Category: Books Page 36 of 163

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
Kinky Friedman, Alt-Country Musician and Celebrated Humorist, Dies at 79—from his mysteries to his music and beyond, Friedman was a unique voice (that should’ve been heard by more)
How the ‘Owner’s Guide’ Became a Rare Book
How to Tell a Great Campfire Story
The Literary Power of Hobbits: How JRR Tolkien Shaped Modern Fantasy
Rob Hart on ‘Assassins Anonymous’ and the Dark Appeal of the Assassin Genre—Nick Kolakowski chats with Hart about his latest book, the genre, and the sequel (squee!!!!)
The Joy of Reading Books You Don’t Entirely Understand: It really should be acceptable and normal to say “I don’t entirely understand what I just read, but I loved it.”—There’s a few books I’ve read in the last few years that fall under this category. Glad to see I’m not alone (and I know that I really should read more things like this, but do enjoy the comfort of understanding things)
Traditional publishing vs. Self-publishing: Should There Be A Conflict?—I haven’t finished this yet, but there’s some good stuff to chew on in this conversation
2000th Post and 6 Years Blogiversary Q&A—Sifa Elizabeth Reads celebrates two landmarks with a Q&A (and some decent advice)
Bookmark Chat: Organization
Idle Thoughts on Fantasy Stereotypes: The Big Man—a good follow up to the Idle Thoughts on The Mentor

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Little Tiny Teeth by Aaron Elkins—Gideon Oliver and John Lau enjoy an Amazon River cruise (until the obligatory dead body shows up)
The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy—the second in this very fun MG Fantasy series
Dead Connection by Alafair Burke—I remember really liking this first Ellie Hatcher book (and, sadly, almost nothing else about it).
I also noted the release of The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Don’t Let the Devil Ride by Ace Atkins—”A Memphis woman hires a PI to find her missing husband, only to discover that he is involved in a dangerous web of international intrigue–and she and her children are now at risk.” I think the promo line, “S.A. Cosby meets Don Winslow,” is a bit odd (kinda seems like using too many words to say “Ace Atkins”), but eh…it is catchy.
The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman—Galva’s backstory in “set during the war-torn, goblin-infested years just before The Blacktongue Thief.” The prequel nature of this really doesn’t intereste me. But I do like the concept, I really enjoyed my first exposure to Buehlman early this year, and that podcast I featured last week did pique my curiouslty. Which is me using too many words to explain why I’ll be listening to this soon (probably explaining to myself more than anyone…)
Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell—”An aimless young woman starts writing to an accused serial killer while he awaits trial and then, once he’s acquitted, decides to move in with him and take the investigation into her own hands.” If this wasn’t described as a black comedy, I’d stay far away from it (while understanding why others race to it). But I gotta admit, I’m intrigued…

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
Tom Gauld on the human-AI collaborative novel Robot Apocalypse 2030—let’s start off this week with a quick Gauld cartoon, shall we?
94-Year-Old Grandmother Kept Meticulous Book Log for 80 Years—I’m both impressed and jealous
An Update About Disappointing Things, and Things That Did Not Disappoint—Harry Connolly’s latest update
Do You Love YA Paranormal Books, too?
Four Books That Are Gateways to Science Fiction Sub-Genres—Beth Tabler surveys the sub-genres: Cyberpunk, Science Fiction Humor, Hard Science Fiction, and Space Opera; and gives some great recommendations
When Is An Author “Milking” Their World?
Idle Thoughts on Fantasy Archetypes: The Mentor

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
SFF Addicts Ep. 109: Christopher Buehlman talks The Daughter’s War, Atmosphere, Voice & More—a great convo

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Severed Streets by Paul Cornell—the 2nd of the Shadow Police Novels (if only there were several more)
I talked about the release of Shattered by Kevin Hearne, All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner, Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich, and Heirs of Grace by Tim Pratt.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs—Mercy, Adam, and Mercy’s brother are in Montana hopefully not destroying the world.
The Last Decade of Cinema 25 Films from the Nineties by Scott Ryan—Ryan writes about 25 of the most iconic films of the 90s.

