Category: News/Misc. Page 149 of 229

The Friday 56 for 7/31/20

By

On July 31, 2020

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

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:
Coffee and Condolences

by Wesley Parker

“Think fast,” a voice calls from behind me and, before I can fully turn my head, a red, rubber ball bounces off my head and sends me sprawling into a rack of shirts. In an attempt to break my fall, I grab for a shelf only to find out it’s not fastened into the wall tight enough, and I bring down the entire supply of skinny jeans on top of me. I can hear the gasps and footsteps of people coming to dig me out of the pile of hipster rubble. As I get to my feet, I hear Lily scolding a worker for not securing the shelves to the wall—as if they were the catalyst for what just happened.

“Lily, what the fuck?”

“My bad! I thought having kids gave you better instincts.”

“Yeah, for falls and spills. It didn’t give me spider sense.”

Ultimate Book Tag

By

On July 29, 2020

In Book Tag, Books, News/Misc.

Ultimate Book Tag
I saw this over on Way Too Fantasy last month, and it looked fun. It was maybe a touch too long in the end. But still, hopefully you enjoy. I’d like so see what you all come up with for these.

Do You Get Sick While Reading In The Car?

Not typically, but on a recent road trip, I got hit hard by it. I was in misery, my wife couldn’t understand what was going on–reading’s supposed to be the thing I can do anywhere, anytime. Thankfully, it passed after a miserable hour (and I was able to finish the book before it was my turn behind the wheel).

Which Author’s Writing Style Is Completely Unique To You And Why?

I honestly don’t get this question (and read a few other bloggers versions of this tag, which didn’t help). Lisa Lutz, Josh Bazell, Russell Day, Douglas Adams, Abbi Waxman jump to mind as great voices, with fantastic styles. If I spent more time, I could find another dozen names to list, but I’m not sure any qualify as “completely unique to me.”

Harry Potter or Twilight? Give 3 Reasons Why.

Harry Potter

  1. Better written, better plotted, better executed.
  2. I liked each successive Twilight book less. Exponentially so.
  3. I want to re-read Potter several more times. Can’t see myself ever picking up a Twilight again.

Do You Carry A Book Bag? If So, What’s In It (Besides Books)?

Not since college.

Do You Smell Your Books?

Of course. I’m only human.

Books With or Without Illustrations?

Don’t know if I have a preference one way or another, but I’m always in favor of a well-done and fitting illustration.

What Book Did You Love While Reading, But Discovered Later It Wasn’t Quality Writing?

“Discovered” bothers me in that question. I find it amusing that every version of this I read points at Twilight. There are plenty of books I really enjoy while not being all that impressed with the writing, but I can’t think one that fits this scenario.

Do You Have Any Funny Stories Involving Books From Your Childhood?

Should probably ask my mom–she’d be the one who’d remember those. I just remember never having enough of them 🙂 (a problem that plagues me to this day)

What Is The Thinnest Book On Your Shelf?

Being ThereBeing There by Jerzy Kosinski

What Is the Thickest Book On Your Shelf?

Complete Jane AustenJane Austen The Complete Novels by Jane Austen

I have a Don Quixote paperback that’s about the same size, but I have an image of The Austen, so I’ll give that the credit.

Do You Write As Well As Read? Do You See Yourself Being An Author In the Future?

I have written a few novels that should never be seen by anyone. A handful of short stories, essays, and whatnot. I don’t see myself developing the necessary discipline to get published, but you never know.

When Did You Get Into Reading?

I don’t remember a time that I wasn’t. There are stories of me getting into reading when I was three and starting to figure out that the black squiggles meant words. Once I got into school and had a lot more options available to me, my addiction got worse.

And worse.

And worse.

And now…

What Is Your Favorite Classic Book?

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

What Was Your Best Subject In School?

History/Social Studies/Government. Though English classes were always my favorite.

If You Were Given A Book As A Present That You Read Before And Hated, What Would You Do?

Thank profusely and add it to my shelf. Not to read again, but to remember the gesture.

(and to chuckle to myself about, I’m sure)

What Is A Lesser Known Series That You Know Of That Is Similar to Harry Potter or the Hunger Games?

Similar to Potter? Jeremy Scott’s The Ables, just replace Wizards and Witches with Super Heroes.
Similar to the Hunger Games? Mercedes Lackey’ Hunter series, you’ve got the media/celebrity thing, the exceptional young woman from a rural area who proves to be a superstar/super-competent fighter.

What Is A Bad Habit You Always Do (Besides Rambling) While writing?

I can’t spell definitely to save my life. I overuse “honestly,” “to be honest,” ellipses, and so on.

What Is Your Favorite Word?

Sesquipedalian? Floccinaucinihilipilification? Indeed? Flummery?

Pfui. Too many to choose from.

Are You A Nerd, Dork, or Dweeb?

Nerd. (I prefer Geek, but it wasn’t an option)

Vampires or Fairies? Why?

Fae.

Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?

Shapeshifters. Changeling (formerly, and now, known as Beast Boy was one of the first superheroes that I got into–and remains a favorite. Then I got into Lycans and similar characters. I just find them interesting.

Also, the use of angels always leaves me a bit uneasy. No one gets them right, and it’s usually stepping too close to the sacred for my comfort.

Spirits or Werewolves? Why?

Werewolves. This is related to the above. Spirits are to ephemeral, ineffable, and insubstantial to really work for me.

Zombies or Vampires? Why?

Vampires. They have brains, agency, personality.

Love Triangles or Forbidden Love?

Forbidden love, I guess.

Full-on Romance Books Or Action-Packed With A Few Love Scenes?

Action (or something else) packed with romance on the side.

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

Saturday Miscellany—7/25/20

By

On July 25, 2020

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

How’re we already on the brink of the last week of July? Who’s ready for that?

I really don’t have anything to say here, I guess, on with the links.

Odds n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet The New Era of Book Launches—Social Distancing Edition
bullet Growing Up Surrounded by Books Could Have Powerful, Lasting Effect on the Mind: A new study suggests that exposure to large home libraries may have a long-term impact on proficiency in three key areas
bullet What 100 Writers Have Been Reading During Quarantine—interesting mix of writers and books
bullet There Have Always been Fantasy Novels For Adults – Article by Author Ryan Howse—I saw so many tweet reactions to this stupid article, “Finally: A Grown-up Fantasy”, and figured there’d be at least one good longer response. Howse knocks it out of the park (others may have, too, but I only saw this one—and it’s enough)
bullet 5 Things I’ve Learned in 5 Years of Blogging—Bookidote’s Lashaan has been blogging for 5 years now, and drops some wisdom (and Looney Tunes .gifs) to celebrate.
bullet Glossary for the Bibliophile—”a nifty list of words for all you book lovers out there”

This Week's New Releases That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Annihilation Aria by Michael R. Underwood—It’s been two years since I’ve had anything from Underwood to talk about. He’s back with the first book in a Space Opera series, “an adventure of galactic subterfuge, ancient alien lore, a secret resistance force, lost civilizations, and giant space turtles.” Here’s his Big Idea about it.
bullet The Sin in the Steel by Ryan Van Loan—This looks like a lot of fun, a fantasy about “dead gods, a pirate queen, shapeshifting mages, and a Sherlockian teenager determined to upend her society.”

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

The Friday 56 for 7/24/20

By

On July 24, 2020

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

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:
Legends Rise

Venators: Legends Rise by Devri Walls

…the vampire grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him forward, roughly sinking his teeth into his neck and pulling blood in long, painful jerks. He’d heard vampires could make this process enjoyable. This one didn’t bother.

The instructions had been to leave him on the verge of death, with just enough blood to keep his heart pumping. He hadn’t stopped to think of one thing: What would stop the vampire from finishing him off?

WWW Wednesday, July 22, 2020

By

On July 22, 2020

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

What, already? Another Wednesday? July is speeding by. Guess 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 Venators: Legends Rise by Devri Walls and am listening to The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson (narrated by the author).

Legends RiseBlank SpaceThe Monster in the Hollows

What did you recently finish reading?
I just finished Wesley Parker’s Coffee and Condolences and Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson, George Guidall (Narrator) on audio.

Coffee and CondolencesBlank SpaceLand of Wolves

What do you think you’ll read next?
My next book should be The Revelators by Ace Atkins (assuming it’s available at my Library in time), or it’ll be Betty by Tiffany McDaniel and Dark Jones by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator) on audiobook.

The RevelatorsBlank SpaceBettyBlank SpaceDark Jenny

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

Down the TBR Hole (9 of 24+)

By

On July 22, 2020

In Books, Down the TBR Hole, News/Misc.

Down the TBR Hole

My most severe cuts yet, which I enjoyed. I’m up to 10% cut off the total list (and I’m roughly 40% through the list I started with), which isn’t quite as dramatic as I’d hoped, but it’s some progress. I’ve also reminded myself of some promising reads that I haven’t made time for yet.

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)

Don't Get Caught Don’t Get Caught by Kurt Dinan
Blurb: “Max Cobb—Mr. 2.5 GPA, Mr. No Social Life, known throughout the school as Just Max—has just been set-up by the prank-pulling Chaos Club.
But this time they’ve messed with the wrong guy.
​
Because if his favorite heist movies have taught him anything, it’s time for Heist Rule #7: Always get payback. It’s time to recruit a crew, and he knows just who to ask.
Let the prank war begin.”
My Thoughts: This looks like a fun way to spend a day’s reading. I’d probably enjoy it, and understand why I put it on the list. But…it’s just not going to happen.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? by Paul Cornell
My Thoughts: The third (and final?) installment in Cornell’s Shadow Police series looks good. I think the only reason I haven’t read it yet is that when it was released, my Library didn’t get a copy (I’d read the first two in the series from them), and I didn’t have the cash to get it. Now, I’m just being lazy.
Verdict:
Thumbs Up
Everybody's Fool Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo
My Thoughts: A few years ago, I read all of Russo’s novels (and 50% of them since then). The completist in me feels like I need to read this one, but I really never cared for Sully and just am not that interested in spending more time with him. This is going to bug me, but I’ll get over it.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
The View from the Cheap Seats The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman
Blurb: A collection of non-fiction pieces by Neil bleeping Gaiman, “Analytical yet playful, erudite yet accessible, this cornucopia explores a broad range of interests and topics, including (but not limited to): authors past and present; music; storytelling; comics; bookshops; travel; fairy tales; America; inspiration; libraries; ghosts; and the title piece, at turns touching and self-deprecating, which recounts the author’s experiences at the 2010 Academy Awards in Hollywood.”
My Thoughts: It’s Gaiman. No contest.
Verdict:
Thumbs Up
Blood Defense Blood Defense by Marcia Clark
My Thoughts: I enjoyed Clark’s series about a prosecutor, would probably enjoy her take on a defense lawyer (if only because I have a soft spot for them), but these books have never drawn me. Guess I’ll pass for now.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
True Grift True Grift by Jack Bunker
Blurb: “A bankrupt lawyer and a greedy insurance adjuster concoct a personal injury scam involving a runaway grocery cart and recruit a half-wit golf course greenskeeper as their fall guy. But the plan goes horribly wrong, and as it spirals into a murderous fiasco, the grifters must deal with betrayals, shakedowns, bombs and mobsters to avoid prison… or worse, an early grave in a Southern California landfill.”
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
Britt-Marie Was Here Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
Blurb: “[A] heartwarming story about a woman rediscovering herself after a personal crisis.”
My Thoughts: Fredrik Backman. No doubt about it.
Verdict:
Thumbs Up
Congratulations on Everything Congratulations on Everything by Nathan Whitlock
Blurb: “A dark and comic novel, Congratulations On Everything tracks the struggles, frailties, and cruelly pyrrhic victories of the middle-aged owner of a bar-restaurant and a 30ish lunch-shift waitress…In an era when the gourmand rules and chefs become superstars, Congratulations On Everything is a hilarious and occasionally uncomfortable dose of anti-foodie reality that reveals what goes on when the customers and Instagrammers aren’t around — and even sometimes when they are.”
My Thoughts: eh….
Verdict:
Thumbs Down
Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me: What Pop Music Rivalries Reveal About the Meaning of Life by Steven Hyden
Blurb: “Beatles vs. Stones. Biggie vs. Tupac. Kanye vs. Taylor. Who do you choose? And what does that say about you? Actually — what do these endlessly argued-about pop music rivalries say about us?”
Verdict: Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
Thumbs Down
Life Moves Pretty Fast Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned From Eighties Movies (And Why We Don’t Learn Them From Movies Any More) by Hadley Freeman
Blurb: “In this personalised guide, ]Freeman] puts her obsessive movie geekery to good use, detailing the decades [sic] key players, genres and tropes, and how exactly the friendship between Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi influenced the evolution of comedy. She looks back to a cinematic world in which bankers are invariably evil, despite this being the decade of Wall Street, where children are always wiser than adults, and science is embraced with an intense enthusiasm, and the future viewed with excitement. She considers how the changes between movies then and movies today say so much about pop culture’s and society’s changing expectations of women, young people and art, and explains why Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles should be put on school syllabuses immediately.”
My Thoughts: As I said about the first book in this installment, this looks like a fun way to spend a day’s reading. I’d probably enjoy it, and understand why I put it on the list. But…it’s just not going to happen.
Verdict:
Thumbs Down

