Category: Saturday Miscellany Page 7 of 25

I’m putting the “misc” in “miscellany” today. I have a shorter (but will take you hours to get through if you play out every link) and pretty varied offering. I hope you find something to scratch an itch (or create one)

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:
“I Can Give It Away to Whoever I Want”: Fables Creator Declares Hit Comic Series Public Domain, But DC Disagrees—I’ve tried a few times over the years to dive deeply into Fables, but laziness (and trouble finding them when I want them) have kept me from it. But still, it’s hard to miss the drama around Willingham and DC. I wonder how this will play out.
The real spiritual journey behind Tod Goldberg’s fake-rabbi desert antihero—a good profile and I really appreciate the observations and ideas expressed about Crime Fiction (paragraph 4 is quite telling, isn’t it?)
Goldberg’s brother shared the video Craig Johnson in conversation with Lee Goldberg & cast members of Longmire at Live Talks Los Angeles this week. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s well worth your time.
The Dark Humor of Millennial Crime Capers: 30-somethings can laugh in the face of anything—including death.
Tufa Songs: Songs mentioned in and inspired by the Tufa novels.—Alec Bledsoe posted this playlist to Facebook this week to go with the first four Tufa novels being put on Kindle Unlimited—”a Tufa-themed Spotify playlist made up of songs mentioned in the books, songs that inspired the books, and songs that have the same vibe as the books.” Good reading music even if you (tragically) haven’t encountered the series yet.
dresden files.—Flipphony put this out last year, but I didn’t see it until this week–a nice little video introduction to the Dresden files (there’s also one on the First Law that I should check out)
BookForager started Counting Down to SciFiMonth 2023—and I can already tell my TBR Stack is gonna grow
The Ultimate List of 46 Fantasy Books for Beginners—Oh, wow. There’s so much to mine here.
The Creation of The Fantasy Explosion Flowchart—when is Peat Long going to put us all out of our misery and publish a giant book on Fantasy fiction so we all have a good, one-stop, reference?
The Road to 100K Via Burnout—a good piece on burnout (something I’ve flirted with more than I probably realize)
Is There a Market for “Quiet” Children’s Books?—That’s a good question (and a good answer is given). The term “Quiet Books” is new to me, but I like it.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman—The Thursday Murder Club is back in action–who cares what it’s about?
The Ninja’s Oath by Tori Eldridge—Lily Wong heads to Japan to rescue a kidnapped girl and deals with all sorts of other issues as well.
Shadow of Hyperion by JCM Berne—Rohan gets a call to help from Earth.
Catch Her Death by Melinda Leigh—Bree Taggert’s family are in the crosshairs in this book, and Dana’s suspect #1 in a murder. Should be an eventful read.
Federation Cowboy by Joyce Reynolds-Ward—”Caroline Starshine didn’t expect to find a job when she met Jeff Tophand…Nor did she expect to find drug smugglers, a conspiracy intended to overthrow two Galactic powers and turn them into an Empire, unusual allies, a new family, and…love.”
How I Won a Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto—this novel is “about a graduate student who follows her disgraced mentor to a university that gives safe harbor to scholars of ill repute, igniting a crisis of work and a test of her conscience (and marriage)”.

Three-day weekends can really mess with you, you know? Monday afternoon, I sketched out a plan for the week that saw me productive on the reading and blogging front. And then Tuesday came along and everything else in my life collectively chuckled and said, “no.”

Without my research collaborator, Peat Long, this would be a very short list. Be sure to check out his Friday Favorites for more goodness along these lines.