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
Book Banners Ban a Book About Book Banning: Would you believe a school library system would go so far as to ban a book about book banning just because it mentions banned books?—I listened to this audiobook a couple of years back, it boggles my mind that this is controversial.
Thoughts on the 25th Anniversary of ‘Hannibal’—Nick Kolakowski looks back on the book that broke my burgeoning Thomas Harris addiction
Apostrophe’s Dream—Just what do those special characters get up to in a Moveable type drawer?
The Worst Dads in All of Literature: An Incomplete List —skip the Abraham entry, the rest of the post is pretty fun.
Ink & Imagination: Celebrating Ballpoint Pens With Words and Wonder—fountain pens get all the attention, but give me a good ballpoint any day.
These gifts are the way to a book-lovers heart
The Chocolate Lady asks: Do you ever want to go back and review books you read before you started blogging?
Fiction & Mythology—How Many Types of Vampires are There?—Over on Summon Fantasy, Anca Antoci surveys vampires
It’s okay to like grimdark or “I am a Nineties Edgelord”
Lev Parikian has the kind of book buying discipline that I can only aspire to.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Tea, Tonic, and Toxin Episode 58: Archie Goodwin is Awesome—(a great episode title), Part 2 of the conversation with Ira Matestky, focused on The League of Frightened Men.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell—I’m still annoyed with myself that I didn’t stick with this series
Marked Man by William Lashner—a pretty good legal thriller, IIRC
The Intern’s Handbook by Shane Kuhn—I enjoyed this book so much, I really wish Kuhn had found his audience.
I mentioned the publication of two books I rather enjoyed and one I completely forgot about (probably because I didn’t get around to reading it): Shield and Crocus by Michael R. Underwood, California Bones by Greg Van Eekhout, and The Rise & Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart—an assassin who got out is being pulled back in. I had a blast with it, as I tried to convey
Moonbound by Robin Sloan—Sloan gets strange in this Fantasy novel pretending to be Sci Fi (or is it the other way around)? I liked it, but didn’t totally get it
Dad Camp by Evan S. Porter—”A heartwarming novel about a loving dad who drags his eleven-year-old daughter to ‘father-daughter week’ at a remote summer camp—their last chance to bond before he loses her to teenage girlhood entirely.”

I’m still trying to figure out my energy levels and how to manage them during my recovery, so I slept through most of my typical social media hours this week (and more of my reading/blogging hours than I’m comfortable with). This resulted in a skimpy list this week. But the show must go on, I hear. (and what I do list is worth your time, I think)

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
It’s Time We Added Full Credit Pages to Books: Maris Kreizman on the Importance of Acknowledging the Labor That Goes in a Single Title—I’d be down for that.
Five Years On: Reflecting on Dead Inside—Noelle Holten looks back on her debut’s anniversary. (it was such a good read, if you haven’t tried it yet, you really should)
Disabled and Neurodivergent Books out in 2024—a handy list for those who’d be interested
My Problem With Audiobooks—I absolutely get this.
On Mimesis and Stories—another batch of good thoughts from Peat Long
On My Radar: May 2024—Literary Escape’s Monthly Wrap-up of posts and reviews we all should’ve read last month.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week? (and a fun week it was)
No Colder Place by S.J. Rozan—the fourth Lydia Chin/Bill Smith
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu—it was that long ago I read this?
Kill Fee by Owen Laukkanen—I miss this series…
Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot by Ace Atkins—Parker. Atkins. ’nuff said.
Night Broken by Patricia Briggs—Mercy Thompson’s 8th adventure
I also spent some time talking about some Puritan works Heaven on Earth by Thomas Brooks—an all-time fave—and The Christian’s Great Enemy: A Practical Exposition of 1 Peter 5:8-11 by John Brown
I mentioned the release of strong>Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta and the fun compilation, strong>FaceOff edited by David Baldacci

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Mercy Chair by M.W. Craven—the 6th Poe and Tilly novel, reportedly the darkest. No small feat there. Life is preventing me from getting to it at the moment, so I’m bit cross with life. (apparently available in the U.S. in September for those who aren’t addicted enough to order from overseas.)
Traditions of Courage by Jeffrey H. Haskell—the 7th in the Grimm’s War series, and I’m not going to read anything about it, because I’m now 3 behind. Ugh.