Category: Blog Series Page 93 of 232

Saturday Miscellany—4/29/23

On April 29, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

I knew this was going to be a quiet week here, but…it’s been too quiet for me. Hoping to get back into the swing of things next week, but I’m not going to promise anything. How are ya’ll doing?

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 It’s the 10th Annual Independent Bookstore Day—go out there and support at least one!
bullet S.A. Cosby Is Finding His Religion—in case you weren’t already excited for All the Sinners Bleed
bullet Neil Gaiman is Releasing an Album?—sure, why not? Looks promising.
bullet MWA Announces the 2023 Edgar Award Winners
bullet As interesting as the awards are, I’m more excited because the Edgars means that it’s time for Crime Reads to post their The State of the Crime Novel Roundtable Discussion with the Edgar Nominees Part 1 and Part 2
bullet For Poetry Month, Tor.com put together this list of Eight SFF Books Written in Verse—a.k.a. 8 Novels I Won’t Read, but Some of You Might Want to Try
bullet “Holmes and Watson in Manhattan”: Musings on the Creation of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin—I will always read and always share a good Wolfe and Archie piece
bullet What I Need Is a Literary Mood Ring—Molly Templeton asks, “how does a person go in search of the precisely right book that will incite a feeling?”
bullet Duty Is Heavier Than A Mountain: A Ramble on Men and Mental Burdens in Early Epic Fantasy—Peat Long continues to ramble on men and Early Epic Fantasy
bullet The Magic of Rereading Children’s Books
bullet The Pain of Publishing
bullet My Read-bait Words in the Synopsis or Reviews
bullet Should We Be Paying More For Books?—I’m cheap enough to want to say no, but I’m pretty sure we should be
bullet Star Rating System: Keep it or Abandon it Altogether?
bullet What Plots Peat Likes—another good series by Peat continues…
bullet Real Books: Funny Covers from Published Titles (I’ve read one of these and have had two others on my to-buy list for a bit, might have to add more)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet The Eden Test by Adam Sternbergh—a thriller about a marriage on the brink. Not typically my kind of thing, but Sternbergh’s going to have a great take on this idea up his sleeve.
bullet Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane—”an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.”

The Friday 56 for 4/28/23: The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson

By HCNewton

On April 28, 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 (and 57) of:
The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True

The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson

“Hey, wait a second!” the obsessive among you say (I’m going to pretend there are people who obsessively read this blog), “you already did a Friday 56 for this book! What gives? Is this just a re-run?” No, no, this is not a re-run (but that’s a good idea when I’m pressed for time). Gibson’s publishers recently re-issued this book with a fancy new cover, so I’m using this as an excuse to share this thing that made me smile (and made me hungry, too).

“We have to go back,” said Nadi as she stared into her wine glass.

“To Velenia?” asked Rummy.

“Yes.”

“Where there’s a homicidal wizard with an incredibly powerful weapon who has every intention of turning us into shish roundabobs?”

(Shish roundabobs were an ingenious invention that was revolutionizing food service across Erithea; unlike shish kabobs, which are pointy and pose constant danger throughout a meal, to the point (pun fully intended) where you can’t really relax and enjoy the lovely combination of meat and vegetables they offer, shish roundabobs are fashioned from a stick that has a pointed end in order to slide easily through food, but the pointy part snaps off once the food is on to reveal a soft, round tip that is much less dangerous if you happen to poke yourself in the eye with it. Even better, the stick is hollow, and can be filled with whatever substance best compliments the meal you’re eating—yogurt sauce, hot sauce, garlic sauce, lizard blood…whatever you fancy. It’s been whispered that the woman who invented them once lost an eye while eating a shish kabob, but I met her, and the worst injury she ever suffered eating a shish kabob was a tiny scratch on the roof of her mouth that took about a minute and a half to heal; she’s an exceptional marketer, however, so she generally wears an eyepatch wherever she goes—often switching it from one eye to the other so that she doesn’t strain her vision—and lets people make assumptions about the dangers of shish kabob consumption, leading, in most cases, to an uptick in sales for her invention. She’s pretty amazing.)

But, I digress.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Conviction by Jack Jordan

By HCNewton

On April 27, 2023

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

I’m excited to welcome the Compulsive Reader Book Tour for Jack Jordan’s new novel, Conviction this morning. This looks like a solid legal thriller with a great twist, but why read my speculation–let’s get some details about the book.

Book Details:

Book Title: Conviction by Jack Jordan
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Release date: June 22, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 432 pages

About the Book:

To steal a man’s freedom all it takes is…
CONVICTION

Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept and burning their house to the ground.

When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could make her career.

A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must throw the case or the secret about her husband’s disappearance will be revealed. Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about, until she does as she is told.

Neve must make a choice – go against every principle she has ever had, or the people she loves will die.

‘No one crafts a dilemma quite like Jack Jordan. Conviction is a tour de force of a legal thriller that will have you guessing at every turn and then gasping when the plot inevitably catches you unawares. His characters are beautifully and shockingly flawed yet so vividly drawn you just can’t help investing in them – and if you’re anything like I was, you’ll be swept away on a thrilling ride that starts from the very first page’ Janice Hallett

‘A masterclass in misdirection. Smart, stylish, taut and twisting. Conviction is Jack Jordan’s best yet’ Chris Whitaker

‘Jack Jordan goes from strength to strength with this expertly written tale of retribution and blackmail. Woven with Jack’s trademark moral dilemma, this is a book where the line between good and bad is never as obvious as it seems. Loved it!’ Sam Holland

‘Verdict is in – Jack Jordan is officially the king of the moral dilemma. Conviction is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that doesn’t relent until the very last sentence‘ Laure Van Rensburg

‘Raced through Conviction by the talented Jack Jordan. Tense and fast paced, this is a definite pre-order!’ Karen Hamilton

‘I loved every minute of this thrilling read. It combines the best of Sarah Vaughan and John Grisham: immersive, visual writing with twist after twist turning the screw tighter with ever page. Take a bow Jack “jeopardy” Jordan‘ Jo Callaghan

About the Author:

Jack Jordan is the global bestselling author of Do No Harm, Anything for Her, My Girl, A Woman Scorned, Before Her Eyes, and Night by Night an Amazon No.1 bestseller in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Jack’s novel Do No Harm was a Saturday Times Bestseller and was longlisted for a Dead Good Reader Award in 2022.

My thanks to Tracy Fenton and Compulsive Readers for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

WWW Wednesday, April 25, 2023

By HCNewton

On April 26, 2023

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

My reading this week has been greatly reduced (actually didn’t crack a book yesterday at all, a true rarity). Part of that is due to work (just a couple of training days), but the biggest thing is that the Grandcritter has arrived, and I’ve had a hard time focusing on anything that isn’t him. He’s a wonderful little guy, and cuter than everything that’s not Grogu—and even that knight might not be able to compete with the Critter (don’t worry, I’m not going to plaster the page with a bunch of pictures). So, yeah, it turns out something can trump books in this reader’s life. Still, I managed to get almost enough material for this post.

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

The Three Ws are:

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

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I seem to have taken a break from Kneading Journalism by Tony Ganzer, but I will get back to it today. I’m reading Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and am listening to Morning Star by Pierce Brown, Tim Gerard Reynolds (Narrator) on audiobook, it’s hard to know which is more brutal—but I’m leaning toward Chain-Gang All-Stars, if only because the future described there is a lot closer to when we are now (and it’s much more likely to happen than Brown’s future).

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I most recently finished Dave Barry’s Swamp Story, a truly zany story, and The Stench of Honolulu by Jack Handey (Narrator) on audio, which wanted to be zany.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow and I haven’t even thought about what my next audiobook should be, thankfully, Morning Star is a long one, so I have some time before I have to come up with something.

Blank Space

Have you been reading anything good lately?

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Reaper’s Quota by Sarah McKnight

By HCNewton

On April 26, 2023

In Book Tour, Fiction

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for Sarah McKnight’s The Reaper’s Quota. Go check out https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours over the next few days to see a lot of bloggers write interesting things about this book. The Reaper’s Quota 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:

Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Dark Humour, Satire
Age Category: Young Adult
Release date: November 10, 2021
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 190 pages

About the Book:

Meet Grim Reaper #2497. Behind on his work, he must complete his quota of thirty Random Deaths or face termination in the worst way. Faced with an insurmountable task and very little time to complete it, Reaper #2497 struggles to hang on to the one thing he’s not supposed to have – his humanity.

Book Links:

Amazon.ca ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

Sarah McKnight has been writing stories since she could pick up a pencil, and it often got her in trouble during math class. After a brief stint teaching English to unruly middle schoolers in Japan, she decided she wasn’t going to put off her dream of becoming a writer any longer and set to work. With several novels in the making, she hopes to tackle issues such as anxiety, depression, and letting go of the past – with a little humor sprinkled in, too. A St. Louis native, she currently lives in Pennsylvania with her wonderful husband and three cats. You can find her on Twitter @mcknight_writes and www.sarahmcknightwrites.com.

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

COVER REVEAL: Man on a Murder Cycle by Mark Pepper

By HCNewton

On April 25, 2023

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

Welcome to The Irresponsible Reader’s part in the Cover Reveal for Mark Pepper’s Man on a Murder Cycle!

