Tag: Miscellany Page 127 of 175

I finished this challenge last week and posted about the last couple of items this week (the other reading challenges I participated in this year were just “how many of X can you read?”, so there’s no real endpoint). Like last year, I thought it’d be no trouble whatsoever to get this done, and I’d just finish this by reading what I’d normally read. I was almost right. But not really.

I struggled to find one in a country I wanted to visit, well, just one, anyway–but Ireland (preferably Ronan Boyle’s Ireland, if it only existed) did the trick. I purchased another book for the “one word title” item, but didn’t find the time for it. Thankfully, Jacka’s books are always one word, so I ticked off that box anyway. I’d picked the last two books months ago, but struggled to find time for them. It all worked, it was nice to have something to force me to read some of these and

I’m doing this challenge again next year, I like the way that Romana Mead makes me think a little differently about what I choose to read—and because I enjoy reading some of the discussion on Facebook between participants. Am hoping I don’t have to race to get this finished next year, but . . . I think I know better.

Here’s my official list:

While I Was Reading 2019 Challenge

✔ A book with a curse word in the title: The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind by Jackson Ford
✔ A memoir or biography of a favorite celebrity: Riding the Elephant by Craig Ferguson
✔ An essay collection: Death Valley Superstars by Duke Haney
✔ A book with a one word title: Fallen by Benedict Jacka
✔ A classic you’ve been meaning to get to: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
✔ A book written by a comedian: Riding the Elephant by Craig Ferguson
✔ A book set in a country you’d like to visit: Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles by Thomas Lennon, John Hendrix
✔ A book by an author you’ve never read before: Flight of the Fox by Gray Basnight
✔ A book recommended by someone you trust: An Accidental Death (Audiobook) by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson
✔ A book with your favorite animal on the cover or in the title: Heart of Barkness by Spencer Quinn
✔ A book mentioned in another book: The Art of War by by Sun Tzu, James Trapp (Translator)
✔ Read a book with “how to” in the title: How to Kill Friends and Implicate People by Jay Stringer

Festivus 2019: For the Rest of Us

By HCNewton

On December 23, 2019

In Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Shunning the commercialization of Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Santaween/Chrismukkah, we’re celebrating Festivus for the rest of us here at The Irresponsible Reader.

Let’s begin our observance!

Here I am with my Festivus pole. Yeah, it’s a little small, but I’d rather spend money on books than the full aluminum pole. Very high strength to weight ratio, nevertheless.

Note the lack of distracting tinsel. It’s very important.

And now, let the Airing of Grievances begin.

I have a grievance with the It’s 2019, why are we still placing stickers on books? If we have to do that, why hasn’t Science come up with a sticker that doesn’t leave a gummy residue behind? C’mon, Science, if you can’t give us a cure for cancer, a pill so people with Celiac disease can eat bread, or an Oreo that will help me lose weight — at least you can give us stickers that don’t leave gunk on our books!

I have a grievance with Movie/TV covers on books. C’mon people, this is stupid. Sure, it maybe helps sell more copies of the books–but has any book been improved by one of these covers? No! Knock it off!

It’s another year without the next installment from Rothfuss/Butcher/Martin. No, my grievance isn’t with them, it’s with the entitled “fan” of the work, whining at every conceivable moment about how long it’s taking them. Because there’s nothing else around to read? Let ’em get it right and use that energy to support someone whose books could use it.

(still–Martin, Rothfuss…c’mon…Butcher was able to get something ready to go.)

Whether it’s from a mainstream publisher, indie press or a self-pubbed book, we have the technology and (theoretically??) the education that there’s no reason for there to be missing/extra punctuation or misspelled words in books.

I have a grievance with the Book Blogging Community. There are way too many good book bloggers out there to keep up with. Some of you need to write less often! Also, you make the rest of us look bad.

I’ve got a grievance with running out of places to put books and bookshelves that aren’t like a bag of holding or TARDIS and can’t take an increasing number of books. So…physics, I guess. Yeah, that’s right, Laws of the Physics, I’m calling you out. Get your act together!