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:
‘A Plague on the Industry’: Book Publishing’s Broken Blurb System: Do authors actually like the books they endorse—or even read them? Writers, literary agents, and publishing workers take Esquire inside the story of a problematic “favor economy.”—Great piece from Esquire
Stephen King Once Played “Mambo No. 5” So Much His Wife Threatened Divorce—I’ve never clicked with King’s fiction (and stopped trying decades ago), but I always enjoy hearing about King the person and writer.
When Teens Play Detective: The Influence of Golden Age Detective Fiction on YA Mysteries
The 75 Essential Books For Gen Xers: These are the books that entertained us, taught us, shocked us and molded us into who we’ve become—not necessarily the best, but those that shaped a generation. The fact that this is a relevant topic to the AARP’s site has cost me some sleep. (I got my membership card earlier this year, for the record, which didn’t cause me to lose sleep because it made me put a big dent in a bottle of bourbon)*
Too Much Information! Two Big Reasons Not to Over-explain Your Novel—Naturally, Paul Goat Allen nails this. I haven’t read him much lately…I need to fix that.
Let’s Get Honest About Reading (And Blogging)—some wisdom here
Author vs Author and Author with Author is Complicated—good thoughts from Mr. Long
Cyberpunk: The Truth Behind the Shades—in the mid-90s, I got really into Cyberpunk, but since then I really have only dabbled. This piece “fact check[s] some assumptions about the genre” and rekindles my interest.
Why I Enjoy Reading Negative Reviews of the Books I Love – & Mid-July Thoughts—I did snicker a lot at some of these featured reviews
How I Select Books to Read—I can relate to a lot of this. I don’t know that I’ve ever broken down my reasoning like this (not sure I can), but I enjoyed reading it.

* I feel compelled to stress that I’m joking about the sleep and drinking.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Story Craft CafeThe Western Renaissance With Craig Johnson | SCC 113—Craig Johnson telling stories about whatever is almost more reliably entertaining than his books (like I said about a Story Craft Cafe episode last week, the audio quality on Johnson’s part isn’t great, but it’s not that distracting)
The Thriller Zone Episode 147: Lee Goldberg, author of Malibu Burning—Goldberg gets on a roll here and I challenge you not to chuckle

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson—There’s a chance I get to start this today, and I can’t wait. I have no idea what this is about—something to do with an old case and digging into Walt’s relationship with his grandfather.
Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire—I haven’t written anything about last year’s Toby Daye novel because I’m very conflicted about the ending—and am almost never satisfied with the kind of story it set up. So now…here we go with part one of the payoff. I trust McGuire, but now it’s time to put it to the test. (click the link there to get an actual idea of the premise)
It Ends with Knight by Yasmin Angoe—I can’t imagine that the conclusion to this trilogy is anything but fantastic.
Spider-Man’s Bad Connection by Preeti Chhibber—I had a lot of fun with Chhibber’s take on young Peter Parker and figure the same is in store for her follow-up.
Look Out for the Little Guy by Scott Lang—the autobiography of Ant-Man. Yeah, go ahead and roll your eyes that I mention this. Roll them even harder when I say that I bought the hardcover.

It’s a long weekend here in the U.S. and I (like many) really need it. I’m torn between a desire to disappear into some books, catch up on blogging—or to simply ignore everything and stare at the ceiling until it’s time to go to work on Tuesday. We’ll see what happens. Hope you’re having a decent day however long the weekend is in your world.

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:
Fahrenheit Fighting Fund—watching too many indie publishers close up lately (RIP Red Dog Press), Fahrenheit’s looking for readers to help them stay alive a little longer.
The Coming Enshittification of Public Libraries—just in case you were clinging to any sense of hope for the future today.
The ultimate heroes of children’s books—this BBC piece will remind you of better days and hopefully shake off some of that reality nastiness that the last link induced.
How brothers Lee and Tod Goldberg turned crime fiction into a family business—I’ve read a criminally small amount of Tod’s material, but I keep meaning to. Still, a fun profile.
On the Difficulty of Getting Rid of Books—what’s up with all of these pieces on getting rid of books lately? No one tell my wife that this is a thing, okay? (I will say that I do appreciate this approach as much as I will resist applying it to my own too-small shelves)
The Mysterious Artist of This Classic A Wrinkle in Time Cover Has Been Identified—Back in May, I linkedto a post talking about people trying to identify the artist. They’ve been found—after a lot of work.
Bookstr Picks: Weirdest Times and Places We’ve Read Books—I’ve done most of these. What about you?
Should We Think Of Fantasy More Regionally And Chronologically?—I think Peat’s onto something here (I typically do, but that doesn’t change anything)
On My Radar: August 2023—Over at A Literary Escape, Celeste collects the best of the blog posts you didn’t read in August (and probably some you did)
August 2023 Book Blogger Round Up—Jo Linsdell has another great group of posts from the month

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Story Craft Cafe Episode 110: Writing Fantasy And Urban Fantasy With Jim Butcher—the audio quality on Butcher’s end is less-than-good, but it’s worth putting up with for this interview.
The Thriller Zone Episode 146: Eli Cranor, author of Ozark Dogs—I really think I could just listen to Cranor interviews all the time.

