Category: Blog Series Page 79 of 220

I’d been planning on posting about Mark Peppers’s Man on a Murder Cycle this morning, but sadly I’m about an hour away from finishing it. Hopefully I can get something in this space tomorrow. But, today is Release Day and I want to get at least something up about it today–Mark Pepper and Red Dog Press have put out a heckuva book and I want to help them get eyeballs on it. At this point, I can think of at least 5 different ways this book will likely end, and I’m pretty sure they’re all wrong–and what I have waiting for me over the next 25% is going to throw me for a loop.

Book Details:

Book Title: Man on a Murder Cycle by Mark Pepper
Publisher: Red Dog Press
Release date: May 29, 2023
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 505 pages

About the Book

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE AN AUTHOR BETRAYED.

Tom Roker’s debut thriller was an instant bestseller. Since then, he has written four more books, none of which have been published. His reputation has faded from overnight success to one-hit wonder.

Now, finally, he’s making a comeback. His latest novel, Man on a Murder Cycle, is a blockbuster. The dark tale of Milton, a vengeful biker with a penchant for brutal acts of violence, perfectly recaptures the mood of Roker’s first novel. And everyone loves it!

It’s just a shame he didn’t write it.

The real author is recently deceased. Roker stole the manuscript, passing it off as his own. He’s covered his tracks well, so the trivial matter of who wrote what can be overlooked.

That is, until a mad man on a big bike starts killing people, exactly as described in the stolen novel – even those scenes that didn’t make the final cut.

Only one person can know what was written in those scenes, and he’s dead.

Isn’t he?

Purchase Link

Get it from Red Dog Press

(it’s probably also available on Amazon, Kobo, Google Play Books, and all good bookshops—but why not support an independent publisher?)

About the Author

Chris Mark lives in Manchester with his wife of 30 years, Jeannifer, and his daughter, Jade.
In his day job, Mark is an Intelligence Analyst for a financial regulator in Washington DC. He is a qualified secondary school drama teacher, and worked as an actor for fifteen years, having graduated from RADA in 1990.

His first two novels, The Short Cut and Man on a Murder Cycle, were published by Hodder & Stoughton, and his third, Veteran Avenue, originally published by Urbane and now by Red Dog Press. Veteran Avenue, is mainly set in LA, and is currently being developed as a TV series by the actor Warren Brown.

Find him on twitter: @PepSixSix

Saturday Miscellany—5/27/23

By HCNewton

On May 27, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

No real time for an introduction today (“No blather,” you all cheer) for what feels like a very miscellany list. Hope you enjoy and have a good long* weekend!

* From what I can tell this applies to almost every reader that stops by location, if not by current vocation. If this doesn’t apply to you, I hope you have a good regular-sized weekend, or at least one day off.

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 Independent bookselling expanded again in 2022, with new and diverse stores opening nationwide—groovy news.
bullet I’ve read almost 50 books so far and the year is not halfway over. Here’s how.
bullet The State Of Being A Published Writer In 2023 Is Really Weird, And A Little Worrisome—Chuck Wendig has a few things to say (and do keep reading through the end)
bullet The big idea: why you should embrace your inner fan—Not about reading per se, but it applies
bullet How do You Write Compelling Characters? Find the Source of Their Pain—I’ve read a few books by Copperman, and “pain” isn’t the first word I’d associate with his material. But reading this, it makes a lot of sense.
bullet Do You Know Who Illustrated This Classic Wrinkle in Time Cover?—I don’t know how I’d managed to forget this cover (I likely spent as much time looking at this cover as I did reading the book the umpteen times I did read it as a kid).
bullet Dos and Don’ts for Reading Outside—the last “Don’t” is where I always failed until I got a backyard, and, well…
bullet Place and Tome: On Two Kinds of Unforgettable Reading Experiences
bullet CrimeBookJunkie turned 8 this week!—Congrats to Noelle Holten for hitting this landmark! Hope it’s just the beginning.
bullet I missed this last week, but Beth Tabler has assembled a great list of 100 Fantastic Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories Written by Women #100 – 70, #69 – 34, and #33 – 1
bullet Hanna’s Holy Grail or White Whale—a bookseller’s hunt for a beloved childhood novel
bullet Book Confessions: I’ll Never Outgrow YA Books
bullet This worked out so well last week, I’ll just repeat it. Check out the Week 3 Wyrd and Wonder Quest Logs at Dear Geek Place and The Book Nook
bullet The Fantasy Hero Blues—Peat Long’s latest contribution to Wyrd & Wonder

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (I have the impression that I’m forgetting one or two…):
bullet The Moonshine Messiah by William Johnson—this looks too good. A woman sheriff in WV has to tangle with an anti-government militia led by her brother.

