Category: Saturday Miscellany Page 11 of 25

I really don’t have much in the way of introduction today (or content, really). I’ve spent the last couple of days pondering something that maybe you have insight into/experience with: With less than a month left, and certain goals left unfinished–why do I keep going to the Library, and reading things that aren’t going to help me get to those goals? (Sure, I’ve been on the list for some of these books for weeks/months, but…)

You may note the absence of any New Releases this week–as usual, I assume that just means I missed seeing something. Clue me in.

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 Is “I Have No Idea,” Ken? I owe my recent “Jeopardy!” appearance — and spectacular flame-out — to books.—If I’m just going to talk about all the benefits and joys of reading here, I’m going to have to talk about the downsides here, too. I enjoyed this former contestant’s appearance—even if she underperformed. This little essay was just as fun.
How to Succeed in Publishing by Really, Really Trying and Getting Lucky—this is primarily advice for writers, but A. Lee Martinez also gives a pretty good perspective on a career from years in the trenches (which is more of my thing to share)
As a Sequel to a Recent Post: One Kay for The Flood Circle—a quick update from Harry Connolly (and hey, if I share an earlier post, I should share the sequel)
Where to start reading grimdark, no matter the genre you prefer—A handy “listicle of listicles” to guide a reader into Grimdark.
Purposely Reading Bad Books—It’s a fun video, but mostly I’m sharing this in solidarity with the thinking behind her recent reads. If I prepped my year-end lists this early, I’d be compelled to pick the same kind of reads myself.
FFA’S Most Anticipated Titles of 2023
As with all good things, Damppebbles’s annual recommendation-fest, #R3COMM3ND3D has come to an end for this year. These last few are just as enticing as those that have come before.
…with #BookBlogger Patricia B.
…with #BookBlogger Sue Bavey
…with #BookBlogger David
…with #BookBlogger Emma—our host closes out the month.
Can Any Book Truly Be Timeless?
Two Sided Coins and Seeing Story Weaknesses As Strengths—Peat’s focus is on the writing side, but thinking along these lines can be a real help when we’re thinking/talking/writing about what we read.

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:
Borrower returns library book 47 years past due, provides explanation in ‘thoughtful letter’
The Mysteries of Encyclopedia Brown: The Books, The Lawsuits, The HBO Show?!—Who doesn’t want to stop and learn more about ol’ Encyclopedia?
Damppebbles’s annual recommendation-fest, #R3COMM3ND3D is in the home stretch now, this week’s offerings are diverse genre-wise, but share a similar high quality.
…with #Author Terry Tyler
…with #Reviewer Davida Chazan
…with #Author Rachel Sargeant
…with #BookBlogger Jude Wright
…with #BookBlogger Rae
…with #BookBlogger Jo
…with #BookBlogger Wendy W.
Enough of 2022 (for a minute), let’s glance at 2023 with The Real Book Spy’s Our (Way too) Early Look at Notable 2023 Thrillers, Part Two, Part 3—my dance card is already starting to look a little packed
I shared some of the posts last year from the series Neurodivergence in Fiction. It’s been brought back with a broadened view and kicks off with this post from A.C. Cross, Mental Health in Fiction: Writing Through the Pain—I expect this series will as good—if not better—than its predecessor.
Thoughts After Writing Lots of Negative Reviews
10 Funny Reasons Why I prefer Physical Books

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Don’t Remember Me Like This—I keep meaning to fit this “a podcast of short stories, memoir, satire, commentary, and essays with an occasional seizure of fiction, interviews and maybe even poetry” into my rotation, but I haven’t yet. I enjoyed Barber’s book a few years ago, and am looking forward to the same kind of humor in audio form.
Blood Brothers Episode 111 with Robert Crais—I’ve heard Crais on a decent number of podcasts, but he seems looser and less canned than I’m used to here

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Little Ghost by Chris McDonald—McDonald launches a new series—this one promises a noir feel about a PI in Denver. Looking forward to diving in.
The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar—the sisters pair up again for more stories of racism that you have to laugh at (so you don’t burn down the world)
NYPD Red 7: The Murder Sorority by Marshall Karp—Karp takes over control with this series entry about a hunt for a team of assassins taking down notorious New Yorkers. Which is an inadequate description, really. You should read my post from last week instead.

