Tag: Miscellany Page 128 of 179

I had high hopes for output this week, but didn’t get to them all. Nor did I get to surf around as much as I’d expected. C’est la vie—but I got extra sleep this week (that I apparently needed, about a bonus night’s worth). Still, we’ve got some good 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:

• Whatever next? How plot grips us, from Dickens to Line of Duty—Yes, this is geared toward TV, but what it says about plot should appeal to readers.
• Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings?: Literature’s evolution has reflected and spurred the growing complexity of society.—Not a question I ever had, but it’s an interesting piece.
• When My Mom Gave Me a Library Card—This is just great
• Have we Murdered the Apostrophe?—BBC.com asks this provocative question. Some of this piece is annoying (not everything in the world is about class and power, folks)—but mostly this appeals to my inner language geek.
• How to Get Started with Comic Books and Graphic Novels—I wouldn’t have picked everything on this list (even among those I’ve read), but it’s great TBR fodder. And, frankly, given the Comics/Graphic Novels I talk about here, who’d ask me for such a list? Stick with the folks who know what they’re talking about (many are listed at that link)
• When the Detective Is Also a Protective Parent—When family life becomes a plot complication for the protagonist. Great angle to look at things from.
• 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Audiobooks (maybe 2 or 3 things, really, but that’s beside the point)
• Behind the Scenes at a Library Book Sale
• Do you think too much about your reviews?—Well, yeah. Good advice that I probably won’t take.
• Book Lovers Share Their Absolute Favorite Opening Lines—Some personal favorites on this list from GeorgeTakei.com

A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen to:
• Author Stories Podcast Episode 801 | Eoin Colfer Interview—this was a fun one (that might have influenced my post about Colfer’s new book a bit, but I think I’d have made the same points without it.)

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• False Value by Ben Aaronovitch—I’m about 1/3 of the way into the new Rivers of London novel and it’s a doozy! Good jumping on point for those wanting to check out this series.
• Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire—the latest InCryptid novel is 1. the thickest so far, 2. features Sarah (who we haven’t seen enough of for…years, I guess), making it 3. a sure-fire win.
• The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold—” A former soldier turned PI tries to help the fantasy creatures whose lives he ruined in a world that’s lost its magic.” ‘Nuff said. (for me, anway, if you want a bit more, check out this post from The Witty & Sarcastic Book Club)
• Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore—a young woman starts experiencing her life at random ages.
• Finna by Nino Cipri—a couple of minium-wage employees on an adventure across the multi-verse.
• Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold—a promising looking modern Red Riding Hood retelling.
• For many not in the US Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh came out this week. But because I’m envious of them, I’m not going to provide a link to it. It’s a childish and useless gesture, I realize. But if I have to wait a year+ for this book, they’ll have to wait that long to get a link from me.

Running late today, my normal time for assembling this post was taken up by a valiant attempt at a little DYI around the house. The results speak loudly about my fitness to spend my time reading and talking about books and far away from tools.

But from the better late than never department, 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:

• 125 Books We Love—The New York Public Library lists 125 books from the 125 lives they’ve been around “that inspire a lifelong love of reading.”
• How Reading Books Helps Your Brain Recharge
• How to Curate the Ultimate Home Library—There are some really good tips here
• Should You Stay Up Late to Finish Your Book? The Pros And Cons—hmmmm
• Spinning Silver author Naomi Novik to launch epic new trilogy this fall—this one looks pretty cool (no surprise given the source, really)
• Dragons, Wizards, and Other Story Distractions—A. Lee Martinez opines about what really matters in fiction
• The Best Small Presses Publishing Crime Fiction Today: A celebration of the indie presses keeping crime fiction weird.—alas, a few of my favorites didn’t make this list (Fahrenheit Press, for example), but still a good place to start. From this list, I’d start with Down & Out and Polis Books. Haven’t read a bad book from Hard Case Crime, either.
• BBNYA (Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award) – Prizes + Author Interview—Some more info on the BBNYA.
• Are Classics Relevant?—I can’t believe people have to keep saying this, but if we have to, we should do it like The Organgutan Librarian does here. Along the same lines, this week she posted Books That I Think Will Be Future Classics #2. What do you think of that list?
• 7 Reasons why I Love Audiobooks
• My Fictional Dinner Party—just a fun idea for a post.
• AND HALT!: The Things That Get Us to STOP Reading—a good list. Any you’d add?
• When should you buy books?—Beth from BooksNest asks this important question.
• Let Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Detectives Choose Your Next Mystery Read—I’m not sure Holt would enjoy the book associated with him, but I liked the argument. I won’t argue with the rest of this (and have added a couple of things to my TBR).

A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen to:
• Author Stories Podcast Episode 810 | Roxanna Elden Interview—I read a little about this book a few months ago (as I recall), but had forgotten about it until this great chat with Garner. I really appreciated her take on the audiobook narrator.

This Week’s New Release that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• A Deeper Song by Rebecca Bradley—the newest DI Hanna Robbins, the last two in this series have been among the best procedurals I’ve read in the last couple of years, I expect this will join the list. Bradley’s last novel is still collecting virtual dust on my Kindle, but I might read this one first.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Wednesday Reads, Eamon, Graphic Design Eye and ARJung for following the blog in some format this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

Not much to say, I’m 604 miles away from home this weekend and haven’t been able to write more than three sentences so far, which is about two posts under my goal (have read more than a few, however). Thankfully, this post doesn’t require a lot of writing. It’s probably the elevation, because that’s a thing, right? (or maybe it’s just spending time with my wife and daughter…)

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:

• The way we read now: The thrill is gone for lovers of fiction. Joseph Bottum on the strange death of the novel—Thought-provoking read.
• Did Amazon Throttle My Sales After I Criticized Them in the New York Times?: Danny Caine on the Transparency and Responsibility of the World’s Largest Bookstore—Things That Make You Go Hmmm…
• He Courted Me Through My Favorite Novel
• Toward a Philosophy on Book Collecting—A philosophy that’s more complicated than “As Many My Wife Will Let Into the House?” huh.
• Sleuthing With Spenser for Hire—some nice memories about Robert B. Parker
• Read like a champion: ‘Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time’ winner Ken Jennings shares his literary picks—think I’m going to pass on his recommendations, but it’s an interesting list
• Don Winslow Discusses His Latest Book, The Border
• Nick Hornby: Why a ‘High Fidelity’ Reboot Made Perfect Sense—Haven’t had a chance to watch any of this yet, but this makes me more inclined
• ‘Bosch’ Renewed for Seventh and Final Season by Amazon Studios—all good things… (Rats!)
• Speaking of which: The Difficult Art of Ending a Crime Fiction Series: Two authors—working from opposite ends of Florida—bring epic noir series to a close, and live to tell the tale.—Not authors I’ve read (yet), still interesting to see them talk about this.
• Things I Love: Book Recaps!—if only more authors gave them
• How Reading Has Improved My Mental Health—I’ve been there or can see the appeal
• Along those lines, Witty & Sarcastic Book Club has been posting about Mental Health in Literature this week, starting with: Mental Health in Literature: a Conversation
• Recommending Books I Didn’t Like
• Here be Dragons!—Spells and Spaceships has a great post about Dragons with a TBR-filling post of Dragon Recommendations!

A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen to:
• The Once & Future Podcast, Ep. 204: Jeanine Cummins—Anton Strout talks to his old friend about American Dirt in an interview recorded before the controversy about the book (and promotion of it) got as big as it has. I had a suspicion that many of her critics didn’t know that much about Cummins/her work before I listened to this. Now I’m convinced.

I’m sure I missed some, but there weren’t any New Releases that caught my eye this week.