Category: News/Misc. Page 223 of 238

The Best Novels I Read in 2014

On January 5, 2015

In Authors, Books, Calendar Items, Fiction, Jim Butcher, News/Misc., Pierce Brown, Red Rising, Robert B. Parker, Science Fiction

I somehow failed at this exercise last year, but I managed to pull it off for 2014. Phew, starting the year off with one in the Win column! Before we get to The Best of, if you’re really curious, here’s a list of every book I read in 2014.

While compiling the best, I started with what I’d rated 5 stars — just 11 novels. I could take just the best 10 of those — piece of cake, right? Wrong. There were titles I expected to see there that weren’t, and a couple that I was surprised to see listed. So I looked at the 4 and 4½ books — and had a similar reaction.

Now, I stand by my initial ratings — for honesty’s sake as much as laziness. But I did put some of my lower rated books in the best, knocking some 5-star books out. They might have been impressive workds, doing everything I wanted — but some of these others stuck with me in ways the 5’s didn’t — emotional impact, remembering details/stories in more vivid detail, that sort of thing.

Eh, it’s all subjective anyway, so why not? I did try to account for recency bias in this — and pretty sure I succeeded, but I may owe an apology or two.

Later today, I’ll post the Honorable Mentions list and the Worst of List — as well as what I’m looking forward to most in 2015. The Day of Lists, apparently. With one exception, I limited these lists to things I hadn’t read before (it shows up in the Honorable Mention post). Enough jibber-jabber, on to the Best Novels I read in 2014:

(in alphabetical order)

Red Rising

by Pierce Brown
My Review
This was exciting, compelling, devastating, thrilling, and occasionally revolting. I can’t tell you the number of people I’ve recommended this one to this year.

Skin Game

by Jim Butcher
My Review
It almost feels like a cheat to put this on the list, but I don’t know if any of the books since Changes would’ve made a year end list, so it’s not like Butcher/Dresden owns a spot here. I laughed, I got pretty darn misty a time or two, I’m pretty sure I audibly reacted to a victory also. Best of this series in awhile.

The Girl With All the Gifts

by M.R. Carey
My Review
This probably would’ve gotten 5-star rating from me if it hadn’t had to overcome genre/subject prejudice. Still, freakishly good.

Robert B. Parker’s Blind Spot

by Reed Farrel Coleman
My Review
Coleman knocked this one out of the park, erasing the bad taste that his predecessor had left, and making me look forward to reading this series in a way I hadn’t for years. As good as (better in some ways, worse in others) Parker at his best.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

by Michael Koryta

My Review
Not the best Koryta book I’ve ever read, but something about this one has stuck with me since I finished it. Solid suspense, exciting stuff.

Endsinger

by Jay Kristoff
My Review
I knew going in that this was going to be a. well-written, b. brutal and c. a good conclusion to the series (well, I expected that last one, expected tinged with hope.). It didn’t let me down. I admit, I shed a tear or two, felt like I got punched in the gut a couple of times and didn’t breathe as often as I should’ve while reading. Such a great series.

The Republic of Thieves

by Scott Lynch
My Review is forthcoming
Can’t believe I haven’t finished this review yet — it’s 80% done, I just can’t figure out how to tie the paragraphs together in a way to make it coherent and (I hope) interesting. A lot of this book is a prequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora and yet there was genuine suspense about those parts. Lynch had a big challenge introducing us to a character here that had achieved near-mythic status, and she ended up living up to expectations. Just a gem of a book.

The Winter Long

by Seanan McGuire
My Review is forthcoming
Again, I’m not sure how I haven’t finished this review yet. McGuire takes a lot of what Toby’s “known” since we met her (all of which is what we’ve “known,” too) and turns it upside down and shakes the truth out. Every other book in the series has been affected by these revelations — which is just so cool. There’s also some nice warm fuzzies in this book, which isn’t that typical for the series. McGuire’s outdone herself.

Wonder

by R. J. Palacio
My Review
Heart-breaking, inspiring, saved from being cliché by the interesting narrative choices Palacio made. Yeah, it’s After School Special-y. So what? Really well done. I have no shame saying this kids’ book made me tear up (even thinking about it know, I’m getting bit misty-eyed).

The Martian

by Andy Weir

My Review
Very science-y (but you don’t have to understand it to enjoy the book); very exciting; very, very funny. Only book I’ve recommended to more people than Red Rising — I think I’ve made everyone over 12 in my house read it (to universal acclaim). Not sure why I haven’t made my 12-year old, yet.

