Tag: Miscellany Page 16 of 171

Saturday Miscellany—6/14/25

On June 14, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

A small list this week, with an accidental (but appreciated) focus. I clearly didn’t spend much time online this week.

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet The Real Jay Gatsby: Did F. Scott Fitzgerald model his titular character after his real-life Princeton school-mate?—huh.
bullet S.A. Cosby’s newest book was released this week, and I’m enjoying all the interviews/features I’ve run across. For example:
bullet S.A. Cosby on “King of Ashes,” Crime Epics, and the Softer Side of Monsters—Kowlakowski’s interview/look at the book (I’m going to have a hard time not stealing from this when it comes time for me to post about the book)
bullet Southern Culture on the Skids: S.A. Cosby’s King of Ashes—that first sentence should give Cosby’s readers pause.
bullet S.A. Cosby’s New Thriller Blends Southern Noir with Family Drama
bullet The Ultimate Summer 2025 Reading List: Sun, Fun, Math, and Counting—I really enjoy LitHub’s Lists of Lists like this
bullet In civilized nations that do things like this, June is National Crime Reading month. In honor of that Raven Crime Reads (one of my favorite accounts to follow) is posting a recommendation a day in the genre. Follow this thread and you will find more good books to read than you can handle (or you can enjoy when your tasts match up with Raven’s well-developed palate)

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet The Conversation with Nadine Matheson Coffee Break with S.A. Cosby: King of Ashes—a fun chat about Cosby’s new book (and a little more)
bullet The Thriller Zone Why You Shouldn’t Miss Thomas Trang’s Debut: Dark Neon Dirt

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest (Kali Ciesemier, Illustrator)
bullet Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn
bullet The Fold by Peter Clines
bullet Premonitions by Jamie Schultz

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet A Graveyard For Heroes by Michael Michel—as my dialogue coach Trent would say, “It is so money, baby.” This is the second of five installments in the Dreams of Dust and Steel series that is likely to end up on my all-time favorites list.
bullet King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby—hey, did I mention that Cosby has a new book out? Southern Crime and Family drama come together and bring us something dark—and likely spectacular. Hopefully I get to start this bad boy today. If not, Monday can’t come soon enough.
bullet Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall—the writer/creator of Broadchurch‘s first novel looks like a great time. (if you’re into moody, dark, police procedurals)

REPOST: Quick Fire Fantasy Book Tag

By HCNewton

On June 12, 2025

In Alex Bledsoe, Book Tag, Books, Chronicles of Prydain, Fiction, News/Misc., Nicholas Eames, The Band, The Blackwood Saga, Tufa

I’m not going to finish the post today that I meant to put up yesterday. So…let’s look at this again (all but the third prompt are still valid). I’ve been thinking a lot about the Fantasy genre. Might as well keep the trend going…

I saw this over at Bookstooge’s Reviews on the Road, and it seemed like a fun way to revisit some Fantasy Favorites, and indulge in a bit of nostalgia while I was at it.

Play along, will ya?

Rules:

Thank the person who tagged you and link back to their post
Link to the creator’s blog (thebookwormdreamer.wordpress.com) in your post
Answer the prompts below – all fantasy books!
Tag 5 others to take part
Enjoy!

5 star book

The Lies of Locke Lamora
I’ve read this at least 4 times and love it more each time. A Con Novel, a Heist Novel, a story of Found Family and vengence gone wrong (and, right, if you think that’s possible). I can’t get enough of Book I of the Gentleman Bastard Sequence. It’s fun, it’s suspenseful, good fight scenes, and characters you want to spend more time with.

Oh, and the fantasy world is pretty cool, too 🙂

(I have a very short post about it here)

Always going to recommend

The Chronicles of Prydain

The Chronicles of Narnia made me a Lewis fan. The Chronicls of Prydain turned me into a Fantasy fan (which is why I had to use the covers I owned as a kid). Yeah, it’s written for what we’d call today a Middle Grade audience, but when I listened to the audiobooks a year or two ago (or when I read them to my kids a decade ago), I thought it was just about as effective as you could hope. A little bit of fun, a dash of romance, a hero quest straight out of Campbell, a decent amount of magic (but not too much), a good mythic basis—and a oracular pig! It’s also probably the series that taught me that you’ll end up having emotional attachments to characters to the extent you may get teary about when they die and/or say good-bye to each other (and, yeah, did as an adult).

(my posts about the audiobook series)

Own it but haven’t read it yet

Bloody Rose

I tried to read this last year, and failed. I’m hoping to read it this year, and am likely to fail. I less-than-three’d Kings of the Wyld (in print and audio) so much, I don’t know why I haven’t made the time for the sequel.

Would read again

The Brothers Three

The first of The Blackwood Saga is everything I loved about portal fantasies as a kid—but it’s written for adults. Some good characters, a good amount of growth (especially in the later books in the series), good fight scenes and a pretty cool world to explore. This worked for me in ways I didn’t expect—and the sequels have done a good job building on this one. I’ve yet to read the newest in the series, but this one feels like a good comfort-read if I needed one.

(my post about this one)

In another world

The Warlock in Spite of Himself

(I probably would’ve gone with Brooks’ The Magic Kingdom for Sale, but Bookstooge beat me to it in his post).

I honestly remember very little about this novel, despite having read it several times. But the last time was probably in 1990-91. I was able to find a couple of the later novels in the series, too—just not enough for me at the time (I probably could now—yay, Internet). Still, somehow this is what sprang to mind when I thought of a fantasy on another world. A cool combination of SF and fantasy, as I recall.

Back on Earth

The Hum and the Shiver

(and the rest of the series, too, but this is good enough—as good as many series hope to be in itself)

A magical people with amazing musical talent in the Smoky Mountains, dealing with modernization, an Iraqi war vet, and a feud going back generations. I’m not a believer in magic, but Bledsoe makes me want to with these books—this is the best of a great series, and thinking about it now has got me thinking it might be time for read #4 of this one.

As for the tagging . . . nah, I’ll just leave this open to all my readers, I’d love to see what you all would put here. (W&S Book Club, here’s another chance to talk about The Dragonlance Chronicles—you’re welcome)

WWW Wednesday—June 11, 2025

By HCNewton

On June 11, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., 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?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard Dayle	The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Marisa Calin, read by Aubrey Hartman

I’m not sure what to say about Dayle’s book yet–it’s a satire set in the Civil War about a white teen in an all-black squad in an almost-all-black regiment. I’m very impressed, but am still trying to figure out just where it’s going before I firm up my impressions.

Calin’s book was being promoted by a local bookstore, and looked like just the needed level of lightness.

What did you recently finish reading?


The Amazing Twin Chicken Freedom Fighters by Zephaniah Sole	Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Sole’s book is either brilliant, the ravings of a mad man, or both. I’m leaning toward the latter. My goal is to expand on that soon.

This is my 3rd time through Lies Sleeping, and I picked up so much this time that I think I missed before (or just plum forgot). And, it’s a rollicking great time.

What do you think you’ll read next?


King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby	Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart, read by Patricia Rodriguez

Family drama, a crime story, and S.A. Cosby…King of Ashes sounds like a grim but fantastic time.

I heard an interview with Stewart this morning, so when I was browsing the Library’s offerings and saw this book, I figured I might as well give it a whirl. Would like to hear a bit more about what lead her to some of her conclusions.

Tell me about your recent reads!

Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 series I wished were shorter

By HCNewton

On June 10, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Top X List

This week’s topic is, “Top 5 series I wished were shorter. Speaking of George (or even any Wheel of Time fans), is there a series that you wish was shorter than it is. Maybe it’s by one book — maybe it’s by eleven. You tell us!!”

As this the second in a similar series of Top 5 Tuesday topics, I figured I’d keep this one to a video, too. Let me know what you think.

Joel and the MST3K Bots asking What Do You Think, Sirs?

Book Blogger Hop: Engaging Readers Without Spoiling the Story

By HCNewton

On June 9, 2025

In Book Blogger Hop, Books, News/Misc.

Book Blogger Hop

This prompt was submitted by Page @ Pages of Perfiction:

How do you strike a balance between providing enough information to pique readers’ interest without giving away too many spoilers in your reviews?

I’ll let you know as soon as I find the balance.

What, you want more? Yeah, I guess I should elaborate a bit since you took the time to click the link.

Okay, my approach has essentially always been: what would I tell a friend to get them to pick up the book? Sure, for many of them–like me–all I need to say is an author’s name, or maybe the series, and they’re sold. But sometimes they want a little more–and I have a friend or two in mind for each genre. I’m literally writing to them–what would I say to Paul/Nicole/Tony (there are others, I don’t want to give an exhaustive list, or I’ll leave someone off) to get them to bite?

That’s basically it–I don’t want to give away too much–sometimes I think the jacket copy does, and I just don’t get it. Sometimes I can’t figure out a way to talk about about it without ruining something, so I’ll just copy the jacket copy. I’m really sensitive to this–while I know you can appreciate some books while knowing parts of the plot ahead of time, for me, there’s nothing like discovery. So I try to preserve that.

