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The Friday 56 for 7/23/21: Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from Page 56 of:
Dead Man’s Grave

Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster

‘We seem to be the funeral squad at the moment, and bearing in mind I’d never been to one before working with you, I’m starting to worry, especially as we’ve now done two recently,’ said Janie, taking in the scene.

‘Valuable intelligence sources, Constable. Next stop weddings, christenings and bar mitzvahs.’

‘I may ask for a transfer; it’s getting bloody depressing.’

The Friday 56 for 7/30/21: The Heathens by Ace Atkins

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
bullet point Grab a book, any book.
bullet point Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
bullet point Find a snippet, short and sweet.
bullet point Post it

from Page 56 of:
The Heathens

The Heathens by Ace Atkins

“You had a chance, Chester,” TJ said. “You stole my momma’s money. Money she only had ‘cause she’d stolen it off me. You tried to threaten me, sending the police out knocking on my door like I did something wrong.”

“Get out of here,” he said. “I’ll call the sheriff.”

“Do it,” TJ said. She reached down on the glass table littered with an empty bag of chips, an overflowing ashtray, and the silver insulated cup of booze. She snatched up his cell phone and tossed it right in his lap. “Call 911. I damn well dare you. Call Sheriff Colson and let him know some seventeen-year-old girl is gonna shoot you. Because you’d be right. But then at least we might can get straight on all the trouble you caused me and my family. You’re sitting here drinking whiskey and eating Golden Flake chips while my little brother can’t even get breakfast.”

WWW Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Wait, it’s July 28th already? I’m not ready for that in several ways–can we get a recount? A mulligan? A giant “Pause” button? Time for the last WWW Wednesday of July!

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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading The Magnificent Nine by James Lovegrave—nothing like a little time with the crew of Serenity—and am wrapping up Wisp of a Thing by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator) up on audiobook.

The Magnificent NineBlank SpaceWisp of a Thing<

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Ian Shane’s In 10 Years—a wonderful read—and The Drifter by Nick Petrie, Stephen Mendel (Narrator) on audio.

In 10 YearsBlank SpaceThe Drifter

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be All Together Now by Matthew Norman—which is what I said last week, but I got distracted—and my next audiobook is TBD.

All Together NowBlank SpaceQuestion Mark

What are you doing to wrap up the month?

WWW Wednesday, July 21, 2021

The month is melting away and I’m starting to worry about my reading goal for the month (which is about as lame as it sounds, I realize, but that’s where I am). Returning to the office has really messed with my reading, and has wrecked my audiobook listening, so not a lot has changed since last week, but, still it’s time for WWW Wednesday!

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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading the new Quinn Colson novel, The Heathens by Ace Atkins, and am listening to the first Peter Ash novel, The Drifter by Nick Petrie, Stephen Mendel (Narrator), on audiobook.

The HeathensBlank SpaceThe Drifter

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Neil Lancaster’s Dead Man’s Grave–a gripping read–and Veiled by Benedict Jacka, Gildart Jackson (Narrator) on audio.

Dead Man's GraveBlank SpaceVeiled

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be All Together Now by Matthew Norman, with a striking premise. My next audiobook should be returning to the tales of the Tufa with Wisp of a Thing by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator).

<

p style=”text-align:center;”><img src=”http://www.hcnewton.com/irrreader/alltogethernow.jpg” alt=All Together Now” width=”125″ height=”189″ border=”0″ />Blank SpaceWisp of a Thing

Hope you’re reading something good, tell me about it!

The Friday 56 for 7/16/21: August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from Page 56 of:
August Snow

August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones

(for context, I think it helps if you know that the first speaker is the Chief Medical Examiner)

“So what brings you and Tubby McGlutton’—-he nodded to Danbury-—“to my Little Den of Decomp?”

“Eleanor Paget’s body,” Danbury said. “And don’t be calli’ me no ‘Tubby McGlutton,’ nay-gro.”

“Oh, please, Ray,” Bobby scolded. “You’re twenty pounds overweight. You smoke two cigars a day. And I’m sure, like every other over-forty black man who just has to show how successful he is in Detroit, you probably have three Courvoisier and Cokes three times a week at the Pontch. Oh yeah, son, I got a cold storage drawer with your name on it.” After eviscerating Danbury and taking a breath, Bobby said “Paget’s pretty straight-up stuff: GSW to the right temple.”

WWW Wednesday, July 14, 2021

After 15 months of telecommuting, I’m back to just commuting–this is wrecking my sleep and reading–and therefore blogging–habits. I’m still managing to do some of all three, but I’m having to make plenty of adjustments. Which is why things are a little light here this week. Still, I have been able to scrape together enough for this WWW Wednesday.

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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading the very fun ARC for A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones and am listening to Veiled by Benedict Jacka, Gildart Jackson (Narrator) on audiobook.

A Good Day for ChardonnayBlank SpaceVeiled

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Andy Redsmith’s Know Your Rites and the audiobook of Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch read by Aaronovitch and: Penelope Rawlins, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Alex Kingston, Ben Elliot, Shvorne Marks, Sam Peter Jackson, and Felix Grainger.

Know Your RitesBlank SpaceTITLE

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones, I’m looking forward to seeing what waits for me there. My next audiobook should be The Drifter by Nick Petrie, Stephen Mendel (Narrator) (largely because my library just added it to their Overdrive collection)..

August SnowBlank SpaceThe Drifter

What about you? Reading anything good?

The Friday 56 for 7/9/21: In Plain Sight by Dan Willis

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from Page 56 of:
In Plain Sight

In Plain Sight by Dan Willis

“My point is that we don’t know what we’re dealing with, and until we do, I suggest we limit possible exposure.”

“My boys have been in here for almost an hour,” Callahan said.

“And they’re probably fine, but let’s move everyone out of this room until I can run some tests.”

“All right,” Callahan agreed, then he shouted for everyone to stop what they were doing and go. “Don’t be too long, Doc,” he said once his men were gone. “I’m sure the Chief has heard about this by now and he’s going to want a report…soon.”

“We’ll be as fast as we can,” Iggy said and Callahan withdrew.

“You said you didn’t think it’s contagious,” Alex said once Callahan was out of earshot.

“I just wanted him and his men away from this room,” Iggy said. “It’s going to be hard enough to figure out what happened here without the police stomping all over everything.”

WWW Wednesday, July 7, 2021

I’m writing from a refreshingly chilly hotel 607 miles south(ish) from home, in Cedar City, UT. The trip is making things a little strange on the reading front (and non-existent on the audiobook front)–but I still think I have enough fodder for July’s first WWW Wednesday!

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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading Know Your Rites by Andy Redsmith (a book I meant to read two years ago) and the audiobook A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones, Lorelei King (Narrator) is providing our road trip entertainment.

Know Your RitesBlank SpaceA Bad Day for Sunshine

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Liam Perrin’s Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights and last week I wrapped up Blood Trade by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator) on audio.

Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued KnightsBlank SpaceBlood Trade

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be The Good Byline by Jill Orr (another book I meant to read two years ago) and if we have time on the return trip, we’ll listen to An Accidental Death by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator), because my wife should meet DC Smith–otherwise, I have no idea what I’m doing next.

The Good BylineBlank SpaceAn Accidental Death

Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments! (no, really, do it!)

June 2021 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

I don’t think I’ve ever been this delayed at assembling and posting one of these since I started, but it’s been that kind of week. It looks like June was a pretty good month overall. I finished 26 books, 8,102 (or the equivalent) pages, with an average rating of 3.8. Nothing to complain about there, is there?

Compiling this was a strange experience—a combination of “I read that in June? It feels longer ago” and “How have I not written about that yet?” (a couple of times about the same book). My “to write about” list is getting truly terrifying, and I need to address that somehow. But that’s my issue. I think September is going to be all door-stopper novels just to give me the opportunity to catch up (I’d do it in July, but…well, I’ve got that 20 Books Challenge).

The other thing that jumped out at me this morning was that my charting of the books I buy and haven’t read hasn’t really helped the problem a whole lot—I’d figured seeing that chart once a month would be a push I need. Looking at my plans for the month, I think July’s should be interesting, though.

This introduction has gone on longer than it should have, so on with the show—here’s what happened here in June.
Books Read

Runaway Train Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses Raven Cursed
4 Stars 3.5 Stars 3 Stars
On God and Christ Million Dollar Demon Nowhere to Run
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
Creature Feature The Penny Black The Hum and The Shiver
4 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
Meat is Murder Ink & Sigil A Good Kill
4 Stars 4 1/2 Stars 4 Stars
The Mostly Invisible Boy The Keepers 99 Poems to Cure Whatever's Wrong with You or Create The Problems You Need
3 Stars 4 1/2 Stars 3.5 Stars
Death in Adam, Life in Christ Scarface and the Untouchable Till Morning is Nigh
4 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
Dead Ground Hidden Dog Eat Dog
5 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars
Death's Rival Tender is the Bite Dad is Fat
4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars
OCDaniel The Watchman
3.5 Stars 4 Stars

Still Reading

The Wonderful Works of God Things Unseen In Plain Sight

Ratings

5 Stars 2 2 1/2 Stars 0
4 1/2 Stars 2 2 Stars 0
4 Stars 14 (!!) 1 1/2 Stars 0
3.5 Stars 3 1 Star 0
3 Stars 5
Average = 3.86

TBR Pile
Mt TBR June 21

Breakdowns
“Traditionally” Published: 19
Self-/Independent Published: 7

Genre This Month Year to Date
Children’s 0 (0%) 1 (2%)
Fantasy 2 (8%) 12 (9%)
General Fiction/ Literature 3 (12%) 4 (6%)
Horror 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Humor 1 (4%) 4 (3%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller 8 (10%) 51 (37%)
Non-Fiction 1 (4%) 10 (7%)
Science Fiction 1 (4%) 14 (10%)
Steampunk 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Theology/ Christian Living 2 (8%) 13 (9%)
Urban Fantasy 6 (23%) 25 (18%)
Western 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Review-ish Things Posted

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

That’s my June in a nutshell—how was your month?

The Friday 56 for 7/2/21: The Watchman by Rob Parker

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from 56% of:
The Watchman

The Watchman by Rob Parker

But thankfully, the coast appears to be clear—yet, as soon as my idiot brain thinks that, I know it’s not and stop.

From the recess of the front door emerges one of the Secret Service guys, gun up. He’s fixed on Grosvenor. ‘Freeze, old man,’ he instructs.

This is the best look I’ve had at any of them so far. All black, attack vest and jet combats. Tactical sunglasses that don’t do anything apart from make you look a proper twat, and for all his supposed ocular advantage, he hasn’t seen me

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