Category: Books Page 44 of 158

I’m putting the “misc” in “miscellany” today. I have a shorter (but will take you hours to get through if you play out every link) and pretty varied offering. I hope you find something to scratch an itch (or create one)

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:
“I Can Give It Away to Whoever I Want”: Fables Creator Declares Hit Comic Series Public Domain, But DC Disagrees—I’ve tried a few times over the years to dive deeply into Fables, but laziness (and trouble finding them when I want them) have kept me from it. But still, it’s hard to miss the drama around Willingham and DC. I wonder how this will play out.
The real spiritual journey behind Tod Goldberg’s fake-rabbi desert antihero—a good profile and I really appreciate the observations and ideas expressed about Crime Fiction (paragraph 4 is quite telling, isn’t it?)
Goldberg’s brother shared the video Craig Johnson in conversation with Lee Goldberg & cast members of Longmire at Live Talks Los Angeles this week. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s well worth your time.
The Dark Humor of Millennial Crime Capers: 30-somethings can laugh in the face of anything—including death.
Tufa Songs: Songs mentioned in and inspired by the Tufa novels.—Alec Bledsoe posted this playlist to Facebook this week to go with the first four Tufa novels being put on Kindle Unlimited—”a Tufa-themed Spotify playlist made up of songs mentioned in the books, songs that inspired the books, and songs that have the same vibe as the books.” Good reading music even if you (tragically) haven’t encountered the series yet.
dresden files.—Flipphony put this out last year, but I didn’t see it until this week–a nice little video introduction to the Dresden files (there’s also one on the First Law that I should check out)
BookForager started Counting Down to SciFiMonth 2023—and I can already tell my TBR Stack is gonna grow
The Ultimate List of 46 Fantasy Books for Beginners—Oh, wow. There’s so much to mine here.
The Creation of The Fantasy Explosion Flowchart—when is Peat Long going to put us all out of our misery and publish a giant book on Fantasy fiction so we all have a good, one-stop, reference?
The Road to 100K Via Burnout—a good piece on burnout (something I’ve flirted with more than I probably realize)
Is There a Market for “Quiet” Children’s Books?—That’s a good question (and a good answer is given). The term “Quiet Books” is new to me, but I like it.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman—The Thursday Murder Club is back in action–who cares what it’s about?
The Ninja’s Oath by Tori Eldridge—Lily Wong heads to Japan to rescue a kidnapped girl and deals with all sorts of other issues as well.
Shadow of Hyperion by JCM Berne—Rohan gets a call to help from Earth.
Catch Her Death by Melinda Leigh—Bree Taggert’s family are in the crosshairs in this book, and Dana’s suspect #1 in a murder. Should be an eventful read.
Federation Cowboy by Joyce Reynolds-Ward—”Caroline Starshine didn’t expect to find a job when she met Jeff Tophand…Nor did she expect to find drug smugglers, a conspiracy intended to overthrow two Galactic powers and turn them into an Empire, unusual allies, a new family, and…love.”
How I Won a Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto—this novel is “about a graduate student who follows her disgraced mentor to a university that gives safe harbor to scholars of ill repute, igniting a crisis of work and a test of her conscience (and marriage)”.

Three-day weekends can really mess with you, you know? Monday afternoon, I sketched out a plan for the week that saw me productive on the reading and blogging front. And then Tuesday came along and everything else in my life collectively chuckled and said, “no.”

Without my research collaborator, Peat Long, this would be a very short list. Be sure to check out his Friday Favorites for more goodness along these lines.

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:
‘A Plague on the Industry’: Book Publishing’s Broken Blurb System: Do authors actually like the books they endorse—or even read them? Writers, literary agents, and publishing workers take Esquire inside the story of a problematic “favor economy.”—Great piece from Esquire
Stephen King Once Played “Mambo No. 5” So Much His Wife Threatened Divorce—I’ve never clicked with King’s fiction (and stopped trying decades ago), but I always enjoy hearing about King the person and writer.
When Teens Play Detective: The Influence of Golden Age Detective Fiction on YA Mysteries
The 75 Essential Books For Gen Xers: These are the books that entertained us, taught us, shocked us and molded us into who we’ve become—not necessarily the best, but those that shaped a generation. The fact that this is a relevant topic to the AARP’s site has cost me some sleep. (I got my membership card earlier this year, for the record, which didn’t cause me to lose sleep because it made me put a big dent in a bottle of bourbon)*
Too Much Information! Two Big Reasons Not to Over-explain Your Novel—Naturally, Paul Goat Allen nails this. I haven’t read him much lately…I need to fix that.
Let’s Get Honest About Reading (And Blogging)—some wisdom here
Author vs Author and Author with Author is Complicated—good thoughts from Mr. Long
Cyberpunk: The Truth Behind the Shades—in the mid-90s, I got really into Cyberpunk, but since then I really have only dabbled. This piece “fact check[s] some assumptions about the genre” and rekindles my interest.
Why I Enjoy Reading Negative Reviews of the Books I Love – & Mid-July Thoughts—I did snicker a lot at some of these featured reviews
How I Select Books to Read—I can relate to a lot of this. I don’t know that I’ve ever broken down my reasoning like this (not sure I can), but I enjoyed reading it.

