Category: News/Misc. Page 5 of 194

Music Monday

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..

Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

Saturday Miscellany—10/19/24

By HCNewton

On October 19, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday 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 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
bullet Quiz: Can You Identify These Last Lines of Classic Mystery and Crime Novels?—I did not do well with this one…
bullet “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.
bullet 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.
bullet 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)
bullet 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.
bullet 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
bullet 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?
bullet Incarnate by Anton Strout
bullet One Kick by Chelsea Cain—I’m still irked we never got a follow-up
bullet 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.
bullet 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:
bullet 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.
bullet 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.
bullet Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin—Rebus, Rankin. ’nuff said.
bullet The Waiting by Michael Connelly—Bosch. Ballard. Connelly. ’nuff said again.
bullet 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.
bullet 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.”
bullet Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris—the daughters of Jonathan Harker and Professor Moriarty investigate gruesome deaths in turn-of-the-century Paris

REPOSTING JUST CUZ: I Was On a Thing: Barbican Station – Episode 13

By HCNewton

On October 18, 2024

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc.

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.

WWW Wednesday—October 16, 2024

By HCNewton

On October 16, 2024

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

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?

2024 Plans and Challenges: Third Quarter Check-In

By HCNewton

On October 15, 2024

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

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.

Reading with Wrigs

- 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.

✔ 1. This is Who We Are Now by James Bailey (my post about it)
✔ 2. Blood Reunion by JCM Berne
✔ 3. Ways And Truths And Lives by Matt Edwards
✔ 4. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
✔ 5. Grammar Sex and Other Stuff: A Collection of (mostly humorous) Essays by Robert Germaux (my post about it)
✔ 6. The Camelot Shadow by Sean Gibson
✔ 7. Last King of California by Jordan Harper
✔ 8. Steam Opera by James T. Lambert (my post about it)
✔ 9. The Glass Frog by J. Brandon Lowry (my post about it)
✔ 10. The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan (substitution) (my post about it)

✔ 11. Curse of the Fallen by H.C. Newell
✔ 12. Heart of Fire by Raina Nightengale (my post about it)
✔ 13. Detours and Do-overs by Wesley Parker (my post about it)
✔ 14. Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulson (my post about it)
✔ 15. Howl by e rathke (my post about it)
✔ 16. Bard Tidings by Paul J. Regnier
✔ 17. Panacea by Alex Robins
✔ 18. Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland (my post about it)
✔ 19. Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp (my post about it)
✔ 20. The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong (my post about it)

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: At Last by Etta James

By HCNewton

On October 14, 2024

In News/Misc.

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.

Saturday Miscellany—10/12/24

By HCNewton

On October 12, 2024

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Is it Saturday already? I’d have believed it was October 8–or December 8*, actually—if you’d told me. Been one of those weeks.

* All the political advertisements on my social media feeds make that unbelievable, actually.

Three things make a list, we’re told. So my streak continues.
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 What’s the Point of Epigraphs Anyway?—good question. I learned more about epigraphs than I expected to know about them ever here.
bullet Pitting Literary Fiction Against Genre Fiction Is Intrinsically Silly: Stop allowing the quest for literary bonafides to get in the way of creativity and enjoyment—hear, hear.
bullet Why you shouldn’t judge others for their reading tastes—Bookworm girl makes the same point, but from the reader’s POV.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Crime Time FM’s CHRISTINE BOYER In Person With Paul—answered pretty much every question I had about the book after reading, and was interesting beyond that. (it also reminded me to revisit her entry in Jacked.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
I didn’t post anything but my Saturday Miscellany that week. I don’t know what was going on, but it was keeping me busy. I did mention the release of a few books:

Broken Soul by Faith Hunter—I honestly have trouble remembering which Yellowrock is which, but it was likely a good one. (a good Yellowrock novel is pretty much a tautology)

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan—I actually predicted that this would be the last novel to feature Percy Jackson. Ohhh, I was too old to be that naive. Regardless, it was a fun read.

Poison Fruit by Jacqueline Carey—the third and final Agent of Hel book. Not the best way to end a trilogy (some of the plot points still bother me), but it was satisfying.

Run by Andrew Grant—ahhh…back in those halcyon days when I anticipated a new Andrew Grant (now Child) novel.

Pennyroyal Academy by M. A. Larson—I didn’t get around to reading this YA Grimm-type tale, but it looked good.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
(not even a list this week, but I know next week there will be a good sized one.)
bullet The Wishing Stone by Adam Holcombe—I’m chomping at the bit to tear into the second book in the Chronicles of Gam Gam. Judging by what I’m seeing on “the socials,” including this post from Witty and Sarcastic Book Club, there’s something to that buzz.

(also applies to my living room)

WWW Wednesday—October 9, 2024

By HCNewton

On October 9, 2024

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

So, it turns out I reserved, and checked out, the ebook for What You Are Looking for Is in the Library last week, whoops. Back for another 6 week wait on that one. It’s been a week of writer’s block and fatigue so far–maybe not block, but writer’s dissatisfaction. Which is results in the same thing. But hey…let’s do a quick WWW check in anyway, and I can pretend I’m a consistent blogger.

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?


My Darkest Prayer by S.A. Cosby	On Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune Godedited by Matthew Barrett	How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley, read by Clare Corbett

Cosby’s first novel isn’t as polished as his second one–but he hits you with his talent on every page. (at least so far) Yeah, Blacktop Wasteland was a leap ahead of this one. But I’d buy a handful of books of this caliber without a complaint.

