Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Honestly, this is something I’m working on…thought the song did a pretty good job of reminding me of that.
Tag: Miscellany Page 20 of 185
The sheer number of basic html errors this week that I’ve made (and thankfully caught) is enough to make my head spin. Including in this largely copy-and-paste post. I figured by this point, I’d have come up with a punch-line or something to follow up that opening observation, but inspiration seems to be striking someone else. So, I’ll just leave this here as another sign that the ol’ gray matter isn’t quite 100% this week. Thankfully, here are a handful of examples of people that should be publicly posting:
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:
“Reading is a subversive act”: Shenandoah interviews Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor–Elect Ghazala Hashmi—Shared for the ideas nothing else. Politics aside (I know nothing about hers), this is what I want in an office holder. As Sam Seaborn says, “I look for anything. I look for a mind at work.”
Reintroduction of Federal Right to Read Act Aims to Bolster Literacy, School Libraries The New York Public Library’s Most Checked Out Books in 2025
Why stay so narrowly focused, though? LibraryThing (and others) have a cool graphic showing The Most Popular Books in US Public Libraries for 2025.
How Translation Works, Book Title Edition
The Art of Buying Books for Other People
Ways You Can Help Your Fellow Book Bloggers This Holiday Season—it would be classless of me to suggest that you can take care of #4 on Jo’s list by using the Bookshop.org button to the right. So I won’t.
Where Do You Promote Your Book Blog in 2026?—This is something I’ve never worked that hard on (and it shows). Some of the comments to the post have inspired a thought or two. Will I take advantage of that? Who knows…but I should. (or, better, I should hire one of my underemployed kids to do it for me)
Curating a Library for a Young One—good stuff here.
Books that made a bigger impression over time—oooh, I like this idea. And a couple of these books have been on my “eh, maybe” list for a bit. Given their impact, I’m a little more inclined to get them.
It’s time for a few more Best Of ’25 lists, so hold on to your wallets.
CrimeReads gave us: The Best Books of 2025: Traditional Mysteries and The Best Books of 2025: Noir Fiction
Public Books’ Public Picks 2025
Tom Bookbeard’s Top Reads of 2025
Favorite Books Read in 2025—from Pages Unbound’s Krysta
C. J. Daley’s Top Reads of 2025
746 Books has three lists (it’s not just me that has to break them down!) My Favourite Books of the Year: Part One – The 746!. Part Two – The Irish!, and Part Three – New!
and this only sorta fits here, like last week, The Hard Word’s Top Twenty-Five for First Twenty-Five Years (20-16)
And then we have people looking ahead to 2026 (good grief, I’m barely planning the next 11 days! (yes, I’m jealous of their level of organization))
Wolfmantula’s The Unofficial 2026 TBR—the amount of effort behind this post’s graphics alone…
A Jam’s list to 2026 releases – Part 1
Get Ready! Readers’ Most Anticipated Books of 2026—
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Book Berne-ing #22 Breaking Into Booktube!
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
An Unwelcome Quest by Scott Meyer
Indexing: Reflections, Episode Ten: Untold Truths by Seanan McGuire
Santa 365 by Spencer Quinn
Winter and Night by S. J. Rozan
And I mentioned the release of Bryant & May and the Burning Man by Christopher Fowler
This Week’s New Release that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Dogged by Michael R. Fletcher—”In the final days of the Demon Empire a lone wardog goes in search of the answer to the only question she cares about: Who murdered her mate? Utterly unqualified to solve a mystery, Dogged Determination has but one advantage: She never, ever gives up.” The cover alone grabs my attention (it’s almost like that’s the point), the premise sounds cool, and the hype from early reviews around this is palpable. It’s the next novel I’m tackling.
Book Blogger Hop
This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:
Are you more of a plot-driven reader or a character-driven reader?
That’s an interesting question. I’m not completely certain that it’s something I considered until I joined Storygraph and they started asking. I resist the distinction—it takes characters to drive a plot, and it takes a plot (or three) to drive characters.