Books Removed in this Post: 7 / 10
Total Books Removed: 53 / 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—7/18/20

By

On July 18, 2020

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Small collection this week—just didn’t have a lot of online time (literally, ISP went down twice and I lost a couple of days of surfing). C’est la vie, eh? On the plus side, I appreciate saving the time, it’s a family holiday here—the second anniversary of my son’s kidney transplant, and we have a little celebration planned.

A lot of my time has been on the tech side of this blog the last couple of weeks (I didn’t realize that would entail so much “how do I get access to the Internet?” time), but most of the effort was made by a friend, who took over for my stumbling efforts in moving to a self-hosted blog—and did a lot more than I realized needed/should be done. Still, if you see something out of whack, it probably is (especially the categories/menus—am working on that, but it’s going to take a while), and I likely haven’t noticed. Please mention it.

Now, on with the links.
Odds n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet How Do You Translate a Comic Book Into Audio? Ask Neil Gaiman—that’s a question I’ve asked frequently. This (at least, I’m not sure about some of the other comic-to-audio treatments) is a pretty cool answer.
bullet HBO to Develop Drama Series Based on Quinn Colson Novels by Ace Atkins—As long as the Colson material is treated with more respect that Atkins’ Spenser material was, I’m very excited about this.
bullet Speaking of Colson and Atkins, Ace Atkins on 10 Years of the Quinn Colson Ranger Series—a nice little interview from Mystery Scene
bullet The Great Fantasy Debate series concludes with: Is a Degree from Hogwarts Worth It? with authors Pierce Brown and Naomi Novik
bullet A Beginner’s Guide to Audiobooks—there’s some really good advice for people looking to get into (or more into) this format.
bullet 10 steps to posting a book review—A Rambling Reviewer breaks it down…yeah, 10 steps for each. No wonder they take more time than I realize
bullet Fantasy Worlds I Would Love to Live In…—Pretty sure my list wouldn’t look like this (Hyboria never seems like a fun place to be), but this is a fun list

This Week's New Releases That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Peace Talks by Jim Butcher—I’m currently trying to figure how to post something about Dresden’s long-awaited return. Fans are rejoicing all over about this (for good reason)
bullet The Revelators by Ace Atkins—the tenth Quinn Colson novel promises to be explosive.
bullet Venators: Legends Rise by Devri Walls—came out in ebook and audio (narrated by Daniel Thomas May) this week, paperback to follow.