Saturday Miscellany — 1/3/15

By HCNewton

On January 3, 2015

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc., Quotations

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:

Pulp’s Big Moment: How Emily Brontë met Mickey Spillane. — The Birth and Early History of Pocket Books (paperbacks).
Phew, only 2 more Best of 2014 lists to post here — I’m working on mine, wanted to have it up yesterday, but . . .hopefully Monday (and by saying that, I’ve doomed it ’til Friday)

My Top 10 Favorite Books of 2014 — Hadn’t even heard of most of these — and honestly, our tastes rarely overlap. But I keep coming back to this blog.
The Epic Best Books of 2014 List — Bookworm Blues has a really good SF/F list

How to Write a Book Review — Author J. S. Morin provides some handy (and pain-free) guidelines
31 New Year’s Resolutions for Book Nerds — I really liked — even admired — some of these resolutions from the B&N editors — some I thought were just wrong.
Speaking of resolutions, How To Read More — A Lot More — Ryan Holiday has some really helpful advice if this is one of your goals. There’s a thing or two here I should incorporate. (I may have posted this one already, but I’m too lazy — and have too much to read — to go check).
How to read more — Austin Kleon was inspired by Holiday’s list and has some other useful suggestions.
In an odd coincidence, the other day I came across another reference to Kleon’s blog — a post he put up in 2009 about Nancy Pearl’s “The Rule of 50”, which is so good that in addition to the link, I’m just going to copy here:

Believe me, nobody is going to get any points in heaven by slogging their way through a book they aren’t enjoying but think they ought to read. I live by what I call ‘the rule of fifty,’ which acknowledges that time is short and the world of books is immense. If you’re fifty years old or younger, give every book about fifty pages before you decide to commit yourself to reading it, or give it up. If you’re over fifty, which is when time gets even shorter, subtract your age from 100. The result is the number of pages you should read before deciding.
from Book Lust

Low Midnight by Carrie Vaughn — Cormac takes over! Well, at least for one book. Psyched to read this one.

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

Thanks for a Great 2014

By HCNewton

On January 2, 2015

In Calendar Items, News/Misc.

So, that’s 2014, eh? 169 books read (short of my goal by 21), 211 posts (short of my goal by a couple hundred), almost triple the traffic over last year.

I did a quick breakdown of how my reading broke down by genre over the last few years. There were a few anomalies this year (what’s up with my Urban Fantasy and General Fiction numbers?) which makes it interesting for me, anyway — don’t know about the rest of you.

Genre	2014	2013	2012	2012-2014
Fantasy	11 (7%)	15 (8%)	12 (6%)	38 (7%)
General Fiction/Literature	7 (4%)	30 (16%)	30 (14%)	67 (12%)
Humor	3 (2%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	3 (1%)
Mystery/Suspense	62 (37%)	63 (33%)	73 (35%)	198 (35%)
Non-Fiction	4 (2%)	2 (1%)	11 (5%)	17 (3%)
Science Fiction	17 (10%)	14 (7%)	11 (5%)	42 (7%)
Steampunk	3 (2%)	3 (2%)	11 (5%)	17 (3%)
Theology/Christian Living	42 (25%)	37 (19%)	10 (5%)	89 (16%)
Urban Fantasy	20 (12%)	26 (14%)	48 (23%)	94 (17%)
Western	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (0%)	1 (0%)

Hopefully everything will be higher next year — books, posts, and traffic. We’ll see — I’m doing the Goodreads Challenge again (same goal as the last 2 years, 190) and I think I’m going to try to work in The Book Riot 2015 Read Harder Challenge
. I might throw in a couple other “projects” that I’ve been thinking about.