And yet…
And yet…
It’s Character-driven novels. By a mile. Yes, there are some books where the characters aren’t that important—just the machinations of the plot (I’d offer a couple of Reacher novels or other thrillers as nominees—but would we care as much without ol’ Jack at the center?). And sometimes, even books featuring characters one likes/loves will sacrifice them because of plot (there are dozen of examples on the metaphorical tip of my metaphorical tongue, but they’re not making it past that point). I’m not talking sacrifice in terms of death there, just “there’s no way that X would do something like Y in a million years.”
But I’m far more willing to put up with an aimless, unfocused, or otherwise meandering novel if I like the characters than I am putting up with an intricate and well-paced plot with dull, flat, or unlikeable characters. I’ve read them both, I’ve enjoyed both. But the former will get me to come back to the author more eagerly.
Do you have a preference for what drives a book?
Rising from the ashes of the While I Was Reading Challenge, came Reading with Wrigs. Last year, I didn’t do good with the challenge, and then this year, I actually finihsed it about a week ago and then forgot to make note of it. Ooops. Go figure–last year, I didn’t finish it; this year, I finish with breathing room and forget to note it.
Anyway, here we go:
- Translated into at least 25 languages: The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai (38 languages, in case anyone cares)
- An immigrant author: Front Desk by Kelly Yang
- Main character is a nurse or doctor: Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw (the post should go up tomorrow)
- Insect on cover: Billy the Kid: The War for Lincoln County by Ryan C. Coleman
- About happiness or gratitude: Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt. Earlier I’d posed with a different title here, but I didn’t think it was that appropriate (no matter what the back cover said). Thi fits better here. It’s about a younger attorney finding happiness in his job, in his life, and giving his wife a shot at finding happiness for herself (even if it means leaving him, which he doesn’t want). Also, he finds a big dose of happiness in adopting a wonderful Golden Retriever, Tara, who will be with him for as long as the series continues. Not that anyone cares, but I thought I should explain.
- Religious theme: The Pilgrim’s Regress by C.S. Lewis
- Featuring a carnival or circus: Something wicked this way comes by Ray Bradbury
- Featuring the Dust Bowl: All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky by Joe R. Lansdale (the post should go up soon. Should.)
- Set in a confined space: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (I can’t believe I didn’t finish a post about this…that’s just wrong)
- Title containing an element from the periodic table: Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire
- A book with a map: The Price of Power by Michael Michel
I attended a work-adjacent social activity yesterday* . I’ve got two social gatherings tomorrow** . And one the next day.*** I don’t know myself anymore. So I’m going to rush back to my comfort-space of books for a bit now.
* And enjoyed it.
** I’m anticipating enjoying both.
*** I’ll likely have fun here, too.
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 Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis |
Cold Days by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters |
Wow, you can remember the problems with the fifth Narnia novel, and then there’s re-reading it. I can appreciate it for what it is, but Lewis doesn’t make it easy, you know?
While I don’t love the plot developments that led to Cold Days (I don’t hate them either), I’m enjoying this more than I did Ghost Story (although I did like it more this time through).
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
| Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi |
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger, read by David Chandler |
Zoe’s Tale was so much more fun than I expected once I realized what I was going to be reading. It could be my favorite of the series (although I’ve said that with every book in the series, so take that with a grain of salt).
Iron Lake itself was fine. But I think I made a mistake by going with an audiobook. It’s a very Joe Pickett-ish kind of plot and setting, which is fine. But when you have Joe Pickett’s narrator reading that to you…the word “distracting” is an understatement.
What do you think you’ll read next?
 |
 |
| The Christmas Tree Killer by Chris Frost |
Son of a Liche by J. Zachary Pike, read by Doug Tisdale Jr. |
This seems like a good time for Chris Frost’s latest.
I grabbed Son of a Liche right after I listened to Orconomics, but forgot that I had it, until one or more of the people on SFF Addicts Ep. 183: Our Favorite Reads of 2025 LIVE. Whoops.
Are you going through something seasonal now? Trying to finish challenges?