Lastly I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Morgan, who followed the blog this week (also, the first to use my new widget, which I was afraid wasn’t working). Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

The Friday 56 for 7/17/20

By

On July 17, 2020

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

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:
Peace Talks

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

Lara was perfectly capable of asking me to do something beyond the pale of any functioning conscience.

But Lara was damned smart, too. She had to know that I had limits—that my compact with Mab hadn‘t changed that. If she told me to do something unconscionable, I was going to tell her where she could shove it.

Which would get me killed. Overkilledd. Überkilled…

I had nothing but lousy choices. So what else was new?

EXCERPT from Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter: The Crime Scene

By

On July 16, 2020

In Book Tour, Fiction, Quotations

from Chapter One of Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter

The potted vampire tree was a new addition to my evidence arsenal. I had no idea what English it understood, but I’d taken to talking to it anyway. Plants that were talked to in a kind tone of voice were happy plants. And since the vampire tree species had recently (probably, most certainly) eaten one of my enemies, I tried to be polite. I didn’t want it to get mad. I placed the small crate on the passenger seat and locked up.

Scanning the grounds, I walked to the side door, where the body had come from, taking in the scenery behind the house and down the low slope of the hill. There were covered training rings, trails, outbuildings, several pastures, a mechanical horse walker, horse gear, and a barn that was bigger than my house. The horses that were hanging over the fences were muscular and sassy, with slightly dished faces, as if they had some Arabian in the genetic mix. The yearlings and mares with this year’s foals appeared to be in one pasture, with geldings pastured separately.

Close to the barn, a bright red bay horse, bigger than the others, stood posed in a paddock, the breeze flinging his black mane and tail. He had black stockings and hooves, and a peculiar lightning-shaped white blaze on his face. He pawed the dirt and circled, prancing, posturing, tail held high. He reared and kicked, showing off. This was a stallion, the only intact male horse I had seen on the property so far. He snorted and burst into a tight, circling run, his mane and tail flying, neck arched, as if he was showing off. He blew a breath of delight and alpha-male satisfaction and tossed his head, the odd facial blaze seeming to flicker like flames. I didn’t have to know anything about fancy horses to know this one was expensive.

Farther away from the house were a huge white metal shed with three fifteen-foot-tall garage-type doors and a big circular drive. Parked in front of the one open garage door was a forty-foot-long, solid black recreational vehicle with multiple dual wheels, a matching black transport trailer hitched to it. Through the windows in the closed shed doors I could see two more trailers. Big ones. To the side of the RV storage building was a long, very fancy horse trailer. Just looking at the vehicles made me think seven figures several times over.

Dang. Being a country-singing megastar made good money.

Read the rest in Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter to see what happens from here..


My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

WWW Wednesday, July 15, 2020

By

On July 15, 2020

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

So Monday night, my Internet service goes down—and stays down for 16 hours. It’s times like this that remind me how dependent I am on the silly thing. Can’t post anything, can’t keep on on my bloghopping/social media, or any of the handful of other things I needed to do. And then, of course, I’m still telecommuting—so missing out on over half my workday on Tuesday was icing on a really nasty cake*. Before I realize what’s happening, it’s time for WWW Wednesday! I need these questions just to help me get my head on straight.

* The cream filling was that I caught up on my reading after a slow week last week, 1.7 books in that 16 hours.

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?
(assuming the shipment arrives when UPS says it will) I’m reading Peace Talks by Jim Butcher and am listening to Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe, Joe Jameson (Narrator)..

Peace TalksBlank SpaceVeloctiy Weapon

What did you recently finish reading?
I just finished Abbi Waxman’s I Was Told It Would Get Easier and haven’t finished the audiobook I started last Wednesday (probably will today).

I Was Told It Would Get Easier

What do you think you’ll read next?
My next book should be The Silence by Luca Veste and is still going to be Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson, George Guidall (Narrator) on audiobook.

The SilenceBlank SpaceLand of Wolves

Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments!

Page 149 of 229

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén