Calendar Items - The Irresponsible Reader

November 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

On December 10, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I don’t know if any of ya’ll have heard of this COVID-19 thing, but I’m on day 2 or 3 of it, and I have to say that I’m not a fan. 0/5 Stars, for sure. Anway, coming up with a post that requires thought seemed like a lot to ask of myself. But hey, I haven’t found time to do my November write-up yet. Might as well tackle it now, right?

Well, these numbers aren’t promising: I finished 19 titles (5 down from last month, 5 down from last ZZZ), with an equivalent of 6,012 pages or the equivalent (593 down from last month), and gave them an average of 3.53 stars (.17 down from last month). And while I’m not crazy about my number of posts–it’s actually an improvement over last November.

So, here’s what happened here in November.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	3.53
	0		0
	3		0
	6		0
	3		1
	6

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2023	6	47	68	153	5
1st of the Month	5	62	78	167	9
Added	3	6	7	0	4
Read/ Listened	3	2	4	0	2
Current Total	5	66	81	167	11

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 14
Self-/Independent Published: 5

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	1 (5%)	8 (3%)
Fantasy	3 (16%)	35 (15%)
General Fiction/ Literature	3 (16%)	24 (10%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	5 (26%)	72 (30%)
Non-Fiction	2 (11%)	22 (9%)
Science Fiction	2 (11%)	20 (8%)
Theology/ Christian Living	1 (5%)	25 (10%)
Urban Fantasy	1 (5%)	26 (11%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (5%)	6 (3%)

Review-ish Things Posted

On the Christian Life: A New Translation by John Calvin, Raymond A. Blacketer (Translator): A Shiny New Translation of Gold Standard
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 58: Into the Night by R. T. Slaywood: Two Steps Back? Or is it a Step Forward?
Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy by John McGuckin: More Than You Thought You Wanted to Know about the Nestorian Controversy
The World According to Cunk by Philomena Cunk: The Story of the World (abbreviated and only accidentally accurate)
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 59: Guilt by R. T. Slaywood: Meal, Interrupted
Grandpappy’s Corner: The Box by Jo Linsdell: Imagination + Cardboard
PUB DAY POST: King Arthur & The Ladies of The Lake by Vincent Pompetti: The Once and Future Graphic Novel For Our Time
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 60: Keys by R. T. Slaywood: An Awfully Convenient Meeting
Nobody’s Hero by MW Craven: More Shockingly Violent Events in Koenig’s Increasingly Violent Life
Bullet Points about Spook Street by Mick Herron: All the Exciting Stuff Happens Around River
Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson: Even in The Arctic, Nature’s Red

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd), and 30th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your November?

Thanksgiving 2024

By HCNewton

On November 28, 2024

In Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Happy Thanksgiving/Turkey Day/Thursday

(depending on your practice/preference/location)

On this day that has been set aside these U.S. for expressions of gratitude, it’s been my custom to take a moment or two and mention a few of the things that The Irresponsible Reader is thankful for. This is just about my favorite of my annual posts typically, but this year I feel even more grateful than usual.

So, this year, I’m thankful for:

The readers of this blog. If I knew your names, I’d thank you all personally.
The authors who’ve corresponded with me, encouraged me—even promoted this here project.
Those authors, publishers, and/or publicists provided books for me to read.
Books (print, electronic, or audio)—the stories, characters, and/or things I learn are what keep me sane, entertain, and inspire me.
Authors! If not for them, I wouldn’t have the above.
Talented narrators and illustrators—ditto
Coffee (and other beverages both caffeinated and adult)
The authors and blogger who’ve taken the time to help my try to launch my YouTube page–and the three authors who’ve given very polite rejections. But mostly the people who’ve taken time to show up.
All the authors who’ve stopped by for a Q&A or a Guest Post this year. I’ve really been blown away by the work you’ve put into making my patch of cyberspace better.
I want to offer a particular word of thanks for the bloggers and authors who chipped in and helped while I was on sick leave dealing with my cancerous tumor, the posts were great, and the time off was a relief.
Time to read (which is getting scarcer in my life, so I’m even more grateful for it)
The Nampa Public Library, The Caldwell Public Library, (and The LYNX! Consortium)
Shared Stories, Rediscovered Bookshop, and Libro.fm
My Real Life friends and acquaintances who give me feedback and encouragement via text or face-to-face. You all could help my stats by using the comment forms, however 🙂 But I truly appreciate you reading and talking to me about this.
My supportive, understanding, and encouraging wife and kids. They all do a pretty decent job pretending to care when this old man drones on and on about what he’s reading or what’s going on with the blog. Helping me with technical issues, testing things, and general brainstorming is particularly appreciated.
I should give a specific thanks to my daughter, who serves as wingperson when I go to local events and has helped me connect with several authors that I wouldn’t have been as successful with on my own. It’s amazing what people skills can do.
Again, all of you who read this page, follow, like, tweet, comment, email, etc.—you have no idea how much every little bit is appreciated.

For my fellow Americans, I hope you have a pleasant day with your friends and/or family. As for the rest of you, I hope you enjoy today and that you enjoy having the same pant size tomorrow as you do today.

Douglas Adams on Presidents

By HCNewton

On November 5, 2024

In Calendar Items, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, News/Misc., Quotations, Rex Stout

This one is a bit more cynical–okay, very much more cynical–than the last quotation I shared. It still seemed appropriate for today.

The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

To summarise: it is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarise the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

—Douglas Adams
from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

That nifty drawing of Zaphod was drawn by Terry Cooper.

Archie Goodwin on Voting

By HCNewton

On November 5, 2024

In Calendar Items, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, News/Misc., Quotations, Rex Stout

For the 3 of you who are unaware, it’s Election Day in the U.S., so I thought I’d share this little bit from Archie Goodwin to commemorate it.

The most interesting incident Tuesday morning was my walking to a building on Thirty-fourth Street to enter a booth and push levers on a voting machine. I have never understood why anybody passes up that bargain. It doesn’t cost a cent, and for that couple of minutes, you’re the star of the show, with top billing. It’s the only way that really counts for you to say I’m it, I’m the one that decides what’s going to happen and who’s going to make it happen. It’s the only time I really feel important and know I have a right to. Wonderful. Sometimes the feeling lasts all the way home if somebody doesn’t bump me.

–Archie Goodwin
from A Family Affair

October 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On November 1, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I finished 24 titles in October (8 up from last month, 1 down from last October), with an equivalent of 6,605+ pages or the equivalent (1,657+ up from last month), and gave them an average of 3.7 stars (.43 down from last month). Man, audio-only productions really mess with my page count math.

A stupid cold, a lot of activity on the personal front, and miscellaneous other things are really draining my energy and making it hard to post lately. I’m trying to come up with a workable solution to this that doesn’t involve retirement (either from this or the day job). In the meantime, I’ll just grumble about how little I”m writing 🙂 Actually, that cold did more than set back my writing–you’ll note on the calendar at the bottom of the post that there are two blank days there. I don’t know the last time I spent two days without reading.

Anyway, here’s what happened here in October.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to,6

Still Reading

Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy

Ratings

		Average =	3.7
	4		0
	2		2
	8		0
	2		1
	6

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2023	6	47	68	153	5
1st of the Month	5	58	75	166	6
Added	5	5	8	2	6
Read/ Listened	5	1	5	1	3
Current Total	5	62	78	167	9

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 21
Self-/Independent Published: 3

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	0 (0%)	7 (3%)
Fantasy	1 (4%)	32 (15%)
General Fiction/ Literature	3 (13%)	21 (10%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	10 (42%)	67 (30%)
Non-Fiction	3 (13%)	20 (9%)
Science Fiction	4 (17%)	18 (8%)
Theology/ Christian Living	2 (8%)	24 (11%)
Urban Fantasy	0 (0%)	25 (11%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (4%)	2 (2%)

