Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Category: News/Misc. Page 1 of 194
No trip down memory lane this week—I posted nothing 10 years ago. A move I can appreciate (and almost replicated).
The first link I have to share has nothing to do with books or reading, but was so interesting that I’m sharing it anway:
A List of 1,065 Medieval Dog Names: Nosewise, Garlik, Havegoodday & More—I strongly encourage clicking the links within the short post and the Related Content.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled focus.
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:
Hartford high school graduate who claims she can’t read sues board of education
Every AI Copyright Lawsuit in the US, Visualized—For those who have lost track of them all (like me)
Snap! Criticism: De Marcken and Kramnick—literary criticism and the idea of “quality”
Interview with M. W. Craven about the Ben Koenig series
Speaking of Craven, he showed up on CrimeReads this week with An Englishman in New York—as one who frequently complains about British authors flubbing Americanisms, I appreciate this.
Nice Place to Visit, But…: Johnny D. Boggs’ Bloody Newton—I had to take a second look at this review. (the title of the book could also be what some British authors call me when I comlain about their flubbed Americanisms)
The Art of Buying Books for Other People—some very good advice (especially about keeping lists)
Bookstr put together this handy The Best Book Deals as We Say Goodbye to 2024
Let Children Read What They Want—please
Out with the Old, In With the New – End of Year Review—A Little Book Problem takes a look at 2024 and looks toward 2025
A Year Spent Rereading – Some Highlights and Lowlights—The Orangutan Librarian looks back
It’s the Time of Year for Best of Lists like these. Your TBR will grow, I should warn you.
The Ultimate Best Books of 2024 List—I really appreciate Emily Temple’s annual List of Lists
The Empty Bookshelf’s Top 10 Novels of 2024—I’ve only read one of these (his top pick), but the rest look pretty appetizing
Pages Unbound’s Krysta gave her
Favorite Books Read in 2024
Top Twelve Graphic Novels Read in 2024
FanFiAddict posted:
C. J. Daley’s Top Reads of 2024
Anna’s Favorite Reads of 2024—many of these will appeal to people who aren’t me, but I can see why horror readers would dig them.
Ryan’s Favorite Reads of 2024
I’ve Read 26 Bookish Books in 2024—not really a Best Of, but it’s a good list, so it fit here better than above.
A.J.’s Completely Random Book Awards: 2024—Were I more creative, this is the approach I’d to take. But I’m not, so I’ll just enjoy people like A.J. Calvin who are.
Along those lines, I really enjoy the way that Steven Writes breaks down his lists:
Top Five Powerful Books I Read In 2024
Top Five Most Dramatic Twists I Read In 2024
Top Five Character-Driven Books I Read In 2024
Top Five Beautiful Covers I Held In 2024
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
SFF Addicts Ep. 135: Our Favorite Reads of 2024 LIVE (with Greta Kelly, The FTF Podcast & OWWR Pod)—this was fun and TBR embiggening.
Crime Time FM Alison Gaylin In Person With Paul—I really enjoyed this chat with Gaylin and hearing her take on Sunny Randall
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Suppression of Powers by JCM Berne—Turn Six of the Hybrid Helix looks like it’ll put Rohan through the wringer (shock) as the second arc of the kicks off.
Running late with this again. I’m still trying to shake the COVID symptoms and life’s been busier than I’m used to–I’ve fallen asleep with my leptop open and a post in the works for four nights in a row. I’m trying to focus on just getting something up for the next couple of days without much reference to time.
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?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
 |
 |
| The Big Empty by Robert Crais |
Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith |
On the one hand, I wish Crais wrote faster. On the other hand, whatever he’s doing to bring us stuff like The Big Empty is so good that I don’t want him to mess with his M.O.
I’m really enjoying getting back into the world of Whispers Under Ground and remembering all the things I forgot since my last trip through it.
What did you recently finish reading?
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| Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire |
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters |
Ohhh, McGuire did everything right with her newest Wayward Children novel.
The gut punch at the end of Grave Peril hit just as hard as I remembered, I figure it will no matter how many times I revist this one.
What do you think you’ll read next?
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| A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay |
The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C. M. Waggoner, read by Cindy Piller |
Mackay’s US debut will make three NetGalley reads in a row for me, which is more than I like to tackle at once, but I want to clear the decks there.
