Tag: Miscellany Page 132 of 181

Do I Have That? Booktag

On January 15, 2020

I saw this over on Way Too Fantasy a couple of months ago and thought it looked fun (and promptly ran out of time to get to it). It’s harder than it looks (at least it was for me), but I enjoyed the challenge.

1. Do you have a book with deckled edges?

The Complete Novels of Jane Austen

I know that I have more, but this is the first I could find. (and yes, I looked rather strange pulling books off the shelf to run my fingers along the pages to check)

2. Do you have a book with 3 or more people on the cover?
Kings of the Wyld

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

The book that continues to be out of my grasp–couldn’t write up a post on the paperback, couldn’t write up a post on the audiobook. Love the book, just can’t articulate why. BTW, the French cover is even better than this very cool one (and would also qualify for this category if I owned a copy).

3. Do you have a book based on another fictional story?

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye / Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi

Couldn’t decide, so, a twofer. Loved Fuzzy Nation, should probably give it another whirl, actually. Haven’t gotten around to Jane Steele yet, don’t ask me why, I couldn’t tell you.

4. Do you have a book with a title 10 letters long?
In The Still

In the Still by Jacqueline Chadwick

Scrolling through Goodreads “Read” page, counting letters. How did you spend your Saturday afternoon?

5. Do you have a book with a title that starts and ends with the same letter?
Armada

Armada by Ernest Cline

Tricksy one. Thankfully, this came up on that Goodreads page pretty early. Well…not late, anyway.

6. Do you have a Mass Market Paperback book?
Look Alive Twenty-Five

Look Alive Twenty-Five by Janet Evanovich

Do I have an MMP? They’re only about 50% of my Fiction shelves. This was my latest.

7. Do you have a book written by an author using a pen name?

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith / Deep Down Dead by Steph Broadribb

The first one felt like cheating, so you get another twofer. By the way, these are all great no matter what name they go by. Read anything by Robert Galbraith, Steph Broadribb, J. K. Rowling, or Stephanie Marland (except The Casual Vacancy, why do that to yourself?)

8. Do you have a book with a character’s name in the title?
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Eponymous titles are rarer (at least on my shelves) than I expected. But I’ve got this one, at least.

And just thought of another just before I hit “Schedule” (but sticking with the original post).

9. Do you have a book with 2 maps in it?

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

This was tough. I tend to ignore the maps in fantasy novels (when I’m not constantly referencing them, that is). This may have been the hardest to find.

10. Do you have a book that was turned into a TV show?

Angel’s Flight by Michael Connelly

I went with this one because it’s the basis of my favorite season of Bosch to date.

11. Do you have a book written by someone who is originally famous for something else? (celebrity/athlete/politician/tv personality…)

The Road to Mars by Eric Idle

One might say I have too many, thankfully, I’ve had pretty good luck with them. This is a gem.

12. Do you have a book with a clock on the cover?

Fated by Benedict Jacka

Figured a time-travel novel would be the way to go, but…nope. Had to think outside the box to get this one.

13. Do you have a poetry book?

The Pocket Book of Ogden Nash

Yeah, I’ve said that poetry isn’t really my thing. This is probably the only one I own.

14. Do you have a book with an award stamp on it?

The High King by Lloyd Alexander

Yes, and I hate the stupid sticker, ruins the cover image. The first one that came to mind was The High King by Lloyd Alexander. The conclusion to the series that turned me into a Fantasy fan.

15. Do you have a book written by an author with the same initials as you?

Ummmm…er…no? Can’t even think of one…Did Huey Newton (no relation, despite what you may read on Twitter) write a book? Harriet Nelson? (can’t think of another well-known H.N.)

16. Do you have a book of short stories?
Planet Grim

Planet Grim by Alex Behr

Behr liked what I said about the eARC of this enough that she sent me a hardcopy. It’s got a special place on my shelf because of that bit of generosity. Cool stories, too.

17. Do you have a book that is between 500-510 pages long?

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

This made me so grateful for years of spreadsheet keeping (and a search function).

18. Do you have a book that was turned into a movie?

The Martian by Andy Weir

(if I’d gone with The Hobbit would I get 2 extra points?)

19. Do you have a graphic novel?

Scott Pilgrim – Scott’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley

Such a fun little read.

20. Do you have a book written by 2 or more authors?
No Country for Old Gnomes

No Country for Old Gnomes by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne

Yeah, I posted about an eARC, but I have the hardcover, too.

By reading this, you’ve been tagged (probably should’ve warned you earlier, oops). Am very interested to see what you come up with!

Saturday Miscellany—1/11/20

By HCNewton

On January 11, 2020

In Books, News/Misc.

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

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?

Saturday Miscellany—1/5/20

By HCNewton

On January 4, 2020

In Books, News/Misc.

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.

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 ?

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?

2020 Reading Challenges and Other Plans

By HCNewton

On January 2, 2020

In Books, News/Misc.

I don’t have a lot of reading plans for this year, but I’ve got a couple of things I want to tackle.

First, I’m going to finally read Tom Jones (more on this tomorrow).

Secondly, I’m going to re-read the first twelve Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker—I’ve been wanting to re-read the series for a while now, and I’m going to force it this year. I used to read the entire series over a three-day weekend each year, but once I got married, my wife seemed to want me to interact with her for those 3+ days, and I only sporadically read individual volumes since then. It should actually work out pretty well this way, I do one a month (should have no problem fitting that in) which allows me to cover the best of the series, ending with a transition point to the series.

Thirdly, I’m part of the Book Blogger Novel of the Year Award Panel. You’ll hear more about that later.

And that’s about it—otherwise, it’s just read whatever seems interesting that I can get to.

I’m tweaking my approach to Reading Challenges this year. Bookstooge asked in a comment section a few months ago why I did these things* and it got me thinking about it—I’m tired of just doing the “How Much of X Have You Read?” Challenges—they really don’t do anything for me other than getting me to track stuff that I don’t need to. I prefer the ones that make me think of book selection differently than I usually do—preferably the ones that have some sort of interaction between participants.

* Yeah, it may take me longer than it should, but I do try to respond to everything.

The two exceptions to this are the Goodreads Challenge, which takes no effort at all and the Library Love Challenge—yeah, it’s largely a “how much” challenge, but there’s good interaction over on Goodreads, and I like the idea of celebrating Libraries anyway.

So, here’s what I’m going to be up to:

The Fourth Annual Library Love Challenge
Hosted by Angel’s Guilty Pleasures & Books of My Heart.

The Third Annual While I Was Reading Challenge

Ramona Mead’s got some great categories this year, and while the Facebook group isn’t super-active, it’s an interesting little group. I’ve had plenty of fun with this challenge the last two years and figure I’ll keep it going.

2020 TBR Reading Challenge

I saw this one while blog hopping recently, and it looked like fun. Similar to the above, but it’ll stretch me in different ways.

I’m supposed to tag 5 people to go along with this…hmmm….Okay, I challenge kerrimcbooknerd, Witty & Sarcastic Book Club, happytonic, Kelly Curtis, and brainyjaney. You all should give this a shot.

#ARMEDWITHABINGO

Similarly, I saw this on Twitter a week or so ago and it also struck a chord.

So, some fun ways to track reading and think about what I’ll read, and some moderate goals. Leaving 2020 for a lot of “whatever seems like a good idea at the time” kind of reading.

All this needs to be taken with a grain of salt, obviously. Maybe a salt lick. Remembering all too well the poet’s lines:

But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

Saturday Miscellany—12/28/19

By HCNewton

On December 28, 2019

In Books, News/Misc.

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)

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?

2019 While I Was Reading Challenge

By HCNewton

On December 27, 2019

In News/Misc., While I Was Reading 2018 Challenge

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?