Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
I speculated a little in last week’s post about MW craven’s Nobody’s Hero (out tomorrow, in the US–out weeks ago on other places) about the title, and Craven corrected me. The title came from this song. So, obviously, I had to use it today.
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:
Forget drop-shipping—America’s new favorite side hustle is … republishing classic literature?
Murderbot, She Wrote—Wired’s got a great feature on Martha Wells
The Power of Your Words: Leaving a Review Matters
How Can We Create a Reading Culture?—Pages Unbound’s Krysta lays out the problem with children and reading in Part One and suggests some solutions in Part Two
Indie Black Friday Sale—James Lloyd Dulin’s hosting this sale from Nov. 29-Dec. 1. You’ve spent a year making good progress on your TBR stack, might as well wipe it out in one fell swoop.
It’s the Time of Year for Gift Guides/Best of Lists like these:
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: The 2024 Adult Books Edition—Witty and Sarcastic Book Club’s Annual list has some great picks
Holiday Gift Giving Guide—This Dad Reads has a gift guide for young and old (particularly if they like Star Wars)
The New York Public Library Announces the Best Books of 2024 for Kids, Teens, and Adults
NPR’s Best Books of 2024—is another extensive list
Top Five Science Fiction Novels of 2024—from John Mauro at Before We Go Blog
Top Five Fantasy Novels of 2024—from John Mauro at Before We Go Blog
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
CrimeTimeFM Christmas Debate 2024—some of the UK’s best Crime Fiction reviewers sound off on their favorite reads of the year and on some controversial topics. As usual, it’s a fun listen that adds too many things to my lists.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Reluctant Warrior by Ty Patterson
and I mentioned the release of Endsinger by Jay Kristoff, Book 3 of The Lotus War
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property by Mike Lupica—Rita Fiore is in danger—it’s up to Spenser and Hawk to stop whoever is after her. I have a book and a half to get through before I can dive in. They’d better be worth it.
Chez Usher by Vicki Hendricks—a retelling of Poe in Florida. Farenheit Press’ latest looks like a winner.
Happy Thanksgiving/Turkey Day/Thursday
(depending on your practice/preference/location)
On this day that has been set aside these U.S. for expressions of gratitude, it’s been my custom to take a moment or two and mention a few of the things that The Irresponsible Reader is thankful for. This is just about my favorite of my annual posts typically, but this year I feel even more grateful than usual.
So, this year, I’m thankful for:
The readers of this blog. If I knew your names, I’d thank you all personally.
The authors who’ve corresponded with me, encouraged me—even promoted this here project.
Those authors, publishers, and/or publicists provided books for me to read.
Books (print, electronic, or audio)—the stories, characters, and/or things I learn are what keep me sane, entertain, and inspire me.
Authors! If not for them, I wouldn’t have the above.
Talented narrators and illustrators—ditto
Coffee (and other beverages both caffeinated and adult)
The authors and blogger who’ve taken the time to help my try to launch my YouTube page–and the three authors who’ve given very polite rejections. But mostly the people who’ve taken time to show up.
All the authors who’ve stopped by for a Q&A or a Guest Post this year. I’ve really been blown away by the work you’ve put into making my patch of cyberspace better.
I want to offer a particular word of thanks for the bloggers and authors who chipped in and helped while I was on sick leave dealing with my cancerous tumor, the posts were great, and the time off was a relief.
Time to read (which is getting scarcer in my life, so I’m even more grateful for it)
The Nampa Public Library, The Caldwell Public Library, (and The LYNX! Consortium)
Shared Stories, Rediscovered Bookshop, and Libro.fm
My Real Life friends and acquaintances who give me feedback and encouragement via text or face-to-face. You all could help my stats by using the comment forms, however 🙂 But I truly appreciate you reading and talking to me about this.
My supportive, understanding, and encouraging wife and kids. They all do a pretty decent job pretending to care when this old man drones on and on about what he’s reading or what’s going on with the blog. Helping me with technical issues, testing things, and general brainstorming is particularly appreciated.
I should give a specific thanks to my daughter, who serves as wingperson when I go to local events and has helped me connect with several authors that I wouldn’t have been as successful with on my own. It’s amazing what people skills can do.
Again, all of you who read this page, follow, like, tweet, comment, email, etc.—you have no idea how much every little bit is appreciated.
For my fellow Americans, I hope you have a pleasant day with your friends and/or family. As for the rest of you, I hope you enjoy today and that you enjoy having the same pant size tomorrow as you do today.