It’s been a quiet week on the blog, I know. I’m going through one of those spells where I just have no energy and fall asleep at my keyboard while writing. I managed to get 1/3 of my planned posts for the week up. So now I have no energy and a paralyzing anxiety about things that pretty much only I care about. It’s a fun combination, I highly recommend avoiding it🙂 I trust that I’ll shake it off (I always have before), but in the meantime, expect things to be slim around here.

Meanwhile, I’m hoping that the people who keep Twitter going are able to stabilize that ship, because despite all the helpful posts about going to Mastadon, I just don’t feel smart enough to figure it out (and yes, I’m this close to hiring one of my kids to do set it up for me…I can’t believe I’m at the age where I’m relying on my kids to do this for me). I hope I don’t lose track of all of you in the seemingly-immanent collapse.

But for now, here’s a quick miscellany to wrap up the week!

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:
125 Most Borrowed Books—In honor of its 125th Anniversary, the Brooklyn Public Library posted a list of its 125 most-borrowed books. It’s a fun list and one that gives a pretty clear view of their primary borrowing demographic.
Author Sarah Maclean shared a handy-dandy thread on how to keep up with favorite authors in a post-Twitter world
Behind the Blue Wall: How my time in the LAPD Academy helped Shape My Series—Aaron Philip Clark gives some background for his series
Damppebbles’s annual recommendation-fest, #R3COMM3ND3D keeps chugging along and the hits keep coming—some great-looking reads this week (as per usual).
…with #BookBlogger Carol
…with #BookBlogger HC Newton (what does he know, anyway? Guy can’t even handle social media platforms)
…with #Author Joy Kluver
…with #BookBlogger J – LoveBooksReadBooks
…with #Bookstagrammer Zoebeesbooks
…with #Bookstagrammer Lynda Checkley
…with #BookBlogger Namrata Ganti
’Tis the Season to Buy Books … for Other People—a guide to giving books as gifts. Not just for the upcoming season, these suggestions apply year-round.
Christmas gift ideas for book lovers – edition 2022-2023—even for those of us not big on certain seasonal observances, I enjoy looking at this kind of posts (and really like #3)
The Six Stages of Having Too Many Books—I can relate to this—also, I think it’s amusing enough to justify putting up with The New Yorker trying to sell a subscription.
Is listening to an audiobook, reading?—Are we all fed up with this question yet? Delany makes his position clear early on.
In Defence of Nasty Reviews—preach it! That line from Joanna Russ is one I’m going to employ at every opportunity.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Page Break with Brian McClellan Ep 55 – Nicholas Eames – Epic Fantasy Author—a fun chat, and a little glimpse at the next book in the trilogy

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
title by Cherie Priest—everyone’s favorite Travel Agent/rookie psychic is back in this strong follow-up. I opined about it a couple of weeks ago (back when I seemed to be able to write things).
Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember by Lauren Graham—I find Graham’s writing as least as charming as her acting, so I can’t wait to dive into this jog down memory lane. (Also, it’ll check off one of the last book challenge items I have this year.)
The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz—Horowitz himself (well, the fictional one) is the prime suspect in this book’s murder—will Hawthorne be able to help him? More importantly, will he want to?
Welcome to the Game by Craig Henderson—I can’t resist a good high-speed car scene in print or in film, this one looks like it should have a few (and probably some other gripping material).
How to Survive Everything by Ewan Morrison—An estranged father kidnaps his teenaged children to help them survive an impending pandemic that he’s certain is around the corner (even if no one else is).

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

Between Twitter collapsing and insert-your-own-description of Election Day, I didn’t see a lot of bookish things to read this week (could be me being distracted by the books I was working on more than the other items, honestly). So this is going to be another skimpy entry. By all means, point me at things you think I missed. We’ve also got the holiday season commencing, so that typical results in a plethora of things to read or a real desert.

