Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Like so many today, I’m spending some time revisiting the works of this absolute legend. It was hard to pick just one, but I think I’ll go with this Springtime Classic.
I really don’t have much for today, almost an inexcusably short amount. In my defense, I was a little busy 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:
A Refuge From Censorship: Why Independent Bookstores Will Save Us—The headline might be overly optimistic, but it’s good to dream, right? “Kate Broad on the Invaluable Civic and Cultural Role of Booksellers Across the Country”
Captivating Characters of July—Yesterday was the last Friday of July? Eeep. Time for another installment in this meme that needs to get more steam. (he says, having contributed once this year)
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re about to wrap up Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week 2025. Be sure to check out Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week 2025 Hub to see most (possibly all) of the posts associated with it. A few things that I want to highlight:
#selfpublishedauthorsappreciationweek and/or #SPAAW on Bluesky have a lot of goodies to see (I didn’t see much action over on not-Twitter).
Read Indie Fantasy‘s contributions threatened to break my bank
You’ve gotta enter the Giveaway for Bones and Betrayals: Silence of the Dead by Erica Marks and Andi Ewington, not only is it a great read. But the entertainment possibilities in the responses are high. I want to read more of them (a reason for you, and a reason for me—we both benefit!)
There’s also a Giveway from Your Paper Quest Subscription Box—one of the best ideas that I’ve seen this year
Lastly, Seán reminded us all of the “need to actively support unorthodox writing projects that would struggle to exist in the modern trad pub industry but would flourish” online, like their flash fiction Substack, Shadows & Sorcery and “all the fantasy encyclopedias, bestiaries, and in-universe texts I’ve been told people want to write but ‘don’t have an audience.’ I, for one, would like some recommendations for the latter.
I shared this link 10 years ago, I just re-read it and thought I’d share. 20 Surprisingly Profound Quotes From Fantasy & SciFi. Some real gems.
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
I refuse to believe it’s been ten years since these.
Kitty Saves the World by Carrie Vaughn
Re Jane by Patricia Park
And I mentioned the releases of: The Redeemers by Ace Atkins; Who Let the Dog Out by David Rosenfelt; and Lessons from Tara: Life Advice from the World’s Most Brilliant Dog also by David Rosenfelt
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
(it was unintentional, but I’m embracing the coincidence that these are all self-published works)
Shield of The Mothership by JCM Berne—The greatest mystery in my life is why I’m not caught up on this series. But more importantly–new JCM Berne, folks! Get on it!!
You’ll Never Walk Alone by Troy Lambert—a creepy-looking short story
Jumping Judiciary Corruption by E. N. Crane—another series that I’m inexplicably behind on. Cyn and Winnie look into the death of a sequestered juror.
Let’s take a quick break from Appreciating Self-Published Authors to take a quick look at some authors who definitely aren’t self-published (you’d think I’d plan things better for this week, right?)
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:
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| This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone |
Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter, read by Khristine Hvam |
Epistolary romance + SF adventure (and I’m guessing some time travel) + dynamite prose. I really don’t know much about This Is How You Lose the Time War beyond that. Oh, and it’s the Book Club pick for this month. So, I guess we’ll see what I’m in for.
I’d planned on listening to the (too soon, but also probably timed-just-right) end of the Souldwood series last month, but a rush library holds came through, so it got pushed back. I should be finishing this today, which will allow me to tackle the next batch of library holds that have come through. It’s like Libby does this to me on purpose.
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| Samurai! by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito |
Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic |
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon, read by Kate McKinnon & Emily Lynne |
Samurai! was a great look at the War in the Pacific from the other side.
I learned a lot from Algospeak, now I just have to figure how to talk about it–and what to do with this knowledge.
Kate McKinnon’s narration is the only thing zanier and more brilliant than the text of this book that I can think of lately. This was a delightful read that I’ve been recommending like crazy.
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| Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper |
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, read by Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, Jeff Ebner, David Pittu, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Mark Bramhall, Petrea Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Peter Ganim, Jade Wheeler & Various |
I’ve been intending to read Harper’s latest since it was released in ’23. A Hollywood fixer trying to solve her boss’ murder. Sounds pretty cool. Coming from Harper? It’s practically guaranteed to be more than that.
