Category: Books Page 1 of 137

Saturday Miscellany—12/21/24

On December 21, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

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:
bullet 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:
bullet Hartford high school graduate who claims she can’t read sues board of education
bullet Every AI Copyright Lawsuit in the US, Visualized—For those who have lost track of them all (like me)
bullet Snap! Criticism: De Marcken and Kramnick—literary criticism and the idea of “quality”
bullet Interview with M. W. Craven about the Ben Koenig series
bullet 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.
bullet 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)
bullet The Art of Buying Books for Other People—some very good advice (especially about keeping lists)
bullet Bookstr put together this handy The Best Book Deals as We Say Goodbye to 2024
bullet Let Children Read What They Want—please
bullet 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
bullet 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.
bullet The Ultimate Best Books of 2024 List—I really appreciate Emily Temple’s annual List of Lists
bullet 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
bullet Pages Unbound’s Krysta gave her
bullet Favorite Books Read in 2024
bullet Top Twelve Graphic Novels Read in 2024
bullet FanFiAddict posted:
bullet C. J. Daley’s Top Reads of 2024
bullet 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.
bullet Ryan’s Favorite Reads of 2024
bullet 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.
bullet 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.
bullet Along those lines, I really enjoy the way that Steven Writes breaks down his lists:
bullet Top Five Powerful Books I Read In 2024
bullet Top Five Most Dramatic Twists I Read In 2024
bullet Top Five Character-Driven Books I Read In 2024
bullet Top Five Beautiful Covers I Held In 2024

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet SFF Addicts Ep. 135: Our Favorite Reads of 2024 LIVE (with Greta Kelly, The FTF Podcast & OWWR Pod)—this was fun and TBR embiggening.
bullet 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:
bullet 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.

WWW Wednesday—December 18, 2024

By HCNewton

On December 18, 2024

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

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?


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?


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?

Saturday Miscellany—12/14/24

By HCNewton

On December 14, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

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:
bullet 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.”
bullet 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)
bullet 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
bullet 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:
bullet These gifts are the way to a book lover’s heart – part 2—Never Judge a Book by its Cover has a great list
bullet The CrimeReads 2024 Holiday Gift Guide
bullet The 167 Best Book Covers of 2024—This list from LitHub is always one of my favorites
bullet Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2024—from Reactor Magazine
bullet 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.
bullet Top Five Books of 2024—from the Staff at LibraryThing
bullet The Best Crime Novels of 2024—according to CrimeReads
bullet Chasing Destino’s Favorite Books in 2024
bullet 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)
bullet Hostile Witness by William Lashner

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet 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.

WWW Wednesday—December 11, 2024

By HCNewton

On December 11, 2024

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

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?

November 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On December 10, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

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

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	3.53
	0		0
	3		0
	6		0
	3		1
	6

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
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:

Enough about me—how Was Your November?

Saturday Miscellany—12/7/24

By HCNewton

On December 7, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

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:
bullet A Refuge for the Soul: How to Build a Library, According to Montaigne—maybe not achievable/practical, but some great ideas
bullet How Gen Z Came to See Books as a Waste of Time
bullet Does Teaching Literature and Writing Have a Future?—”The prospects are a little grim, but they aren’t nonexistent.”
bullet Olympus Agonistes: When, if ever, did people stop believing in the Greek gods?
bullet 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.
bullet “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)
bullet Speaking of upcoming releases…So I wrote another book… —Noelle Holten has some good news (even for us Yankees)
bullet 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.
bullet 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)
bullet 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.
bullet Are You an Author Completionist?—I’m almost one. But I do get a little picky when it comes to some genres.
bullet 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:
bullet The Atlantic 10—The books that made us think the most this year
bullet AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of 2024
bullet 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:
bullet 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?
bullet The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
bullet 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:
bullet 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.
bullet 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.

WWW Wednesday—December 3, 2024

By HCNewton

On December 4, 2024

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

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?


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?

Saturday Miscellany—11/30/24

By HCNewton

On November 30, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday 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:
bullet Forget drop-shipping—America’s new favorite side hustle is … republishing classic literature?
bullet Murderbot, She Wrote—Wired’s got a great feature on Martha Wells
bullet The Power of Your Words: Leaving a Review Matters
bullet How Can We Create a Reading Culture?—Pages Unbound’s Krysta lays out the problem with children and reading in Part One and suggests some solutions in Part Two
bullet Indie Black Friday Sale—James Lloyd Dulin’s hosting this sale from Nov. 29-Dec. 1. You’ve spent a year making good progress on your TBR stack, might as well wipe it out in one fell swoop.