Paul David Ondik, houseofadelaide, Eli Glasman, ronweasleyfans, MaxMuscles, TheCoevas Official, hannahbananah412, taylor oceans, urbanwallart, Planetary Defense Commander, jH, Kameron George, jordynmtz, Brian Moore, henrylib, kyleolsonsblog, Brian Marggraf, immabelike, Jonathan Roumain, Anna Bayes, poetreecreations, Timothy Pike, Allison Chaney, williamthebutler, Melonie Ann, gradypbrown, jgiambron, Giorgia Penzo, mindset, criticaldispatches, Everyrosehasathorn, Jarosław PlayWithLifE, Opinionated Man, theeditorsjournal, Kevin Cummings, teutah, Carole Parkes, shaun890, gregmercer601, R. G. Tamaki, bdhesse, Ana Franco, psychocinderella, psychosis5116, Martin Cosgrove, sheilarparker, vonj productions, adoptingjames, lovabletm24, pimpbooks, Kurt Brindley, Caroline, Jennifer Reed/bookjunkiez, Mr. Smith, saracroethle, J.W. Kurtz, Maggie Mae, Jay Dee, apprenticenevermaster, TyCobbsTeeth, Felicity, Leroy Milton, Ramona Crisstea, Holy Moly, smilehopebehappy, The Eye-Dancers, michaelpatricks, bradsdesk, lightningpen, Cindy Baker, and a few others I might have missed for following the blog (at least for a couple of minutes).
Sorin Suciu, allthoughtswork, jordynmtz, justrozie, Hai, Andrew Bishop, and Keith R.A. DeCandido for taking the time to interact a bit. I really appreciate it.
@Paul_Cornell, @ShaneSKuhn, @wes_chu, @MikeRUnderwood, @TeeMonster, @byharryconnolly, @MarleneStringer, @ReedFColeman, @LeeGoldberg, @KRADeC, @AlexBledsoe, and @explauramay (and others that I lost track of — oops) for sharing, retweeting and replying to my meager words about their books on twitter. You’re all too gracious and kind (and frequently funny).
Big, big thanks to Erin Mitchell, Shannon A. Thompson, Laura Skillen, Jamie Schultz, Ty Patterson, Carac Allison, and Lee Goldberg/Brash Books for asking me to read their (or their client’s) books — and for giving me those books to read. Seriously, thank you for this.
Paul, Angela, and Jamie for all that real life encouragement and interaction with what I’ve put here.
Maria Semple, Pittacus Lore, Chuck Wendig, Mark Jones, Carrie Vaughn, Iain H. Murray, R. J. Palacio, Thomas Harris, David Baldacci, David Abrams, Robert Goldsborough, Eoin Colfer, Myke Cole, Matt Haig, Chris Grabenstein, Joe Queenan, S. J. Rozan, Craig Johnson, Kelly Meding, Ben Aaronovitch, Jaye Wells, Brian Borgman & Rob Ventura, Pierce Brown, Michael Lefebvre, Diana Gabaldon, Bruce A. Ware, Thor Ramsey, Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., Patricia Briggs, Ernest Cline, Wil Wheaton, Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg, Seanan McGuire, Faith Hunter, Brad Parks, Rob Thomas, Jennifer Graham, Marissa Meyer, Reed Farrel Coleman, J. Gresham Machen, Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris, Daniel R. Hyde, Shane P. Lems, Adam Sternbergh, Shane Kuhn, Ty Patterson, Ace Atkins, Alan Bradley, Ari Marmell, Simonetta Carr, Jim Butcher, Wesley Chu, John Brown, Owen Laukkanen, William Lashner, Michael S. Horton, Ryan M. McGraw, Paul Cornell, Christopher Healy, Matt Kibbe, Michael Koryta, Kevin Hearne, Janet Evanovich, Aaron Elkins, Michael R. Underwood, Thomas Watson, Robert Galbraith, Kady Cross, Thomas Boston, Andy Weir, Ellen Raskin, Jennifer Weiner, Richard D. Phillips, Tom Rachman, Douglas Bond, Kevin DeYoung, Jim Gaffigan, Lee Child, Spencer Quinn, Sue Grafton, Marcia Clark, Harry Connolly, Kim Harrison, Richard L. Pratt, Jr., Alex Bledsoe, Robert Crais, Tom Kakonis, Benjamin Morgan Palmer, Rainbow Rowell, John Moe, Lev Grossman, Iain M. Duguid, David Rosenfelt, Andreas J. Köstenberger & Michael J. Kruger, Scott Lynch, Thom Notaro, Sorin Suciu, Thomas Goodwin, Jamie Schultz, Matthew Barrett, Carl Trueman, Justin Richards, Chelsea Cain, Sam Allberry, M. R. Carey, Benedict Jaka, Donald MacLeod, Dennis Lehane, Carac Allison, Robert Letham, Anton Strout, R. C. Sproul, Thomas Brooks, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Rick Riordan, Patrick Rothfuss, Laura May, Rick Yancey, Jacqueline Carey, Shane Sowers, David Nicholls, Sinclair B. Ferguson, R. Scott Clark, Alafair Burke, William Lashner, Brian Cosby, Ralph Venning, Jay Kristoff, Greg Haslam, Erin Kelly, and Cary Elwes for all hours of pleasure I had with your words and books this year.
And you all for reading.

Saturday Miscellany — 12/27/14

By HCNewton

On December 27, 2014

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Two whole weeks with nothing reviewed. Was two paragraphs away from having one up yesterday. Actually, I’m about two – four paragraphs away from having a bunch go up. Need to buckle down and finish those.

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:

Down Mean Streets a Writer Went to Create a Hard-Boiled Character — The NYT gives us a peak at a new book about Raymond Chandler.
title — And The NYT has a fun interview with Janet Evanovich.
A Writer’s Worst Moment. — Paul Cornell collects the worst moments in a few author’s careers.
Ebook growth is stagnating — the infographic sums the state of the industry up pretty well, who’d have thought this would happen so soon?
Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover: Tech-Savvy Teens Remain Fans of Print Books — Nielsen reports that teens lag far behind adults in the ebook market. It’s counter-intuitive, sure, but for those who equate ebooks with the fall of civilization, this has to give a measure of hope.
10 Authors That Deserve More Buzz — The BiblioSanctum provides a pretty nice list.
Why I AM Participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge in 2015 — Last week, we looked at the why not. This week, it’s the why. Put me down for a ditto to this.
The Book Riot 2015 Read Harder Challenge — In the last few years, I’ve had reading projects — from the serious to the silly. Didn’t really have much of one this year, at least not until late in the year. Might try this one in 2015 — it’ll be a stretch in many ways, but I think I can pull it off.
But before we can start 2015, we’ve got some more 2014 Best of Lists to look at (mine should be ready early in 2015).
- There Are Way Too Many ‘Best Of 2014′ Lists — yup.
- My Long List: Best Books of 2014 — I like Ivory Owl’s categories
- The Best Books of 2014, According to WSJ Readers — huh.
- The Top 25 Best Fantasy Books of 2014 — Haven’t read a lot of what’s on this list (want to, tho’), but I’ve read enough to know I agree with a lot of Snow’s take (but not all)

Not too surprisingly, very, very little was released this week — and nothing that caught my eye. There’s at least one thing I know will come out next week (I ordered it months ago, and will hopefully get to read it this year).

Saturday Miscellany — 12/20/14

By HCNewton

On December 20, 2014

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Hey, remember when I reviewed things here? Posted fairly frequently, too. Honestly can’t tell you why this month or so has been so dry. I promise, I’m trying. Spent a part of each of the last few weeks thinking I was going to get ahead of the game, and each one has found me further behind.

Anyway, I did get a really big list 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:

The Most-Recommended Novel Of All Time Is… — After reading the HuffPo thing, go play with the interactive graphic. Really interesting.
The Gorgeous, 75-Year Evolution of ‘The Hobbit’ Covers/ — some of these are really cool
What Lee Child Has Learned from Writing the Jack Reacher Books –a conversation with Esquire mag. I think I agree with his pick for the one he’d submit to a prize committee.
Neal Stephenson signs on as tech company’s ‘chief futurist’ — Sure. Why not? I’d feel better about this if I hadn’t read some of his visions of the future. Naturally, I don’t think he wants to create The Diamond Age, but, you can never tell….
25 Genre Novels That Should be Classics
Will Warren Hammond and Carrie Vaughn Go Where No Local Sci Fi Writers Have Gone Before? — a nice look at a couple of Colorado SF writers.
Novelists Adam Sternbergh and Lev Grossman on Genre Fiction and Theories of Nerd-dom — Loved books by both of them this year, very interesting stuff here.
Why I’m Not Participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge in 2015 — I totally get everything Pryde says here — and agree with most of it. I’m 20+ behind at the moment (hoping to get up to 18 behind by the end of the year), and it’s driving me crazy. Which is stupid. But I’ll probably do it again next year. Maybe.
2014 in Review — a nice recap/glance forward, etc. from Bookworm Blues. I want to be a blogger like her someday.
What Amazon’s Bestsellers Say About American Culture in 2014 — huh. Maybe.
And still more best of 2014 lists. Which again, are great fodder for TBR Lists:
- David L. Ulin’s best books of 2014 — The LA TimeS Book Critic gives us a list of books I’ve never heard of.
- Here’s the Ultimate List — BookBub aggregates 23 different lists. Wow, so helpful.
- 11 Books Strand’s Booksellers Loved Most In 2014
- Books That Deserved the Hype
- The Year In Great Sentences — not just good books (etc.) but great on the micro level.
- Our favourite books of 2014 — Edmonton Journal writers share their choices for best reading. I’ve said almost the exact same thing more than once about Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe (rest of the list is alright, too, but not as right)
- Our Favorite Book Covers of 2014 — nothing against other lists, but I think I agree with BookRiot’s more
- Some of the Best Lit Tweets of Some of the Year — Possibly the most entertaining of these lists I’ve linked to this month
- title — blah
- My best reads o’ the year — Kevin Hearne (on his nice looking new site) gives us his favorite 3.
- Top 5 Urban Fantasy Novels I Read in 2014 — from Bibliotropic
- Best Military Fiction of 2014 — from The Book Plank. I totally agree with his take on Cole’s Control Point
- MIND MELD: Best Books of 2014 — Speaking of Myke Cole, he and other writers combined for this list for SF Signal.
Embiggening English: The Simpsons and changing language