I’d been curious about the Waggoner book, but it was Mike Finn’s post about it that pushed me to get on the wait list. Looking forward to diving in.
What’ve you been reading lately?
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
So I can be afk for a couple of days, I’m putting this together a couple of days early, so if you’re wondering why I skipped over the tremendous/scandalous/tremdendously scandalous/scandaldoulys tremendos bookish news that came out over the previous 48 hours…well, I’ll cover it next week (assuming we all remember).
But for now, let’s move on 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:
Call to acknowledge all writers behind celebrity books—The UK’s trade union for writers, illustrators and translators calls “for celebrities, publishers and agents to acknowledge the writers behind celebrity books, particularly for children.”
Brandon Sanderson’s Materialist Fantasies—I don’t know enough about Sanderson to really appreciate this, but contrasting his approach to the genre/magic to Lewis and Tolkein was pretty interesting (I’d like to hear what others say about this)
Small Press SFF Might Sometimes Be Harder to Find — But It’s More Than Worth the Effort—Molly Templeton makes the case for putting in the effort to get Small Press SFF
Do You Enjoy When Your Library Receipt Says How Much Money You Saved?—I did enjoy when my library gave me this number, sadly they haven’t for a year or so (but I’d love to see it again)
It’s the Time of Year for Gift Guides/Best of Lists like these:
These gifts are the way to a book lover’s heart – part 2—Never Judge a Book by its Cover has a great list
The CrimeReads 2024 Holiday Gift Guide
The 167 Best Book Covers of 2024—This list from LitHub is always one of my favorites
Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2024—from Reactor Magazine
The best books of 2024 – recommended by Ian Rankin, Mick Herron, Mary Beard and others—The UK’s best writers name their best of the year. There some great choices here, and some that look great, too.
Top Five Books of 2024—from the Staff at LibraryThing
The Best Crime Novels of 2024—according to CrimeReads
Chasing Destino’s Favorite Books in 2024
P.L.’s Top Indie & Trad Pub Books for 2024—over at Before We Go Blog
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
(It was a really quiet week a decade ago, so I only have one thing share)
Hostile Witness by William Lashner
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Ghosts Stations by M.D. Presley—This is a strong second novel in the Inner Circle series (at least the beginning of it is). Corbin finds himself in New York on the hunt for a drug designed for magicians.
It’s Wednesday. Might as well do this, eh?
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?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
 |
|
| Ghost Stations by M.D. Presley |
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters |
I really dug Rites of Passage, so it took me maybe 30 seconds to decide I wanted to jump when Presley offered me this follow up, his website says, “Think if Buffy and her Scooby gang went up against the Barksdale Corp from The Wire.” And even if I hadn’t been waiting for the second book in the series, that comparison alone would’ve got me.
Grave Peril is one of those Butcher books I feel bad about forgetting the details of–I keep coming across scenes, characters, events and think they belong to another book. And one of my all-time favorite Butcher lines is in this (and I’d have guessed it was from a later book). But none of that matters, because right now, I’m having a blast–even though I know what the last chapters contain and all the fallout that will ensue from them. (seriously, I’m already flashing forward to Changes)
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
| The Killer’s Christmas List by Chris Frost |
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, read by Hanako Footman, Susan Momoko Hingley, Kenichiro Thomson, Winson Ting, and Shiro Kawai |
Chris Frost’s debut under that penname was a rollicking read. I hope a sequel is forthcoming. if not, I’ll be ready for whatever Frost/McDonald has in store. More to come on this.
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library was utterly okay. There were some pleasant characters, some sweet moments, and the book as a whole is a nice tribute to the power of books and how the right one can trigger a needed change in someone’s life.
What do you think you’ll read next?
|
|
| Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire |
Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith |
Seanan McGuire. Wayward Children.Not sure there’s much else to say.
I have a similar problem with the third Rivers of London novel as I do with the third Dresden Files novel. I can remember a couple of scenes, a couple of characters that are introduced…and not much else. Am looking forward to the reminders.
Do you have something special grabbing your attention?
I don’t know if any of ya’ll have heard of this COVID-19 thing, but I’m on day 2 or 3 of it, and I have to say that I’m not a fan. 0/5 Stars, for sure. Anway, coming up with a post that requires thought seemed like a lot to ask of myself. But hey, I haven’t found time to do my November write-up yet. Might as well tackle it now, right?
