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 9 of 193
If you have the means, I strongly recommend seeing Ben Folds live, as I did a couple of days ago (just one of the many reasons this week I spent almost no time online). No light show, no pyrotechnics, elaborate sets, backup dancers, or any of the typical tropes. Just one man and a piano (okay, a bunch of paper airplanes, too).
Much blog-hopping and so on to catch up on this week.
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:
How to read more, according to the Booker Prize 2024 judges—If anyone knows how to do this, it’s those who had to read all the (not quick and easy reads) for this Prize
My Guilty Pleasure: I’m a Gen Xer Reading Comic Books Once Again
Your Hero Could Beat Up My Hero—a fun little post to entice readers into The Recruiter
On Lying About Reading, or: How I Learned That Stieg Larsson Is Good, Actually—”Sara Martin Considers the Motivations Behind Our Literary Untruths”
When It’s Time To Change Your Reading Habits—Molly Templeton launches a personal attack against me. Or maybe it just feels that way.
“You Were Always The Wrong Guy Until You Weren’t” – Thoughts on the Flawed Hero—Peat Long continues his beef with Scrubs‘ Dr. Percival Cox while offering some good thought-provoking thoughts on flawed heroes.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison—one of the better entries in the series, iirc
W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton—the antepenultimate book in the series (how often do I get to use that word?)
The Competition by Marcia Clark
Never Go Back by Lee Child—Remember when I liked reading Reacher?
The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne—a new SF novella looks like a lot of fun (hint: he’s a hermit because he’s an alien trying not to get caught)
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell—I’ve always been a sucker for Rowell’s non-YA fantasy. This book about a couple’s second-chance looks like a nice time
Gail Borden Public Library helps me stay topical with this:
Here’s a quick check-in for this challenge run by Cathy at 746 Books.
I am making a substitution, I had to DNF one of the books. With prejudice. That’s really all I want to say about it. (but that’s why one books is out of order on the graphic and list below).
Math is not my friend right now…I’m 50% done with the reading for this challenge with 33% of the time left. And I’ve written about 15% of the books.The book I’m substituting is one I need to be posting about on August 15, so that will help the latter stat at least.
Things aren’t looking good at this point. But I’m going to go down swinging (or reading…probably reading)
Let’s take a quick look at my progress in June:
| ✔ 1. This is Who We Are Now by James Bailey 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 ✔ 9. The Glass Frog by J. Brandon Lowry 10. The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan |
11. Curse of the Fallen by H.C. Newell 12. Heart of Fire by Raina Nightengale ✔ 13. Detours and Do-overs by Wesley Parker (my post about it) 14. Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulson ✔ 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 19. Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp 20. The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong |
(subject to change, as is allowed, but I’m going to resist the impulse to tweak as much as I can).
July is ending in just a few hours, and I’m feeling the pressure when it comes to all the things I wanted to do this Summer (or this month, truth be told, but I think it’s too late for that). It has cooled down by a few degrees here, so that helps. Especially if you think of the gray skies as being full of rain clouds, and not wildfire smoke.
That’s a dark and not-readerly direction, eh? Let’s see if I can get back on track.
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?
Today I’m diving into the ARC of The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston, and I hope it’s half as good as it looks. I’m also listening to the very fun and relatable Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed, read by Paige McKinney on audiobook.
What did you recently finish reading?
I just finished J. Brandon Lowry’s The Glass Frog, a charming little read, and Midnight Riot/Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith on audio—which was as fun to revisit as I expected.
What do you think you’ll read next?
My next book should be The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong and my next audiobook should be What’s Eating Jackie Oh by Patricia Park, read by Ami Park. I didn’t mean to pick a theme there, but I seem to have done so.
What’s the end of July look like for you? How’re you doing on any Summer Reading Goals?
I sat down a few days ago to talk with John Simons about the second year of his new Con, RinthCon, and the little twist to it that makes it an experience like no other you’ll find on the Convention Circuit today.