Two New Releases from Last Week that I forgot to mention. I’m really embarrassed about that—I’ve corresponded with both authors about these books and totally blanked on their release.
Ostler by Susan Grossey—the first in a mystery series about a Cambridge University constable in 1825. I’m going to learn a lot of history in this one, I know.
Abnormal Ends by Bryan McBee—A cyberpunk serial killer novel. How do you say no to that?

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg—A Heist novel in the midst of California wildfires. (that’s an inadequate summary, but I haven’t read it yet. Go read Mike Finn’s take on it for something better).
The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium Set 1 by Bill Watterson—”The first set of books collecting Bill Watterson’s timeless Calvin and Hobbes comics in a compact, portable format designed to introduce the timeless adventures of a boy and his stuffed tiger to a new generation of readers. Featuring nearly 500 comics from the strip’s debut in November 1985 through March 1987, this is the first set in a series of seven.” I didn’t really like the look of (or, from what I heard the binding of) the two-volume set, and I can’t track down all the original paperbacks. This looks like a great way to collect the classics.

It’s been another quieter-than-expected week here on the blog—I’m hoping to crank out a few posts today so I can jump into next week with a few things scheduled. The big problem is committing to one idea lately, I keep writing a sentence or two on one post before thinking of something I need for another…so I have many, many fragments scattered around my hard drive. My daughter keeps trying to tell me that I have undiagnosed ADD, and with weeks like the last couple, I’m tempted to agree. But I digress.

This is a slimmer miscellany than I anticipated, but some great reads—and the first new release that I talk about literally has me dancing in my seat as I think about it. Yes, I did spend time on websites that aren’t part of Lit Hub this week (as hard as it may be to believe—I actually cut links to that site for this week’s list).

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:
Library kids will save the world…one book, one day at a time… together—his tweet might be too optimistic of a take, but the attached video is sure to make you smile. The feel-good link of the week.
The Land of Lost Things—John Connolly wrote a nice little post about the importance of booksellers
On the Bad Binary of “Good” and “Bad” Literature: Josh Cook on Taking Back the Idea of “Good Taste” from Cultural Authoritarians
How Much Does It Cost to Open a Bookstore?

I'm going to break in with a quick word of warning: some of the subject matter in the next few links is going to be difficult for people who are known for saying "It's not hoarding if it's books" or something like that. Trust me, these are worth a read. Or skip to the Velma link if you're wary. I'm not sure why so many people are talking about this lately...

