Category: Saturday Miscellany Page 1 of 25

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:
Literacy Statistics 2022-2023—We are going to kick things off this week on an incredibly down notes. If you’re prone to despondancy, you might want to avoid this.
Why We Need Fairy Tales—this will help you recover from those numbers
How Does the Writer Say Etcetera?—”Sumana Roy ponders the linguistic and aesthetic significance of ‘etceterization.'”
10 of the Most Original Murders in Mystery—This is a good list–even without the inclusion of Some Buried Ceasar. But that helps.
Matthew Hanover has put out New/Refreshed Covers for his novels—There are better reasons to pick them up (for example, the contents), but this is a good excuse if you haven’t gotten around to it.
It’s a Really Good Time to Get Loud About the Books You Love: Some ideas to help keep literature and the book community alive.—I try to do these already, but like Templeton, it seems like it’s needed more now (and I need the kick in the pants).
Why I Love to Read Reviews – A Defence of the Blogosphere, Blogging and Reviewers—hear, hear.
What Makes a Good Children’s Book?—another good ‘un

Not Really Book-Related, but I want to talk about it anyway:
Animaleague Baseball Batter Up! Board Game—One of my favorite local authors–who does great picture books (and has provided some of the images here), Jeremy Billups, has realseased his first board game! I got to sample an early version a couple of years ago, and am eager to get my hands on one of the final versions! Go give it a look-see (and, even better, pick one or three up for yourself!)

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Us by David Nicholls
I talked about the releases ofAgatha H. and the Voice of the Castle by Kaja Foglio and Phil Foglio, The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, and Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson—after he leaves the Corps, Walt needs a job. Why not try Alaska, a state that can make Wyoming look crowded?
The World According to Cunk by Philomena Cunk—just in time for the holidays, a history book that might include an actual fact or two, but does contain several laughs, as I wrote recently.
King Arthur & The Ladies of The Lake by Vincent Pompetti—I really enjoyed this graphic novel retelling of Arthurian legends.
An Icelandic Adventure: One Family’s Mostly Successful Quest for Puffins, Pleasure, and Perfect Pizza by S. Bavey—I’m pretty sure the subtitle tells you what you’re going to find. (but perfect pizza in Iceland seems like a stretch, but what do I know?)

A small list this week–between be so tired after work this week that I didn’t have the energy to do much online, I seemed to have spent most of my social media time following new people on Bluesky rather than actually, you know, seeing what anyone was saying. The X-odus is real (and “Hi!!!” to anyone who’s here for the first time because of it.)

But I do know that miscellanies are going to get long soon, one post from Pages Unbound has pointed out to me that we’re about to enter the Season of Lists–which is both fun and overwhelming. (and budget straining). I’m pretty much looking forward to it, while also feeling daunted about having to come up with my own soon.

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:
Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’ can be imported in India after court is told 1988 ban order can’t be found—Dogs still eat homework, eh?
Maximizing Time for Reading: Why reading—and reading widely—is more important than ever, and how to go about creating habits and practices to allow yourself the space and time
Florida’s Education Dept. releases a list of over 700 books removed in K-12 schools —I can understand (if not agree with) why some of these were removed from schools…but you gotta shake your head at a lot of these
Gifts for Babies and Toddlers (Board Book Edition) 2024—it’s that time of year again, isn’t it?
5 years of Spells & Spaceships: the journey so far and my 10 favourite books.—only 5? I thought I’d been reading this longer. And picking a top 10 from that period? No small feat.
I’m Okay with Books Being Perceived and Sold as Products (Rather Than Art)—I get this. I may have a knee-jerk reaction against the premise, but I see Krysta’s point.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Under the Radar SFF Podcast Blogger Interview with Jodie from W&S Blog—to discuss authors, favorite stories, and Jodie’s love for Dragonlance. Haven’t listened to it yet, but am looking forward to it.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Poison Fruit by Jacqueline Carey
Personal by Lee Child
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
Pickles and Ponies: A Fairy-Tale by Laura May

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
From Great Heights by Bryan McBee—SF and Magic. Very curious to see what McBee does with this.

