Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
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Much peopleing was done today (at least by my standards), so I’m running behind. Hope no one tries to set your watch by when this thing posts (it’s erratic enough that no one likely does, but you never know)
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:
Twenty Literary Would-You-Rathers by Julianne Neely—There are some tough calls to make in this new McSweeney’s piece
Why New Generations of Readers Are Still Discovering & Reading Agatha Christie—And one day, I’ll be one of them
Florida Man Writes Novel: Joe Pan on Philosopher-Bikers, Poetry, and Korean Horror Films—how do you pass up a combo like that?
Marketing Experiments and Learning What Works—AJ Calvin talks about various marketing strategies that she’s tried
Jordan Harper on the Bittersweetness of Adapting His Own Novel into a Hollywood Film—Nick Kolakowski talks about that, and more about the writing of the novel She Rides Shotgun (one of the best novels I’ve read, and I’m so nervous about the adaptation. Both for what this article says and because of an irrational dislike for Egerton).
While we’re on the subject, it’s worth taking a glance at Films that influenced Jordan Harper’s ‘She Rides Shotgun’
Instagram’s andr3wsky has some hard truths for people who only read and don’t listen to audiobooks.
A Book-ish Related Podcast/Video episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to/watch:
Libro.fm Podcast Episode 51: Cory Doctorow on Divesting from Amazon’s Audible and the Fight for Digital Rights—great stuff.
SFF Addicts Ep. 165: Self-Publishing as a Career with Tao Wong, Shami Stovall & Michael Michel—a great episode, and touches on a lot of things I want to explore in the future myself
Why The Silver Chair Is the Most Underrated Narnia Book | A Deep Dive Review—okay, I haven’t watched this yet. But suspect that Fantasy is for the Ages is onto something here. If only because I certainly rate it pretty low–always have (I’ve even skipped it a few times in my youth).
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
Scents and Sensibility by Spencer Quinn
Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
I mentioned the releases of Crooked by Austin Grossman and Half a War by Joe Abercrombie
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
There’s a voice in the back of my head that tells me I’m forgetting something major here. ¯_ (ツ)_/¯ You may see an amendment next week when I remember the blantantly obvious.
Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks: Dealing with Dragons by Jaleigh Johnson—This is apparently a sequel, so I have two books to get now. This paragraph from the blurb is enough for me: “When the day is threatened by tyrannical foes or monstrous fiends, the people of Faerûn place their trust in the realm’s mighty heroes. When the mighty heroes don’t show up, they get the Fallbacks.”
An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park—In these short stories, “characters bemoan their fleeting youth, focus on their breathing, meet cute, break up, write book reviews, translate ancient glyphs, bid on stuff online, whale watch, and once in a while find solace in the sublime. Throughout, Park deploys his trademark wit to create a world both strikingly recognizable and delightfully other. Spanning a quarter century, these sixteen stories tell the absurd truth about our lives. They capture the moment when the present becomes the past.”
A quick check-in for this Reading Challenge hosted by Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel from AnnaBookBel (you can read more about it here).
I’ve read 9 really good-to-great books so far this summer, and have high expectations for the rest. I’m really just having so much fun with this challenge this year.
So here’s the list:
(subject to change, as is allowed, but I’m going to resist the impulse to tweak as much as I can).
On the other hand, I’ve only got one to go on my Books on My Summer 2025 to-Read List (That Aren’t on My 20 Books Challenge), and I’ll be tackling that the week of the 18th.
| ✔ 1. Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch ✔ 2. Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic 3. Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki ✔ 4. The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos ✔ 5. Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland |
6. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone ✔ 7. The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart ✔ 8. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel ✔ 9. Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue by Spencer Quinn ✔ 10. Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt |
Okay, if you think it as a percentage, I’ve read 60% of the books I called my shot on for the summer. I’m satisfied with this–and I expect I’m going to make great progress over the next month. I’m not so bold as to expect I’ve got this locked…but I’m okay with that.
(and no, I don’t see a conflict between this and the Orangutan Librarian’s recent post about competitive reading. This is me comparing myself with my goals, or my past self, or—worst of all—my expectations.)
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 (especially if I’m out of time to come up with a post that involves writing on my part). In these few paragraphs, you’re immediately into this Arthurian world, you get a hint of the combat, and an idea of the tone/humor of the rest of the book. I thought this was a good opening and the book got better from here.
from The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman:
Collum punched the other knight in the face with the pommel of his sword gripped in his gauntleted fist, so hard the dark inlaid metal dimpled under his knuckles, but his opponent showed absolutely no sign of falling over or surrendering to him. He swore under his breath and followed it up with a kick to the ankle but missed and almost fell down, and the other knight spun gracefully and clouted him smartly in the head so his ears rang. He would’ve given a thousand pounds to be able to wipe the sweat out of his eyes, not that he had a thousand pounds. He had exactly three shillings and two silver pennies to his name.
The two men backed off and circled each other, big swords held up at stiff angles, shifting from guard to guard, heavy shards of bright sunlight glancing and glaring off the blades. They’d dropped their shields after the tilt to have both hands free. No mistakes now, Collum thought. Circles not lines, Marshal Aucassin whispered in his mind. Watch the body not the blade. He threw a diagonal cut that glanced harmlessly off the other knight’s shoulder. The inside of his helmet was a furnace, sharp smells of hay and sweat and raw leather. He’d come here to test himself against the flower of British chivalry, the greatest knights in the world, and by God he was getting what he came for. He was getting the stuffing beaten out of him.
They stepped lightly, testing, offering, up on the balls of their feet. Every tiny movement made their armor squeak and clank and jingle in the quiet of the meadow; even the tips of their swords made tiny whips in the stifling air. Why—why had he thought this was a good idea? Why hadn’t he stayed back on Mull? Heatstroke prickled at the back of Collum’s neck. They weren’t fighting to the death, but if he lost he’d lose his horse, and his armor, which he hadn’t gone through all the trouble of stealing it from Lord Alasdair just so he could hand it over to some nameless knight who probably had half a dozen spares waiting for him back at his cozy castle.
I’m on a streak of really good reads lately–which is great, except it makes it hard to put them down to tend to things like a blog about books.
Woe is me, indeed. ‘Tis a hard knock life, ya’ll. So here’s a quick look at what’s keeping me from writing as much as I feel I should be in this little thing we like to call 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:
What are you currently reading?
 |
 |
| Lirael by Garth Nix |
Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words by John McWhorter |
Lirael is great sequel (through 3/4 or so, anyway)–not repeating the beats of the first book, but building on the first book and by addressing one of the elements mentioned by never explored.
I’m in the middle of one of those moments where 360 Libby holds became available within 4 days of each other. Which is annoying when it comes to books I had plans to listen to, but great because I’ve been wanting to listen to McWhorter read this book since I heard about it. Someone remind me when I’m panicking about my Dresden Files progress in November that I said this, okay?
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
| 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’m telling you now, if we talk at all for the next 6 months and you’re into Crime Fiction–I’m going to talk too much about Everybody Knows without trying to say a word. I am so angry with myself for putting off reading this as long as I did (but since I just finished it, I’m feeling pretty magnanimous toward myself, too). It’s just devastatingly good–I feel like I’m close to overhyping it. But…I’ve read it, it’s hard to properly hype.
I absolutely get the hoopla over The Correspondent as much as I don’t share it. I enjoyed the book, just not as much as everyone else I’ve encountered. It was a solid, slow-burn of a read (or listen). Some good heart-tugging moments, some genuine smiles, too.
What do you think you’ll read next?
 |
 |
| Guard in the Garden by Z S Diamanti |
The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne by Ron Currie, read by Lisa Flanagan |
From the first tweet I saw from Diamanti describing this cozy fantasy about an injured Dwarf warrior having to adjust to civilian life, I knew I had to read it. Now I get to. Really looking forward to this (and I still need something to help me recover from Harper’s book–Nix is a good step down from the intensity, but some cozy goodness will really help).
I don’t remember putting the novel about Babs Dionne’s death on my holds list, but the description sure sounds like something I’d like. Thanks, past me!
How are you closing out July? Hopefully with something cold to drink and a stack of good books.
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:
What are you currently reading?
 |
 |
| 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.
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
 |
| 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.
What do you think you’ll read next?
|
|
| 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.
What are you reading this week? Bonus points if it’s self-published.
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:
What are you currently reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
 |
|
 |
| 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).
What did you recently finish reading?
 |
 |
| 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.
What do you think you’ll read next?
|
|
| 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.
What are you using (along with your A/C) to help you ignore the July heat?