Moving books is a big pain. Here’s how to make it easier.“The most efficient ways to pack them, how to ensure they aren’t damaged — and tips for easing the pain of culling your collection”
On the Difficulty of Getting Rid of Books: “I don’t get rid of them, per se; rather, I set them afloat, in search of new homes.”title
Get Rid of Your Books: Couldn’t you use a little extra space?
The Ritual of Rearranging Your Books
The Greatest Velmas of History and Fiction—”Velma may be the modern model of a particular ideal, but it’s an ideal that’s existed since a nearsighted Australopithecus shone a torch into the back of her cave to logically prove that the Ghost Mammoth was just Ogg with a blanket over his head.” Here’s a look at some of the best from history, film/TV, and books.
Bringing Comic Books to Life With Comic Book Printing—I can’t help but think that I should’ve known all this, but I didn’t—The Coffee Addicted Writer talks about the various techniques of putting comics in our hands.
The Borders of Speculative Fiction—It’s been far too long since I’ve had some Peat Long thoughts on genre to share. Glad to see him musing again.
There Are Too Many Books!—it’s a provocative title, to be sure. And I get where Krysta’s coming from, but…really? Too Many?
Speaking of too many…Narratess Indie August Sale is a giant list of temptation. Over 300 Indie Titles for dirt cheap (or free), including several that I’ve blogged about or featured here and/or just wanted to read.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams edited by Kevin Jon Davies—I’m not just excited because it feels like it’s been a decade since I Kickstarted this and it’s finally on its way to me. But Davies, a collaborator with Adams has gone through boxes and boxes of archival material to bring readers some of the best things from Adams we’ve never seen before.
Fadeaway Joe by Hugh Lessing—almost every sentence in this book’s description checks a box for me, I’m not going to mangle it by trying to summarize it in a sentence or two. Just click the link.
The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-First Century by Josh Cook—I was interested in this even before I read Cook’s piece on taste above. Now, I’m really intrigued. What a great title, too.
What Would Velma Do?: Life Lessons from the Brains (and Heart) of Mystery, Inc. by Shaenon K. Garrity—after reading the excerpt about Velmas, I had to find the book. It looks like fun. “A clever illustrated ode to the breakout star of Scooby-Doo, exploring the life lessons this iconic nerd girl teaches us and why we should all aim to be the Velma of our friend group.”

I had so many plans for this week that dematerialized so thoroughly even Miles O’Brien couldn’t reassemble them. As I said earlier in the week, I had to go out of town for a few days—but leading up to that I found myself so energy-less that I accomplished little.

I knew I wouldn’t need a backup book on my trip, but I took one anyway. The progress I made in my current read makes me wonder if it was worth even bringing it. I was able to play around a little online, so, I did get material for this post (although, I was really hoping Peat Long would’ve had a Friday post to help…).

Hope you all had a good week and are staying cool (the A/C at home died while I was gone, so it’s going to be a fun month while we get that replaced). I’m off to figure out how to best catch up and regroup.

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:
Now AI is helping ban books.—sure, why not?
Series VS Standalone: Cage Match—Chuck Windig opines a bit…he makes a point or two I hadn’t encountered before from the author’s POV. JCM Berne has an interesting point on the topic when it comes to indie publishing
The Best Graphic Novels for Beginners and Already-Obsesseds—this is a pretty good list
In Loving Memory of the Books I’ll Never Read Again—This is a very nice and relatable piece on consciously not revisiting beloved books. I’d have liked it even if Rush hadn’t started with two of my all-time favorite books (that I have reread), but I enjoyed knowing we were kindred spirits right away.
On Learning to Read Generously
Comfort Food (Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin)—Quite the breakdown of the series—I’d quibble with a lot of Iverson’s points—but I can appreciate where he’s coming from.
Joe Abercrombie Must Be Stopped—this is a fun idea for a post (and a good kick in the pants for me to get moving on post-First Law books)
30 Fantasy Books Featuring Dragonriders—And, really, aren’t these the best kind of fantasy books?
Five Pieces of Verbal Lambasting That Live On In My Head
Why Don’t Readers Leave Reviews of Books?

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher—promises to be a very interesting take on a Sleeping Beauty story

