Category: News/Misc. Page 137 of 229

The Friday 56 for 3/12/21: Born in a Burial Gown by M. W. Craven

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:
Born in a Burial Gown

Born in a Burial Gown by M. W. Craven

Two minutes later, Fluke had a doctor trying to stick a cannula in the back of his hand. ‘The first two attempts missed.

Fluke hated cannulas. Doctors always struggled to find veins, legacy of his treatment. On the odd occasion he was having blood taken by someone who wasn’t familiar with his medical history, he always ended up giving an explanation. The most common reason for poor veins was intravenous drug use and Fluke felt compelled to tell them his condition was due to chemotherapy, not heroin.

WWW Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Hey kids, what time is it?

It’s WWW Wednesday Time!

Yeah, the call-and-response thing works better for Howdy Doody, doesn’t it? I’d had this prepped and scheduled then at midnight I closed the book on The Treadstone Resurrection and had to do a quick update. Because I’m just that committed to accuracy.*

* and, yeah, it’s a good way to procrastinate.

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 Burying the Newspaper Man by Curtis Ippolito for a Tour Stop next week and am listening to The Rags of Time by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator) on audiobook—part my favorite audio series by far.

Burying the Newspaper ManBlank SpaceThe Rags of Time

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished a thriller, Joshua Hoods’s The Treadstone Resurrection, and the near polar-opposite, Paper: Paging Through History by Mark Kurlansky, Andrew Garman (Narrator) on audio.

The Treadstone ResurrectionBlank SpacePaging Through History

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be something I’ve been wanting to start for months, Born in a Burial Gown by M. W. Craven and You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism written and narrated by Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar on audiobook—my wife tells me it’s a great mix of something that made her laugh and made her angry.

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p style=”text-align: center;”><a href=https://www.mwcraven.com/book/born-in-a-burial-gown/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Born in a Burial GownBlank SpaceYou'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey
Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments! (no, really, do it!)

Down the TBR Hole (22 of 24+)

Down the TBR Hole

Cut a lot of items off the list in this entry—which is sort of the point of this. And I’m really looking forward to the ones I didn’t add to the list and need to get moving on them.

This meme was created by Lia @ Lost in a Story—but Jenna at Bookmark Your Thoughts is the one that exposed me to this, and as my Goodreads “Want To Read” shelf is scarily long, I had to do this.

The Rules are simple:

  1. Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf
  2. Order on ascending date added.
  3. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books.
  4. Read the synopses of the books.
  5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
  6. Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week! (or whenever)

What distinguishes this series from the Mt. TBR section of my Month-end Retrospectives? Those are books I actually own while Goodreads contains my aspirational TBR (many of which will be Library reads). The Naming of the two is a bit confusing, but…what’re you going to do?

(Click on the cover for an official site or something with more info about the book)