I had in mind putting up a new version of this with new answers, because 2024 me is different than 2021 me, right? But I really like these answers (although I might switch out Lethal White for a different Galbraith), so…holidays are for laid back approaches to things, right? What’s more laid back than a repost with a two-sentence intro?
I’ve seen this on a few blogs, but it was on Bookstooge’s Reviews on the Road that I decided to do it myself. I don’t know where this originated, so I can’t credit them.
I really tried not to let recency bias rear its ugly head on these responses, but I ended up listing two books I read this year. Whoops.
I’m left scratching my head here–what doesn’t have a plotline?
There’s a plot here, but it’s slight–and covered under layers and layers of clever dialogue. (none of which is a criticism, it worked wonderfully)
It is Zorro–the swashbuckling, womanizing, swordsman who’s a proto-Batman figure. How do you make him dull? I still don’t know how you do it, but Isabelle Allende must, because she nailed it. The only reason I finished this was because I had to see if it ever got exciting. According to my logs, I read this in 2010–but at the time, I felt like I spent more than a decade reading it. So, I guess I might still be reading it.
I’m struggling to answer this one–it seems to suggest that the others aren’t up to snuff, or aren’t even worth the time, “but this one book…” I’m sure there are some, but I can’t think of any. I’m tempted to say Red Dragon or The Silence of the Lambs are so good that it makes Hannibal worth it–but it’s easier to just skip the others.
I guess…
I have problems with The Wise Man’s Fear. And, sure, I’d love to read The Doors of Stone. But you know what? I loved The Name of the Wind enough that I can live with what ever’s lacking in the others (including, but not limited to, not being published).
The first Ben Bracken novel is as non-stop as you could ask for. Pound-for-pound there’s more action in this book than any other I can remember. Sure, Parker can go whole paragraphs without much in the way of action–but he doesn’t do that often here.
A Killer hook. A lot of hype. Some compelling writing. And an ending that made me want to hurl it across the room and into a shredder. It was a library book, however, so I really couldn’t indulge the impulse.
Also…really? l;ike Bookstooge said, what’s up with this slander against Mashed Potatoes? (not just saying this as a reflexive defense of the crop Idaho’s best known for)
The first romance that jumped to mind was Nick and Alli from Hanover’s first book. (sure, most of the sweetness came from Alli, but Nick’s not bad, either).
I’m not convinced that cranberries are really all that “sweet,” however. Tart? Sour? Sure. Sweet? Eh, only with anough sugar added. Unlike everything Hanover’s written.
This is just a ridiculous novel–I laughed a lot. I cringed a lot, too. It was a delightful batch of corny silliness.
Part of the reason that I haven’t jumped on Troubled Blood is that this one was just too long. At the time (or since), I couldn’t figure out what needed to be cut, but something sure needed to.
Unlike any green bean dish I’ve ever had, however, I enjoyed Lethal White in the end.
It’s been a while–a very long while–since I’ve been in a slump. But I could always count on some of my favorite Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin novels. They’re pure comfort food–tasty and sweet.
This varies a lot from year to year, but more often than not, I’d say stuffing.
(image borrowed from Happy Life Blogspot)
As usual, I’m not tagging anyone in this—but I’d like to see what you all have to come up with.
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:
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| 1-800-CallLoki by Dawn Blair |
The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu, read by Lisa Flanagan |
1-800-CallLoki puts the Norse God into the role of protagonist and hero (of sorts). It’s frequently amusing and pretty compelling. I should be wrapping this up soon.
The Faculty Lounge is filled with gentle humor, some good characters, and a plot that is just interesting enough to keep me listening. It’s utterly fine, but unless the last 40% knocks my socks off, it’ll get a “just okay” from me.
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| Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology edited by L. J. Hachmeister |
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, read by Nasim Pedrad |
Instinct was a very mixed bag of animal SF/Fantasty/Urban Fantasy stories, none of them were bad, most were okay, but those that were good, were very good. Just what you expect and hope for out of an anthology like this.
I Hope This Finds You Well was better than I’d anticipated it could be, I rather enjoyed it–and hopefully I can expand on it soon.
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| We Solve Murders by Richard Osman |
Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom? by Mike Chen, read by Keith Szarabajka, Xavier Casals |
I’d hoped to be well into the Osman book today, but oh, well–I still have a couple of days before it’s due at the Library (this will not be joining the ranks of the books I didn’t read)
The Moon Knight/Venom story is probably not going to do much for me–but I trust Chen, and the Wanda/Spider-Man book was so good that I have to give it a shot.