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:
I could’ve filled this post with articles about Jane Friedman and Prosecraft. But I’m going to limit myself. Authors are losing their patience with AI, part 349235—Tech Crunch’s piece is a pretty good summary. If you want some more details, try (or any number of other pieces floating around):
Amazon Won’t Remove Books Listed Under a Real Author’s Name But Allegedly Written With AI
Famous Author Jane Friedman Finds AI Fakes Being Sold Under Her Name on Amazon
Prosecraft Closed: Fiction Analytics Site Shut Down After Author Backlash as Books Scanned Without Consent
Republican Policymaker Proposes Banning Kids Under 18 From Visiting Library Without an Adult—because that works so well for movie theaters…
You’re never alone with a book: Reading in public can be a surprisingly social activity
A reading guide for grownups who don’t read: Librarian secrets to getting into books for the very first time.—solid advice
Paperback or hardcover? Used or new? Let’s talk about our book habits.—this is what prompted Templeton’s post that I linked to last week, finally got around to reading it. I’d quibble with some of these, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
No More Writers as Protagonists—it’s hard to argue against this
Bookish Vocab and Acronyms Explained—a handy little glossary
17 Ways to Celebrate National Book Lovers Day—Book Lover’s Day was earlier in the week, but you can celebrate it any day with these.
Happy National Book Lovers Day with my ultimate favourite books!—this is another solid way to celebrate the day.
Meet the Blogger: Dave from FanFiAddict—another entry in Phil Parker’s fun series
Some Beginners Fantasy Books—Fantasy Book Nerd starts with (controversial?) take that newbies to the genre shouldn’t read Tolkien, instead they offer some more accessible starting points
Novels About Old People: links to reviews of twenty-one novels by nineteen authors—Maybe it’s just that I’m noticing them more as I age, but like Mike Finn, I’m seeing (and reading) more books featuring elderly characters. Here’s a list of some good/good-looking books along those lines.
Showing Love to BackList Books—Great idea
How To Improve Social Media Interaction—As Twitter (or whatever you call it today) continues to fall apart, Celeste’s post is even more helpful.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter—just looks like fun. This RomCom is about the identical twin of a spy wakes up in Paris with no memory of who she is while people are trying to kill and or capture her.
101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered by Sadie Hartman—Okay, fine. I’m not excited about this book, and you won’t be seeing me blog about it anytime soon. But…for horror readers, this looks really good. And I just love that title.

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:
The Gamification of Reading Is Changing How We Approach Books—”Since its inception in 2007, Goodreads has been a place where people can come together and rate their favorite books, find new authors, and more. This writer juggles the greater implications of the site with our current reading culture.”
Online book clubs are exploding. Let’s find the right one for you.
The Wrath of Goodreads: Authors are at the mercy of people who don’t bother reading their work.
Hyperion Avenue to Debut New Marvel Crime Series—I initially rolled my eyes at this idea, the last thing i really need is more Marvel content. But then I read “S.A. Cosby…will tackle Luke Cage.” Also mentioned were Lisa Jewell (Jessica Jones) and Alex Segura (Daredevil). So I stopped the rolling and started waiting in anticipation. (Seanan McGuire and Mike Chen being tapped for the What If… series is also ensuring my interest).
‘Things started getting weird’: why my novel caused a storm in my small town—this literally sounds like the plot to a novel or three that I’ve read. And suddenly those seem a lot more plausible now🙂
How Hardboiled Whodunits Have Given Way to the Psychological Thriller: Chris Narozny on trauma as mystery and the evolution of the genre.—hmmm.
A brief cultural history of crying while reading.
21 Thoughts (Not Rules) About Reading Habits—even if you don’t agree with all of these, you’ll find yourself nodding with most of this list.
To wrap up Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week (probably the last time I mention it this year),
Witty and Sarcastic Book Club penned a nice A Letter to Self-Published Authors that I’d like to co-sign
A Weird West Author Turns 54—Jonathan Fesmire looks back at his last year of writing
Women Who Kill : links to reviews of twenty novels by thirteen authors—if you’re in the mood to read about a female killer, you’d do well to start browsing Mike Finn’s list
If you like the idea of a young person who has caught the reading bug and is starting to blog about books be sure to check out Little Reader’s Favourite Books
Your Paper Quest: a New Sort of Book Subscription Box—this is a great idea!

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Person Behind the Pages JCM Berne Interview – Hopepunk, Optimstism, & Sawing in half a literary giant’s desk

I really didn’t think I took the time this week to do much online to provide fodder for this post—looks like I was wrong about that. Which is kind of cool.

It’s been a strange week in general—as anyone who subscribes to/follows this blog in any form has noticed—I have been busy with the posts. Also, my big plan for getting all of those posts prepped early to give me a catch-up week was derailed by forces outside my control (including a bonus day with the grandcritter, in which I could care less about this space). So instead of catching up on everything these last five days, I’ve managed to dig a bigger hole for myself. At this point, I’ve given up on the notion of catching up. (or so I tell myself)

I also received my first offer to get paid for reviewing books this week, so I feel like I’ve truly arrived (no, not by a magazine or anything, but by one of those scam-my groups).

