Category: News/Misc. Page 173 of 242

2019 While I Was Reading Challenge

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On December 27, 2019

In News/Misc., While I Was Reading 2018 Challenge

I finished this challenge last week and posted about the last couple of items this week (the other reading challenges I participated in this year were just “how many of X can you read?”, so there’s no real endpoint). Like last year, I thought it’d be no trouble whatsoever to get this done, and I’d just finish this by reading what I’d normally read. I was almost right. But not really.

I struggled to find one in a country I wanted to visit, well, just one, anyway–but Ireland (preferably Ronan Boyle’s Ireland, if it only existed) did the trick. I purchased another book for the “one word title” item, but didn’t find the time for it. Thankfully, Jacka’s books are always one word, so I ticked off that box anyway. I’d picked the last two books months ago, but struggled to find time for them. It all worked, it was nice to have something to force me to read some of these and

I’m doing this challenge again next year, I like the way that Romana Mead makes me think a little differently about what I choose to read—and because I enjoy reading some of the discussion on Facebook between participants. Am hoping I don’t have to race to get this finished next year, but . . . I think I know better.

Here’s my official list:

While I Was Reading 2019 Challenge

✔ A book with a curse word in the title: The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind by Jackson Ford
✔ A memoir or biography of a favorite celebrity: Riding the Elephant by Craig Ferguson
✔ An essay collection: Death Valley Superstars by Duke Haney
✔ A book with a one word title: Fallen by Benedict Jacka
✔ A classic you’ve been meaning to get to: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
✔ A book written by a comedian: Riding the Elephant by Craig Ferguson
✔ A book set in a country you’d like to visit: Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles by Thomas Lennon, John Hendrix
✔ A book by an author you’ve never read before: Flight of the Fox by Gray Basnight
✔ A book recommended by someone you trust: An Accidental Death (Audiobook) by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson
✔ A book with your favorite animal on the cover or in the title: Heart of Barkness by Spencer Quinn
✔ A book mentioned in another book: The Art of War by by Sun Tzu, James Trapp (Translator)
✔ Read a book with “how to” in the title: How to Kill Friends and Implicate People by Jay Stringer

Why Book Bloggers Blog… #Hug/FistBumpABookBloggerToday #SupportYourLocalBookNerd

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On December 26, 2019

In Fiction, Janet Evanovich, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Quotations, Stephanie Plum

“There’s a bookstore here somewhere,” Lula said. “I’ve never been in it, but I saw it advertised. Maybe she would like a book.”

“She has four kids,” I said. “She hasn’t got time to read.”

“That’s a shame,” Lula said. “Everyone should read.”

“Do you read?”

“No. But I think about it sometimes. Problem is, I go to a bookstore and there’s so many books I get confused. So, I get coffee. I know what I’m doing when I order a coffee.”

—Janet Evanovich
from Look Alive Twenty-Five

Festivus 2019: For the Rest of Us

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On December 23, 2019

In Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Shunning the commercialization of Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Santaween/Chrismukkah, we’re celebrating Festivus for the rest of us here at The Irresponsible Reader.

Let’s begin our observance!

Festivus PoleHere I am with my Festivus pole. Yeah, it’s a little small, but I’d rather spend money on books than the full aluminum pole. Very high strength to weight ratio, nevertheless.

Note the lack of distracting tinsel. It’s very important.

And now, let the Airing of Grievances begin.

Airing of Grievances
bullet I have a grievance with the It’s 2019, why are we still placing stickers on books? If we have to do that, why hasn’t Science come up with a sticker that doesn’t leave a gummy residue behind? C’mon, Science, if you can’t give us a cure for cancer, a pill so people with Celiac disease can eat bread, or an Oreo that will help me lose weight — at least you can give us stickers that don’t leave gunk on our books!

bullet I have a grievance with Movie/TV covers on books. C’mon people, this is stupid. Sure, it maybe helps sell more copies of the books–but has any book been improved by one of these covers? No! Knock it off!

bullet It’s another year without the next installment from Rothfuss/Butcher/Martin. No, my grievance isn’t with them, it’s with the entitled “fan” of the work, whining at every conceivable moment about how long it’s taking them. Because there’s nothing else around to read? Let ’em get it right and use that energy to support someone whose books could use it.