Well, these numbers aren’t promising: I finished 19 titles (5 down from last month, 5 down from last ZZZ), with an equivalent of 6,012 pages or the equivalent (593 down from last month), and gave them an average of 3.53 stars (.17 down from last month). And while I’m not crazy about my number of posts–it’s actually an improvement over last November.
So, here’s what happened here in November.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to
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Still Reading
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Ratings
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0 |  |
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3 |  |
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6 |  |
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1 |
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6 | ||
| Average = | 3.53 |
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TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps
| Audio | E-book | Physical | Goodreads Want-to-Read |
NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of 2023 |
6 | 47 | 68 | 153 | 5 |
| 1st of the Month |
5 | 62 | 78 | 167 | 9 |
| Added | 3 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| Read/ Listened |
3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Current Total | 5 | 66 | 81 | 167 | 11 |
Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 14
Self-/Independent Published: 5
| Genre | This Month | Year to Date |
|---|---|---|
| Children’s | 1 (5%) | 8 (3%) |
| Fantasy | 3 (16%) | 35 (15%) |
| General Fiction/ Literature | 3 (16%) | 24 (10%) |
| Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller | 5 (26%) | 72 (30%) |
| Non-Fiction | 2 (11%) | 22 (9%) |
| Science Fiction | 2 (11%) | 20 (8%) |
| Theology/ Christian Living | 1 (5%) | 25 (10%) |
| Urban Fantasy | 1 (5%) | 26 (11%) |
| “Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western) | 1 (5%) | 6 (3%) |
Review-ish Things Posted
- On the Christian Life: A New Translation by John Calvin, Raymond A. Blacketer (Translator): A Shiny New Translation of Gold Standard
- The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 58: Into the Night by R. T. Slaywood: Two Steps Back? Or is it a Step Forward?
- Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy by John McGuckin: More Than You Thought You Wanted to Know about the Nestorian Controversy
- The World According to Cunk by Philomena Cunk: The Story of the World (abbreviated and only accidentally accurate)
- The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 59: Guilt by R. T. Slaywood: Meal, Interrupted
- Grandpappy’s Corner: The Box by Jo Linsdell: Imagination + Cardboard
- PUB DAY POST: King Arthur & The Ladies of The Lake by Vincent Pompetti: The Once and Future Graphic Novel For Our Time
- The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 60: Keys by R. T. Slaywood: An Awfully Convenient Meeting
- Nobody’s Hero by MW Craven: More Shockingly Violent Events in Koenig’s Increasingly Violent Life
- Bullet Points about Spook Street by Mick Herron: All the Exciting Stuff Happens Around River
- Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson: Even in The Arctic, Nature’s Red
Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd), and 30th), I also wrote:
- MUSIC MONDAY: “Gitchee Gitchee Goo” by Phineas and Ferb
- Archie Goodwin on Voting
- Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 books on my TBR that intimidate me
- Douglas Adams on Presidents
- Game Night Book Tag
- Cover Reveal: An Icelandic Adventure by S. Bavey
- Game Night Book Tag 2
- Opening Lines: Empowered Witness by Alan D. Strange
- Book Blogger Hop: Annotate or Untouched?
- Craig Johnson, The Osher Institute, and Tooth and Claw
- Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 books I meant to read in 2024 (and actually checked out of the library…multiple times…but didn’t)
- Reposting in Lieu of Revising: Thanksgiving Book Tag
- Thanksgiving 2024
- WWW Wednesday for November 6, November 13, November 20, and November 27th, 2023.
Enough about me—how Was Your November?
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
This week’s offering seems a bit more hodge-podgey than the last few, which I appreciate. It also feels a little LitHub heavy, but, eh. I’m not sure I care.
Also, I’m not going to bother talking about the Goodreads Reader’s Choice results…I can’t bother finding the energy (if I stumble on something interesting by someone next week, I’ll post it, but I’m not going looking). If anyone has a hot (or room-temperature) take on them, sound off in the comments.
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 Refuge for the Soul: How to Build a Library, According to Montaigne—maybe not achievable/practical, but some great ideas
How Gen Z Came to See Books as a Waste of Time
Does Teaching Literature and Writing Have a Future?—”The prospects are a little grim, but they aren’t nonexistent.”