A big, fat goose egg with New Releases this week — there’s at least one next week to close out the year.

Saturday Miscellany — 12/13/14

By HCNewton

On December 13, 2014

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:

J.K. Rowling’s ‘Cuckoo’s Calling’ to Be Part of BBC One TV Series — looking forward to this.
Speaking of Rowling, Dear J.K. Rowling, Here’s What We Want for Harry Potter Christmas
As I predicted last week, a few more best-of-2014 lists
- Publishers Weekly Best of 2014
- Shelf Awareness’ Our Best Books of 2014 — blah
- Electric Literature’s 25 Best Novels of 2014 — blah
- Best mystery novels of 2014 — Oline Cogdill compiled a list of the best 15 mysteries, and 6 of the best debuts. Finally, a list I feel competent to comment on! I like a lot of his choices, and have added to my TBR list from the rest.
- Judging Books by Their Covers — 2014 Best Book Covers from Bookish
Author Of ‘Bridge To Terabithia’: Messages Are Poison To Fiction — I remember nothing about Paterson’s books, even Terabithia, I do remember being knocked for a loop by it. Anyway, really enjoyed what she said about messages here.
Bookish Things That Should Exist — A nice little list from BookRiot.
Lastly, I can’t remember who retweeted something that introduced me to the twitter account @CelebrityOxford, which surveys various celebrities about their stance on the Oxford Comma. Meanwhile, John Scalzi went on a little twitter rampage about Oxford Comma fans. Read a lot more yesterday about the Oxford Comma than I woke up expecting to.

I didn’t see a single new release this week that interested me, continuing the general sluggishness of the month, and giving many of us a chance to play catchup.

Categories: Books, News/Misc.
Tags:

Saturday Miscellany — 12/6/14

By HCNewton

On December 6, 2014

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:

Unpublished Raymond Chandler work discovered in Library of Congress — and, naturally, it’s “a witty, Gilbert-and-Sullivan-inflected libretto for a fantasy-tinged romance”? Say what?
Don DeLillo’s Annotated “Underworld” — oh man, would love to spend a few days with this.
What Kids Want to Read: An Infographic — sure, you could spend a lot of money on a survey, or…I don’t know. Talk to just one kid. Really these the least counter-intuitive survey results ever.
It’s that time of the year, when people are looking for gift ideas, here’s a few:
- Literary Aces Playing Cards
- Some favorite gifts for book lovers that aren’t books — nifty ideas, but…wouldn’t books be easier?
- 16 Fantastic Gifts For Lit Lovers Who Have Enough Books — similar, but not the same list. And I’ve got the same substitute suggestion.
10 Reasons to Shop at Your Local Indie Bookstores This Holiday Season — keep this in mind this season — and all year long
It’s also that time of year for the making of lists. I imagine I’ll be posting a few more of these (and, I hope, making one of my own).
- 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards — Not all my choices won — actually, only two did. But I did okay, and am really only confused/annoyed by a couple of the wins.
- Best science fiction books of 2014 — According to The Guardian, anyway. There’s a distinct national accent to this list — which is understandable, and maybe deserved.
- The 22 Best Lines of 2014 — Familiar with the source or not, this is a fun list of lines
- Was 2014 the Year of the Debut? — a bunch of great debut novels
Four Things My Family Learned From The Boxcar Children Books — I dug these books so much when I was a kid — most of my kids dabbled in them, but they never were as grabbed as I was. Glad to see there are still some big fans of the Aldens out there.

Bryant and May and the Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler — the eleventh installment in the series featuring the weirdest batch of detectives you’ll run across in fiction.

Saturday Miscellany — 11/29/14

By HCNewton

On November 29, 2014

In Books, News/Misc.