(still–Martin, Rothfuss…c’mon…Butcher was able to get something ready to go.)

bullet Whether it’s from a mainstream publisher, indie press or a self-pubbed book, we have the technology and (theoretically??) the education that there’s no reason for there to be missing/extra punctuation or misspelled words in books.

bullet I have a grievance with the Book Blogging Community. There are way too many good book bloggers out there to keep up with. Some of you need to write less often! Also, you make the rest of us look bad.

bullet I’ve got a grievance with running out of places to put books and bookshelves that aren’t like a bag of holding or TARDIS and can’t take an increasing number of books. So…physics, I guess. Yeah, that’s right, Laws of the Physics, I’m calling you out. Get your act together!

bullet I’ve got a grievance with how hard it can be to pick the next book to read despite a having piles of books (see above grievance) waiting to be read/multiple files on an e=reader. I know it’s not just me who endures this, so there’s gotta be a conspiracy afoot here.

bullet And what’s more…I lost my train of thought.

Time for Feats of Strength

Feat of StrengthFor my Feat of Strenth, here I hold my entire TBR over my head.

(actual photo)

Let’s see how the rest of you do with your feats.

Happy Festivus

Saturday Miscellany—12/21/19

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On December 21, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

It’s clearly the end of the year—I’ve got a bare-bones collection this week. But who has time to read things that aren’t books right now between the hustle and bustle of December—not to mention the rush to finish off your reading goals of the 2019? (or is that just me?)

Here’s the handful of odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Gehad Gamal, Anton Michaux, and Brandi Robbins for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

EXCERPT from 46% Better Than Dave by Alastair Puddick

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On December 19, 2019

In Book Tour, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Quotations

A Sample from Chapter 8

“No offence, mate, but when was the last time you ran further then the end of the street?” said Charlie. “Let alone 10k, jumping over electric fences.”

“Screw you,” I said. “I’ll have you know I used to run all the time. I was pretty good. And I’ve run loads of 10k races in the past. This dirty mother don’t sound too bad!”

“Oh, you haven’t run a 10k in years though, love,” said Catherine, changing tack and trying to bargain with me.

Et tu, you traitorous wife, I thought.

“No, but it’s just like riding a bike, isn’t it? I can quickly get back into it.” My words were really slurring now. “Besides, I’ve been looking to get fit again. This could be exactly the motivation I need to get in shape. When did you say, three months? Piece of piss. I’ll be running 10k, dodging mimes and hopping over eclectic fences before you know it! Then I’ll be round for my hundred quid.”

What the hell was I doing? I had the perfect way to get out of this. I could have blamed it on too much drink. I could have played it off as a big joke, without losing face. But I couldn’t help it. I just dug myself deeper and deeper.

“Come on, Dave, don’t be silly,” said Catherine, her eyes imploring.

“Silly?” I said. “Silly? I’ll show you who’s silly. I will sign up for this race. And I’ll raise loads of money for charity. And I’ll probably fucking even win it, too. That’ll bloody show you, won’t it?”

The mood changed instantly. The gentle mocking ceased. An awkward silence hung between us. People sat uncomfortably looking at their shoes, the stars, the drinks in their hands.

“You know… you move in here,” I slurred, pointing at New Dave, my head swimming and my hand wobbling, “and you’re like the best bloody thing since sliced cheese. Er… bread, I mean. The best thing since cheese bread. And I’m sick of it, actually. Because you’re not better than me. Not really.”

The words were coming thick and fast. I’d tapped into a rich vein of resentment.

