Tag: Miscellany Page 130 of 179

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:

• Living in the future.—The good people over at Fahrenheit Press (actually, they’d probably prefer being referred to as rabble-rousers and ne’er-do-wells) outline their plans for 2020.
• ‘People are so happy we exist’: indie bookshops grow despite retail slump
• Q&A with Mike Craven—A nice Q&A with one of the best in the biz
• Too Many Thoughts About Genre—Over on Charles Stross’s blog, Harry Connolly drops by to talk about genre and the set up for his new novel.
• The Collective Culture of Fiction—an interesting post by author Kit Falbo.
• 2020 books to movie—upcoming adaptations
• The Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2020: Part I—the editors at Crime Reads talk about the books they’re looking forward to in the first half of 2020. Daunting (but appetizing)
• New Year’s Resolutions—I liked this approach to the looking back/looking forward post.
• Book Series I will be reading before 2020 ends—someone’s gonna be busy (I could never be this well-organized, but I’d like to be)
• Blogging: Quality, Quantity or Something Else?—Lashaan gives some good reminders/lessons for we bloggers.
• 10 Bookish Hashtags To Follow on Instagram—thinking you don’t spend enough hours a day on Social Media? Or, maybe you just want to be more efficient in those hours? Ramona Mead has the post for you.
• 2020 in books: a literary calendar

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire—It took less than a paragraph (maybe less than a sentence) for me to fall in love with the latest Wayward Children book. Jack and Jill are back and worse than ever? More to come on this one!
• Deep Dark Dead by Steph Broadribb—Bounty Hunter Lori Anderson is going to get beat up (I’m betting) in a whole new city! The ebook came out in the UK this week, but for some reason, it won’t release until next week in the U.S. (it takes awhile for the electrons to cross the Atlantic, I guess). It’s the next novel I tackle (assuming it doesn’t get held up in e-customs?).
• Born in a Burial Gown / Body Breaker by M. W. Craven—the first two books in his Avison Fluke series have been updated, revised, and re-released in the world. Not a new Washington Poe/Tilly Bradshaw, but probably the next best thing. Don’t take my word for it, see what Noelle Holten, the Crime Book Junkie, has to say.
• QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling—a satire about life run by algorithms—I’ll do a better job describing it after I’ve read it. I hope. Go click the link in the meantime. (I’ll confess to a moment of panic about this release this morning, until I found the email saying the blog tour has been rescheduled for next month, and I wasn’t actually four days late with my posts (and even further behind in reading it)).
• The Heap by Sean Adams—”Blending the piercing humor of Alexandra Kleeman and the jagged satire of Black Mirror, an audacious, eerily prescient debut novel that chronicles the rise and fall of a massive high-rise housing complex, and the lives it affected before – and after – its demise.”

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

For some entirely predictable reason, most of what I saw this year was a look back at 2019 or a look ahead to 2020, so you’ll see a real theme to these 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:

• What’s Happening In 2020?—Michael Connelly’s Facebook page gives his fans plenty to look forward to.
• The Best Books of 2019: Debut Fiction—from CrimeReads, some of these look really good. I only read one of these, Magic for Liars, and while I wouldn’t have put it on this list, it’s worth your time. American Spy keeps popping up on my radar, not sure why I haven’t tried it yet.
• The #damppebbles Top Ten (sort of!) of 2019—Second only to my whim, Emma’s responsible for a lot of what I read last year, so it’s not surprising that I think this is a great list. I’ve only read her top pick, but have heard nothing but raves about the rest. And her top pick? She’s absolutely right.
• My Top 20 Books of 2019—The Tattooed Book Geek shows us all up with a Top 20 that looks fantastic.
• Raven’s Yearly Round Up 2019 and Top 10 Books—Raven Crime Reads finds some of the best-looking stuff.
• Char’s Horror Corner lists her Top Ten Novels of 2019, Ten Story Collections/Anthologies of 2019, and Top Ten Novellas of 2019—she reads a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t (and probably vice versa), but when we happen to read the same thing we usually end up echoing each other’s thoughts. So if you like your fiction a bit further on the creepier/horror-ish side than I do, you’ll love these lists.
• If you’ve plundered the above lists (and what I posted the last couple of weeks) for TBR material, you’ll want to read Find More Time to Read—from Sarah Anne Carter and Super Readers Share Their Best Tips to Read More in 2020—from the Goodreads blog
• Book Stress—This post seems like a good thing to bear in mind after everything else I’ve posted so far. Also, I’m glad that The Read Writes link to his blog this week, if for no other reason than I love the blog design.

A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen to:
• Author Stories Podcast Episode 783 | Lee Goldberg Interview—One of Garner’s best episodes, partially because Goldberg talks fast so you get more content than usual ?

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg—a new series from Goldberg about a rookie homicide detective learning the job. It’s waiting not-so patiently on my Kindle and I’m tempted to skip a couple of things so I can get to it faster.
• A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall by Andy Abramowitz—I’ve been waiting since 2015 for something new from Abramowitz, and this family drama looks like it’ll be worth the wait.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Lou des Anges, Don Jimmy Reviews, and Žygimantas Krungolcas for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

No time for an intro this week—too much to read before Jan. 31 to bother rambling on. (mostly a joke)

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:

• George RR Martin opens bookshop next to his cinema in Santa Fe—great, another distraction, just what he needs. That was too sarcastic, I think it’s cool that he’s doing it, and would absolutely love to check it out.
• These are the 10 best-selling books of the decade.—I’ve seen some people react to this like it’s a sign of the Fall of American Culture (which actually ties into the Collins and Roth work), but outside of #s 1-3, I don’t see this as too bad. (and have contributed to the success of four of these in my own, small, way)
• Speaking of Collins and Roth (and others listed above): The Decade in Young Adult Fiction: As a publishing phenomenon, YA literature entered the decade like a lion. Now it seems to be eating itself alive.
• Notes from the Winter Solstice Meeting—Rick Riordan gives hope to legions and legions of readers with this talk about a better adaptation of the Percy Jackson books. Also, just an entertainingly-written post.
• The Best Books of the 2010s—Several lists of goodness from the editors of Paste.
• Typically this time of year, I post links to various “Best Of” lists, and have done so a couple of times this year, but on the whole, I haven’t been that inspired by/interested in those from the usual suspects. However, most book bloggers are putting out their lists now, and they’re resonating more with me, so…let’s look at a few of them, shall we? (not an exhaustive list, and one that we’ll revisit soon)
  • 2019 Best Books Read and Reviewed on Beforewegoblog
  • Best Books of 2019—from Books, Bones & Buffy
  • What were my top crime reads of 2019?—from Crime Book Junkie (there’ll be some good overlap between this list and mine when I get around to compiling it, I wager)
  • Top Reads of 2019—from Fan Fi Addict’s David W
  • PaulsPicks Best Books of 2019 and PaulsPicks Best Graphic Novels of 2019—which also demonstrates that I’ve been putting an extra space in the blog name. Whoops.
  • Best of the Best: My Favorite Books from 2019—from Witty & Sarcastic Book Club
• Why Is Reading so Unpopular?
• How was the book? – Describing the Reading Experience—Armed with a Book trumps the 5-Star System with Data Analysis (I found this fascinating)
• Happy Holidays and 365 Posts in a Row—Yeah, third PaulsPicks post this week—no, he didn’t pay me for clicks (but he could…, just sayin’), I think the dude deserves a tip of the cap for 365 Posts in a row. More than that, he deserves the break he’s giving himself…
• David S’ Non-Comprehensive and Entirely Unrealistic List of Completed Series to read in 2020—If you’re like me, you’re coming up with reading plans for 2020, David S is at least honest enough to realize his is entirely unrealistic (unlike mine, which is going to be totally doable and not cause me any undue stress or sleepless nights in December)

A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen to:
• Under a Pile of Books’ Episode 43 – SPECIAL EPISODE: Top Coverart of 2019—Calvin Parks attempts (and largely succeeds) to convey his favorite bits of cover art on an audio podcast. This is a heckuva feat.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Mental Health •Lifestyle •Finance, Kelly Curtis, and brainyjaney (also, welcome to the weird world of book blogging) for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

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?

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?