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:
Today in AWWWW: Reading out loud to dogs improves literacy in kids.—Along these lines, my daughter’s work has taken her to a few events at a local library where kids can read to therapy-dogs-in-training, as a way to help both participants. Which is about the most wholesome thing I can think of.
5 Helpful Ways to Overcome Reader’s Block—I’m pretty sure almost every piece on Blocks/Slumps I share has these tips, but who knows… (I just can’t help myself)
Carlisle author MW Craven’s detective Washington Poe gives boost to Cumbria—a nice side effect to being the home of one of the greats
Damppebbles’s annual recommendation-fest, #R3COMM3ND3D, is in full swing—be sure to drop by for all the temptation and maybe a new favorite or twelve:
…with BookBlogger Joanne
…with BookBlogger Kate
…with BookBlogger Anita
…with BookBlogger Emily Quinn
…with Blogger, Reviewer and CrimeFictionCommentator Ayo Onatade
…with Author Pernille Hughes
…with Bookstagrammer Charlotte Bonner
The Anxiety of the TBR Shelf—co-sign
23 of the Most Iconic Young Adult Books of All Time—I don’t consider myself much of a YA reader (not opposed to it, but, you know), but I’ve read a larger number of these than I’d expected to
5 Millennial-Approved Young Adult Book Series That Are Still Going Strong

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Thriller Zone Episode 105: Robert Crais, author of Racing The Light—a short and snappy chat with the great

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Desert Star by Michael Connelly—Ballard gives Bosch one last shot at his White Whale—the killer of a family of four who has gotten away with it for far too long. Expect a very positive post from me next week.
Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson—like most Wilson books, this seems to defy summarizing in a line or two. Click the link for a description.
Blue Like Me by Aaron Philip Clark—this sequel to Under Color of Law puts the LAPD detective-turned-PI on the hunt for a cop-killer.

I don’t think I have much to say today before diving into things (I rarely do, probably, I’m just rarely self-aware enough to stop talking), so let’s skip my blather and get right to the good stuff:
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:
Words we think we know, but can’t pronounce: the curse of the avid reader—Been there, done that. I particularly enjoy when strong Jeopardy! contestants display this. If those masters of the minutiae stumble, I can get away with it, too.
On the Cult of Craftism
‘It provoked an erotic shock in me’ – Marian Keyes, Nick Hornby, Leïla Slimani and other writers on the books that changed them
Five Mysteries That Inspire Serious Childhood Favorite Vibes: Find out what mystery you should read next based on your favorite childhood books.
A Milestone, of a Sort: One Kay for The Iron Gate—Harry Connolly (who I will convince more of you to read if it’s the last thing I do) looks at his sales and ponders the state of his career
My First Thriller: S.A. Cosby—A great profile of Cosby and his first novel.
Thoughts on Cozy Fantasy by K. R. R. Lockhaven—Lockhaven dropped by Fanfiaddict to offer some thoughts on the subgenre. Apparently, I’ve been reading it longer than I realized.
Dolls, weirdness, and imaginary numbers…—Fahrenheit Press announces an upcoming release. All I can say is that you have to read about it. (and probably order it)
#R3COMM3ND3D is back! This is likely my favorite annual blog series and I’ve already been tempted by too many books to read (and I’ve been happy to see some familiar titles, too).
…with #BookBlogger Lorna
…with #BookBlogger Ally Parsonage
…with #BookBlogger Carla
…with Author Anne Coates
…with Reviewer Me And My Books
Transmissive Authors: A Theory and Thoughts
A Blogger’s Life: Anxiety Ridden Mind of a Blogger—The Withering Blog talks about resuming blogging, or “My Return from Exile”
Books, books, and more books—shelves to admire and a habit I can relate to

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Flood Circle by Harry Connolly—Fresh on the heels of The Iron Gate, Ray and Annalise are up against their greatest challenge yet—with the greatest rewards. I’m trying to work this into my schedule ASAP. If I go without sleep this week…
Racing the Light by Robert Crais—Elvis Cole (with some help from Joe Pike and Jon Stone) hunts for a missing/abducted podcaster. I had a few enthusiastic things to say about it.
Gardens by Benedict Jacka—an action-packed novella in the Alex Verus universe. .

My wife, kids, kid-in-law, dogs, and work all demanded (and were gladly given) a little more time and attention this week, so reading, blogging, and reading blogs took a hit. I did manage to see a few things for this post–and then got some help from Peat Long’s Friday Five.