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:
Who’s Really Writing Celebrity Novels? The writers and agents working behind the scenes tell us how it actually works.
Ranking 40 Popular Books That Are Actually Badly Written—this click-baity list is something largely to read to scoff at or argue with.
The Book News is Generally… Good?—after those two stories and all the ick of the last couple of weeks, who couldn’t use a little bit of good news (no matter what you may think of Tuesday’s results, it’s hard to deny that things have been rather nasty lately).
Dorothy Parker and the Art of the Literary Takedown: Her reviews are not contemptuous, a common pitfall for her imitators. They are simply unbridled in their dislike.—Okay, fine, if you’re going to be negative, do it like the Master. (I read so many people today that need to do this)
The Novel and the Dictator: On the Man Who Criticized Stalin Yet Lived—I’m really glad that I discovered Nadya Williams this year.
IYKYK: When Novels Speak a Language Only Part of the Internet Gets
Out of This World: Books to Read When You Need an Escape—Just in case anyone is interested in that sort of thing…
Comfort Reads: Feel-good Fiction for Rough Days—continuining the theme, Jodie has some great choices
Let’s Talk About Book Boyfriends—a.k.a. Fictophilia (my weakness is for Book Dogs/Pets, but I get it…)
September & October 2024 Community Posts!—Dini has collected some great posts can be found here.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution by Keith R.A. DeCandido
The Burning Room by Michael Connelly, So, Anyway… by John Cleese, Harry Harrison! Harry Harrison! by Harry Harrison, and Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg. (it’s been that long for the Ortberg?)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Teen Titans: Starfire by Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo (Illustrator)—My only real gripe with this series is the release timetable, so I’m really eager to dive in to see their take on Kory Anders.

Whoo-hoo! Tonight’s the night where we get a bonus hour of reading!! (which makes up for the one in the spring where they steal one). At least that’s the case for us in the U.S. of A., the rest of you already got that bonus, right?

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:
How To Find Comfort in Your Bookish Community in Stressful Times—Stressful times? What stressful times? Oh…right. Now. Silly me. (feel free to substitute the name of your local Indie Bookstore for “Rediscovered Books”)
Have you purchased a weirdly low-quality paperback book lately? This may be why.—that’d explain it
The Longest Long Words List: Don’t read this if you have hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words).—try to work some of these into conversation this week.
If You Like…by Olivia Blacke, author of A New Lease on Death—The TV shows that inspired the new book
Grief Is the Thing Worth Feeling: On Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story
Putting the Fangs into Fantasy: Why I Wrote my Book—Ed Crocker describes why he put Vampires and Werewolves into his Epid Fantasy…and probably convinced me to add it to Mt. TBR
The Most Iconic Speculative Fiction Books of the 21st Century—from Reactor Mag
I’m Not Sure I Miss All the Bookish Hype
Using Someone Else’s Tools: The Ethics of Playing in Another Creative’s Playground—Peat Long takes both sides in an argument and convinces me with each
The Magic-Wielding Characters Bracket Challenge Hub Page—If, like me, you’re trying to catch up on these posts, here’s a handy-dandy list.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu
And the release of: The Peripheral by William Gibson; The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss; and Drawn Blades by Kelly McCullough

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke—dark comedy, a ghost, a twentysomething fish-out-of-water, and amatuer detectvies stumbling through a murder mystery. What’s not to like? I rather enjoyed it.
The Late Lord Thorpe by Peter Grainger, read by Gildart Jackson—The PI, DC Smith, looks into a death and finds more than anyone expects (or so I guess)
What If… Marc Spector Was A Host To Venom? by Mike Chen—I’ve never really gotten into Venom the way that everyone else has seemed to, and Moon Knight isn’t my favorite either. Combining the two sounds like it could be interesting, and if anyone can convince me to jump on the train, it’s Mike Chen
The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn—is probably worth a look for the magic system alone, but the story, character, and setting make this look even better
Grave Talk by Nick Spalding—this is a novel about grieving with the help of an unlikely friend, bound by coincidence and geography
Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture–And the Magic That Makes It Work by Jesse David Fox—out now in paperback. Which is great, because I hadn’t heard of it in hardcover. It “tackles everything you need to know about comedy, an art form that has been under-considered throughout its history, even as it has ascended as a cultural force.”

This week’s Saturday Miscellany would have no problem in a 10-Items-Or-Less lane.

Tiny entry this week. But I think you’ll find it worth your time.

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:
Why History & Social Science Cannot Substitute for Classic Fiction—there’s a little snobbery there with the “Classic” bit, but once you account for that…
Judy-Lynn del Rey: The woman who revolutionized the fantasy genre is finally getting her due—a cool profile of an unsung SF/F hero
A Modest Request for a Little More Genre Chaos—Molly Templeton advocates for “gleefully mixing genres”
The Magic-Wielding Characters Bracket Challenge—I fell behind reading these this week, looking forward to catching up—you should, too.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Last Detective by Robert Crais
(and that’s it…very quiet week)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Good-Looking Ugly by Rob D. Smith—an ugly rageaholic is conned by a long-lost cousin to help her rip off a cockfighting championship inbetween court-ordered therapy sessions.
Remember You Will Die by Eden Robins—I’m not even going to pretend to summarize this book in a line or two…click the link. Love the idea behind this, hope the execution lives up to it.

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:
Bookselling Out: How the market transformed American bookstores—a fascinating article/review about what looks like an equally (or more) fascinating book on the history of American bookstores
Quiz: Can You Identify These Last Lines of Classic Mystery and Crime Novels?—I did not do well with this one…
“I Enjoy capturing the time we live in in my writing.” :Buzzkill’s Alison Gaylin—a good Q&A with Gaylin about her latest book.
Why Do Bad Adaptations Scare Us? Cashgrabs, Fandoms and the Terrifying Prospect of When He Was Wicked—I have no opinion on about When He Was Wicked/the prospects thereof, but I enjoyed the rest of it.
Sharpen Your Fangs: A Guide to Vampire Fall—”Vampire Fall”??? This list of books about vampires could make for a year’s TBR (well, if you augmented it a little)
The Magic-Wielding Characters Bracket Challenge—I typically list every entry when Witty & Sarcastic Book Club does a series, but I’m going to lose track if I try. So I’ll just put this link here and tell you to go read these.
Incoming: The ScifiMonth 2024 Challenge, Read-along and Buddy Reads—Bookforager provides a list of prompts for ScifiMonth 2024, it’s going to be a god one, folks. (I might even stick my foot in a little bit this year instead of just reading the posts)

This is just cool
Jeffrey Speight announced this week that this month’s profits from his books Paladin Unbound and Mystic Reborn will go to the Hurricane Helene Relief Fund. I’ve only heard good things about them (particularly Paladin Unbound). Get some good reading and do a little good, too.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Incarnate by Anton Strout
One Kick by Chelsea Cain—I’m still irked we never got a follow-up
L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais—sharing these posts lately about this re-read really makes me want to do another. Particularly when I think about this book.
I noted the release of The Younger Gods by Michael R. Underwood, too.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The More the Terrier by David Rosenfelt—I’m glad Rosenfelt puts out multiple books a year, or the fact that this is the 30th Andy Carpenter book would make me feel older than I already do. Still, as I recently wrote, this holiday installment is every bit as entertaining as the first books were.
An Instruction in Shadow by Benedict Jacka—the second book in the Stephen Oakwood series. I’m so excited to jump back into this world and learn a bit more about it—I’m seriously tempted to go without sleep for a couple of days so I can finish my current read so I can get to it.
Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin—Rebus, Rankin. ’nuff said.
The Waiting by Michael Connelly—Bosch. Ballard. Connelly. ’nuff said again.
Billy the Kid: The War for Lincoln County by Ryan C. Coleman—Billy the Kid is one of those characters that I’ve always been drawn to. Everything I’ve seen/heard about this book makes me certain that I’m going to relish this telling.
Dogs and Monsters: Stories by Mark Haddon—”eight mesmerizingly imaginative, deeply-humane stories that use Greek myths and contemporary dystopian narratives to examine mortality, moral choices and the many variants of love.”
Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris—the daughters of Jonathan Harker and Professor Moriarty investigate gruesome deaths in turn-of-the-century Paris

Is it Saturday already? I’d have believed it was October 8–or December 8*, actually—if you’d told me. Been one of those weeks.