I posted a little something about RinthCon 2323 last year before the event, but didn’t follow up like I should’ve. I expect better of me this year.
https://irresponsiblereader.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=37891#edit_timestamp
Are you a Reader of Things and want to chat with me about an author/series/something other than promoting your own work (which we will do, just not primarily)? I’d love to keep trying this, but I’m not ready to start pestering people about it. So please let me know.
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
This is one of those songs that everyone and their sister covers, but there’s something about Tedeschi’s live version that separates her from the pack.
Wow, I’m running behind today.
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 you should buy physical copies of your favorite books—Odd territory (if you ask me) for Popular Science, but hey…
Florida’s Commissioner of Education thinks Jane Austen was an American.—one of those stories that short circuits the brain as you read it. To be fair, we all make mistakes like this from time to time, and it feels mean to draw attention to it. But when I do something like this, I don’t have a staff checking over my material or posting it. Surely, someone could’ve caught this.
At My High School, the Library Is for Everything but Books: The administration has rebranded our library as a communal space for doing almost everything except reading.
Why don’t straight men read novels?—beyond the headline which threatened to tell me things about myself that were news to me, there’s some good stuff in this piece.
Defining Grimdark Fantasy and SF: Moving to an Inclusive Future
Free George R. R. Martin from The Winds of Winter—there’s something to this, a lot to it, really.
Maximize Your Reading Budget: 5 Tips for Free Reading—none of these include piracy, which is nice
Speak your damn mind – or why you should write opinionated book reviews
Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week 2024 wraps up today (frequent visitors to this site may not have realized it was going on this week, oops). If you, like me, are really behind on the posts—what better time to catch up?
“Toss a Coin To Your Bard” by Bjørn Larssen—One of my favorite pieces from the week was this guest post on Sue’s Musings.
Tough Questions Featuring Joel C. Flanagan-Grannemann—Joel C. Flanagan-Grannemann felt the pressure in the latest of Witty & Sarcastic Book Clubs’ series
After Narnia: Books That Will Remind You of C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles (your results may vary)
Blogiversary #7—Reading Ladies Book Club turned the big 0-7 yesterday!
The Problem of the Unpunished Protagonist—as you read this post, you’re going to start compling your own list of this type of protagonist
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan
Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta—a fantastic stand-alone thriller by Koryta
The Rise & Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman—”a lovely little book I can’t really talk about without over explaining”
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith—Cormoron Strike’s second outing
And I mentioned the release of two installments in favorite series: Hounded by David Rosenfeldt and The Forsaken by Ace Atkins
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Wrong Hands by Mark Billingham—Detective Miller is back, and might have just been given the leverage he needs over his wife’s suspected killer. But of course, it’s not that easy, especially once you “Sprinkle in a Midsomer Murders-obsessed hitman, a psychotic welder, and a woman driven over the edge by a wayward Crème Egg.”
Domestication by Shannon Knight—anything I say about this book without reading it will be wrong. But for a creepy-looking time, this will fit the bill.
The Recruiter by Gregg Podolski—”When bad guys need good help, they call Rick Carter.” After spending a decade helping Europe’s worst criminals get things done, Carter has to play the hero to save his family.
The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu—The author of Moxie makes her adult fiction debut with a look behind the scenes at a Texas High School.
(updated 7/26/24)
From the first moment that people did the strange thing of asking me to talk about their books on my blog, I’ve been impressed by the quality of a lot of what’s been published by authors going out on their own, taking all the risks, shouldering all the responsibility and doing all the work to get their words, their dreams, their blood, sweat, and tears. This should be celebrated—it’s definitely appreciated, as we’re trying to show this week.
In addition to the Q&As and Guest Posts I have this week, I’m also continuing my habit of highlighting the self-published works that I’ve blogged about over the last few years—just a sentence or two. Hopefully, this’ll be enough to make you click on the link to the full post. Beyond that, it’d be great if I inspired you to add a few of these to your TBR. Also, be sure you check out the other posts over at the SPAAW Hub.
Last, but certainly not least for this week, my apparent specialty: Crime Fiction–vigilantes, police, private eyes, people who have no business at all near a crime…you name it, I love this stuff. This tl;dr list also proves that I was right to break these lists down by genre.