I’ve got a grievance with how hard it can be to pick the next book to read despite a having piles of books (see above grievance) waiting to be read/multiple files on an e=reader. I know it’s not just me who endures this, so there’s gotta be a conspiracy afoot here.

And what’s more…I lost my train of thought.

For my Feat of Strenth, here I hold my entire TBR over my head.

(actual photo)

Let’s see how the rest of you do with your feats.

Saturday Miscellany—12/21/19

By HCNewton

On December 21, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

It’s clearly the end of the year—I’ve got a bare-bones collection this week. But who has time to read things that aren’t books right now between the hustle and bustle of December—not to mention the rush to finish off your reading goals of the 2019? (or is that just me?)

Here’s the handful of odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Moments in Reading That Salvaged an Often Sour Year—I didn’t think the year was that sour, but okay . . .
Perfect Gifts for Bookworms: For those who can’t get enough of book culture.
I’ve got a pair of M. W. Craven reads this week: Writing is a Form of Magic—Everything you never realized you wanted to learn about Craven and his writing process.
Desert Island Crime with M.W. Craven—Craven answers: “If you were stranded on a desert island and had to choose 8 books to take with you, what would you pick and why?” This is a great list, made even better by his choice of Darkness, Take My Hand over Hannibal Lecter.
The Music of Harry Bosch—The Michael Connelly Facebook page shared this spotify list this week. Good writing/reading music (even if I really never think Jazz when I read Bosch. Sorry, Harry!)
12 Insightful Quotes About Plot—from Before We Go Blog
How To Crush Your TBR List
Fifty @ Fifty—Tracy Fenton commemorated her 50th birthday with this list of her favorite 50 books from the last ten years.
Book Blogger / Reader Spreadsheet Template (2020)—I think I’m replacing my (increasingly clunky) spreadsheet with this one next year.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Gehad Gamal, Anton Michaux, and Brandi Robbins for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

WWW Wednesday, 17-December-2019

By HCNewton

On December 18, 2019

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

Welcome to 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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (gorgeous writing, but I’m not sure how much I like it), and am listening to Circle of the Moon by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator).

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Alastair Puddick’s 46% Better Than Dave and Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan on audio.

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be The Art of War by Sun Tzu, translated by James Trapp—a little light reading, you know?.

Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments! (no, really, do it!)

Saturday Miscellany—12/14/19

By HCNewton

On December 14, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

Shorter list this week, with less of the other stuff than usual. Hope I’m not missing anything, and that it’s just the end-of-the-year-blahs. I can understand not a lot of things being put out there in the world this week—you likely noticed that I was pretty quiet. I had big, semi-ambitious (yet attainable) goals for the week and hit none of them. I did get three posts partially written, however, so . . . yeah. That’s pretty lame, actually. Non-blog life was just weird this week and the results (or lack thereof) were plainly visible in my posting. Onward and upward though.

Anyway, here are the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

BBNYA – The Book Bloggers’ Novel of The Year Award – Coming in 2020—A few weeks back, I shared a post announcing the BBNYA, but here’s another one — a bit more detailed.
30 Seconds With Your Favorite Author: Book Signing Conversation Tips—Tips that could come in handy (I could’ve used them at least once)
7 Things Crime Readers Will No Longer Tolerate: Crime fiction is getting harder to write—and that’s a good thing.—I’m not so sure I’m as intolerant as Christopher Fowler thinks I should be, but . . .
NPR had some good articles lately: Not A Regular Reader? 4 Strategies To Make Reading A Habit and How To Read More Books
Hopepunk and Solarpunk: On Climate Narratives That Go Beyond the Apocalypse: Alyssa Hull Tries to Find Optimism in Teaching Cli-Fi to Terrified Students—While I wouldn’t necessarily agree with a lot of what’s said here, I’m intrigued by the ideas of Hopepunk and Solarpunk (particularly the former)
Black Orchids 2019 , plus a Nero and a BONA—The Wolfe Pack (a society for the appreciation of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin series) gave out the Nero Award and the Black Orchid Novella Award
2020 – Hot New Books – January – March—Compulsive Readers has put together a list of first quarter releases that could probably fill a schedule by itself.
The 78 Best Book Covers of 2019: As Chosen by the Experts, the Designers Themselves—LitHub assembled some designers to compile this list of very eye-catching covers.
My Visit To Harper Collins—Must have been a blast.
My Top Five Book Blogging Omissions—Reading this makes me think Stephen is Wiser than I am.
The Books I Gift Most Often—Better than “Who’s your favorite author?”/”What’s your favorite book?” Ramona Mead answers “What books do you give the most?” (which is also easier than the others).

Also, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Maya’s Musings, David W, Rain Alchemist, alittlebookproblem, forwarddog and Tim Onayemi for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

Friday Favorites: Favorite New to Me Authors in 2019 (UPDATED)

By HCNewton

On December 13, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

UPDATE: While I was driving home from work today, a little voice in my head asked me, “Did you leave Noelle Holten off the list?” and, “How could you?” Not only did I love Dead Inside, but Holten has been very supportive of my meager social media. It had to be a reckless click of the mouse that got her off the list. And then I was AFK all evening, so it took until the wee small hours to address. Argh.

Anyway, fixed now.

Friday Favorites is a weekly meme hosted by Something of the Book.

I typically resist doing any “____ of The Year” posts until the end of the year, but reading this one on the topic list got me thinking, and I ended up compiling most of the list from memory (but I’m glad I keep a log, because I’d have been mad in a day or two when I remembered the rest of these). Still, this is an incomplete list—I still have a handful of books to get through this year, and there are 3 strong contenders for this list.

There were plenty I cut from this, including authors of books that I really enjoyed. But at the end of the day, these are the 18 New-to-Me authors from the past year that are auto-buys/borrows for me. I should say a thing or two about all of these, but I just don’t have the time. Check the original posts I wrote about these books for a little more about the way these writers worked their way into my subconscious.

bullet James Bailey, author of The First World Problems of Jason Van Otterloo and Dispatches from a Tourist Trap
bullet C.J. Box, author of Back of Beyond, The Highway, Open Season, Savage Run, and The Badlands
bullet Gyles Brandreth, author of Have You Eaten Grandma?: Or, the Life-Saving Importance of Correct Punctuation, Grammar, and Good English
bullet Mike Chen, author of Here and Now and Then
bullet Sarah Chorn, author of Seraphina’s Lament
bullet Helen Fitzgerald, author of Worst Case Scenario
bullet Peter Grainger, author of An Accidental Death
bullet Noelle Holten, author of Dead Inside
bullet Niel Lancaster, author of Going Dark and Going Rogue
bullet Adrian McKinty, author of The Chain
bullet Luna Miller (and I should probably mention Aidan Isherwood, translator), author of Lions Tail
bullet Todd Morr , author of Instant Karma
bullet David Nolan, author of Black Moss
bullet Judith O’Reilly, author of Killing State
bullet Nick Quantrill, author of Broken Dreams
bullet Andy Redsmith, author of Breaking the Lore
bullet Ian Shane, author of Postgraduate
bullet Melissa Simonson, author of Lingering
bullet Abbi Waxman, author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill Post

Miscellaneous Meanderings while Waiting for the Dryer to Finish.

By HCNewton

On December 10, 2019

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I knew I should’ve banked one of the posts I wrote this weekend to post today, but I felt energetic enough that I didn’t need to.

Cut to the end of a good, but energy-tapping day, and I have two posts that I tried to push out and got a good paragraph done on each before abandoning both for now and nothing to post. I’m hoping I can get one of those done tomorrow, but I’m not sure I can count on it. Bah.

Nevertheless, it was a good day for being a Reader, if not a Blogger. I was hoping I’d finish Matthew Dick’s Twenty-one Truths About Love this evening. I clearly estimated poorly—I finished it before work.

Barely. I apparently was so into the ending that I turned off the alarm that’s supposed to keep me from being so into a book that I get to work late without noticing I’d done so. I still made it into the office on time, but without any cushion. It was just that good.

Probably wouldn’t have worked out too well, “Sorry I’m late, boss. I was in the parking lot getting misty-eyed over a novel.”

The downside of finishing a book 9 hours earlier than you’d expected is, of course, I had nothing to read the rest of the day (2 breaks and lunch). I downloaded an ARC onto my phone and got through the day without having to actually talk to people during my downtime. But it did mess up my plans (moved up reading that ARC by 2 weeks), So once again, I’ve put off reading Hacked by Duncan MacMaster for the 43rd time (or so) since it came out in August. And then there’s the joy of reading on a tiny screen…but that a whine for another day.

So I tell all that for no real reason, just something to say that doesn’t take a lot of editing. But I got an important lesson/reminder from this—there are books out there that are so good you won’t notice your phone making a loud and obnoxious sound, chosen specifically so that you have to pay attention to it, and those’re what I’m supposed to be focusing on—the rest of the stuff around my reading/blogging isn’t.

Hopefully you’re reading something about as good—just be sure to get to work on time.

Saturday Miscellany—12/7/19

By HCNewton

On December 7, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

Here are the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye—Lithub and BookRiot are heavily featured this week. Been awhile since I dipped into those so hard, but I really liked what I saw this week. I wish I could figure out a way to get a kickback (or sponsorship—I’m open to negotiation, folks!) from one/all of them for this… You’ve probably seen some/most/all of these, but just in case:

Game of Thrones: George RR Martin FANTASTIC Winds of Winter release date news—I haven’t seen a lot of people talking about this, which means it’s full of bunk or everyone in the world is as cynical as I am about it. Also, I’m not sure I care at this point (I’m going to have to re-read everything prior to the release just to remember, and I’m not sure I have that much energy. Is there a decent re-cap site?)
I was nominated for the Bad sex award. Don’t laugh—I disagree with almost everything Gough says about the award/culture around it. But I do find his experience interesting to read about. Also, this means that Two Crime Writers and a Microphone might actually release a new episode of their sadly infrequent podcast soon.
20 Ways to Read More Books in 2020—19 of these are good ideas. Skimming, though? Barbarians.
What Was the First Book You Fell in Love With?: The Center for Fiction’s 2019 First Novel Prize Authors Weigh In—I’m probably not going to read most of these authors first novels, honestly, but I always enjoy reading about what book got people hooked on books.
The Life Cycle of a Library Book
Most Anticipated Reads of 2020—for those of you who’ve started planning.
Women in Historical SFF
Venators: Legends Rise (Venators #3) By Devri Walls Cover Reveal—The Cover for Walls’ Third Novel is her Spiffiest Yet
One Man at One Week—Harry Connolly writes a very honest post about the first week of One Man sales. If there was one author I could make you all read, I think it’d be him. If not One Man (which is coming up on my TBR soon), then find something else on his site that strikes your fancy.
The Guide to affordable Audiobook Binge-Listening—this could prove handy.
Tips for Writing Speculative Detective Fiction: How can you keep a commitment to reason and procedure when rules of reality no longer apply?—I love it when Detective/Crime fiction blends with SFF, here’s some tips on how to pull it off.
26 Books From the Last Decade that More People Should Read: Our Favorite Writers Recommend Some Underappreciated Gems—LitHub’s editors have come up with an interesting list of things I’ve never heard of.
Speaking of LitHub, they bring us the first Best-Of for 2019Our 50 Favorite Books of the Year: Highlights From a Year in Reading by the Literary Hub Staff
Bernardine Evaristo, Lee Child and more pick the best books of 2019—The Guardian assembled a handful of authors for their picks.
The December issue of Envie, a Magazine for the Literary Curious—features a profile ofour pal, Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub.
The Tattooed Book Geek shared his Blogging Plans for 2020—I’m seeing a lot of plans for 2020, his is probably the most likely to be accomplished (maybe that’s projection on my part—but I look at some of these lists and am boggled)
Tropes in YA Fiction that Do Not Butter My Croissant—I’d co-sign this and I need to work “Do Not Butter my Croissant” into my everyday conversation.
A History of… The Hobbit—Probably my favorite blog post of the week—Bookstooge, longtime Friend of IRR, talks about his personal history with the classic.

Authors on a Podcast Talking Books Ep. 3 – Jonathan Wood—David Walters (FanFiAddict.com) talks to Jonathan Wood. I read Wood’s first two books forever ago, and loved them. Don’t ask me why I haven’t read on. That ends in 2020, thanks to this episode. BTW, isn’t this the best podcast title? Tells you exactly what it is.

Perfect Murder by Rebecca Bradley—A mystery writer tries to pull of the perfect murder—a plot that I’m sure made none of Bradley’s family/loved ones/friends nervous at all.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Freedom is the luxury I seek and APB813 for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

WWW Wednesday, 4-December-2019

By HCNewton

On December 4, 2019

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

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! I got caught up in parenting and wasn’t able to finish my next post in time to get it up today, so thankfully I can use this to get a little fresh content going.

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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks, and am listening to Skinwalker by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator).

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Lee Child’s Blue Moon, Friends: A Cultural History by Jennifer C. Dunn and Zombie Spaceship Wasteland by Patton Oswalt on audio.

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be be Duncan Macmaster’s Hacked. But I’ve been saying that at least once a week for a month, so we’ll see. I think my next audiobook will be The Martian by Andy Weir, R. C. Bray (Narrator)

Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments! (no, really, do it!)

Saturday Miscellany—11/30/19

By HCNewton

On November 30, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

Wow. Everyone really took advantage of the holiday week. I found practically nothing for this post. Oh, well—it gives me a chance to focus on other bloggers, not the pros. Thanks to The Write Reads where I got most of the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Constable to publish Lee Child’s authorised biography—looking forward to getting The Reacher Guy next year.
What I’ve learned as a book blogger—If she learned this much in the first 6 months, I wonder what Meredith Rankin’ll pick up after two years…
To Track or Not To Track? – Progress While Reading—Anyone out there track progress? I really can’t be bothered most of the time (also, I tend to read too quickly to bother)
Favourite Books Without 5 Stars—It always surprises me every year when I do my “Best Of” lists that I skip past some 5 Star books to complete them. It shouldn’t, as The Narratess helpfully points out

I don’t have a particular episode to point to, but I listened to a few episodes of this new-ish podcast this week: Under a Pile of Books—It focuses on SF and Fantasy. Sometimes it’s just the host, sometimes he chats with a blogger or author. It’s pretty good and I can see it falling into my regular rotation, check it out.

One Man: A City of Fallen Gods Novel by Harry Connolly—A Fantasy Thriller, is the best way I can encapsulate it. Connolly describes it as: “big, odd, ambitious book about crime and magic and a screwed-up guy who has one last chance to do something decent in this world.” It’s his first novel in four years, and it’s driving me crazy that I can’t get to it for at least a week and a half. If there was one Fantasy/UF author that I could convince the world to notice, it’d be Connolly, and this looks like his most ambitious novel to date.
Evil Valley by Simon Hall—After One Man, I’m diving into this one. I was lamenting recently that FP had seemed to stop with these TV Detective books, I’m so glad I was wrong!
The ABCs of Metallica by Metallica, Howie Abrams, Michael Kaves—An Alphabet Picture book that pays tribute to the Metal Band. I talked about it some yesterday.
The Hero by Lee Child—Child explores the concept of hero and narrative from pre-history to his own work. I gobbled it up on Thanksgiving to talk about it.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to overtherainbowbookblog and simplyclaudianicole for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?