Category: Blog Series Page 5 of 185

Saturday Miscellany—9/14/24

On September 14, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

My friend Tony has been really good about finding errors in these posts the last few weeks—as much as I appreciate someone editing me, I think I’ve checked this well enough that he won’t have to send me any notes. But I look forward to the texts showing me that I’m rwong.

(I made that typo and decided to keep it in so that he’d have an excuse to text)

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 Historical Fiction Redefined the Literary Canon
bullet Doom scrolling: We may be close to rediscovering thousands of texts that had been lost for millennia. Their contents may reshape how we understand the Ancient World.—this brings out a geeky side in me. It also makes me very glad that I didn’t pursue this field, I cannot imagine the patience it takes.
bullet Language and Leonard Michaels: On the current state of literature and literary culture—a provocative bit of writing
bullet The Not-So-Nice Origins of ‘Bookworm’
bullet Empathy and Crime Fiction: How Do You Make Readers Root for the “Unrootable”?
bullet A Literary Map of South Asian America—because my TBR wasn’t long enough…
bullet “…I Grew As A Writer To Make It Work.”: Blind to Midnight’s Reed Farrel Coleman—a good interview with Coleman (not that I’ve come across a bad one with him…)
bullet Writing Action with Nick Kolakowski—were I a writer looking to hone my action scenes, I know I’d want advice from Kolakowski. (I’m tempted to sign up as a non-writer)
bullet A Goodbye to 20 Books of Summer (in more ways than one!)—awww, man…..I’ve come to depend on this challenge as a way to get me back on track on some reading goals (sure, I could just, you know, exercise discipline without an outside force…). But more 10 years sounds like a good time to take a break and relax.
bullet Tips for Requesting Book Reviews From Book Bloggers
bullet A Fantasy Fan’s Guide: Understanding the Subgenres
bullet Your Literary Analysis Can Be Wrong (With a Defence of Paddington Bear)

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Tea, Tonic & Toxin Longmire Novels: First Frost by Craig Johnson

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet Voodoo River by Robert Crais
bullet The Scriptlings by Sorin Suciu
bullet The Forsaken by Ace Atkins (nice to see that even a decade a go I could get ridiculously behind)
bullet And I mentioned the release of five books that I really wanted to read, but only have made time for two of them: Robert B. Parker’s Blind Spot by Reed Farrel Coleman (speaking of Coleman); The Witch with No Name by Kim Harrison; City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett; Gangsterland by Tod Goldberg; and Yesterday’s Hero by Jonathan Wood (the three I didn’t get to are still calling my name!)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Robert B. Parker’s Buzz Kill by Alison Gaylin—I enjoyed Gaylin’s first Randall novel (as you can tell from all the nothing I’ve said about it), and am looking forward to see her stretch her legs with it
bullet Nightmare of a Trip by Maureen Kilmer—a horror-comedy about a family’s road trip. Kilmer doesn’t even need to bring in anything supernatural to make the horror bit stick.
bullet Thinking Through Writing: A Guide to Becoming a Better Writer and Thinker by John Kaag & Jonathan Van Belle—I can’t see myself reading/working through a textbook at this stage of my life. But I should. Regardless, this looks like a good one.

'Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.' — Gustave Flaubert

WWW Wednesday, September 11, 2024

By HCNewton

On September 11, 2024

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

Library Due Dates, a faulty memory, and one of “those” weeks have conspired to make me change my reading schedule for 5 times since I posted my last WWW. So, expect to see the entries from my “Up Next” section from last week in the next couple of months (I’m so glad the question is “What do you think you’ll read next?”). I’m the only one who cares, but it irks me.

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 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (a book I received in the mail on release day in 2021 and somehow haven’t read yet), On Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God edited by Matthew Barrett (a book I really should’ve considered the page count of before requesting from NetGalley), and am listening to Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller, read by January LaVoy on audiobook (a perfectly fine book incapable of nuance or subtlety).

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Nadine Matheson’s The Kill List and Marvel: What If . . . Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings? by Seanan McGuire, read by Allyson Voller on audio.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Candle & Crow by Kevin Hearne set in a world I’m not ready to say goodbye to, but apparently I will be. My next audiobook should be Chasing Embers by James Bennett, read by Colin Mace.

Blank Space

Are you reading anything good?

Book Blogger Hop: Our Library Journeys

By HCNewton

On September 11, 2024

In Book Blogger Hop, Books, News/Misc.

Book Blogger Hop

This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month. What role have libraries played in your reading journey? Do you have any recommendations for books or fond recollections involving libraries?

First off—Library Card Sign-Up month? I didn’t know that was a thing—glad I got to do something to commemorate it.

What role have libraries played in my reading journey? That’s sort of like…man, I don’t know, I should be able to come up with a snappy metaphor. Maybe by the time I’m done with this.

As far as I recall, I didn’t really use a Public Library until I was at least semi-literate—maybe it was after I was reading things at the Fun with Dick and Jane level. I have one or two very vague memories of that first library (mostly chaotic) before my family moved across the state.

I’ve repeatedly told the story about when my family and I realized how important reading was to my young brain—once we settled into our new town, it wasn’t long before I got a card—and boy howdy, did I use that thing. We didn’t buy a lot of books then (that got underway when I discovered used bookstores and thrift shops in junior high…but that’s a story for another time), so the public library—with a little supplementing from various school libraries—was how I got my reading material. I visited at least monthly, I think bi-weekly was the norm, although there were summers I walked there daily.

The librarians got to know me pretty well—as well as my shy/timid near-pathologically introverted self would allow, at least they got to know my reading habits. Looking back on it, I know it was small—I may have known it then. It certainly didn’t get a lot of new books—particularly in the “Juvenile” sections (except for the very Juvenile books). That selection probably led to my love of re-reading. I knew where my friends were found on the Fiction and Non-Fiction shelves, and visited them often. But I enjoyed the variety it did have—especially when I could start reading the things in the non-Juvenile section. I honestly don’t know if my being unable to go there was a parental rule, a library rule that I aged out of, or just an impression that I had that no one corrected. But Ian Fleming, Erle Stanley Gardner, Eric Van Lustbader—and soon Robert B. Parker, Rex Stout, and Mickey Spillane—were waiting for me to discover.

In high school, we moved to a larger town—the library was bigger, and the collections were, too—I was able to read a new-to-me book or two from authors I loved that I hadn’t been able to find in my old library and I was able to find some new friends, too. The catch was that we lived outside of city limits, so my parents had to pay for my library card to make up for the taxes we didn’t pay. What a relief it was (for my conscience) the next year when I got a job there, so I got that fee waived.

Obviously, I was in hog heaven working there—and it exposed me to so many new authors, new topics, new…everything. Reshelving returned books helped me see what people were consistently reading, and eventually, I’d get curious, too. Or putting one boring-looking book back next to something else would get me to pick up the something else. Dave Barry Slept Here is one that I distinctly remember coming from that. That’s also how I learned that C.S. Lewis wrote things other than the Chronicles of Narnia, I’m inexplicably embarrassed to note.

Other than the University library, I pretty much stopped using them for a decade or so after High School. I wasn’t going to pay for a card just to use over the summer months as I scrambled to save up money for the next year—also, I was buying enough by then that I could keep myself in books when I found/made time to read things that weren’t for class.

Fast-forward to the time when my older kids could write their own name—which was the library’s standard for getting their own card. I’d let them browse for something that’d catch their eye, and while they were doing that…I’d go browse myself. This got me experimenting more about what I was reading—oh, also, this library was bigger yet than the last one—and kept growing. That experimenting—plus my reading priorities shifting and freeing up—led to me reading more and more, and…well, here we are.