It’s the Time of Year for Gift Guides/Best of Lists like these:
bullet It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: The 2024 Adult Books Edition—Witty and Sarcastic Book Club’s Annual list has some great picks
bullet Holiday Gift Giving Guide—This Dad Reads has a gift guide for young and old (particularly if they like Star Wars)
bullet The New York Public Library Announces the Best Books of 2024 for Kids, Teens, and Adults
bullet NPR’s Best Books of 2024—is another extensive list
bullet Top Five Science Fiction Novels of 2024—from John Mauro at Before We Go Blog
bullet Top Five Fantasy Novels of 2024—from John Mauro at Before We Go Blog

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet CrimeTimeFM Christmas Debate 2024—some of the UK’s best Crime Fiction reviewers sound off on their favorite reads of the year and on some controversial topics. As usual, it’s a fun listen that adds too many things to my lists.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet The Reluctant Warrior by Ty Patterson
bullet and I mentioned the release of Endsinger by Jay Kristoff, Book 3 of The Lotus War

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property by Mike Lupica—Rita Fiore is in danger—it’s up to Spenser and Hawk to stop whoever is after her. I have a book and a half to get through before I can dive in. They’d better be worth it.
bullet Chez Usher by Vicki Hendricks—a retelling of Poe in Florida. Farenheit Press’ latest looks like a winner.

Reposting in Lieu of Revising: Thanksgiving Book Tag

By HCNewton

On November 28, 2024

In Book Tag, Books, News/Misc.

I had in mind putting up a new version of this with new answers, because 2024 me is different than 2021 me, right? But I really like these answers (although I might switch out Lethal White for a different Galbraith), so…holidays are for laid back approaches to things, right? What’s more laid back than a repost with a two-sentence intro?

Thanksgiving Book Tag
I’ve seen this on a few blogs, but it was on Bookstooge’s Reviews on the Road that I decided to do it myself. I don’t know where this originated, so I can’t credit them.

I really tried not to let recency bias rear its ugly head on these responses, but I ended up listing two books I read this year. Whoops.

1. Bread- What book is purely fluff, and has no real plot line?

I’m left scratching my head here–what doesn’t have a plotline?

Love

Love by Roddy Doyle

There’s a plot here, but it’s slight–and covered under layers and layers of clever dialogue. (none of which is a criticism, it worked wonderfully)

2. Turkey- What book made you want to fall asleep?

Zorro

Zorro by Isabelle Allende

It is Zorro–the swashbuckling, womanizing, swordsman who’s a proto-Batman figure. How do you make him dull? I still don’t know how you do it, but Isabelle Allende must, because she nailed it. The only reason I finished this was because I had to see if it ever got exciting. According to my logs, I read this in 2010–but at the time, I felt like I spent more than a decade reading it. So, I guess I might still be reading it.

3. Gravy- What book makes the whole series worth reading?

I’m struggling to answer this one–it seems to suggest that the others aren’t up to snuff, or aren’t even worth the time, “but this one book…” I’m sure there are some, but I can’t think of any. I’m tempted to say Red Dragon or The Silence of the Lambs are so good that it makes Hannibal worth it–but it’s easier to just skip the others.

I guess…

The Name of the Wind

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I have problems with The Wise Man’s Fear. And, sure, I’d love to read The Doors of Stone. But you know what? I loved The Name of the Wind enough that I can live with what ever’s lacking in the others (including, but not limited to, not being published).

4. Stuffing- What book is stuffed full of action scenes?

A Wanted Man

A Wanted Man by Rob Parker

The first Ben Bracken novel is as non-stop as you could ask for. Pound-for-pound there’s more action in this book than any other I can remember. Sure, Parker can go whole paragraphs without much in the way of action–but he doesn’t do that often here.

5. Mashed Potatoes- What book looked good, and then wasn’t?

Behind Her Eyes

Behind Her Eyes by Sara Pinbrough

A Killer hook. A lot of hype. Some compelling writing. And an ending that made me want to hurl it across the room and into a shredder. It was a library book, however, so I really couldn’t indulge the impulse.