Maybe it’s just me, but the Blurb—or maybe just the tagline—is enough to pique my interest, I don’t need the cover. Then again, with a cover like this one…

Book Blurb

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?

Publication date: March 30, 2023

Purchase Link

Get it from Red Dog Press

(I’m sure it’ll also be available at other online booksellers and whatnot, but why not support an independent publisher? It helps a lot if early pre-orders go through them.)

And now…

The Cover

Man On a Murder Cycle

Once again, Red Dog Press nails the cover. I see that on a shelf, I’m stopping to take a second look and read the back. This would lead to me buying it. Pretty much what a cover is supposed to do, come to think of it..

As good as the cover is, I’m betting the interior of the book is better—you can (and should) pre-order this now at: Red Dog Press. I know I will be.

My thanks to Red Dog Press for the invitation to participate in this reveal and the materials they provided.

Grandpappy’s Corner: Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall: The Story of a House That Was Also a Home

By HCNewton

On April 24, 2023

In Grandpappy's Corner, YA/MG/Children's Books

Grandpappy's Corner Logo

Farmhouse

by Sophie Blackall

DETAILS:
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 13, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 40 pgs.
Read Date: April 21, 2022

What’s Farmhouse About?

It’s about a Farmhouse (no, really!) and its residents. It tells the story of a large family (from an indeterminate time, but not recent) growing up, growing older, and departing their home and leaving it as a house.

As the years pass, the house falls into disrepair and a new type of resident moves in—animals of various species and sizes. Eventually, the house is about to fall apart and is found by someone fairly contemporary to us—and its story gets told.

Let’s Talk about the Art for a Minute

This is a pretty, pretty book. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know how a child is going to react to this art. But I can’t imagine any adult reading this and not being captivated. Maybe you can talk about the drawings and layers (more about that in a moment) with the child as you read it.

The last few pages of the book describe how the author (as a character in the story) created the art and the book. This is just great idea and fits the overall arc here—and (at least the first time) is a nice twist to the family story.

There’s also an Author’s note at the end for the adult to read that’s a lot more detailed about the way the art was created. This is a very nice bonus and will equip the adult to go back later and explain all the craft involved. For me, this is not the way I think at all—I can’t imagine taking all the bits and pieces that Blackall did and turning them into something like this. But I’m so glad someone did.

How is it to Read Aloud?

Well, the book is really one reallllllly long sentence, so if you’re going to be pedantic and uptight about that kind of thing, you’re going to run out of breath and pass out. Don’t do that.

Thankfully, it works pretty well to just read a page at a time.

This is not one of those books that’s fun to read—there’s no fun rhyme, no goofy wordplay, or that kind of thing. That’s also a blessing—you can just relax and bask in the warmth of this book. As such, it’s really pleasant to read aloud.

So, what did I think about Farmhouse?

In the beginning, I was pretty “meh” about this book—not that I disliked it, but I didn’t really care about it. But by the midpoint, it had worked its charm on me—and then when the author came along? I was totally won over.

This is a simple book, about a simpler time, told (in words and pictures) in an attractive way that will make fans of older readers, and likely younger readers (I’m assuming a Caldecott winner is a better gauge of what her audience will find appealing than me). It’s one I can’t wait to share.

3.5 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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Saturday Miscellany—4/22/23

By HCNewton

On April 22, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

I spent more hours this week interacting with people after work hours than I’m used to (well, people who don’t live with me), which meant that I had very little time to do the kinds of reading that leads to things getting posted here. C’est la vie…

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 National Library Week kicks off on Monday, the theme this year is “There’s More to the Story,” spotlighting the all the things libraries do.
bullet I spent all night at the Last Bookstore. Things got spooky—a bookstore sleepover is such a great idea
bullet Memes-field Park? ‘Digital natives’ are flirting with Jane Austen’s vision of the ideal man all over again
bullet What Do Modern Mystery Novels and Medieval Mystery Plays Have in Common? Sin.
bullet Nancy Drew and the Case of the Guilty Pleasure—how a young reader jumped the gap between blue-spined mysteries to those with yellow-spines
bullet It’s Not The Size Of The Dog: A ramble on Small Men in early Epic Fantasy—a fun follow-up to Peat’s previous ramble about Large Men in Fantasy
bullet Top 5 Tolkien Metal Bands—I didn’t even know this was a thing…
bullet Stop the Audiobook Hate—it seems so stupid that this is a thing that people need to say, but…
bullet What Worldbuilding Peat Likes—another follow-up from Peat Long, some good stuff here (probably doesn’t need to be said)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet City of Dreams by Don Winslow—the second of Winslow’s swan-song trilogy is out, and getting nothing but (likely well-deserved) raves
bullet The Rhythm of Time by Questlove and S. A. Cosby—I’m super-curious about what a collaboration between these two authors would produce—and then you make it a MG Fantasy (that sounds fun no matter who wrote it)? I’m dying to find out.
bullet Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen—she solved one murder as an amateur, what can Annie McIntyre do as she trains as a P.I.? I had some very positive things to say about it recently.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Bachir Bastien, who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.

