Category: News/Misc. Page 27 of 193

Saturday Miscellany—12/2/23

On December 2, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

You would not believe how many times I’ve tried to get this posted today…I barely do, and I was there for all of them. But, life has interfered (as it so often does). But it’s still Saturday, so I can live with it (the two posts I also planned on scheduling today, on the other hand are going to wait a week or more for attention).

But you didn’t come here for my whinging. You came here for this:

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:
bullet Wisconsin libraries would have to notify parents about the books their kids check out under GOP proposal—I’m not fond of this, but I’m not sure it’s horrible. The other bill talked about in this story, on the other hand…
bullet When Your Own Book Gets Caught Up in the Censorship Wars—a little BTS action
bullet This Is Your Brain on Books
bullet The big idea: should we abolish literary genres?
bullet Webtoons and Webcomics Keep Scrolling into Print
bullet Do You Believe in Magic? On The Timeless Charm of Children’s Books
bullet It’s getting to be that time of year, isn’t it? Libro.fm’s Top 10 Audiobooks of 2023
bullet S.A. Cosby lists His favorite books of the year—have read a couple of these and have several others sitting on a stack in my office, glaring at me
bullet And looking in the other direction, FFA’s Most Anticipated Reads of 2024
bullet Scaring Myself: The Story Behind How & Why I Wrote CALICO…—Lee Goldberg talks about the background to his latest novel (that I will write about ASAP, but you should read)
bullet The Case for Never Reading the Book Jacket—I thought this was interesting and had planned on putting it here in the first place, and then:
bullet Molly Templeton responded with What Do You Want to Know About a Book Before You Read It?—what are your thoughts?
bullet #R3COMM3ND3D2023 wrapped up this week, so I only have a few more TBR add-ons for you:
bullet …with Donna of Retirement Reflections
bullet …with Rae of Rae Reads
bullet …with Ayo Onatade of Shotsmag Confidential—
bullet …with Sarah Hardy of bytheletterbookreviews
bullet …with Jo of Jo’s Book Blog
bullet Announcing Solstitia: a Fiction Fans Magazine—the brains behind Fiction Fans are launching a zine/litmag. Looking forward to some good reads.
bullet Similarly, JCM Berne is starting up Grimdwarf Magazine—and is worth looking into
bullet Managing my TBR—The Narratess talks about getting her TBR slimmed down. No offense intended, but having read her numbers, I’m feeling better about mine. But still…
bullet Is It Easier to Write Negative Reviews?—Not for me, no. But I can see where Krsyta is coming from.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet The Joined Up Writing Podcast 204: S.A. Cosby—Cosby chats about All the Sinners Bleed and much more. I love listening to this guy.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Robert B. Parker’s Broken Trust by Mike Lupica—Lupica takes up the Spenser torch from Atkins, and is much better than I assumed. (I’d planned on finishing this today, but, life intervened). PI Fans would be smart to pick this up.
bullet Didn’t See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto—okay, a YA take on You’ve Got Mail with gamers and a private school, isn’t really my cuppa. But I really liked Sutanto’s style at first contact. So, I’m going to give this a shot (as I try to work older books into my schedule, too).

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Taylor @ Taylor Fenner’s Bookish World, who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.

November 2023 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On December 1, 2023

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

I read 24 titles (1 down from last month, 2 up from last November), with an equivalent of 6,306+ pages* or the equivalent (351 down from last month, about the length of that one book I was short), and gave them an average of 3.8 stars (.3 up from last month). Five 4.5 star books is pretty remarkable–and one of those 5 stars books really should’ve been a 7 or 8.

Going to that Book Faire at the beginning of the month did not help my Mt. TBR at all. I’m not complaining, because I’m really looking forward to diving into those books. But I’m sitting on 30 more unread books that I own compared to last year in my second year of making a concerted effort to trim that number. I realize that math isn’t my strong suit, but I’m pretty sure that isn’t good.

Also, not good was the number of posts I produced. There were several outside-the-blog projects I was working on, but it wasn’t until last night when I started putting this together that I realized just how distracted I was by the outside stuff.

Still, I’m calling this a pretty good/decent month. Here’s the detailed look at November.

Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to












	?



	3

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	3.77
	2		0
	5		0
	8		0
	4		0
	4		1

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read
End of 2022	5	45	42	143
1st of the Month	6	47	62	153
Added	6	2	14	1
Read/ Listened	5	2	7	1
Current Total	7	47	69	153

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 18
Self-/Independent Published: 6 (eep!)

