It was a pretty quiet week around here—got a lot read (although work wasn’t conducive to audiobook listening, I’m a book and a half behind where I expected to be…). August is slipping by a little too quickly for me (especially when I stop and think about my daughter moving out of state in early September). How about you?
that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
The Harmful Impact of Audible Exclusive Audiobooks—I’ve somehow forgotten to post this one in the weeks since it came out (despite leaving reminders for myself to do it). Yes, it’s a little self-serving for libro.fm to post this, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong. There’s a lot of good in this piece. (I’m saying that as someone who has listened to his share of Audible exclusives, and will probably continue to do so, it’s complicated)
10 Reasons Why Reading Books Will Save Your Life—maybe the title’s a slight exaggeration…
Fiction readers have made best leaders in Covid-19 crisis, says Val McDermid: Crime author argues ministers who read only political biographies are limited in vision—On the one hand…she might be overstating things. On the other…my gut says she’s probably on to something.
Feeling Burned Out Lately? Try Reading Your Favorite Books!—not only works in COVID-burnout, but life in general, or (this is where I lean on it the most) when sick.
Jack Reacher and The Grand Unified Theory of Thrillers—A nice piece by Malcolm Gladwell about Lee Child’s creation (no, really, he’s talking about Reacher!), but more than that, I love his Grand Unified Theory of detective/mystery/thriller fiction and started (easily!) slotting some of my favorites into his categories.
My First Thriller: David Morrell—about Morrell’s pathway to John Rambo. Man…this makes me want to re-read the book, it’s been decades, and I wonder what grown-up me would think about it (I remember scenes vividly from the first time I read it when 11 or 12 and couldn’t believe I’d hoodwinked my uptight grandmother into buying it for me).
Speaking of books I haven’t read in a while, What’s So Great About ‘Lolita’?—this piece is too short, it should be called “A Small Sample of What’s So Great…”
Sometimes no review IS the review—Some comments about an author about the role of reviews. (it does contain some grim news about a book I’ve been waiting for…after reading this post, you should all go buy his last two books so he’ll have the motivation to finish the trilogy)
10 Reasons We Love The Write Reads—as the crew of a certain Battlestar would put it, “So say we all.”
Why I Read Widely—a quick look at my annual/now-monthly genre breakdowns show that I don’t read nearly as widely as I like to think I do (but widely within genres, maybe), but this post really resonated with me.
That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel—McDaniel’s gorgeous prose is back in this dark coming-of-age tale. I had a little bit to say about it recently
Going Back by Neil Lancaster—Tom Novak goes home and gets neck deep in international intrigue. I had a few things to say about it, too.
Bang Bang, You’re Dead by Evan Baldock—a sixty-five year old woman becomes an unlikely vigilante. This one looks really good.
I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome toFaith’sPen and terreirorocadeobalue (I don’t think I just linked to something horrible, but I don’t read Portuguese, so…) who followed the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?
Episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Grab a book, any book.
