Miscellany - The Irresponsible Reader

Saturday Miscellany — 2/22/14

On February 22, 2014

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:

Harper Lee settles museum lawsuit — A bit of good news on this front
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a reaction to Isabelle Allende’s view on her mystery novel. Here’s some more. Now she’s apologized.

Grimm: The Chopping Block by John Passarella — There are Grimm tie-in novels? Huh. I just might have to check these out. The premise on this one works for me.

Saturday Miscellany — 2/15

By HCNewton

On February 15, 2014

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:

Correctly pronounce tricky author names with this handy cheat sheet — I’m not going to admit how much I needed this.
Why Dragonlance should be the next fantasy film franchise — Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. Dragonlance was the thing that turned me into a fantasy reader (no disrespect intended towards The Chronicles of Narnia or Prydain).
Jennifer Weiner talks ‘All Fall Down’ and reveals the cover — If cover reveals are your thing, here ya go — I’m mostly putting this up here so my wife will see it (I will inevitably forget to tell her about it, and now I don’t have to try to remember)

The Martian by Andy Weir — I’m not sure this is really up my alley, but it looks interesting, and I’m seeing a lot of good things about it.

Saturday Miscellany — 2/8

By HCNewton

On February 8, 2014

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:

After I posted my Miscellany last week, the Internet blew up after an interview with J. K. Rowling was released saying that Hermione should have married Harry, not Ron. Alyssa Rosenberg had some good things to say in the aftermath — probably the most thoughtful I saw (although Rainbow Rowell’s tweets on the subject are worth a read) — then yesterday, The Leaky Cauldron gave some context to the quotations, which everyone seems to be missing.
Mysteries are No Joke — Oline Cogdill has a few things to say about an interview Isabel Allende gave NPR about the mystery genre. Couldn’t agree with Cogdill more.
NoiseTrade Books — for years now, NoiseTrade has been helping me find new music, and now they’re moving into books — definitely worth a glance. Ebooks for a donation.
FX Adapting Sci-Fi Novel ‘Redshirts’ As Limited Series — From the “Too Good to be True” file comes this gem.

Cress by Marissa Meyer — the latest in the SF/Fairy Tale mashup series. This one snuck up on me — I’m #58 on my library’s reserve list. siiiiigh
Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch — Argh. I know I pre-ordered this months ago. I know it. Just can’t prove it. Should’ve been reading it by now. Anyhow, this Apprentice Magician/British Policeman series is great, so looking forward to this one.

Saturday Miscellany — 2/1/14

By HCNewton

On February 1, 2014

In Books, Currently Reading, 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:

Neil Gaiman reads Green Eggs and Ham — just try to have a bad day after watching this, I enjoyed this so much, I’ll save you the click and just embed it below for your viewing (or at least listening) pleasure. And then, drop by Worldbuilders and make a donation. About a day left in this year’s drive.
Teddy Roosevelt’s 10 Rules for Reading — This is very possibly my favorite list I’ve linked to in these posts.
The Decline of the American Book Lover – And why the downturn might be over. — posted one take on this data from Pew research this month, here’s a more hopeful one.
How To Tell If You’re In A Hemingway Novel — just in case you’ve ever wondered

Murder in the Ball Park by Robert Goldsborough — My library had it on the shelf last week, but the 28th was the official release date. My less than positive review is here.
Arcanum by Simon Morden — intriguing concept.
The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne — Hearne. Iron Druid short. Really don’t need to say more. 33 pages of awesome, I expect.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown — hearing many good things — for example, Paul Goat Allen’s Five Reasons You Should Read Pierce Brown’s Red Rising chomping at the bit for this one.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/five-reasons-you-should-read-pierce-browns-red-rising/

Shadow Ops: Breach Zone by Myke Cole — the conclusion to the great trilogy is here — am about 1/3 through it at the moment, and it’s hooks are deeply imbedded in me. Frankly, I sorta resent taking the time to do this post today rather than finish it. Check out Cole’s Big Idea post about it if you’re curious. Pretty sure there are entries for the first two, as well.

Saturday Miscellany — 1/25/14

By HCNewton

On January 25, 2014

In Books, News/Misc.

Better/more consistent week around here. Hopefully, I can improve next week. Currently, I have a backlog of 35 books to review. 35? More discipline is called for on my part.

Apparently, there’s a theme to this week’s batch of odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Teens Don’t Read For Fun Anymore, New Data Says — Paragraph 4 is perhaps a little too rosy.
Four Reasons Why You Should Be Reading Young Adult Fiction — Whether you’re a teen (reader or not) or just a reader, some food for thought
25 YA Novels Everyone — Even Adults — Should Read — If that last once convinces you, here’s fodder for a TBR list

Peacemaker by K. A. Stewart — I’ve been wondering where Stewart had disappeared to, and she’s back with a new, promising looking series. Works for me.
Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells — Urban Fantasy Police Procedural. Have heard good things about this, and I hope it lives up to the hype. Looks good.
Indexing by Seanan McGuire — it’s in paperback now. I really wonder how it’d be to read this as a book rather than a serial.

Saturday Miscellany – 1/18/14

By HCNewton

On January 18, 2014

In Books, News/Misc.

Ugh. 2014 has just not been working the way I expected. Not reading much, (obviously) writing less. What I’ve read has been great, and hopefully I’ve got things figured out on the writing end. Still, here are the latest odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

2014 The Edgar Awards nominees — as much as I like to think of myself as a mystery reader, I don’t recognize much on this list at all. Probably a lot of good TBR list fodder here.
A Snapshot of Reading in America in 2013 — These stats from the Pew Research Council are pretty darn fascinating
The Top Ten Books People Lie About Reading — you guilty of any these?

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley — the new Flavia de Luce adventure. I predict shenanigans, mischief, murder and restrained sass.
He Drank and Saw the Spider by Alex Bledsoe — How can you not love sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse? Elvis Cole in a fantasy world.
Switchblade by Michael Connelly — a new Harry Bosch short story. Short fiction ain’t my thing, but there are writers I make exceptions for.
The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley — not really looking for a new epic fantasy series, but volume 1 of the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne looks pretty appealing.

Saturday Miscellany — 1/11/14

By HCNewton

On January 11, 2014

In Books, News/Misc.

Sorry this is late today, stuff at work happened that I won’t get into because: 1. you don’t care, 2. you wouldn’t believe me. Anyway, here are the odds ‘n ends from this last week about books, authors and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Why Reading Is Important — Well said. I should track down this book
The Decline and Fall of the Book Reviewing Empire — Nice piece on the current landscape of book recommendations/reading/social media
Reading Bingo Challenge 2014</a

16 Books To Read Before They Hit Theaters This Year — handy-dandy little TBR list for those who hate to see movies before they get a chance to read the books. Bonus for me: I didn’t know Hornby’s A Long Way Down was going to be a movie — yay! And what a cast!
The Very Weird Handwriting Of Very Famous Authors — This is why I’m glad we have typesetting
Marcia Clark’s Series May be TV Bound — it’s not my favorite mystery series or anytyhing, but it’s good, solid stuff, and it’d make for pretty good TV

The Baby Boom: How it Got That Way… And It Wasn’t My Fault… And I’ll Never Do It Again by P. J. O’Rourke — should provoke more than it’s share of laughs and thoughts, even if you don’t agree with the man
Fear Nothing by Lisa Gardner — the latest D. D. Warren
Fury of the Demon by Diana Rowland — the newest Kara Gillian book serves as a great reminder how far behind I am with these
Black Arts by Faith Hunter — Jane Yellowrock’s back in action!
Dreams of the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn — I’m 100 pages into this, and the sequel is every bit as good as the original, if not better. Such a great world Vaughn’s given us.

Saturday Miscellany – 1/4/14

By HCNewton

On January 4, 2014

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc.

This is the biggest of my weekly collections of odds and ends (especially years’ ends) that caught my eye. 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:

Reading a novel exercises ‘muscles’ in the brain, researchers find — This is just fascinating — and one more reason to read novels. Another take on the story.
Making Excuses for Science Fiction — Kameron Hurley’s piece is a must read
“A Barkeeper Entering the Kingdom of Heaven”: Did Mark Twain Really Hate Jane Austen? — Emily Auerbach’s article on Twain’s detesting Austen is great.

There were a lotta good reads in 2013, here are a few readers’ takes on the best of the year. I was hoping to have my list ready, but it’ll take another day or two:

Only the Best Sci Fi’s Top Ten New Releases of 2013
SciFiChick’s Best of 2013 (I hadn’t heard of a lot of these)
Fantasy-Faction’s Best Fantasy Books of 2013
io9’s The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2013
Cory Doctorow’s favorite fiction debuts of 2013
Sarah Weinman’s Favorite Crime Fiction of 2013
Oline H. Cogdill’s The best mysteries of 2013 and his Dozen Authors to Watch and Read
Ivory Owl Reviews Best Books of 2013
The Well-Readheads’ Year in Review

And a couple of glimpses into 2014:

The 14 Greatest Science Fiction Books Of The Year — from Buzzfeed
10 New Series/Standalones to Look For in 2014 — from Tenacious Reader
title — blah

Twenty Palaces by Harry Connolly is now in hardcopy! Should probably pick up a copy to go with the rest of the series.
Gryphon Precinct by Keith R.A. DeCandido — I enjoyed the first of these, need to get my hands on the rest
That’s it for this week, but next week has a few that look good, 2014’s going to be off to a great start

2014 New Year’s Reading Resolutions

By HCNewton

On January 1, 2014

In Books, Calendar Items, News/Misc.

Since I was 7, books and reading have pretty much dominated my life, so it’s not too surprising that the only New Year’s Resolutions that I can come up with revolve around them. Here are a few to get things kicked off:

Come up with a response for all the people who say things like, “I notice you’re reading a lot of novels lately” — as if they’re a second-class (or worse) thing to read.
Think more about what I read (this blog helps, but I need to do more)
Enjoy what I’m reading more — the process, the moments, the words.
Re-read more. I think I re-read 6 books last year, not even 5% of my total. I’ve got shelves and shelves of things that I want(ed) to read again — I should do that.
Do a better job here — in the reviews/rants as well as in branching out — posts about books/authors, not just about a particular book.

On the more micro-side — books in particular — I still don’t have a “big” aim or goal like I have most of the last few years, but I have a few smaller ones.

Read more Non-Fiction (not a contradiction of the first resolution above, but a realization that I didn’t read a whole lot of Non-Fiction last year)
You know those books I list that I’m excited about at the end of my Saturday Miscellany posts? I need to read more of those
Catch up on the Temeraire Series (a holdover from the last two years)
Finish the Old Man’s War Series (a holdover from the last two years)
Finish the Lost Fleet Series (a holdover from last year)
Catch Up on the Greywalker series
Catch up on the Kara Gillian series
Catch up on the Longmire Series
Catch up on the Ceepak/Boyle Series
Catch up on the Bill Smith/Lydia Chin Series
Stay current with: Harry Dresden, the Iron Druid Chronicles, Toby Daye, Spenser, Carter Ross, the InCryptid books, Jane Yellowrock, Alex Verus, Charlie Fox, Mercy Thompson, Kitty Norville, Peter Grant, Jack Reacher, Andy Carpenter, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, Kinsey Millhone, Nick Hornby, Jonathan Trapper, Matthew Norman, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, Anton Strout, Rick Riordan, Ace Atkins, Rainbow Rowell, Michael Underwood, J. K. Rowling, A. Lee Martinez, and a few others that I’ve left off the list and will feel really bad about soon.
Discover new (at least to me) SF, Mystery, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, and General Fiction writers

… all in 190 books or so.

Enough blather, gotta hit the books.

Happy New Reading Year!

By HCNewton

On December 31, 2013

In Calendar Items, News/Misc.

I’ve really abandoned things around here lately, haven’t I? Between the busy-ness of the holiday season, kids being home from school and demanding attention — and the silly, ego-driven need to read a few more books to meet my year end goal (with a few hours to spare), things were just too busy for me to update this. I did try to do a Saturday Miscellany post last week, but couldn’t find enough to make up a post (not going to be a problem this week!).

Anyway, 2013 was pretty productive for me: 190 books (down from 206 last year) and a few short stories, graphic novels, and whatnot — mostly good, some great, a few not; a whole new blog (this one here, in case you were wondering)’ a bunch of reviews (not as many as I’d hoped). Which basically boils down to a lot of time spent with books — just about my favorite way to spend time.

Thanks for those of you who’ve read this, are following this blog. Hope you’ve had a good 2013, and may we all have a better 2014.

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