A list of narrators that long “& Various”? That seems like a lot. The owner of Shared Stories recommended this to me, will be giving it a shot.
I somehow deleted my list of new releases for the week–I’m pretty sure I reconstructed it all, but the haunting feeling that I missed one is going to eat at me for a day or two.
A shorter post this week, but…you have no idea how busy this site is going to be next week. I gave myself “plenty” of advance time to get things done–and promptly filled it with other stuff. So, I’m scurrying around a little today. Anyway, be sure to check out the Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week posts here and around the book blogosphere next week!
But for now:
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:
New ‘Dresden Files’ book is coming: See the cover reveal for ‘Twelve Months’—98% of those who care have likely seen this already—what do I care? I’m excited about the cover and the brief synopsis. January can’t get here fast enough! (although there’s plenty that I want to accomplish before then, so…maybe it can)
Who Gets a POV In Your Story? It’s a Political Decision: Everyone in a story is a person, and nobody is an NPC.—Yes, this is primarily for writers, but there’s something for we readers to chew on here, too.
Even Better the Second (or Third, or Fourth…) Time: In Praise of Re-Reading
Where authors gossip, geek out and let off steam: 15 of the best literary Substacks
The Thing You Want to Read Is Out There (Probably): On reading—and looking—outside your comfort zone
Book Blogging in 2025 Survey Results—I look forward every year to see what Jo Linsdell’s survey brings
Monthly Manga Mania Featuring First Duelist: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s by Masahiro Hikokubo
I Made a Massive 14,000 Page Book—This is disturbing, impressive, mind-boggling, and cool.
The Five Book Lover Languages
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Murder Boy by Bryon Quertermous—I’ve often thought about revisiting this one to see if it was just the wrong time for me.
Armada by Ernest Cline
And I talked about the releases of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (IT’S BEEN 10 YEARS ALREADY??); Armada by Ernest Cline; Scents and Sensibility by Spencer Quinn; Hostile Takeover by Shane Kuhn (I miss this writer); Last First Snow by Max Gladstone; Cold Iron by Stina Leicht; Alive by Scott Sigler; Once Upon a Crime by P. J. Brackston; Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Three Shattered Souls by Mai Cortland—I just finished book one of this trilogy last weekend, I haven’t even picked up my copy of book two (and won’t be able to read it until September), but am more excited about this release than anything else this week. And no, I won’t give a synopsis of it, because I’m hiding from any discussion of it.
Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue by Spencer Quinn—The widow is back in action (thankfully, no international travel is called for this time). I’ve been trying to write something since Monday…you’ll see me blather on about it soon.
American Mythology by Giano Cromley—Who doesn’t like a Bigfoot story? Moreso when it’s described as: “A spooky adventure story and a wry and heartwarming tale of friendship, American Mythology is a fabulous debut about the power of belief and our sacred bond to nature.”
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna—This sounds like a bit of breezy niceness. “A whimsical and heartwarming novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track.”
Who’s got time for an introduction? Not this guy! Let’s dive right into this week’s 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:
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| Stone & Sky by Ben Aaronovitch |
Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic |
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, read by Jefferson White |
Almost the entire cast of The Rivers of London series goes on holiday to Scotland (and to look into a strange cat), and at the rate things are going, ol’ Peter is going to find himself banned. There are just so many good things to mention here I could get carried away in this paragraph.
I didn’t mean to start Algospeak Saturday, I was just making sure that it’d loaded onto my e-reader, and before I knew it, I was at 16%. (is there a link between that and the lack of new material on Sunday? Well, yes). It’s utterly fascinating.
I’m remembering why I (like so many people) got really into The Hunger Games back before the movies. Collins is not messing around in this prequel. Allyson, I was with you on this one–but caved to peer pressure, and I think I’m going to be glad about it (but not sure I’d tell you to to give it a shot…yet).
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| A Tail of Mystery by Paul Regnier |
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove, read by Chris Devon, Emana Rachelle, Charlie Albers, Eve Passeltiner, Zura Johnson, Cary Hite & Gail Shalan |
Paul Regnier’s cozy-adjacent mystery is just fun. Silly, but fun. I’ll be back for more soon.
I’m still deciding what I think about Of Monsters and Mainframes–cool concept, some good characters, and overall an enjoyable story, although a lot of the plotting/pacing annoyed me. The narrators did not do this book any favors–in fact, I think they hurt it. Still, you might want to give it a shot.
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| Samurai! by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito |
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon, read by Kate McKinnon & Emily Lynne |
I’ve said that I was going to read Samurai! more than once over the past couple of years. But I’m pretty sure it’s going to stick this time.
I’m going to need something light and fluffy after Sunrise on the Reaping (if not sooner), and McKinnon’s MG fantasy should fit the bill. Celeste pushed me to it.
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Thanks to this song popping up on a shuffle this weekend, I’m probably going to burn myself out (again) on the Bosstones this week. Until that point, I’m going to have a lot of fun.
>
I clearly didn’t spend that much time online this week. This is probably a good thing when it comes to my mental health, but as I’m trying to put this together today, I find myself rather annoyed. Seriously, mental health is overrated, anyway, what was I thinking?
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 truth behind the endless “kids can’t read” discourse: Is there a literacy crisis? Or am I just old?—Ugh. Nuance. Who has time for that?
An Interview with Mary Jo Bang on Translating Paradiso by Dante Alighieri—if she only did a prose translation, I might be able to get my way through the trilogy. Nothing like Dante to show me how deficient my education (formal or self-) has been in teaching me to read verse. But this interview makes me want to try again.
Writing Advice and Literary Wisdom from the Great E.B. White—This was posted in honor of his birthday yesterday, and reminds us why people still care about White (and offers some good advice for the writerly-types out there)
11 Summertime Books to Read When You’re Not Feeling Very Sunny: Once the seasonal malaise hits, these novels will help you unwind.—I really don’t know how a listicle from Marie Claire ended up on one of my feeds. But hey, some good looking reads here.
Michael Robotham On Why We Love Stories About Gangsters
The REAL Lion King!—The Orangutan Librarian takes a break from being insightful and whatnot to sharing some old cartoons. Start here with Part 1.
5 Books Adults Recommended I Read as a Child that Didn’t Resonate with Me at All—An interesting approach to books from childhood (can’t help but agree with the last one)
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week? (I was weirded-out about how brief these posts were…I’ve gotten talky over the years)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Corsair by James L. Cambias
Stay by Victor Gischler
The Snapper by Roddy Doyle
And I talked about the releases of a handful of books: Splintered by Jamie Schultz; The Fraud by Brad Parks; Time Salvager by Wesley Chu; Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine; Letters to Zell by Camille Griep; The Six by Mark Alpert; Bum Rap by Paul Levine; Master of Formalities by Scott Meyer — looks to be as inventive and fun as his Magic 2.0 series.
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch—Sheep get eaten, the Folly heads to Scotland, and…well, that’s all I know, but that’s a strong start.
Yellow Medicine by Anthony Neil Smith—”starts with one of the most memorable and engaging anti-heroes in recent memory. Mix in bent cops, a psychobilly band called Elvis Antichrist, meth cookers in the Minnesota sticks, and a truly nasty pack of wannabe jihadists. Add a liberal helping of guns, knives and explosives.” I’m sold.
The Silver State by Gabriel Urza—”When a public defender receives a letter from a client on death row, he is forced to reexamine his role in the murder case he cannot shake; a gripping and thought-provoking legal thriller that redefines the genre”
The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant by Liza Tully—”A brilliant Boomer detective and her ambitious Gen Z assistant try to get along in this delightful feel-good mystery.” Looks fun.
Heal the Beasts: A Jaunt Through the Curious History of the Veterinary Arts by Philipp Schott—”Sharing the stories of 22 different animal healers and veterinarians from across eras and continents, Dr. Schott examines the always fascinating, often unexpected, and sometimes hilarious veterinary methods employed to treat all manner of creatures. From healing dogs and horses to gorillas and even dragons, at the heart lies the evolution of the human-animal bond, which has been more cyclical than linear.”
Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd—One year after their wedding, “Sally must embark on a time-bending adventure to save Halloween Town–and her beloved Jack Skellington.” Okay, I’m probably not going to read this follow-up to The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I’m putting it here to remind me to buy it for my daughter (and, who knows, maybe one of you will find it intriguing)
I took the day off from work for some family stuff, which ended up not taking as long as I’d expected–so I got a novel read yesterday. It’s been a minute since I’ve been able to do something like that. It’s pretty nice, I have to say.