Olympus Agonistes: When, if ever, did people stop believing in the Greek gods?
I Don’t Want to Read Anymore: Am I the Literary A**hole? —I rarely post links to these, but I enjoy every one of these columns I read. I thought the 2nd and 3rd letters were worth sharing.
“The very worst of human nature is often hidden in plain sight”—Rob Parker talks about his upcoming release (that I’m hoping to find a US release date for)
Speaking of upcoming releases…So I wrote another book… —Noelle Holten has some good news (even for us Yankees)
Wayward Children Vol. 1 – Illustrated Deluxe Omnibus—Kickstarter launched this week. It’s too rich for my blood, but it looks gorgeous for those who have the means.
Quiz: Can You Identify These Detectives’ Thoughts on Christmas?—I was 1 for 5 on this (and didn’t get the 1 I should’ve)
W Series I – Jordan Loyal Short – Dragon Reich—1. This looks like a cool book. 2. I wished I’d come up with this series idea.
Are You an Author Completionist?—I’m almost one. But I do get a little picky when it comes to some genres.
Books Inspired by Narnia! Portal Fantasies, Allegories and Coming of Age Stories!—who doesn’t like a Narnia-ish read?
It’s the Time of Year for Gift Guides/Best of Lists like these:
The Atlantic 10—The books that made us think the most this year
AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of 2024
Lit Hub’s 38 Favorite Books of 2024—I have one of these on my shelves waiting.
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Dripping Bucket In The Business of Grimdark – with guest Beth Tabler—I haven’t watched this yet, but it looks like a good ‘un.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
And I mentioned the release of Bryant and May and the Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler, a series I really intended on sticking with, but lost my way on.
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Nobody’s Hero by M. W. Craven—Ben Koenig’s back and is dealing with a team of assassins, a worst-case scenario that might be playing out, and one of the cleverest schemes he’s come across. I tried to express my excitement about this recently.
Little Love Songs by Sandra Boynton—sounds cute as all get out, I’m a little worried about the psycholoical torture that the “push button to hear music” feature can bring on adults living with a child (or older siblings). Still, probably worth the risk.
It’s time for…
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?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
 |
|
| Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property by Mike Lupica |
Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom? by Mike Chen, read by Keith Szarabajka, Xavier Casals |
Lupica’s new Spenser novel is fantastically smooth–so hard to put down (my two-legged family members keep demanding it however, as does my employer. The four-legged family members are much more understanding).
There might be too many characters in this What If… book. Or too many voices in people’s heads. So you’ve Moon Knights from two different realities, so you’ve got a Khonshu, 2 Marc Spectors, 2 Steven Grants, 2 Jake Lockleys, one Venom–and someone else, too. Sure, 1 Spector, 1 Grant and 1 Lockely are off-screen for most of the book (not all of them from the same physical entity). But it’s really hard to keep track of things at the beginning. I’m far enough in that I’ve got a handle on it, but I tell you, it took longer than it should’ve. Still, it’s not bad.
What did you recently finish reading?
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 |
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| Sizar by Susan Grossey |
Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker |
The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu, read by Lisa Flanagan |
Sizar was a satisfying second adventure for this new series–I’m hoping to have more to say soon.
Enough Rope has some of my favorite Parker poems–and a few that could turn into some when I re-read them. A nice little diversion.
I wasn’t wowed by The Faculty Lounge, but I am glad a listened to it. I will hopefully have something more to say, soon (but not as soon as Sizar).
What do you think you’ll read next?
 |
|
| Shadow of Hyperion by JCM Berne |
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, read by Hanako Footman, Susan Momoko Hingley, Kenichiro Thomson, Winson Ting, and Shiro Kawai |
I’ve heard plenty of good things about Shadow of Hyperion, and if nothing else, am eager to see how Rohan ends up in the physical state he was in for the Christmas story last year. Well, probably not eager. Very curious.
I’m almost certain to be underwhelmed by What You Are Looking for Is in the Library. But I’ve put too much effort into getting this book to not listen. I should get to start tomorrow afternoon.
Are you spending December scrambling to meet any goals, using books to think about some place that’s warmer? Or just reading something that looks good?