News/Misc. - The Irresponsible Reader

Anton Strout-Apalooza 2013

On October 2, 2013

In Anton Strout, Books, Fiction, News/Misc., Urban Fantasy, Writing

I want this blog to be about more than just my reviews, like many readers, I’m interested in the process of writing and the people who do it. So I thought I’d try to look at what various authors are up to. One of the best side-effects of one of your favorite authors coming out with a new book in this social media-heavy age, is them being interviewed and/or writing guest posts for various and sundry blogs.

To promote his new book, Stonecast (which I’ll be reviewing here tomorrow), Anton Strout‘s been just about everywhere over the last couple of weeks, talking about Stonecast as well as sharing his thoughts about Urban Fantasy and writing in general. Thought I’d share a sample, there’s a lot to chew on and enjoy here:

Ten Questions About Stonecast — Chuck Wendig fires 10 questions at Strout
New Release Interview — from Suvudu.com
The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe — this one is more about Anton Strout than Stonecast
Interrogate the Author — Amber Benson does a quick intereview with Strout.
Two Great Tastes that Taste Great Together: You’ve Got Your Nerds in My Urban Fantasy! — Strout talks about the tone for his current series, how he mixes in nerddom with his UF
Getting Stoned: Gargoyles, Golems, and Why Petrification Magic Is Awesome — Strout talks about some of the inspirations for his current series
Para-urban Rom-antasy — Strout talks about the differences and similarities in Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasty, and why he writes the kind he does
Blank is the New Vampire — Strout talks about attempting to write “The Next Big Thing” in a genre
Kasey Kasem Is My Spirit Animal — behind that odd title (and odder thought, Kasem? Really??) is some good advice for aspiring writers
Got Writer’s Block? No, You Don’t — very valuable writing advice
Life as a Serial Murderer — Strout talks about his struggles with learning how to write not just a book, but a series

Hopefully that gives you a decent flavor of both the author and the book/series. Check out both The Spellmason Chronicles as well as his Simon Canderous books.

Saturday Miscellany – 9/28

By HCNewton

On September 28, 2013

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Before we get to the regular subjects: I’m starting to play with the typical format my reviews come in, as you’ll see in a couple hours. Links should take you to more official sites for the author/book, I’ll try to offer a little more information about the particular book I read, and it’ll look a tad different, too. I’d appreciate any feedback you’d care to share.

Only one entry in the ol’ Odds ‘n Ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye and seemed worth sharing. You may have seen this already, but just in case:

We are the people of the book…. — not sure what to call this Cory Doctorow quotation, but I like it. I like it a lot.

Stonecast by Anton Strout — book 2 of the Stonemason Chronicles, been looking forward to this for a while. Expect to see a lot about this one soon
Charming by Elliott James — Know nothing about this author, read nothing about it other than the description, but seems like the kind of thing worth a read.
The Plague Force by Jason M. Hough — The Dire Earth Cycle concludes
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson — go read The Big Idea entry for this one

Categories: Books, News/Misc.
Tags: Miscellany

Saturday Miscellany – 9/21

By HCNewton

On September 21, 2013

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:

Don’t Ban Books Like Eleanor and Park, Teens Need Them — While I’m anti-book banning on principle, I can understand the reasoning* some institutions have for some books. But Eleanor and Park? Really? No. Not a chance. Reprehensible with a capital R-E-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-B-L-E.
Writing in Your Books: An Act of Engagement or Blasphemy? — A decent survey of the question. But ultimately, Goldberg’s position is wrong.
The 20 stages of reading — Lynda Barry does a pretty good job of capturing the life cycle of the reader, thankfully, I’m ahead of the curve
Hemingway estate’s Vanity Fair grudge — I can only imagine that Hemingway would endorse his heirs’ actions regarding Vanity Fair
5 Ways to Make Football More Appealing to Book Nerds — B&N’s Paul Goat Allen gives some snicker-worthy suggestions

Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff — Book 2 of The Lotus War. I loved Book 1 of this Japanese Steampunk series and have been eagerly awaiting this. Such a rich world, realized and depicted so skillfully and wonderfully.

—–
* Please note, I said understand, didn’t say agree with

The Great Way Kickstarter

By HCNewton

On September 19, 2013

In Authors, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, News/Misc.

Harry Connolly, writer of the criminally underselling UF series The Twenty Palaces, has moved on to Epic Fantasy. This project sounds great — watch the video, read the Kickstarter page, toss some money at the guy.

Saturday Miscellany 9/14

By HCNewton

On September 14, 2013

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:

Books for Boys and Books for Girls: Problems with Gendered Reading — I can’t agree with everything here, but it’s worth the time.
Tumblr chooses Rainbow Rowell’s ‘Fangirl’ as first official book club selection — Not sure I care that Tumblr has themselves a book club (other than my general pro-book club stance), but really like the idea that Rowell’s getting this kind of exposure
Author Terri Bruce stops publisher selling error-strewn books — Good for her!! Also, good that she didn’t get physically violent over this 🙂
Ten Things That Drive Books Crazy — good for a laugh or two

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell — Rowell’s taken a firm hold on my “read ASAP” list with her first two books, really looking forward to this one
Robert B. Parker’s Damned if You Do by Michael Brandman — 5 years ago, if you’d told me I’d be apprehensive about opening a new Jesse Stone, I’d have looked at you like you were crazy. Yet here we are. Still, Paradise, MA calls, and I answer.
The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn — I litterally hopped in my chair a little bit when I realized this book was released this week. This is going to be fun!