Review-ish Things Posted

In Medias Res: Black Maria by Christine Boyer
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Grandpappy’s Corner: How to Babysit a Grandpa by Jean Reagan, Lee Wildish (Illustrator): What Little One Doesn’t Need to Know This?
On the Unity of Christ by Cyril of Alexandria, John Anthony McGuckin (Translator): A Powerful Dialogue on the Person of Christ
Black Maria by Christine Boyer: A Small Town Has Some Big Secrets Exposed
On Classical Trinitarianism: Retriving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God edited by Matthew Barrett. An Outstanding Defense/Explanation/Retrieval of the Vital Teaching
The More the Terrier by David Rosenfelt: Andy Carpenter’s 30th Is as Satisfying as the 1st
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 57: Dealing with Shadows by R. T. Slaywood: I Didn’t See That Coming
The Debt Collector by Steven Max Russo: She Just Wanted Some Work…
Hermit of Paradise by Kim Sanders, A Novel That Swings for the Fences
A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke: A Charming New Odd Couple of Amateur Sleuths
Pupposites Attract 1 by Hono Natsuna, Matt Trayvaud (translator): And They Called It Puppy Love…
Blood Reunion by JCM Berne: Space Vampires, Secret Identities, and a Promise of Something Worse

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

2024 Plans and Challenges: Third Quarter Check-In

By HCNewton

On October 15, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Miscellany, News/Misc.

I was feeling bad about it being this far into October before I had a chance to put together my Third Quarter Check-in until I realized that I skipped the 2nd Quarter. I’m really not on top of things this year. This is a recurring theme for this post.

I’d hoped to keep charging ahead with Grandpappy’s Corner and Literary Locals, and while those haven’t completely died off, I haven’t done that much with them. I think the next couple of months should bear fruit along those lines, though. We’ll see.

How’s the perennial, “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own” goal going? Well, I bought very few books in February, so that helped, but overall…?

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read
End of 2023	6	46	68	153
End of 1st Quarter	4	50	64	154
End of 2nd Quarter	3	54	79	162
End of 3rd Quarter	5	58	75	166

Goodreads Challenge

Keep sighing, Downey

12 Books

I haven’t made any dent this at all yet (I still haven’t written posts on 2 of the books that I read last year!!) It’s really getting under my skin. Which is exactly what I said in April. Still true. Still under my skin.

Reading with Wrigs

- A Book with a Dragon: Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire
- A Book with the word “leap” in the title: I’m having trouble finding one that I’m interested in. Any suggestions?
- A Book with the Olympics: I’ve got one picked out, if that counts.
- A Book with an Election or Politician: The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher has a few politicians
- A Work of Fiction with an Eclipse: I’m utterly clueless. Any suggestions?
- A Book by an Author Who Has Written Over 24 Books: Dream Town by Lee Goldberg
- A Book Set in a Different Culture Than Your Own: I have an idea or two.
- A Book of Poetry: Poetry Comics by Grant Snider (I feel bad picking this, but until something else comes along…)
- A Book with Time Travel: A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
- A Book with Antonyms in the Title: Still drawing a blank (you’d think this’d be easy)
- A Book Told from the Villian’s Point of View: Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart kind of applies.
- A Book With a Purple Cover: Abnormal Ends by Bryan McBee

