Music Monday’s originated at The Tattooed Book Geek‘s fantastic blog and has shown up here and there since then.
Tag: Miscellany Page 52 of 176
I typically like to start these with an introduction of sorts (probably because I read too many recipe blogs and think I need to begin everything with a rambling essay), but I can’t think of anything to say today.
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 pages of life keep turning—awwww
My Year in Reading Children’s Books
Rereading My Childhood: Author Timothy C. Baker examines how our childhood reading shapes our memories and the way we see the world.
What better way to follow up three pieces about Children’s Books than with The Enduring Appeal of Murder and Mystery: A Brief History
S.A. Cosby was on The Daily Show this week, which is just cool to see.
#R3COMM3ND3D2023 The After Show Party—a good wrap-up of the series that has been called “the highlight of your bookish year.”
It’s that time of year, “Best Of” List Season. Here are a few that got my attention. I either agree with at least one thing on each of these lists (or added at least one book to my list from them)
The Best Reviewed Fiction of 2023—from Lit Hub’s BookMarks
The Best Fantasy Books of 2023—from Paste magazine (didn’t realize they cared about Fantasy books, but it’s a good list)
The 38 Best Books We Read in 2023: Lit Hub Staffers on the Year’s Best Reading Experiences
FanFi Addict brings us: DB Rook’s Top Reads of 2023
Ed’s Top Reads of 2023
Top 12 Favorite Books of 2023—from John Mauro at Before We Go Blog
My Top 10 Reads of 2023!!!—from Out of This World SFF
The End of All Stories: Bidding a Fond Farewell to The Great C.S. Lewis Reread—I didn’t read this series as faithfully as I could have, but I thought it was a great idea that was frequently executed well (except from when Mikalatos was just wrong in his opinions, obviously).
What’s The Best Book In A Trilogy Edition One – Tolkien, Feist/Wurts, Barker, Eddings, Lackey, De Bodard—I enjoyed the approach to this piece (have only read 2 of these trilogies, but I agree with the rankings). My gut says this conclusion is where I’d land, but I should probably try this myself.
Beginner’s Guide to Fantasy—how to get started—I always enjoy pieces like this. If only for the good recommendations they bring for non-beginners like me and/or reminders of books I haven’t thought of in too long
On Fantasy and Whores—yeah, a Peat Long twofer this week. I’d honestly never thought about this before, and probably should’ve
Let’s start on the same topic we started on with It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas: Picture Book Edition 2023—they’re all (or mostly all) a bit too old for Grandpappy’s Corner, but not for long. I anticipate adding many of these to my shelves soon.
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Meet the Writers talked to Kevin Jon Davies about 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams and the man himself
Functional Nerds Episode 604-With Alex Bledsoe—a fun chat about his new short story collection and more
Crime Time FM MATT PHILLIPS In Person With Paul —not only a great talk about A Good Rush of Blood but their discussion about the essence of noir is great.
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Mayors of New York by S.J. Rozan—because I needed a fresh reason to not finish my reading plans for 2023, Bill Smith and Lydia Chin hunt for the runaway son of NYC’s mayor.
Murder Crossed Her Mind by Stephen Spotswood—In their latest, Parker and Pentecost are also hunting a mising person in NYC.
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. This one characterizes so much of this book–good, solid detective/procedural kind of writing, served up with a perfectly off-kilter line that doesn’t belong there, but improves the whole thing so much that it actually has to be there.
from The Last Dance by Mark Billingham:
The coloured lights from more than a million lamps seem to dance above the town’s main street and their reflections shimmer on the surface of the black sea just beyond. On the street itself, a thousand neon signs dazzle and buzz and the slow-moving traffic has become a pulsating necklace of red and white beads. To the casual observer, gazing down from the top of the Tower perhaps, or from a penthouse apartment in one of the expensive blocks that have sprung up in recent years, this might be Las Vegas.
If that casual observer really squinted.
And had never been to Las Vegas.
I can’t think of anything to blather on about today, so we might was well get right to the point:
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?
Easy enough, right?
What are you currently reading?
