Category: Books Page 152 of 162

Bah. Another content-light week for me. Sorry! Really. But between work and … everything else, I just haven’t been able to do much writing. I did get three half-posts composed this week, but haven’t been able to seal the deal on any of them. It’s pretty frustrating — I know exactly what I want to say about these three books when I’m doing something else, but when I sit down to write? It’s like pulling teeth. Let’s hope for better next week. I did get to update my Reviews in Progress page, so you can get at least a hint about what I’m thinking.

Without further ado, some dds ‘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:

• To shill a mockingbird: How a manuscript’s discovery became Harper Lee’s ‘new’ novel — one more take (a bit more detailed than others) on Harper Lee and her upcoming release
• We’re Still Getting ‘Huck Finn’ Wrong — Interesting, not totally convincing, but interesting look and Andrew Levy’s new book Huck Finn’s America
• Alex Bledsoe Talks Tufa — and some other topics in this interview.
• From such diverse sources as Lifehacker and Electric Lit comes this infographic mapping out pretty much every genre in contemporary fiction.
• Wimpy Kid and the odd charms of children’s misfit lit — like the author of this piece, I’m not a huge fan of Greg Heffley and his ilk — tho’ my kids are. Still, this makes for an interesting read.
• Words You Didn’t Realize Come From Books — another infographic, this one a bit more amusing.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Dorothy Parker Drank Here by Ellen Meister — I really enjoyed Meister’s previous story about Parker’s ghost, looking forward to this one.
• Canary by Duane Swierczynski — this looks like a good, solid, probably hyperviolent adventure. I won’t hurry to get this, but it’s on the list.

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

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:

• Move over Harper Lee, there’s a newly discovered Dr. Seuss book coming out this July (just kidding, don’t move anywhere Harper Lee)
• Here’s a nice little interview with Janet Evanovich from the Savannah Morning News in advance of the Savannah Book Festival.
• Essential Books That Almost Never Saw The Light Of Day — an interesting list from the B&N blog. Honestly, the world would be better without a couple of these, but mostly, these are some treasures.
• Love DNA of Famous Classic Novels — meant to post this last week — fit the day better. Still, this infographic showing the variation in the use of love in novels since 1800.
• An important reminder from Michael R. Underwood about reviewing sequels.
• Beyond Harper Lee: This Season’s Hottest Literary Rediscoveries — chuckled hard a couple times at this one.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Half the World by Joe Abercrombie — #2 in Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea series. Which reminds me, I need to get a hold of #1.
• Department 19: Zero Hour by Will Hill — been ages since I’ve read a Department 19 book, looking forward to digging in — this is a fun series about a group of Vampire Hunters mixed with a special operations force.
• Shoot This One by Javier Grillo-Marxuach — from The Middleman to LOST to Charmed to Helix, and did I mention The Middleman? by Javier Grillo-Marxuach is one of the more interesting TV writers around. This collection of essays looks very appetizing.

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:

• Because the stories about this novel aren’t going to stop anytime soon: Harper Lee ‘hurt and humiliated’ by Mockingbird sequel controversy — I’d feel better about this if it wasn’t the lawyer at the center of this doing the talking.
• Bosch started streaming on Amazon yesterday, at the time of this writing I’ve seen 4 episodes. They’re not perfect, but I’m really enjoying them. Because of the premier, my social media has been filled with articles, promotions, etc. about the actors, characters for the last couple of weeks. I’m only going to share this one, where Titus Welliver, the star, talks about the character.
• Tor.com announced last year that they’re getting into “publishing the best novellas and short novels from emerging writers as well as established authors.” This week, the initial list of this line was announced. Some really appetizing things here.
• Michael R. Underwood, a favorite around these parts, announced his new novella series Genrenauts as part of Tor.com’s project.
• io9 had a story about this, too: Tor.com Explains Why Novellas Are The Future Of Publishing. I loved this line, “When the book wars sweep across the galaxy, and the blood of publishers runs down the gutters of every interstellar metropolis, the resource we fight for will not be paper, or ink, or even money. It will be time.”

This Week’s New Release that You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Deadly Spells by Jaye Wells — the third in Prospero’s War series.

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

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:

• Writing a new Philip Marlowe: a question of dialogue, attitude and style — John Banville talks about the process he went through when writing a classic character
• George RR Martin’s The Winds of Winter: no plans for publication in 2015 — Martin will not be publishing a new novel from A Song of Ice and Fire this year. Which is a coincidence, because neither will I.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Gemini Cell by Myke Cole — a prequel-ish tale to his Shadow Ops series. Can’t wait to get done with my current stack of library books so I can read this one.
• Fairest by Marissa Meyer — Queen Levana’s backstory.
• Jacaranda by Cherie Priest — a short novel that takes place 20 years after Fiddlehead.

A very skimpy offering this week.

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:

• Karen E. Olson has a new book deal. That’s pretty good news, been too long since I read her.
• 11 TV Characters Who Love Books Maybe Even As Much as You — a cute list
• 15 signs to prove you’re a book addict — from The Guardian of all people.
• I think we’ve all been in the same place asthis Max Overacts.
• Myke Cole on the Once and Future Podcast in advance of his novel Gemini Cell (which sounds great), like his previous appearance this is one of the better episodes of the podcast. Even if you don’t know who this guy is, you should check it out.

This Week’s New Release that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham — the second (of what I hope is many) Veronica Mars novel is even better than the first.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Publishing Insights for following the blog this week. Thanks to hortah01 for the interaction.

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye (a strangely short list compared to the last few weeks). You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• E-Books Are Damaging Your Health: Why We Should All Start Reading Paper Books Again — over at Medical Daily, Lecia Bushak goes on a rant about the health benefits of dead-tree books over e-books. Maybe it’s just me, but this seems to needs to be read with a salt lick nearby.
• Is there an ideal age to write a masterpiece? — Blinkbox Books put together an infographic showing when authors wrote their most famous works
• Kitty Saves the World & an announcement — Carrie Vaughn announces that she’s wrapping things up in the next book. I figured this was coming, but I thought it’d take a few more books. Wanted a few more books first. It’s time, but going to be sad to see this one go.
• Ernest Cline writing 2nd Ready Player One novel — words fail me. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as tempted to use that “Shut up and take my money!” line.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Near Enemy by Adam Sternbergh — a worthy, and entertaining, successor to last year’s Shovel Ready
• The Way Into Magic by Harry Connolly — Book 2 in Connolly’s Epic Fantasy series, hearing nothing but good about this series. Need to get to it, soon. It’s on my Kindle, but I’m no longer sure I should use it after reading that Bushak piece 😉

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to whatshesreadingnow, Crossroads Reviews, and Curlydaz for following the blog this week. Thanks especially to whatshesreadingnow for the very kind description of this blog that she gave to her readers.

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’m sure you heard that Mark Zuckerberg Aims to Start World’s Largest Bookclub on Facebook — which sounds interesting as all get out, and apparently, When Mark Zuckerberg Likes a Book, Sales Soar and by “soar,” they apparently mean “skyrocket”
• Mark Twain’s grave robbed of bronze plaque — Oh, c’mon people!
• Popular TV Series and Movies Maintain Relevance as Novels — The NYTimes talks tie-in novels
• 10 Books You Should Finally Read in 2015 — The B&N Book Blog makes a good case for this, but . . . yeah, just not going to happen.
• The Problem With Reading Competitively — Claire Fallon makes some really, really good points here about reading goals, etc.
• Interview: Myke Cole, Creator of Shadow Ops — a good interview with Myke Cole. His fourth novel Gemini Cell is one of the books I’m most looking forward to.
• The Joy of Book Blogging — This is a heckuva piece.
• 23 Words For Book Lovers That Really Should Exist — a bit of fun to start off your Saturday
• Our Favorite Fictional Characters Share Their New Year’s Resolutions — from the B&N editors — a grin or to can be found here.

After a few s-l-o-o-w weeks, I’m really looking forward to this batch of: This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Golden Son by Pierce Brown — #2 in The Red Rising Trilogy. Cannot wait to get my grubby little hands on this one.
• Firefight by Brandon Sanderson — The Reckoners #2 is also out — nowhere near as good as The Red Rising Trilogy, but this is a fun series.
• Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch — I’m almost halfway done with this latest adventure of apprentice wizard/London Constable Peter Grant, and am digging it. Perfect change of pace after the game-changing events of the last book.
• The Witches of Echo Park by Amber Benson — I’ve enjoyed Benson’s work in the past, and while I’m not convinced that I’m part of this book’s audience, I want to give it a shot.
• As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley — Flavia de Luce gets up to more misadventure — and probably murder solving while she’s at it

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to 1 SIGFRIDSSON, emily kitta, Dioniso Punk, Maz Halima, and pmitsuing for following the blog this week. Thanks to theeditorsjournal for the interaction.