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	1 (4%)	25 (9%)
Fantasy	3 (13%)	30 (11%)
General Fiction/ Literature	5 (21%)	25 (9%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	5 (21%)	81 (29%)
Non-Fiction	2 (8%)	20 (7%)
Science Fiction	4 (17%)	31 (11%)
Theology/ Christian Living	2 (8%)	25 (9%)
Urban Fantasy	2 (8%)	31 (11%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	0 (0%)	8 (3%)

Review-ish Things Posted

A Good Rush of Blood by Matt Phillips: A Life at the Cruel Intersection of Bad Luck and Poor Choices
The Atonement: An Introduction by Jeremy Treat: A Wider Vision than is Typical for this Doctrine
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 38: Operator by R. T. Slaywood: An Overall Lack of Bedside Manner
Unfolding Redemption by Camden M. Bucey & Lange G. Tipton: I’ve Looked at Salvation from Both Sides Now
Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty: Not the Sequel I Expected, but the Sequel we Needed
Grandpappy’s Corner: Noodle Conquers Comfy Mountain by Jonathan Graziano, Dan Tavis (Illustrator): A Little Pug Faces a Cozy Challenge
Long Past Dues by James J. Butcher: This Series has Legs
The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht: Watterson’s Visually Stunning Return
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 39: In The Dark by R. T. Slaywood: Moving Day
Sundry Notes of Music: an Almost Memoir by Ian Shane: A Life’s Playlist
How to Be Eaten (Audiobook) by Maria Adelmann, Lauren Ezzo (Narrator): DNF Due to General Unpleasantness
Ostler by Susan Grossey: An Unconventional Sleuth Kicks Off an Equally Unconventional Career

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how was your November??

EXCERPT from Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan: Who is She?

By HCNewton

On November 30, 2023

In Book Tour, Fiction, Quotations, Urban Fantasy

We continue to celebrate Release Day for Marie Sinadjan’s Nameless Queen here with this excerpt.

from Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan

Standing on the bank of the river Gjoll, Hel listened to the names of the Dead in the wind. This was her life now, as difficult and strange as it was to accept.

The Allfather had banished her from Asgard for treason, trapping her in Niflheim and erasing her name. However, she eventually realized that the realm itself was alive and had other plans. Niflheim did not intend for her to merely wallow in her despair and slowly starve herself to death.

The realm wanted her to be its caretaker.

A line of longships stretched toward the horizon and disappeared into the mist. In the ships were bodies, and the first one had come alive at Hel’s accidental touch.

The man lurched like he had been holding his breath underwater for far too long. “Where am I?”

For a moment she stared back at him with an equal measure of fear. What just happened? Was it her appearance that scared him?

But it soon became clear that it was not the case. “Who am I?” he asked her, distraught.

His name came to her in the wind. “Egil Hringson,” she repeated.

Her eyes flew wide as the man clung to her and wept like a child. She hadn’t realized how important it was for the Dead to be remembered, not until then. And while she did not have the details of his life, revealing his name seemed to help him find peace.

She did not sleep for three whole days, traversing the bank of the river to bring the newly deceased out of their stupor. There were surely hundreds of them; she’d stopped bothering to count after she reached twenty. Some ships had elaborate carvings on the prow, while others were simple wooden vessels that appeared to have been put together at the last minute. None of that mattered to her, however. It was not her place to judge or choose who awakened in this realm, unlike Odin the Allfather and his band of Valkyries.

At first, only the old woman helped her. But after three days of tireless work by the river, the inhabitants of Niflheim came to see that she was something more than merely a deranged soul who could not embrace the fact that she was dead. One by one, they joined her, seeing those she’d awakened into settlements and communities. Most of them were patterned and named after actual Midgardian locations, which provided a small comfort to the Dead.

“Who is she?” Egil asked the old woman when he returned to the river the day after his awakening.

“Hel,” the old woman answered.

It was not Hel’s real name, but it was all she had.

The one she had been born with had been taken away from her.

Interested in the rest? Go grab your copy of Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan now at https://books2read.com/NamelessQueen!

Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

WWW Wednesday, November 29, 2023

By HCNewton

On November 29, 2023

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading According to Mark by H.B. O’Neill, and boy howdy, am I going to spend a lot of energy talking about it next year when it’s published. I’m listening to The Bittlemores by Jann Arden on audiobook—which is so much better than I’d expected.

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished the incredible Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet (Illustrator) and the almost-as-good Nerd: Adventures in Fandom from This Universe to the Multiverse by Maya Phillips (Narrator) on audio.