* All the political advertisements on my social media feeds make that unbelievable, actually.

Three things make a list, we’re told. So my streak continues.
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:
What’s the Point of Epigraphs Anyway?—good question. I learned more about epigraphs than I expected to know about them ever here.
Pitting Literary Fiction Against Genre Fiction Is Intrinsically Silly: Stop allowing the quest for literary bonafides to get in the way of creativity and enjoyment—hear, hear.
Why you shouldn’t judge others for their reading tastes—Bookworm girl makes the same point, but from the reader’s POV.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Crime Time FM’s CHRISTINE BOYER In Person With Paul—answered pretty much every question I had about the book after reading, and was interesting beyond that. (it also reminded me to revisit her entry in Jacked.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
I didn’t post anything but my Saturday Miscellany that week. I don’t know what was going on, but it was keeping me busy. I did mention the release of a few books:

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
(not even a list this week, but I know next week there will be a good sized one.)
The Wishing Stone by Adam Holcombe—I’m chomping at the bit to tear into the second book in the Chronicles of Gam Gam. Judging by what I’m seeing on “the socials,” including this post from Witty and Sarcastic Book Club, there’s something to that buzz.

(also applies to my living room)

I’m going to be AFK for the day, so Tony, Owen, or anyone else: if there’s a mistake in this post, please do point it out, but it’ll be here for a while 🙂

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:
From No. 1 to No. 60, Readers’ Top Books Published in the Past Five Years—according to Goodreads, anyway
The Tyranny of the Best-Of List: On Navigating Book Lists with OCD
The Doomed Mouse Utopia That Inspired the ‘Rats of NIMH’—as someone who read Robert C. O’Brien’s book an estimated 100 times, I had to read this
Tom Wolfe at the Strand—a “brisk survey of [Wolfe’s] career” recently present at the Strand bookstore.
Lee Child with Michael Connelly – Safe Enough—Connelly and Child talk about his new short story collection
Five SFF Strategies for Plotting Around Pesky Parents: Are you the responsible, caring parent of a juvenile adventurer? You may want to upgrade your insurance…
Historical Fantasy – Where does the history end and the fantasy begin?—Shauna Lawless opines
How to Avoid Book Blogger Burnout

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Not a lot actually (October 2014 was a pretty quiet month for some reason), but I did note the release of: Incarnate by Anton Strout and Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution by Keith DeCandido.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Candle & Crow by Kevin Hearne—The last Ink & Sigil novel, the last novel in the Iron Druid universe, and one of Hearne’s best yet. I raved about it recently

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:
Kevin Hearne: A Niche that Needed Filling—Hearne talks about launching his own imprint
When Did SFF Get Too Big?—Good question. (fun intro, especially if you look at the foonotes)
Morning Brew gives a fun reaction to the NaNoWriMo AI kerfuffle
In Praise of Things Being Just Plain Good—Yes. Just yes.
Philosophical Picture Books- Stories for Younger Readers with Hidden Depths!—Oraguntan Librarian has given Grandpappy’s Corner a shopping list
Beowulf and Science Fiction: Shannon Knight Talks About Her Book and the Old English Poetic Tradition—a nice little guest post on Witty and Sarcastic Book Club

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Thriller Zone Episode 198 Lee Goldberg and the Power of Humor in the Thriller Genre—I can see where Goldberg is coming from, but I think his self-publication rant is wrong. The rest of this episode? Golden. It could’ve gone on for another 2 hours and I’d have enjoyed it all.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week? (this was a good week)
Premonitions by Jamie Schultz—a criminally underselling Urban Fantasy Crime Novel that I’d recommend to anyone
The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey—that rare Zombie Novel that I loved (and re-read)
Indigo Slam by Robert Crais

