Category: Books Page 112 of 164

Really don’t have any prologue material today…just hope you’re all staying healthy. Let’s just dive in:

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
           Idaho’s Independent Bookstores and the COVID-19 Crisis—Idaho Public TV talks with the owners of three Indie Bookstores (two of which make my personal Top 3 Bookstore list–the third would, too, because of the name alone, if I’d ever been there) about the current mess
           Read 300 books in a year: The surprising benefits of reading more: According to studies, reading is a healthy way to help combat feelings of isolation and depression.
           Escape Into These Fantastical, Imaginary Maps: When the real world feels unbearable, why not chart a course through lands that are literally unreal?
           5 Mistakes That Will Doom Any Self-Published Book—Paul “Goat” Allen speaks for many readers here. I’ve had a post percolating about mistake one for a couple of months (but I keep coming across as too harsh, so I haven’t posted yet), the rest are spot-on, too.
           How to Break Out of a Reading Slump—some handy tips—a good time for this kind of post, it seems many are in a pandemic-induced slump. Don’t know if this’ll fix it, but it can’t hurt.
           What is With All of the Self-Help Books With Swear Words in the Title?—right?
           FAKE TRUTH: Five Questions with Lee Goldberg
           Is Harry Bosch the Last Great American TV Detective?—a good look at both the print and screen versions of Bosch (and I hope the answer to the question is no)
           Rex Stout: Meet the Legendary Mystery Author Who Created Nero Wolfe: His larger-than-life sleuth left an indelible legacy on crime fiction.—I’m always game to post a link to a profile about Stout or Wolfe (always), the publication of The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe this week gives me another opportunity to do so.
           Speaking of which, COVID-19 forced The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe Launch Party to go online. Which means I could “attend”
           Those Classic Detective Series You’ve Always Been Meaning To Read, Anyway—I would’ve linked to this without the Wolfe mention, but…
           20 Must-Read Feel-Good Science Fiction Books
           The importance of pace in thrillers—This is something we all instinctively know (I believe), but it’s nice to see someone take the time to think it through
           What is Your Bookworm Dystopia Like?—Loved this post
           How I Turned Into An Audiobook Listener—point 2 is vital for someone trying to get into Audiobooks.
           How was the book? – Describing the Reading Experience: 8 criteria of the Reading Experience—fantastic post
           The Orangutan Librarian hits us with two good posts about DNFing this week: Why do I struggle to DNF? (I’d co-sign this post) and Books I Successfully DNF’d!
           Reader Confessions: 10 Ways I’m A Bad Reader—was a lot of fun

Episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
           Episode Ninety Eight – Can You Fit a Pinball Machine in the Oxford Bar? – with Ian Rankin—a fun chat with the legend, that includes a tidbit about the upcoming Rebus novel.
           Sbooks podcast It’s A Fair Cop, Guv.—talks to Neil Lancaster about his time with the Metropolitan police and turning to Crime Fiction

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
           The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe: Parodies and Pastiches Featuring the Great Detective of West 35th Street edited by Josh Pachter—a great looking collection celebrating Wolfe—I’ve dipped my toe in and am enjoying it a lot

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Quinn Patrick Fernandez, Neriman K., Not Quite Home, Caroline Paquin and SarahSansom for following the blog (in one form or another) this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

Everyone hanging in there? Hope you’re all safe and relatively healthy. I don’t have anything really to say, so I’ll just dive into the links.

You’ll note below that somehow I listened to a lot of podcasts this week, despite not driving anywhere. The one I’ve spent the most time listening to over the last two weeks isn’t listed below, but you’ll be seeing something a little different from me about that soon. (I’m working on my teases, did that one work?)

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
           How You Can Support Your Local Bookstores Right Now—Simon & Schuster brings us this week’s version of the list.
           The Truth About Escapism—Black Sail Books talks about the value of escapism in a world increasingly focused on productivity.
           Ann Patchett on Why We Need Life-Changing Books Right Now—It might not sound like it, but it’s an excellent follow-up to the above (also, I heartily concur with Patchett’s take on the author in question)
           Say ‘I Do’ to Doorstopper Novels: Trust us, they’re worth the commitment.—I’m prudish enough to prefer a different opening, but eh…I get the point.
           Don Winslow: My First Experience With Hollywood Math—not really that related to books, but it’s a fun little story spun by Winslow
           Red Herrings in Contemporary Crime Literature: Celebrating the 21st century masters of misdirection.
           6 Completed Sci Fi Fantasy Series You Probably Haven’t Binged Yet
           Feel-Good Fiction: Books to Read in Difficult Times—A nice list for our current circumstance from the Witty and Sarcastic Book Club.
           Book Blogging is Bullsh*t
           Full circle—Don’t tell the other bloggers/essayists/etc., but this piece on the circle of appreciation between reader and writer is probably my favorite of the week.
           Book Reviewing, Is There a Happy Medium for Readers, Writers, & Bloggers—Mz Brooklyn Jay talked to writers, readers and bloggers for material to this piece. I really liked it.
           The ‘DNF’—an excellent post on this perennial topic