Ethan Frome Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Blurb: “Ethan Frome is a poor farmer, trapped in a marriage to a demanding and controlling wife, Zeena. When Zeena’s young cousin Mattie enters their household she opens a window of hope in Ethan’s bleak life, but his wife’s reaction prompts a desperate attempt to escape fate that goes horribly wrong.”
My Thoughts: Like I said in the last entry, I think I read some article a couple of years ago about “why you need to read Edith Wharton.” I don’t remember where I read it or any of the content. So I really don’t remember why I put this 20th Century Classic on my list. From the description, it’s not my cup of tea.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
Devil's Peak Devil’s Peak by Deon Meyer
Blurb: Alcoholic detective with a marriage and career on the ropes on the hunt for a vigilante killer in Cape Town.
My Thoughts: I wish I knew how this got added to the list. Looks promising, but the series looks like too muh to take on.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
One Man One Man: A City of Fallen Gods Novel by Harry Connolly
Blurb: “Presumed dead after a disastrous overseas quest, [a young nobleman] now lives in a downcity slum under a false name, hiding behind the bars of a pawnshop window. Riliska, a nine-year-old pickpocket who sells stolen trinkets to his shop, is the closest thing he has to a friend. When a criminal gang kills Riliska’s mother and kidnaps the little girl, Kyrioc goes hunting for her.”
My Thoughts: I read this and blogged about back in July.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
Kalanon's Rising Kalanon’s Rising by Darian Smith
Blurb: “Solve a Murder. Stop a War. Save the World. Magic, murder, and a strangely alluring enemy ambassador. Brannon’s life just got complicated.”
My Thoughts: A murder mystery in a fantasy world—you know it’s calling my name. I read and heard a couple of rave reviews for this, too. True, I’d forgotten about it since putting it on the list, but I remember it now.
Verdict:
Thumbs Up
Bluebird, Bluebird Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
Blurb: “When it comes to law and order, East Texas plays by its own rules – a fact that Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger, knows all too well. Deeply ambivalent about growing up black in the lone star state, he was the first in his family to get as far away from Texas as he could. Until duty called him home. But when his allegiance to his roots puts his job in jeopardy, he travels up Highway 59 to the small town of Lark, where two murders—a black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman—have stirred up a hornet’s nest of resentment. Darren must solve the crimes – and save himself in the process – before Lark’s long-simmering racial fault lines erupt. A rural noir suffused with the unique music, color, and nuance of East Texas…”
Verdict:
Thumbs Up
A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle
My Thoughts: I had this on the list twice, covered it back in #18. Whoops.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry
My Thoughts: I had this on the list twice, covered it back in #19. Whoops again.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
Ninth House Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Blurb: This is not something I can sum up in a paragraph or two, click the link.
My Thoughts: Not really my thing, though, not sure why I added this to the list in the first place.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
Reverting to Type Reverting to Type: a Reader’s Story by Alan Jacobs
Blurb: A “reader’s memoir,” describing his development as a reader over the course of his life.
Verdict:
Thumbs Up
Hero Forged Hero Forged by Josh Erikson
Blurb: “Gabriel Delling might call himself a professional con artist, but when walking superstitions start trying to bite his face off, his charm is shockingly unhelpful. It turns out living nightmares almost never appreciate a good joke. Together with a succubus who insists on constantly saving his life, he desperately tries to survive a new reality that suddenly features demons, legends, and a giant locust named Dale—all of whom pretty much hate his guts. And when an ancient horror comes hunting for the spirit locked in his head, Gabe finds himself faced with the excruciating choice between death…or becoming some kind of freaking hero.”
Verdict:
Thumbs Down

Books Removed in this Post: 7 / 10
Total Books Removed: 124 / 240

Anyone out there read any of these books? Did I make the right call with any of them?


(Image by moritz320 from Pixabay)

Saturday Miscellany—3/6/21

I’ve had slow weeks for this post before, but this seems like one of the slowest. Looking over the links I gathered for the week, I can’t help but wonder what I read online this week—was I even online? I almost skipped this week, but I do have a couple of things to share, and it’s been years since I missed a week, and I’d hate to break the only consistent streak in my life…

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 The 15 Best Book Covers of February: So Many Covers, So Little Time—There’s only one on this list I’m halfway interested in reading, but I doubt I’d want to buy it. But had I the money, I’d buy at least 14 of these for the cover.
bullet Matthew Yglesias (a name I see here and there on twitter, but know almost nothing about) set a small fire this week about books entering public domain—with a pretty dumb take, in my opinion, but I don’t know that much about it. Several people took issue with him (most of whom know a lot more about this than I do), including:
bullet Christopher Moore
bullet Silvia Moreno-Garcia
bullet Scott Lynch
bullet ‘Bosch’ Spinoff a Go at Amazon’s IMDb TV—this is good news in general. But also it plays into the above—The Black Echo is just shy of 30. Thinking that Connelly should lose control of that work next year is mind-boggling.
bullet I want to talk to you about Seraphina’s Lament—Sarah Chorn talks about what derailed her first series. Authors have to deal with this kind of thing regularly—I imagine female authors in Speculative Fiction get it worse—how anyone can write with this kind of thing in their head boggles my mind. Some of what this person objected to is what made Seraphina’s Lament one of my favorite novels of the year, by the way. (her follow up post on Gaslighting is also worth a read)

This Week's New Releases That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet A War of Wizards by Layton Green—The Blackwood Saga concludes here in Book 5. I’d say I’d dive in next week, but, I still haven’t read book four. Maybe I can squeeze that in next week..hmm….

Lastly I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to mybookishbliss, who followed the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

The Friday 56 for 3/5/21: Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire

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:
Calculated Risks

Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire

“I think that if there are flying bugs that big, I don’t want to see what eats them,” said Annie. “What happens when the suns go down?”

“With three suns, it’s possible that it’s never going to be what we think of as true night,” said Artie. “One of them may always be in the sky, or there could even be a fourth sun that’s currently behind the planet that’s going to rise while the others are setting.”

“This dimension is really stupid,” said Annie. “I do not like it here.”

“No one’s asking you to,” I said…

WWW Wednesday, March 4, 2021

Well, Murphy and his Law scuttled my plans for the day, at least I have time to get a WWW up…

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 Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire and am listening to the new Audible novella Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator) on audiobook.

Calculated RisksBlank SpaceJunkyard Bargain

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Ben Aaronovitch’s What Abigail Did That Summer and The Unkindest Tide by Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal (Narrator) on audio (and there were a couple of the moments I most looked forward to hearing Kowal’s take on, they did not disappoint).

What Abigail Did That SummerBlank SpaceThe Unkindest Tide

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Drop the Mikes by Duncan MacMaster–I fully expect to rave about it next week–and Paper: Paging Through History by Mark Kurlansky, Andrew Garman (Narrator) on audiobook (not just because I love the irony, but that helps).

Drop the MikesBlank SpacePaging Through History

What about you? What’re your double-you-double-you-double-yous?

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

So February’s numbers were a 3.85 Star Average over 21 books with 5161 pages (or the equivalent) finished. Which is 4 more books (even if one of them was just a Picture Book, so I should probably say 3 more) and 120 fewer pages than January. Ten more review-ish posts, too. Not bad for a shorter month.

What progress I made on Mt. TBR was wrecked in the last week—but hopefully, March will help me recover. I’m really working on that this year, I’m hoping to get that pile whittled down by December.

So, here’s what happened here in February:
Books Read

Blacktop Wasteland Fake Game of Cages
5 Stars 5 Stars 4 Stars
Chasing the Pain Parting Shadows Fated (Audiobook)
4 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
Smoke Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead Phantom Song
4 Stars 4 Stars 3.5 Stars
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead Latent Damage Oh, That Shotgun Sky
3.5 Stars 3 Stars 3 Stars
He Drank, and Saw the Spider The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter Hey Grandude!
3.5 Stars 3.5 Stars 3 Stars
Rebels and Exiles The Thursday Murder Club Smoke Bitten
3.5 Stars 5 Stars 4 Stars
Cover Blown Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore What Happens When We Worship
4 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars

Still Reading

Tom Jones Original Cover The Wonderful Works of God Things Unseen
Grace and Glory (BoT Edition) Calculated Risks The Unkindest Tide

Ratings

5 Stars 2 2 1/2 Stars 0
4 1/2 Stars 0 2 Stars 1
4 Stars 8 1 1/2 Stars 0
3.5 Stars 5 1 Star 0
3 Stars 5
Average = 3.85

TBR Pile
Mt TBR January 20

Breakdowns
“Traditionally” Published: 12
Self-/Independent Published: 9

Genre This Month Year to Date
Children’s 1 (5%) 1 (3%)
Fantasy 3 (14%) 7 (18%)
General Fiction/ Literature 1 (5%) 1 (3%)
Horror 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Humor 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller 9 (43%) 14 (37%)
Non-Fiction 0 (0%) 1 (3%)
Science Fiction 2 (10%) 5 (13%)
Steampunk 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Theology/ Christian Living 2 (10%) 4 (11%)
Urban Fantasy 3 (14%) 5 (13%)
Western 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Review-ish Things Posted

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

How was your month?

Saturday Miscellany—2/27/21

Been a good week here—read a lot, wrote almost enough to satisfy me, and got enough new books that I’ve ruined whatever TBR progress I’d made this month (1 ebook, 2 audiobooks, 2 hardcovers, and 2 paperbacks…I have a problem).

I’d intended on 2 more posts this week than I got—which is pretty good. I don’t know if it’s the weather, work, or just one of those things, but each night this week I felt like I was fighting sleep for the last couple of hours (and never had the good sense to do the responsible thing and go to bed). I fell asleep within minutes of posting my Fridays with the Foundling last night—so quickly that my first thought this morning was “were those last paragraphs even in English?” (thankfully, yes)

I think I had a point when I started that, but I don’t remember what it is. It’s one of those days, I guess. Let’s get on with things…

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 Get a free audiobook!—When you spend at least $15 at your local bookstore on April 24th, you can get a free select audiobook from Libro.fm. Independent Bookstore Day is a couple of months off, but might as well start planning for it, right?
bullet Is It Time to Kill the Book Blurb?—”The pre-publication endorsements—’dazzling!’ ‘a masterwork!’—that litter book covers have long been a staple of publishing. Are they of any value or mere relics that deserve to go?” I somehow didn’t even have to work around a paywall for this WSJ piece.
bullet ‘Books saved my mental health,’ says online reviewer—BBC.com profiles a book blogger
bullet Announcing the Newest Release From Rick Riordan — Daughter of the Deep—After I tapped out during The Trials of Apollo I figured I was done with Riordan, unless he got back to his Texas noir stuff. But…this looks promising (and a good excuse to revisit Hugo)
bullet Rooms of Their Own: Where Some of the Best Women Writers Created Art—worth the click if only to see the desk (a generous word) that Austen used.
bullet Favorite Things About Book Formats
bullet Friday at the Folly – Rivers of London—Fi’s Bibliofiles starts a re-read through the Rivers of London UF series. This is one of my favorite series and I’m looking forward to revisiting it through these blog posts.
bullet And Men There Were None: Where Are The Male Readers?—On the one hand, I feel like I should drop some links in the comments to show him where we are. Snark aside—overall, he’s right.
bullet What is a Good Ending?—a fitting way to wrap up this week’s list (actually, it was totally inadevertent…but I’m running with it).

This Week's New Releases That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Cover Blown by Ian Robinson—The second book in this new procedural series is a heckuva read. This time, the homicide investigation overlaps with a small undercover job that DI Nash has on the side. I hope to get posts up about both books early next week—in the meantime, just go buy them!
bullet Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire—the latest InCryptid book kicks off shortly after that cliffhanger from last year. I started this yesterday, and it’s strange, even by InCryptid standards.
bullet Smoke by Joe Ide—The new IQ novel is a good one—even if I think it could’ve used more IQ, as I said recently.
bullet Junkyard Bargain by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator)—the second novella-length SF from Faith Hunter. I’m excited to dip back into this strange world of aliens, cyborgs and psychic (?) cats.

Lastly I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to mybookishbliss and Masha who followed the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

The Friday 56 for 2/26/21: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

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:
The Thursday Murder Club

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

DCI Chris Hudson has been given a file on Tony Curran so thick it makes a pleasing thud if you drop it on a desk. Which is what he has just done.

Chris takes a swig of Diet Coke. He sometimes worries he is addicted to it. He had once read a headline about Diet Coke that was so worrying he had chosen not to read the article.

He opens the file. Most of Tony Curran’s dealings with Kent Police were from before Chris’s time in Fairhaven. Charges for assault in his twenties, minor drug convictions, dangerous driving, dangerous dog, possession of an illegal weapon. A tax disc misdemeanor. Public urination.

Then comes the real story.

WWW Wednesday, February 24, 2021

It’s the middle of the week and time for me to check in on my reading.

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 Cover Blown by Ian Robinson—hot off the press—and am listening to Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan, Madeleine Maby (Narrator) on audiobook—something I’ve been meaning to read for 2-3 years.

Cover BlownBlank SpaceMidnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club—a charming and clever novel—and Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs, Lorelei King (Narrator) on audio.

The Thursday Murder ClubBlank SpaceSmoke Bitten

What do you think you’ll read next?

In a very strange confluence of schedules, Seanan McGuire’s two bigger series are next on my lists—next up are her Calculated Risks and The Unkindest Tide (Narrated by Robinette Kowal) as I almost complete my trip through the Toby Daye audiobooks. Thankfully those series don’t feel like they’re written by the same person, so I’m not going to have a problem (I think).

Calculated RisksBlank SpaceThe Unkindest Tide

What are you reading?

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