Kind Hearts and Martinets by Pete Adams—a near-to-retirement D. I. with a rag-tag team investigates terror threats, murders, and bike thefts.
Cause and Effect: Vice Plagues the City (my post about it)
Irony in the Soul (my post about it)
Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping by Cheryl Denise Bannerman—a mystery writer finds herself the target of a kidnapper and has to employ everything her characters have done to save her own life. Which sounds more dire than this cute novel actually ever achieves. (my post about it)
The City That Barks and Roars by J. T. Bird—Anthropomorphic animals in a 1950s-esque civilization, a pair of detectives hunting for a missing colleague. (my post about it)
Death Stalks Kettle Street by John Bowen—a man with pretty severe OCD is sure that people in his neighborhood are being killed, but the authorities don’t see it–and his turn is coming. (my post about it)
DI Hannah Robbins by Rebecca Bradley—DI Hannah Robbins novels follow Robbins and her team as they solve murders–she’s got a great team and the novels have some of the best hooks around.
The Twisted Web (my post about it)
Kill for Me (my post about it)
Dead Blind by Rebecca Bradley—A Detective adjusting to prosopagnosia (“face blindness”) tries to keep the condition under wraps while leading his team investigating an international organ smuggling ring. Great hook, strong execution. (my post about it)
The Butcher by Nathan Burrows—a darkly comic tale about brothers struggling to keep their farm and butcher shop alive, until they develop a new sausage recipe. (my post about it)
The Shoulders of Giants by Jim Cliff—A rookie P.I. (inspired more by fiction than reality), is on the hunt for a missing college student. (my post about it)
Bad Memory by Jim Cliff—this novella finds Jake Abraham looking into an old closed case and forces it open. (my post about it)
Sharp Investigations by E.N. Crane—a comic series with a heavy-accent on mystery (or is it the other way around?), featuring a former Army MP and her K9 partner who set up a PI firm in a small Ohio town
Barking for Business (my post about it)
Chasing Empty Caskets (my post about it)
Don’t Get Involved by F J Curlew—a slow burn of a novel about some street kids in Kyiv who find a large amount of drugs and a Scottish teacher in town to help their schools. (my post about it)
Criminal Collective by Russell Day—a collection of short stories and a novella from one of my favorite crime writers. (my post about it)
Jeremy Barnes by Robert Germaux—tired of teaching, Jeremy Barnes becomes a P.I. These books have a very Spenser-vibe to them and are great comfort food.
Hard Court (my post about it)
In the Eye (my post about it)
Small Bytes (my post about it)
Daniel Hays Mysteries by Robert Germaux—Daniel Hays heads the Special Assignment Squad —- a Major Crimes squad set up to help smaller cities in the county around Pittsburgh–hunts down serial killers in these entertaining thrillers.
Small Talk (my post about it)
One by One (my post about it)
DC Smith Investigation by Peter Grainger—I’ve listened to these on audio, but the novels are self-published. Smith is a former DCI who’s voluntarily demoted down to Detective Sergeant so he can actually work cases–in his own idiosyncratic way. There is something indescribably charming about these books, I can see myself re-reading these for years.
An Accidental Death (my post about it)
But For the Grace (my post about it)
Luck and Judgement (my post about it)
Persons of Interest (my post about it)
In This Bright Future (my post about it)
The Rags of Time (my post about it)
Time and Tide (my post about it)
A Private Investigation (my post about it)
The Truth (my post about it)
The Camera Man (as close as I got to posting about it)
King’s Lake Investigations by Peter Grainger—I’ve listened to these on audio, but the novels are self-published. This series tells what happens after DS Smith leaves Kings Lake, following those he trained and left as they form the backbone of the new Murder Squad. They’re just as good.