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:
Libraries Can Unite a Lonely, Divided Nation—they probably won’t, but wouldn’t it be nice?
Mike Craven: Crime writer motivated by cancer survival—a nice profile of one of my favorites
A Horse Girl, a Hobbit, a Wanderer: On Picking Up Hobbies From Books
Most generic thriller plan…—The Orangutan Librarian shares a plan for a “a generic thriller with an awful twist.”
On the Use and Abuse of Dragons
Next Month, keep an eye out for Small Press Great Stories, a nifty-looking event put together at Runalong The Shelves
What I Miss about How I Read as a Child

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Fahrenzine: Welcome To Hollywood by Russell Day & Saira Viola—Fahrenheit Press isn’t giving any details about about this story, but I haven’t gone wrong yet with blindly trusting Fahrenheit or Day (I keep meaning to try Viola, but haven’t managed to yet). Honestly, you could tell me that Russell Day is doing an Austen pastiche and I’d probably love it. Very curious about this one.
No Plan B by Lee Child and Andrew Child—this is the third book in the “hand-off Reacher to little brother” project. Hopefully, it’s a lot stronger than the second (or first).

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to unclearer and Gina (thanks for the mention, by the way) who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.

It’s a quick list today. Should leave you plenty of time to get other things on your Weekend To-Do Lists tackled (sorry about that).

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:
Publishing Glossary: 15 Terms Book Advocates Should Know—this is a handy guide, and a sign I should update my working vocabulary.
3Q’s Special – Tiffany McDaniel shows her Savage Side!—a quick Q&A with the wonderful Tiffany McDaniel
Witty & Sarcastic Book Club’s An Author’s Monster Manual series wrapped up with:
…Featuring Dorian Hart
…Table of Contents of all the nifty posts in this series
Should Book Bloggers Be Paid?—Jo Lindsdell asks another good question this week.
5 Podcasts Bookworms Need to Listen To—I haven’t listened to any of these, but will be checking them out
Guide To Book Photography!—It’s going to take more than this to turn my book photos into something good, but these helps might make them better
How not to get your book read—It’s astounding that this needs to be said, but I know too well that it doesn’t

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
A Heart Full of Headstones by Ian Rankin—John Rebus is on trial. This should be great.

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

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:
Banning Books Is a Threat to Public Education: To say nothing of the fact that we don’t value reading enough in the first place!
You Wouldn’t Pirate a Book?—for a pleasant (?) change, this piece about book piracy has nothing to with eBooks.
8 Mental and Physical Benefits of Audiobooks
An Author’s Monster Manual series continued over at Witty & Sarcastic Book Club:
…Featuring Rob Edwards
…Featuring Ryan Howse
…Featuring Sean Gibson
…Featuring Ricardo Victoria
…Featuring Jeffrey Speight
…Featuring Joshua Gillingham
…Featuring Luke Winch
…Featuring Virginia McClain
Pet Peeves About Book Series—there’s a distinct theme here
On the Why of Genre—sometimes on a Monday, I’ll read something that was so good that I don’t have to read anything else for the week. This did it for me. As a bonus there was the clip from Spaced (which almost succeeded in getting me to rewatch the entire series)
How I learned to love the digital book—a song many of us have sung

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Blood Brothers Episode 106 with Ian Rankin—I’m beyond excited for the new Rebus now (and there was plenty of other good material).

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Dead Man’s Hand by James J. Butcher—A jaded monster hunter and a minor magician team up to hunt a killer in this promising series debut. I had a few things to say about it here.
Santa’s Little Yelpers by David Rosenfelt—There’s only a dash of holiday cheer in the middle of this better-than-I-expected legal thriller (and I expected to enjoy it) I talked about it a couple of weeks ago.
Death at Paradise Palms by Steph Broadribb—The second Retired Detectives Club has these retirees juggling personal issues and a search for a missing/kidnapped movie producer.
Cash Rules Everything Around Me by Rob Gittins—an fresh out of prison, a thief tries to plan one final score in a hometown he barely recognizes.
Random by Penn Jillette—this Vegas-set thriller has a philosophical bent.
Nerd: Adventures in Fandom from This Universe to the Multiverse by Maya Phillips—”In the vein of You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) and Black Nerd Problems, this witty, incisive essay collection from New York Times critic at large Maya Phillips explores race, religion, sexuality, and more through the lens of her favorite pop culture fandoms.”
The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series by Jessica Radloff—I don’t know that the world needed an oral history of this show, but now that we have it, I’m pretty curious.