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:
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| Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland |
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove, read by Chris Devon, Emana Rachelle, Charlie Albers, Eve Passeltiner, Zura Johnson, Cary Hite & Gail Shalan |
I’ve barely scratched the surface of Five Broken Blades, but everything I’ve heard makes me think I’m going to love it. It’s for Monday’s Book Club, so I’d better make some haste.
I’m 20% into Of Monsters and Mainframes, the story and characters are winning me over–but the narrators are making it difficult. There are some odd choices being made. Truelove didn’t do them any favors with all the strings of binary code, either.
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| Sabriel by Garth Nix |
Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith |
Sabriel was a lot of fun–I can see why my friend thought I’d like it. I should’ve listened to him years ago.
Obviously, I got a little more of Amongst Our Weapons as I revisited it–having listened to the series as a whole so recently helped, too. It’s amazing to see how the series has grown and changed from its beginnings. It’ll make the next title mentioned in this post all the sweeter to start.
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| Stone & Sky by Ben Aaronovitch |
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, read by Jefferson White |
One more Rivers of London book for this summer–this time I’ll only hear Holdbrook-Smith in my head occasionally as I read.
I really thought I was done with Panem, but a couple of things I read about this book–and the urging of a coworker led me to put my name on the Library’s waitlist. Guess I’ll find out if the weeks of waiting were worth it.
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Despite my furry companions’ certain conclusions, we survived the night/morning (who needs to set off celebratory explosions at 1:30 am??). Hope my fellow USA-ers did, too. And I envy the rest of you your sleep.
I hesitate to do this…it seems like a lousy time to bring this up. But we’ve launched a GoFundMe to raise money for travel expenses for my son’s impending kidney transplant (impending=hopefully anytime in the next 3 years).
Now, on with the 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:
The Top 10 Bestselling Books of 2025 (So Far)—from Publishers Weekly
The Emoji Tongue: If 😂 was a word, would that make emoji a language?
Sprayed Edges Are Everywhere and I Hate Them—Not sure I can co-sign this (he says looking at the edge of his copy of Five Broken Blades), but I get it
12 Must-Read WebToon Series
Urban Fantasy Starter Pack: 24 Must-Read Books That Bite Back—Because I need more UF to read? (actually, yeah, I do). Beth Tabler’s list combines stuff well-loved (or at least liked) here, and bunch of things I’d never heard of.
Yes that was six months of your reading year! Holiday Temptations Time!—Runalong the Shelves provides great TBR fodder for those looking to fill theirs out
Celebrating National Crime Reading Month – 30 days of crime recommendations!—a couple of weeks back, I’d pointed to Raven’s twitter thread listing their Crime Fiction Month reading recs. Well, here it is, nicely collected into one easy-to-reference list!
But Is It Marketable? Why I Gave Up on Traditional Publishing—one writer’s story
How do You Read so Many Books?—handier tips than mine. “Start with the first word, move on to the second, then the third, and so on.”
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Splintered by Jamie Schultz
Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond
Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
And I mentioned the release of three books that I didn’t read, much less remember, but they looked pretty cool: The Dragons of Heaven by Alyc Helms, Ghost Fleet by P.W. Singer and August Cole, and Linesman by S. K. Dunstall
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt—this prequel looks at Andy’s first big case as a defense lawyer is just great. I should be expanding on that soon.
The Grimdwarf, Vol. 1: Cursed by J.C.M. Berne—A “classic fantasy with a wisecracking cursed dwarf, a water witch, and a very good dog.” The short stories collected into one volume. And free for a week or two. Worth it at thrice the price!!!
Infinite Archive by Mur Lafferty—The physical embodiment of the Internet arrives on Station Eternity, bringing chaos and murder. I can’t wait to catch up with Mallory and the rest.
Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji by Keith Houston—there’s an excerpt above. This book “follows emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan, traces its Western explosion in the 2000s, and considers emoji’s ever-expanding lexicon.” I enjoyed Huston’s book on punctuation marks, this promises to be interesting, too,.
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