* I feel compelled to stress that I’m joking about the sleep and drinking.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Story Craft CafeThe Western Renaissance With Craig Johnson | SCC 113—Craig Johnson telling stories about whatever is almost more reliably entertaining than his books (like I said about a Story Craft Cafe episode last week, the audio quality on Johnson’s part isn’t great, but it’s not that distracting)
The Thriller Zone Episode 147: Lee Goldberg, author of Malibu Burning—Goldberg gets on a roll here and I challenge you not to chuckle

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson—There’s a chance I get to start this today, and I can’t wait. I have no idea what this is about—something to do with an old case and digging into Walt’s relationship with his grandfather.
Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire—I haven’t written anything about last year’s Toby Daye novel because I’m very conflicted about the ending—and am almost never satisfied with the kind of story it set up. So now…here we go with part one of the payoff. I trust McGuire, but now it’s time to put it to the test. (click the link there to get an actual idea of the premise)
It Ends with Knight by Yasmin Angoe—I can’t imagine that the conclusion to this trilogy is anything but fantastic.
Spider-Man’s Bad Connection by Preeti Chhibber—I had a lot of fun with Chhibber’s take on young Peter Parker and figure the same is in store for her follow-up.
Look Out for the Little Guy by Scott Lang—the autobiography of Ant-Man. Yeah, go ahead and roll your eyes that I mention this. Roll them even harder when I say that I bought the hardcover.

It’s a long weekend here in the U.S. and I (like many) really need it. I’m torn between a desire to disappear into some books, catch up on blogging—or to simply ignore everything and stare at the ceiling until it’s time to go to work on Tuesday. We’ll see what happens. Hope you’re having a decent day however long the weekend is in your world.

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:
Fahrenheit Fighting Fund—watching too many indie publishers close up lately (RIP Red Dog Press), Fahrenheit’s looking for readers to help them stay alive a little longer.
The Coming Enshittification of Public Libraries—just in case you were clinging to any sense of hope for the future today.
The ultimate heroes of children’s books—this BBC piece will remind you of better days and hopefully shake off some of that reality nastiness that the last link induced.
How brothers Lee and Tod Goldberg turned crime fiction into a family business—I’ve read a criminally small amount of Tod’s material, but I keep meaning to. Still, a fun profile.
On the Difficulty of Getting Rid of Books—what’s up with all of these pieces on getting rid of books lately? No one tell my wife that this is a thing, okay? (I will say that I do appreciate this approach as much as I will resist applying it to my own too-small shelves)
The Mysterious Artist of This Classic A Wrinkle in Time Cover Has Been Identified—Back in May, I linkedto a post talking about people trying to identify the artist. They’ve been found—after a lot of work.
Bookstr Picks: Weirdest Times and Places We’ve Read Books—I’ve done most of these. What about you?
Should We Think Of Fantasy More Regionally And Chronologically?—I think Peat’s onto something here (I typically do, but that doesn’t change anything)
On My Radar: August 2023—Over at A Literary Escape, Celeste collects the best of the blog posts you didn’t read in August (and probably some you did)
August 2023 Book Blogger Round Up—Jo Linsdell has another great group of posts from the month

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Story Craft Cafe Episode 110: Writing Fantasy And Urban Fantasy With Jim Butcher—the audio quality on Butcher’s end is less-than-good, but it’s worth putting up with for this interview.
The Thriller Zone Episode 146: Eli Cranor, author of Ozark Dogs—I really think I could just listen to Cranor interviews all the time.

Two New Releases from Last Week that I forgot to mention. I’m really embarrassed about that—I’ve corresponded with both authors about these books and totally blanked on their release.
Ostler by Susan Grossey—the first in a mystery series about a Cambridge University constable in 1825. I’m going to learn a lot of history in this one, I know.
Abnormal Ends by Bryan McBee—A cyberpunk serial killer novel. How do you say no to that?