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Honestly, this is something I’m working on…thought the song did a pretty good job of reminding me of that.
Yeah, this is late. Was busy grandparenting, so I don’t feel too bad. Priorities for the day: Grandcritter #1. Several steps down: You, dear reader. One step lower: Reading something. (well…maybe a half-step, maybe a quarter-step…possibly the same step…somewhere in the general vicinity anyway). A few steps lower: everything else (Hi, wife and kids!)
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:
Sophie Kinsella, ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ Author, Dies at 55
PW’s 2025 Person of the Year: Nihar Malaviya—for his efforts countering book-banning, censorship, etc., PW named Penguin Random House CEO, Nihar Malaviya, their Person of the Year.
New Kindle Feature Uses AI to Answer Questions About Books—And Authors Can’t Opt Out—this is ridiculous (and more than a little maddening)
The Empty Lab, in Science and in Fiction
To New Beginnings: Growing Past Percy Jackson: On aging past our childhood heroes, and leaving room for the next generation of fans—(this can apply to other fandoms, too, not just Percy)
FFA’s Most Anticipated Titles of 2026 (so far)—oh, 2026 is going to be a busy year for my TBR.
746 Books is 12 today!—heckuva landmark.
Over on Bluesky, Adam Holcombe posted his 2025 Wrapped: Author Edition—a fun way to look at his year. By the way, if you haven’t checked out his Bounty, Inc., you really should.
And now, it’s time for some more Best Of ’25s:
The Best Debut Crime Novels of 2025—according to Crime Reads
Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2025—Reactor’s Reviewers have a veritable cornucopia of books to tempt you with
20 Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Authors Pick Their Favorite Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books of 2025—io9 got a bunch of authors to do the same
The Hard Word is going for something a bit more ambitious, but I’ll lump them in with this anyway: Top Twenty-Five Crime Novels of the Last Twenty-Five Years (20-25)
A.J.’s Completely Random Book Awards: 2025—I love these categories (and agree with several of the choices)
Book’d Out brings us Five Books Best Nonfiction Books of 2025
Best Books of 2025 TFF To-Read Festivus Guide—from The Forgotten Fiction
Jo Linsdell compiled Book Bloggers’ Picks: One Must-Read Book We Loved This Year
And with a few shopping days left before Giftmas/Santaween/whatever you call December 25th (or your gift-giving holiday of your choice), here’s a couple of more gift guides
The 2025 CrimeReads Holiday Gift Guide
Gifts for Readers: 50+ Ideas Book Lovers Actually Want —another great compilation from Jo Linsdell
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Four Beardsmen’s Big Fat Bookish Quiz of the year!—this looks like a blast.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Dry Bones by Craig Johnson
The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall—I’m kicking myself for not continuing with this series (didn’t realize it’d been this long since I’d dabbled)
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes—another series that I should’ve stuck with…
Stepdog by Nicole Galland
And I mentioned the release of The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (and one from last week that I forgot about):
Lit by Tim Sandlin—a twisted-looking cozy mystery
The Wizard’s Cat by Nathan Lowell—I had a lot of fun with the first in the series, looking forward to dive in.
I’ve been on a roll lately–or so it seems–lotta good books, mostly that I’ve put off reading for too long (well, one was because of a massive line at the library, but I still feel like I put it off). Here’s hoping the streak continues.
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 Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis |
Ghost Story by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters |
I’ll be starting The Silver Chair here in a bit. I’m not sure what else to say. Good times and Puddleglum await (even good times with Puddleglum, as odd as that sounds to say)
Ghost Story is my least-favorite of the Dresden Files–but each time I read/listen to it, it grows on me. Who knows? By the end of the week, I might be dropping the “pretty” from my short eval and just call it “good.”
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
| Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw |
Too Old For This by Samantha Downing, read by Elizabeth Wiley |
Strange Practice is this great UF hybrid of McGuire’s Incryptid series and Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate with far less snark and innuendo. That’s not a great way to describe it, but it’s the best that I can do. It’s a lot of fun with a bunch of heart.
I’m still chewing on Downing’s latest–but in short, I’m glad I read it and will be recommending it.
What do you think you’ll read next?
 |
|
| Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by ABenjamin Stevenson |
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger, read by David Chandler |
The length of Stevenson’s third book (190ish pages) is one of the big selling points, I wondered a little bit that the second book was stretching things. A compressed tale could help a lot.
I had Iron Lake in this spot a few weeks back, but the download got corrupted and I had to delete it and then re-check it out. So…let’s try this again: I’ve been assured that I’ll enjoy Krueger’s Cork O’Connor books, and that lighter fare than his others. (not that I have a problem with his others, but I’m not going to listen to them while working/driving). Am used to David Chandler’s voice, his work on the Joe Pickett books is solid. Should be a good time.
How’re things going for you? Read anything good lately?
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
I’ve once again been taught the lesson that I’m not in my early 20s anymore (you’d think the two grandchildren and that all of my children have reached 21 would teach men that…). I went to the theater last night for a 4 hour and 40 minute movie and thought I could accomplish things when I got home.
So anyway…this is running late 🙂
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:
South Korea’s Experiment in AI Textbooks Ends in Disaster—I’m shocked–shocked!–I tell you.
Autism is not a genre—this is good enough as it is–but you can fill many, many things in that title for “Autism,” and make it so much better.
What Keeps You Reading?—Molly Templeton talks about the difference becoming a reader and staying a reader.
3 things readers need to STOP doing—some good thoughts, fun video–but don’t expect me to follow in lockstep.
How to Get the Most out of Your Time on BookSky—I need to work on this if I’m ever going to break away from that one site like I want to.
The Indie Author Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror New Release List: December 2025—I keep intending on sharing AJ’s monthly posts, and think I succeed 1-2 times a year. Shame on me.
Another Batch of the Best of 2025
The 10 Best Books of 2025: According to Slate’s book critic.—I’ve heard of few of these. Slate and I do not share algorithms.
Crimereads: The Best Books of 2025: Crime Fiction, Mysteries, and Thrillers—on the other hand, I’ve heard about most of these, read a couple (and have got some new TBR entries)
Scientific American’s Best Nonfiction of 2025—their first such list, and it looks great!
AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of 2025
Find out the New York Time’s Best Books of 2025!—Books of Brilliance was nice enough to provide the list without having to get through a paywall.
Best of 2025 reads—from reader@work
It’s also the time of year for Gift Guides, like these:
The 2025 Whatever Holiday Gift Guide, Day Two: Non-Traditional Books—The rest of Scalzi’s Holiday Gift Guides are worth your time, but this is my favorite
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: The 2025 Adult Books Edition—from our pal, Jodie at Witty & Sarcastic Book Club
Books as Gifts 2025—from another pal, Carol, at Reading Ladies Book Club
More Bookish Gift Ideas… What to Get Your Favourite Bookworm—The Organgutan Librarian has some good ideas, too.
Feeling less-than-good about how much you’ve read this year? This video should help
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
SFF Addicts Ep. 183: Our Favorite Reads of 2025 LIVE (with Talking Story & OWWR Pod)—I enjoyed this, but my TBR is upset with me
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Dear Mr. You by Mary-Louise Parker
Indexing: Reflections, Episode Nine: Feline Cobbling by Seanan McGuire
Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke
Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart
Unseemly Science by Rod Duncan
I talked about the release of the updated version of The Revolution was Televised by Alan Sepinwall (one of the best books on TV you’ll ever read)
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Ace Atkins—You’ve gotta read the whole blurb at the link there, but let this whet your appetite: “Elmore Leonard meets Robert Ludlum in a rollicking comedic thriller set in 1985 from acclaimed author Ace Atkins, in which a suburban teen suspects his mom’s new boyfriend is the ultimate bad guy—a KGB agent.”
Only Way Out by Tod Goldberg—”A luckless thief’s wrong turn becomes a crooked cop’s fortune in a wild ride of a thriller”
