Category: Books Page 132 of 162

On November 25, 2017

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:

Yeah, Thanksgiving was a couple of days ago, but I thought these first two were interesting, regardless: 22 Famous Writers Told Us About The Book They’re Most Thankful For
B&N Survey Finds Thanksgiving Eve ‘Busiest Reading Day of the Year’
An Author Photo Is Worth a Thousand Words
Science fiction triggers ‘poorer reading’, study finds — huh
All the Known Portal Worlds in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children Series — This is a handy piece.
Kate Neilan brings us this helpful reminder
22 Reasons We’re Thankful For Independent Bookstores

The Hidden Face by S. C. Flynn is scheduled to release today, so that counts, right? I think there’s a strong chance you can grab it for pretty cheap, too. A good book at a good price. Jump on it. In case you missed what I said about it yesterday, just click here.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Mr and Mrs NW, abokrose and LizScanlon for following the blog this week.

Saturday Miscellany – 11/18/17

On November 18, 2017

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:

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the Kindle’s launch — which would change so much of the book business. The Guardian has a pretty good piece on its impact: Amazon’s Kindle turns 10: have ebooks clicked with you yet?
And Mashable lists The most popular books on the Kindle
Little House, Small Government: How Laura Ingalls Wilder’s frontier vision of freedom and survival lives on in Trump’s America. — I’m not saying I buy everything in this piece, but it’s an interesting read
Not at all surprisingly, I loved Don’t Panic: Paying Tribute to Douglas Adams
Andy Weir on Ernest Cline, Doctor Who, and More — from Unbound

Hank Garner’s The Author Stories Podcast had two strong episodes this week: Episode 260: Andy Weir was great — he talked about a novel he had to shelve, his one problem with The Martian movie, and the genesis of Artemis.
Episode 262: Janet Evanovich — I’ve actually never read/heard an Evanovich interview before (that I recall, anyway). This was great to hear.

Artemis by Andy Weir — Can Weir follow The Martian with anything but a let down? I finished this last night, and my answer is YES! Also: Phew!! Basically, it’s a heist novel set in the first city on the Moon. And it’s great.
Deep Blue Trouble by Steph Broadribb — Lori Anderson, the wonderful single-mom/bounty hunter from Deep Down Dead (and possibly my favorite new character this year) is back for more. I’m pretty sure I knew this was coming out this week, but I’d forgotten it, so seeing it show up on my Kindle really screwed up my reading schedule for the rest of the month. How much do I care? Not one whit.
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant — None of Seanan McGuire’s alter ego’s books have appealed to me yet (beyond being written by one of the best around). This one just might get me to give Grant a shot. For those more open to the horror or SF-Horror type of read, you should probably consider this one.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to theartdive and M.L.S.Weech for following the blog this week.

Saturday Miscellany – 11/11/17

On November 11, 2017

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:

What Flannery O’Connor’s College Journal Reveals — O’Connor’s a long-time favorite of mine, I could read things like this all the time.
The secret of how to write a bestseller — “The one thing that stops people being good writers is the myth that there is such a thing as good writing, says Andy Martin. The point of the creative writing course is to get you over the delusion”
10 Novels Agents Have Already Seen a Billion Times
Why Mad Men Creator Matthew Weiner Didn’t Aim to Make Anyone “Likable” in His New Novel

The Midnight Line by Lee Child — In the wake of Make Me (which still gives me the heebie jeebies), Reacher goes on a hunt to indulge his curiosity (and we all know he’s going to end up doing a lot more)
Communication Failure by Joe Zieja — this funny follow-up to last year’s Mechanical Failure will get you laughing at the brink of Interplanetary War. It’s great, as I discussed here.
Bonfire by Krysten Ritter — Ritter’s first novel is a suspenseful, solid read. Here’s what I wrote about it last month.
The Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt — another comedic space opera this week — sounds like a pretty good trend.
A Spoonful of Magic by Irene Radford — it’s a cute premise, and different enough from the typical UF that it looks worth a try.
A Burdizzo For A Prince by Mark Rapacz — J. J.’s a hitman on the run from his former colleagues after he dishes out some justice on the boss’ son. Look up the word “Burdizzo” and you’ll get an idea why J. J. probably doesn’t want anyone to catch him.
Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner — It’s Matthew Weiner, what else needs to be said?

Saturday Miscellany – 11/4/17

On November 4, 2017

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’ve decided to tell you guys a story about piracy. — Maggie Stiefvater tells a story about the impact of ebook piracy. This post is a keeper, one to throw at all the people you know who are far too comfortable violating copyright laws.
Myke Cole on Siege Line and Wrapping up the Reawakening Trilogy — Unbound Worlds talks to Myke Cole about his new book and what’s to come.
…and B&N has a little to say about the book: Myke Cole Builds a Genre of His Own in Siege Line
Lin-Manuel Miranda on Adapting The Kingkiller Chronicles, How It Inspired Moana, and the Lady Lackless Song He Wrote
Speaking of Rothfuss: Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Three – A New Update! — blah
and continuing the theme: 20 Patrick Rothfuss Quotes From Kingkiller Chronicles And More
that’s a pretty thematically-oriented list, isn’t it?

Craig Johnson on Author Stories Podcast — Johnson talks about The Western Star, the TV show, writing and the future.

Siege Line by Myke Cole — you may have surmised from the above, that Cole’s new book is out. This is the third in the prequel Reawakening trilogy, and should be a blast.
Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly — Bosch is back, with a new case and a blast from the past.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Simple Ula for following the blog this week.

October 2017 Report

On November 1, 2017

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

October’s been a frustrating month for me, and I’m glad to put it behind me. Almost everything took a day or more longer than I thought it would to read, I had a hard time writing a few posts (don’t ask me why), and like I mentioned yesterday, I got knocked out by a stupid cold for a few days. On the other hand, looking back at this post, I read some pretty cool books — and when I can focus on that, this is a pretty fun hobby. And If I can accomplish most of what I want to in November, this’ll be a much happier post next month.

But enough of that, here’s what happened here in October.

Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to:

DNF:

http://rhettbruno.com/the-complete-circuit-trilogy/

(again, not the book’s fault — my problem)

Still Reading:

Reviews Posted:

The Hunger Angels by Jason Miller
McCall & Company: Workman’s Complication by Rich Leder
The Flying Frog and the Kidnappers by David Yair, ilana Graf, Natalie Jackson
How to Think by Alan Jacobs
A Long Day in Lychford by Paul Cornell
Planet Grim by Alex Behr
Bonfire by Krysten Ritter
Open and Shut (Audiobook) by David Rosenfelt, Grover Gardner
Tilt-a-Whirl (Audiobook) by Chris Grabenstein, Jeff Woodman
Henry by Katrina Shawver
Ghost Hero by S. J. Rozan
The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan, Robbie Daymond
An Unexpected Afterlife by Dan Sofer
The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankin
A Die Hard Christmas by Doogie Horner, JJ Harrison

How was your month?

Saturday Miscellany – 10/28/17

On October 28, 2017

Phew, the week’s over. Work’s been really busy, and have had barely time to read — most of which has been all about deadlines — ARCs, Library Due Dates, etc. One week to go and life calms down a bit. In the meantime, here are some 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:

Unseen Harper Lee letters give intimate view of To Kill a Mockingbird author — aside from Lee’s (I’m guessing intentional) misunderstanding of Hebrews 13:8, these sound fascinating.
When British Authors Write American Dialogue, or Try To — there’s some good stuff here.
New York Observer columnist who offered ISIS money to kill him thinks we should close all public libraries, takes heat — the writing is a bit too much for me here, but I saw this play out some on Twitter this week and wanted to post about it, in case anyone missed it. Poor guy didn’t know what he was getting into (or, he absolutely knew and wanted the attention).
Seanan McGuire: All Books Are Real Books — you don’t have to spend a lot of time/effort here to see I’m a McGuire fan. So it’s not surprising that I enjoyed this interview — but I expect that people who aren’t me will, too.
The Secret Of NIMH Was Inspired By A Horrific Experiment — A little behind-the-scenes look at The Secret of NIMH/Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (I read the book a more times than I saw the movie growing up, but I spent too much time doing both).
In Defense of Reading (and Writing) for Fun — Melissa Caruso speaks for many of us with this, saving the link to use for the next time I have to have that conversation with family/acquaintances.
Why We Keep Telling the Same Stories: Neil Gaiman, Halldor Laxness and the art of revisiting myths
PWs Best Books of 2017 — It’s October and we’re already doing this?
6 Famous Writers Injured While Writing

A Die Hard Christmas The Illustrated Holiday Classic by JJ Harrison, Doogie Horner — which I quite liked, as you can read here.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Skulls and Coffee, BellaDonna, vickibrock44 and Rizky FAUZI (I’d never be brave enough to do what he’s doing with his blog — no matter how great the idea is) for following a version of the blog this week.

Saturday Miscellany – 10/20/17

On October 21, 2017

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:

Book Publishers Go Back to Basics: As consumer e-book sales fall, publishers look to find new footing with old ground—and faster pipelines. UPDATE: Well, pfui, there wasn’t a paywall on the article when I read it. Basically, publishers are scaling back e-book efforts and putting out more paper editions– and embracing making them nicer/more attractive/etc. which seems to be helping sales. Thanks to Bookstooge, my unofficial (and very much needed) Saturday Miscellany editor, for catching this.
Book Blogging: Back to Basics — Speaking of Back to Basics, this book blogger reminds us all of something many/most of us have felt. I like her approach to getting through it.
The Best Baby Names from Sci-Fi and Fantasy Literature — I’m not sure this is a great idea. I was somewhere recently where I heard some parents refer to their 10-12 year old daughter by the name of a YA heroine, and couldn’t help wondering what the kid will be thinking in her 20s about that choice.
…and that’s apparently all I saw this week.

Mysterypod with Reed Farrel Coleman — Coleman talks to Stephen Usery about his latest Jesse Stone novel, and a little about Gus Murphy, his book with Michael Mann and more.

A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne — Hearne trades the Urban in for Epic in this fantasy novel. I started this 2 days ago and am making incredibly slow progress (my fault, not the book’s), but it’s just gorgeous. I am going to have many, many good things to say about this next week.
Righteous by Joe Ide — Isaiah Quintabe is on the hunt for his brother’s killer and trying to keep a DJ safe from various criminals.
How to Think by Alan Jacobs — building on recent works about the science of thinking, Jacobs focuses o the art of it. I had a little tosay about it.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to whatsnonfiction for following the blog this week.

Saturday Miscellany – 10/14/17

On October 14, 2017

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:

A Day in the life of…An Independent Bookshop
My Favorite Books to Sell Over 20 Years of Owning a Bookstore
Space Bikers Return on the Cover of Blood Binds the Pack — cover reveal, blurb and an interview with Alex Wells about the sequel to Hunger Makes the Wolf. I assumed a sequel was coming, but now that I’ve seen this, I’m excited and not all that inclined to be patient.
Commonplace Books Then and Now: From Marcus Aurelius to taggable book quotes: why we’re compelled to track our reads. — some of these make my little spreadsheet look pretty pathetic.
How Mark Twain helped Nick Offerman become a weirdo: The comedian brings Twain’s ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court’ to life in a new audiobook from Audible — a nice piece from EW.com

A Long Day in Lychford by Paul Cornell — The Witches of Lychford are back — it wasn’t my favorite, but it’s still soemthing you should read (plus the first 2). Here’s my $.02 on the novella
Drawing Dead by JJ DeCeglie — Fahrenheit Press’ latest offering features a drunk, gambling addicted PI in hock to the mob. Probably not the feel-good book of the year, but it has all the makings of a gripping read.

Saturday Miscellany – 10/7/17

On October 7, 2017