Category: News/Misc. Page 212 of 229

Happy Pi Day, everyone!

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

• Sir Terry Pratchett has died — which everyone knows (well, everyone who reads fantasy and is online). I couldn’t really get into his stuff, but he was clearly a class act and a great writer.
• Continuing this seemingly never-ending saga, this week started with reports that the State of Alabama was making sure everything was alright with Harper Lee, and ended with statements that their investigation is over. What a mess. I hope this last one is true.
• The Once & Future Podcast talked with Kevin Hearne this week about the Iron Druid Chronicles, his new bestseller about Luke Skywalker, and a little about his upcoming epic fantasy series.
• John Anealio, who “performs geeky anthems for writers, librarians, lovers of Sci-Fi, Best Buy customers & robots” also puts out a newsletter with Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Recommendations, it’s worth singing up. You should also check out his music.
• 6 Gritty Reboots of Children’s Classics will probably induce a smile.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Anti-Hero by Jonathan Wood — years back I read the first two in this series, which have thankfully been re-released, and really dug them. I can’t wait to get my hands on this one.
• World Gone By by Dennis Lehane — I have got to read this series. I don’t know why I haven’t started — I even bought the first one as soon as I came out! And now we’re at #3?
• The Mirror World of Melody Black by Gavin Extence — I ultimately didn’t like Extence’s prior book, but man . . . while I was reading it, I was hooked. Gotta give this one a shot.
• What the Dog Knows: Scent, Science, and the Amazing Ways Dogs Perceive the World by Cat Warren — just came out in paperback. There’s a bunch of books on the topic, I don’t really know how to evaluate one against another — but Robert Crais blurbed this one, so it has to be excellent, right?
• Archie in the Crosshairs by Robert Goldsborough — after the last two books by Goldsborough, I’m dreading this. But, confound it, it’s a Wolfe book. I have to read it.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to jrhehl for following the blog this week. Thanks to Ryan Harris for the interaction — hope we can continue it.

Yee-ha! 3 posts this week. Not my goal, but not shabby.

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:

• Harper Lee appears to be fully lucid — Reporter Connor Sheets seems to have gotten a little further than most in his inquiries about the new Harper Lee book.
• Dennis Lehane drinks in some sunlight — Lehane talks about leaving Boston and his new novel. I haven’t read any of this trilogy, the only things by him I haven’t read. Need to fix that.
• A new chapter in the Nero Wolfe saga — Robert Goldsborough talks about his Nero Wolfe books. Not sure if I’m going to listen to this one, honestly. I like where my blood pressure’s been lately. Still, I have a hard time ignoring anyone talking Wolfe.
• Why Readers Still Prefer Paper — Electric Literature provides a handy infographic
• An Exclusive Glimpse Of Jim Butcher’s Next Book, Aeronaut’s Windlass! — Cover, info, and a sample from The Aeronaut’s Windlass, the first book of Butcher’s The Cinder Spires.
• Divergent author Veronica Roth is writing TWO new books — I’m not exactly excited, but I’m definitely interested in these.
• I came across 4 pieces about books related to TV shows this week. Which seems like a lot, an odd little trend:
  • 7 Books to Read If You Love ‘How to Get Away with Murder’
  • 11 books in ‘Mad Men’ that represent each character
  • 23 Books Every Fan Of “House Of Cards” Should Read — blah
  • The ‘Parks and Recreation’ Bibliography: 21 Tomes of Pawnee — (some of these don’t actually exist)
• World Book Day provided a lot of great tweets. This was my favorite.
• 10 Sneaky Ways to GET YOUR BOOK BACK From a Friend — Some very handy advice from B&N Blog.
• GAME OF THRONES Meets Taylor Swift in “Blank Page” — I enjoyed this more than I should’ve.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark by Harry Connolly — It drives me crazy that I haven’t posted my review of this one yet — the most original Urban Fantasy I’ve read in … a decade?
• Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs — the 4^th Alpha and Omega novel, I’m almost done with this — Briggs’ writing is so great.
• Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire — back for another ride with Alex Price. This looks fun.
• Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne — haven’t read a Star Wars novel in about 20 years, but with Hearne behind this one? I just might.
• Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster): Life Lessons and Other Ravings from Dave Barry by Dave Barry — Should be good for a few dozen laughs.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to hannah19smith for following the blog this week.

Bah. Another content-light week for me. Sorry! Really. But between work and … everything else, I just haven’t been able to do much writing. I did get three half-posts composed this week, but haven’t been able to seal the deal on any of them. It’s pretty frustrating — I know exactly what I want to say about these three books when I’m doing something else, but when I sit down to write? It’s like pulling teeth. Let’s hope for better next week. I did get to update my Reviews in Progress page, so you can get at least a hint about what I’m thinking.

Without further ado, some dds ‘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:

• To shill a mockingbird: How a manuscript’s discovery became Harper Lee’s ‘new’ novel — one more take (a bit more detailed than others) on Harper Lee and her upcoming release
• We’re Still Getting ‘Huck Finn’ Wrong — Interesting, not totally convincing, but interesting look and Andrew Levy’s new book Huck Finn’s America
• Alex Bledsoe Talks Tufa — and some other topics in this interview.
• From such diverse sources as Lifehacker and Electric Lit comes this infographic mapping out pretty much every genre in contemporary fiction.
• Wimpy Kid and the odd charms of children’s misfit lit — like the author of this piece, I’m not a huge fan of Greg Heffley and his ilk — tho’ my kids are. Still, this makes for an interesting read.
• Words You Didn’t Realize Come From Books — another infographic, this one a bit more amusing.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Dorothy Parker Drank Here by Ellen Meister — I really enjoyed Meister’s previous story about Parker’s ghost, looking forward to this one.
• Canary by Duane Swierczynski — this looks like a good, solid, probably hyperviolent adventure. I won’t hurry to get this, but it’s on the list.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Melisa R for following the blog this week.

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:

• Move over Harper Lee, there’s a newly discovered Dr. Seuss book coming out this July (just kidding, don’t move anywhere Harper Lee)
• Here’s a nice little interview with Janet Evanovich from the Savannah Morning News in advance of the Savannah Book Festival.
• Essential Books That Almost Never Saw The Light Of Day — an interesting list from the B&N blog. Honestly, the world would be better without a couple of these, but mostly, these are some treasures.
• Love DNA of Famous Classic Novels — meant to post this last week — fit the day better. Still, this infographic showing the variation in the use of love in novels since 1800.
• An important reminder from Michael R. Underwood about reviewing sequels.
• Beyond Harper Lee: This Season’s Hottest Literary Rediscoveries — chuckled hard a couple times at this one.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Half the World by Joe Abercrombie — #2 in Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea series. Which reminds me, I need to get a hold of #1.
• Department 19: Zero Hour by Will Hill — been ages since I’ve read a Department 19 book, looking forward to digging in — this is a fun series about a group of Vampire Hunters mixed with a special operations force.
• Shoot This One by Javier Grillo-Marxuach — from The Middleman to LOST to Charmed to Helix, and did I mention The Middleman? by Javier Grillo-Marxuach is one of the more interesting TV writers around. This collection of essays looks very appetizing.

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:

• Because the stories about this novel aren’t going to stop anytime soon: Harper Lee ‘hurt and humiliated’ by Mockingbird sequel controversy — I’d feel better about this if it wasn’t the lawyer at the center of this doing the talking.
• Bosch started streaming on Amazon yesterday, at the time of this writing I’ve seen 4 episodes. They’re not perfect, but I’m really enjoying them. Because of the premier, my social media has been filled with articles, promotions, etc. about the actors, characters for the last couple of weeks. I’m only going to share this one, where Titus Welliver, the star, talks about the character.
• Tor.com announced last year that they’re getting into “publishing the best novellas and short novels from emerging writers as well as established authors.” This week, the initial list of this line was announced. Some really appetizing things here.
• Michael R. Underwood, a favorite around these parts, announced his new novella series Genrenauts as part of Tor.com’s project.
• io9 had a story about this, too: Tor.com Explains Why Novellas Are The Future Of Publishing. I loved this line, “When the book wars sweep across the galaxy, and the blood of publishers runs down the gutters of every interstellar metropolis, the resource we fight for will not be paper, or ink, or even money. It will be time.”

This Week’s New Release that You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Deadly Spells by Jaye Wells — the third in Prospero’s War series.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to the alchemist for following the blog this week.

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:

• Writing a new Philip Marlowe: a question of dialogue, attitude and style — John Banville talks about the process he went through when writing a classic character
• George RR Martin’s The Winds of Winter: no plans for publication in 2015 — Martin will not be publishing a new novel from A Song of Ice and Fire this year. Which is a coincidence, because neither will I.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Gemini Cell by Myke Cole — a prequel-ish tale to his Shadow Ops series. Can’t wait to get done with my current stack of library books so I can read this one.
• Fairest by Marissa Meyer — Queen Levana’s backstory.
• Jacaranda by Cherie Priest — a short novel that takes place 20 years after Fiddlehead.

A very skimpy offering this week.

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:

• Karen E. Olson has a new book deal. That’s pretty good news, been too long since I read her.
• 11 TV Characters Who Love Books Maybe Even As Much as You — a cute list
• 15 signs to prove you’re a book addict — from The Guardian of all people.
• I think we’ve all been in the same place asthis Max Overacts.
• Myke Cole on the Once and Future Podcast in advance of his novel Gemini Cell (which sounds great), like his previous appearance this is one of the better episodes of the podcast. Even if you don’t know who this guy is, you should check it out.

This Week’s New Release that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham — the second (of what I hope is many) Veronica Mars novel is even better than the first.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Publishing Insights for following the blog this week. Thanks to hortah01 for the interaction.