Category: Books Page 68 of 168

It’s that magical time of the year…the Goodreads Choice Award Winners have been named and everyone is griping about it. Haven’t read any of the winners, but this year’s crop looks better than the last few, IMHO.

Running late today, so that’s all the introduction you get (I can hear the cheers now). On with the links!
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 want to savour every word’: the joy of reading slowly—Sounds great. I honestly don’t think I’m physically capable of it.
I’m sure most of you saw this tweet where a disappointed author vented about the small showing at a reading and then got all sorts of encouragement from all sorts of authors—it’s a great thread and then it got picked up a whole lot of news outlets (like NPR).
Now You Too Can Bake Like Emily Dickinson This Holiday Season—I’m not sure why anyone would want to, but…
The gift that actually does keep on giving.
How Edgar Allan Poe Reinvented American Literature – and Science Writing
Don’t Kill the Dog—an author reflects on that cardinal rule
10 of the Best Gifts for Book Enthusiasts (That Aren’t Books)
#R3COMM3ND3D2022 The After Show Party #BookBlogger—a quick recap and look back at this great series
It’s December, which means it’s time for Best Of lists…where people tell you about all the books that you heard great things about but didn’t get around to:
Tor.com Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2022
The Best Crime Novels of the Year: 2022 from CrimeReads
My Top 10 Reads of 2022! from Out of This World SFF
Everything Counts As Reading
I Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie: Six Alternative Uses for Shelf Bending Novels—Paul Goat Allen has some great tips
Here’s how I view negative reviews
Quotables: Words that Stuck with Me in 2022—Witty & Sarcastic Book Blogs shares great lines from this year’s reading

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Blood Brothers Podcast Episode 114 with Andrew Child—this great conversation makes me wish I liked his contributions to the Reacher canon more.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (and one from last week I thoughtlessly overlooked):
The Hero Interviews by Andi Ewington—a comic collection of interviews with various Fantasy heroes that looks like a lot of fun. Check out this here review for a better (and informed) take on it.
Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate by Jonathan Fesmire—the third installment in this Steampunk/Western/Zombie Adventure series is out and looks like a good ‘un
My Darkest Prayer by S.A. Cosby—Cosby’s first book has been reissued and I’m kicking myself for not hunting it down after Blacktop Wasteland.
Gone edited by Stephen J. Golds—30 pieces of short crime fiction from a great-looking lineup of writers
The Perception Of Dolls: The Fantoccini Street Reports by Anthony Croix, edited by Russell Day—I’m not even going to try to summarize this. Just click the link. It’s Russell Day and Fahrenheit Press, ’nuff said.
Grit, Black, Blood by Ashley Erwin—another one I don’t think I can summarize in a sentence or two (without reading, anyway).

I really don’t have much in the way of introduction today (or content, really). I’ve spent the last couple of days pondering something that maybe you have insight into/experience with: With less than a month left, and certain goals left unfinished–why do I keep going to the Library, and reading things that aren’t going to help me get to those goals? (Sure, I’ve been on the list for some of these books for weeks/months, but…)

You may note the absence of any New Releases this week–as usual, I assume that just means I missed seeing something. Clue me in.

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 Is “I Have No Idea,” Ken? I owe my recent “Jeopardy!” appearance — and spectacular flame-out — to books.—If I’m just going to talk about all the benefits and joys of reading here, I’m going to have to talk about the downsides here, too. I enjoyed this former contestant’s appearance—even if she underperformed. This little essay was just as fun.
How to Succeed in Publishing by Really, Really Trying and Getting Lucky—this is primarily advice for writers, but A. Lee Martinez also gives a pretty good perspective on a career from years in the trenches (which is more of my thing to share)
As a Sequel to a Recent Post: One Kay for The Flood Circle—a quick update from Harry Connolly (and hey, if I share an earlier post, I should share the sequel)
Where to start reading grimdark, no matter the genre you prefer—A handy “listicle of listicles” to guide a reader into Grimdark.
Purposely Reading Bad Books—It’s a fun video, but mostly I’m sharing this in solidarity with the thinking behind her recent reads. If I prepped my year-end lists this early, I’d be compelled to pick the same kind of reads myself.
FFA’S Most Anticipated Titles of 2023
As with all good things, Damppebbles’s annual recommendation-fest, #R3COMM3ND3D has come to an end for this year. These last few are just as enticing as those that have come before.
…with #BookBlogger Patricia B.
…with #BookBlogger Sue Bavey
…with #BookBlogger David
…with #BookBlogger Emma—our host closes out the month.
Can Any Book Truly Be Timeless?
Two Sided Coins and Seeing Story Weaknesses As Strengths—Peat’s focus is on the writing side, but thinking along these lines can be a real help when we’re thinking/talking/writing about what we read.