The 2024 Booktempter’s TBR Challenge

I’m on-target for this one (as much as I can be), and have even accomplished a Stretch Goal.
January – Lucky Dip: Randomly choose a book by someone you’ve never read before: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Stretch Goal – In the same spirit I give you permission to read the last book to enter your TBR pile. Actually read something you’ve got yourself to recently read: Hacked by Duncan MacMaster
February – Lovers Meeting: No not romantasy focused – this challenge is somewhere in TBR is a delayed treat. Read an author you’ve loved and held back from reading because the time was not right. Its time for you two to get re-acquainted. Enjoy yourself! Return of the Griffin by JCM Berne
March – Spring :You know that first book of a series you bought and have now realised is now finished? You have my permission to read this at last. And you know what? Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn
April – Diamond Anniversary: Diamond is the birthstone of April so your challenge is to read something over 60 years old: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
May – The Fourth…May the force be with you and I permit you to read a SF themed tale: Grave Cold by Shannon Knight
June – The Longest Days: You may choose the longest book in your TBR pile the days are long so go for it: The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
July – The Ides have it In an ongoing tribute to Julius pick a tale of intrigue and scheming: The Last King of California by Jordan Harper
August – Travel Broadens the Mind: Choose a Book that is from an author from a different country to yourself: The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong. I’ve read all from other places that aren’t from this year, so…Canada (which doesn’t seem to count, but does)
September – Back To School: Choose a Book about a character learning something – be it in school, a new power or something about themselves: Project Hail Mary by Andy Wier

Backlist Bingo 2024

I really need to get moving.

✔ 1. This is Who We Are Now by James Bailey (my post about it)
✔ 2. Blood Reunion by JCM Berne
✔ 3. Ways And Truths And Lives by Matt Edwards
✔ 4. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
✔ 5. Grammar Sex and Other Stuff: A Collection of (mostly humorous) Essays by Robert Germaux (my post about it)
✔ 6. The Camelot Shadow by Sean Gibson
✔ 7. Last King of California by Jordan Harper
✔ 8. Steam Opera by James T. Lambert (my post about it)
✔ 9. The Glass Frog by J. Brandon Lowry (my post about it)
✔ 10. The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan (substitution) (my post about it)

✔ 11. Curse of the Fallen by H.C. Newell
✔ 12. Heart of Fire by Raina Nightengale (my post about it)
✔ 13. Detours and Do-overs by Wesley Parker (my post about it)
✔ 14. Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulson (my post about it)
✔ 15. Howl by e rathke (my post about it)
✔ 16. Bard Tidings by Paul J. Regnier
✔ 17. Panacea by Alex Robins
✔ 18. Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland (my post about it)
✔ 19. Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp (my post about it)
✔ 20. The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong (my post about it)

In sum…a lot of stuff to read. A lot more to write. Probably impossible numbers, but fun to try (mostly). Overall, however, when it comes to my goals and challenges, Mike Ehrmantraut speaks for me.

(Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay)

September 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On October 9, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I finished 16 titles (12 down from last month, 12 down from last September, too), with an equivalent of 4,948+ pages or the equivalent (4,460 down from last month, even with me finishing up a couple of project reads), and gave them an average of 4.13 stars (.27 up from last month).

If you haven’t checked out some of the non-reviewish posts, I’d really suggest looking into Saint the Terrifying spotlight, the Shannon Knight guest post, and the Chat with Adrian M. Gibson. Those’re posts that need more attention (because of the others involved, I should stress).

So, here’s what happened here in September.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	4.125
	3		0
	5		0
	4		0
	1		0
	3

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2023	6	47	68	153	5
1st of the Month	4	58	75	162	6
Added	3	2	4	5	2
Read/ Listened	2	2	4	1	2
Current Total	5	58	75	166	6

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 14
Self-/Independent Published: 3

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	1 (6%)	7 (4%)
Fantasy	2 (13%)	31 (16%)
General Fiction/ Literature	0 (0%)	18 (9%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	4 (25%)	57 (29%)
Non-Fiction	1 (6%)	17 (9%)
Science Fiction	3 (19%)	14 (7%)
Theology/ Christian Living	2 (13%)	22 (11%)
Urban Fantasy	3 (19%)	4 (21%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	0 (0%)	4 (2%)

