Category: Books Page 65 of 161

So, this is pretty late, but…at 11:45pm yesterday, my daughter called asking me to take her to the ER. So I put this aside. Almost 20 hours later, I got home—and she has one less inflamed appendix. But it’s still Saturday (for at least some of the world), so this counts.

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:
What Book Bans Take From Kids
Books won’t save you: You can’t use literature as a shortcut to self-improvement—hear, hear
Meet the Author: Neil Lancaster
Tom Hanks is publishing a novel, and it sounds exactly like a Tom Hanks movie.—huh.
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of Friendships with Entirely Fictional Characters—this post is more directed at TV, but it easily applies to novels
The Book Character Awards! (a bookalicious initiative)—this is a neat idea
My Experience with Not Using Goodreads for a Month
Hugboxing and Scabpicking—Peat Long gives a vocabulary lesson…
An Author’s Monster Manual—Witty and Sarcastic Book Club launched another series this week—I love the premise for this—what if the D&D Monster Manual was compiled from creatures in Fantasy novels?

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Eating the Fantastic Episode 181 Chow down with Wesley Chu—this is the first I’ve heard of this podcast, but I’ll likely come back for more, if the interviews tend to be as good as this one with Chu was.
Blood Brothers Episode 105 with Anthony Horowitz—a fun chat with Horowitz that has convinced me to give the Hawthorne and Horowitz books a couple of more installments, at least.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Iron Gate by Harry Connolly—the new installment in The Twenty Palaces series. The best Urban Fantasy series you aren’t reading. Circumstances allowed me to read this today (two weeks or so ahead of schedule), and it was great. I’ll be posting about this as soon as I can.
The Last King of California by Jordan Harper—He made a new life for himself, but it didn’t work out, and now Luke has to return to the gang he escaped from. Sure, you have to import this from the UK to read it, but I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be worth it, since its from Harper.
Treasure State by C.J. Box—a new Cassie Dewell novel has the PI on the hunt for a con man.
The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists: The Official Guide to Characters, Quotes, Timelines, and Memorable Moments by Bryan Young—this looks like it could be a lot of fun

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:
EveryLibrary Poll Finds Book Bans Are Broadly Unpopular With Voters
The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books—a tribute to and look at the origin of the series
S. A. Cosby: Interview and Cover Reveal—a nice (but quick) interview with Cosby and a look at the fantastic cover of his upcoming book.
How to Get Books For Free – Legally—a quick, but potentially valuable, list
Misconceptions People May Have About Book Blogging
CANON: It’s Not What You Think It Is—quibbles with some of the details in the first paragraph of “Definitions” aside, I appreciated these thoughts on Canon in SF. (Hat Tip to Peat Long for this one)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman—It’s the third Thursday Murder Club book, I really don’t think more needs to be said.
Wealth Management by Edward Zuckerman—Financial shenanigans, international crime, and terrorism mix in this thriller. I talked a bit about it.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to ominousthespirit, who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.

How does being a parent of adult children take so much time? I’m not complaining about (actually enjoyed and would welcome more of) the interruptions they brought this week, but I had pages to read and posts to write, fer cryin’ out loud! It was far easier to claim my own time and send them to bed when bed wasn’t in a differnt building 7 miles away.

Still, I did manage to get a bit done, and even find a few things for this collection. Hope you enjoy.

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:
Was It Ever Possible For One Person To Read Every Book Ever Written (in English)?—Randal Munroe tackles this ever-so pressing (or not) question
You Can Procrastinate Anything If You Have Enough Books—Well, yeah…
The Books That Made Me – The First Law by John Palladino—another fun installment of this series from Before We Go Blog (although it could use a quick fact check in the first paragraph).
An Ode to Reading—a nice (and fairly relatable) memoir of a reader/introduction to a blog
Have You Ever Suffered from Book Blogger Imposter Syndrome?
The Best Way to Track Your Reading: 18 Bullet Journal Spread Ideas for Readers—I’ve tried Bullet Journaling a couple of times over the last few years, and it really seems like a good idea and I wish I could stick to it. Although I seem to enjoy reading about it more than actually doing it.
Some Research to Ponder about Book Piracy—some good stuff on this regrettably evergreen topic

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (after last weeks handful, only finding one this week makes me think I missed several—fill me in!):
A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan—a bookstore owner/cryptozoologist looks into a series of deaths that might indicate there’s an actual lake monster living nearby.

This is the 4,010th post to this blog—the ol’ odometer rolled over on 4,000 on Monday. I wasn’t prepared for that, and probably should’ve done something to commemorate it. I’ll have to try to remember to do something big for number 5,000 in 2025(??).

This was a rough week on the reading front—3 books I’d planned on reading on Release Day* came out (ignoring that 2 of them came out the same day), but I’m so behind on Review Copies that I’d also planned on prioritizing them. And then I literally grabbed the wrong book off the pile Thursday and didn’t realize it until I was 100 pages in. I’m glad I’m not getting paid for this stuff, because I’m such a disorganized mess right now.

Super-short list this week, but there’s hopefully something you’ll enjoy reading.

* Nothing against the fourth, I just needed a little break from that series after reading the initial trilogy this summer.

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:
In 2022, a New Urgency for Banned Books Week
Library 101: Everything You Need to Know to Utilize Your Library—not sure any of this is news to anyone, but…who knows, you might pick up something new here
Classic literature, rewritten for kids.
Subtlety, Ideological Novels, and Me
If you didn’t like this, try that…—This is a fun take on the tried-and-true method of recommendation (their more traditional list wasn’t bad either)
How Do You Choose Your Next Read? (& 100 Reading Prompts!)—this post feels like it should forever eliminate take care of the “what do I read next question” (maybe I spent too much time going through the 100 prompts)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Final Heir by Faith Hunter—The final book in the Jane Yellowrock hit the stands this week (although, how much actually stays dead in Jane’s world?). I went on and on about it a couple of weeks ago.
Robert B. Parker’s Fallout by Mike Lupica—Lupica’s third Jesse Stone novel shakes Paradise from a couple of directions. I had a good time with this and should have a few things to say about it next week.
Hell and Back by Craig Johnson—This looks like it picks up a dangling string from the last book and gives it a good yank. Looking forward to diving in ASAP.
The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster—a vigilante killer on the team investigating murders. DS Max Craigie has his work cut out for him.
A Grimm Sacrifice by Jeffrey H. Haskell—Grimm has to contend with training new officers while helping an unlikely ally against a common foe in a Cold War that isn’t that chilly anymore.