Books - The Irresponsible Reader

Saturday Miscellany – 9/28

On September 28, 2013

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Before we get to the regular subjects: I’m starting to play with the typical format my reviews come in, as you’ll see in a couple hours. Links should take you to more official sites for the author/book, I’ll try to offer a little more information about the particular book I read, and it’ll look a tad different, too. I’d appreciate any feedback you’d care to share.

Only one entry in the ol’ Odds ‘n Ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye and seemed worth sharing. You may have seen this already, but just in case:

We are the people of the book…. — not sure what to call this Cory Doctorow quotation, but I like it. I like it a lot.

Stonecast by Anton Strout — book 2 of the Stonemason Chronicles, been looking forward to this for a while. Expect to see a lot about this one soon
Charming by Elliott James — Know nothing about this author, read nothing about it other than the description, but seems like the kind of thing worth a read.
The Plague Force by Jason M. Hough — The Dire Earth Cycle concludes
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson — go read The Big Idea entry for this one

Categories: Books, News/Misc.
Tags: Miscellany

Saturday Miscellany – 9/21

By HCNewton

On September 21, 2013

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:

Don’t Ban Books Like Eleanor and Park, Teens Need Them — While I’m anti-book banning on principle, I can understand the reasoning* some institutions have for some books. But Eleanor and Park? Really? No. Not a chance. Reprehensible with a capital R-E-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-B-L-E.
Writing in Your Books: An Act of Engagement or Blasphemy? — A decent survey of the question. But ultimately, Goldberg’s position is wrong.
The 20 stages of reading — Lynda Barry does a pretty good job of capturing the life cycle of the reader, thankfully, I’m ahead of the curve
Hemingway estate’s Vanity Fair grudge — I can only imagine that Hemingway would endorse his heirs’ actions regarding Vanity Fair
5 Ways to Make Football More Appealing to Book Nerds — B&N’s Paul Goat Allen gives some snicker-worthy suggestions

Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff — Book 2 of The Lotus War. I loved Book 1 of this Japanese Steampunk series and have been eagerly awaiting this. Such a rich world, realized and depicted so skillfully and wonderfully.

—–
* Please note, I said understand, didn’t say agree with

The Great Way Kickstarter

By HCNewton

On September 19, 2013

In Authors, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, News/Misc.

Harry Connolly, writer of the criminally underselling UF series The Twenty Palaces, has moved on to Epic Fantasy. This project sounds great — watch the video, read the Kickstarter page, toss some money at the guy.

Saturday Miscellany 9/14

By HCNewton

On September 14, 2013

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:

Books for Boys and Books for Girls: Problems with Gendered Reading — I can’t agree with everything here, but it’s worth the time.
Tumblr chooses Rainbow Rowell’s ‘Fangirl’ as first official book club selection — Not sure I care that Tumblr has themselves a book club (other than my general pro-book club stance), but really like the idea that Rowell’s getting this kind of exposure
Author Terri Bruce stops publisher selling error-strewn books — Good for her!! Also, good that she didn’t get physically violent over this 🙂
Ten Things That Drive Books Crazy — good for a laugh or two

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell — Rowell’s taken a firm hold on my “read ASAP” list with her first two books, really looking forward to this one
Robert B. Parker’s Damned if You Do by Michael Brandman — 5 years ago, if you’d told me I’d be apprehensive about opening a new Jesse Stone, I’d have looked at you like you were crazy. Yet here we are. Still, Paradise, MA calls, and I answer.
The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn — I litterally hopped in my chair a little bit when I realized this book was released this week. This is going to be fun!

Saturday Miscellany – 9/7

By HCNewton

On September 7, 2013

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:

Kindle Matchbook announced — I’ve heard a lotta pros and cons about this since the announcement. Not so sure it’s good for the author.
Harper Lee settles ‘Mockingbird’ copyright suit — not a lot of details on this, but I’ll take any excuse to think about Lee and her novel
Oyster: The Netflix Of Books — not sure what I think of this, what about you?
Chevy Chase in Booked — from Funny or Die, perhaps it’d be a good idea for Chase to switch to audio books?