I’m reading The Last Dance by Mark Billingham, my first, but not last book by Billingham. I’m listening to the short story collection, Give the People What They Want and Other Stories of Sharp Wit, Cunning Women, and Wild Magic by Alex Bledsoe, narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, with Alex Bledsoe and Gabrielle de Cuir on audiobook.
What did you recently finish reading?
I just finished Lee Child and Andrew Child’s The Secret, the last Reacher novel I’ll read for a while. The last audiobook I listened to was The Ghosts of Sherwood by Carrie Vaughn, Angele Masters (Narrator) on audio, a quick blast of fun.
What do you think you’ll read next?
My next book should be Alexandra Petri’s US History: Important American Documents (I Made Up) by Alexandra Petri , because I need a dose of humor after some of the dark stuff I’ve been reading lately (also, I was next on my library’s list), and my next audiobook should be Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire, Emily Bauer (Narrator).
Are you reading/listening to something good?
Music Monday’s originated at The Tattooed Book Geek‘s fantastic blog and has shown up here and there since then.
1. Sure, it would’ve been more apropos to post this song yesterday, but then it wouldn’t be Monday, right?
- Yes, he mispronounces “Spokane.” Yes, it drives me bonkers. The rest of the lines make up for it.
You would not believe how many times I’ve tried to get this posted today…I barely do, and I was there for all of them. But, life has interfered (as it so often does). But it’s still Saturday, so I can live with it (the two posts I also planned on scheduling today, on the other hand are going to wait a week or more for attention).
But you didn’t come here for my whinging. You came here for this:
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:
Wisconsin libraries would have to notify parents about the books their kids check out under GOP proposal—I’m not fond of this, but I’m not sure it’s horrible. The other bill talked about in this story, on the other hand…
When Your Own Book Gets Caught Up in the Censorship Wars—a little BTS action
This Is Your Brain on Books
The big idea: should we abolish literary genres?
Webtoons and Webcomics Keep Scrolling into Print
Do You Believe in Magic? On The Timeless Charm of Children’s Books
It’s getting to be that time of year, isn’t it? Libro.fm’s Top 10 Audiobooks of 2023
S.A. Cosby lists His favorite books of the year—have read a couple of these and have several others sitting on a stack in my office, glaring at me
And looking in the other direction, FFA’s Most Anticipated Reads of 2024
Scaring Myself: The Story Behind How & Why I Wrote CALICO…—Lee Goldberg talks about the background to his latest novel (that I will write about ASAP, but you should read)
The Case for Never Reading the Book Jacket—I thought this was interesting and had planned on putting it here in the first place, and then:
Molly Templeton responded with What Do You Want to Know About a Book Before You Read It?—what are your thoughts?
#R3COMM3ND3D2023 wrapped up this week, so I only have a few more TBR add-ons for you:
…with Donna of Retirement Reflections
…with Rae of Rae Reads
…with Ayo Onatade of Shotsmag Confidential—
…with Sarah Hardy of bytheletterbookreviews
…with Jo of Jo’s Book Blog
Announcing Solstitia: a Fiction Fans Magazine—the brains behind Fiction Fans are launching a zine/litmag. Looking forward to some good reads.
Similarly, JCM Berne is starting up Grimdwarf Magazine—and is worth looking into
Managing my TBR—The Narratess talks about getting her TBR slimmed down. No offense intended, but having read her numbers, I’m feeling better about mine. But still…
Is It Easier to Write Negative Reviews?—Not for me, no. But I can see where Krsyta is coming from.
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Joined Up Writing Podcast 204: S.A. Cosby—Cosby chats about All the Sinners Bleed and much more. I love listening to this guy.
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Robert B. Parker’s Broken Trust by Mike Lupica—Lupica takes up the Spenser torch from Atkins, and is much better than I assumed. (I’d planned on finishing this today, but, life intervened). PI Fans would be smart to pick this up.
Didn’t See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto—okay, a YA take on You’ve Got Mail with gamers and a private school, isn’t really my cuppa. But I really liked Sutanto’s style at first contact. So, I’m going to give this a shot (as I try to work older books into my schedule, too).
Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Taylor @ Taylor Fenner’s Bookish World, who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.
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?
Easy enough, right?
What are you currently reading?
I’m reading According to Mark by H.B. O’Neill, and boy howdy, am I going to spend a lot of energy talking about it next year when it’s published. I’m listening to The Bittlemores by Jann Arden on audiobook—which is so much better than I’d expected.
What did you recently finish reading?
I just finished the incredible Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet (Illustrator) and the almost-as-good Nerd: Adventures in Fandom from This Universe to the Multiverse by Maya Phillips (Narrator) on audio.
What do you think you’ll read next?
My next book should be Robert B. Parker’s Broken Trust by Mike Lupica, I hope the transition from Atkins to Lupica on the flagship Parker series is smooth. My next audiobook should be Brokedown Prophets by S. A. Cosby, narrated by a full cast—I have no idea what it’s about, really. I stopped reading at “S.A. Cosby.”
What are reading as the year heads into its home stretch?
So, you may ask your self, “Well, how did I get here?” And then you realize you’re not one of the Talking Heads and instead you want to ask me why I’m posting this Third Quarter Check-In now as we’re almost done with the Fourth Quarter. Well, yesterday, my eldest son and my de facto editor wondered if I wanted a blog post idea. I (foolishly?) said, sure. “Third Quarter Check in: 2023 Plans and Challenges” he replied with a smirk. I explained that I meant to do it, but got distracted with all the October stuff I had going on and forgot all about doing it. Besides—as you will see if you keep reading—it isn’t all that different than the previous check-in.
But it stuck in my craw, and the easiest way to dislodge it was to take a few moments to put this together.
My plans this year focused on the two series that I’ve started—Literary Locals and Grandpappy’s Corner—both of which are going okay (frequently in fits and starts, but making steady progress). Then there’s the perennial, “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own.” How am I doing on that?
| Audio | E-book | Physical | Goodreads Want-to-Read |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of 2022 | 5 | 45 | 42 | 143 |
| End of 1st Quarter | 4 | 44 | 54 | 142 |
| End of 2nd Quarter | 5 | 50 | 56 | 145 |
| End of 3rd Quarter | 5 | 51 | 58 | 151 |
Let’s move right along to see how I’m doing with the rest of my plans and move on to the Reading Challenges…
2023 Book Challenges
Goodreads Challenge
Well, I can’t show you that graphic…but, it would’ve shown me around 230 out of 250.
12 Books
I got behind in March, and I haven’t managed to get any others read. I’m very frustrated by this—I was looking forward to these books. Don’t ask me what happened, or when I’m going to get to them. (well, probably not 2023 for all but one of these…don’t ask me which one).
Do I get any credit for having read and then a few months later listening to Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons?
2023 While I was Reading
I made zero progress on this in Quarter 3, but I do believe I’ll have it done by the end of December (I’ve already conquered a couple of categories).
- A book with a protagonist over 40.: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
- A book considered a classic.:
- A graphic novel.:
- A book that has been banned or challenged.:
- A book set in a place on your bucket list.:
- A book published before you were born.:
- A book related to a goal you have for 2023.: Church History in Plain Language, Fifth Edition by Bruce Shelley, Revision Editor Marshall Shelley\
- A book by an author of color.: The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian
- A book with a clever title.: Kneading Journalism: Essays on Baking Bread and Breaking Down the News by Tony Ganzer
- A book by a famous author you’ve never read:
- A non-fiction book about a topic you love.: The Worst We Can Find: MST3K, RiffTrax, and the History of Heckling at the Movies by Dale Sherman
- A novella: Bad Memory by Jim Cliff
Your TBR Reduction Book Challenge
I’m on-target for this one (as much as I can be), and have even got a couple of the Stretch Goals accomplished.
January – End to end temptation I give you permission to read the most recent book you have got on top of your TBR. For many this is one we only get to read eventually but for now I want you to pick up the newest book in Mount TBR and read it. Can you remember the last time you did that? It’s a good habit to get into and January is all about starting good habits: The Perception of Dolls by Anthony Croix, Edited by Russell Day
Stretch Goal – Read the oldest book in Mount TBR it has waited long enough: Bartleby and James: Edwardian Steampunk Chronicle by Michael Coorlim
February – Short steps For the shortest month of the year I want you to read 28 short stories. This can be a TBR collection, anthology or even backlog of magazines that you have. Life is fast but use this challenge to appreciate the skill of the short story writer. Play your skills right you may get more than one book read this way. eh…I get partial credit for this, Noirville contained every short story I had unread, but it’s only fifteen stories. I did read extra novellas for the Stretch Goal, though. So I’m calling this okay?
Stretch Goal – Read four novellas one for each week of the month. Bad Memory by Jim Cliff, Anna and the Vampire Prince by Jeanne C. Stein, and Broken by Don Winslow (which is six novellas).
March – Fresh Starts This time for the beginning of spring you need to start a series you have never read before. Release this work from Mount TBR! Justice Calling by Annie Belletstr
April – Open and Shut Case For the month named after the latin for ‘to open’ you need to read a standalone book with no sequel or links to any other book. Something new and something you can let go after reading it: The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow
May – Crowning Glory? the UK has a lot of bank holidays including a coronation this month so suitably let’s pick a book about revolution or a change of those in power. Questland by Carrie Vaughn
June – long reading days or longest nights Irrespective of your hemisphere you have time for reading either in the joys of summer or depths of winter. Your challenge here is to find the largest tale on Mount TBR and finish it. Let that monster get off your back: Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
July – Holidays are coming! let’s go travelling find a book by the author who lives the furthest from you on the globe. I give you seven months to do the maths! Let’s explore the fiction of places very much not like our own: Eternity Fund by Liz Monument (Australia)
August – Holiday Treats reward time you get to choose the book in your TBR pile no Themes, clues of queries to ask. Just take one off the list!: Lemon Man by Ken Bruton
September – Seven Deadly Tempts read a book linked however you want to one of the seven deadly sins. Booktempting I stress is not one of them. Indulge yourselves: Cash Rules Everything Around Me by Rob Gittins. If that title doesn’t scream Greed, I don’t know what does (the other 6 show up as well in the book)
Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge;
I’ve got 16 of the 24 categories taken care of. So, I guess I’m okay-ish here. I’ll have a few others accomplished by the end of the year, but I think this is going to be an incomplete challenge.
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I wrote this after the end of June, and it’s still true today (literally today, not the day it should’ve been had I posted this on time): Looking over this, it’s good that I take these on for fun, if I was serious about these things, I think I’d be getting a little worried. More than anything, the number of books I listed above that I don’t have linked to a particular post tells me how far behind I am on writing.
(Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay)
Music Monday’s originated at The Tattooed Book Geek‘s fantastic blog and has shown up here and there since then.
(yeah I chickened out with the name, I don’t need those kind of clicks…)
Between Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber-Monday, this seemed appropriate
I’ve thrown this up on a couple of the social media platforms, but I thought I’d ask here, too. I’ve been using Evernote for drafting blog posts, to-do lists, shopping lists, mental notes, etc. for over a decade–but I need a replacement. Any recommendations?
Moving along to the point of this post, 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:
Censoring Kids’ Worlds: Laurie Hertzel on the Danger of Banning Books for Children
Exclusive Cover Reveal of “Loose of Earth” by Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn: We spoke to the designer and the author about the design process for the book—Yup. I’m still a sucker for a look at cover design
Your definitive guide to Goodreads ratings. (Or: why does your favorite book have 3 stars?)—probably my favorite link of the week (no disrespect to any of the others)
Using Popular Culture in Crime Fiction by Lee Goldberg
Audiobooks Have Taken Over My Life, and I Love It—many of us can relate, no?
#R3COMM3ND3D2023 continues, so I continue linking to them (and adding to my TBR):
…with Sam Johnson of My Cosy Book Nook
…with Mags of @magslouisethebookworm
…with Anne Coates, author of the Hannah Weybridge series
…with Karen of Hair Past A Freckle
…with Yvonne of The Coycaterpillar Reads
…with Deb of dds_book_reviews
…with Babs Wilkie of Book Escapes with BabsW67
Vote Now for Fantasy-Faction’s Best SFF Books of 2023!—looking forward to these results
When You Don’t Feel Like a “Real” Bookworm
Let’s Discuss Bookworms vs Readers and Bookish Phobias
A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Patrick Rothfuss interview: Part two (of three)—Grimdark Magazine’s overgrown interview with National Treasure, Patrick Rothfuss
Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to JK Joy, who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.