“You know… you’re a man,” I continued rambling. “And I’m a man. And you’re a man. And… you know, other men can do equally… And it’s not about how much you’ve got… or the size of your… barbecue… or how nice your hair is… or how many fucking beer fridges you’ve got… What I mean is…” And then the words just stopped, my train of thought derailing violently.

Everyone looked on curiously, wondering if I was going to continue my tirade. But my brain had crashed. My mouth was no longer receiving any signal.

Another very awkward silence.

“Well, if you’re up for it, then I think that’s brilliant,” said New Dave, overenthusiastically. “Hey, we could even train together, if you fancy it?”

“There you go. At least someone believes in me. Thank you, David.” I turned to look at Catherine. I thought I was sneering and delivering menace with my eyes. But I probably just looked drunk and squinteyed.

“Anyway,” I said, standing awkwardly onto wobbly legs, “I need a piss.”

I pushed back my chair, accidentally knocking it over as I stepped away from the table. As I walked off towards the back door of the house, I suddenly felt very unstable.

It came over me like a wave. The world went wildly out of focus. I could barely keep my eyes open. My legs felt weak, like they could barely carry my weight. I swayed, my head swimming, and I wobbled this way and that. The more I tried to keep a straight line, the more my body chose to lurch violently in the opposite direction, like I was fighting a powerful magnet. It was hard enough just staying upright, let alone moving forwards.

Aware that everyone was watching me, I pigeon-stepped across the lawn, trying to stay as straight and upright as I could. I could see the swimming pool in my peripheral vision, and I tried to keep as far from it as possible. I locked in on the light from the door in front of me. All I had to do was walk straight. But the harder I tried, the more I felt myself drifting to the left. Towards the pool.

“Careful of the pool,” I heard someone shout out behind me.

“Yes, thank you,” I shouted back, “I’m perfectly capable of not falling in a swimming pool, thank you.”

Did I say thank you twice? I thought, as I continued to walk, stumbling closer and closer to the pool. And did I really just sign up to run a 10k obstacle course, climbing over electric fences?

I straightened myself again. I walked slowly and steadily, like a drunk driver trying to convince a police officer I was sober. One foot in front of the other. Move towards the light. Just walk in a straight line.

But the swimming pool’s magnetic pull grew stronger. And the more I tried to fight it, the more it pulled me closer.

“Dave, seriously,” I heard Catherine call out behind me.

I threw my hand up in the air, the middle digit extended in an act of childish rebellion. And that was all it took to completely unbalance me. I swerved violently to the left, tripping over my own feet, hopping, lurching and dancing until I tumbled over.

I went into the water sideways.

Read the rest in 46% Better Than Dave by Alastair Puddick .


My thanks to Love Books Group for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book) they provided.

Love Books Group

WWW Wednesday, 17-December-2019

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On December 18, 2019

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

Welcome to 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 Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (gorgeous writing, but I’m not sure how much I like it), and am listening to Circle of the Moon by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator).

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Alastair Puddick’s 46% Better Than Dave and Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan on audio.

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be The Art of War by Sun Tzu, translated by James Trapp—a little light reading, you know?.

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

Saturday Miscellany—12/14/19

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On December 14, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

Shorter list this week, with less of the other stuff than usual. Hope I’m not missing anything, and that it’s just the end-of-the-year-blahs. I can understand not a lot of things being put out there in the world this week—you likely noticed that I was pretty quiet. I had big, semi-ambitious (yet attainable) goals for the week and hit none of them. I did get three posts partially written, however, so . . . yeah. That’s pretty lame, actually. Non-blog life was just weird this week and the results (or lack thereof) were plainly visible in my posting. Onward and upward though.

Anyway, here are the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Also, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Maya’s Musings, David W, Rain Alchemist, alittlebookproblem, forwarddog and Tim Onayemi for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

Friday Favorites: Favorite New to Me Authors in 2019 (UPDATED)

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On December 13, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

UPDATE: While I was driving home from work today, a little voice in my head asked me, “Did you leave Noelle Holten off the list?” and, “How could you?” Not only did I love Dead Inside, but Holten has been very supportive of my meager social media. It had to be a reckless click of the mouse that got her off the list. And then I was AFK all evening, so it took until the wee small hours to address. Argh.

Anyway, fixed now.

Friday Favorites is a weekly meme hosted by Something of the Book.

I typically resist doing any “____ of The Year” posts until the end of the year, but reading this one on the topic list got me thinking, and I ended up compiling most of the list from memory (but I’m glad I keep a log, because I’d have been mad in a day or two when I remembered the rest of these). Still, this is an incomplete list—I still have a handful of books to get through this year, and there are 3 strong contenders for this list.

There were plenty I cut from this, including authors of books that I really enjoyed. But at the end of the day, these are the 18 New-to-Me authors from the past year that are auto-buys/borrows for me. I should say a thing or two about all of these, but I just don’t have the time. Check the original posts I wrote about these books for a little more about the way these writers worked their way into my subconscious.

bullet James Bailey, author of The First World Problems of Jason Van Otterloo and Dispatches from a Tourist Trap
bullet C.J. Box, author of Back of Beyond, The Highway, Open Season, Savage Run, and The Badlands
bullet Gyles Brandreth, author of Have You Eaten Grandma?: Or, the Life-Saving Importance of Correct Punctuation, Grammar, and Good English
bullet Mike Chen, author of Here and Now and Then
bullet Sarah Chorn, author of Seraphina’s Lament
bullet Helen Fitzgerald, author of Worst Case Scenario
bullet Peter Grainger, author of An Accidental Death
bullet Noelle Holten, author of Dead Inside
bullet Niel Lancaster, author of Going Dark and Going Rogue
bullet Adrian McKinty, author of The Chain
bullet Luna Miller (and I should probably mention Aidan Isherwood, translator), author of Lions Tail
bullet Todd Morr , author of Instant Karma
bullet David Nolan, author of Black Moss
bullet Judith O’Reilly, author of Killing State
bullet Nick Quantrill, author of Broken Dreams
bullet Andy Redsmith, author of Breaking the Lore
bullet Ian Shane, author of Postgraduate
bullet Melissa Simonson, author of Lingering
bullet Abbi Waxman, author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill Post

Saturday Miscellany—12/7/19

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On December 7, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

Here are the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye—Lithub and BookRiot are heavily featured this week. Been awhile since I dipped into those so hard, but I really liked what I saw this week. I wish I could figure out a way to get a kickback (or sponsorship—I’m open to negotiation, folks!) from one/all of them for this… You’ve probably seen some/most/all of these, but just in case:

    A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen to:

  • Authors on a Podcast Talking Books Ep. 3 – Jonathan Wood—David Walters (FanFiAddict.com) talks to Jonathan Wood. I read Wood’s first two books forever ago, and loved them. Don’t ask me why I haven’t read on. That ends in 2020, thanks to this episode. BTW, isn’t this the best podcast title? Tells you exactly what it is.

    This Week’s New Release that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (I’m sure there were others that I should’ve spotted, but…):

  • Perfect Murder by Rebecca Bradley—A mystery writer tries to pull of the perfect murder—a plot that I’m sure made none of Bradley’s family/loved ones/friends nervous at all.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Freedom is the luxury I seek and APB813 for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

WWW Wednesday, 4-December-2019

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On December 4, 2019

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

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! I got caught up in parenting and wasn’t able to finish my next post in time to get it up today, so thankfully I can use this to get a little fresh content going.

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 Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks, and am listening to Skinwalker by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator).

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Lee Child’s Blue Moon, Friends: A Cultural History by Jennifer C. Dunn and Zombie Spaceship Wasteland by Patton Oswalt on audio.

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be be Duncan Macmaster’s Hacked. But I’ve been saying that at least once a week for a month, so we’ll see. I think my next audiobook will be The Martian by Andy Weir, R. C. Bray (Narrator)

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

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