Category: Books Page 2 of 166

The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Steampunk

On July 21, 2026

In Books, Fiction, Miscellany, News/Misc., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week, Steampunk

(updated 7/21/26)

From the first moment that people did the strange thing of asking me to talk about their books on my blog, I’ve been impressed by the quality of a lot of what’s been published by authors going out on their own, taking all the risks, shouldering all the responsibility, and doing all the work to get their words, their dreams, their blood, sweat, and tears on to the page (paper or electronic). This should be celebrated—it’s definitely appreciated, as we’re trying to show this week.

As part of this week-long celebration, I’m continuing my habit of highlighting the self-published works that I’ve blogged about over the last few years (or meant to blog about, but at least read)—just a sentence or two. Hopefully, this’ll be enough to make you click on the link to the full post. Beyond that, it’d be great if I inspired you to add a few of these to your TBR. Also, be sure you check out the other posts over at the SPAAW Hub.

Today I’m focusing on Self-Published Steampunk. Sadly, this list is the same as last year’s. It’s still so small that it hardly seems to justify a separate list. But I kept these on their own so they wouldn’t get lost in the SF mix. Consider this an open invitation for people to fill up my comment section with recommendations so I can post a longer version of this list next time I run this.

bullet The Curse of the Silver Pharaoh by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris—set in the same world as their Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series, this puts the adventurous group of homeless kids the Ministry uses in a private school to find an Egyptian artifact. I still need to write my post on it, but it’s worth your time.
bullet Bartleby and James: Edwardian Steampunk Chronicle by Michael Coorlim—these short stories are a nice little dose of Steampunk with a thin coating of Victorian P.I. Light fun. (my post about it)
bullet Bodacious Creed: A Steampunk Zombie Western by Jonathan Fesmire—the reanimated corpse of one of the most-feared lawmen in the West roots out a criminal organization set to rule California. (my post about it)
bullet Bodacious Creed and the Jade Lake by Jonathan Fesmire—Creed heads to SF and tangles with a human trafficking ring. (my post about it)
bullet Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate by Jonathan Fesmire—Creed has settled into San Francisco and is on the hunt for an outlaw who uses machines to alter the bodies and minds of his victims. I haven’t read this yet, but I can’t pass up the chance to talk about it. Really looking forward to diving in.
bullet Aether Powered by James T. Lambert—A UW Engineering student inherits a trunkful of steampunk goodies from a distant relative. Action ensues. (my post about it)
bullet Steam Opera by James T. Lambert—An imaginative engineer/inventor and a gutsy investor attempt to land on the moon pre-1900. (my post about it)
bullet The Silk Empress by Josef Matulich—a brilliant and reckless British orphan finds himself on an airship on the Silk Road (well, technically, above it). It’s a rollicking adventure. (my post about it)
bullet The Golden Spider by Anne Renwick—a steamy Kraken-filled Steampunk story, lots of good action, and great inter-personal moments. (my post about it)

If you're a self-published author that I've featured on this blog and I didn't mention you in this post and should have. I'm sorry (unless you're this guy). Please drop me a line, and I'll fix this. I want to keep this regularly updated so I keep talking about Self-Published Authors.

Visit the SPAAW 2026 Hub to see what other Self-Published Appreciation Posts are out there.
Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week circle logo and the Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow in front of an open book

The 2026 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club

The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Non-Fiction

By HCNewton

On July 21, 2026

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

(updated 7/21/26)

Today I’m focusing on Self-Published Non-Fiction—which are primarily memoirs at their core, it’s what the authors do with the memoirs that makes these really stand out. But there are a few other things, too.

bullet Life and Death Behind the Brick and Razor: Code Red Diamond by Isaac Alexis, MD—A prison doctor uses his experiences to give suggestions for a healthy/healthier life. (my post about it)
bullet Life Lessons by Titan as told to Melaney Taylor Auxier—Illustrated by photos of the dog himself, Titan teaches about friends, making mistakes, eating well, being grateful, that sort of thing. (my post about it)
bullet How Not to Be an *SS: Essays on Becoming a Good & Safe Man by Andrew J. Bauman—Bauman calls men to an authentic, Biblical masculinity—one built on humility, kindness, and service. While offering concrete ways to set aside patterns of abuse and neglect. (my post about it)
bullet Kneading Journalism: Essays on baking bread and breaking down the news by Tony Ganzer—This is a collection of essays about the state of journalism, how people relate to and view the media we consume, and what the future may hold. Oh, and bread recipes, of course. It makes sense in context (and is a really great idea). (my post about it)
bullet Grammar Sex and Other Stuff by Robert Germaux — quick essays with humor and heart (my post about it)
bullet More Grammar Sex: Essays About Life and Stuff by Robert Germaux — more quick essays with humor and heart. (I apparently didn’t post about this…but basically see what I said about the previous book here )
bullet No Problem, Mr. Walt: Building a Boat, Rebuilding a Life, & Discovering China by Walt Hackman—Hackman was one of the first self-published authors to reach out to me, and I’m so glad he did. A fascinating read about a man deciding to have an authentic Chinese junk built for him to use as a houseboat in California. (my post about it)
bullet Fifth Sparrow Rising by Cindi Hartley—A little bit a bit of Hartley’s personal story and faith, a little bit of the experiences through some of the hardest parts of her life, and things she;s learned through it all. All told in the hope that she can show others they are “not alone and that there is a way to find light again, as well as be a light, even when one has lived through darkness.”
bullet Finding Hope in Hard Things: A Positive Take on Suffering by Pierce Taylor Hibbs—The central premise is that God uses the “hard things” in life to shape us into the people he wants us to be, and uses some of the hard things in his life as case studies to demonstrate how they were used so the reader is equipped to look at their own lives and see the purpose in their suffering. (my post about it)
bullet The Great Lie: What All of Hell Wants You to Keep Believing by Pierce Taylor Hibbs—Paired with Hibbs’ characteristic clear prose and gift with language and illustrations, Hibbs reminds the reader that God is always speaking to us, through both the Creation and His Word. (my post about it)
bullet In Divine Company by Pierce Taylor Hibbs—Pierce’s treatment of prayer focuses on the communicative nature of God and His image bearers and then nurturing that in our lives to improve our prayer. (my post about it)
bullet Struck Down but Not Destroyed: Living Faithfully with Anxiety by Pierce Taylor Hibbs—Drawing on what he’s learned from over 12 years of anxiety, Hibbs talks about learning to see what God’s purpose in the suffering is (anxiety disorders specifically, but easily transferable to other types), understanding that His hand is guiding all things—including our problems—so how do we in faith (without denying the suffering) rest in faith. (my post about it)
bullet And Drink I Did: One Man’s Story of Growing Through Recovery by Jay Keefe—It’s all there in the subtitle, Keefe tells about his OCD, his alcoholic days, his getting sober, and how he’s trying to help others since then. Powerful stuff. (my post about it)
bullet If You Give A Mouse Metformin by Nikhil Krishnan, i Cenizal (Illustrator) — 1 part picture book parody, 1 part satire, 1 part good look at the pharmecutical process (the good and the bad) (my post about it)
bullet Killer Conversations with Rex Stout and John McAleer—a collection of interview snippets between Stout and his biographer touching on topics like: his writing, the Wolfe mysteries, plotting, the modern detective story, talking about other authors and more. (my post about it)
bullet How to Take Over the World: Practical Schemes and Scientific Solutions for the Aspiring Supervillain by Ryan North—A tongue-in-cheek way to talk about some of the most advanced science around and how it can (and in some ways is) be used to destroy the world. (my post about it)
bullet The Genius’ Guide to Bad Writing by R.T. Slaywood, R.C. Martinez—A guide for the writer who is tired of success and wants to reclaim their lives from answering the siren call of fortune and fame that comes to every author. Slaywood and Martinez have a 10-Step program guaranteed to ruin a novel or two and stop a career dead in its spot. (my post about it)
bullet Uber Diva by Charles St. Anthony—a humorist writes a memoir of a Lyft/Uber driver mixed with a guide to starting/surviving/thriving as one in a tough market. St. Anthony also has a few other books out now that are probably worth a read. (my post about it)
bullet Flying Alone: A Memoir by Beth Ruggiero York—A female pilot’s memoir of her path from flight school to flying for TWA (now that I have a son learning to fly, some of her more harrowing experiences keep flashing through the back of my mind). (my post about it)

If you're a self-published author that I've featured on this blog and I didn't mention you in this post and should have. I'm sorry (unless you're this guy). Please drop me a line, and I'll fix this. I want to keep this regularly updated so I keep talking about Self-Published Authors.

Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week circle logo and the Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow in front of an open book

The 2026 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club

The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published “General” Fiction

By HCNewton

On July 20, 2026

In Books, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Miscellany, News/Misc., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

(updated 7/20/26)

Today I’m focusing on General Fiction (for lack of a better term)—there’s some Lad Lit, a dash of historical fiction, some humor, a couple of things I don’t know how to categorize beyond “Fiction”, and a bit more. Hopefully, you can find something that tickles your fancy.

bullet Dispatches from a Tourist Trap by James Bailey—Jason (see below) and his mother move from Seattle to a small town in the middle of Washington to stay with her parents as she establishes a life away from her husband. Hilarity and conflict ensue. (my post about it)
bullet The First World Problems of Jason Van Otterloo by James Bailey—an epistolary novel (through emails) from a 13-year-old whose life is turned upside down in 2003 Seattle. A lot of heart and a few laughs. (my post about it)
bullet This Is Who We Are Now by James Bailey—he doesn’t just write YA, Bailey attacks coming-of-Middle-Age, too. This not-so-young man, deals with changes to his parents’ lives, his younger siblings’ successes (and struggles) and coming to grips that his life may not end up just the way he wanted it to.
bullet The Glamshack by Paul W. Cohen—A lifestyle reporter’s obsessive love for a woman and the havoc it wreaks on his life. (my post about it)
bullet Ways And Truths And Lives by Matt Edwards—this is tough to summarize in a sentence, but let me try, because this is more about the internal life. James Dall is a struggling writer and reporter, who is still trying to figure out what he thinks about life, love and meaning. This is about him on the verge of making a big move for his life and career, and those things that move him to it.
bullet The Chronicles of Iona: Exile by Paula de Fougerolles—The first novel in a series about the founding of Iona. Some historical fiction with a hint of Fantasy. (my post about it)
bullet Love Stories by Robert Germaux—based on actual events, the story of a love that might have been, and one that is. (my post about it is forthcoming)
bullet Not Awkward by Matthew Hanover—a young man attends the funeral of his ex’s father and gets roped into staying during shiva in the days leading to his wedding. Nah, not awkward at all. (my post about it)
bullet Not Dressed by Matthew Hanover—Hanover’s (seemingly) effortless charm makes this “romantic comedy of how love goes wrong—and right—when you’re a twenty-something still figuring out how to adult” a real winner. (my post about it)
bullet Not Famous by Matthew Hanover—Hanover’s first novel is about a guy who falls for a socially awkward musician. It will steal your heart. (my post about it)
bullet Not Prepared by Matthew Hanover—a bachelor takes in his eleven-year-old-goddaughter when her mother skips town, and maybe finds love, too. Great stuff. (my post about it)
bullet The Flight of the Pickerings by John Grayson Heide—a heart-warming story about an older couple dealing with dementia and the end of their life together get their world turned upside down when their rebellious teenage grandson comes to live with them. (my post about it)
bullet Didn’t Get Frazzled by David Z. Hirsch, MD—a bildungsroman following a 20-something through his 4 years of medical school: from Gross Anatomy to the verge of residency. (my post about it)
bullet Love and Other Monsters in the Dark by K. B. Jensen—I could probably put this on most of my Self-Published Fiction lists, so I’ll limit it to this one. It’s sort of the same genre as The Twilight Zone—SF, Fantasy, Horror, Crime. Sudden Fiction and Short stories that’ll knock your socks off. (my post about it)
bullet XYZ by William Knight—A mature, old-school programmer has to start his career over at a 21st Century Startup as his family life falls apart in every way imaginable. Clearly a comedy. (my post about it)
bullet Dirt Road Home by Alexander Nader—A lot of charm fills this YA(ish) Coming of Age story about a teen forced to move from Detroit to a small town in Tennessee before graduation. (my post about it)
bullet Coffee and Condolences by Wesley Parker—A widower tries to begin recovering from the deaths of his wife and children by reconnecting with his step-sister and maybe finds love. (my post about it)
bullet Detours and Do-overs by Wesley Parker—A sequel to the next on the list. This follow-up had a lot of heart. (my post about it)
bullet Headphones and Heartaches by Wesley Parker—A teen finds home, safety, and love in a Foster Home, but is torn about leaving his mother behind. One sentence doesn’t do it justice, I simply loved this one. (my post about it)
bullet The Worst Man by Jon Rance—Ollie’s desperately in love with the girlfriend/fiancée of the man who’s been his best friend since childhood. And now he has to be the best man at the wedding he wants to derail. (my post about it)
bullet The Summer Holidays Survival Guide by Jon Rance—an out-of-shape teacher tries to prepare for a half-marathon while surviving the summer with his three kids, a marriage on the rocks, and his father (with dementia) moving in. (my post about it)
bullet However Long the Day by Justin Reed—A Depression-era take on The Prince and the Pauper, an impressive debut (my post about it)
bullet The Crescent and the Cross by Kurt Scheffler— the story of The Battle of Tours (in 732) and events leading up to it, told through the lives of people close to Charles Martel and Charles on the one hand and a couple of the leaders of the Muslim forces involved in the Arab invasion of France. (my post about it)
bullet In Ten Years by Ian Shane—The reductionist description is “A 21st Century When Harry Met Sally“. We watch a couple of college friends over 18 years start to figure out that they’re in love. Hilarious and sweet. (my post about it)
bullet Postgraduate by Ian Shane—When your life falls apart, why not take your college radio show and turn it into an Internet radio show? And then, why not attend a reunion with the old college radio gang, including “The One That Got Away” (because you foolishly dumped her)? (my post about it)
bullet Radio Radio by Ian Shane—A maverick DJ is forced to get creative when a corporate radio management team takes over his station. A love letter to what radio used to be as much as anything else. (my post about it)
bullet The Museum Guide by Nicole Sharp—”A snapshot of life, love and third grade field trippers” in a natural history museum. (my post about it)
bullet The Jackals by Adam Shaw—A local band on the verge of making it big/big-ish falls apart after high school due to a love triangle that shouldn’t have happened. When one member of the band dies, the group has to get together for a funeral and to clean up his stuff. (that’s a bad summary, but best I can do in a sentence) (my post about it)
bullet KA-E-RO-U Time to Go Home by B. Jeanne Shibahara—I’m so glad the blurb contains a one-sentence description because I couldn’t write one: “Desert-dweller Meryl travels to Japan, returns a WWII flag, and brings home an understanding of life that opens her heart for the unexpected.” (my post about it)
bullet Lingering by Melissa Simonson—It’s sort-of SF, sort-of a Thriller, but not really either, so I put this here. This is a novel about grief, about dealing with death—while telling the story about an effort to design an AI to mimic a dead loved one in order to help a survivor cope. (my post about it)
bullet We Be Dragons by Michael Weitz—It’s a trip back to the mid-80s in an Idaho small town. A group of boys spend the summer playing D&D, working, and thinking about girls. A local woman succumbs to Satanic Panic and tries to shut them down. As a bonus, we get several chapters from the game’s POV. (my post about it)
bullet Leveled Up Love by Tao Wong & A. G. Marshall—It’s LitRPG-ish, it’s also a Rom-Com. You mash the two of those together and you get this entirely entertaining and sweet read. (my post about it)

If you're a self-published author that I've featured on this blog and I didn't mention you in this post and should have. I'm sorry (unless you're this guy). Please drop me a line, and I'll fix this. I want to keep this regularly updated so I keep talking about Self-Published Authors.

The 2026 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club

Saturday Miscellany—7/18/26

By HCNewton

On July 18, 2026

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

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:
bullet People Who Can Still Read Will Rule the World—When I read this earlier in the week, I thought “problem-filled but worth the read.” I’m struggling to find the worth today, but maybe you will? It’s short anyway.
bullet Pressed for time? 20 brilliant books you can read in a day—this list might play into the hands of the opening piece.
bullet Best Science Fiction Books of the Century (So Far)—according to Book Riot, anyway
bullet So You Want to Read More Indie Authors—pretty good list. And a great lead-in to next week’s Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week
bullet If you Like This, Read That: Dad Edition—”here’s a bunch of book recs that will make the transition from reading just for you, to reading with a baby, a little bit easier”

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Twisted Passages Episode 117: Jack Friday (KILLER VIBES) (I couldn’t find a link to an audio version)

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
bullet The Substitute Sleuth by Michael R. Underwood
bullet Korian and Lucy by Zoe Kalo
bullet And I talked about the releases of: The Innocents by Ace Atkins; Time Siege by Wesley Chu; and Salvation Lake by G. M. Ford.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Killer Vibes by Jack Friday—”A wild and wickedly funny series debut, introducing readers to the irresistible and irrepressible private investigator, Peter Key.” I was pretty enthusiastic when I talked about it recently.
bullet Unpredictable Magic by Faith Hunter—”Witches Angelina and Evan Everhart-Trueblood take a case that spirals out of control until the whole city is at risk in this exciting new novel from New York Times bestselling author Faith Hunter.” I love the idea of seeing Angelina and Evan as adult witchy PIs. I have high hopes for this sequel series.
bullet Howliday Inn the Graphic Novel by James Howe, Andrew Donkin, Stephen Gilpin—stumbling onto the Bunnicula graphic novel a couple of years ago was a great excuse to revisit some old friends. This should serve the same purpose.
bullet The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell—”In this heartfelt and humorous fantasy from the Nebula-winning author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In, a dragon whose three heads bear rather…different…personalities finds family in the most unexpected of places.”…”This cozy fantasy intertwines epic battles with loving friendships, sharing an utterly unique perspective on what it means to be a “monster.”

image source: Imani Rhiannon on Facebook (of an image of a post by @PaperFury somewhere else)

Mid-Year Freak Out 2026 (not completely about Butcher’s Twelve Months)

By HCNewton

On July 17, 2026

In Book Tag, Books, News/Misc.

a generic-looking tag reading 'Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag 2026'
It’s a little past time for this book tag, but it’s still close enough, right? I’ve lost track of who created it, and I feel bad about that. I have seen it this year at Kerri McBookNerd’s blog, Becky’s Book Blog, and Worlds Unlike Our Own. I’ve likely seen it a few other places, too–but I forgot to save those links (sorry if you feel I ignored you…it was unintentional).

When I started assembling this post, I joked to myself that I could just use Butcher’s Twelve Months for just about every answer. Then I thought about it, and it’d be legitimate to do so. But that sort of feels like cheating, so I won’t–but I will include it as often as it applies.

Best Book You’ve Read in 2026


A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan Harper	Twelve Months by Jim Butcher

A Violent Masterpiece is just almost-impossibly well-written. Harper’s prose is sharp, the cultural critique is spot-on, he makes LA and the strange sub-cultures that populate it come to life (at least the ones he looks at in this book), and it’s thrilling as all get-out. Twelve Months is exactly the book that Butcher’s fans have been waiting for–not just because we’ve literally been waiting a few years for it, but it’s Butcher at his absolutely best–and therefore Harry Dresden and the rest of the characters are, too.

Best Sequel You’ve Read in 2026


Three Hitmen and a Baby by Rob Hart	Electric City Switches by M.D. Presley

Three Hitmen does everything that the previous books in the series did, but does them a little better. Actually, that’s the case for Electric City Switches, too. I was looking forward to both of these before I started, but part-way through, I got even more excited by the books and what they meant for their respective series.