Never Go Back by Lee Child — whoops! listed this a week early.
Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire — new Toby Daye! new Toby Daye!

Saturday Miscellany 8/31

By HCNewton

On August 31, 2013

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 new theory could solve the mystery of ‘Mark Twain’ — Frankly, didn’t realize there was a mystery. Guess I swallowed a line of nonsense back in grade school and didn’t bother to take another look at it since. Anyway, interesting story about one of the All-Time Greats
Why You Should Find Time With Your Favorite Authors — very nice piece. Makes me regret not getting my boys to see Brandon Mull a couple months back all the more.
Why I love Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels — a Reacher fan comes out of the closet
Books, Games, Art, and Awesome…. — Patrick Rothfuss talks about great way to pick up a fun UF read (Anton Strout’s Stonecast) and help out a great charity. Normally I’d suggest doing that through your local independent shop — like Rediscovered Books of Boise — but Barnes & Noble will give a little more if you pre-order through them (scroll to the bottom of this post for details)

Never Go Back by Lee Child — I’m so close to catching up with this series. Am 3 away from this.
The Exodus Towers by Jason M. Hough — the sequel to The Darwin Elevator.
Clean Burn by Karen Sandler — sounds promising, and disturbing.
Blood Bound by Jeanne C. Stein — we’re nearing the end of Anna’s saga. Not sure how I feel about that.
Chosen by Benedict Jacka — been too long since I got to spend time with Verus — one of the best UF series around. And Jacka’s The Big Idea post this week makes me even more eager for this one.

Saturday Miscellany – 8/17

By HCNewton

On August 17, 2013

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:

Why We’d Be Screwed if Young Adult Books Were Real
I’ve come across a couple of unique ways to do book reviews in the last week or so: Three Panel Book Reviews and The Bushwick Book Club — wish I was this creative/talented

Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik — it’ll be months, at best, before I can catch up to this one in the series. I’m just happy knowing that Temeraire is still going strong (even if only for one book after this).

…eh, a light week. Sorry

Saturday Miscellany – 8/10

By HCNewton

On August 10, 2013

In Books, Janet Evanovich, 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:

Young Adult, New Adult… Mid-Adult? — do we really need another sub-genre/specialization/commercial category? siiiiigh
Business Cards of Famous Literary Characters — cute little post

Possession by Kat Richardson

— book 8 of the Greywalker series is out. I’m only 6 behind now.

“my” brick-and-mortar bookstore

Zero History by William Gibson

— I’m confused and embarrassed by the fact that it took me this long to pick this up.

The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough — Mentioned this recently when it was published, been looking forward to it for months. Think I’m going to tackle this next
Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich — after a year and change, my wife and I are on the verge of being caught up with this series, and are going to have to wait months for the next one. Which I think will be helpful, help me anticipate reading them again.

Saturday Miscellany – 7/20

By HCNewton

On July 20, 2013

In Books, DVD/Movie, Elvis Cole/Joe Pike, Fantasy, Fiction, News/Misc., Robert Crais, Writing, YA/MG/Children's Books

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:

11 Weird Books That Really Exist — Mental Floss’ title for this really undersells it
5 unconventional ways to become a better writer (hint, it’s about being a better reader) — Sure, this isn’t a writing blog (tho’ we’re generally pro-writing, it’s how we get books, right?), but the tips on reading better are at least worth a read (h/t: Lifehacker)
25 Things To Know About Your Story’s Stakes — Speaking of writing, these tips on craft are helpful to use while evaluating books. Why do some plots/books work better than others? So often it comes down to stakes.
Joe Abercrombie to write HarperCollins trilogy — Abercrombie for younger readers? Yes, please. Heck, I’d take Abercrombie board books.
Robert Crais at Mysterious Galaxy — announces next book will have Elvis, Joe, Maggie and Scott. I assumed this would happen, I just figured we’d have to wait a few years. But Santa came early! Is it too much to hope that Carol’s in it, too?