I read my first Jim Butcher, Kevin Hearne, Benedict Jacka, Faith Hunter, Patricia Briggs, Seanan McGuire, Lee Child, Rainbow Rowell, David Rosenfelt, Rick Riordan, Mick Herron, and Ian Rankin because of that most recent one. I could go on and on, but I just thought I’d pick a few names that show up time and time again here. I don’t browse the stacks too much anymore, I have lists of books I want to get—and usually place requests via the website. But I’m still using that library regularly, and my not having at least two books checked out from there at a time is strange (I have two on my desk now and two waiting for me to pick up as I write this).

Really, I wouldn’t read what I do now if I hadn’t read something in the library that sparked me to look for more like it—or encouraged me to move far away. Which would lead to/from something else, and something else, and something else for 4+ decades now. And I hope that continues for decades more.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the “do you have any recommendations for books…involving libraries” part of the prompt—I covered that in my Books about Books and the People Who Love Them post last month (along with a few other things).

Are your stories about libraries sound similar? Or have you had a different experience with them?

Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp: Filled with Great Food, a Lot of Laughs, and Love

By HCNewton

On September 9, 2024

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Literary Locals, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Big Trouble in Little Italy

by Nicole Sharp

DETAILS:
Series: Simply Trouble Series, #1
Publisher: Writing Moose
Publication Date: October 3, 2023
Format: Paperback
Length: 343 pg.
Read Date: August 27-28, 2024

The Back of the Book

There’s no way I could put all this as concisely as (I’m guessing) Sharp did for the back of the book. Also, I think I’d trip over myself not saying some of this, but I clearly think some things are more spoiler-ish than others do. So I’m just going to steal this:

Life is looking pretty good for thirty-two-year-old Jessica Dodd. She just bought her wedding dress and closed on a house with her trial lawyer fiancé, Thomas. But first, she needs to take care of one tiny issue: her husband – a youthful indiscretion from a drunken weekend in Vegas years ago. She never saw the guy again, so it didn’t really count. Still, she needs to get divorced.

CIA agent Parker Salvatore has thought of his “Vegas wife” over the years, though it was never time to start dating her. However, when he returns from a two-year assignment to find that she is literally in bed with the enemy, he realizes it’s time to make his move. First, he needs to catch the bad guy, then he can woo the girl.

Things begin to unravel when Jessica finds out Thomas has been lying to her. Determined to confront him she follows him to Italy. Fueled by a surplus of caffeine and a colossal lack of sleep her plan becomes a hell of a lot more complicated when she walks straight into the middle of the CIA’s criminal investigation of her fiancé.

Set against the backdrop of the Tuscan countryside, Parker and Jessica find themselves treading the perilous waters of infiltrating a well-known crime family, filing for divorce and attempting to keep their rekindled attraction at bay.

Slightly Ajar Door Romance

I’m not an expert on this kind of thing, but I can read definitions online, so I feel safe saying that this isn’t a closed-door romance. But it’s really not that far off–I’ve read books (Romance and otherwise) that put more on the page. Sharp does fade to black pretty quickly, thankfully*, but she could fade a bit quicker–and take a little more time before fading back into light.

* That’s a reflection of my prudish-inclinations.

I just figure that I should mention it since I’ve talked about things like this in the past–and I know some of my readers care. Basically, I’ve learned from the Sunshine Vicram books–these are not ones I will give my mother. Although I have to say, I kind of think I’d be more comfortable knowing that my mother read this over Sunshine (and much more comfortable with my mother knowing I read these, too). That might be a silly basis for rating, but that’s where I am.

So, what did I think about Big Trouble in Little Italy?

I only took one note while reading this book–after the first chapter, I wrote simply “Zany.” And I really never came up with anything to say beyond that. There is a lot more to the book than that–but that word is pretty much always applicable.