I promise that next week will be quieter on the posting front. I think I’ve overwhelmed everyone. (hope you all found something you like, though!)

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:
The untold story of California’s most iconic outdoor bookshop—I’ve gotta check this place out
Gotta get back in time: The current explosion of time travel novels goes beyond sci-fi and fantasy
10 Novels that Borrow, Sample and Remix Found Texts: Tom Comitta, author of “The Nature Book,” recommends literary supercuts
Weird, funny, dark children’s books that I can recommend (as an adult, however).—this is a shopping list I didn’t need (but will likely start working on soon)
How to Assemble the Perfect Cozy Mystery Meal—Olivia Blacke demonstrates her knowledge of Cozy Mysteries with this fun post.
Read W. H. Auden’s 1954 review of The Fellowship of the Ring.—to commemorate the anniversary of Fellowship‘s publication, LitHub revisited Auden’s review of the book. Because who else would you turn to? Anyway, I love reading this poet in the 50s sound like a fanboy/fangirl blogging today.
Fictional World We’d Love to Be A Part Of—Bookstr has a nice listicle of places that sound better to live in than this oven of a planet
What Do We Want From the Bookish Internet?—I think Templeton asks all the right questions here…who is going to answer them?
In case you hadn’t noticed, this week was Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week—Most/All of the posts are listed here—if you missed any, here’s the way to fix that.
I’m tempted to post links to all the entries, but no one has time for that (although most of them deserve it). So I’ll just pick one post that I want to focus on from that series is Bookblogger Novel of the Year and Self-Published Books—a listing of all the self-published entries in the competition
Five Year Blogiversary!—Congrats to Sifa Elizabeth Reads for the achievement—I enjoyed this way of commemorating it, too.
Blogiversary #6—Reading Ladies Book Club also just hit an anniversary. This mix of lessons learned, advice, and stats is the kind of thing I can dig deep into.
How and Why I Built a Bookselling Monster—you gotta check this out. I love it (and really don’t want to see it IRL (both can be true)).
Meet The Bloggers: Beth from Before We Go
Guest Post: Insiders by Shannon Knight—to commemorate the book’s 6 month anniversary, Knight dropped by The Shaggy Shepherd to talk about Insiders

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Crime Time FM VERN SMITH In Person With Paul—they talk about Jacked (a favorite anthology), Scratching the Flint (that fantastic read), writing in general, and so much more.
Fiction Fans podcast marks its 100th episode by looking at The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien—which didn’t inspire me to re-read the book/series only because I went through them last year. Otherwise, it would’ve.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
I apparently was so excited about this one that I mentioned it last week. Whoops. For the sake of accuracy: Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn—A septuagenarian heads to Romania to get her money back from phone scammers. That premise and Quinn’s knack for writing has to make this a winner.
Not Prepared by Matthew Hanover—A bachelor takes in his eleven-year-old-goddaughter when her mother skips town, and maybe finds love, too. This’ll steal your heart. I enthused about it recently (and will at the drop of the hat). =
Light Bringer by Pierce Brown—the sixth installment in the Red Rising saga is out, and will surely get me overusing the word “brutal” when I think about/write about it. I really want to read it, and am stressed out about it, too. (no joke)
A Fatal Groove by Olivia Blacke—involves no stress at all—it’s simply a fun time looking into the murder of a town’s mayor and trying to solve a decades-old bank robbery. Okay, that sounds like it should be stressful, but Blacke wouldn’t do that to her readers. I talked about it some last week.
Death on the Beach by Steph Broadribb—the Retired Detectives are back to prove that a realtor was murdered (and uncover the killer) while dealing with internal stressors of their own.
Speech Team by Tim Murphy—”a literary mashup of The Breakfast Club and The Big Chill.” “A funny, gossipy and ultimately poignant novel about four Gen X teen friends turned 21st-century adults who awkwardly come back together to confront an influential teacher whose brutal remarks have haunted them all for years.”

I come across as a little grumpy in my comments this morning–and maybe I am (probably a good thing that I’m not trying to write posts about books today). Don’t let my demeanor put you off, I enjoyed all of the things I linked to.