The Friday 56 for 5/26/23: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Illustrated Edition by Douglas Adams

By HCNewton

On May 26, 2023

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it.

I’m stuck in Towel Day mode, apparently…
from Page 56 (and tiny bit of 57) of:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Away in front of them a huge white dome that bulged against the sky cracked down the middle, split, and slowly folded itself down into the ground. Everyone gasped although they had known perfectly well it was going to do that because they’d built it that way.

Beneath it lay uncovered a huge starship, one hundred and fifty metres long, shaped like a sleek running shoe, perfectly white and mindbogglingly beautiful. At the heart of it, unseen, lay a small gold box which carried within it the most brain-wrenching device ever conceived, a device which made this starship unique in the history of the galaxy, a device after which the ship had been named – the Heart of Gold.

‘Wow,’ said Zaphod Beeblebrox to the Heart of Gold. There wasn’t much else he could say.

He said it again because he knew it would annoy the press.

‘Wow.’

WWW Wednesday, May 24, 2023

By HCNewton

On May 24, 2023

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

Time for 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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m going for a little light reading with 100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife by Ken Jennings and am listening to Iron Gold by Pierce Brown, Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds, John Curless, Julian Elfer, and Aedin Moloney on audiobook (I’m not crazy about adding the three new narrators, but Reynolds is probably relieved for the help).

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished two great thrillers: Joe Ide’s Fixit and The Only Truly Dead by Rob Parker, Warren Brown (Narrator) on audio.

Blank Space /p>

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Man on a Murder Cycle by Mark Pepper (which is hopefully at least half as good as the premise) and my next audiobook should be a revisit of The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind Narrated by Lauren Patten and Graham Halstead.

Blank Space

What about you—gearing up for the long weekend (or regular-sized weekend outside of the US)?

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Goddess of Nothing at All by Cat Rector

By HCNewton

On May 22, 2023

In Book Tour, Fantasy, Fiction

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for Cat Rector’s . 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. The Goddess of Nothing at All was a finalist for the 2022 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 the spotlight for it, 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 and one overall winner. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or 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:

Genre: Dark Fantasy
Format: Hardcover/Paperback/Ebook
Length: 430 Page
Publication Date: October 1, 2021

About the Book:

Perhaps you know the myths.

Furious, benevolent Gods.
A tree that binds nine realms.
A hammer stronger than any weapon.
And someday, the end of everything.

But few have heard of me.

Looking back, it’s easy to know what choices I might have made differently. At least it feels that way. I might have given up on my title. Told my father he was useless, king of Gods or no, and left Asgard. Made a life somewhere else.

Maybe I would never have let Loki cross my path. Never have fallen in love.

But there’s no going back.

We were happy once.

And the price for that happiness was the end of everything.

Book Links:

Amazon Canada ~Amazon UK ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

Cat Rector grew up in a small Nova Scotian town and could often be found simultaneously reading a book and fighting off muskrats while walking home from school. She devours stories in all their forms, loves messy, morally grey characters, and writes about the horrors that we inflict on each other. After spending nearly a decade living abroad, she returned to Canada with her spouse to resume her war against the muskrats. When she’s not writing, you can find her playing video games, spending time with loved ones, or staring at her To Be Read pile like it’s going to read itself.

Epilogues for Lost Gods is the sequel to her debut novel, The Goddess of Nothing At All.

Find her on Twitter, Tiktok, and Instagram at Cat_Rector
Or visit her website, CatRector.com

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

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Maybe It’s About Time by Neil Boss

By HCNewton

On May 22, 2023

In Book Tour, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour for Neil Boss’ Maybe It’s About Time! I couldn’t fit it into my reading schedule, but 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.

Book Details:

Genre: Satire Fiction
Publisher: Matador
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 552 pages
Publication Date: September 5, 2022

About the Book:

Two people trapped in their different worlds. One by wealth and one by poverty. Twenty years working for The Firm has given Marcus Barlow everything he wants but has taken his soul in return. Finding a way to leave has become an obsession.

Claire Halford’s life hits rock bottom when she is caught stealing food from Tesco Express. Left alone by her husband with two small children and an STI, her suicide music is starting to play louder in her head.

A chance meeting brings them together. As a mystery virus from China starts to run riot across the country, their world’s collide and they find they have more in common than they knew.