Episode (or more) you might want to give a listen to:
           To help publicize the release of Fake Truth this week, Lee Goldberg appeared on two podcasts (yes, there’s some overlap in his answers, but not that much). Meet the Thriller Author 94 and Author Stories Podcast Episode 849 (I’ve toyed with writing a post about that travesty Netflix recently released called Spenser: Confidential, no need. Goldberg’s take on it here said everything I’d want to say).
           Author’s on a Podcast Talking Books Ep. 35 – Nicholas Eames was plenty of fun.
           Two Crime Writers And A Microphone have been on fire since they’ve returned this year, Episode Ninety Six – Two Rolls Gets You A Squirrel – with Adrian McKinty was just brilliant, I laughed so much at this one.
           Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald—this new podcast with Braff and Faison revisiting each Scrubs episode has nothing to do with books but is so much fun that I’m sharing it anyway.

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
           King of Crows by Russell Day—isn’t actually going to be released until next month, but the date was announced this week (Fahrenheit almost never gives any book this much advance warning, which I was I’m struggling to read their stuff when it’s new). But take a look at the link and order it now, Day’s one of the best authors I’ve read in the last couple of years and this epic (“Ocean’s Eleven meets 28 Days Later”) is only going to make me keep calling him that.
           Broken by Don Winslow—Six novellas from the master. The early buzz on this collection is loud.
           Fake Truth by Lee Goldberg—Ian Ludlow is back in trouble, this time stumbling over a Russian fake news plot.
           A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones—Funny and exciting. This novel about a single mom and small-town sheriff is so much fun. I gushed about it here.

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome toMayank Sharma, youngcreativepress, Oaks CastleCollections and the reading chemist for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

Update: Naturally, I opened up my Kindle and found something that downloaded yesterday (I’d ordered it so many months ago, that I’d forgotten it was coming), so updated the New Release bit.
—
Yesterday, I talked about being wiped out lately, and I set out to prove it apparently. I’m not sure what time I fell asleep last night, but it was a few hours earlier than I expected. Anyway, I woke up about 3 am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I figured I’d read for a couple of minutes and drift off. I ended up reading for about 90 minutes, finishing a great read. I don’t remember the last time I did that–no interruptions (welcome or otherwise), no taking a quick peek at some social media, no anything. Just me and a book. It was so nice. Probably did more for my psyche than anything else in the last couple of weeks. Hope you’re able to find something like that yourself.

Also, while compiling this post, I’ve been listening to Joe Pug’s second concert from his Social Distancing Tour. I’m wagering that most of you haven’t heard of Pug before, take this opportunity to address that lacuna (loved the whole thing, but my favorite song from this group is around the hour and 10-minute mark although I almost revised that with the next song).

Enough of that, on with the post:

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
           Bookstores Can Be Saved—Dave Eggers provides the rare serious McSweeney’s post
           Get Shorty at 30: Dennis Lehane on Elmore Leonard’s Hollywood satire—Doesn’t get much better than Lehane, unless it’s Leonard. The former writing about Leonard, much less about Get Shorty? I could end this post right here and be satisfied.
           The best $193 I ever spent: A mountain of detective fiction when my wife was pregnant—although this is almost just as good
           Crime writer Don Winslow leaves Trump behind, mostly, for the California cool of novella collection Broken
           New Ways to Organize Your Bookshelves
           100 Fairy Books That You Should Read Before You Die
           Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors Share Their 2020 TBRs—some good looking stuff here
           Reading comprehension, reviews, and jerks—I stumbled onto this again this week, still fun (but man, so glad I don’t have to read people saying things like this about my work)
           Take this (weirdly precise!) quiz to find out which fictional character’s personality matches yours.—a fun little time-killer
           Bearded by J. Billups Book Report—a very cool video version of Billups’ Bearded (and, yes, I’m envious of the beard).
           How I Became A Book Blogger—who doesn’t enjoy a good origin story?
           What Makes a Book Blog Readable?

Episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
           Blood BrothersEpisode 2 Featuring Noelle Holten—a few crime authors being very silly (and some good book talk, too). The first episode is worth your time, too.

that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
           Curse the Day by Judith O’Reilly—the first, Michael North thriller, Killing State just rocked, can’t wait to find time to read this one. A conspiracy thriller featuring an AI and a great former-assassin protagonist.

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome tosandomina, LDW, and just_tommye for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?