I’m off doing non-book things today*, so assembled this early. And I know I left a few things off that I’d usually include–hopefully I catch up next week. Still, there are some good things to be read. I think.

* It happens occasionally. Maybe 3 times a year? (still bet I wander into a bookstore at some point this weekend)

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:
Noted audiobook narrator, Dick Hill, died this week. I can’t imagine anyone reading both Lee Child and Dave Barry books and pulling it off, but somehow he did. He will be missed.
A group of angry library patrons in Texas has gone to court over book removals
Audiobooks: Every Minute Counts—A look at audiobook usage, how it’s affecting the book market, and too much for me to sum up.
How to Break Out of a Reading Slump—am not sure they have new advice to offer, but this is a handy collection of tips from Netgalley’s blog.
How Not To Do It: Why I’m Not Much of a Publisher—Harry Connolly talks about the woes of getting his new book, The Iron Gate, published last week. In case you thought writing a book was the tough part.
“Too Many Clients” Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, November 20, 1960—I love this idea: this blogger is posting each mention of Nero Wolfe he can find in the archives of The New York Times, after a lengthy break, he’s back with this post.
10 literary classics that didn’t sell.
I mentioned the An Author’s Monster Manual series last week, and the results have lived up to the promise:
…Featuring Andi Ewington
…Featuring J.E. Hannaford
…Featuring Geoff Habiger
…Featuring Rowena at Beneath a Thousand Skies
..Featuring Jonathan Nevair
…Featuring Dan Fitzgerald
Reading and Its Effects on Your Emotions
A quick summary of the arc of American fantasy—a compressed history of the genre in the US.
How to Make Book Blog Friends and Grow Your Audience—a handy-dandy guide that I’ll be returning to.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (and one from last week that I can’t believe I neglected!):
Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty—A Great SF/Mystery Mash Up about an investigation on a sentient space station full of aliens and a handful of humans. I talked about it some this week
6 Ripley Avenue by Noelle Holten—”One House. Eight Killers. No Witnesses.” Holten’s standalone about a murder in a halfway home for ex-cons looks thrilling.

So, this is pretty late, but…at 11:45pm yesterday, my daughter called asking me to take her to the ER. So I put this aside. Almost 20 hours later, I got home—and she has one less inflamed appendix. But it’s still Saturday (for at least some of the world), so this counts.

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 Book Bans Take From Kids
Books won’t save you: You can’t use literature as a shortcut to self-improvement—hear, hear
Meet the Author: Neil Lancaster
Tom Hanks is publishing a novel, and it sounds exactly like a Tom Hanks movie.—huh.
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of Friendships with Entirely Fictional Characters—this post is more directed at TV, but it easily applies to novels
The Book Character Awards! (a bookalicious initiative)—this is a neat idea
My Experience with Not Using Goodreads for a Month
Hugboxing and Scabpicking—Peat Long gives a vocabulary lesson…
An Author’s Monster Manual—Witty and Sarcastic Book Club launched another series this week—I love the premise for this—what if the D&D Monster Manual was compiled from creatures in Fantasy novels?

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Eating the Fantastic Episode 181 Chow down with Wesley Chu—this is the first I’ve heard of this podcast, but I’ll likely come back for more, if the interviews tend to be as good as this one with Chu was.
Blood Brothers Episode 105 with Anthony Horowitz—a fun chat with Horowitz that has convinced me to give the Hawthorne and Horowitz books a couple of more installments, at least.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Iron Gate by Harry Connolly—the new installment in The Twenty Palaces series. The best Urban Fantasy series you aren’t reading. Circumstances allowed me to read this today (two weeks or so ahead of schedule), and it was great. I’ll be posting about this as soon as I can.
The Last King of California by Jordan Harper—He made a new life for himself, but it didn’t work out, and now Luke has to return to the gang he escaped from. Sure, you have to import this from the UK to read it, but I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be worth it, since its from Harper.
Treasure State by C.J. Box—a new Cassie Dewell novel has the PI on the hunt for a con man.
The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists: The Official Guide to Characters, Quotes, Timelines, and Memorable Moments by Bryan Young—this looks like it could be a lot of fun