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:
Borrower returns library book 47 years past due, provides explanation in ‘thoughtful letter’
The Mysteries of Encyclopedia Brown: The Books, The Lawsuits, The HBO Show?!—Who doesn’t want to stop and learn more about ol’ Encyclopedia?
Damppebbles’s annual recommendation-fest, #R3COMM3ND3D is in the home stretch now, this week’s offerings are diverse genre-wise, but share a similar high quality.
…with #Author Terry Tyler
…with #Reviewer Davida Chazan
…with #Author Rachel Sargeant
…with #BookBlogger Jude Wright
…with #BookBlogger Rae
…with #BookBlogger Jo
…with #BookBlogger Wendy W.
Enough of 2022 (for a minute), let’s glance at 2023 with The Real Book Spy’s Our (Way too) Early Look at Notable 2023 Thrillers, Part Two, Part 3—my dance card is already starting to look a little packed
I shared some of the posts last year from the series Neurodivergence in Fiction. It’s been brought back with a broadened view and kicks off with this post from A.C. Cross, Mental Health in Fiction: Writing Through the Pain—I expect this series will as good—if not better—than its predecessor.
Thoughts After Writing Lots of Negative Reviews
10 Funny Reasons Why I prefer Physical Books

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Don’t Remember Me Like This—I keep meaning to fit this “a podcast of short stories, memoir, satire, commentary, and essays with an occasional seizure of fiction, interviews and maybe even poetry” into my rotation, but I haven’t yet. I enjoyed Barber’s book a few years ago, and am looking forward to the same kind of humor in audio form.
Blood Brothers Episode 111 with Robert Crais—I’ve heard Crais on a decent number of podcasts, but he seems looser and less canned than I’m used to here

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Little Ghost by Chris McDonald—McDonald launches a new series—this one promises a noir feel about a PI in Denver. Looking forward to diving in.
The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar—the sisters pair up again for more stories of racism that you have to laugh at (so you don’t burn down the world)
NYPD Red 7: The Murder Sorority by Marshall Karp—Karp takes over control with this series entry about a hunt for a team of assassins taking down notorious New Yorkers. Which is an inadequate description, really. You should read my post from last week instead.

It’s been a quiet week on the blog, I know. I’m going through one of those spells where I just have no energy and fall asleep at my keyboard while writing. I managed to get 1/3 of my planned posts for the week up. So now I have no energy and a paralyzing anxiety about things that pretty much only I care about. It’s a fun combination, I highly recommend avoiding it🙂 I trust that I’ll shake it off (I always have before), but in the meantime, expect things to be slim around here.

Meanwhile, I’m hoping that the people who keep Twitter going are able to stabilize that ship, because despite all the helpful posts about going to Mastadon, I just don’t feel smart enough to figure it out (and yes, I’m this close to hiring one of my kids to do set it up for me…I can’t believe I’m at the age where I’m relying on my kids to do this for me). I hope I don’t lose track of all of you in the seemingly-immanent collapse.

But for now, here’s a quick miscellany to wrap up the week!

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:
125 Most Borrowed Books—In honor of its 125th Anniversary, the Brooklyn Public Library posted a list of its 125 most-borrowed books. It’s a fun list and one that gives a pretty clear view of their primary borrowing demographic.
Author Sarah Maclean shared a handy-dandy thread on how to keep up with favorite authors in a post-Twitter world
Behind the Blue Wall: How my time in the LAPD Academy helped Shape My Series—Aaron Philip Clark gives some background for his series
Damppebbles’s annual recommendation-fest, #R3COMM3ND3D keeps chugging along and the hits keep coming—some great-looking reads this week (as per usual).
…with #BookBlogger Carol
…with #BookBlogger HC Newton (what does he know, anyway? Guy can’t even handle social media platforms)
…with #Author Joy Kluver
…with #BookBlogger J – LoveBooksReadBooks
…with #Bookstagrammer Zoebeesbooks
…with #Bookstagrammer Lynda Checkley
…with #BookBlogger Namrata Ganti
’Tis the Season to Buy Books … for Other People—a guide to giving books as gifts. Not just for the upcoming season, these suggestions apply year-round.
Christmas gift ideas for book lovers – edition 2022-2023—even for those of us not big on certain seasonal observances, I enjoy looking at this kind of posts (and really like #3)
The Six Stages of Having Too Many Books—I can relate to this—also, I think it’s amusing enough to justify putting up with The New Yorker trying to sell a subscription.
Is listening to an audiobook, reading?—Are we all fed up with this question yet? Delany makes his position clear early on.
In Defence of Nasty Reviews—preach it! That line from Joanna Russ is one I’m going to employ at every opportunity.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Page Break with Brian McClellan Ep 55 – Nicholas Eames – Epic Fantasy Author—a fun chat, and a little glimpse at the next book in the trilogy

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
title by Cherie Priest—everyone’s favorite Travel Agent/rookie psychic is back in this strong follow-up. I opined about it a couple of weeks ago (back when I seemed to be able to write things).
Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember by Lauren Graham—I find Graham’s writing as least as charming as her acting, so I can’t wait to dive into this jog down memory lane. (Also, it’ll check off one of the last book challenge items I have this year.)
The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz—Horowitz himself (well, the fictional one) is the prime suspect in this book’s murder—will Hawthorne be able to help him? More importantly, will he want to?
Welcome to the Game by Craig Henderson—I can’t resist a good high-speed car scene in print or in film, this one looks like it should have a few (and probably some other gripping material).
How to Survive Everything by Ewan Morrison—An estranged father kidnaps his teenaged children to help them survive an impending pandemic that he’s certain is around the corner (even if no one else is).

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