Category: Books Page 121 of 161

Seriously, if Real Life would just shut up for a minute and let me focus on my blog/prep for my blog, it’d be nice. And I’m not talking about huge, important things like — my kid had life saving surgery, or I was distracted by the tragic events unfolding in [insert important sounding city], or whatever. It’s just been busy and I find myself very tired lately. I really look forward to compiling these weekly posts, and the last few have just seemed . . . empty?

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me — I do like what we have for this week by way of the odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• Blackstone & Story Factory Deal Pulls Bestselling Authors Steve Hamilton, Reed Farrel Coleman, Meg Gardiner Away From Penguin Random House — I don’t like what this means for Jesse Stone, but I do like what it means for Nick Mason, Hamilton, Coleman and Gardiner. Blackstone, too, come to think of it. The dollar amounts being thrown around here boggle the mind — I didn’t think numbers like this existed for mystery writers not portrayed by Nathan Fillion.
• Vonda N McIntyre obituary — I won’t say I was the biggest McIntyre fan in the world — I barely read any of her stuff. But I bought two novels in high school by her, and read them an unhealthy amount of times. She perhaps shaped more of my impression of Kirk, Spock and McCoy than anyone else (including Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, and Roddenberry). Seeing her death announced this week hit harder than it should’ve for someone I haven’t read in decades.
• ‘I can write in that American voice quite easily. For everything else I cheat’ — a very nice profile of blog favorite author and podcast host Steve Cavanagh.
• How to Cuss Like No One’s Listening: Katherine Dunn on the Importance of Specificity in Swearing — I cuss/swear more than I should and wish I didn’t (and have friends who won’t believe that I do at all). But I get its use as a narrative and character-building tool. I rather enjoyed this piece.
• My Time on West Thirty-Fifth Street — one writer’s fictional and real experiences with Nero Wolfe, and Archie Goodwin (one of the best paragraphs on Archie ever written!). I will not stop posting about Wolfe and Goodwin until everyone who follows this blog reads them. And then I still won’t, because you’ll want to read more about them.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Postgraduate by Ian Shane — Recovering from a divorce, a former college DJ reconnects with his roots and maybe finds a path forward. I gushed about it yesterday.
• You Die Next by Stephanie Marland — To be honest, I groaned when this showed up on my Kindle Thursday because I’d just finalized my reading schedule for the rest of the month and we feeling pretty good about life. I have no idea when I can fit it in, but I really want it to be now. Anyway, this follow up to last year’s My Little Eye is gonna be great.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Madam Mim, Sonam Tsering and indianeskitchen for following the blog this week.

Another week of slim pickings . . . odd. Is it just end of month malaise? But there’s some good stuff here nonetheless. The odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• The Best Bookstores in All 50 States — according to MentalFloss. I’ve posted similar lists in the past, but who can resist a new version — especially if you are curious about nearby bookstores. I can sign off on 2 of the 3 Idaho bookstores mentioned.
• How a Fourth-Grader Turned Me Into a Book Detective — awww
• Crime Reads had an interesting twitter thread this week about authors who could bench press Jack Reacher, because who doesn’t think about that??
• Books Whose Endings Made-Up for Their Lackluster Start — I’ve only read one of these, and I disagree with almost everything this post said about Persepolis, but it’s an interesting idea. Can you think of anything that fits the headline?
• Official: Perry Mason gets full series order from HBO — I posted about this when it was still in the “maybe” stage, but now it’s official. I’m still incredibly skeptical about taking Mason out of the courtroom, but will likely end up giving this a chance.
• Bookdragon Lingo: A [Short] Guide to Bookish Talk — is a fun, and informative, post. Most of these I knew, some I even use. But I still learned a thing or three.

Book-ish Related Podcast Episodes you might want to give a listen to, both from Hank Garner’s Author Stories:
• S3E06 Ben Aaronovitch and James Swallow of Book Off! (“A literary podcast with a difference…”)This is the first I’ve heard of this podcast, but it’s a cool concept and I’ll take any excuse to listen to Aaronovitch (and I need to track down Swallow’s series).

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Not Everyone is Special by Josh Denslow — a short story collection with some fantastic writing — and a couple of good stories. My longer take on it is here.
• My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing — this tale of a husband and wife serial killer team is fun, and almost as good as I’d hoped. I really did like it, but had a reservation or two.
• Ruff vs. Fluff by Spencer Quinn — Quinn gets controversially inclusive here by having a cat as one of his protagonists in his new MG series. This is likely pretty cute, and I am curious how he’ll handle a feline lead, but is only a placeholder in my mind until we get a new Chet & Bernie book this summer.
• Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by sRajeev Balasubramanyam — I wish I could remember how this ended up on my radar, but it looks like it’ll appeal to the Maria Semple, Fredrick Bachman, etc. side of me. Probably you, too.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to amiiiesbooks for following the blog this week.

Busy week for me — not much screen time, alas. So this post will be short. Can’t promise sweet.