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:
The Rise of Tech Worker Fiction: Novels about Big Tech’s working class are popping up like push notifications. What can they tell us about the labor movement and late-stage capitalism?—I’ve apparently missed all these “popping up” lately, that’s on me, I guess. But Copeland’s Microserfs told us this stuff in 1995, didn’t it? These new ones still look pretty good…
After robbery, ‘Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge’ involves getting on a motorcycle and taking action—Didn’t read much of this, because I want to dive in with it fresh. Good to see Quinn getting some attention.
Michael Connelly on His Path to the Top of the Crime Fiction World—the last thing that Connelly needs is more attention, but I’m always down for more from him.
A Typical Day for a Protagonist in a Young Adult Fantasy Book—Yeah, it’s a little like picking low-hanging fruit, but Augusta Chapman’s piece made me grin.
Step-by-Step Tutorial For Recovering from a Book Hangover—I’ve linked to a few Book Hangover Recovery posts over the years, this contains a few things most don’t.
Can you guess these famous writers by their childhood nicknames?

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Thriller Zone Bruce Borgos, author of The Bitter Past—a fun chat with Borgos about his writing and this book. David Temple sounds every bit the fanboy as I would’ve in his shoes.
Speaking of Mysteries Episode 251: S.A. Cosby—I was already champing at the bit to read his newest, but that’s gone into overdrive now. I’ve heard a few interviews with Cosby and each one makes me want to sit down and have a beer or two with him and talk fiction.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Bitter Past by Bruce Borgos—Longmire meets The Americans in this great series debut about a Nevada Sheriff. I had few things to say about it recently (and several things I didn’t say because I didn’t want to ruin it for anyone).
Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn—A septuagenarian heads to Romania to get her money back from phone scammers. That premise and Quinn’s knack for writing has to make this a winner.

Anyone else use Evernote? If so, is it working for you? Everything I’ve tried to do with it today has failed–which really concerns me, as every non-published thing I have in the works is saved there. I had to assemble this in Notepad of all things.

That’s not what we’re here for today (but seriously, if you are an Evernote user, speak up if you’re having issues, too)…let’s get on with the Miscellany.

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 Indie Bookstore matter, especially on Prime Day—sure, Prime Day is over, but this still applies. (It’s also focused on one indie store in particular, but I’m willing to bet most of it applies to your local store)
The Merch-ification of Book Publishing: BookTok and Bookstagram have given rise to a new form of book publicity. Is it tearing the literary community apart? asks Esquire
Inspiration and Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn!—a quick and fun essay
How Literature Lasts (and Popular Myths of Popularity): On what books remain, fade, or return
BOOKS ACROSS AMERICA: a documentary—”Prepare for the craziest literary road trip of your life. Books Across America is an upcoming documentary following one intrepid young writer as he travels to 50 states, reads 50 books, and interviews 50 authors—all in 50 days.” Sounds intriguing, right? The Kickstarter’s live now to get this made. (although, I have to admit that I’ve never heard of the Idaho author until now).
Read the very first reviews of To Kill a Mockingbird.—In honor of the 63rd anniversary of this classic, LitHub posted excerpts from early reviews.
Garland County Library hosted Author Talk: Eli Cranor this week, and it was a great conversation. I love being able to watch/participate in something like this from Arkansas from my desk in Idaho.
A Parent’s Guide to Your Teenager’s Linguistic Distillation of Classic AP Lit Titles—from McSweeny’s
How Many Genres Is Too Many?—Molly Templeton talks microgenre, categories, and the like.
What I’d Like to See from the New Narnia Film Adaptations—I’d personally prefer a “one-book-a-season” series to a film, but am in lockstep with everything else Krysta wishes for here.
Why DNF’ing a book Is Actually Good For You!

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Fearless by M.W. Craven—I loved this debut of a Reacher-esque character who is literally incapable of feeling fear, and I’m looking forward to reading him for years to come. You can read more of my gushing here.
Sleepless City by Reed Farrel Coleman—Coleman’s new series about the cop called into “fix” sticky situations for the NYPD also has me ready for a long-term relationship. It’s a great ride, as I try to describe here.