One time an author labeled one of my posts as containing mild spoilers on their website–when I had gone out of my way to not give any. And frankly, anyone who picked up the book and didn’t assume the thing I think the author was alluding to was going to happen has never read a book before. (and yes, it’s still on their website saying that)

That said, I’m not sure how well I strike that balance, and I’m always trying to do better.

What about you, reader? How much do you want a blogger like me to say?

MUSIC MONDAY: “Be OK” by Ingrid Michaelson

By HCNewton

On June 9, 2025

In News/Misc.

The Irresponsible Reader's Music Monday logo

Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.

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Saturday Miscellany—6/7/25

By HCNewton

On June 7, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Defending Adverbs Exuberantly if Conditionally: In which I argue for the usefulness of the most hated part of speech
bullet “..I Want the Reader to Feel as if They’re There.”: An Interview with Return to Sender’s Craig Johnson
bullet Speaking of Mr. Johnson, Longmire author wins Western literature’s highest honor
bullet What Do Americans Really Want to Read? We (Might) Have the Answer
bullet The Theater Kids at the End of the World or, All the Page’s a Stage and We Are Not Merely Readers—I admit that in paragraph 4, when Templeton started talking about a novel I’ll start in a week or so, I started skimming just to be safe. But the gist I got made this worth linking to.
bullet To DNF or not to DNF – That is the question!
bullet Row, Row, Row Your Boat- Books Set In or Around Water (that I actually like)
bullet My Top 39 Fantasy Series/Books—Pete’s thought more about Fantasy Fiction than I’ve thought about almost anything…so it’s worth consulting this list.
bullet Books We Loved As Children—LibraryThing’s List of the Month is just the thing if you’re needing a splash of nostalgia (hard to argue against most/all of the top 15)

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Crime Time FM THOMAS TRANG In Person With Paul
bullet Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend Ron Chernow—the focus is on Chernow’s new Mark Twain bio, but they touch on some of his other work, too.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
bullet Soulless by Gail Carriger
bullet What the Dog Knows: The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs by Cat Warren
bullet I mentioned the releases of 2 books, one was absolutely worth the time. The other, not so much: The Fold by Peter Clines and Stay by Victor Gischler

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet This Dog Will Change Your Life by Elias Weiss Friedman with Ben Greenman—”A uniquely insightful, uplifting, emotional, and informative book that shows us how dogs make our lives better by making us better people”
bullet Realms of the Round Table by John Matthews—”Rare and previously unpublished tales of one of the most famous legends in literature is brought to life for a new generation by one of the world’s leading Arthurian experts and illustrated by an acclaimed Tolkien artist.”
bullet Not that Kind of Good Guy by John Ringo—I’m not going to try to fit a description of this take on superheroes into a sentence, go read the link.

Image credit: Grammarly

WWW Wednesday—June 4, 2025

By HCNewton

On June 4, 2025

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

There’s still a little Wednesday left…

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?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch	Death Masks by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters

I was having such fun reading The Lies of Locke Lamora last night that I didn’t finish this post (or the other one I had planned for today).

Death Masks is such a great book, and it is so pivotal to the series–setting up so much, it’s really hard to believe. And so much fun to revisit.

What did you recently finish reading?


Return to Sender by Craig Johnson	Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin, read by Sally Phillips

You can blame Scott Lynch for not reading my post about Return to Sender today.

Life Hacks… was so much more than I bargained for when I picked it up. A real gem.

What do you think you’ll read next?


The Amazing Twin Chicken Freedom Fighters by Zephaniah Sole	Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter, read by Khristine Hvam

Between the cover, the blurb (click a link above), and the title–I don’t know what to expect from Sole’s book, but Run Amok Crime never disappoints.

My Libby waitlists aren’t shrinking, and I want a little more time before my next Rivers of London, so I might as well take this opportunity to revisit Rift in the Soul.

You have any hot reads for this hot season?

(did I really ask something that cheesy?)

Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 standalone books I wished were series

By HCNewton

On June 3, 2025

In Books, News/Misc., Top X List

This week’s topic is, “Top 5 standalone books I wished were series. This is the week for everyone who ever wished their standalone book had more books. Maybe even a long epilogue or novella after it. You know, a Mysteries or Thorn Manor style book. Or, even a Song of Fire and Ice style never-ending series?!”

I didn’t have time to write this up, so…I made a quick video. (tried something different with my recording software, and the quality took a hit…will work on that)

Joel and the MST3K Bots asking What Do You Think, Sirs?

MUSIC MONDAY: “Ok, But This Is The Last Time” by The Offspring

By HCNewton

On June 2, 2025

In News/Misc.

The Irresponsible Reader's Music Monday logo

Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.

sharing mostly for the (well-executed) novelty of a piano version of a song by this band.

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