Category: Books Page 152 of 160

Saturday Miscellany — 1/3/15

On January 3, 2015

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc., Quotations

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:

Pulp’s Big Moment: How Emily Brontë met Mickey Spillane. — The Birth and Early History of Pocket Books (paperbacks).
Phew, only 2 more Best of 2014 lists to post here — I’m working on mine, wanted to have it up yesterday, but . . .hopefully Monday (and by saying that, I’ve doomed it ’til Friday)

My Top 10 Favorite Books of 2014 — Hadn’t even heard of most of these — and honestly, our tastes rarely overlap. But I keep coming back to this blog.
The Epic Best Books of 2014 List — Bookworm Blues has a really good SF/F list

How to Write a Book Review — Author J. S. Morin provides some handy (and pain-free) guidelines
31 New Year’s Resolutions for Book Nerds — I really liked — even admired — some of these resolutions from the B&N editors — some I thought were just wrong.
Speaking of resolutions, How To Read More — A Lot More — Ryan Holiday has some really helpful advice if this is one of your goals. There’s a thing or two here I should incorporate. (I may have posted this one already, but I’m too lazy — and have too much to read — to go check).
How to read more — Austin Kleon was inspired by Holiday’s list and has some other useful suggestions.
In an odd coincidence, the other day I came across another reference to Kleon’s blog — a post he put up in 2009 about Nancy Pearl’s “The Rule of 50”, which is so good that in addition to the link, I’m just going to copy here:

Believe me, nobody is going to get any points in heaven by slogging their way through a book they aren’t enjoying but think they ought to read. I live by what I call ‘the rule of fifty,’ which acknowledges that time is short and the world of books is immense. If you’re fifty years old or younger, give every book about fifty pages before you decide to commit yourself to reading it, or give it up. If you’re over fifty, which is when time gets even shorter, subtract your age from 100. The result is the number of pages you should read before deciding.
from Book Lust

Low Midnight by Carrie Vaughn — Cormac takes over! Well, at least for one book. Psyched to read this one.

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

Saturday Miscellany — 12/27/14

By HCNewton

On December 27, 2014

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Two whole weeks with nothing reviewed. Was two paragraphs away from having one up yesterday. Actually, I’m about two – four paragraphs away from having a bunch go up. Need to buckle down and finish those.

Anyway, 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:

Down Mean Streets a Writer Went to Create a Hard-Boiled Character — The NYT gives us a peak at a new book about Raymond Chandler.
title — And The NYT has a fun interview with Janet Evanovich.
A Writer’s Worst Moment. — Paul Cornell collects the worst moments in a few author’s careers.
Ebook growth is stagnating — the infographic sums the state of the industry up pretty well, who’d have thought this would happen so soon?
Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover: Tech-Savvy Teens Remain Fans of Print Books — Nielsen reports that teens lag far behind adults in the ebook market. It’s counter-intuitive, sure, but for those who equate ebooks with the fall of civilization, this has to give a measure of hope.
10 Authors That Deserve More Buzz — The BiblioSanctum provides a pretty nice list.
Why I AM Participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge in 2015 — Last week, we looked at the why not. This week, it’s the why. Put me down for a ditto to this.
The Book Riot 2015 Read Harder Challenge — In the last few years, I’ve had reading projects — from the serious to the silly. Didn’t really have much of one this year, at least not until late in the year. Might try this one in 2015 — it’ll be a stretch in many ways, but I think I can pull it off.
But before we can start 2015, we’ve got some more 2014 Best of Lists to look at (mine should be ready early in 2015).
- There Are Way Too Many ‘Best Of 2014′ Lists — yup.
- My Long List: Best Books of 2014 — I like Ivory Owl’s categories
- The Best Books of 2014, According to WSJ Readers — huh.
- The Top 25 Best Fantasy Books of 2014 — Haven’t read a lot of what’s on this list (want to, tho’), but I’ve read enough to know I agree with a lot of Snow’s take (but not all)

Not too surprisingly, very, very little was released this week — and nothing that caught my eye. There’s at least one thing I know will come out next week (I ordered it months ago, and will hopefully get to read it this year).

Saturday Miscellany — 12/20/14

By HCNewton

On December 20, 2014

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Hey, remember when I reviewed things here? Posted fairly frequently, too. Honestly can’t tell you why this month or so has been so dry. I promise, I’m trying. Spent a part of each of the last few weeks thinking I was going to get ahead of the game, and each one has found me further behind.

Anyway, I did get a really big list of 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 Most-Recommended Novel Of All Time Is… — After reading the HuffPo thing, go play with the interactive graphic. Really interesting.
The Gorgeous, 75-Year Evolution of ‘The Hobbit’ Covers/ — some of these are really cool
What Lee Child Has Learned from Writing the Jack Reacher Books –a conversation with Esquire mag. I think I agree with his pick for the one he’d submit to a prize committee.
Neal Stephenson signs on as tech company’s ‘chief futurist’ — Sure. Why not? I’d feel better about this if I hadn’t read some of his visions of the future. Naturally, I don’t think he wants to create The Diamond Age, but, you can never tell….
25 Genre Novels That Should be Classics
Will Warren Hammond and Carrie Vaughn Go Where No Local Sci Fi Writers Have Gone Before? — a nice look at a couple of Colorado SF writers.
Novelists Adam Sternbergh and Lev Grossman on Genre Fiction and Theories of Nerd-dom — Loved books by both of them this year, very interesting stuff here.
Why I’m Not Participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge in 2015 — I totally get everything Pryde says here — and agree with most of it. I’m 20+ behind at the moment (hoping to get up to 18 behind by the end of the year), and it’s driving me crazy. Which is stupid. But I’ll probably do it again next year. Maybe.
2014 in Review — a nice recap/glance forward, etc. from Bookworm Blues. I want to be a blogger like her someday.
What Amazon’s Bestsellers Say About American Culture in 2014 — huh. Maybe.
And still more best of 2014 lists. Which again, are great fodder for TBR Lists:
- David L. Ulin’s best books of 2014 — The LA TimeS Book Critic gives us a list of books I’ve never heard of.
- Here’s the Ultimate List — BookBub aggregates 23 different lists. Wow, so helpful.
- 11 Books Strand’s Booksellers Loved Most In 2014
- Books That Deserved the Hype
- The Year In Great Sentences — not just good books (etc.) but great on the micro level.
- Our favourite books of 2014 — Edmonton Journal writers share their choices for best reading. I’ve said almost the exact same thing more than once about Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe (rest of the list is alright, too, but not as right)
- Our Favorite Book Covers of 2014 — nothing against other lists, but I think I agree with BookRiot’s more
- Some of the Best Lit Tweets of Some of the Year — Possibly the most entertaining of these lists I’ve linked to this month
- title — blah
- My best reads o’ the year — Kevin Hearne (on his nice looking new site) gives us his favorite 3.
- Top 5 Urban Fantasy Novels I Read in 2014 — from Bibliotropic
- Best Military Fiction of 2014 — from The Book Plank. I totally agree with his take on Cole’s Control Point
- MIND MELD: Best Books of 2014 — Speaking of Myke Cole, he and other writers combined for this list for SF Signal.
Embiggening English: The Simpsons and changing language

A big, fat goose egg with New Releases this week — there’s at least one next week to close out the year.

Saturday Miscellany — 12/13/14

By HCNewton

On December 13, 2014

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:

J.K. Rowling’s ‘Cuckoo’s Calling’ to Be Part of BBC One TV Series — looking forward to this.
Speaking of Rowling, Dear J.K. Rowling, Here’s What We Want for Harry Potter Christmas
As I predicted last week, a few more best-of-2014 lists
- Publishers Weekly Best of 2014
- Shelf Awareness’ Our Best Books of 2014 — blah
- Electric Literature’s 25 Best Novels of 2014 — blah
- Best mystery novels of 2014 — Oline Cogdill compiled a list of the best 15 mysteries, and 6 of the best debuts. Finally, a list I feel competent to comment on! I like a lot of his choices, and have added to my TBR list from the rest.
- Judging Books by Their Covers — 2014 Best Book Covers from Bookish
Author Of ‘Bridge To Terabithia’: Messages Are Poison To Fiction — I remember nothing about Paterson’s books, even Terabithia, I do remember being knocked for a loop by it. Anyway, really enjoyed what she said about messages here.
Bookish Things That Should Exist — A nice little list from BookRiot.
Lastly, I can’t remember who retweeted something that introduced me to the twitter account @CelebrityOxford, which surveys various celebrities about their stance on the Oxford Comma. Meanwhile, John Scalzi went on a little twitter rampage about Oxford Comma fans. Read a lot more yesterday about the Oxford Comma than I woke up expecting to.

I didn’t see a single new release this week that interested me, continuing the general sluggishness of the month, and giving many of us a chance to play catchup.

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Saturday Miscellany — 12/6/14

By HCNewton

On December 6, 2014

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:

Unpublished Raymond Chandler work discovered in Library of Congress — and, naturally, it’s “a witty, Gilbert-and-Sullivan-inflected libretto for a fantasy-tinged romance”? Say what?
Don DeLillo’s Annotated “Underworld” — oh man, would love to spend a few days with this.
What Kids Want to Read: An Infographic — sure, you could spend a lot of money on a survey, or…I don’t know. Talk to just one kid. Really these the least counter-intuitive survey results ever.
It’s that time of the year, when people are looking for gift ideas, here’s a few:
- Literary Aces Playing Cards
- Some favorite gifts for book lovers that aren’t books — nifty ideas, but…wouldn’t books be easier?
- 16 Fantastic Gifts For Lit Lovers Who Have Enough Books — similar, but not the same list. And I’ve got the same substitute suggestion.
10 Reasons to Shop at Your Local Indie Bookstores This Holiday Season — keep this in mind this season — and all year long
It’s also that time of year for the making of lists. I imagine I’ll be posting a few more of these (and, I hope, making one of my own).
- 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards — Not all my choices won — actually, only two did. But I did okay, and am really only confused/annoyed by a couple of the wins.
- Best science fiction books of 2014 — According to The Guardian, anyway. There’s a distinct national accent to this list — which is understandable, and maybe deserved.
- The 22 Best Lines of 2014 — Familiar with the source or not, this is a fun list of lines
- Was 2014 the Year of the Debut? — a bunch of great debut novels
Four Things My Family Learned From The Boxcar Children Books — I dug these books so much when I was a kid — most of my kids dabbled in them, but they never were as grabbed as I was. Glad to see there are still some big fans of the Aldens out there.

Bryant and May and the Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler — the eleventh installment in the series featuring the weirdest batch of detectives you’ll run across in fiction.

Saturday Miscellany — 11/29/14

By HCNewton

On November 29, 2014

In Books, News/Misc.

First off, on this week of Thanks — I wanted to say thanks for everyone who has read, followed, and liked this blog. And to those who’s commented, retweeted, interacted with me about this here blog. Those authors/publicists who’ve made contact with me because of this? Mind blowing and I cannot thank you enough. Seriously, I am grateful.

Anyway, on to the small list of 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:

title — Ursula K. Le Guin won the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards last week, and gave this thought-provoking speech.
Why has the imagination been sidelined in literature? are some of the thoughts it provoked in Damien G.
Reading Together Even While Reading Alone — Bryan VanDyke gives us a look at his development as a reader and more.
8 Books To Read Before They Become Movies In 2015 — I’ve read one of these (The Martian), quit another one (American Sniper), and am undecided on the rest. Nevertheless, a handy list.
“Wisp of a Thing” — based on the wonderful novel by Alex Bledsoe, this song might as well have been written by one of the Tufa.

Endsinger by Jay Kristoff — Book 3 of The Lotus War — the YA Japanese Steampunk/Mythology mix. I’m looking forward to this, but something tells me there’s a lot of pain and suffering ahead for the characters (and country!).

Saturday Miscellany — 11/22/14

By HCNewton

On November 22, 2014

In Books, News/Misc.

A pretty light load this week, it’s like there’s a holiday around the corner or something. Bet things pick up next month.

Still, there were 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:

James Patterson: “Amazon could actually dedicate itself to saving books and literature in this country” — I’m not Patterson’s biggest fan. But his pro-bookstore, pro-reading campaign is pretty appealing.
Michael Connelly Takes Detective Harry Bosch From Page to Screen — a nice interview with Connelly about Bosch on “TV” and in print.
Authors Give Advice to Younger Selves — Over on Suvudu this week, several SF/Fantasy writers shared the advice they’d want to give to themselves years ago. Fun stuff.
23 Things I’d Rather Read Than Another Think Piece On What’s “Wrong” With Children’s Literature — This list would work for many thing, not just “what’s wrong with Kid Lit”, but it’s pretty good in that respect, too.

Agatha H. and the Voice of the Castle by Kaja Foglio and Phil Foglio — the third novelization of the webcomic. I’ve only read the comics up through the 2nd novel (no, there’s no good reason for this), so this will be all new material for me. Looking forward to it.
The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg — Evanovich. Goldberg. Fox. O’Hare. That’s all I need to know.
Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne — looks to be an entertaining take on Superheroes

Saturday Miscellany — 11/15/14

By HCNewton

On November 15, 2014

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:

Some great news for Jim Butcher fans. This is enough for me for the week. The rest is just bonus.
‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ author R.A. Montgomery dies — And then some sad news. Yeah, the Choose Your Own Adventure books weren’t the greatest things I read — but growing up I didn’t know anyone, including all those kids who only read when forced to by a teacher, who hadn’t read a handful. I’m sure his cultural impact (for good or ill) is much more wide-reaching than any of us realize.
Goodreads Doesn’t Care If You Read the Book You Reviewed — from the “Things that Make You Go ‘Hmmm'” file.
33 thoughts on reading — One Reader’s Manifesto. Some good stuff here, things I should remember. #8’s a bit controversial, “I will not finish books I don’t like.” As seen here:
Reading Is Not A Chore: On Quitting Books — I’ve read a lot of people talking about this lately — quitting books they don’t enjoy — enough so that I know I’m not alone in feeling compelled to finish every book they start. I see their point.
I see their point, however, you’ve got things like Why I Finish Books — blah
or, the more developed: Finish That Book! — and for the moment, I can’t help agree.
One Man’s Diary of a Month-Long Library Closure — my local library is gearing up for a month-long closure as it moves into a new building. This one resonated with me. And no, I don’t know what I’m going to do for that month.
Rex Stout on You Bet your Life — haven’t had a chance to listen to this yet, but the NPR show “Tuned To Yesterday” features Rex Stout.
The Official Bosch Trailer — thought the pilot was great, love the source material…can’t wait for this one.

Sons of Anarchy: Bratva by Christopher Golden — I’m mostly over this show, but I’m curious about the tie-in idea, and this one features Trinity and Opie, so I’ll end up giving it a shot.

Saturday Miscellany — 11/8/14

By HCNewton

On November 8, 2014

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:

A Better Way to Think About the Genre Debate — despite the not-so-humble title, Joshua Rothman has some interesting things to say about genre.
Patrick Rothfuss Responds to Academic Snobbery — Rothfuss has a more colorful and succinct take on the genre debate as we see here, in his video response to a University professor not accepting his work as befitting a paper in their class.
Speaking of Rothfuss, in For Love and Sass — one blogger responds to many one-star reviews of Rothfuss’ new book. It’s pretty funny even if you’ve never read Rothfuss.
Dear Grimdark… — Sam Sykes writes a letter to Grimdark fantasy.

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly — Harry Bosch back in action!
So, Anyway… by John Cleese — the great comic actor’s memoirs.
Harry Harrison! Harry Harrison!
by Harry Harrison — the SF giant’s memoirs
Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg — this looks great.

Saturday Miscellany — 11/1/14

By HCNewton

On November 1, 2014

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:

One of the best first novels in a UF series I’ve ever read, Rivers of London is the 2015 pick for Cityread London (published here as Midnight Riot. Ben Aaronovitch, the writer, responds ever so humbly.

http://temporarilysignificant.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/my-ego-has-become-co-terminus-with.html

Get More Out of the Books You Read With an Idea Index — this handy tip from Lifehacker would work best for nonfiction, but looks clever enough I’m going to give it a try with a novel or three.
Also, via Lifehacker, What is Literature for? is very nice. If you don’t want to spend 4 minutes on it (c’mon, it’s just 4 minutes!), you can just read the summary there.
Here’s Patrick Rothfuss rambling, fretting, and writing about what went through his mind the day his new book came out.
George R.R. Martin, Amy Poehler and Seth Play Game of Thrones Trivia — Martin was on Late Night with Seth Meyers not promoting the next installment of The Song of Ice and Fire (nor writing it). He has a fun laugh, though.

The Peripheral by William Gibson — if you need more than the author’s name to get you interested in this one, here’s Cory Doctorow’s review
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss was a little slice of wonderful. Review forthcoming, but in short: beautiful, strange, strangely beautiful.
Drawn Blades by Kelly McCullough — the only reason I’m not more excited about the latest in the Fallen Blade series is because it reminds me that I didn’t read the previous one yet. Gah!