I should finish with the Barret book by the end of the week–I should be done with it by now, actually. It’s not a book that should be read this quickly–and when I re-read it, I will take weeks longer to do so.

I’m not sure what to think of Pooley’s novel yet. There are parts that are a lot of fan–and there are parts that are just there. It’s Gayle’s All the Lonely People meets How the Penguins Saved Veronica with a dash of Richard Osman thrown in. I’m not quite at the halfway point as of this writing–I’ll have more to say soon.

What did you recently finish reading?


The More the Terrier by David Rosenfelt	Starter Villain by John Scalzi, read by Wil Wheaton

Hopefully you’ll see my thoughts about The More the Terrier this week, but the short version is: reliably entertaining with a dash of holiday cheer.

It took me a little longer to finish Starter Villain than I expected–it was just one of those weeks. That just prolonged the time I got to spend in that world. I’m ready to listen again (well, not really…it’s still too fresh. But give me a couple of months…)

What do you think you’ll read next?


A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke	Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller, read by January LaVoy

I wondered if Olivia Black was done with the Record Shop Mysteries by the end of the last one, and it certainly appears she is with the launch of this new series. So, what is it? It’s got an Odd Couple-ish pair of roommates solving supernatural mysteries in Boston. The grumpy roommate is a new ghost, and the younger, happier woman is alive. Hard to get more mismatched than that.

The Library brought me Lula Dean’s Little Library again, so I can finish it–and decide if it was worth coming back to.

Tell me what kinds of things you’re reading that I should add to my pile.

September 2024 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On October 9, 2024

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

I finished 16 titles (12 down from last month, 12 down from last September, too), with an equivalent of 4,948+ pages or the equivalent (4,460 down from last month, even with me finishing up a couple of project reads), and gave them an average of 4.13 stars (.27 up from last month).

If you haven’t checked out some of the non-reviewish posts, I’d really suggest looking into Saint the Terrifying spotlight, the Shannon Knight guest post, and the Chat with Adrian M. Gibson. Those’re posts that need more attention (because of the others involved, I should stress).

So, here’s what happened here in September.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	4.125
	3		0
	5		0
	4		0
	1		0
	3

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2023	6	47	68	153	5
1st of the Month	4	58	75	162	6
Added	3	2	4	5	2
Read/ Listened	2	2	4	1	2
Current Total	5	58	75	166	6

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 14
Self-/Independent Published: 3

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	1 (6%)	7 (4%)
Fantasy	2 (13%)	31 (16%)
General Fiction/ Literature	0 (0%)	18 (9%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	4 (25%)	57 (29%)
Non-Fiction	1 (6%)	17 (9%)
Science Fiction	3 (19%)	14 (7%)
Theology/ Christian Living	2 (13%)	22 (11%)
Urban Fantasy	3 (19%)	4 (21%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	0 (0%)	4 (2%)

Review-ish Things Posted

Institutes of Elenctic Theology Vol. 2: Eleventh through Seventeenth Topics by Francis Turretin: A Master Class on Theology and Methodology Continues
Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulsen: Death Doesn’t Stop this Marshall
Buddy the Knight and The Queen of Sorrow by Peter David: A Tale of Friendship, Devotion, Bravery and Heart
Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp: Filled with Great Food, a Lot of Laughs, and Love
Redemptive History & Biblical Interpretation: The Shorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos Edited by Richard B. Gaffiin, Jr.: A Treasure of Briefer Theological Writings
This Is Who We Are Now by James Bailey: A One Corvette Short of a Textbook Mid-Life Crisis
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 55: Cursed by R. T. Slaywood: ANSWERS!! Explanations! Backstory!
The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 56: What We All Want by R. T. Slaywood: That Seems Like a Mistake…
Candle & Crow by Kevin Hearne: Growing, Changing, and Moving On
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien: A Nice Bit of Insight into Middle Earth
Nugget’s Tenth Life by Adam Holcombe: The Backstory I Didn’t Need, But Am So Glad I Got
Heart of Fire by Raina Nightingale: A Mixed Bag with Cool Dragons, Some Good Characters, and a Lot of Promise

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th), I also wrote and/or posted:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

Opening Lines: My Darkest Prayer by S.A. Cosby

By HCNewton

On October 8, 2024

In Blog Series, Currently Reading, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, 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 handle the bodies.

That’s what I say when people ask me what I do for a living. I find that gets one of two responses. They drift away to the other side of the room and give me a sideways glance the rest of the night or they let out a nervous laugh and move the conversation in another, less macabre direction. I could always say I work at a funeral home, but where’s the fun in that?

Every once in a while, when I was in the Corps, someone would see me at Starbucks or that modern mecca Walmart in my utility uniform. Sometimes they’d catch me in my dress blues after a military ball just trying to grab something before heading back to the base. ‘They would walk up to me and say, “Thank you for your service.” I’d mumble something like “No, thank you for your support,” or some other pithy rejoinder, and they would wander away with a nice, satisfied look on their faces. Sometimes what I wanted to say was “I took care of the bodies, The bodies with the legs blown off or the hands shredded, The bodies full of ball bearings and nails and whatever tome kid could find to build his IED. I loaded the bodies up and dragged them back to the base, then went back out on another patrol and prayed to a God that seemed to be only half listening that today wasn’t the day that someone would have to take care of my body”

But I don’t think that would have given them the same warm and fuzzy feeling.

from My Darkest Prayer by S.A. Cosby
Cover of My Darkest Prayer by S.A. Cosby
(if you’re feeling pedantic, those are the first paragraphs of Chapter One, not the Prologue)

Opening Lines Logo