Friend To Hide a Dead Body?—Forget Enneagram types, political stances, Birth Signs, Hogwarts’ House, and so on–this is the ultimate personality test, right? (actually, not really the point of the piece, just my reaction to the title)
bullet What Are the Rules for Lending Your Books to Friends?—Electric Literature talked to librarians for this piece. Who better?
bullet 10 Words Every Book Lover Should Know—I actually shared this back on 5/10/14, but still need to work these words into my everyday vocabulary. (and am a little shocked that the link from back then is still live)
bullet To Write or Not to Write (In Your Books)
bullet When Books Were Illustrious: Once upon a time, illustrations in books—all books—was standard practice.
bullet Top Ten Tuesday: Reasons You DNF’d a Book—I don’t know how many posts about DNFing I’ve linked to over the years, but I’m pretty sure this format is a first.
bullet Flowers or Books? Is the Special Woman in Your Life a Reader? 10 Book Recs for #MothersDay—This is a good list. And one I can actually see me using for next Mother’s Day (had already picked this year’s books when Carol posted this.) If any of my kids are looking for an idea, there’s a couple of things I can see working for their mom, incidentally.
bullet 20 Books of Summer is back—it can’t already be time to start compiling a list for this, is it??
bullet Being a reader is so hard!—Luke Harkness speaks for many of us here.

A Book-ish Related Podcast-type thing episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Cocktails with Cav Show Ep. 32 Hollywood Grocery Clerks & a Hot Case! Great interview with Crime Fiction Author Andrew Miller!—I haven’t finished it yet, but what I have is pretty good.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh—there’s no way that I’d write about this book in 5 paragraphs today (or if I did, I’d feel guilty about it). I also think that giving this 3.5 stars says something about how my ratings have become more inflated in the last few years. Still, it was fun to look back on this one.
bullet I also mentioned the publication of Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot by Ace Atkins —Atkins’ third Spenser novel.