Here are the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• Harper Lee letter condemns home town for making her into a ‘tourist attraction’ — a couple of years ago, it seemed like I had a Harper Lee link or two a week for a stretch. Good to have her back on the list.
• Francis Spufford pens unauthorised Narnia novel — The article is right, it seems inevitable that someone will do it. Why not Spufford? Especially if it’s as Lewis-esque as it seems? But I’m apprehensive.
• Not as apprehensive as Lance Parkin is, however (but close): C S Lewis’s story has already been told: why we don’t need a new Narnia book
• Speaking of portal worlds, Syfy Nabs ‘Wayward Children’ Book Series for TV
• Joe Ide’s Next IQ Book Announced (with Details) — have to wait for a new Spenser and now a new IQ? grumble, grumble, grumble. Whatever happened to predictability, indeed. Am sure it’ll be worth the wait.
• Featured Book Trailer: Gregory Mcdonald’s Fletch Mysteries — Anything to bring a few more eyeballs to Fletch. Glad to see this reprinting, in general. I’ve also thought for years that it’d be nice to have a nice matching set of Mcdonald books (more than half of which were very used copies when I bought them). Maybe I should crowd fund it — would any of you contribute? 🙂
• BEST OF CRIME with Brad Parks — this is a fun post in general — moreso for Parks fans. And his choice of best detective? I love Parks all the more.
• DNF’ing Books! — I have a hard time DNF’ing, but this book blogger just did.

There weren’t any new releases that caught my eye this week — which is a double-edge sword. I feel like I probably missed a few things, but it also gives me a chance to catch up. The struggle is real, my friends.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Blair Leftly, upstateasb and vickyofficiallyofficial for following the blog this week.

Story behind this late post isn’t as interesting — but nicer — than last week’s. If you’re curious, check out my other blog in a bit (bit = 1-48 hours). Otherwise, here are the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• Last December, I hosted a guest post about Literary Road Trips that I recommend taking a peek at if you haven’t yet (or if you have). I was reminded of it when I read How to Take a Literary Pilgrimage in the Real World: First get lost in the pages, then get lost in the places. — from Atlas Obscura this week.
• Man Threatened With Eviction for Having ‘Too Many Books’! — I can see myself in this Brooklynite’s shoes. (H/T: Jo Perry)
• Douglas Adams’ Legacy — a nice tribute from Sindrelf on Adams’ 67th birthday.
• Spenser and Hawk: A Study of Good and Evil in the Fiction of Robert B. Parker — I don’t think I saw what prompted Gerald So, the essay’s author, to tweet the link to this essay this week but it’s such a good read for Parker readers new and old, I figured I’d take the opportunity to post it, too.
• Facing Down Old Ghosts: An Interview with William Boyle — the way this year is going, I’m not sure when I’m going to be able to read this book, but this is a good interview.
• Stats Transparency Post & Lessons Learned from One Year of Blogging — interesting and thought-provoking deep dive into one bloggers stats.
• The number of views behind the reviews. — The Tattooed Book Geek’s was a bit more lively — but when isn’t it? I was one of the people who voted in the bottom tier of his poll, btw.

Book-ish Related Podcast Episodes you might want to give a listen to, both from Hank Garner’s Author Stories:
• The Author Stories Podcast Episode 583 | Brad Parks Interview — Hank brings Parks back to talk about Hardees, writing and The Last Act.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• The Last Act by Brad Parks — an out of work actor goes undercover in prison. Not really the Feel Good Novel of the Year, but what else do you expect from Brad Parks? I had a bit more to say about it recently.
• Titan Shade by Dan Stout — Alien Nation + whatever that Will Smith Urban Fantasy Netflix movie was + Life on Mars (UK version). Or something. UF about a homicide cop in the 70s. Looks like it could be fun.
• Instant Karma by Todd Morr — disgraced ex-cop becomes a security advisor to the underworld. Also looks like fun — it’s on my Kindle, hoping to get to it before the end of the year (I wish that was a joke…)

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Erwin Wensley, dragonflybooks, virgoebooks and BOOKVENGER-44 for following the blog this week.

So I was awakened at shortly after 5 this morning with my wife telling me our 20-year-old had severe abdominal pains and needed to go to the ER, 11 hours later, we were home, one appendix lighter. 1. That’s really incredible. 2. That’s my best excuse for not getting this posted on time that I’ve ever had ? 3. I read more today than I typically do on a Saturday, so, that’s a nice bonus.

I did manage to accumulate a few odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• ‘I can get any novel I want in 30 seconds’: can book piracy be stopped? — How is this still a question?
• Famous Writers and Their Addictions — I should probably read more Balzac (maybe any?), it seems we have a lot in common.
• My Library Card Made Me Less of a Picky Reader — from BookRiot
• FX To Turn Don Winslow’s Epic Cartel Drug War Novel Trilogy Into TV Series — ooh!
• The Rook | Official Teaser — I really don’t know if this a good idea, but that trailer is promising.
• Who Would Win in a Great Literary Bake-Off? It’s Madeleines vs. Gingerbread vs. Eternal Cakes. — some great entries here.
• Understanding and handling your bookworm: A guide.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• That Ain’t Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire — The 8th InCryptid novel and the 3rd featuring Annie — after the way the last one ended, I’m very eager (and a little apprehensive) to dive in.
• A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle — “A funny, gritty, touching narrative about the strength of three New York women caught in a world of abusive men, broken families, and mob violence,” as NPR so helpfully summarizes it. Their review is worth a read.
• Another Kingdom by Andrew Klavan — a screenwriter finds himself in a fantasy kingdom — and in trouble. Then he finds himself back in L.A. And then back and forth. Something tells me that Klavan’s approach to a portal fantasy ain’t that typical.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to TheArtOfLife for following the blog this week.

I didn’t have much time for social media, blogs, etc. this week (sadly, it does recharge me), but I was able to scrape up a few links for this here post. Hope you enjoy these odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• Sad news to start with, Janet Asimov died this week — I wish I could find a better obituary. I really enjoyed the Norby novels that I read (almost half of them, it turns out — I wish I knew I had more to read back then, and a way to get them. Ahhh, the 80s.) and the anthology of “lite SF” she edited with her husband blew my mind — at the time, I didn’t know people not named Adams and Aspirin could write that kind of stuff.
• Chinbeard announces the 3rd (and, alas, final) Derek & Dave Philpott book — this will reportedly be focused on 1990’s British(ish) artists. Which means a lot of it will fly by me, but the stuff that doesn’t will probably be golden.
• Writers with a Badge: Two Retired Female Cops Talk Fiction vs. Reality — I haven’t read either of these authors, but I’ve often wondered what police officer/detective turned writers.
• Let’s Make A Murder: A Quick & Dirty Guide To Crafting A Whodunnit — Duncan MacMaster writes a great guest post on The Beardy Book Blogger. I know my site skews more to the reader then the writer, but this is a worthwhile post even for us non-practitioners.
• Don Winslow: The Making of a Drug War Epic: A Powerhouse Crime Trilogy Takes on the War on Drugs — another great piece on The Border, a book I’m working really hard to get to.
• What To Do When Your Crazy Thriller Plots Come True: An Author Wrestles With Fiction Becoming Truth — Lee Goldberg talks about his fiction hitting a little to close to home
• Authors, do you know what book bloggers actually do?
• The book of the show of the book – 11 top crime shows, 11 great reads — books based on shows, shows based on books.

Book-ish Related Podcast Episodes you might want to give a listen to, both from Hank Garner’s Author Stories:
• The Author Stories Podcast Episode 575 | Elaine Shannon Interview — I haven’t listened to this yet, but how an interview with the writer of Hunting LeRoux: The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire be anything but fascinating?

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• The Border by Don Winslow — the end of the Winslow’s Cartel Trilogy. Looks fantastic. Hope to get to it soon.
• Circle of the Moon by Faith Hunter — The fourth Soulwood novel brings the action. I loved it when I talked about it a few weeks back
• Death & Honey by Deliah S. Dawson, Kevin Hearne, Chuck Wendig — includes novellas by all three. The only one I care about (which might be a mistake) is the Third Oberon’s Murder Mystery!

Busy week around here — heading into the last week of Fahrenbruary and have a few really good books left to talk about. But man, I need to read out of the genre. Still, here are the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• AAP Reports E-Books Sales Fall, Audiobooks Rise — not news to anyone, really (at least anyone who cares about book sales), but worth a glance. 3 years of double-digit growth for Audiobooks? That’s impressive.
• With ‘The Border,’ Don Winslow closes modern literature’s most important crime saga
• ‘The Border’ is Don Winslow’s final chapter in a chilling, timely and seminal drug war trilogy — “The central question of crime fiction is how do you live decently in an indecent world” is a great line. (shocking, I know, that Winslow has great lines)
• See the Cover for Lee Child’s Next Jack Reacher Novel
• Michael Connelly’s Next Harry Bosch Novel Announced (with Details)
• Thrillers and Humor? — Lee Goldberg, who knows a thing or two about both topics (and merging them) — talks at The Poisoned Pen
• Clues That You Are the Unorthodox Detective in a Murder Mystery — I enjoyed this a bit more than I should’ve
• The 23 most unforgettable last sentences in fiction — Opening lines get all the attention, but a good last line? Priceless (but hard to talk about often without ruining a moment for a reader)

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Seraphina’s Lament by Sarah Chorn — A beautiful and brutal fantasy about a world dying while ruled by a Stalin-esque figure. I had a few things to say about it earlier this week.
• Immoral Code by Lillian Clark — High Schoolers plan a heist to send a friend to college. I enjoyed it, if you’d care to read more about that.
• Batman: The Court of Owls by Greg Cox — I haven’t read one of these new Batman novels, but have read some good things about them — this one in particular. I’ve always enjoyed the Court of Owls stories, I need to get on to these, tout de suite.
• Hunting LeRoux: The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire by Elaine Shannon — a non-fiction account that’s getting praise from the writer of Black Hawk Down, Don Winslow and Dennis Lehane. Reading the description sounds like an overblown crime novel, but knowing it’s not, you may not sleep well after reading this. Go click the link on this one.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to deborahkehoe and kelleysdiy for following the blog this week.