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg—A Heist novel in the midst of California wildfires. (that’s an inadequate summary, but I haven’t read it yet. Go read Mike Finn’s take on it for something better).
The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium Set 1 by Bill Watterson—”The first set of books collecting Bill Watterson’s timeless Calvin and Hobbes comics in a compact, portable format designed to introduce the timeless adventures of a boy and his stuffed tiger to a new generation of readers. Featuring nearly 500 comics from the strip’s debut in November 1985 through March 1987, this is the first set in a series of seven.” I didn’t really like the look of (or, from what I heard the binding of) the two-volume set, and I can’t track down all the original paperbacks. This looks like a great way to collect the classics.

It’s been another quieter-than-expected week here on the blog—I’m hoping to crank out a few posts today so I can jump into next week with a few things scheduled. The big problem is committing to one idea lately, I keep writing a sentence or two on one post before thinking of something I need for another…so I have many, many fragments scattered around my hard drive. My daughter keeps trying to tell me that I have undiagnosed ADD, and with weeks like the last couple, I’m tempted to agree. But I digress.

This is a slimmer miscellany than I anticipated, but some great reads—and the first new release that I talk about literally has me dancing in my seat as I think about it. Yes, I did spend time on websites that aren’t part of Lit Hub this week (as hard as it may be to believe—I actually cut links to that site for this week’s list).

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:
Library kids will save the world…one book, one day at a time… together—his tweet might be too optimistic of a take, but the attached video is sure to make you smile. The feel-good link of the week.
The Land of Lost Things—John Connolly wrote a nice little post about the importance of booksellers
On the Bad Binary of “Good” and “Bad” Literature: Josh Cook on Taking Back the Idea of “Good Taste” from Cultural Authoritarians
How Much Does It Cost to Open a Bookstore?

I'm going to break in with a quick word of warning: some of the subject matter in the next few links is going to be difficult for people who are known for saying "It's not hoarding if it's books" or something like that. Trust me, these are worth a read. Or skip to the Velma link if you're wary. I'm not sure why so many people are talking about this lately...

Moving books is a big pain. Here’s how to make it easier.“The most efficient ways to pack them, how to ensure they aren’t damaged — and tips for easing the pain of culling your collection”
On the Difficulty of Getting Rid of Books: “I don’t get rid of them, per se; rather, I set them afloat, in search of new homes.”title
Get Rid of Your Books: Couldn’t you use a little extra space?
The Ritual of Rearranging Your Books
The Greatest Velmas of History and Fiction—”Velma may be the modern model of a particular ideal, but it’s an ideal that’s existed since a nearsighted Australopithecus shone a torch into the back of her cave to logically prove that the Ghost Mammoth was just Ogg with a blanket over his head.” Here’s a look at some of the best from history, film/TV, and books.
Bringing Comic Books to Life With Comic Book Printing—I can’t help but think that I should’ve known all this, but I didn’t—The Coffee Addicted Writer talks about the various techniques of putting comics in our hands.
The Borders of Speculative Fiction—It’s been far too long since I’ve had some Peat Long thoughts on genre to share. Glad to see him musing again.
There Are Too Many Books!—it’s a provocative title, to be sure. And I get where Krysta’s coming from, but…really? Too Many?
Speaking of too many…Narratess Indie August Sale is a giant list of temptation. Over 300 Indie Titles for dirt cheap (or free), including several that I’ve blogged about or featured here and/or just wanted to read.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams edited by Kevin Jon Davies—I’m not just excited because it feels like it’s been a decade since I Kickstarted this and it’s finally on its way to me. But Davies, a collaborator with Adams has gone through boxes and boxes of archival material to bring readers some of the best things from Adams we’ve never seen before.
Fadeaway Joe by Hugh Lessing—almost every sentence in this book’s description checks a box for me, I’m not going to mangle it by trying to summarize it in a sentence or two. Just click the link.
The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-First Century by Josh Cook—I was interested in this even before I read Cook’s piece on taste above. Now, I’m really intrigued. What a great title, too.
What Would Velma Do?: Life Lessons from the Brains (and Heart) of Mystery, Inc. by Shaenon K. Garrity—after reading the excerpt about Velmas, I had to find the book. It looks like fun. “A clever illustrated ode to the breakout star of Scooby-Doo, exploring the life lessons this iconic nerd girl teaches us and why we should all aim to be the Velma of our friend group.”