Saturday Miscellany – 9/7

By HCNewton

On September 7, 2013

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:

Kindle Matchbook announced — I’ve heard a lotta pros and cons about this since the announcement. Not so sure it’s good for the author.
Harper Lee settles ‘Mockingbird’ copyright suit — not a lot of details on this, but I’ll take any excuse to think about Lee and her novel
Oyster: The Netflix Of Books — not sure what I think of this, what about you?
Chevy Chase in Booked — from Funny or Die, perhaps it’d be a good idea for Chase to switch to audio books?

Never Go Back by Lee Child — whoops! listed this a week early.
Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire — new Toby Daye! new Toby Daye!

Saturday Miscellany 8/31

By HCNewton

On August 31, 2013

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:

A new theory could solve the mystery of ‘Mark Twain’ — Frankly, didn’t realize there was a mystery. Guess I swallowed a line of nonsense back in grade school and didn’t bother to take another look at it since. Anyway, interesting story about one of the All-Time Greats
Why You Should Find Time With Your Favorite Authors — very nice piece. Makes me regret not getting my boys to see Brandon Mull a couple months back all the more.
Why I love Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels — a Reacher fan comes out of the closet
Books, Games, Art, and Awesome…. — Patrick Rothfuss talks about great way to pick up a fun UF read (Anton Strout’s Stonecast) and help out a great charity. Normally I’d suggest doing that through your local independent shop — like Rediscovered Books of Boise — but Barnes & Noble will give a little more if you pre-order through them (scroll to the bottom of this post for details)

Never Go Back by Lee Child — I’m so close to catching up with this series. Am 3 away from this.
The Exodus Towers by Jason M. Hough — the sequel to The Darwin Elevator.
Clean Burn by Karen Sandler — sounds promising, and disturbing.
Blood Bound by Jeanne C. Stein — we’re nearing the end of Anna’s saga. Not sure how I feel about that.
Chosen by Benedict Jacka — been too long since I got to spend time with Verus — one of the best UF series around. And Jacka’s The Big Idea post this week makes me even more eager for this one.

Not the Post I wanted today . . .

By HCNewton

On August 30, 2013

In News/Misc., Quotations

Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to get a review up today, I’ve got one allllmost ready, but not quite — and I have to finish my current read as it was due at the library 2 days ago, so I really can’t take the time. Will try to do better.

Let me leave you with this instead, sums up me and, I bet, many of you:

Kickstarter: A Phantom Tollbooth Documentary

By HCNewton

On August 23, 2013

In DVD/Movie, News/Misc., YA/MG/Children's Books

On Twitter a little bit ago, I saw a link to a Kickstarter for a documentary about The Phantom Tollbooth and tossed out my plan for today’s post. The Phantom Tollbooth is one of those books that was so formative for me that it seems like I need a better word to describe its effect on me.

My impulse was to throw up a post about its impact on my life/thinking, but that’d take too long (and I’d have to reread the book, and I’m behind as it is). If you’ve read it, you probably understand — and if you haven’t, just take my word for it and go read it. Even as an adult, it’s one of those that contains enough that a kid won’t get, but an adult will love. Think early Loony Tunes shorts. I read it with my kids a couple of years back — and it was as good (if not better) then, than it was when I read it a couple of decades ago (for the first of many times).

Basically, I’m excited for this one. I hope it gets all the funding it needs.

Ideally, you’ll see the video embedded below. But wordpress doesn’t seem to want to display that (or at least not in preview or edit mode, so I don’t know if it’ll show or not. If it doesn’t, click the link back in my first sentence to go watch it.

Elmore Leonard, 1925-2013

By HCNewton

On August 21, 2013

In News/Misc.

We lost a great one yesterday. Following a stroke back in July, Elmore “Dutch” Leonard died yesterday. I never got around to reading as much of him as I felt I should, but when I did, I knew I was reading something different, the kind of thing others aspired to. As good as his fiction is, his 10 Rules of Writing is good as gold. I have no idea how many times I’ve read it.

The guy was just cool. His prose, his characters, his dialogue . . . it all just exuded cool. Lemme run a few names by you, if you don’t know what I’m talking about:

Jack Foley
Harry Zimm
Jackie Brown
Karen Sisco
Chili Palmer
Raylan Givens

His fellow writers are better suited to talk about him:

Michael Connelly’s facebook page‘s entry following the news.
The LA Times ran this: Writers pay tribute
Naturally, Lee Goldberg was great
I loved Robert Crais remembers ‘Dutch’
Chris Talbott’s piece was probably the best I read yesterday. The closing quotation from Ace Atkins sums up everything anyone could say best:

At 87, he remained the coolest and hippest of all American writers. His work never got old or dated. He wrote about cops, cowboys, and criminals but to define him as anything else but a great American novelist doesn’t do him justice. His comic touches, effortless style and social commentary were unmatched.

Category: News/Misc. Page 235 of 242