Songbird (my post about it)
On Eden Street (my post about it)
Roxanne (my post about it)
Missing Pieces (my post about it)
Another Girl (my post about it)
Catch & Neutralize by Chris Grams—Members of a vigilante group that takes down criminals who’ve gotten away with crimes against women and children find themselves in a very hairy situation. (my post about it)
Fatal Forgery by Susan Grossey—as 19th Century British Policing begins to take a new shape, a magistrate’s constable investigates a new kind of financial crime. (my post about it)
Ostler by Susan Grossey—Grossey brings us a 19th Century amatuer slueth hunting for a friend’s murderer, who finds so much more. (my post about it)
DoubleBlind by Libby Fischer Hellmann—a PI looks into suspicious deaths following COVID vaccines while dealing with people who think she’s a wife who ran away from a cult. Eventually, she has to stop and figure out what’s going on with her doppelgänger for her own sake. (my post about it)
The Secret of Rosalia Flats by Tim W. Jackson—following the death of his father, a man returns to his Caribbean island childhood home to look into what happened. (my post about it)
Cooked Goose by Laura Jenski—a couple on a cross-country motor home trip discovers a body in a campground, and decides to investigate the death to “help” local law enforcement. (I thought I posted about this months ago, apparently not. Soon, maybe?)
Afton Morrison by Brent Jones—the story of a Children’s Librarian with impulses to become a serial killer. No really. It’s twisted. It’s fun. It has some heart, too.
Go Home, Afton (my post about it)
See You Soon, Afton (my post about it)
Nice Try, Afton (my post about it)
Time’s Up, Afton (my post about it)
Harvested by Troy Lambert—a PI starts looking into a rash of dognappings sweeping across Seattle and uncovers something chilling. (my post about it)
Stray Ally by Troy Lambert—An ex-special ops soldier takes on terrorists, Aryans on the hunt, and an out of control military officer, with only his wits, experience and a fantastic stray dog. (my post about it)
Teaching Moments by Troy Lambert—Max Boucher is back, this time to hunt for a stolen horse–and runs across a serial killer while he’s at it. (my post about it)
Cutthroat Cupcakes by Cate Lawley—I maybe should’ve included this on the Fantasy and UF lists, too. But Lawley describes these as cozy mysteries, so I’ll stick with that. The owner of an artisan candy shop is arrested by magic police for selling cursed items that have been used to kill someone. It’s a rough way to learn that magic exists. She works with the detective to find the actual killer to clear her name. (my post about it)
Cooking for Cannibals by Rich Leder—an ex-con trying to go straight, a behavioral gerontologist, and a group of senior citizens get into hot water with an experimental drug and competing criminal organizations. (my post about it)
Let There Be Linda by Rich Leder—I can’t sum this up in a sentence or two–a comic crime novel set in L.A. full of interweaving plotlines. (my post about it)
McCall & Company: Workman’s Complication by Rich Leder—a struggling actress takes over her late father’s P.I. Agency (my post about it)
Shadow Ranch by Rebeca Carey Lyles—A woman trapped in a polygamous cult attempts to free herself, her brother, and others. Featuring a truly despicable villain. (my post about it)
The Lion’s Tail by Luna Miller, Aidan Isherwood (Translator)—a retired physician turns to a new career as a P.I. An early case turns out to be too much for her to tackle on her own and she recruits some help from people in her neighborhood, creating her own Baker Street Irregulars. (my post about it)
San Diego Dead by Mark Nolan—a modern-day privateer and his dog are on the run from a vengeful drug mob. (my post about it)
How the Wired Weep by Ian Patrick—you’re not going to see me say something negative about a Patrick novel, but this one is special. a gut-wrenching, taut look at a police informant and his detective handler as they try to take down a local drug lord. (my post about it)
The Warrior Series by Ty Patterson—Once upon a time, I think we’d call these books “Men’s Adventure” novels. Former Delta operative (and some friends) now run a covert-ops group.
The Warrior (my post about it)
The Reluctant Warrior (my post about it)
Dead Down East by Carl Schmidt—a part-time PI gets sucked into investigating the death of his state’s governor (my post about it)
If you’re a self-published author that I’ve featured on this blog and I didn’t mention you in this post and should have. I’m sorry (unless you’re this guy). Please drop me a line, and I’ll fix this. I want to keep this regularly updated so I keep talking about Self-Published Authors.