Set in the early months of 2020, Maybe It’s About Time is a story about the difficulty of changing lives for the better. Starting as a funny and satirical view of the egocentric world of professional services, it gives way to a heart-warming story of an unlikely friendship that rejuvenates Marcus and Claire, giving them both hope for a better future.

Book Links:

Amazon UK ~ Amazon US ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

I retired from a career in the corporate world in November 2019 with three objectives. To travel around the world and fly fish in the most exotic locations, to play my electric guitar better than I do and to write a novel that I could be genuinely proud of. The pandemic and lockdown in March 2020 put my first two objectives on hold leaving me no option but to start writing. Two and half years later, ‘Maybe It’s About Time’, my first novel, was published.

As a piece of work, I am incredibly proud of it. It makes me laugh and cry in equal measure. I am even more proud that readers seem to be enjoying it just as much and it is getting great reviews.

Travel and fly fishing has now started again, my guitar playing is improving and a sequel to ‘Maybe It’s About Time’ is planned to start in 2023!

Author Links:

Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ LinkedIn

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

Saturday Miscellany—5/20/23

By HCNewton

On May 20, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

So, I saw Craig Johnson at a local bookstore last night, I’ll probably say more about that soon–but I’ll just leave it with, if you have the opportunity–take it. Even if you’ve never read him (or watched the show based on his novels). The man is a natural-born storyteller.

Before the Miscellany, let me ask one more time for questions to answer as part of my upcoming 10th Blogiversary commemoration. I’ve got some great ones already, but why not add yours to the stack?

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 Public Libraries Deserve Better Than Thistitle
bullet Intellectual Freedom and Why We Must Fight For It
bullet Patrick Rothfuss announced a new novella—this great bearded glacier has something coming out this year! Sure, it’s focused on a character I really don’t understand the fascination with…but so what? I’m beyond excited for this.
bullet The Work of the Audiobook
bullet All the Monsters in Jane Eyre—I don’t buy all of this piece…but I’m not sure how much I disagree with it, either. Regardless, a good read about a great book.
bullet Samantha Irby Refuses to Organize Her Piles of Books—Irby remains on my “should get around to trying list” but for some reason I clicked on this brief Q&A and really enjoyed it
bullet How To READ Audiobooks! (In 6 EASY Steps)—a handy video from Shelf Centered
bullet How Junie B. Jones Saved Dinnertime—how one book series really connected with one young reader
bullet James Cook Artwork—barely connected to the subject here…but this artwork created on typewriters is a must-see
bullet Molly Templeton has put together a list of A Few Reading Suggestions for When You Really Ought To Stop Playing Tears of the Kingdom—I thought about passing this along to one of my sons, but I think it might make him stop talking to me if I suggested something as preposterous as stopping playing it.
bullet Into Reading – The Hunger Games—1. Good post on The Hunger Games. 2. A fantastic idea for a series of posts over on Fi’s Bibliofiles…
bullet SFF Book Recs for Autism Acceptance Month—Justin Gross knows his SFF and shows it in this post
bullet 5 Reasons To Read Middle Grade Books As An Adult—I wish I’d read this post earlier in the week than I did–I tried saying some of the same things in my first abandonded post for The Manifestor Prophecy, I could’ve just referenced this and maybe saved the post.
bullet Arthurian Retellings Reading List—I’m tempted to turn this into my 2024 TBR
bullet How to Read More
bullet I feel like I should be linking to as many Wyrd and Wonder posts as I can…but why duplicate the efforts of Dear Geek Place and The Book Nook when I can just link to their Quest Logs instead?
bullet Why do moms get sidelined in SFF?—A great question that more people need to answer

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet The Only Truly Dead by Rob Parker, Narrated by: Warren Brown—the Audible Original Thirty Miles trilogy wraps up. I had to stop about an hour from the ending yesterday–which drove me nuts, but I knew if I kept going I wouldn’t be able to stop until it was done and the friend I was meeting for dinner probably would’ve been annoyed by that. If you’ve been sleeping on this series, you have no reason to any more.
bullet Harold by Steven Wright—a stream-of-consciousness novel from the POV of a 3rd grader in the 1960s over one day of school. Looks fantastic.
bullet Killing Me by Michelle Gagnon—the tagline sells it, “She escaped a serial killer. Then things got weird.” A funny (?) novel about a woman who is rescued from a serial killer, ends up in legal trouble, and runs to Vegas while being pursued by a killer. Or something along those lines…
bullet The Dog Sitter Detective by Antony Johnston—the first in a series of cozy mysteries about a retired actress turned dog-sitter/amateur detective (with a promise that nothing bad will happen to the dogs)

The Friday 56 for 5/19/23: Questland by Carrie Vaughn

By HCNewton

On May 19, 2023

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it.

from Page 56 of:
Questland

Questland by Carrie Vaughn

A mechanical whump vibrated under our feet.

“What was that?” Almonte said, moving her rifle to the ready.

A metallic slam clanged resoundingly, then another. A sudden, horrified realization came over me, and I looked back a her, wide-eyed.

“You know,” I said, “I didn’t check for traps.”

The ground under us dropped away, dirt and debris falling into a pit along with all of us.

WWW Wednesday, May 17, 2023

By HCNewton

On May 17, 2023

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

I really don’t have an idea for an intro to this post, so I’ll just give another plug to Ask Me (just about) Anything for My Upcoming Blogiversary. I’ve received some fun questions so far, but I bet yours will be just as fun!

Now, on to the WWW…

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading Questland by Carrie Vaughn–someone left me a comment last year telling me to go into it with low expectations–and I’m trying that, but it’s hard considering it’s Vaughn. Yesterday, I started listening to The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma, James Chen (Narrator) on audiobook. I haven’t found my groove with it yet, but I’m hoping I will.

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

Yesterday I finished two books that weren’t what I expected and are both going to be hard to talk about because I have too much to say about them: Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches and This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs, narrated by Susanna Hoffs and Juliet Stevenson on audio.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Fixit by Joe Ide (a triumph of a due date over my plans). My next audiobook should be what promises to be a dynamite conclusion to the Thirty Miles Trilogy—The Only Truly Dead by Rob Parker, Warren Brown (Narrator).

Blank Space

What about you?

Grandpappy’s Corner: God, Right Here: Meeting God in the Changing Seasons by Kara Lawler, Jennie Poh (Illustrator): A Little Dose of Natural Revelation

By HCNewton

On May 14, 2023

In Grandpappy's Corner, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living, YA/MG/Children's Books

Grandpappy's Corner Logo

God, Right Here:
Meeting God in the Changing Seasons

by Kara Lawler, Jennie Poh (Illustrator)

DETAILS:
Publisher: IVP Kids
Publication Date: June 20, 2023
Format: eARC
Length: 32 pg.
Read Date: May 7, 2023

What’s God, Right Here About?

God, right here.
God, right there.
God’s handiwork is everywhere.

With that as a starting point, Lawler takes the reader (and the read-to) on a tour of nature through a year’s worth of seasons. The point isn’t to learn about seasons or weather, or anything, but to see how God’s nature (flora, fauna, weather) reveals His work and care.

Let’s Talk about the Art for a Minute

It’s warm and friendly. Even the scenes depicting a chilly fall and snowy winter make you feel cozy and toasty. There’s a gentleness to the illustrations, too.

I’m failing at describing the art—as usual. Jennie Pho’s Instagram has some really good samples (including a Lucy and Mr. Tumnus drawing).

It’s not technically part of the art, but it’s part of the visual impact of the book, so I’ll talk about it here. The typesetting, or whatever you’re supposed to call it (it’d be lettering comic books), is excellent. There’s a variety of colors emphasizing words to match the theme of the page, it flows all over the page to follow the illustrations and add some movement. It’s eye-catching and serves to augment the art.

How is it to Read Aloud?

This is not the kind of book you have fun with, it’s not a fun read. It’s one to read when you’re trying to settle down—or better yet, have already settled down and want to snuggle up and get comfy.

It’s hard to think of toddlers as thoughtful but this is the kind of book for that kind of time.

It’s one of those where you will point to pictures as you read, and then go off on tangents talking about the ideas in the book. The book itself would take almost no time to read, but I can see this as the sort of thing the Grandcritter and I will linger over as we go through it.

* That’s a horrible stereotype, and I should be ashamed of it. But I know too many of them.

So, what did I think about God, Right Here?

This is a nice and pleasant book. Pleasant is the best word to describe this, really (and now that I’ve used it, my brain is stuck and I won’t be able to use another adjective for the rest of the post).

I feel like I should have another few paragraphs in me, but I don’t. I’ve said everything I can find to say about it (and I think I’ve used 2x the words that the book does). This is a pleasant read that’ll be good to use to talk and quiet down with.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from InterVarsity Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post, and my honest opinion—thanks to both for this opportunity.

3 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.
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