Twelve Months
by Jim Butcher

Twelve Months–it really is the sequel to Peace Talks/Battle Ground (and almost every book in the series), not just the next book in the series–Butcher follows up with the aftermath of those two and helps both his fans and characters start to recover from them.

New Release You Have Yet To Read


This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews	Prey of Angels by JCM Berne

Crownfall by Michael Vadney	Don’t Die Dave by A.R. Witham

There are plenty of books that have come out this year that I haven’t read (obviously), but really I’ve done a pretty decent job of keeping up on the ones that I’m really excited about for one reason or another–these four, on the other hand, prove that I don’t have a clean sweep going on that.

Most Anticipated Release From the 2nd Half of the Year


The Killer’s Mark by M.W. Craven	Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire

I seriously cannot wait for The Killer’s Mark–we’re moving into a new stage of the series here, and I have no idea how it’s going to work. I need to know. McGuire’s Silver and Lead is a close second on the anticipation list, it’s going to be a new phase for that series, too (although this series is full of those). There are others I’m sure that I’ll be excited about–The Thrice-Bound Fool by Christopher Buehlman, for example–but these are the two I’m really waiting for.

The embarrassing thing that I just noticed is that last year’s answer to this question was the previous book in both series by these two. Score one for consistency, I guess.

Biggest Disappointment

Worse than a Lie
by Ben Crump

Given the premise and the notoriety of the author, it could’ve been something else. I guess it was, but what it was rhymes with “a waste of paper and ink.”

Biggest Surprise


Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman, read by Travis Baldree & Jeff Hays	The Dentist by Tim Sullivan

Okay, I expected that Dinniman could write something (see: “50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong”), but I wasn’t ready for something that was amusing, heart-wrenching, and that did a careful job of addressing a touchy subject (it maybe shouldn’t be one, but it is). This could’ve easily been an overly-earnest screed with some out-of-place jokes attached. But no, that’s not what he brought us. Sullivan’s depiction of a detective on the Spectrum doesn’t resort to stereotypes, doesn’t play up the neurodivergence for laughs, and surrounds that great character with other well-drawn characters and some really well-conceived and executed mystery plots.

Twelve Months
by Jim Butcher

I was really surprised at the depth of the storytelling, the way Butcher could switch between emotional reactions so quickly (I mean, he does this all the time, but he does it more often here), and just how grounded his story about a wizard living in a magic castle in modern-day Chicago could feel.–and a couple of the story events, surprised me a lot, too.

Favorite New Author


Matt Dinniman	Callum McSorley	Tim Sullivan

Between wowing me with Operation Bounce House and me finally succumbing to the cult of Dungeon Crawler Carl, Dinniman has to be at the top of my new-to-me authors. Followed closely by The Dentist‘s Tim Sullivan. See above. I have to add in Callum McSorely here–his depiction of Glasgow, the least-dirty dirty cop in fiction, and the criminals she’s up against. His debut is one of those that you can’t believe is a debut.

New Favorite Character

There are just so many characters I could put here…it’s truly difficult to restrain myself. But there’s Tim Sullivan’s DS George Cross–yeah, I keep coming back to him. That character is just a great creation. As is Grand Champion, Breed Winner Regional, National Winner Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk. If you’ve met her, you know. If you haven’t, I don’t know that I can sufficiently describe her.

Although, I think I have to give the crown to Harry Dresden’s Valkyrie bodyguard, Bear. Her combination of calm under pressure, sharp wit, wisdom, and strength added a breath of fresh air to the series–and to Twelve Months in particular. Harry needed another ally for the next stretch of books and Bear is going to fill that role so well. She cheered me a little almost every time she showed up.

A Book That Made You Cry


Twelve Months by Jim Butcher	The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love edited by Alice Hoffman	This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page

I don’t think I actually cried (yet) because of a book this year. But Twelve Months wrecked me–Harry’s guilt and grief, his despair has to move you. Actually, some of the points that helped him start to get past those really make a guy think about losing a tear or two.

Hoffman’s book that could be considered a series of eulogies (a couple of them pre-emptively delivered) for wondeful dogs is of course going to make a reader misty-eyed. It started with the first essay and didn’t let up until the back cover.

Here’s another shocker–a book about a widow’s first year without her husband who has left an unbelievable series of gifts for her to help her in her grief? It doesn’t et maudlin, but it sure jerks at some tears.

A Book That Made You Happy


Twelve Months by Jim Butcher	All the Best Dogs Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Manuel Preitano

One last Twelve Months mention–yeah, it made me weepy, it shocked me with a couple of developments–but it just made me happy to be back in the wrold of harry Dresden, to see how he’s dealing with everything (and everyone else, too). It was a roller coaster for me, for sure–but even when I was lamenting I was happy. And then with All the Best Dogs you’ve got a bunch of elementary school kids in love with their dogs and having fun with them? The book is practically distilled joy.

What Book/s Do You Need to Read By the End of 2026

Well, that’s a long list. There’s the books listed in my summer reads challenges; the soon to be released Craven, McGuire, and Buehlman; I’ve got a couple of books by Mai Corland and Wesley Chu that are gathering too much dust; We Chase Shadows, the 30 or so books that I bought this year that I haven’t read yet…

As usual, I’m not tagging anyone in this—but I’d like to see what you all have to come up with.
Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

WWW Wednesday—July 15, 2026

By HCNewton

On July 15, 2026

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

The hot streak I was on at the beginning of the summer has cooled a bit (on the books only, sadly, not outside). But it was bound to happen eventually, and I’m not reading anything bad. Just not-as-good-as-I’d-hoped.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


First Mage on the Moon by Cameron Johnston	True Romance: A Noir Anthology edited by Troy Lambert & Vincent Zandri	The Patient by Tim Sullivan, read by Finlay Robertson

I’m taking too long to read First Mage, and I’m not sure why (other than taking 2 evenings off to working through Utomi’s Forever Desert series…but that wouldn’t explain it). Hoping to finish it this evening, but I’ve said that Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, too.

True Romance continues to be a good collection, even if the one I read last night was a giant disappointment.

The Patient is as good as I’d hoped The Cyclist would be, if not better. My parasocial bromance with Tim Sullivan is back on.

What did you recently finish reading?


The Memory of the Ogisi by Moses Ose Utomi	The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst, read by Soneela Nankani

Utomi is…okay I don’t know how to put this. He’s easily the most efficient writer I’ve read this year. He can put as much into 100 pages as some people do in 350. And it’s all good.

Huh. I guess I knew how to say it.

Durst’s YA was fine–but I think I’ll stick with her non-YA stuff.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Asteroid Savage by Thomas Trang	The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman, read by Nikki Garcia

I’m eager to try Trang’s SF (and the sequel that just came out, and the sequel to it that’ll come out in a few weeks)

I’m intimidated by Buehlman’s prequel to The Blacktongue Thief. I think I started it once before and bailed quickly (mostly due to time constraints). But I want to get it under my belt now so I’m fully prepared for the next book in the series.

How’s your July reading treating you?

Fantasy with Friends: Discussing Brandon Sanderson and Fast Food Fantasy

By HCNewton

On July 13, 2026

In Books, Fantasy with Friends, News/Misc.

Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.

This week’s prompt is:

Are you a Brandon Sanderson fan? Some readers online have called his books the “fast food of fantasy?” Do you think that’s a valid criticism?

I am not a Brandon Sanderson fan. Mostly that’s due to my personal commitment issues. I’ve read 4 books by the man–one or two of my sons and I read The Reckoners trilogy some years back and I read The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England largely because of the title (and I wanted to read something by him that didn’t involve devoting a huge chunk of my life). I enjoyed all of them–some more than others, but there was nothing about them that made me “a fan”–nor am I a detractor. He seems like a nice guy who has had a lot of success and does a decent job of paying it forward. I’ve also heard his classes are more than worth the time.

Oh, I’ve also heard he’s masterful at taking a bunch of seemingly unconnected narrative threads and pulling them together in the last 10% or so of a book. Even if you know that’s his game, he can still really impress a reader the way he does it.

My friends and acquaintances that are into Sanderson do tend to make me wish I had the patience and bandwidth to try based on the way they talk about his stuff. But I don’t.

So why am I bothering to write a post this week? It’s because of the second part of the prompt.

Some readers online have called his books the “fast food of fantasy?” Do you think that’s a valid criticism?

First of all…I couldn’t find the short video I wanted to where Andrew Zimmern talks about his favorite fast food fries. But I did find this quotation/image at kitchenbusiness.com:

If you’ve ever seen Zimmern talk about food–you know that he knows a thing or two about a thing or two. And if he can talk for a few minutes about Fast Food French fries (and have positive things to say about some of them), there’s gotta be something there worth talking about. I’m pretty sure I could do the same thing with Alton Brown and others–I just remember Zimmern’s right now.

But that quotation speaks to my beef with the assumption of the question (and I don’t think that the nice people behind Pages Unbound concur with it, they’re trying to give us something to talk about)–fast food does not mean bad food. Fast food fantasy does not mean bad fantasy.

This goes beyond not trying to yuck someone’s yum. But it certainly starts there. Just knock off that kind of nonsense.

We’ve talked about what makes good Fantasy fiction in this series before–it should be some form of escapism (sure, it might be escapism in order to examine/critique our society, culture, whatever); probably have an element of magic; and take place in a world where things don’t quite work like ours, probably in at least some sort of fantastical fashion.

Can those things be done on a popular level with an easy entry point for readers of a wide variety of ages and education levels (not to mention familiarity with the tropes and conventions of fantasy), that don’t take a lot of intellectual vigor to get through the material, and possibly be more entertainment than anything? Yes. Can that be accomplished by a writer who shoves as many classical allusions into their language and characters as possible, drawing on myths and folklore from a variety of cultures, to create a scathing critique and challenge to the status quo in Western politics and power structures? Absolutely. I don’t think I want a steady diet of the latter–not sure I want a steady diet of the former, either. But give me a mix of both–along with a mix of other genres–and I’d be satisfied.