First off, on this week of Thanks — I wanted to say thanks for everyone who has read, followed, and liked this blog. And to those who’s commented, retweeted, interacted with me about this here blog. Those authors/publicists who’ve made contact with me because of this? Mind blowing and I cannot thank you enough. Seriously, I am grateful.

Anyway, on to the small list 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:

title — Ursula K. Le Guin won the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards last week, and gave this thought-provoking speech.
Why has the imagination been sidelined in literature? are some of the thoughts it provoked in Damien G.
Reading Together Even While Reading Alone — Bryan VanDyke gives us a look at his development as a reader and more.
8 Books To Read Before They Become Movies In 2015 — I’ve read one of these (The Martian), quit another one (American Sniper), and am undecided on the rest. Nevertheless, a handy list.
“Wisp of a Thing” — based on the wonderful novel by Alex Bledsoe, this song might as well have been written by one of the Tufa.

Endsinger by Jay Kristoff — Book 3 of The Lotus War — the YA Japanese Steampunk/Mythology mix. I’m looking forward to this, but something tells me there’s a lot of pain and suffering ahead for the characters (and country!).

Saturday Miscellany — 11/22/14

By HCNewton

On November 22, 2014

In Books, News/Misc.

A pretty light load this week, it’s like there’s a holiday around the corner or something. Bet things pick up next month.

Still, there were a few 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:

James Patterson: “Amazon could actually dedicate itself to saving books and literature in this country” — I’m not Patterson’s biggest fan. But his pro-bookstore, pro-reading campaign is pretty appealing.
Michael Connelly Takes Detective Harry Bosch From Page to Screen — a nice interview with Connelly about Bosch on “TV” and in print.
Authors Give Advice to Younger Selves — Over on Suvudu this week, several SF/Fantasy writers shared the advice they’d want to give to themselves years ago. Fun stuff.
23 Things I’d Rather Read Than Another Think Piece On What’s “Wrong” With Children’s Literature — This list would work for many thing, not just “what’s wrong with Kid Lit”, but it’s pretty good in that respect, too.

Agatha H. and the Voice of the Castle by Kaja Foglio and Phil Foglio — the third novelization of the webcomic. I’ve only read the comics up through the 2nd novel (no, there’s no good reason for this), so this will be all new material for me. Looking forward to it.
The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg — Evanovich. Goldberg. Fox. O’Hare. That’s all I need to know.
Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne — looks to be an entertaining take on Superheroes

In Medias Res: Us by David Nicholls

By HCNewton

On November 17, 2014

In Currently Reading, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, In Medias Res

Us

by David Nicholls Typically, I use an “In Media Res” post to check in on a book I’m really excited about, usually about the halfway point. But, thanks to some poor time management on my part, I’ll check in here, as I had to take this back to the library today. I’m on page 120, just a couple pages into Part 2.

In a thumbnail, this is Rowell’s Landline from the male perspective, but without the magic phone. Similarly to Landline, we examine the beginning of the relationship from the protagonist’s present POV, as well as how things progress from the time that his wife tells him she thinks their marriage might be done. In a few months, their child will be leaving home, so she considers their work done — and maybe they will be, too.

This comes out of nowhere (as far as he’s concerned), and strikes poor Douglas like a load of bricks. He latches on to the probability she’s expressed rather than the certainty. He still has a chance, he just needs to make certain changes. He has no idea what those are, but he’s going to try to make them.

At this point, I can see why 1980’s Douglas would be attracted to 1980’s Connie, and maybe why he’d fall for her. I’m not convinced present-day Connie is worth that much effort (but I’m not married to her, so it’s hard for me to say). As for their work as a couple? On behalf of the people of Earth — you’ve done a lousy job. Albie is a questionable human being and a lousy ingrate of a son.

This is well-told — with heart, with wit (frequently a bumbling wit, but that’s Douglas’ charm). As much as I loved Nicholl’s One Day, I couldn’t finish Starter for Ten, so I was a little worried about dipping my toe into this one. But, I have every intention of plowing through this one, as soon as I climb back on top of the library wait list.

When I do, I’m sure I’ll learn to like present-day Connie a bit more, and find out what happened between 1980’s Douglas and present-day Douglas to turn him into someone Connie’s not sure she wants to stick with. I fully expect it to be understandable and may even result in my not liking Douglas too much for a bit. Will he figure out what needs to change and do so? Maybe. I’m not sure Nicholls is going for a happy ending. Who knows? I might even find a redeeming quality in Albie. That will come as a surprise, but I’m open to the possibility.

Good start — I can imagine this book getting 5-stars from me. Also can imagine it getting 3. Who knows?