Also…really? l;ike Bookstooge said, what’s up with this slander against Mashed Potatoes? (not just saying this as a reflexive defense of the crop Idaho’s best known for)

6. Cranberries- What book has the sweetest romance?

Not Famous

Not Famous by Matthew Hanover

The first romance that jumped to mind was Nick and Alli from Hanover’s first book. (sure, most of the sweetness came from Alli, but Nick’s not bad, either).

I’m not convinced that cranberries are really all that “sweet,” however. Tart? Sour? Sure. Sweet? Eh, only with anough sugar added. Unlike everything Hanover’s written.

7. Corn- What’s the corniest book you’ve ever read?

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists
by Gideon Defoe

This is just a ridiculous novel–I laughed a lot. I cringed a lot, too. It was a delightful batch of corny silliness.

8. Green beans- What book is too long and needs to be shortened?

Lethal White

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Part of the reason that I haven’t jumped on Troubled Blood is that this one was just too long. At the time (or since), I couldn’t figure out what needed to be cut, but something sure needed to.

Unlike any green bean dish I’ve ever had, however, I enjoyed Lethal White in the end.

9. Pumpkin Pie- What book do you read to get out of a reading slump?

Misc Wolfe covers

Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin by Rex Stout

It’s been a while–a very long while–since I’ve been in a slump. But I could always count on some of my favorite Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin novels. They’re pure comfort food–tasty and sweet.

10. Dog/Cat- What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food that you would steal from the table?

Stuffing

This varies a lot from year to year, but more often than not, I’d say stuffing.

(image borrowed from Happy Life Blogspot)

As usual, I’m not tagging anyone in this—but I’d like to see what you all have to come up with.

WWW Wednesday—November 27, 2024

By HCNewton

On November 27, 2024

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

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?


1-800-CallLoki by Dawn Blair	The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu, read by Lisa Flanagan

1-800-CallLoki puts the Norse God into the role of protagonist and hero (of sorts). It’s frequently amusing and pretty compelling. I should be wrapping this up soon.

The Faculty Lounge is filled with gentle humor, some good characters, and a plot that is just interesting enough to keep me listening. It’s utterly fine, but unless the last 40% knocks my socks off, it’ll get a “just okay” from me.

What did you recently finish reading?


Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology edited by L. J. Hachmeister	I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, read by Nasim Pedrad

Instinct was a very mixed bag of animal SF/Fantasty/Urban Fantasy stories, none of them were bad, most were okay, but those that were good, were very good. Just what you expect and hope for out of an anthology like this.

I Hope This Finds You Well was better than I’d anticipated it could be, I rather enjoyed it–and hopefully I can expand on it soon.

What do you think you’ll read next?


We Solve Murders by Richard Osman	Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom? by Mike Chen, read by Keith Szarabajka, Xavier Casals

I’d hoped to be well into the Osman book today, but oh, well–I still have a couple of days before it’s due at the Library (this will not be joining the ranks of the books I didn’t read)

The Moon Knight/Venom story is probably not going to do much for me–but I trust Chen, and the Wanda/Spider-Man book was so good that I have to give it a shot.

U.S. Readers, do you have a book set aside to help you ignore family, or are you going to put things off for day? Non-U.S. readers, what do you have underway?

Category: Books Page 1 of 137

What are you currently reading?

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What’ve you been reading lately?

What are you currently reading?

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Do you have something special grabbing your attention?

What are you currently reading?

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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?

1. Bread- What book is purely fluff, and has no real plot line?

Love by Roddy Doyle

2. Turkey- What book made you want to fall asleep?

Zorro by Isabelle Allende

3. Gravy- What book makes the whole series worth reading?

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

4. Stuffing- What book is stuffed full of action scenes?

A Wanted Man by Rob Parker

5. Mashed Potatoes- What book looked good, and then wasn’t?

Behind Her Eyes by Sara Pinbrough

6. Cranberries- What book has the sweetest romance?

Not Famous by Matthew Hanover

7. Corn- What’s the corniest book you’ve ever read?

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe

8. Green beans- What book is too long and needs to be shortened?

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

9. Pumpkin Pie- What book do you read to get out of a reading slump?

Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin by Rex Stout

10. Dog/Cat- What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food that you would steal from the table?

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

U.S. Readers, do you have a book set aside to help you ignore family, or are you going to put things off for day? Non-U.S. readers, what do you have underway?

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists
by Gideon Defoe