I think I should probably throw a couple of paragraphs in between the last two, but at this point, I think my point is made. But let me go back to the fast food idea for a second:

Today, I’d rather have some curly purple fries from Boise Fry Company with some of their custom ketchups and salts rather (to name one superior Fast Food fry). But there was a time in my life when fresh McDonald’s Fries (especially in a properly-filled Super-Sized sleeve) were one of the greatest culinary pleasures of my life. Now, I’m not there anymore. Partly because I think they’ve done something to the way they prep them–also, they don’t do a good job of filling the smaller sleeves now. But do I discount those earlier times? No. In fact, if I could hop in a TARDIS and have one right now (or is it right then?), I’d probably be pretty happy. A tasty fry is a tasty fry no matter if it comes in cardboard packaging or is served on a heavy plate by someone wearing a dress-shirt and tie.

And man, I really shouldn’t write using this metaphor so late at night…

So, sure, someone might “eat” a lot of Sanderson right now–but even he can’t put things out fast enough to satisfy people who only read Sanderson. So those people might decide to walk under the Golden Arches and head over to the place with the Ping Pong Ball head and read some McCaffrey, or just beyond that to the girl with red pigtails and try a Heather Fawcett book or two. Maybe they’ll want something more filling and try some Martin. Or they decide they want a particular texture and go for Brent Weeks or R.F. Kuang, or…. So let’s grant the whole Sanderson is fast food idea. At some point, a reader is going to want something else to eat–and will look for something like him, but not. And there are shelves and shelves of things that’ll fit. So leave his readers alone, and be ready to point them at something else they’ll like.

Of course, that’s my opinion. I could be wrong. Go read some of the other responses to this prompt.

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Saturday Miscellany—7/11/26

By HCNewton

On July 11, 2026

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

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:
bullet A Moment of Divine Inspiration Helped Melvil Dewey Bring Obsessive Order to the Infinitely Disorganized Stacks in the Library—huh. (probably better to say moment of boredom than divine inspiration, but….)
bullet Rereading Mark Twain While Everything Else Burns
bullet let’s do a ‘couch to 5k’ for reading—this is a pretty cool idea
bullet ‘Angel Down’ and Riffing on a Literary Trick—Nick Kolakowski muses on Kraus’s Angel Down.
bullet The Stories We Don’t Tell—Reading about why and how Knighton walked away from what sounds like a promising novel (but yeah, I totally get why) and how it transformed into something else. Invoking The Faithful Executioner didn’t hurt my appreciation.
bullet Summer’s One Must Read Book 2026—I don’t know how I forgot to post this last week. Over on Readling Ladies Book Club last week, a handful of bloggers shared one book a piece to help you come up with summer reading.
bullet Announcement Repost: Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week 2026—Another thing I think I forgot to properly share (this time back in May), was the upcoming Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week. From what I’ve seen, this is going to be better than the (IMHO, great) ones in the past. There’s still time to get involved for readers/bloggers/writers.
bullet Over on Instagram, @spooky_bookworm shared a (possibly controversial) list Books Written w/AI Worth Reading—I couldn’t agree with this list more.
bullet Tom Gauld shares some Heatwave Reading Dangers

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“Beer is to Bill as methadone is to a heroin addict. The alcohol level in the beer is so low he can’t drink enough to get sloshed, to saturate his fat-laden tissues. His gray matter. But he tries. He’s in pain and needs to blot out reality. Some way. Somehow.”
—from “Midight Confession” by Lawrence Kelter in True Romance: A Noir Anthology edited by Troy Lambert & Vincent Zandri

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
bullet The Asset by Shane Kuhn (I miss this guy’s books)
bullet Daughter of the Sun by Zoe Kalo
bullet The Question of the Felonious Friend by E.J. Copperman/Jeff Cohen
bullet And I talked about the releases of: Sacrifices by Jamie Schultz ; The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez; and Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Late Night Mars by Thomas Trang—”Book 2 of the Asteroid Savage Series, a gritty, high-stakes science fiction thriller perfect for fans of The Expanse and Altered Carbon, where the line between hero and criminal is as thin as the Martian atmosphere.”
bullet Country People by Daniel Mason—”A year in the life of a family as they strike out into the unknown (aka Vermont), leaving all the comforts of home behind”
bullet Some People by Parini Shroff—as well done as Shroff’s previous book was, I really hadn’t planned on another. But… “A man on the brink of divorce is forced to care for his injured future-ex-mother-in-law in this wise, witty, and heartfelt novel” sounds pretty good.

image course: Book of the Month on Facebook.

WWW Wednesday—July 8, 2026

By HCNewton

On July 8, 2026

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

Getting a couple of days off last week, and spending time in a hospital waiting room (surgery–not mine–went well) on Monday gave me a lot of time to read. I’m a little ahead of schedule now. Better yet, the books I’ve tackled this month have been universally better than I expected.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi	True Romance: A Noir Anthology edited by Troy Lambert & Vincent Zandri	Sword & Thistle by S.L. Rowland, read by Eric Jason Martin

Utomi’s novella will be my company for this evening. I’m quite looking forward to that.

I could use a little more romance in Lambert and Zandri’s compilation–but these short stories are intense enough that I’m not complaining.

