Category: News/Misc. Page 4 of 202

WWW Wednesday—February 19, 2025

On February 19, 2025

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

How is it that January seemed to be 450 days long, and we’re over halfway through February in maybe 6 days? It just makes no sense…

I wasn’t able to translate the holiday into extra reading–or furniture buying (not that I was thinking about it, but what else are you supposed to do with Presidents’ Day?). I did get some quality time with some family members, so I’m not complaining at all. And wherever this paragraph was headed, I lost my path. So, let’s just get on with the 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?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson	Passageways by Rebecca Carey Lyles, Editor	Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade, read by John Pirhalla

Last week, I said that I’d tried Snow Crash a couple of times before–I’m pretty sure that if I’d read another chapter or two, I wouldn’t have stopped. This is fun.

Passageways is an uneven, but interesting, collection that I should have wrapped up by the end of the month.

Wade’s first novel has promise, and still has a few hours to make me a fan. But it has to overcome a couple of serious deficits (and odd switches between 1st and 3rd-person narration that I don’t understand).

What did you recently finish reading?


Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire	Ingredients: The Strange Chemistry of What We Put in Us and on Us by George Zaidan

McGuire’s latest was duly impressive. I need to come up with another 200+ words to express that by the end of the week. But that’ll do for a start.

Zaidan’s book is a great mix of information, cynicism, analysis, careful explanation, and goofy humor. Highly recommended.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan	Dead Money by Jakob Kerr, read by Rachel Music

It’s the third adventure for Morgan Carter. I’m looking forward to seeing how she goes about this creature hunt.

I apparently have another debut thriller on deck. Hopefully, this one makes a better first impression.

Are you in the middle of something good right now, or are you waiting for something to convince you it’s worth your time?

Captivating Character of January: Maggie Dunn née McCormick

By HCNewton

On February 18, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Connie at Reading Ladies has started a new monthly feature, Most Captivating Character of the Month. It didn’t take me too long to decide who would be my choice for January, Maggie Dunn from Don’t Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp.

In my original post, I said:

You can tell from the beginning that she’s smart. She’s driven. She’s brave (at least in the face of some things…like dying). She loves her family. She’s gone through a lot. She’s pretty funny. (probably pretty, too, but that’s not that important, especially when you see the world through her eyes). You later learn what a good friend she can be and why she was elected.

Now, like a parfait, or an onion, or an ogre—Maggie has layers. I’m not going to talk about those layers because you need to discover them for yourself. But she has them—and you keep learning about those layers as the book continues. Each layer—for me, anyway, and I predict for most readers—got me to like her more as a person (pretty frequently) and as a character (always). Is there a difference? Sure—one extreme example (that doesn’t apply here, but gets my point across) would be Dr. Lecter. Fantastic character, but not someone you’d want to hang out with.

A Little More About Her:

In High School, she was a high-achieving student and occasional pot smoker. Until her mother died, and then the smoking increased (and maybe she dabbled in some harder drugs). But she stayed high-achieving and went off to college, becoming a prosecuting attorney in her home town (which brought her back into contact with her dealer, among others).

Along the way, she married a doctor and had two children. She’s popular in the town, thanks in part to her family’s very popular restaurant, her public service, and, well…many things. So she’s now in her first term as the mayor.

The more we get to know her (as I suggested above) we get to see many of the layers and layers underneath the glossy and impressive surface. Many of these layers will make you like her, some will make her relatable and keep her from being too good to be true. And other layers, well, it’s captivating character of the month–not admirable character of the month.

What character would you name for last month?

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MUSIC MONDAY: “James K. Polk” by They Might be Giants

By HCNewton

On February 17, 2025

In News/Misc.

The Irresponsible Reader's Music Monday logo

Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.

Not a wealth of songs appropriate for Presidents’ Day. So why not one about a President?

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Week 2 Check-in: I’m Reading Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society

By HCNewton

On February 15, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

No change since last week…other than the calendar (yes, I’m still reading every day!). So, consider this a reminder that I’m doing this and that I’d appreciate some support!

No one is a fan of cancer. I daresay there’s no one ambivalent toward it.* We’ve all had our lives, the lives of family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and even pets devastated by it in one form or another. Fighting cancer, researching better ways to fight it, preventing it–all are laudatory ends. So, I participated in this fundraiser last year on a lark—I’m pretty much going to read every day anyway–let’s see if I can earn some money for a good cause, right?

But this year, it’s personal. Last year, four people in my family dealt with cancer in some significant ways. Three of us seem to have dealt with it successfully—we’re not unscathed, but aside from follow-up tests, we’re pretty much done with it. One member of the family is undergoing treatment now, and we all have high hopes, although the road is a bit bumpy. So it’s not a lark this time, and I’m going to talk more about it than I did last year. (I probably should’ve taken it more seriously last year, but it’s too late to do something about that now).

So please, friends and readers, Donate. Every little bit helps. So, please, chip in. And watch this space as I fill in this calendar (and hopefully, the thermometer). Week One has brought a couple of more donors, making good progress at the goal. I’ve also chatted with some others who are planning to donate–which warms the cockles of my heart. Thanks for the support!!

I’ve heard there are some glitches, and it seems like a particular social network is being invasive while trying to pay. If you want to help and don’t want to deal with that, send me a message and we’ll work something out!

Here’s a quick glance at my month’s reading to date.

* As soon as I typed that, I could imagine someone objecting to that characterization. But I’m going to pretend to have faith in humanity and keep the sentence.

Saturday Miscellany—2/15/25

By HCNewton

On February 15, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

It’s not often that I have a theme for these posts (outside of year end wrap ups, but even then…), but boy howdy, no one seemed to talk about anything else this week (outside of a certain SF creep or two).
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 Is That a Familiar Feeling?—”Rosalind Harvey explores the complex emotional and professional terrain of literary translation, weaving together attachment theory, career precarity, and the unseen labor of bringing words across linguistic borders.” (which feels like a lot to cover, but Harvey does it well)
bullet THE BEST OF THE BEST- My Favourite Books of All Time—How anyone could accomplish a Herculean task like this is beyond my ken. A good list, for sure (including a prodding to get to one book that’s been sitting on my shelf for too long)
bullet Twisted Love: 7 books with vampires (that aren’t Twilight)
bullet Five Signs You Might Be Crushing on a Book—If I had time for fan-fic, I’d likely have experienced all of these. Otherwise, yeah, I’ve had several crushes (every year of my life)
bullet Books with Relationships for People Who Don’t Love Love: 2025 Edition—We don’t get all gushy and swoony this week. Jodie plays the Scrooge to keep us from it.
bullet What Literary Love Story Are You Destined To Have? (A Valentine’s Day Personality Quiz)—I’ve never read my personalisty type, but Mrs. Irresponsible Reader has a well-read edition. Probably a good sign for me.
bullet Dating App Profile For Book Characters—No offense to anyone, but this might be my favorite of the week.
bullet A Few of My Favorite Literary Couples

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet I had exactly one post for the week in 2015, in which I mentioned the release of Deadly Spells by Jaye Wells (a book that I never got around to picking up)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Annihilation Aria by Michael Underwood—has been re-released. I’d call this Underwood’s criminally-underselling space opera, but I tend to describe all of Underwood’s work as “criminally-underselling”, and I hold all of you responsible. This story about space archeologists, found family, and alien cultures is absolutely something you should read.
bullet Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett—everyone’s favorite dryadologist gets plunges into the intrigue of a Faerie Kingdom.
bullet Retreat by Krysten Ritter with Lindsay Jamieson—I’m semi-curious about this, becasue of Ritter’s previous novel more than because of this premise. But props to Ritter/the Publisher for crediting the ghostwriter.

(people still say, “props to ___” right? Fellow Kids, tell me that’s still a thing)

Highlights from January: Lines Worth Repeating

By HCNewton

On February 13, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations

Highlights from the Month

The Boys of Riverside: A Deaf Football Team and a Quest for Glory by Thomas Fuller

Desire is a tree with leaves, hope is a tree in bloom, enjoyment is a tree with fruit.

Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire

Romantic love is not required to live a full and happy life, my seedlings,” Father had told us, watching carefully to be sure we took his message to heart, “but if you cannot love one who loves you truly in return, find friends, find companions, find people who will tell you the truths you cannot carry and unveil the lies you cannot see. Most of all, cleave to each other, for you will be the only sure support you have in all this world.

The force of their wanting cut channels in the world.

You’re his child because parentage is so much more than blood. Parentage is showing up and being present, is love and learning and compassion and care.

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds

Svetlana forced herself to nod. She could never quite overcome a lingering prejudice against the comet miners. They were too brave, too courageous. Svetlana thought that the only kind of person you wanted anywhere near any part of a fusion motor was someone with a strong aversion to risk.

Cowards were exactly the kind of people you wanted around nuclear technology.

“You could give scheming lessons to Machiavelli,” Parry said.

“I did. He flunked.”

Sword & Thistle by S.L. Rowland

When he smiled, Dobbin recognized him by his missing front teeth. Hildir had lost them in an unfortunate accident involving too many drinks, a frying pan, and a gelatinous cube.

On nights like this, he wondered if he could ever truly give it up. The traveling, the exploration, meeting new people, and experiencing the hidden treasures of Aedrea. To settle down in one place for the rest of his life trapped in a cage…

Then again, wasn’t that what books were for? He could live a hundred lives and still sleep in a warm bed at night.

“We’re adventurers. We make our living doing stupid things.”

“You can lead a griffin to the mountains, but you can’t make it fly.”

Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes by Moshe Kasher

Once at the mechanic, you find out what the problem is. Busted transmission, engine failure, acute cirrhosis. That knowledge is VITAL. Without it you cannot move forward. But that knowledge doesn’t fix the car. It only makes the fixing of the car possible.

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

The world was so old and exhausted that many now saw it as a dying great-grand on a surgical table, body decaying from use and neglect, mind fading down to a glow.

Lark laughed. It was her habit when delighted to rise lightly on tiptoe as if forgotten by gravity.

Why do this to yourself you say, and I reply Why not?

As enemies go, despair has every ounce of my respect.

He was suspected of wisdom but it’s a tough thing to prove …

The Innocent Sleep by Seanan McGuire

Love is a knife forever suspended an inch from your heart, and if it falls or you stumble into it, you can all too easily find yourself impaled and bleeding.

Like every other baby I’d seen, he looked nothing like his parents, and more like the unpleasant blend of a salmon and a drowned human.

From a great enough height, even water may turn into a weapon.

(Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay)

WWW Wednesday—February 12, 2025

By HCNewton

On February 12, 2025

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

It’s the 43rd day of the year, also known as February 12. And you know if I’m resorting to counting the days, I don’t have a lot to say by way of introduction. So let’s just get on with it.

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?


Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire	Passageways by Rebecca Carey Lyles, Editor	The Greatest Nobodies of History: Minor Characters from Major Moments by Adrian Bliss

I just started the ARC for the upcoming InCryptid novel from McGuire, and am eager to see what kind of mess was left after the last book.

1.5 years after I was given this short story collection by Becky Lyles, I’m done putting it off.

This book by Bliss is an interesting mix of humor and history (heavy on the former, but informed by the latter). Love the concept, if nothing else.

What did you recently finish reading?


Anxious People by Fredrik Backman	Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, read by Barton Welch

Backman’s Anxious People was hilarious, touching, sobering, heart-warming, and wise.

I appreciated going through Stevenson’s book again, I was able to better appreciate the structure, the way he set everything up, and so on without being distracted by all the twists, turns, and reveals.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson	Long Past Dues by James J. Butcher, read by James Patrick Cronin

Snow Crash is the selection for the SciFi Book Club this month–somehow, I’ve yet to make it past the first third of the book in the decades I’ve spent trying, as much as I’ve enjoyed that third. That streak ends soon.

I remember being thrown by the way Butcher’s second novel ended. It’ll be good to revisit this and to see how he laid the groundwork for it.

Do you have a date with a book for St. Valentine’s Day, or are you going for something more conventional?

Book Blogger Hop: How Do You Read Book Series?

By HCNewton

On February 12, 2025

In Book Blogger Hop, Books, News/Misc.

Book Blogger Hop

This prompt was submitted by Idea-ist @ Get Lost in Literature:

Do you prefer to read series one book after another, or can you read other books in between?

Once upon a time, I used to binge-read series. One after another after another like Lays potato chips. But I don’t let myself do that anymore–there are two reasons for this,

I kept losing track of which novel was which, they just ran together into one huge book. Which doesn’t sound all that bad, but it took away from appreciating each novel as its own thing. (some TV critics have said the same thing about releasing/watching an entire season of a show at once instead of the week-by-week approach).
Burnout. Part of this is spill-over from the one-giant novel effect. But really, just too much of a series voice at once just cuts the effectiveness of it.

If we’re talking series with several volumes released, I typically like to do one book a month or so. Enough time to soak in the details, ruminate on each book (hopefully write a post on it), and then get into the next book.

Huh. I thought I had more to say on this than that.

What about you, are you a binger or do you stretch things out?

Opening Lines: The Greatest Nobodies of History by Adrian Bliss

By HCNewton

On February 11, 2025

In Blog Series, Currently Reading, News/Misc., Opening Lines, Quotations

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 think it was Julius Caesar’s barber who once said, “Everyone remembers the heroes, but it is the nobodies who make history,” which was just so like him. He was right, of course. If Genghis Khan’s childhood nanny had been a touch more attentive, and if Alexander the Great’s friends hadn’t suggested a group trip to Persia, everything would’ve been different. Neither you nor I would be here and this book would never have been published. Thankfully, in this timeline, everyone did their bit, from Michelangelo’s marble dealer to Cleopatra’s hairstylist and as such, we are all here, and so is this book.

from The Greatest Nobodies of History: Minor Characters from Major Moments By Adrian Bliss

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MUSIC MONDAY: “Crunchy Granola Suite” by Neil Diamond

By HCNewton

On February 10, 2025

In News/Misc.

The Irresponsible Reader's Music Monday logo

Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.

I love this bit from the Wikipedia page about the song:

David Wild in his book He Is– I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond, said, “he managed to write the coolest song ever written about granola or any other breakfast food made of rolled oats, nuts and honey”.

(and you know I’m hunting for that book as soon as I hit “Schedule” on this post)

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