Tag: Miscellany Page 28 of 172

Saturday Miscellany—12/14/24

So I can be afk for a couple of days, I’m putting this together a couple of days early, so if you’re wondering why I skipped over the tremendous/scandalous/tremdendously scandalous/scandaldoulys tremendos bookish news that came out over the previous 48 hours…well, I’ll cover it next week (assuming we all remember).

But for now, let’s move on to:
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:
bullet Call to acknowledge all writers behind celebrity books—The UK’s trade union for writers, illustrators and translators calls “for celebrities, publishers and agents to acknowledge the writers behind celebrity books, particularly for children.”
bullet Brandon Sanderson’s Materialist Fantasies—I don’t know enough about Sanderson to really appreciate this, but contrasting his approach to the genre/magic to Lewis and Tolkein was pretty interesting (I’d like to hear what others say about this)
bullet Small Press SFF Might Sometimes Be Harder to Find — But It’s More Than Worth the Effort—Molly Templeton makes the case for putting in the effort to get Small Press SFF
bullet Do You Enjoy When Your Library Receipt Says How Much Money You Saved?—I did enjoy when my library gave me this number, sadly they haven’t for a year or so (but I’d love to see it again)

It’s the Time of Year for Gift Guides/Best of Lists like these:
bullet These gifts are the way to a book lover’s heart – part 2—Never Judge a Book by its Cover has a great list
bullet The CrimeReads 2024 Holiday Gift Guide
bullet The 167 Best Book Covers of 2024—This list from LitHub is always one of my favorites
bullet Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2024—from Reactor Magazine
bullet The best books of 2024 – recommended by Ian Rankin, Mick Herron, Mary Beard and others—The UK’s best writers name their best of the year. There some great choices here, and some that look great, too.
bullet Top Five Books of 2024—from the Staff at LibraryThing
bullet The Best Crime Novels of 2024—according to CrimeReads
bullet Chasing Destino’s Favorite Books in 2024
bullet P.L.’s Top Indie & Trad Pub Books for 2024—over at Before We Go Blog

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
(It was a really quiet week a decade ago, so I only have one thing share)
bullet Hostile Witness by William Lashner

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Ghosts Stations by M.D. Presley—This is a strong second novel in the Inner Circle series (at least the beginning of it is). Corbin finds himself in New York on the hunt for a drug designed for magicians.

As winter approaches, be sure to prepare by always having between 3-168 new books on hand at any given time. @BecauaseAllTheBooks

WWW Wednesday—December 11, 2024

It’s Wednesday. Might as well do this, eh?

WWW Wednesdays Logo

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?

Cover of Ghost Stations by MD Presley Cover of Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
Ghost Stations
by M.D. Presley
Grave Peril
by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters

I really dug Rites of Passage, so it took me maybe 30 seconds to decide I wanted to jump when Presley offered me this follow up, his website says, “Think if Buffy and her Scooby gang went up against the Barksdale Corp from The Wire.” And even if I hadn’t been waiting for the second book in the series, that comparison alone would’ve got me.

Grave Peril is one of those Butcher books I feel bad about forgetting the details of–I keep coming across scenes, characters, events and think they belong to another book. And one of my all-time favorite Butcher lines is in this (and I’d have guessed it was from a later book). But none of that matters, because right now, I’m having a blast–even though I know what the last chapters contain and all the fallout that will ensue from them. (seriously, I’m already flashing forward to Changes)

What did you recently finish reading?

Cover of The Killer's Christmas List by Chris Frost What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
The Killer’s Christmas List
by Chris Frost
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library
by Michiko Aoyama, read by Hanako Footman, Susan Momoko Hingley, Kenichiro Thomson, Winson Ting, and Shiro Kawai

Chris Frost’s debut under that penname was a rollicking read. I hope a sequel is forthcoming. if not, I’ll be ready for whatever Frost/McDonald has in store. More to come on this.

What You Are Looking for Is in the Library was utterly okay. There were some pleasant characters, some sweet moments, and the book as a whole is a nice tribute to the power of books and how the right one can trigger a needed change in someone’s life.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Cover of Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire Cover of Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear
by Seanan McGuire
Whispers Under Ground
by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Seanan McGuire. Wayward Children.Not sure there’s much else to say.

I have a similar problem with the third Rivers of London novel as I do with the third Dresden Files novel. I can remember a couple of scenes, a couple of characters that are introduced…and not much else. Am looking forward to the reminders.

Do you have something special grabbing your attention?

MUSIC MONDAY: “Santa’s Favorite” by Gangstagrass

Music Monday logo

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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Saturday Miscellany—12/7/24

This week’s offering seems a bit more hodge-podgey than the last few, which I appreciate. It also feels a little LitHub heavy, but, eh. I’m not sure I care.

Also, I’m not going to bother talking about the Goodreads Reader’s Choice results…I can’t bother finding the energy (if I stumble on something interesting by someone next week, I’ll post it, but I’m not going looking). If anyone has a hot (or room-temperature) take on them, sound off in the comments.

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:
bullet A Refuge for the Soul: How to Build a Library, According to Montaigne—maybe not achievable/practical, but some great ideas
bullet How Gen Z Came to See Books as a Waste of Time
bullet Does Teaching Literature and Writing Have a Future?—”The prospects are a little grim, but they aren’t nonexistent.”
bullet Olympus Agonistes: When, if ever, did people stop believing in the Greek gods?
bullet I Don’t Want to Read Anymore: Am I the Literary A**hole? —I rarely post links to these, but I enjoy every one of these columns I read. I thought the 2nd and 3rd letters were worth sharing.
bullet “The very worst of human nature is often hidden in plain sight”—Rob Parker talks about his upcoming release (that I’m hoping to find a US release date for)
bullet Speaking of upcoming releases…So I wrote another book… —Noelle Holten has some good news (even for us Yankees)
bullet Wayward Children Vol. 1 – Illustrated Deluxe Omnibus—Kickstarter launched this week. It’s too rich for my blood, but it looks gorgeous for those who have the means.
bullet Quiz: Can You Identify These Detectives’ Thoughts on Christmas?—I was 1 for 5 on this (and didn’t get the 1 I should’ve)
bullet W Series I – Jordan Loyal Short – Dragon Reich—1. This looks like a cool book. 2. I wished I’d come up with this series idea.
bullet Are You an Author Completionist?—I’m almost one. But I do get a little picky when it comes to some genres.
bullet Books Inspired by Narnia! Portal Fantasies, Allegories and Coming of Age Stories!—who doesn’t like a Narnia-ish read?

It’s the Time of Year for Gift Guides/Best of Lists like these:
bullet The Atlantic 10—The books that made us think the most this year
bullet AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of 2024
bullet Lit Hub’s 38 Favorite Books of 2024—I have one of these on my shelves waiting.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Dripping Bucket In The Business of Grimdark – with guest Beth Tabler—I haven’t watched this yet, but it looks like a good ‘un.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
bullet And I mentioned the release of Bryant and May and the Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler, a series I really intended on sticking with, but lost my way on.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Nobody’s Hero by M. W. Craven—Ben Koenig’s back and is dealing with a team of assassins, a worst-case scenario that might be playing out, and one of the cleverest schemes he’s come across. I tried to express my excitement about this recently.
bullet Little Love Songs by Sandra Boynton—sounds cute as all get out, I’m a little worried about the psycholoical torture that the “push button to hear music” feature can bring on adults living with a child (or older siblings). Still, probably worth the risk.

The text 'I ran out of books to read and I had to spend time with my family. They seem like nice people.' superimposed on a picture of packed bookshelves.

WWW Wednesday—December 3, 2024

It’s time for…

WWW Wednesdays Logo

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?

Cover of Robert B. Parker's Hot Property by Mike Lupica Cover of Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom? by Mike Chen
Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property
by Mike Lupica
Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom?
by Mike Chen, read by Keith Szarabajka, Xavier Casals

Lupica’s new Spenser novel is fantastically smooth–so hard to put down (my two-legged family members keep demanding it however, as does my employer. The four-legged family members are much more understanding).

There might be too many characters in this What If… book. Or too many voices in people’s heads. So you’ve Moon Knights from two different realities, so you’ve got a Khonshu, 2 Marc Spectors, 2 Steven Grants, 2 Jake Lockleys, one Venom–and someone else, too. Sure, 1 Spector, 1 Grant and 1 Lockely are off-screen for most of the book (not all of them from the same physical entity). But it’s really hard to keep track of things at the beginning. I’m far enough in that I’ve got a handle on it, but I tell you, it took longer than it should’ve. Still, it’s not bad.

What did you recently finish reading?

Cover of Sizar by Susan Grossey Cover of Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker Cover of The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu
Sizar
by Susan Grossey
Enough Rope
by Dorothy Parker
The Faculty Lounge
by Jennifer Mathieu, read by Lisa Flanagan

Sizar was a satisfying second adventure for this new series–I’m hoping to have more to say soon.

Enough Rope has some of my favorite Parker poems–and a few that could turn into some when I re-read them. A nice little diversion.

I wasn’t wowed by The Faculty Lounge, but I am glad a listened to it. I will hopefully have something more to say, soon (but not as soon as Sizar).

What do you think you’ll read next?

Cover of Shadow of Hyperion by JCM Berne What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
Shadow of Hyperion
by JCM Berne
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library
by Michiko Aoyama, read by Hanako Footman, Susan Momoko Hingley, Kenichiro Thomson, Winson Ting, and Shiro Kawai

I’ve heard plenty of good things about Shadow of Hyperion, and if nothing else, am eager to see how Rohan ends up in the physical state he was in for the Christmas story last year. Well, probably not eager. Very curious.

I’m almost certain to be underwhelmed by What You Are Looking for Is in the Library. But I’ve put too much effort into getting this book to not listen. I should get to start tomorrow afternoon.

Are you spending December scrambling to meet any goals, using books to think about some place that’s warmer? Or just reading something that looks good?

MUSIC MONDAY: “Nobody’s Hero” by Stiff Little Fingers

Music Monday logo

Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.

I speculated a little in last week’s post about MW craven’s Nobody’s Hero (out tomorrow, in the US–out weeks ago on other places) about the title, and Craven corrected me. The title came from this song. So, obviously, I had to use it today.

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Saturday Miscellany—11/30/24

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:
bullet Forget drop-shipping—America’s new favorite side hustle is … republishing classic literature?
bullet Murderbot, She Wrote—Wired’s got a great feature on Martha Wells
bullet The Power of Your Words: Leaving a Review Matters
bullet How Can We Create a Reading Culture?—Pages Unbound’s Krysta lays out the problem with children and reading in Part One and suggests some solutions in Part Two
bullet Indie Black Friday Sale—James Lloyd Dulin’s hosting this sale from Nov. 29-Dec. 1. You’ve spent a year making good progress on your TBR stack, might as well wipe it out in one fell swoop.

It’s the Time of Year for Gift Guides/Best of Lists like these:
bullet It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: The 2024 Adult Books Edition—Witty and Sarcastic Book Club’s Annual list has some great picks
bullet Holiday Gift Giving Guide—This Dad Reads has a gift guide for young and old (particularly if they like Star Wars)
bullet The New York Public Library Announces the Best Books of 2024 for Kids, Teens, and Adults
bullet NPR’s Best Books of 2024—is another extensive list
bullet Top Five Science Fiction Novels of 2024—from John Mauro at Before We Go Blog
bullet Top Five Fantasy Novels of 2024—from John Mauro at Before We Go Blog

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet CrimeTimeFM Christmas Debate 2024—some of the UK’s best Crime Fiction reviewers sound off on their favorite reads of the year and on some controversial topics. As usual, it’s a fun listen that adds too many things to my lists.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet The Reluctant Warrior by Ty Patterson
bullet and I mentioned the release of Endsinger by Jay Kristoff, Book 3 of The Lotus War

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property by Mike Lupica—Rita Fiore is in danger—it’s up to Spenser and Hawk to stop whoever is after her. I have a book and a half to get through before I can dive in. They’d better be worth it.
bullet Chez Usher by Vicki Hendricks—a retelling of Poe in Florida. Farenheit Press’ latest looks like a winner.

the text 'Today I will life in the moment unless it is unpleasant in which case I will read a book.' next to a sketch of a person reading an oversized book

Thanksgiving 2024

Happy Thanksgiving/Turkey Day/Thursday

(depending on your practice/preference/location)


On this day that has been set aside these U.S. for expressions of gratitude, it’s been my custom to take a moment or two and mention a few of the things that The Irresponsible Reader is thankful for. This is just about my favorite of my annual posts typically, but this year I feel even more grateful than usual.

So, this year, I’m thankful for:

bullet The readers of this blog. If I knew your names, I’d thank you all personally.
bullet The authors who’ve corresponded with me, encouraged me—even promoted this here project.
bullet Those authors, publishers, and/or publicists provided books for me to read.
bullet Books (print, electronic, or audio)—the stories, characters, and/or things I learn are what keep me sane, entertain, and inspire me.
bullet Authors! If not for them, I wouldn’t have the above.
bullet Talented narrators and illustrators—ditto
bullet Coffee (and other beverages both caffeinated and adult)
bullet The authors and blogger who’ve taken the time to help my try to launch my YouTube page–and the three authors who’ve given very polite rejections. But mostly the people who’ve taken time to show up.
bullet All the authors who’ve stopped by for a Q&A or a Guest Post this year. I’ve really been blown away by the work you’ve put into making my patch of cyberspace better.
bullet I want to offer a particular word of thanks for the bloggers and authors who chipped in and helped while I was on sick leave dealing with my cancerous tumor, the posts were great, and the time off was a relief.
bullet Time to read (which is getting scarcer in my life, so I’m even more grateful for it)
bullet The Nampa Public Library, The Caldwell Public Library, (and The LYNX! Consortium)
bullet Shared Stories, Rediscovered Bookshop, and Libro.fm
bullet My Real Life friends and acquaintances who give me feedback and encouragement via text or face-to-face. You all could help my stats by using the comment forms, however 🙂 But I truly appreciate you reading and talking to me about this.
bullet My supportive, understanding, and encouraging wife and kids. They all do a pretty decent job pretending to care when this old man drones on and on about what he’s reading or what’s going on with the blog. Helping me with technical issues, testing things, and general brainstorming is particularly appreciated.
bullet I should give a specific thanks to my daughter, who serves as wingperson when I go to local events and has helped me connect with several authors that I wouldn’t have been as successful with on my own. It’s amazing what people skills can do.
bullet Again, all of you who read this page, follow, like, tweet, comment, email, etc.—you have no idea how much every little bit is appreciated.

For my fellow Americans, I hope you have a pleasant day with your friends and/or family. As for the rest of you, I hope you enjoy today and that you enjoy having the same pant size tomorrow as you do today.

WWW Wednesday—November 27, 2024

WWW Wednesdays Logo

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?

Cover of 1-800-CallLoki by Dawn Blair Cover of The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu
1-800-CallLoki
by Dawn Blair
The Faculty Lounge
by Jennifer Mathieu, read by Lisa Flanagan

1-800-CallLoki puts the Norse God into the role of protagonist and hero (of sorts). It’s frequently amusing and pretty compelling. I should be wrapping this up soon.

The Faculty Lounge is filled with gentle humor, some good characters, and a plot that is just interesting enough to keep me listening. It’s utterly fine, but unless the last 40% knocks my socks off, it’ll get a “just okay” from me.

What did you recently finish reading?

Cover of Instinct by L. J. Hachmeister Cover of I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
Instinct: An Animal Rescuers Anthology
edited by L. J. Hachmeister
I Hope This Finds You Well
by Natalie Sue, read by Nasim Pedrad

Instinct was a very mixed bag of animal SF/Fantasty/Urban Fantasy stories, none of them were bad, most were okay, but those that were good, were very good. Just what you expect and hope for out of an anthology like this.

I Hope This Finds You Well was better than I’d anticipated it could be, I rather enjoyed it–and hopefully I can expand on it soon.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Cover of We Solve Murders by Richard Osman Cover of Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom? by Mike Chen
We Solve Murders
by Richard Osman
Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom?
by Mike Chen, read by Keith Szarabajka, Xavier Casals

I’d hoped to be well into the Osman book today, but oh, well–I still have a couple of days before it’s due at the Library (this will not be joining the ranks of the books I didn’t read)

The Moon Knight/Venom story is probably not going to do much for me–but I trust Chen, and the Wanda/Spider-Man book was so good that I have to give it a shot.

U.S. Readers, do you have a book set aside to help you ignore family, or are you going to put things off for day? Non-U.S. readers, what do you have underway?

Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 books I meant to read in 2024 (and actually checked out of the library…multiple times…but didn’t)

Top 5 Tuesday Logo
This week’s topic is, “Top 5 books I meant to read in 2024.” This seemed like a fun one to try until I actually tried to sit down and come up with the five. I recently described my TBR as a tragicomedy, and the 2024 version alone is more tragic than comedic. But then I realized I had a perfect five–so, here’s my approach to this list: Top 5 books I meant to read in 2024 (and actually checked out of the library…multiple times…but didn’t start). I’ve also mentioned some of these on Books on My Summer 2024 to-Read List and multiple WWW Wednesday posts. I’ve done everything but read them, not even the first page. I’ve checked them out, held them for the maximum amount of renewals, returned them, got back on the hold list, checked them out…and so on, twice.

We could also call this “5 sources of frustration this year.”

In alphabetical order by author:

1 Cover to Amari and the Despicable Wonders by BB Alston
Amari and the Despicable Wonders by BB Alston

War has come to the supernatural world, and Amari's two worst enemies are leading the charge.

Elaine Harlowe has manipulated her way into becoming prime minister, using her mind control ability to force the Bureau to take up her vicious grudge against magiciankind. Meanwhile, Dylan Van Helsing, the newly crowned leader of the League of Magicians--and Amari's former partner--is after a destructive new power that would not only ensure the magicians' victory . . . it would make him invincible.

With neither the Bureau nor the League safe for Amari, and her newly returned brother, Quinton, determined to keep her out of the fray, she and her friends decide to find a way to end the war on their own.

So when they learn that the only way to stop Dylan is to find powerful magical inventions known as Wonders, they go after them. But wielding these items comes at a terrible cost, and Amari will have to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice . . . because the Despicable Wonders will demand everything.
2 What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, read by Hanako Footman, Susan Momoko Hingley, Kenichiro Thomson, Winson Ting, and Shiro Kawai

What are you looking for? So asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian. For Sayuri Komachi is able to sense exactly what each visitor to her library is searching for and provide just the book recommendation to help them find it.

A restless retail assistant looks to gain new skills, a mother tries to overcome demotion at work after maternity leave, a conscientious accountant yearns to open an antique store, a recently retired salaryman searches for newfound purpose.

In Komachi's unique book recommendations they will find just what they need to achieve their dreams. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is about the magic of libraries and the discovery of connection. This inspirational tale shows how, by listening to our hearts, seizing opportunity and reaching out, we too can fulfill our lifelong dreams. Which book will you recommend? 
3 Cover to Don't Let the Devil Ride by Ace Atkins
Don’t Let the Devil Ride by Ace Atkins

Hell is empty...and Addison McKellar's husband is missing.

Addison McKellar isn't clueless--she knows she and her husband Dean don't have the perfect marriage--but she's still shocked when he completely vanishes from her life. At first Addison is annoyed, but as days stretch into a week and she's repeatedly stonewalled by Dean's friends and associates, her frustration turns into genuine alarm. When even the police seem dismissive of her concerns, Addison turns to her father's old friend, legendary Memphis PI Porter Hayes.

Porter and Addison begin to dig deeper into Dean's affairs and quickly discover that he was never the hardworking business owner and family man he pretended to be. As they piece together the connections between a hook-handed mercenary, one of Elvis's former leading ladies, and a man posing as an FBI agent, it becomes clear that Dean was deeply enmeshed in a high-stakes web of international intrigue, and Porter and Addison aren't the only ones looking for him.

Dean angered some very dangerous people before he disappeared--people who have already killed to get what they want--and they won't hesitate to come after his family to even the score.

Don't Let the Devil Ride is a thrilling adventure about what can happen when you pull back the curtain on your life. Ace Atkins, long known for gritty Southern noir with a witty edge, has crafted an ambitious, globe-hopping story that comes home to Memphis in explosive fashion.
4 The Cover of An Honorable Assassin by Steve Hamilton
An Honorable Assassin by Steve Hamilton

He was released from federal prison to a second life as an unwilling assassin, serving a major Chicago crime lord until the day he finally won his freedom.

But that freedom was a lie.

Now Mason finds himself on a plane to Jakarta, promoted to lead assassin for a vast shadow organization that reaches every corner of the globe. This time, there's only one name on his list: Hashim Baya--otherwise known as the Crocodile--international fugitive and #1 most wanted on Interpol's "Red Notice" list. Baya is the most dangerous and elusive criminal Mason has ever faced.

And for the first time in his career ... Mason fails his mission. Baya gets away alive.

There's only one thing he can do now: to save himself, his ex-wife, and his daughter, he must make this mission his life, hunting down the target on his own. But Mason isn't alone in his search, because for Interpol agent Martin Sauvage, apprehending Baya has become a personal vendetta. Sauvage is a man just as haunted as Mason. And just as determined.

Never have the stakes been so high, the forces surrounding him so great. Sauvage wants Baya in prison. Mason needs him in a body bag. Assassin and cop are on a five-thousand-mile collision course, leading to a brutal final showdown--and the one man in the world who can finally show Nick Mason the way to freedom.
5 The Cover of Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell

Back in high school, everybody thought Shiloh and Cary would end up together . . . everybody but Shiloh and Cary.

They were just friends. Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh's porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha--Shiloh would go to go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change.

Well, Shiloh did go to college, and Cary did join the Navy. And yet, somehow, everything changed.

Now Shiloh's thirty-three, and it's been fourteen years since she talked to Cary. She's been married and divorced. She has two kids. And she's back living in the same house she grew up in. Her life is nothing like she planned.

When she's invited to an old friend's wedding, all Shiloh can think about is whether Cary will be there--and whether she hopes he will be. Would Cary even want to talk to her? After everything?

The answer is yes. And yes. And yes.

Slow Dance is the story of two kids who fell in love before they knew enough about love to recognize it. Two friends who lost everything. Two adults who just feel lost.

It's the story of Shiloh and Cary, who everyone thought would end up together, trying to find their way back to the start.

Leaving those unread has been driving me crazy since July or so…what’ve you left untouched this year despite your best intentions?

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