Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Category: News/Misc. Page 3 of 193
This week’s Saturday Miscellany would have no problem in a 10-Items-Or-Less lane.
Tiny entry this week. But I think you’ll find it worth your time.
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:
Why History & Social Science Cannot Substitute for Classic Fiction—there’s a little snobbery there with the “Classic” bit, but once you account for that…
Judy-Lynn del Rey: The woman who revolutionized the fantasy genre is finally getting her due—a cool profile of an unsung SF/F hero
A Modest Request for a Little More Genre Chaos—Molly Templeton advocates for “gleefully mixing genres”
The Magic-Wielding Characters Bracket Challenge—I fell behind reading these this week, looking forward to catching up—you should, too.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Last Detective by Robert Crais
(and that’s it…very quiet week)
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Good-Looking Ugly by Rob D. Smith—an ugly rageaholic is conned by a long-lost cousin to help her rip off a cockfighting championship inbetween court-ordered therapy sessions.
Remember You Will Die by Eden Robins—I’m not even going to pretend to summarize this book in a line or two…click the link. Love the idea behind this, hope the execution lives up to it.
Head & Shoulders used to tell us that, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That’s true for wearing dark shirts, and it’s especially true for books. Sometimes the characters will hook the reader, sometimes the premise, sometimes it’s just knowing the author—but nothing beats a great opening for getting a reader to commit.
I see in Lwnava Pravda that Luna City Council has passed on first reading a bill to examine, license, inspect—and tax—public food vendors operating inside municipal pressure. I see also is to be mass meeting tonight to organize “Sons of Revolution” talk-talk.
My old man taught me two things: “Mind own business” and “Always cut cards.” Politics never tempted me. But on Monday 13 May 2075 I was in computer room of Lunar Authority Complex, visiting with computer boss Mike while other machines whispered among themselves. Mike was not official name; I had nicknamed him for Mycroft Holmes, in a story written by Dr. Watson before he founded IBM. This story character would just sit and think—and that’s what Mike did. Mike was a fair dinkum thinkum, sharpest computer you’ll ever meet.
Not fastest. At Bell Labs, Buenos Aires, down Earthside, they’ve got a thinkum a tenth his size which can answer almost before you ask. But matters whether you get answer in microsecond rather than millisecond as long as correct?
Not that Mike would necessarily give right answer; he wasn’t completely honest.
from The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
I’m a whiny bookwyrm today. I got hit by a ton of bricks masquerading as a mild cold yesterday and it’s really knocked me for a loop. And everyone in earshot knows just how miserable I am. (typical guy, I know, I know…I don’t plan on changing that. Self-improvement is not my bag)
But you didn’t come here to read me go on and on about that (and I could). So, let’s turn to the WWW.
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?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
|
 |
| The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein |
Not Till We Are Lost by Dennis E. Taylor; read by Ray Porter |
I might have read a Heinlein book in Middle School—I honestly don’t remember if I finished it. But he’s one of those guys you often wonder if you missed something by skipping. So, I might as well, right? Also, it’s the book that the SF Book Club will be discussing next week.
Not Till We Are Lost continues Taylor’s effort to explore deeper and darker issues—while not losing all the yuks. I’m really enjoying this.
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
| Hermit of Paradise by Kim Sanders |
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis, read by Keval Shah |
The less said about Hermit of Paradise the better. So…Dreadful is about a dark wizard who wakes up in his lab, with no recollection of his name, his goals, why he has a princess locked up in a cell, or pretty much anything else. It’s worth the time. Also…last week, in our RPG session, I ended up playing a necromancer who had no memory of his abilities (or that he was a necromancer). It was a nice bit of coincidental timing, and I probably owe Rozakis something for borrowing so much.
What do you think you’ll read next?
 |
 |
| Spook Street by Mick Herron |
Pigeon-Blood Red by Ed Duncan, Dave Keyser |
I had to put Spook Street on hold Monday so I could hit a couple of deadlines…can’t wait to get back to this. A fantastic setup from Herron, can’t wait for the other 2/3.
Pigeon-Blood Red looks like a promising crime thriller. Intrigued by it.
How do you distract yourself from colds/flu/etc.? TV, a comfort read, whatever’s next on the TBR, rewatching beloved movies? (I’m a combination–I used to turn to Rex Stout like chicken soup). What are you reading now (hopefully while healthy)?
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
The Grandcritter has developed a passion for a particular version of “There She Goes.” So I did a little experiment to see if he’d recognize differences in the three versions I’m most familiar with, if he’d respond to the versions he never heard before, and if there was any particular preference.
The Boo Radleys:
He recognized it, but was fairly ambivalent toward it (not an opinion I share, I should stress)
Sixpence None the Richer:
He enjoyed this. Seemed intrigued by the idea someone not The La’s performed it.
The La’s:
The original is definitively the best version (if you ask him). This song will stop a hangry fit, it will increase a great mood, it will capture his attention for at least 3 repeats and will induce dancing that will make any human that can see him smile..
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:
Bookselling Out: How the market transformed American bookstores—a fascinating article/review about what looks like an equally (or more) fascinating book on the history of American bookstores
Quiz: Can You Identify These Last Lines of Classic Mystery and Crime Novels?—I did not do well with this one…
“I Enjoy capturing the time we live in in my writing.” :Buzzkill’s Alison Gaylin—a good Q&A with Gaylin about her latest book.
Why Do Bad Adaptations Scare Us? Cashgrabs, Fandoms and the Terrifying Prospect of When He Was Wicked—I have no opinion on about When He Was Wicked/the prospects thereof, but I enjoyed the rest of it.
Sharpen Your Fangs: A Guide to Vampire Fall—”Vampire Fall”??? This list of books about vampires could make for a year’s TBR (well, if you augmented it a little)
The Magic-Wielding Characters Bracket Challenge—I typically list every entry when Witty & Sarcastic Book Club does a series, but I’m going to lose track if I try. So I’ll just put this link here and tell you to go read these.
Incoming: The ScifiMonth 2024 Challenge, Read-along and Buddy Reads—Bookforager provides a list of prompts for ScifiMonth 2024, it’s going to be a god one, folks. (I might even stick my foot in a little bit this year instead of just reading the posts)
This is just cool
Jeffrey Speight announced this week that this month’s profits from his books Paladin Unbound and Mystic Reborn will go to the Hurricane Helene Relief Fund. I’ve only heard good things about them (particularly Paladin Unbound). Get some good reading and do a little good, too.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Incarnate by Anton Strout
One Kick by Chelsea Cain—I’m still irked we never got a follow-up
L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais—sharing these posts lately about this re-read really makes me want to do another. Particularly when I think about this book.
I noted the release of The Younger Gods by Michael R. Underwood, too.
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The More the Terrier by David Rosenfelt—I’m glad Rosenfelt puts out multiple books a year, or the fact that this is the 30th Andy Carpenter book would make me feel older than I already do. Still, as I recently wrote, this holiday installment is every bit as entertaining as the first books were.
An Instruction in Shadow by Benedict Jacka—the second book in the Stephen Oakwood series. I’m so excited to jump back into this world and learn a bit more about it—I’m seriously tempted to go without sleep for a couple of days so I can finish my current read so I can get to it.
Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin—Rebus, Rankin. ’nuff said.
The Waiting by Michael Connelly—Bosch. Ballard. Connelly. ’nuff said again.
Billy the Kid: The War for Lincoln County by Ryan C. Coleman—Billy the Kid is one of those characters that I’ve always been drawn to. Everything I’ve seen/heard about this book makes me certain that I’m going to relish this telling.
Dogs and Monsters: Stories by Mark Haddon—”eight mesmerizingly imaginative, deeply-humane stories that use Greek myths and contemporary dystopian narratives to examine mortality, moral choices and the many variants of love.”
Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris—the daughters of Jonathan Harker and Professor Moriarty investigate gruesome deaths in turn-of-the-century Paris
Sleep and a deep sense of discontent toward what I’ve been writing lately has kept me from finishing the 4 posts I was hoping to get up this week. Sigh. Anyway, I started my fifth Mick Herron novel (the 4th Slough House/Slow Horses), Spook Street. So why not revisit this, my most in-depth discussion—thanks to Jeff from Spywrite–about Herron.
I have Podcasted—is that the right conjugation?—I have Podcast? I have committed Podcast? I have appeared on a podcast, I guess is the way to put it.
A month or so ago, Friend of the Blog, Jeff Quest who took part in a Q&A some time back about the podcast he co-hosts*, Like the Wolfe. invited me onto one of his other podcasts, Barbican Station. Barbican Station is primarily a look at Mick Herron’s Slough House series, but he’s also looking at some of Herron’s other works, which is where I come in. We discussed Herron’s stand-alone, Reconstruction. Reconstruction is an Espionage-adjacent Thriller, but more of something in the Crime Fiction genre. It’s—simply put—great and the work that turned me into a Herron fan.
We spent about an hour talking about Reconstruction, Herron in general, Slough House, and a few other things. It was a blast. Give it a listen–while you’re at it, give it an extra one for me, since there’s no way I’m going to bear listening to the voice that isn’t Jeff’s.
* He also contributed a nice post in my Strolling Down Amnesia Lane series last year.
I got new glasses today and the vertigo-ish feeling from wearing them is not my favorite thing in the world. I can’t wait for that to be over with.
Also, to paraphrase a certain Fez/Bowtie/Stetson-wearing Mad Man: I wear trifocals now. Trifocals are cool.
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?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
 |
|
| Robert B. Parker’s Buzz Kill by Alison Gaylin |
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis, read by Keval Shah |
Weeks after I initially tried (aka the week it was released) I get to dive into Gaylin’s second at-bat with Sunny Randall in Buzz Kill.
Dreadful is a fun light fantasy with a lot of heart, and I really wish I got to spend more time listening to it today.
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
| A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke |
Constituent Service by John Scalzi, read by Amber Benson |
I’m going to be writing a post for A New Lease on Death soon, but the tl;dr version is this: of the four Blacke novels I’ve read/enjoyed, this is the best.
Consistent Service is zany Scalzi SF humor with a dynamite job from Benson. (she’s gotta be in the running for my coveted 1st Annual Narrator of the Year designation)
What do you think you’ll read next?
|
|
| Spook Street by Mick Herron |
Not Till We Are Lost by Dennis E. Taylor; read by Ray Porter |
Spook Street is likely up next. Not (just) so I can watch the new season of Slow Horses.
And unless I hear about an audio review copy or a library hold that comes up, I get to catch up with the new Bobiverse book. Which should be fun. Maybe a little dark. But fun.
What’s keeping you busy/entertaining you/distracting you from life in general?
I was feeling bad about it being this far into October before I had a chance to put together my Third Quarter Check-in until I realized that I skipped the 2nd Quarter. I’m really not on top of things this year. This is a recurring theme for this post.
I’d hoped to keep charging ahead with Grandpappy’s Corner and Literary Locals, and while those haven’t completely died off, I haven’t done that much with them. I think the next couple of months should bear fruit along those lines, though. We’ll see.
How’s the perennial, “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own” goal going? Well, I bought very few books in February, so that helped, but overall…?
| Audio | E-book | Physical | Goodreads Want-to-Read |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of 2023 |
6 | 46 | 68 | 153 |
| End of 1st Quarter | 4 | 50 | 64 | 154 |
| End of 2nd Quarter | 3 | 54 | 79 | 162 |
| End of 3rd Quarter | 5 | 58 | 75 | 166 |
Goodreads Challenge
Keep sighing, Downey
12 Books
I haven’t made any dent this at all yet (I still haven’t written posts on 2 of the books that I read last year!!) It’s really getting under my skin. Which is exactly what I said in April. Still true. Still under my skin.
-
- A Book with a Dragon: Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire
- A Book with the word “leap” in the title: I’m having trouble finding one that I’m interested in. Any suggestions?
- A Book with the Olympics: I’ve got one picked out, if that counts.
- A Book with an Election or Politician: The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher has a few politicians
- A Work of Fiction with an Eclipse: I’m utterly clueless. Any suggestions?
- A Book by an Author Who Has Written Over 24 Books: Dream Town by Lee Goldberg
- A Book Set in a Different Culture Than Your Own: I have an idea or two.
- A Book of Poetry: Poetry Comics by Grant Snider (I feel bad picking this, but until something else comes along…)
- A Book with Time Travel: A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
- A Book with Antonyms in the Title: Still drawing a blank (you’d think this’d be easy)
- A Book Told from the Villian’s Point of View: Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart kind of applies.
- A Book With a Purple Cover: Abnormal Ends by Bryan McBee
The 2024 Booktempter’s TBR Challenge
I’m on-target for this one (as much as I can be), and have even accomplished a Stretch Goal.
January – Lucky Dip: Randomly choose a book by someone you’ve never read before: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Stretch Goal – In the same spirit I give you permission to read the last book to enter your TBR pile. Actually read something you’ve got yourself to recently read: Hacked by Duncan MacMaster
February – Lovers Meeting: No not romantasy focused – this challenge is somewhere in TBR is a delayed treat. Read an author you’ve loved and held back from reading because the time was not right. Its time for you two to get re-acquainted. Enjoy yourself! Return of the Griffin by JCM Berne
March – Spring :You know that first book of a series you bought and have now realised is now finished? You have my permission to read this at last. And you know what? Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn
April – Diamond Anniversary: Diamond is the birthstone of April so your challenge is to read something over 60 years old: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
May – The Fourth…May the force be with you and I permit you to read a SF themed tale: Grave Cold by Shannon Knight
June – The Longest Days: You may choose the longest book in your TBR pile the days are long so go for it: The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
July – The Ides have it In an ongoing tribute to Julius pick a tale of intrigue and scheming: The Last King of California by Jordan Harper
August – Travel Broadens the Mind: Choose a Book that is from an author from a different country to yourself: The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong. I’ve read all from other places that aren’t from this year, so…Canada (which doesn’t seem to count, but does)
September – Back To School: Choose a Book about a character learning something – be it in school, a new power or something about themselves: Project Hail Mary by Andy Wier
Backlist Bingo 2024
I really need to get moving.
In sum…a lot of stuff to read. A lot more to write. Probably impossible numbers, but fun to try (mostly). Overall, however, when it comes to my goals and challenges, Mike Ehrmantraut speaks for me.
(Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay)
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
This was my sister and her groom’s first dance at her wedding this weekend, and now it’s stuck in my head. Might as well plant an earworm or two out there.