The Friday 56 for 4/21/23: The Deal Goes Down by Larry Beinhart

By HCNewton

On April 21, 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:
The Deal Goes Down

The Deal Goes Down by Larry Beinhart

Trees fight for life. If you climb to the high, rocky places, where the soil’s been stripped by the beating of the winds, day and night, you’ll see the pines hanging on, their roots crawling into the splits between the stones and wrapping tight around them, like the crew of a ghost sailing ship, desperately clinging forever to the lines as they ride through an eternal storm. .

This love of life that we go on about, how precious it is and such, is just a mechanism. Spiders and flies, blades of grass, and bacteria have it. Any form of life that doesn’t have it gets wiped out. Ipso facto, it’s built in, like spark plugs in an internal combustion engine. We spend endless hours wondering if our life will be short or long, good or bad, worthwhile or worthless, then death comes, and we have no idea at all.

A Few Quick Questions with…Elliott Linker

By HCNewton

On April 19, 2023

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Comics, Fiction, Grandpappy's Corner, YA/MG/Children's Books

I talked about Linker’s book earlier today, and now I’m excited to bring you this Q&A. This whole experience—from seeing the book at the Library’s Indie Book Fair and getting him to sign it through this Q&A—has been a delight for me. Which is probably why I ended up asking him more questions than I normally do—I’m just glad he took the time to answer me (and I have so many follow-ups that I want to ask!). Hopefully, you enjoy this at least 10% as much as I did.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? (how old are you, what grade are you in, career plans, and that kind of thing—whatever you want to say)
I am 9 years old and in the 3rd grade. I want to be an author and a football player when I grow up. I like to read a lot. My favorite authors are JK Rowling, Kazu Kibuishi, Dav Pilkey, and the authors of The 39 Clues. I also like building with Legos and I like Star Wars.

Did George the Banana start out as a school assignment or did you just decide to write and draw a comic book/graphic novel one day? Are you like most authors who have books they’ve tried before and decided to not show anyone, or is this your first?
I just decided to start writing my own comic book last summer. I have tons of books that I have written that I didn’t want to show anyone. I still have stories that I have written that I don’t want to share.

Is George based on someone you know, or did you me him up completely?
I made George up. I don’t really remember how he came into my imagination.

Before you start writing, do you have a plan for the story or pictures? Or do you just make things up panel by panel?
I just make things up panel by panel.

Have you read or watched anything to teach you how to go make a comic book/graphic novel? (things like panel sizes, flow of the pictures, and so on) Or have you just read enough that you learned that way?
I have just read enough that I learned that way. My parents did take me to the Boise Comic Arts Festival last Fall to try to gain a little more experience and I was able to have a professional comic artist/author review my “portfolio”… aka, George the Bannana.

Did you do all the art—lettering, drawing, coloring—by yourself, or did you get someone to help? If you did get help, did you tell them what you wanted or did you let them do it on their own? Did you have to tell them to try something else because you didn’t like a color or something? How did that work? (are you a tough boss?)
I did all the writing and illustrating but my mom helped me with the coloring. I told my mom what colors I wanted things most of the time, especially for the colors of the characters, cars, buildings… my Mom just made decisions about the blank background space. My mom asked me what colors I wanted if she wasn’t sure what I wanted.

Why did you decide to publish this? Did your family give you a lot of support and encouragement to do it?
I like telling stories and I want to share my stories. I want to make people laugh. Yes, my family gave me a lot of support. We weren’t sure about how to publish my book so it took my mom a lot of time to find out.

What was the hardest part about writing or drawing George the Banana? What did you do to get past that?
I didn’t have a hard time writing or drawing George the Bannana: Book 1

What are some of your favorite books to read? Either graphic novels or other kinds?
Amulet, The 39 Clues, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Cat Kid Comic Club, Dog Man, Zita the Space Girl, Captain Underpants and The Bad Guys

What’s next for Elliott Linker, author/artist?
George the Bannana: Book 2, including Volume 4: The Fight, Volume 5: Connecting Forces and Volume 6: The Last Stand

Thanks for taking the time to answer these—and thanks for making George the Banana, I really enjoyed reading it and I hope you keep creating! Be sure to let me know when Book 2 is available, I’ll snatch it up in a heartbeat!

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