Review-ish Things Posted

Institutes of Elenctic Theology Vol. 2: Eleventh through Seventeenth Topics by Francis Turretin: A Master Class on Theology and Methodology Continues
Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulsen: Death Doesn’t Stop this Marshall
Buddy the Knight and The Queen of Sorrow by Peter David: A Tale of Friendship, Devotion, Bravery and Heart
Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp: Filled with Great Food, a Lot of Laughs, and Love
Redemptive History & Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos Edited by Richard B. Gaffiin, Jr.: A Treasure of Briefer Theological Writings
This Is Who We Are Now by James Bailey: A One Corvette Short of a Textbook Mid-Life Crisis
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 55: Cursed by R. T. Slaywood: ANSWERS!! Explanations! Backstory!
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 56: What We All Want by R. T. Slaywood: That Seems Like a Mistake…
Candle & Crow by Kevin Hearne: Growing, Changing, and Moving On
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien: A Nice Bit of Insight into Middle Earth
Nugget’s Tenth Life by Adam Holcombe: The Backstory I Didn’t Need, But Am So Glad I Got
Heart of Fire by Raina Nightingale: A Mixed Bag with Cool Dragons, Some Good Characters, and a Lot of Promise

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th), I also wrote and/or posted:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

August 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On September 2, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I finished 28 titles (8 up from last month, 3 up from last August), with an equivalent of 9,408 pages or the equivalent (3,017 up from last month), and gave them an average of 3.86 stars (.18 up/down from last month).

I really thought that I was going to be making some decent progress on Mt. TBR this summer, and I was on a decent path, but I stumbled a little bit–not that Epic Sale of Beloved SFF Books and the Narratess Indie Sale didn’t help (a week will and a voracious appetite didn’t either).

My posting wasn’t quite what I wanted, but when is it? I’m giving my self a pass on that. My focus (for good or ill) was on reading this month, blogging was less of a priority. I’d like to say that next month will be different, but I’m not going to hold myself to that.

Any who, here’s what happened here in August.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Still Reading

Redemptive History & Biblical Interpretation

Ratings

		Average =	3.86
	3		0
	4		0
	8		0
	8		0
	5

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2023	6	47	68	153	5
1st of the Month	3	52	76	161	8
Added	4	11	4	3	2
Read/ Listened	3	5	5	2	4
Current Total	4	58	75	162	6

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 19
Self-/Independent Published: 9

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	0 (0%)	6 (3%)
Fantasy	9 (21%)	29 (19%)
General Fiction/ Literature	5 (18%)	18 (12%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	2 (7%)	53 (35%)
Non-Fiction	2 (7%)	16 (11%)
Science Fiction	2 (7%)	11 (7%)
Theology/ Christian Living	3 (11%)	20 (13%)
Urban Fantasy	4 (14%)	22 (14%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (4%)	4 (3%)

Review-ish Things Posted

Some Further Thoughts about The White Door by Pierce Taylor Hibbs
A Farewell to Arfs by Spencer Quinn: The World Breaks Every One, Except Maybe Chet
The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston: You Will Sit Up and Say, “Yippee-ki-yay”
Mystery Science Theater 3000: A Cultural History by Matt Foy and Christopher J. Olson: They Riffed, so the Internet Could Snark
Steam Opera by James T. Lambert: Choosing It Not Because It Was Easy…
The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan: And Though She Be But Little, She Is Fierce
The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong: The Real Magic Here Isn’t Supernatural
The Glass Frog by J. Brandon Lowry: A Fairy-Tale-esque Fantasy for All Ages
A Quick Thought about the Audiobook No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister, read by a full cast
Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland: Mixing Drinks and Starting Over
The Lord Jesus Christ: The Biblical Doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ by Brandon D. Crowe: Christology 101
The Teachings of Shirelle by Douglas Green: A Goofy Dog’s Wisdom

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

July 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On August 7, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I read 20 titles (4 down from last month and last July), with an equivalent of 6,391+ pages or the equivalent (a little less than 951 down from last month), and gave them an average of 3.68 stars (.16 up from last month—pretty much a draw). Not the best month for reading, but not bad.

On the other hand, look at Mt. TBR–good progress there. And the number of posts for the month (thanks to Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week) was significantly higher than usual. The blog was a hoppin’. Sure, most of that wasn’t me actually writing, just me putting stuff together, but…whatever. It looks productive.