The 2024 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club
(updated 7/25/24)
From the first moment that people did the strange thing of asking me to talk about their books on my blog, I’ve been impressed by the quality of a lot of what’s been published by authors going out on their own, taking all the risks, shouldering all the responsibility and doing all the work to get their words, their dreams, their blood, sweat, and tears. This should be celebrated—it’s definitely appreciated, as we’re trying to show this week.
In addition to the Q&As and Guest Posts I have this week, I’m also continuing my habit of highlighting the self-published works that I’ve blogged about over the last few years—just a sentence or two. Hopefully, this’ll be enough to make you click on the link to the full post. Beyond that, it’d be great if I inspired you to add a few of these to your TBR. Also, be sure you check out the other posts over at the SPAAW Hub.
Today we’re going to be looking at Self-Published Urban Fantasy. Magic-users of various stripes, creatures that’ll push your imagination, and more dragons than show up on my Self-Published Fantasy list, believe it or not. There’s a lot to dig into here.
Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron—A nice-guy dragon learns how to get by in a dragon-eat-dragon world with the help of a human mage on the lamb from the mob. (my post about it)
Spirelli Paranormal Investigations: Episodes 1-6 by Kate Baray—a fixer for the paranormal community and debunker of paranormal frauds takes on an assistant, just in time for some real hairy cases (apparently I haven’t written about this one yet)
Justice Calling by Annie Bellet—a magic user on the run, living among a bunch of shape-shifters, is accused of killing some. She works to clear her name, save her friends, and stay off the radar of those hunting for her. (my post about it)
Vale Investigations by Cristelle Comby—a P.I. who is the emissary of Hades’ daughter on Earth investigates mysterious deaths and other happenings.
Hostile Takeover (my post about it)
Evil Embers
Bad Little Girls Die Horrible Deaths and Other Tales of Dark Fantasy by Harry Connolly—a collection of short stories that I still think about. (my post about it)
Twenty Palaces by Harry Connolly—I loved this UF series, but sadly was one of the few who read it. After the publisher declined to keep going with it Connolly has published a prequel and a sequel—with more on the way.
Twenty Palaces—the prequel to the whole thing (my post about it)
The Twisted Path (my post about it)
The Iron Gate—catches up with our heroes and throws them into a life-changing situation (even for people in their…circumstances), a great way to resume the series. (my post about it)
Ella Grey Series by Jayne Faith. A minor demon hunter in a slightly-futuristic Boise finds herself tangling with some major powers.
Stone Cold Magic (my post about it)
Dark Harvest Magic (my post about it)
Demon Born Magic (my post about it)
Blood Storm Magic (my post about it)
Bloodlines by Peter Hartog—an Urban Fantasy/Science Fiction/Detective mashup in a world that looks not dissimilar from Scott’s Blade Runner, powered by magic, and that has pan-dimensional aliens walking around. (my post about it)
Pieces of Eight by Peter Hartog—the sequel to Bloodlines and continues to expand our understanding of this world while delivering a great story. (my post about it)
Fred, The Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes. The misadventures of a vampire accountant and his increasingly diverse and lethal band of friends trying to make their way in the world.
The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant (my post about it)
Undeath & Taxes (my post about it)
Bloody Acquisitions (my post about it)
The Fangs of Freelance (my post about it)
Deadly Assessments (my post about it)
Undeading Bells (my post about it)
Out of House and Home (my post about it)
Posthumous Education (my post about it)
Terra Chronicles by JC Jackson. Another SF/Urban Fantasy mix (I didn’t realize how many of these I read until I did this post) about the adventures of an Elven arcanist and her paladin partner working for a Law Enforcement agency.
Twisted Magics (my post about it)
Shattered Illusions (my post about it)
Twice Cursed (my post about it)
Conjured Defense (my post about it)
Mortgaged Mortality (my post about it)
Divine and Conquer (my post about it)
Cutthroat Cupcakes by Cate Lawley—a candy maker discovers she’s a witch when she’s arrested of murder by magic. Fun ensues. (my post about it)
These next three series are hard to talk about, they’re sort of one series, sort of separate (actually, there are four threads, but I haven’t gotten to the last one yet)…
The Guild Codex: Demonized by Annette Marie. A woman with plenty of theoretical and no practical magical knowledge finds herself bound to a rare and very powerful demon.
Taming Demons for Beginners (my post about it)
Slaying Monsters for the Feeble (my post about it)
Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped (my post about it)
The Guild Codex: Spellbound by Annette Marie. A bartender with an anger-management (and therefore staying employed) problem finds herself working for a Mage Guild.
Three Mages and a Margarita (my post about it)
Dark Arts and a Daiquiri (my post about it)
Two Witches and a Whiskey (my post about it)
Demon Magic and a Martini (my post about it)
The Alchemist and an Amaretto (my post about it)
Druid Vices and a Vodka (my post about it)
Lost Talismans and a Tequila
The Guild Codex: Warped by Annette Marie, Rob Jacobsen. A former two-bit criminal gets pulled into helping the MPD police magic users.
Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors (my post about it)
Hellbound Guilds & Other Misdirections (my post about it)
Pure of Heart by Danielle Parker—a sole werewolf and her family try to keep her secret under wraps and keep her wolf side from hurting anyone in this small Colorado town. (my post about it)
Rites of Passage by M.D. Presley—An atypical magic system fuels this intricate UF series debut (my post about it)
Ree Reyes series by Michael R. Underwood. Ree’s a barista and comic shop worker with ambitions of becoming a screenwriter. She inadvertently finds herself in a world of magic powered by Geekomancy “A style of magic where your love of pop culture becomes the source for amazing abilities – from bringing props to life to borrowing amazing skills from your favorite movies.” These were originally published by others, but Underwood has the rights back and is putting them out in new editions.
Geekomancy (This came out before the blog, so check out my Goodreads review)
Celebromancy (This came out before the blog, and I apparently didn’t write anything about it)
Attack the Geek (my post about it)
Hexomancy (my post about it)
Arcane Casebook series by Dan Willis—This series is set in the 1930s about a P.I. who practices rune magic. Think Depression-era Harry Dresden mixed with Al MacBharrais.
In Plain Sight (my post about it)
Ghost of a Chance (my post about it)
If you're a self-published author that I've featured on this blog and I didn't mention you in this post and should have. I'm sorry (unless you're this guy). Please drop me a line, and I'll fix this. I want to keep this regularly updated so I keep talking about Self-Published Authors.
The 2024 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club
(updated 7/257/24)
From the first moment that people did the strange thing of asking me to talk about their books on my blog, I’ve been impressed by the quality of a lot of what’s been published by authors going out on their own, taking all the risks, shouldering all the responsibility and doing all the work to get their words, their dreams, their blood, sweat, and tears. This should be celebrated—it’s definitely appreciated, as we’re trying to show this week.
In addition to the Q&As and Guest Posts I have this week, I’m also continuing my habit of highlighting the self-published works that I’ve blogged about over the last few years—just a sentence or two. Hopefully, this’ll be enough to make you click on the link to the full post. Beyond that, it’d be great if I inspired you to add a few of these to your TBR. Also, be sure you check out the other posts over at the SPAAW Hub.
Today we’re going to be looking at Self-Published Science Fiction. Old tropes in new garb, fresh ideas, and a creativity that astounds. These authors are well worth your time and money.
Wistful Ascending by JCM Berne—if I start talking about this, I’m not sure how to stop. There’s a retired super-hero/super soldier working a menial job on a space station. There’s a revenge story. There are aliens that look like talking bears. It’s just so much fun. (my post about it)
The MOST Powerful Christmas by JCM Berne—Rohan and friends save Christmas for Santa (my post about it)
Return of the Griffin by JCM Berne—Rohan has to return to Earth to battle monsters that might be too much for him and the collective might of Earth’s superheroes. Rohan also has to battle the legacy he left behind when he left. (my post about it should be posted soon)
The Elites by Matt Cowper—a Batman-esque figure rebuilds a government-sponsored team of heroes. They take on super-villains of all stripes and even an alien invasion.
The World Savers (my post about it)
Rogue Superheroes (my post about it)
Nightfall (my post about it)
Children of the Different by S. C. Flynn—a very different kind of YA take on post-apocalypse life in Austrailia. (my post about it)
Full Metal Superhero by Jeffery H. Haskell—a young technical genius who lost the use of her legs in the accident that cost her parents their lives creates an Iron Man-esque suit and starts fighting crime in the hopes to be recruited into an Avengers/Justice League-type team. I’ve frequently talked on the blog (and even in this series of posts) about being frustrated that I haven’t caught up with a series. This one really gets to me. There’s also a spin-off series that looks great.
Arsenal (my post about it)
Unstoppable Arsenal (my post about it)
Super Powereds: Year 1 by Drew Hayes—The first in a series about a group of freshmen in a college-level Super-Hero Training program. (my post about it)
Darkside Earther by Bradley Horner—this is a series about a privileged group of teens trying to get through school and into adulthood while on a space station orbiting Earth. Their parents are the elite of humanity and are trying to mold their children into very different types of leaders.
Darkside Earther (my post about it)
Degrading Orbits (my post about it)
Saul by Bradley Horner—a professor of nanotech tries to save his daughter in the middle of a global catastrophe. (my post about it)
Billy in Space by Harry L-B—Billy has been given telekenetic abilities, and instead of becoming the government agent he’d aspired to, he’s become a human forklift in a spaceship’s warehouse. Not glamorous at all, but it’s a job. Then an alien race attacks his ship. Then space pirates do, too. And then things get bad. You’ll also witness a really bad first date. I should stress that this is a comedy. (my post about it)
Proxies by James T. Lambert—Jair Howard has some big challenges ahead of him–he has to deal with his mother, he has to fix his relationship with his girlfriend, he has to prove someone hacked into the military’s computers, then he has to prove it wasn’t him–oh yeah, and prevent interstellar war. His mother might be the biggest problem, really. I just finished reading the book and haven’t finished my post, but you’ll want to give it a look.
Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair—This story felt like the love child of Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency (the Douglas Adams version) and Comedy Central’s Corporate, but sweeter. A pair of old friends-turned multi-dimensional P.I.s tackle a missing persons case. (my post about it)
Serengeti by J.B. Rockwell—a damaged warship—and the AI who operates it—attempts to rejoin the fleet.
Serengeti (my post about it)
Dark and Stars (my post about it)
AI Theist by Michael J. Svigel—The world’s most advanced and powerful AI struggles with its(?) conscience and gets religion. (my post about it)
Please Return to the Lands of Luxury by Jon Tilton—an MG Dystopian thriller. There’s a fantastic world here—a very plausible one, too. The story is hard to sum up in a sentence or two, but this would be a great read for an MG reader who’s able to read some unpleasantness (and a lot of wholesome and hope-filled moments, too). (my post about it)
The FATOFF Conspiracy by Olga Werby—Americans have lost the war on obesity and all but the elitist of the elite are dangerously obese (while tucking away a good portion of that fat into a pocket dimension), in pain, struggling, dying young, and yet eating almost constantly. (my post about it)
Genrenauts by Michael R. Underwood—Parallel to our world are various worlds populated by fictional characters in a wide variety of genres (Western, SF, Romance, etc), and when things go wrong in the stories, things go wrong in our world. n this world, there are a number of teams of story specialists who shift to the other worlds to fix the stories and set things back on course here. The first two novellas in this series were published by Tor, but after that, Underwood took it over himself.
The Cupid Reconciliation (my post about it)
The Substitute Sleuth (my post about it)
The Failed Fellowship (my post about it)
Genrenauts: The Complete Season One Collection—a compendium of all the novellas/stories in Season 1. (my post about it)
The Data Disruption—a Season One Prequel (my post about it)
The Wasteland War—Season Two kicks off (my post about it)
If you're a self-published author that I've featured on this blog and I didn't mention you in this post and should have. I'm sorry (unless you're this guy). Please drop me a line, and I'll fix this. I want to keep this regularly updated so I keep talking about Self-Published Authors.
The 2024 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club