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.
This prompt was submitted by Page @ Pages of Perfiction:
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.
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
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:
Defending Adverbs Exuberantly if Conditionally: In which I argue for the usefulness of the most hated part of speech
“..I Want the Reader to Feel as if They’re There.”: An Interview with Return to Sender’s Craig Johnson
Speaking of Mr. Johnson, Longmire author wins Western literature’s highest honor
What Do Americans Really Want to Read? We (Might) Have the Answer
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.
To DNF or not to DNF – That is the question!
Row, Row, Row Your Boat- Books Set In or Around Water (that I actually like)
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.
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:
Crime Time FM THOMAS TRANG In Person With Paul
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?
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
Soulless by Gail Carriger
What the Dog Knows: The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs by Cat Warren
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:
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”
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.”
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
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:
 |
 |
| 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.
 |
 |
| 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.
 |
 |
| 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.
(did I really ask something that cheesy?)
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)
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.
After Cathy of 746 Books retired from hosting this challenge after an impressive 10 years, I figured this was going away. But Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel from AnnaBookBel stepped up to carry the torch. You can read their kick-off post here. So, I’m back for my fifth year of participation in this challenge–and hopefully completing it. “But HC,” some of you might be saying, “a lot of these books look suspiciously like books from other challenges you mentioned.” Yes, yes they are. I’ve not done a great job at some of my challenges this year (okay, most of them0. So, why not multitask? I’ll force myself to read some anticipated new releases (another thing I’ve failed at this year), read every book I’ve borrowed from a friend, and chip away at two other challenges (possibly more). That’s a win-win-win in my book.
Still, I’m worried about completing it. Feel free to harass me about this from time to time.
I’ve frequently used the unofficial US Dates for Summer—Memorial Day to Labor Day, but Memorial Day has already passed. So, I’ll go along with the June 1-August 31 (actually, none of these books are what I’d read on a Lord’s Day, so June 2-August 30). And It’s going to be Friday at the earliest before I can start one from this list. So…sure, I’m stacking the deck against me (although a couple of years ago, I didn’t read any in June and finished okay).
This summer, my 20 are going to be:
(subject to change, as is allowed, but I’m going to resist the impulse to tweak as much as I can).
I didn’t think this was going to be a very full list when I started to assemble this post. But, boy howdy, are there a lot of good things below.
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:
N.J.’s Peter David, prolific comic book writer known for ‘Incredible Hulk,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ dies at 68—If I read any of David’s comics, it was unknowingly. But his novels? Oh man…my college years and 20s were full of them (and some of his more recent novelizations, too). The man was excellent at merging the humor and heart, darkness and hope, and bringing depth to concepts that don’t seem welcoming to it. Twain Dreams: The enigma of Samuel Clemens—A Twain revival? Bring it on.
So, a certain “great bearded glacier” set off a firestorm this week in a blog post about a new project, Howard Meets Hercules—I could easily post a dozen reactions, but the AV Club’s summary will probably do. (okay one other, Duncan MacMaster’s is pretty much what I want to say.)
Finding Your Way Into Writing Fiction as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Grandson: Simon Tolkien on the Double-Edged Sword of a Mighty Literary Inheritance
“That Broken, Brave, Beautiful Man is Someone I Wanted to Write For”: Raymond Chandler’s Trouble is My Business Arvind Ethan David—I really wasn’t inclined to try this new adaptation, but clicked on the interview anyway. David’s second answer changed my mind.
Concrete Poetry & The Great Gatsby Re-Ordered—the story behind one of Fahrenheit Press’ latest projects. I can’t say I’m sold on the idea, but I am incredibly curious.
Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Mashle: Magic and Muscles by Hajime Komoto—this is a great idea for a series, and maybe something that will get me to try my second manga 🙂 I’ve always appreciated his writing
Books I’ve Read With Characters Who Don’t Exist—Stephen always brings the oddest list categories–and they work. And with a title like this one, you just have to stop and read, right?
Is Fiction Getting Worse? Tiktok, Tropification and Toxic Ideology—I’m not sure what my answer to the question would be. Maybe?
Books for Men: Book Berne-ing 19!—Haven’t watched this yet, but I’m betting it’s worth a watch. Love the idea and can’t wait to see JCM’s take.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Attack the Geek by Michael R. Underwood—I refuse to believe it’s been a decade since I read this
Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer—see above comment
And I mentioned the release of some books that should not be that old, either: Long Black Curl by Alex Bledsoe; I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest; The Last Drive and Other Stories by Rex Stout
I’m apparently struggling with the passage of time today.
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (and some I forgot to mention last week):
Instant Karma by Todd Morr—I read an earlier printing of this, but I love the idea of these Pocket Noir books, so I want to mention it. Also–you need to read this.
If You’re Not One Percent by Todd Morr—the populace of a quiet mountain town vs. mudererous rednecks on a thrill kill murder spree.
A Briefcase Full Of The End Of The World by Todd Morr—”Carter isn’t exactly the smartest guy in the room, but even he knows he’s in deep trouble. What should have been a simple snatch-and-grab turns into a nightmare when he realizes there’s something special about the contents of the case he’s stolen. Now, every lunatic, thug, and doomsday prophet in the city is after him, each with their own twisted plans for the mysterious prize.”
Return to Sender by Craig Johnson—Walt goes undercover (or tries to) to hunt for answers to a woman’s disappearance. I started this last night, and am having a blast with it. Also, this is not where I expected this book to go after the ending of First Frost (at least not yet)
Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler—sure, I haven’t read the first in this duology yet. But this looks great.
We all know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover (yet, publishing companies spend big bucks on cover design/art and we all do judge them that way). But, the opening sentence(s)/paragraph(s) are fair game. So, when I stumble on a good opening (or remember one and pull it off the shelves), I like to throw it up here. In these few paragraphs, you’re immediately in Walt’s world, knowing you’re in for some good conversations and a slower pace. I’m starting this one tonight, but took a sneak peak.
from Return to Sender by Craig Johnson:
“Nobody smiles anymore.”
“Excuse me?”
“Have you noticed? Nobody smiles anymore.” Mike adjusted himself in the tiny postal Jeep, setting his back against the passenger-side door as he sat on the floor beside Dog so no one would see him in the September early morning light. “Remember when we were growing up how you were taught that when you walked down the street and you met a stranger, that you smiled or said hello?” He sighed, staring at the plethora of mail and packages in the back as if it were a weight he could no longer bear. “People don’t do that anymore.”
Mike Thurman, my late wife’s cousin, was in a bad mood, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a point.
Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén