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What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Robert B. Parker’s Broken Trust by Mike Lupica, I hope the transition from Atkins to Lupica on the flagship Parker series is smooth. My next audiobook should be Brokedown Prophets by S. A. Cosby, narrated by a full cast—I have no idea what it’s about, really. I stopped reading at “S.A. Cosby.”

Blank Space

What are reading as the year heads into its home stretch?

Third Quarter Check-In: 2023 Plans and Challenges

By HCNewton

On November 29, 2023

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

So, you may ask your self, “Well, how did I get here?” And then you realize you’re not one of the Talking Heads and instead you want to ask me why I’m posting this Third Quarter Check-In now as we’re almost done with the Fourth Quarter. Well, yesterday, my eldest son and my de facto editor wondered if I wanted a blog post idea. I (foolishly?) said, sure. “Third Quarter Check in: 2023 Plans and Challenges” he replied with a smirk. I explained that I meant to do it, but got distracted with all the October stuff I had going on and forgot all about doing it. Besides—as you will see if you keep reading—it isn’t all that different than the previous check-in.

But it stuck in my craw, and the easiest way to dislodge it was to take a few moments to put this together.

My plans this year focused on the two series that I’ve started—Literary Locals and Grandpappy’s Corner—both of which are going okay (frequently in fits and starts, but making steady progress). Then there’s the perennial, “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own.” How am I doing on that?

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read
End of 2022	5	45	42	143
End of 1st Quarter	4	44	54	142
End of 2nd Quarter	5	50	56	145
End of 3rd Quarter	5	51	58	151

Let’s move right along to see how I’m doing with the rest of my plans and move on to the Reading Challenges…
2023 Book Challenges

Goodreads Challenge

Well, I can’t show you that graphic…but, it would’ve shown me around 230 out of 250.

12 Books
I got behind in March, and I haven’t managed to get any others read. I’m very frustrated by this—I was looking forward to these books. Don’t ask me what happened, or when I’m going to get to them. (well, probably not 2023 for all but one of these…don’t ask me which one).

Do I get any credit for having read and then a few months later listening to Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons?

2023 While I was Reading

I made zero progress on this in Quarter 3, but I do believe I’ll have it done by the end of December (I’ve already conquered a couple of categories).

A book with a protagonist over 40.: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
A book considered a classic.:
A graphic novel.:
A book that has been banned or challenged.:
A book set in a place on your bucket list.:
A book published before you were born.:
A book related to a goal you have for 2023.: Church History in Plain Language, Fifth Edition by Bruce Shelley, Revision Editor Marshall Shelley\
A book by an author of color.: The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian
A book with a clever title.: Kneading Journalism: Essays on Baking Bread and Breaking Down the News by Tony Ganzer
A book by a famous author you’ve never read:
A non-fiction book about a topic you love.: The Worst We Can Find: MST3K, RiffTrax, and the History of Heckling at the Movies by Dale Sherman
A novella: Bad Memory by Jim Cliff

Your TBR Reduction Book Challenge

I’m on-target for this one (as much as I can be), and have even got a couple of the Stretch Goals accomplished.
January – End to end temptation I give you permission to read the most recent book you have got on top of your TBR. For many this is one we only get to read eventually but for now I want you to pick up the newest book in Mount TBR and read it. Can you remember the last time you did that? It’s a good habit to get into and January is all about starting good habits: The Perception of Dolls by Anthony Croix, Edited by Russell Day
Stretch Goal – Read the oldest book in Mount TBR it has waited long enough: Bartleby and James: Edwardian Steampunk Chronicle by Michael Coorlim
February – Short steps For the shortest month of the year I want you to read 28 short stories. This can be a TBR collection, anthology or even backlog of magazines that you have. Life is fast but use this challenge to appreciate the skill of the short story writer. Play your skills right you may get more than one book read this way. eh…I get partial credit for this, Noirville contained every short story I had unread, but it’s only fifteen stories. I did read extra novellas for the Stretch Goal, though. So I’m calling this okay?
Stretch Goal – Read four novellas one for each week of the month. Bad Memory by Jim Cliff, Anna and the Vampire Prince by Jeanne C. Stein, and Broken by Don Winslow (which is six novellas).
March – Fresh Starts This time for the beginning of spring you need to start a series you have never read before. Release this work from Mount TBR! Justice Calling by Annie Belletstr
April – Open and Shut Case For the month named after the latin for ‘to open’ you need to read a standalone book with no sequel or links to any other book. Something new and something you can let go after reading it: The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow
May – Crowning Glory? the UK has a lot of bank holidays including a coronation this month so suitably let’s pick a book about revolution or a change of those in power. Questland by Carrie Vaughn
June – long reading days or longest nights Irrespective of your hemisphere you have time for reading either in the joys of summer or depths of winter. Your challenge here is to find the largest tale on Mount TBR and finish it. Let that monster get off your back: Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
July – Holidays are coming! let’s go travelling find a book by the author who lives the furthest from you on the globe. I give you seven months to do the maths! Let’s explore the fiction of places very much not like our own: Eternity Fund by Liz Monument (Australia)
August – Holiday Treats reward time you get to choose the book in your TBR pile no Themes, clues of queries to ask. Just take one off the list!: Lemon Man by Ken Bruton
September – Seven Deadly Tempts read a book linked however you want to one of the seven deadly sins. Booktempting I stress is not one of them. Indulge yourselves: Cash Rules Everything Around Me by Rob Gittins. If that title doesn’t scream Greed, I don’t know what does (the other 6 show up as well in the book)

Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge;

I’ve got 16 of the 24 categories taken care of. So, I guess I’m okay-ish here. I’ll have a few others accomplished by the end of the year, but I think this is going to be an incomplete challenge.

five word title (only 5 words, count ’em up!) – The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow
won an award (the book won an award. any award!)
meant to read it last year (a book you planned to get to in 2022 and didn’t) – The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster
giving an author a second chance (an author (or specific book) you previously didn’t jive with )
an author writing under a pseudonym (the author(s) is not writing under their real name) – Cutthroat Cupcakes by Cate Lawley
2022 debut novel (an author’s first book that released in 2022) – Lemon Man by Ken Bruton
standalone (the book has no prequels/sequels) – Proxies by James T. Lambert
bought and forgot it (a book you bought (or borrowed) and forgot about it) – Cash Rules Everything Around Me by Rob Gittins
plants on the cover (any kind of plant on the cover is fair game) – The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
first in a trilogy (the book is the first of three) – The Curse of the Silver Pharaoh by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris
name in the title (the title has a character name in it) – Klone’s Stronghold by Joyce Reynolds-Ward
set on a continent you don’t live on (the story is set on a continent (or heavily inspired by a place on a continent) you do NOT live on) – Anna and the Vampire Prince by Jeanne C. Stein

it’s a trope! (your favorite) (pick your favorite trope and read a book featuring it)
less than 170 pages (make sure it’s a short one!) – Bartleby and James: Edwardian Steampunk Chronicle by Michael Coorlim
released at least 23 years ago (that’s right, we’re taking it back to the 90’s (release dates in 1999 or before))
protagonist name starts with “M” (the main character has a name beginning with “M”) – Teaching Moments by Troy Lambert (Max)
graphic novel outside your fave genre (find a graphic novel that isn’t in one of your favorite genres)
recommended by a bookseller (ask your local bookseller for a recommendation! if you don’t have a local store, there are plenty with social media accounts to reach out to)
letter “z” in the title (the letter “z” appears somewhere in the title) – A Sh*tload of Crazy Powers by Jackson Ford
all about music or the arts (the story revolves around music or the arts in some way)
protagonist has a pet (any pet will do) – A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames
more than 450 pages (grab a tome and get reading!) – The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
your favorite genre (a book that falls in your favorite genre) – Barking for Business by E. N. Crane
main cover color is your least favorite color (find a book prominently featuring your least favorite color on the cover)

I wrote this after the end of June, and it’s still true today (literally today, not the day it should’ve been had I posted this on time): Looking over this, it’s good that I take these on for fun, if I was serious about these things, I think I’d be getting a little worried. More than anything, the number of books I listed above that I don’t have linked to a particular post tells me how far behind I am on writing.
(Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay)

End of the Year Book Tag

By HCNewton

On November 28, 2023

In Book Tag, Books, News/Misc.

End of Year Book Tag
I saw this on a couple of blogs last week and thought it’d make a good one for me to do. But when I went back to check so I could link to them, I could only find the entry at Biblio Nerd Reflections. Sorry to whoever else inspired me, I didn’t mean to ignore you, but I apparently did.

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

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The only things that really fit here are my project reads—The Existence and Attributes of God: Updated and Unabridged by Stephen Charnock and A Mystery Revealed: 31 Meditations on the Trinity by Ryan McGraw—books that I’ve scheduled my reading to finish on December 31. Hopefully, everything else gets wrapped up before then. I don’t get too worked up about that kind of thing, but I appreciate making a clean start on January 1.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

Nope. I don’t get this kind of thinking—I know a lot of people do read seasonally, and more power to ’em! My brain doesn’t really work that way. I read Christmas-related ARCs in July, I could (but probably haven’t) read a book about a Summer Vacation in the dead of winter. So, basically whatever book I happen to be reading on December 21 will be my transition book.

Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?

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As far as I know (which isn’t very far), the only two that I’m waiting for are Mike Lupica’s Spenser debut in Robert B. Parker’s Broken Trust and the next Bill Smith/Lydia Chin book, The Mayors of New York by S. J. Rozan. But I could easily be forgetting something.

Also, depending on when I decide to post this, the Lupica book could already be out.

What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

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There are five books that I’ve mentioned on previous tags/lists that I haven’t finished yet. I’m picking three of those (because I’m pretty sure that I’ll get to the other two without calling them out). The Moonshine Messiah by Russell W. Johnson, Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman, and Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson Lancaster.

* The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss and The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher

Is there a book you think that could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?

Absolutely. Pretty much anything I pick up between now and 12/31. Sure, I don’t expect The Secret by the Child brothers will be it—that would be a shock for sure. But otherwise, I hold out hope for almost every book. As I’m still not sure what I’m going to read over the next month, I hesitate to mention a likely nominee (although Rothfulss and Butcher have to be in the running).

Have you already started making reading plans for 2024?

I have indeed. And stopped. And started again. And stopped again. I didn’t do a great job with my goals for 2023, so I’m hesitant to commit to much for next year. I’m also trying to figure out how much I want to plan ahead at the moment—it might be a time to lean into whimsy and clearing off my shelves. And polishing off the 2023 plans that didn’t get accomplished.

* How un-great is still TBD.

As usual, I’m not tagging anyone in this—but I’d like to see what you all have to come up with.

MUSIC MONDAY: Elf’s Lament by BNL

By HCNewton

On November 27, 2023

In News/Misc.

Music Monday’s originated at The Tattooed Book Geek‘s fantastic blog and has shown up here and there since then.

(yeah I chickened out with the name, I don’t need those kind of clicks…)

Between Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber-Monday, this seemed appropriate

The Irresponsible Reader Metallica Logo

Saturday Miscellany—11/25/23

By HCNewton

On November 25, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

I’ve thrown this up on a couple of the social media platforms, but I thought I’d ask here, too. I’ve been using Evernote for drafting blog posts, to-do lists, shopping lists, mental notes, etc. for over a decade–but I need a replacement. Any recommendations?

Moving along to the point of this post, the miscellany:

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:
bullet Censoring Kids’ Worlds: Laurie Hertzel on the Danger of Banning Books for Children
bullet Exclusive Cover Reveal of “Loose of Earth” by Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn: We spoke to the designer and the author about the design process for the book—Yup. I’m still a sucker for a look at cover design
bullet Your definitive guide to Goodreads ratings. (Or: why does your favorite book have 3 stars?)—probably my favorite link of the week (no disrespect to any of the others)
bullet Using Popular Culture in Crime Fiction by Lee Goldberg
bullet Audiobooks Have Taken Over My Life, and I Love It—many of us can relate, no?
bullet #R3COMM3ND3D2023 continues, so I continue linking to them (and adding to my TBR):
bullet …with Sam Johnson of My Cosy Book Nook
bullet …with Mags of @magslouisethebookworm
bullet …with Anne Coates, author of the Hannah Weybridge series
bullet …with Karen of Hair Past A Freckle
bullet …with Yvonne of The Coycaterpillar Reads
bullet …with Deb of dds_book_reviews
bullet …with Babs Wilkie of Book Escapes with BabsW67
bullet Vote Now for Fantasy-Faction’s Best SFF Books of 2023!—looking forward to these results
bullet When You Don’t Feel Like a “Real” Bookworm
bullet Let’s Discuss Bookworms vs Readers and Bookish Phobias

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Patrick Rothfuss interview: Part two (of three)—Grimdark Magazine’s overgrown interview with National Treasure, Patrick Rothfuss

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to JK Joy, who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.

Thanksgiving 2023

By HCNewton

On November 23, 2023

In Calendar Items, News/Misc.

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)
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.
Time to read
The Nampa Public Library, The Caldwell Public Library, (and The LYNX! Consortium)
Rediscovered Bookshop and Libro.fm
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. They’ve also continued to step up on the brainstorming front lately.
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.

WWW Wednesday, November 22, 2023

By HCNewton

On November 22, 2023

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

It’s a weird week here in the States–a day off on Thursday (for most of us) followed by that “why did I bother to show up?” day on Friday. Thankfully, I have plenty of things to hide in/distract myself with. I hope you all have the same. Or that you live somewhere that the rest of the week is just Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. That seems like a good alternative.

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?

Easy enough, right?