My library has added some of Rowland’s Tales of Aedrea and I slapped my name on their hold list, I could use a little easy listening. So far, revisiting Sword & Thistle has been more enjoyable than I expected.

What did you recently finish reading?


A Murder Most Fungal by Adrian M Gibson

There’s no sophomore slump to be found in Gibson’s second book. That was something else.

What do you think you’ll read next?


First Mage on the Moon by Cameron Johnston	The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst, read by Soneela Nankani

I cannot tell you how happy I am that I can jump into Johnston’s newest now.

I seem to enjoy Durst’s excursions into other worlds–now let’s see what she’s like on this Earth.

How’re your July reads treating you?

Fantasy with Friends: Should Magic Have a Cost in Fantasy Novels?

By HCNewton

On July 6, 2026

In Books, Fantasy with Friends, News/Misc.

Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.

This week’s prompt is:

What are some of your favorite magical systems in fantasy? Do you like magic to be explained in detail or to be a bit vague? Do you think magic should have a “cost” or not?

I think the best way for me to tackle these three questions is all at once. But in general–I prefer magic to be at least a bit vague, otherwise it’s “science.” And I don’t know if it “should” have a cost, but most of the time, I enjoy it more when it does.

I really should’ve done more thinking ahead of time before trying to list favorite magic systems, I literally have no idea what I’m going to end up mentioning.

I really enjoy Newtonian magic as seen in The Rivers of London–and its cost to circuit boards and eventual cost to the brains of practitioners due to Thaumaturgical degradation. Although I have frequently been impatient at how long it takes Peter and others to make progress in learning the systems. At the same time, I’m intrigued by some of the other schools of magic that Peter is encountering.

On the other hand, the magic of Abercrombie’s The First Law is described so vaguely that it’s more mystery than system. Which reminds me of Tolkien’s lack of system (and, I believe, Shannara’s). It’s more magical if it can’t be explained by rules–it’s just something that happens in the way the user wants it to. There’s something inherently more interesting about that. (as fun as it is to wrap your brain around something).

I think Butcher gives us a good mix of mystery and rules in The Dresden Files and The Furies of Calderon. I think he’s on the way to giving us something similar in The Cinder Spires. Most of the cost there comes from exhaustion and the mental/physical toll taken in using it (oh, and to tech, too). You can learn a lot about the rules of this type of magic or that–here’s how potion-making work, here’s how fire magic works, etc. And then the Fury-based abilities of Calderon are just cool–even if it’s a little cheapened by everyone (except poor young Tavi) having some.

If there are rules to the magic in what Arcandius Moog does, I can’t see it. Which just makes it a joy to watch.

The clear divisions of magic abilities and classes in Benedict Jacka’s Alex Verus series are really cool to see. There are sort of rules to it all, but Jacka doesn’t give us a lot of info about it (which is just as good as there not being rules). We see how Alex uses his precognition, with a little bit of understanding of some of this allies’ abilities–but just some ideas.

Most of the magic in Jacka’s new series, Inheritance of Magic seems very rule-based, and is hard to describe as magic, it’s much more science-y. Now, I find it fascinating to watch Stephen’s autodidactic stumbling through it, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not as fun as the range-free stuff of others. The cost of this magic is primarily front-loaded, you have to have the right materials to form something–and I like that. Typically when I think of costs to magic, it’s personal cost to use it. But in this case, it’s about having all the stuff that goes into making a sigil.

That reminds me of the magic in Kevin Hearne’s Ink & Sigil books–there it’s about the materials, too. You have to know how to create the sigil, the right kind of inks to use, and then the best paper. The cost is simple–use a sigil and it’s gone. But as long as you have paper, ink, and a good pen–and the time to combine them–you’re good to go.

Then there’s the cost-heavy Seven Kennings trilogy by Hearne. Using magic takes time off of your life, people can age decades in a night if they use enough power. Seeing some people take those chances because they have to adds a lot to the drama of the situation. But it loses a few points for me by everyone having abilities.

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution has a very set-in-stone (or a precious metal) system. R. F. Kuang does a decent job of setting that up and explaining it to the reader overall. Especially when you consider that the magic system is of so little importance to the book. The cost to that magic is more of a moral and ethical thing than anything else. And that’s maybe a greater cost than some of the others on this list.

One more and then I’ll get off this ramble. M.L. Wang’s Blood Over Bright Haven has a great system to its magic. I was utterly fascinated by it and wanted more and more of it–well, until a certain point in the book where the protagonist, Sciona, really figures out the system for the first time. Then it becomes fascinating and horrifying. And the costs? Unthinkable. But I won’t say more than that. We’re all better off not knowing.

Time prevents me from getting into Raistlin’s magic, or the Kingkiller Chronicles’, or Dark Lord Davi’s magic (as fun as that might be). Or any of the others that might come to mind as I ramble on. But I think this is enough free-associating as I scan my bookshelves (and skip over more books than I want to).

I look forward to seeing what other people writing on this have to say. I expect to be reminded of a handful of things I should’ve remembered for this post, and to get some leads on new-to-me books.

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