This week’s topic is, “Top 5 books I meant to read in 2024.” This seemed like a fun one to try until I actually tried to sit down and come up with the five. I recently described my TBR as a tragicomedy, and the 2024 version alone is more tragic than comedic. But then I realized I had a perfect five–so, here’s my approach to this list: Top 5 books I meant to read in 2024 (and actually checked out of the library…multiple times…but didn’t start). I’ve also mentioned some of these on Books on My Summer 2024 to-Read List and multiple WWW Wednesday posts. I’ve done everything but read them, not even the first page. I’ve checked them out, held them for the maximum amount of renewals, returned them, got back on the hold list, checked them out…and so on, twice.
We could also call this “5 sources of frustration this year.”
In alphabetical order by author:
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 Amari and the Despicable Wonders by BB Alston War has come to the supernatural world, and Amari's two worst enemies are leading the charge. Elaine Harlowe has manipulated her way into becoming prime minister, using her mind control ability to force the Bureau to take up her vicious grudge against magiciankind. Meanwhile, Dylan Van Helsing, the newly crowned leader of the League of Magicians--and Amari's former partner--is after a destructive new power that would not only ensure the magicians' victory . . . it would make him invincible. With neither the Bureau nor the League safe for Amari, and her newly returned brother, Quinton, determined to keep her out of the fray, she and her friends decide to find a way to end the war on their own. So when they learn that the only way to stop Dylan is to find powerful magical inventions known as Wonders, they go after them. But wielding these items comes at a terrible cost, and Amari will have to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice . . . because the Despicable Wonders will demand everything. |
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 What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, read by Hanako Footman, Susan Momoko Hingley, Kenichiro Thomson, Winson Ting, and Shiro Kawai What are you looking for? So asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian. For Sayuri Komachi is able to sense exactly what each visitor to her library is searching for and provide just the book recommendation to help them find it. A restless retail assistant looks to gain new skills, a mother tries to overcome demotion at work after maternity leave, a conscientious accountant yearns to open an antique store, a recently retired salaryman searches for newfound purpose. In Komachi's unique book recommendations they will find just what they need to achieve their dreams. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is about the magic of libraries and the discovery of connection. This inspirational tale shows how, by listening to our hearts, seizing opportunity and reaching out, we too can fulfill our lifelong dreams. Which book will you recommend? |
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 Don’t Let the Devil Ride by Ace Atkins Hell is empty...and Addison McKellar's husband is missing. Addison McKellar isn't clueless--she knows she and her husband Dean don't have the perfect marriage--but she's still shocked when he completely vanishes from her life. At first Addison is annoyed, but as days stretch into a week and she's repeatedly stonewalled by Dean's friends and associates, her frustration turns into genuine alarm. When even the police seem dismissive of her concerns, Addison turns to her father's old friend, legendary Memphis PI Porter Hayes. Porter and Addison begin to dig deeper into Dean's affairs and quickly discover that he was never the hardworking business owner and family man he pretended to be. As they piece together the connections between a hook-handed mercenary, one of Elvis's former leading ladies, and a man posing as an FBI agent, it becomes clear that Dean was deeply enmeshed in a high-stakes web of international intrigue, and Porter and Addison aren't the only ones looking for him. Dean angered some very dangerous people before he disappeared--people who have already killed to get what they want--and they won't hesitate to come after his family to even the score. Don't Let the Devil Ride is a thrilling adventure about what can happen when you pull back the curtain on your life. Ace Atkins, long known for gritty Southern noir with a witty edge, has crafted an ambitious, globe-hopping story that comes home to Memphis in explosive fashion. |
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 An Honorable Assassin by Steve Hamilton He was released from federal prison to a second life as an unwilling assassin, serving a major Chicago crime lord until the day he finally won his freedom. But that freedom was a lie. Now Mason finds himself on a plane to Jakarta, promoted to lead assassin for a vast shadow organization that reaches every corner of the globe. This time, there's only one name on his list: Hashim Baya--otherwise known as the Crocodile--international fugitive and #1 most wanted on Interpol's "Red Notice" list. Baya is the most dangerous and elusive criminal Mason has ever faced. And for the first time in his career ... Mason fails his mission. Baya gets away alive. There's only one thing he can do now: to save himself, his ex-wife, and his daughter, he must make this mission his life, hunting down the target on his own. But Mason isn't alone in his search, because for Interpol agent Martin Sauvage, apprehending Baya has become a personal vendetta. Sauvage is a man just as haunted as Mason. And just as determined. Never have the stakes been so high, the forces surrounding him so great. Sauvage wants Baya in prison. Mason needs him in a body bag. Assassin and cop are on a five-thousand-mile collision course, leading to a brutal final showdown--and the one man in the world who can finally show Nick Mason the way to freedom. |
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 Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell Back in high school, everybody thought Shiloh and Cary would end up together . . . everybody but Shiloh and Cary. They were just friends. Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh's porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha--Shiloh would go to go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change. Well, Shiloh did go to college, and Cary did join the Navy. And yet, somehow, everything changed. Now Shiloh's thirty-three, and it's been fourteen years since she talked to Cary. She's been married and divorced. She has two kids. And she's back living in the same house she grew up in. Her life is nothing like she planned. When she's invited to an old friend's wedding, all Shiloh can think about is whether Cary will be there--and whether she hopes he will be. Would Cary even want to talk to her? After everything? The answer is yes. And yes. And yes. Slow Dance is the story of two kids who fell in love before they knew enough about love to recognize it. Two friends who lost everything. Two adults who just feel lost. It's the story of Shiloh and Cary, who everyone thought would end up together, trying to find their way back to the start. |
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:
Literacy Statistics 2022-2023—We are going to kick things off this week on an incredibly down notes. If you’re prone to despondancy, you might want to avoid this.
Why We Need Fairy Tales—this will help you recover from those numbers
How Does the Writer Say Etcetera?—”Sumana Roy ponders the linguistic and aesthetic significance of ‘etceterization.'”
10 of the Most Original Murders in Mystery—This is a good list–even without the inclusion of Some Buried Ceasar. But that helps.
Matthew Hanover has put out New/Refreshed Covers for his novels—There are better reasons to pick them up (for example, the contents), but this is a good excuse if you haven’t gotten around to it.
It’s a Really Good Time to Get Loud About the Books You Love: Some ideas to help keep literature and the book community alive.—I try to do these already, but like Templeton, it seems like it’s needed more now (and I need the kick in the pants).
Why I Love to Read Reviews – A Defence of the Blogosphere, Blogging and Reviewers—hear, hear.
What Makes a Good Children’s Book?—another good ‘un
Not Really Book-Related, but I want to talk about it anyway:
Animaleague Baseball Batter Up! Board Game—One of my favorite local authors–who does great picture books (and has provided some of the images here), Jeremy Billups, has realseased his first board game! I got to sample an early version a couple of years ago, and am eager to get my hands on one of the final versions! Go give it a look-see (and, even better, pick one or three up for yourself!)
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Us by David Nicholls
I talked about the releases ofAgatha H. and the Voice of the Castle by Kaja Foglio and Phil Foglio, The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, and Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne.
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson—after he leaves the Corps, Walt needs a job. Why not try Alaska, a state that can make Wyoming look crowded?
The World According to Cunk by Philomena Cunk—just in time for the holidays, a history book that might include an actual fact or two, but does contain several laughs, as I wrote recently.
King Arthur & The Ladies of The Lake by Vincent Pompetti—I really enjoyed this graphic novel retelling of Arthurian legends.
An Icelandic Adventure: One Family’s Mostly Successful Quest for Puffins, Pleasure, and Perfect Pizza by S. Bavey—I’m pretty sure the subtitle tells you what you’re going to find. (but perfect pizza in Iceland seems like a stretch, but what do I know?)
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of seeing Craig Johnson for the third time 7 years. I’m starting to feel like a stalker, or a groupie, or…I dunno, I can’t come up with the third things for that list. Anyway, I’m not either of those–or the other one, either. I only see him when he comes to the Treasure Valley and I see an advtisement. Really.
This time, he came to Boise to do a presentation for students of The Osher Institute–a lifelong learning program that seems like a great idea (I’ve heard a few people talk about it before). Thankfully, they opened it for non-students, too–for a small fee that included the price of his new novella, Tooth and Claw (which he signed afterward, too).
He talked a little about the oddly extended process in getting the novella written (by his standards, anyway), the style/influence that was behind this one, and a little bit about the story (maybe too much, almost certainly more than I’ll put in my eventual post about it). He also told a nice little story about the history of the SS Baychimo, a ghost ship that would appear every 10 years or so up in Alaska. I assume that I’m not the only one who had to go home and read more about it later after hearing his recounting.
Then he went into an extended Q&A time for the rest of the hour–I’ve heard a couple of the anecdotes he used before, but he used them to answer different questions, so that was a nice touch. But this wasn’t like the other Q&As I’ve seen him do before–this was a fairly mixed audience. There were plenty of Johnson fans, and plenty of people who’d watched the Longmire show, too. But there were a decent number of people who hadn’t read him at all before (1 person read The Cold Dish in the last couple of weeks). This led to some great questions from people who just wanted to talk about writing, the process of publishing, and then the recommended way to read the books (his wife insists they be read in chronological order, he maintains you can grab them in any order*).
Whether he was just talking about his upcoming book, answering a question about his process, talking about the ages of his characters, what he wrote before Walt Longmire got him a publication deal, a storyline that didn’t turn out the way he planned, or even a problem someone had with the Netflix adaptation, Johnson knows how to engage with an audience. I hope he doesn’t do this anytime soon, but if he quit writing and just toured the country telling stories about the books, his life, or just fun things he learned about history–I’d see him as often as possible and I think he be able to stay as active as he wanted. I don’t know if he’s always been able to work an audience the way he does, or if he grew into it (I think the former based on what he says about his family’s knack for storytelling), but there’s no denying that you walk away from a Craig Johnson appearance fully entertained. If you get the opportunity, take it.
And, of course, he brought that same charm and ability to connect to the autograph line–his lines don’t move that quickly. Once you get to the front, you understand why. He takes enough time so that fans new and old get a little of his attention, which no one is going to complain about.
I was also treated by a friend to a great meal at a nearby Mexican restaurant after we got our books signed. That’s not the point of this piece. I just can’t help thinking of it a day later.
*It’s good to see that even your writing heroes can be wrong.
I can’t think of an introductory paragraph (or even a sentence) today. So let’s just jump into things:
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:
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| Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology edited by L. J. Hachmeister |
Running and Jumping by Steven Kedie |
Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture–and the Magic That Makes It Work by Jesse David Fox |
I’m almost certainly finishing the Kedie book today–it’s intense. I don’t know where it’s going to end up, but my blood pressure will be better when it does.
Instinct is a mixed bag–but mostly good. The Jim Butcher story made me so glad when I read it I wouldn’t care if the rest of the stories were horrible (they’re not, but I really would be fine with that).
Jesse David Fox is the kind of guy I’d like to talk comedy with, I have so many follow-up questions about the material in the first half of this book (not because he didn’t give enough information, I just want more). This is the kind of book I’ve wanted for ages.
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| Teen Titans: Starfire by Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo (Illustrator) |
The Late Lord Thorpe by Peter Grainger, read by Gildart Jackson |
I really liked this take on Starfire (and Cyborg)–giving her Ehlers–Danlos syndrome was an interesting move (and might have got my daughter to read the whole series).
I’m already missing David Smith (and, yes, Grainger fooled me).
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| Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan |
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, read by Nasim Pedrad |
Altered Carbon is one of those that I think I might have read a couple of decades ago, but I’m not sure. Anyway, this is the book for the Sci-Fi book club.
it was a while ago that I put a hold on I Hope This Finds You Well at the library, and I honestly don’t remember what it was about the book that intrigued me. It looks promising, and I trust post-me. Mostly.
Whoa…it’s been 2 months since I’ve done one of these?
Book Blogger Hop
This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:
I’m not sure what kind of monster you take me for. Write in a book? I’d just as soon dog-ear a page. Yeah, yeah, yeah…history is replete with examples of marginalia (and it’s proved to be a helpful resource for scholars), and if you own a book, you should be able to write in it–some people insist on it. But every book in the H.C. Newton Not-Yet-Memorial Library is untouched by pen, pencil, highlighter, or (shudder) Sharpie (outside a handful of autographs, which is totally different*).
There are (at least) two reasons for this–I don’t want to ruin a book with my lousy handwriting, or inability to use a highlighter or pen to draw a straight line. Let’s keep these pretty. But more importantly, I don’t like to be trapped by what I thought was interesting, important, noteworthy, and so on last time I read a book–I want to get impressions this time. (if for no other reason than I don’t want to be disappointed in previous-me). Does this hamper going back to find that one quotation, that killer argument, that metaphor that rocked my thinking? Yes. And that has been a problem. Still…books that please my eyes are worth a little effort/memory-straining.
I’m apparently so well-known for this in my social circles that friends and acquaintances will apologize to me before showing a marked-up book. Which is unnecessary, if a little nice. I bear no ill will towards people who choose to riddle their books with graffiti, sure, I wonder about their priorities, but I know they do the same for mine 🙂 I actually used to know someone who’d borrow books from me and then end up buying me a new copy of whatever book they borrowed because they just had to write in something they read. That actually worked out pretty nicely for me.
* Or is it an inconsistency that frees me from Emersonian hobgoblins?
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