Anyway, a little later than I like, here’s what happened in July.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

	</a

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	3.68
	2		0
	1		0
	6		0
	4		0
	7l

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2023	6	47	68	153	5
1st of the Month	3	54	79	162	7
Added	2	5	6	1	1
Read/ Listened	2	7	9	2	0
Current Total	3	52	76	161	8

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 15
Self-/Independent Published: 5

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	1 (5%)	6 (4%)
Fantasy	4 (20%)	20 (13%)
General Fiction/ Literature	2 (10%)	13 (9%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	8 (40%)	51 (34%)
Non-Fiction	1 (5%)	14 (9%)
Science Fiction	0 (0%)	9 (6%)
Theology/ Christian Living	0 (0%)	17 (11%)
Urban Fantasy	3 (15%)	18 (12%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (5%)	3 (2%)

Review-ish Things Posted

Grandpappy’s Corner: Under the Barnyard Light by Carla Crane Osborne, Brandon Dorman (Illustrator): A Quiet, Wintry Night’s Chores
Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos: Memory Brushes the Same Years
Divine Providence by Stephen Charnock, edited by Carolyn Whiting: A Classic Reworked
The Mercy Chair by M.W. Craven: We’re All Stories, In The End.
Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church by Stephen O. Presley: How Our Fathers and Mothers Walked
Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs: A Coyote and a Werewolf Have to Save a Wedding
Howl by e rathke: Postapocalyptic Monsters and Those Who Hunt Them
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 54: Dantalion by R. T. Slaywood: Countdown
The White Door by Pierce Taylor Hibbs: Good vs. Evil and a Tolkien-Quoting Cat
Detours and Do-Overs by Wesley Parker: Percy Chases His Happily Ever After
Grammar Sex and Other Stuff: A Collection of (mostly humorous) Essays by Robert Germaux: A Collection That (mostly) Amused Me
Chasing Empty Caskets by E.N. Crane: Missing Bodies and a Belgian Malinois in a Tutu
Grave Cold by Shannon Knight: She Sees Dead People
Return of The Griffin by JCM Berne: With No Time For Hope, Rohan Returns to Earth
Red Dead’s History by Tore C. Olsson: A Historian Looks at the U.S. Shown in the Game

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

Saturday Miscellany—8/3/24

By HCNewton

On August 3, 2024

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

If you have the means, I strongly recommend seeing Ben Folds live, as I did a couple of days ago (just one of the many reasons this week I spent almost no time online). No light show, no pyrotechnics, elaborate sets, backup dancers, or any of the typical tropes. Just one man and a piano (okay, a bunch of paper airplanes, too).

Much blog-hopping and so on to catch up on this 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:
How to read more, according to the Booker Prize 2024 judges—If anyone knows how to do this, it’s those who had to read all the (not quick and easy reads) for this Prize
My Guilty Pleasure: I’m a Gen Xer Reading Comic Books Once Again
Your Hero Could Beat Up My Hero—a fun little post to entice readers into The Recruiter
On Lying About Reading, or: How I Learned That Stieg Larsson Is Good, Actually—”Sara Martin Considers the Motivations Behind Our Literary Untruths”
When It’s Time To Change Your Reading Habits—Molly Templeton launches a personal attack against me. Or maybe it just feels that way.
“You Were Always The Wrong Guy Until You Weren’t” – Thoughts on the Flawed Hero—Peat Long continues his beef with Scrubs‘ Dr. Percival Cox while offering some good thought-provoking thoughts on flawed heroes.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison—one of the better entries in the series, iirc
W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton—the antepenultimate book in the series (how often do I get to use that word?)
The Competition by Marcia Clark
Never Go Back by Lee Child—Remember when I liked reading Reacher?
The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne—a new SF novella looks like a lot of fun (hint: he’s a hermit because he’s an alien trying not to get caught)
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell—I’ve always been a sucker for Rowell’s non-YA fantasy. This book about a couple’s second-chance looks like a nice time

Gail Borden Public Library helps me stay topical with this:

Category: Calendar Items Page 1 of 23

The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

—Douglas Adams from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

—Douglas Adams
from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe