Tag: Miscellany Page 20 of 172

Another day of people-ing, so another late Saturday post. Hate to leave you all hanging in suspense.

Actually, if anyone was in suspense, you really need to think about your priorities. But you know what I mean.

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:
Libro.fm had this to say about the recent Independent Book Store Day
12 Things You Say Without Realizing You’re Quoting Poetry—a “May be” or “Might be” should probably be stuck in that headline

INTERVIEW: Joe Abercrombie—Beth Tabler talks with Abercrombie about his new book ofer at Grimdark Magazine
Interview: Joe Abercrombie talks The Devils, grimdark fantasy humor, Best Served Cold and more—and so does someone over at Winter is Coming
The Joys and Travails of Writing with a Canine Companion
It’s Okay to Know Where the Story Is Going: It’s a cliche and a truth to say that the journey matters more than the destination…
If Only All Books in Series Had Recaps
Early Epic Fantasy and Non-White Ethnicities: A Draft
Flowers or Books? 10 Book Recs for #MothersDay—for all of your last-second shopping

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Not having time to read (with Christina Lupton)—after last week’s piece about Literary Scholars losing the plot, I went digging around on the podcase mentioned in the pice, I thought this was an interestnig chat. In short—it’s not a new problem.
SFF Addicts Ep. 153: Joe Abercrombie talks The Devils, Grimdark, Ensemble Casts & More—Last mention of Abercrombie today. No, really.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Thicker Than Water by G.M. Ford
The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man by W. Bruce Cameron
Goodbye Ginny Madison by Dave Gehrke
The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter by Rod Duncan
And I mentioned the releases of: Unseemly Science by Rod Duncan; The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry; Revision by Andrea Phillips ; Corsair by James L. Cambias; Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond; and Burning Down George Orwell’s House by Andrew Ervin

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
My Friends by Fredrik Backman—For those of you who need a bit more than the author’s name, this is “an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a stranger’s life twenty-five years later.”
Hive by D.L. Orton—time travel, parallel universes, love, family, odd connections combine for a pacey-read

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:
Most parents don’t enjoy reading to their children, survey suggests—might as well start on a down note, right? Can only go up from here…
A Fifth of American Adults Can’t Read. Here’s How To Teach Them.—well, maybe not. (I don’t know enough to comment on the “how to teach” bit, as inclined as I am to agree). There’s probably a link between these two pieces.
People who buy books faster than they can read them usually share these 7 traits—This’ll lift your mood a bit (I think this also applies to people who check out too many library books at once)
Premodern Chinese Literature Can Be Trendy Too—Sure, why not? I’m mostly posting this for the one friend who will despair that one of his niche interests is trendy, but this did make me wish I had a little room on ye olde TBR.
So, You Want to Write a Cookbook?—huh.
Triumph of the Undead: The Public Domain as Horror Hero
Scholars Have Lost the Plot!—This showed up as a sidebar link to the Public Domain piece, and I’m a little obsessed with it now. I’d like to take 2-3 weeks off to read the materials he’s interacting with and interact with this piece.I probably won’t. Okay, I definetly won’t, but it was a nice daydream.
The Edgar Awards were given this week, which means it’s time for CrimeReads to post their roundtable discussions with the nominees. I love these annual posts. The State of the Mystery, Part 1: Craft Lessons and Favorite Reads and The State of the Mystery, Part 2: Issues, Concerns, and The Long Road Ahead.
Speaking of the Edgars, I might as well share the list of the winners: 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Awards
Nabokov’s Favorite Color, Stephen King’s Adverb Bullshit, Language’s Value Only As A Measure of Time—I really wish I remembered whose link I followed to this.
What’s the deal with dystopian picturebooks?—I didn’t know this was a thing. There’s at least two of these that I had to fight the impulse to buy. (for now)
Remembering the Average Reader—Yes. The phrase “average reader” is accurate but has a strange tone to me (I know Krysta wasn’t being pejorative—that’s the whole point). My friends tend to phrase it as: “people who aren’t like HC” or “normal readers.”
3 Truly Odd Protagonists & Why We Really Really Like Them—Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Dent, and Quentin Coldwater in the same piece. Worth reading just for that interesting combo.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Fairest by Marissa Meyer—that was 10 years ago??
Atlanta Burns by Chuck Wendig—That was only 10 years ago??
Dark Heir by Faith Hunter—a turning point in my appreciation for the series
I mentioned the release of Darkened Blade by Kelly McCullough

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Mystery of the Crooked Man by Tom Spencer—”Fraudulent cozy mystery expert Agatha Dorn is cancelled — and severely ticked off! — in this quirky homage to Golden Age detectives, lost manuscripts, and famous authors.” I dig the premise here, if the execution matches, it’ll be a winner.
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker—”In this explosive horror novel, a woman is haunted by inner trauma, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer as she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the pandemic.” There’s no way I’d make it through this horror novel—but, man, it sounds great. Someone read it and tell me what I missed, okay?

Did I spend too much at the Independent Bookstore Day event I attended? Yes. Am I bothered by that? No, because I actually showed restraint–I could’ve easily spent 2 or 3 times as much. And, I did cut myself off from going to multiple bookstores. Don’t tell me I don’t have self-control.

I also found the time to put this post together before I go to celebrate the Grandcritter’s 2nd Birthday (boggles my mind that he’s that age already). We start with a couple of links that aren’t technically bookish, but I appealed to the owner/manager of this site, and he agreed to let me post them anyway.

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:
The Thursday Murder Club movie has released production photos!—sure, they’re just photos. But hard to imagine them getting the look better. Makes me feel hopeful about the rest.
May the Fourth Gift Giving Guide—This Dad Reads is providing an essential servce here
Ten Recommended Superhero Novels II—C.T. Phipps has put together a really nice list over at Before We Go Blog.
5 Year Blogiversary: Half a Decade of Cozy with Books—Congrats to Cozy with Books for making it to 5!
Books About Books: A List—Witty & Sarcastic Book club commemorated World Book Day with this list and some great quotations about books.
The Nicest Characters in Fiction—characters that need to be celebrated
Andr3wsky has one of my favorite takes of the week

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson
The Diamond Conspiracy by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris
And I mentioned the releases of Second Olympus by K. A. Stewart and The Mad Apprentice by Django Wexler—two books that I never got around to reading and completely forgot about (and I think I regret both…still look pretty good)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg—the arson investigators, Sharpe and Walker hunt for a serial torcher on a spree (with a little help from Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone)
Death Rights by Shannon Knight—Knight follows up Grave Cold with this sequel that ramps up the stakes in a very satisfying way. (well, the beta version I read was very satisfying, and from what I can assume from the changes Knight described, it’s even stronger).