Books - The Irresponsible Reader

Saturday Miscellany – 10/20/17

On October 21, 2017

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

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

By HCNewton

On October 14, 2017

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

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

By HCNewton

On October 7, 2017

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Just 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:

How Do You Define Urban Fantasy? — B&N’s SF&F blog brings together a handful of good authors to define UF, I really appreciated the recommendations (and share many)
15 Children’s Books No One Reads Now — some of these I get, but no one reads Caddie Woodlawn any more? Really? That’s just criminal.
Ten years after The Sword-Edged Blonde — Alex Bledsoe looks back on the experience and lessons learned from the publication of his first novel, The Sword-Edged Blonde. One of those books that you all need to read. Need. Not should read. Need to.
Why do you Read? — we can all related to this, right?

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

The Name of the Wind 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition by Patrick Rothfuss — squee!

The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan — the 3rd (and final?) installment in the Magnus Chase series.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Reasons To Resist.

Happy Father’s Day!

By HCNewton

On October 5, 2017

In Books, Fiction

I tried to take a photo of my actual book, but my photography skills were at their typical levels, so I had to opt for images I found online.

I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea (for reasons I understand, but can’t fathom), but when Greg Dean introduced me to Patrick Rothfuss and his work 10 years ago, it reminded me just how much I could still love Fantasy literature (or just anything I hadn’t been reading for years). I’m an unabashed fan still.

So my kids scored themselves some major brownie points this past Father’s Day when they went in and pre-ordered me an autographed copy of the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Name of the Wind. It showed up yesterday, and is gorgeous. That stunning cover is just the beginning — the full-page illustrations are wonderful, the bonus content looks great, the maps are very impressive. And all of it just reminds me how much I liked the book the three times that I’ve read it, and that it’s been 6 years or so since I last did so.

It’s taking all I have just to not call in sick for the next couple of days to re-immerse myself in this book.

At the same time, I just don’t know if I can touch this volume again. Or let anyone else, for that matter, without cotton gloves or something. I just don’t want to mess this up.

Just wanted to take a moment and publicly thank my kiddos for a great gift, and stress to anyone on the fence about picking this up that they really should (second printing is under way).

September 2017 Report

By HCNewton

On October 2, 2017

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

My numbers were a little off — which surprised me, really, I thought I had some busy weeks. But, oh well, I seemed to really like almost everything (average rating of 3.99 this month). Maybe I’m getting soft. Or I’m just reading a lot of good books.

Anyway, here’s what happened here in September.

Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to:












Not sure yet, at least

Reviews Posted:

Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar
The Blue Curtain by L. G. Metcalf
Black and Blue by Ian Rankin
Luck Favors the Prepared by Nathaniel Barber
Jamarr’s Promise by Kristin I. Morris & Joseph J. Zielinski, Ph.D
Summer Knight (Audiobook) by Jim Butcher, James Marsters
The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire
The Spirit Mage by Layton Green
The Song of The Swan by Michael RN Jones
The Western Star by Craig Johnson
IQ by Joe Ide
Wonder Woman: Warbringer (Audiobook) by Leigh Bardugo, Mozhan Marno
Prayer by Ole Hallsby
The Shadow of Christ in the Book of Job by C. J. Williams
All Tucked Inn (Audiobook) by Mindy M. Shelton, Tia Sorenson

Travels and Travails of Small Minds by Daniel Falatko
Sourdough by Robin Sloan

How was your month?

Saturday Miscellany – 9/30/17

By HCNewton

On September 30, 2017

In Books, News/Misc.

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:

Cover versions: why are UK and US book jackets often so different? — Frankly, I disagree with the story’s take on Clinton’s US cover, but the rest of this is quite interesting. Love reading this kind of thing.
What Writers Can Learn From Goodnight Moon — Don’t know much about Ng, but I enjoyed this.
12 Words with Luca Veste — 1. I think this interview “style” is pretty cool, and I want to go read more of them just for this and 2. Veste is always entertaining. Put the 2 of them together, and you’ve got something.
13 Literary Takes on the Lives of Animals — haven’t heard of any of these, but might track a few down
10+ Times Writers Took Book Dedications To Another Level —

I wish I knew who was behind some of these, but they’re all worth a read. I knew Derek Landy was funny, didn’t realize he didn’t keep it just to the stories.

Mysterypod with Ace Atkins — Atkins talks to Stephen Usery about his latest Quinn Colson and Spenser novels, and race relations in the South and Boston.

Paradox Bound by Peter Clines — looks like a fun time travel novel through US history.
Horizon by Fran Wilde — which serves as a good reminder that I’ve inexplicably not read Cloudbound.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to nishlovepink, foodlove16, Scarletpiper, georgederringer and youngadultallegiance for following the blog this week.

Looking for YA/NA/other recommendations

By HCNewton

On September 27, 2017

In Books, Fiction, News/Misc., Uncategorized, YA/MG/Children's Books

(how’s that for a broad category?)

I’ve been asked for help with compiling a list of books, that I’d describe as falling in the upper edge of YA, or “New Adult,” or something that would work for those readers. They should be less violent than Katniss Everdeen’s Games, with a similar level of romance/sex. Maybe similar to the last couple of Harry Potters.

Any thoughts, my friends?

Saturday Miscellany – 9/23/17

By HCNewton

On September 23, 2017

In Books, News/Misc.

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:

How Books Designed for Soldiers’ Pockets Changed Publishing Forever — the more you know . . .
The Gumshoe Site reports that Reed Farrel Coleman’s Where it Hurts and Joe Ide’s IQ (and 2 things I haven’t heard of) won 2017 Shamus Awards
Matthew Norman: How I Write — some good snippets from Norman
The Name’s Wolfe, Nero Wolfe: Rex Stout’s Influence on Ian Fleming — 2 weeks in a row with Wolfe pieces. Do I know how to attract readers or what? Possibly interesting to non-Wolfe readers as well.
Why You Should Read More Than One Book at a Time — not sure I buy it all, but this is good

SYFY25: Origin Stories Podcast with Neil Gaiman — thanks to very effective YouTube advertising, I tried a couple of episodes of Syfy’s Origin Stories podcast. I thought this one with Gaiman was just great.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Web Development (probably not the name he goes by), mitchavanza33, bigpetetafemd75 and One Stop Literary Services for following the blog this week.

Saturday Miscellany – 9/16/17

By HCNewton

On September 16, 2017

In Books, News/Misc.

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:

Indie Booksellers Report Solid Summer Sales — Yay.
Why Books and Reading Are More Important Than Ever — am not certain More Important is true, but it’s a nice little post.
Do celebrity book blurbs ‘blackmail’ readers? — good grief.
Cover Reveal: THE HIDDEN FACE — Friend of the Blog, S. C. Flynn, has a new book coming out and the nifty new cover has been revealed.
Supanova TV Episode 10 — a nice chat with Patricia Briggs
In The Spotlight: Don Winslow’s The Dawn Patrol — a good look at my favorite Winslow book.
10 Books That Were Written on a Bet

The Hangman’s Sonnet by Reed Farrel Coleman — Coleman continues his excellent run on the Jesse Stone series. Here’s what I had to say about it.

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

Saturday Miscellany – 9/9/17

By HCNewton

On September 9, 2017

In Books, News/Misc.

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:

Claire Messud: ‘Maybe in 50 years there won’t be novels’ — “As her fifth novel is published, the American writer warns that shrinking attention spans could prove the death of long fiction” yeah, okay.
Seanan McGuire on What She Learned From October
In the wake of the Game of Thrones finale, indulge in the nostalgia of Dragonlance — I’m not sure I agree with this, but anyone talking Dragonlance gets me happy.
A Better Place — Jamie Schultz tweeted this link to his new short story. Dug it.
Reverend Spooner, Father of the Spoonerism — as is the case with every article on Spooner/Spoonerisms, this piece would’ve been better with more examples. Still — a good read.

Author Stories at Dragon Con – Jim Butcher Q&A Panel — on The Author Stories Podcast this week, they’ve posted a few episodes related to Dragon-Con — including this very entertaining Q&A with Jim Butcher. Got a couple of nice tid-bits about upcoming books, too.

The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire — the 11th Toby Daye novel (and 1st Hardcover!) starts a whole new story arc, and . . . wow. It was just so good. Stop reading this and go get it.
The Western Star by Craig Johnson — have heard Johnson talk about this one in a couple of interviews while writing it, been looking forward to it for months.
Skyfarer by Joseph Brassey — This Space Opera knocked my socks off — and it will do the same for you, probably. See my original post here.
Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions by Amy Stewart — not my favorite of the three Kopp Sisters novels, but that’s more about how good the others were, this story about Constance trying to save three very different young women is worth your time. My post about it is here.
Sourdough by Robin Sloan — I’ve tried and failed for the last two years to talk about Sloan’s last novel, hopefully I do better with this one. Having seen what he can do with a font, a bookstore and Google — I can’t wait so see what he does with a sourdough starter, the Bay Area and technology.
Luck Favors the Prepared by Nathaniel Barber — a good collection of short non-fiction stories that are as funny as they are well-written. See the book tour stop promoting the book from this week here.

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

Category: Books Page 138 of 167

Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to:

Reviews Posted: