Category: News/Misc. Page 218 of 242

Bookish Podcasts

On January 21, 2016

I listen to a lot of podcasts — while driving, shopping, doing chores, etc. Last year, one of my favorites ended, and The Nerdist just dialed back their releases, so I’ve tried to find some new ones with a book/reading focus to round out my listening (and maybe help the blog). I’ve listened to occasional episodes of some over the years when there’s been a guest I’ve wanted to hear, but other than The Once & Future Podcast, nothing’s really stuck for more than an episode or two. O&F has introduced me to more than it’s fair share of authors, so I definitely intend on staying up with it. Even when the author isn’t someone I’m interested in, it’s pretty entertaining.

Penguin Random House’s Beaks & Geeks is a lot of fun. Brief interviews with authors of all genres — I’ve really enjoyed plundering their archives for some of my favorites. The episodes with authors I have no interest in don’t do anything for me, but if it’s an author I’m curious about or already appreciate, these quick podcasts are pretty good.

Since they were nice enough to follow this blog, I’ve listened to a few episodes of Crime Time Podcast. Is an off-the-wall discussion of crime fiction old and new. My 16 year-old son, who isn’t a big crime fiction fan, listened to one episode with me and really enjoyed it, which I figure is a good sign. You really never know what you’re going to get with this one, but it’ll be fun and funny. The most recent episode had a featured a discussion on tension in fiction, in addition to the specific books they talked about (and the amount of human waste on Mt. Everest, too).

I’m trying a couple of others, but will hold off mentioning them until I decide if they’re keepers. In the meantime, I’m looking for suggestions — what kind of book-ish podcasts do you listen to?

Coming Soon / Introducing The United States of Books!

By HCNewton

On December 21, 2015

In News/Misc., United States of Books

I’m still putting the finishing touches on my plans for next year, but for a few months now, I’ve had 1 major project in mind. I’m going to be involved in my first group blog project.

Laura at 125pages announced The United States of Books project today. Normally, I’m going to be posting everything from the series right here, but today I want to send you all over there (just come back, please, I’ll be ever-so-lonely if you don’t!).

The first in this blog series just hit my inbox and confirmed my suspicion that this is going to be a great series. I’m looking forward to reading some books I probably wouldn’t have opened otherwise. I also have to reread a book that I didn’t blog about here and I wasn’t going read again — it was a great book, seriously, one of the best I’ve read this decade. But I’m intimidated by its size, subject matter, quality — anyway, my point was: give Laura’s post a read and come back on Jan. 4^th!

Saturday Miscellany – 12/19/15

By HCNewton

On December 19, 2015

In Books, News/Misc.

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:

Neil Gaiman Reads A CHRISTMAS CAROL for Christmas — Patrick Stewart’s version holds a special place in my heart, but this just might supplant it. Neil bleepin’ Gaiman, folks.
Harper Lee: my Christmas in New York — The Guardian reprints the classic story from everyone’s favorite (and our least favorite) story about Atticus Finch.
Reading Is About the Lines That Leap Off the Pages — blah
A Cosmic Find in The Screwtape Letters — This is a couple of months old, but I just stumbled onto it. This is just cool.
Books vs. e-books: The science behind the best way to read
The Man Behind The Martian — Reason.com’s interivew with Andy Weir, not your typical Weir-interview.

Bryant & May and the Burning Man by Christopher Fowler — It’s been years since I’ve read a Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery novel, but reading the description for this one makes me want to get back on the horse. Hmmm, need another 2016 project….

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to writtengems for following the booklikes version of blog this week.

Saturday Miscellany – 12/12/15

By HCNewton

On December 12, 2015

In Books, News/Misc.

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:

How Jane Austen’s Emma changed the face of fiction — this almost makes me want to give this novel another shot. Almost.
Re-Introducing Harper Lee and the Real Atticus Finch
Books are getting longer, confirms a new study — Wow. A 25% increase between 1999-2014?
A Market-Defining Auction for Genre Fiction at Swann Galleries — as someone who will never have the cash for this kind of thing, this is not a story I would typically give a rip about. But…this particular auction featured an ARC for the second Nero Wolfe novel, The League of Frightened Men. Man, I wish I had that kind of dough…
Why Writers Need Pen Names
USAToday has an exclusive excerpt from new Rick Riordan — I’m cautiously optimistic about this series.
A few more end-of-year lists:
- The New York Times’ The Top Books of 2015
- The 32 Best Fantasy Books Of 2015 — from BuzzFeed
- Oline Cogdil’s Best mystery novels of 2015
- Don Winslow Picks His 5 Favorite Books from 2015
- Bill Gates lists the best books he’s read this year

The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley — One of the best satiric novelists around (maybe the best) brings a tale about a 16th century attempt to fake the Shroud of Turin. A slight departure from the rest of his work (which is primarily set in or around Washington, D. C.)

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Hooked on Books for following the blog this week. Thanks to Casey Owen for the comment and email — really appreciate it.

Move Along, Nothing to See Here

By HCNewton

On December 10, 2015

In News/Misc.

I’ve got too many things on my plate today (and maybe tomorrow) to get anything up — alas. Am somewhere between 10%-60% finished with a number of posts, so hopefully I can chip away at that. Anyway, thanks for stopping by, go spend a few extra seconds with your current read.

Saturday Miscellany – 12/5/15

By HCNewton

On December 5, 2015

In Books, News/Misc.

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:

2015 Goodreads Choice Awards Winners — I’ve never claimed to have the most mainstream taste, but I’m very underwhelmed by this year’s winners (I only voted for one winner).
When Popular Fiction Isn’t Popular: Genre, Literary, and the Myths of Popularity — Because it’s been, what, a week? since I posted something on the genre-wars, Lincoln Michel on Electric Lit calls for more facts and stats and numbers to be used in the discussion. I’m not sure it’ll help, but it’s interesting.
Baby Boomers Still the Spine of Independent Book Selling
How Social Media Changed The Way We Read Books — I bet we see this kind of thing talked about more and more.
What? I Can’t Hear You Over My Nerd-Rage! — Inspired by a recent episode of The Once and Future Podcast, Melanie R. Meadors puts (virtual) pen to paper to talk about Nerd-Rage. Pretty good stuff here, worth the read if only for Delilah S. Dawson’s perfect last line.
Two interviews with authors of books I read and blogged about this week: The Most Revealing Thing I Can Say: An Interview With Mary-Louise Parker, Author of Dear Mr. You and Ethan Hawke: By the Book
It’s that time of year, some Best of 2015 Lists:
- The New York Times’ The 10 Best Books of 2015 — I’ve heard of a couple of these.
- The Guardian’s The best fiction of 2015 — I did better with these lists, especially SF/F and Crime & Mystery.
- BuzzFeed Books’ The 24 Best Fiction Books Of 2015
The 17 Funniest Tweets About “Harry Potter” In 2015 — should give you a grin or two

The Revolution was Televised by Alan Sepinwall — an updated/revised version of one of my favorite books of recent years — written after the finale’s of Mad Men and Breaking Bad. If you like good TV drama, you’ll find something in this book that’ll resonate with you. Sepinwall’s reviews are lurking in the background of what I post here (not that anyone but me can tell), can’t wait to get my grubby little hands on this.

November 2015 Report

By HCNewton

On December 1, 2015

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

So, here’s what happened here in November.

Books Read:

Still Reading:

Reviews Posted:

You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day
The Lobster Boy And The Fat Lady’s Daughter by Charles Kriel
Suspect by Robert Crais
Indexing: Reflections, Episode Seven: False Love’s Kiss by Seanan McGuire
X by Sue Grafton
The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
Never Tell by Alafair Burke
Blameless by Gail Carriger
Any Other Name by Craig Johnson
The Promise by Robert Crais
The Shootout Solution by Michael R. Underwood
Indexing: Reflections, Episode Eight: Holly Tree by Seanan McGuire
Hit by Delilah S. Dawson
The Burning Room by Michael Connelly
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
Funny Girl by Nick Hornby

How was your month?

Tracking Reading/Reading Goals, etc.

By HCNewton

On November 30, 2015

In Books, News/Misc.

Back in 2009, I started tracking my reading — it’s something I’d meant to do for awhile, but I was spending enough time reading then that it seemed like a good idea, if only to help me keep track of some series.

With most series, I can remember what I’ve read, but there are some that the titles are so generic, or so esoteric, or whatever that it’s hard to keep track. Seriously, A Stained White Radiance or The Neon Rain are great titles, and exactly the kind of thing that you expect James Lee Burke to call a book. But there’s just no way that you can look at one of those and say, “Oh yeah, that’s the one where Robicheaux does something.” Unless it’s get angrier than he should at something and/or fall off the wagon. Because it’s a decent bet he does both of those. I should note here, that I haven’t read a Robicheaux novel since 2011, and it was the one after b>A Stained White Radiance, so maybe he’s stopped doing those things quite so predictably. Maybe. It’s not just Burke — I’ve read all 9 of the Jane Yellowrock novels and I think I can only tell you what happened in one of them from the title (if I look at a plot description, most of the titles make sense, though).

It’s also a good way to remember the obscure author name, maybe to help plan your reading, and so on.

Mid-2010, I joined Goodreads, which took care of a lot of those problems, but by then it was too late, I was tracking.

Inevitably, you start comparing — huh, I’ve only read X books so far this year. Last year, by this time, I’d already read X+5! Wonder why that is? And then (if you’re wired like me), you start competing with yourself — because why not turn reading into a competition? If cooking can be competitive, so can reading. (Actually, I remember some of my elementary school teachers doing that, too — and I crushed those wimps foolish enough to be assigned to the same classroom as me). So if I read Y books in 2009, I’ll read Y+70 in 2010. (not an actual goal — but it happened. I think ’09 was an off year).

Speaking of Goodreads, their oft-maligned annual Reading Challenges didn’t help much. And that little note, “You’re ___ books behind schedule”? It’s the bane of my existence. Because I know it’s foolish to tie any sort of self-worth to that Challenge Number, and that I shouldn’t turn this into a numbers game, I do. And the fact that for most of this year, I’ve been 11 books behind schedule has driven me crazy (only 7 behind, at the moment however). I did a little math over the weekend, and it’s still possible for me to hit my goal for the year. It’s not inconceivable that I could top it.^* Now, I’m steadfastly refusing to choose books based on their size — but I’m probably not going to grab an epic fantasy in the next month. And when I picked up the books waiting for me at the library today, I was happier than I should’ve been to see that Ethan Hawke’s Rules for a Knight is tiny — 4.4″ x 6.3″ — but I was also disappointed (c’mon, Hawke, I thought you were an artist!)

What about you? Are you governed by the count? Pages or books? (yeah, this year I started tracking pages, too. Going to hate myself for that eventually).

More importantly: how’s your BookLikes/Goodreads/whatever challenge going?
—
^* Fine, I’ll admit it, it’d be easy to fall a couple short, too.

Saturday Miscellany – 11/28/15

By HCNewton

On November 28, 2015

In Books, News/Misc.

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:

If you enjoyed a good book and you’re a woman, the critics think you’re wrong — Jennifer Weiner fires another volley at the literary establishment.
At Long Last, Sci-Fi and Fantasy Have Infiltrated the Literary Mainstream — I’m not entirely convinced by this evidence, but hey…what do I know? Nice idea anyway.
These Books Are Also Brazilian Subway Tickets — A couple of months ago there was something about books as water filters, now this? Books are so versatile! and I hear that many of them contain facts, opinions and stories! Snark aside, this is pretty cool.
A Thank You to The Hunger Games Film Team — Suzanne Collins thanks the people behind the films, in the films and the fans as she prepares to “move on to other lands” than Panem.
Speaking of which, BookBub has 12 New Series to Read Now That ‘The Hunger Games’ Is Officially Over.
The True Story of Sergeant Goosby and His 19 Dogs — a profile of the man behind Crais’ Sgt. Leland from The Promise and Suspect.
This week’s Infographic: Memorable Lights From Literature — from the Solar Centre. Nice list — which gets bonus points from me because Eilonwy’s “bauble” is featured — just not enough Chronicles of Prydain love out there in the world.

Luke Skywalker Can’t Read by Ryan Britt — A combination of geekery, humor and cultural commentary. I’m seriously stoked about this one, having heard Britt on a couple of episodes of The Once & Future Podcast — notably this one about the book.
Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe — the brain behind xkcd has a new book, where using only the most common “ten-hundred” English words and line drawings, he explains complicated things like: food-heating radio boxes (microwaves); tall roads (bridges); the shared space house (the International Space Station), the pieces everything is made of (the periodic table), boxes that make clothes smell better (washers and dryers).
Santa 365 by Spencer Quinn — a Chet & Bernie short, seemingly holiday related. If nothing else, should ally fears some fans had at the end of Scents and Sensibility

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

Thanksgiving 2015

By HCNewton

On November 26, 2015

In Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Happy Thanksgiving/Turkey Day/Thursday

(depending on your location/preference)
I’d fully intended on getting up an actual post today, but circumstances beyond my control, etc., etc., etc.

So instead let me list a few things I’m thankful for this year:

Robert Crais actually publishing The Promise
Books
Authors!
Books
Coffee (and other beverages both caffeinated and adult)
Books
Time to read
Books
Goodreads, WordPress, BookLikes
Books
Evernote
Books
Authors!
All of you who read, follow, like, tweet, comment, email, etc. this page — you have no idea how much every little bit is appreciated.