Sharp’s voice is infectious–I thoroughly enjoyed the writing here, more than the rest of it (which is saying something). The characters lept off the page and right into your heart (except for the small handful you just wanted to spit out as quickly as possible, and then spit on). There’s an Italian agent working with Parker who is one of those characters that comes close to stealing the show–I’d love to read more about him. That’s true for most of the more significant supporting characters, too. Yes, the focus of the book is (rightly) on Jessica, Parker, and Thomas–but Sharp has this book bursting with characters you want more of.

This is very much a Romance novel–yes, a Romantic Comedy, yes, a Romantic Comedy with a Thriller flavor. But the key word there is Romance/Romantic. As such, I’m not really the intended audience for this, but after talking with Sharp at an event this Spring, I really wanted to read something she wrote–and thankfully, the Comedy and Thriller parts of the book were strong enough that I could handle the Romance.

I’m not sure what people who read more Romance fiction than I do would think of this. I think die-hard Thriller readers would think it stretches things a bit (but not as much as a couple of Lee Child books have, for just one example). The Comedy never misses, though. Not once.

I can see myself coming back for more in this series, actually. I can also see me dropping it pretty quickly if the laughs die down. I say that without rancor–but because I recognize that I’m just dabbling in this world.

I’d definitely like to hear what people better versed in Romantic fiction have to say about Sharp’s work. But for my money, this is worth your time and money. The plot zips along well, the CIA-Crime story zigs and zags the way it should, and the comedy is pretty consistently goofy and yet heartfelt–actually, all of it is heartfelt. Zany and Heartfelt. A heckuva combination.

Oh, be sure to have your local Italian restaurant’s online delivery menu pulled up, you’re going to want to use it. Or have it, and your payment methods, locked away if you don’t need to treat yourself in that way.

4 Stars

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.

Saturday Miscellany—9/7/24 (corrected and revised)

By HCNewton

On September 7, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

On Tuesday, i say to myself, “No need to jot down a note about the release of my buddy Joe’s new book, I’ll remember that on Saturday.”

Saturday, almost 4 hours after posting my Saturday Miscellany, a friend (after pointing out an embarrassing typo, sadly not both of them), says: “What? No mention of Eyes of Empire being released? (which is even more mortifying). Sorry, JCM!!

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 Can fairytales and fantasy compete with Fortnite? How to get kids reading at any age—Spoiler: Yes.
bullet Can a Book Save Your Life?: The mega-bestselling author Matt Haig and the limits of the therapy novel.
bullet NaNoWriMo gets AI sponsor, says not writing your novel with AI is ‘classist and ableist’—there just aren’t enough SMH emojis, Picard holding his head in his hands/Fillion grasping for words gifs in the world…
bullet The seven kinds of friendships you find in literature: a taxonomy.
bullet In Praise of Reference Books: Reference volumes should be valued as least as much as fiction and other nonfiction books—Yes!
bullet Why Thrillers Matter
bullet Three Helpful SF-Related Rules of Thumb, According to Me
bullet Quiz: Can You Identify These Crime Novels From Their Library of Congress Subject Categories?—I could’ve done better
bullet Top Ten Tuesday: serve and enjoy—I rather enjoyed this TTT
bullet Fantasy and Feminism #1: Elden Ring—Before We Go Blog brings the first in a series “that provides analysis of strong female characters and their role in stories that tend toward the grim as well as dark.”
bullet Blind Listening: When Aphantasia Meets Audiobooks—I was sure I shared this before…oops. Thanks for the reminder, Celeste!
bullet Tough Questions with Marie Sinadjan—how does our favorite UK-Based Filipino speculative fiction author and book reviewer handle Witty & Sarcastic’s gauntlet?

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman
bullet Bad Little Girls Die Horrible Deaths by Harry Connolly—I should revisit this collection sometime
bullet Free Fall by Robert Crais
bullet And my TBR was overburdened by the releases of: Hidden by Benedict Jacka; The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire; Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs; Maplecroft by Cherie Priest; Personal by Lee Child; The Drop by Dennis Lehane; and What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Eyes of Empire by JCM Berne—Rohan has his hands more than full it seems in the Fifth Turn in the Hybrid Helix. Going to be fun watching him try to deal with it all.m
bullet Safe Enough and Other Stories by Lee Child—non-Reacher short fiction. Color me curious.
bullet Roverpowered by Drew Hayes—a new wizard and her familiar launch a new series.
bullet Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody by Patrick Ness—I’ve read one fantastic and one pretty good book by Ness, this MG read looks fun enough to try.

Credit @thejenkinscomic (Hat Tip: @Cool_Comic)

WWW Wednesday, September 4, 2024

By HCNewton

On September 4, 2024

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

One half of the Mystery/Crime novels I read last month came in the last two days—the other was an audiobook re-read. July wasn’t much better—if you take audiobooks out of the equation, it was 53 days between that kind of book for me—which is pretty much unheard of. You can believe that I have built up a healthy stack to work through. I don’t mind the break…it’s just weird.

Other than that, September’s off to a bang—I’ve been surrounded by several reminders of why I’m a reader (and blogger). If I only could find more time for that…

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 Kill List by Nadine Matheson, which is as disturbing as I’ve come to expect from Matheson. I’m listening to Marvel: What If . . . Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings? by Seanan McGuire, read by Allyson Voller on audiobook, which is so much better than I’d hoped.

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Peter David’s Buddy the Knight and The Queen of Sorrow and Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by MJ Wassmer, read by Stephen R. Thorne on audio. Both of them did so, so many things right—and so little wrong.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Chronos Warlock by Shami Stovall and I’m so eager to dive in. My next audiobook should be I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, read by Nasim Pedrad.

Blank Space

What’s got you excited (or maudlin, or disaffected, or…)?

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Nocturne with Gaslamps by Matthew Francis

By HCNewton

On September 3, 2024

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

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for Matthew Francis’ Nocturne with Gaslamps! This is Day 2 of the tour, so be sure to take a look at the feed for https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours over the next few days and you’ll see a lot of bloggers who did find the time to read it have some interesting things about it.

Book Details:

Title: Nocturne with Gaslamps by Matthew Francis
Genre: Mystery; Historical Fiction,
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 224 pages
Publication Date: September 4, 2024 (UK); April 1, 2025 (US)

About the Book:

A historical crime fiction novel set in Victorian London’s gaslit theatre scene, where ghosts lurk in the shadows and murder takes centre stage.

Gaslight. Ghosts. Murder.

Hastings Wimbury has always dreamt of playing Hamlet, but for now he works as a theatre gas-boy. Here, he tends to a gas chandelier so powerful it creates its own weather, and limelight machines that can throw a shadow onto a wall ten miles away.

When Hastings suddenly disappears, his fiancée Flora sets out to find him with the help of Cassie, her rival in love who is more preoccupied with the ghosts terrorising the streets of London. Soon total darkness is imposed upon the city, and they realise that something far more sinister is at hand…

Ladies aren’t supposed to solve mysteries, but this is a matter of life and death.

Book Links:

Amazon UK ~ Amazon US ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

Matthew Francis is Professor Emeritus in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University. He read English at Magdalene College, Cambridge University. He writes novels, short stories, and poetry collections. He has won the TLS / Blackwell’s Prize for Poetry and the Southern Arts Literature Prize, and been shortlisted twice for the Forward Prize, twice for the Welsh Book of the Year Award and once for the Ted Hughes Award. In 2004, he was chosen as one of the Next Generation Poets. He is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy. Matthew lives with this wife in Aberystwyth, Wales where he enjoys playing chess, cooking and playing the ukulele.

Author Links:

Twitter/X

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

Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulsen: Death Doesn’t Stop this Marshall

By HCNewton

On September 2, 2024

In Literary Locals, Urban Fantasy, Western

Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1

by Brock Poulsen

DETAILS:
Series: Bizarre Frontier, Omnibus #1
Publication Date: October 20, 2021
Format: Paperback
Length: 349 pg.
Read Date: August 5-6, 2024

I hate dying. It usually hurts something awful and ruins my whole day. I avoid it whenever possible.

What’s Bizarre Frontier About?

This is a collection of the first three novellas in Poulsen’s Bizarre Frontier series. This series focuses on the adventures of the former Deputy Marshall, Willard Beckett. He didn’t always wear a “white hat,” back in his black hat days, he was cursed by a dying Romani woman. He can’t stay dead. He can die, he can go through all the pain and suffering before death—but he shakes it off after a little while.

As curses go, it’s not the worst, actually.

On Moths

In the first novella, we meet Beckett and learn about his, um, condition.

As any “retired” protagonist in a Western starts, Beckett is living alone, away from everyone else, self-medicating and merely existing. His wife divorced him, he lost the taste for the work (or so I assume, I don’t remember it being spelled out), and really doesn’t have much purpose in life. Until, of course, his old boss comes for help. It seems some brothers that he ran with are causing problems in a local mining town and they can’t be stopped.

The funny thing about that situation, those brothers were killed by the aforementioned Romani woman.

Hanged Man’s Boots

After finding out how those brothers got in the position where they could terrorize the town, Beckett and his ex-wife, Sue, learn that the man behind it all is cutting a swath of destruction behind him as he tries to escape justice. Can the pair stop him?

Husk

The big hook to this one comes from Willard not doing something I’d assumed he took care of in between novellas. And the fact that he didn’t made me roll my eyes pretty hard. Yes, he justified his lack of action to someone later in the novella—and it’s plausible, but I still don’t buy it. Still, without his being careless, we wouldn’t have gotten this story.

It begins with Willard going off to take care of the repercussions of his carelessness and Sue having to go rescue some of her sister’s sheep following a storm and her brother-in-law coming into close contact with a monster (or so he claims and not enough people believe).

Craziness and action ensue. And while the last novella brought the pair into contact with evil made stronger by the supernatural, this one brings them into some supernatural mayhem. It’s hard to argue which is worse

The Strangest Bit

For me, the thing that was stranger than Willard’s curse—or anything else he ran into—was the way he (and everyone else) called the woman who cursed him (and her family) Romani instead of that term that I grew up hearing. I’m not complaining about it—if I’m buying a Deputy Marshall who can’t stay dead for long, I can buy a degree of cultural sensitivity that is just as out of place.

It just took me a second to accept it. But honestly, I like the fact Poulsen made that choice, he didn’t need to.

So, what did I think about Bizarre Frontier?

These stories are light on the Western and heavier on the Urban Fantasy—which is fine with me, if you forgive the anachronistic nature of that. They’re Western enough to qualify, but by a hair—they remind me of the Bodacious Creed Zombie-Steampunk-Westerns in this way. (and actually fans of one of these series, should check the other out)

I wouldn’t mind a little more depth to each of these, but I don’t think they need much more. They work really well for what they are—quick, episodic, adventures with just enough of a tie between them to keep readers coming back (if you get them individually) or to carry you through the omnibus (if you go that way).

There’s a lightness to the prose that keeps it engaging and fun even in the midst of monsters, death, and mayhem. The action is smooth, the recurring characters are fun and I can see hanging out with Willard and Sue for quite a while to come. I’d like to see them deal with something that has no contact with anything they’ve encoutered yet—but if Poulsen keeps going down this path, I’m not going to complain.

I will be back for more as soon as I get a chance. It’d be nice if there was a second omnibus (I mention in case Poulsen reads this), but it looks like I’ll be picking up the novellas at my earliest convenience. I’d recommend you trying these yourself.

3 Stars

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Saturday Miscellany—8/31/24

By HCNewton

On August 31, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

While prepping this post, I took a glance at what books are coming out next month, so I can get on library waitlists and whatnot. Reader, I tell ya, my brain is melting. Tiffany McDaniel (one of my absolute favorite authors) is releasing a middle grade series. That’s strange enough, but the first book is described as, “a light-hearted and whimsical middle grade fantasy about a young girl who must save her witch aunt from an uncommonly voracious hat.” if you’ve read just one book by her, you’ll get what I’m saying.

Anyhow, we’ll save more thoughts about that until later next month. In the meantime:

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 Suspected burglar caught after sitting down with book—I’d pick up a copy of the clearly engrossing book if it was available in English (or if I read Italian), this is such a great advertisement for it. (the headline is good enough, but it’s worth reading the rest of the story)
bullet The New Trend In Book Covers Is Old-Timey Animals—good-bye to the era of color blobs
bullet Labors of Love: Eli Cranor on Education, Empathy and Experience —Great interview with Cranor (practically a tautology, I know), about one of those “why haven’t I read this book yet?” novels
bullet What Lasts and (Mostly) Doesn’t Last: On the books that are remembered, rejected, repudiated, and rediscovered
bullet 20 Old Words for Ignorant People: From ‘wantwit’ to ‘dorkmunder’ to ‘ninnyhammer.’—I’m such a sucker for lists like this. I’m going to work on getting #17 into my working vocabulary first (probably directed toward my dogs), but the rest sound almost as good.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet Hounded by David Rosenfelt
bullet Robert B. Parker’s Blind Spot by Reed Farrel Coleman—Coleman’s start to my favorite run on the series (yes, that includes the original).
bullet Lullaby Town by Robert Crais
bullet I noted the release of: Lock In by John Scalzi, The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter: The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire, Book 1 by Rod Duncan, and Once Upon a Rhyme: Volume I of the Charming Tales by Jack Heckel (I only got around to half of these, probably the right half for me)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet An Honorable Assassin by Steve Hamilton—I was truly worried that we’d seen the last of Nick Mason. Phew.
bullet Amari and the Despicable Wonders by B. B. Alston—Amari’s third book promises to be action-packed. It wouldn’t suprise me if Alston get at least one of Amari’s opponents to see the light and abandon the path they’re walking. But I hope they get smacked around a little first (I’m not proud of that). Still, I’m looking forward to seeing Amari and her friends step up here.
bullet Marvel: What If . . . Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings? by Seanan McGuire—I’m not What If . . .‘s biggest fan, but “Peter Parker” and “Seanan McGuire” together override any disinclination I have.
bullet Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman—this looks like a ridiculous amount of fun that I probably should’ve read before now
bullet Kayfabe by Chris Koslowski—a humorous novel of about a brother and sister in professional wrestling.
bullet The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard—great premise. Probably too feline-y for me, but I might get to it

WWW Wednesday, August 28, 2024

By HCNewton

On August 28, 2024

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?

I’m reading the zany Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp, and am listening to Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith on audiobook (if only so I can remember how good the rest are in comparison).

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What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Alex Robins’ Panacea and The Night Ends with Fire by K. X. Song, read by Natalie Naudus on audio. Two books that were heavier than I anticipated (which says more about my expectations than anything)

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What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Ways and Truths and Lives by Matt Edwards and my next audiobook should be Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by MJ Wassmer, read by Stephen R. Thorne. Yes, that audiobook was in this spot last week, too. But I hit play on the wrong app before I remembered that fact.

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Category: Blog Series Page 5 of 185

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Are you reading anything good?

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month. What role have libraries played in your reading journey? Do you have any recommendations for books or fond recollections involving libraries?

Are your stories about libraries sound similar? Or have you had a different experience with them?

The Back of the Book

Slightly Ajar Door Romance

So, what did I think about Big Trouble in Little Italy?

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What’s got you excited (or maudlin, or disaffected, or…)?

Book Details:

About the Book:

Book Links:

About the Author:

Author Links:

What’s Bizarre Frontier About?

On Moths

Hanged Man’s Boots

Husk

The Strangest Bit

So, what did I think about Bizarre Frontier?

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

How’re you wrapping up August?