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
A Sky Full of Dragons by Tiffany McDaniel, Ayesha L. Rubio (Illustrator)—I talked about this a couple of weeks ago when I first read about it. I’m still weirded out about by the idea of McDaniel writing this, “ight-hearted and whimsical middle grade fantasy about a young girl who must save her witch aunt from an uncommonly voracious hat.” But I can’t wait to read it.
The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C. M. Waggoner—”Librarian Sherry Pinkwhistle keeps finding bodies–and solving murders. But she’s concerned by just how many killers she’s had to track down in her quaint village. None of her neighbors seem surprised by the rising body count…but Sherry is becoming convinced that whatever has been causing these deaths is unnatural.” This description had me at this paragraph.
Monster Movie! by Chuck Wendig—”Ethan Pitowski is afraid of everything. Luckily, his best friends don’t mind, and when their entire class gets invited to watch a long-buried horror movie at the most popular boy in school’s house, Ethan’s friends encourage him to join in the fun. But when the “scariest movie ever made” reveals itself to be not just a movie about a monster, but a movie that is a monster, only a terrified Ethan escapes its clutches. Now he must find a way to stop the monster and save his friends (and also, um, get their heads back).”
The Most Boring Book Ever by Brandon Sanderson, Kazu Kibuishi (Illustrator)—”In this humorous epic adventure, a boy is, on the one hand, having a very ordinary day. He does his math homework, his chores, and takes a nap….all while a surprising adventure unfolds around him involving pirates, dragons, and other unexpected perils.” A Sanderson picture book? Hmm.

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:
Banned Books Week is next week. Commemorate this as you are wont. The theme is Freed Between the Lines
College Students Not Reading Is an Issue, So Teachers Are Adjusting How Classes Look—A little more on the distressing development (also, I want shelves like the one on the right of the photo at the top of the page)
Smaller, shorter books aren’t the only way to make publishing more climate friendly.—I’m not so sure about the “smaller, shorter” part, but the rest makes sense.
The Women Are There: Re-imagining Classic Adventure Novels—I had a very similar experience with the Illustrated Classics, so I started off hooked by the article. I like where Post took it, too.
‘I wanted to write a suburban Reacher’: Richard Osman talks to Lee Child about class, success and the secret to great crime writing—a fun piece. Also, I feel bad that I didn’t realize that’s what Bogdan was
Good-Looking Ugly: Cover reveal and a conversation with Rob D. Smith—Mt. TBR grew a bit after reading this
The A to Z of British (and Irish) Mythological Creatures
A Fun Thread started by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club about first lines and what they can accomplish

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Barbican Station Gary Oldman on SLOW HORSES Season 4—I haven’t listened yet, but that has to be good. Also, congrats Jeff on a major upgrade in guests!! (nothing against most of your typical guests, but c’mon…)

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Not much, actually, I spent a lot of time reading and not a lot of time writing. But I managed to post about:
Doctor Who: Silhouette by Justin Richards
Sunset Express by Robert Crais
And the releases of: Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato; The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey; Black Water by Faith Hunter; and Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon by David Barnett

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg—the second novel in the Sharpe & Walker series looks great. Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone showing up is a fun bonus
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman—Osman steps away from our friends in Coopers Chase to introduce us to a mostly-retired PI and his daughter-in-law who has taken over the business.
Hampton Heights: One Harrowing Night in the Most Haunted Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Dan Kois—”On a cold winter’s evening in 1987, six middle-school paperboys wander an unfamiliar Milwaukee neighborhood, selling newspaper subscriptions, fueled by their manager Kevin’s promises of cash bonuses and dinner at Burger King. But the freaks come out at night in Hampton Heights. Sent out into the neighborhood in pairs, the boys will encounter a host of primordial monsters–and triumph over them.”
Lines Crossed by Ian Robinson—The exciting third novel in the Sam Batford series is re-released by the good people at The Book Folks. You can read what I had to say about its previous incarnation here.