Tag: Miscellany Page 68 of 177

I’m still dealing with the Tiki Idol necklace I mentioned on Wednesday, but at least I’ve been able to escape into a few good books this week–hopefully, I can find the time to talk about them soon.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at this week’s 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:
Former resident born in library returns to celebrate 94th birthday—Enjoy a moment of “Awwwwww…”
Bookstores enjoy a renaissance as readers embace [sic] real books
How to organize your books, according to people with thousands of them
Judy Blume Forever – Official Trailer
Top 11 Funniest Mistakes in Popular Books—Maybe not funny ha-ha but funny weird.
The series Conversations on Hope in the Fantastical series continued this week at Witty & Sarcastic Book Club with:
…Featuring JCM Berne
An Interview with Joyce Reynolds-Ward
An Interview with Michael Lortz
An Interview with Beth Tabler
Amazon vs. Piracy: Who’s winning, and why?—one author’s perspective and experience
The best and worst publishing trends—N.S. Ford has a few opinions on publishing trends
Everything is Fantasy—Hiu Gregg has some thoughts on the wideness of the Fantasy genre

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Acknowledgements “The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True” by Sean Gibson – Episode 2—1. The idea behind this podcast is ingenious. 2. This particular episode is great–I laughed multiple times and enjoyed learning a bit more about the novel, too.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Fox Spirit by Allyson Johnson—I intended to talk about this last week, but slipped up. This is an online novel being posted twice a week, the link’ll take you to the intro post. Johnson knows her stuff when it comes to books, I can only imagine that’ll shine through in her writing.
Backpacking through Bedlam by Seanan McGuire—The latest InCryptid novel finds Alice and Thomas trying to get used to life on Earth again—just when the Covenant of St. George launches an attack. This looks fun.
Teen Titans: Robin by Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo (Art)—the new graphic novel in this series focuses on Dick Grayson and Damian.
But Have You Read the Book?: 52 Literary Gems That Inspired Our Favorite Films by Kristen Lopez—”Turner Classic Movies offers an endlessly fascinating look at 52 beloved screen adaptations and the great reads that inspired them.” This looks like a fun look at what makes for a good adaptation—either a faithful one or one that isn’t.
Instinct edited by L. J. Hachmeister—UF stories about animal companions of some of our favorite characters (and some brand new), with profits donated to a puppy rescue. What more could you want?

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to hikingtheup who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.

One of the best things about what I’ve been reading/blogging about lately is that I can walk away from not being able to write about a book featuring bent and broken cops to do a quick write-up about a children’s D&D book. I mean, those cops are still weighing on my mind, like they have been for two weeks—but at least I produced something.

It feels like I’m on the verge of a long ramble, but today is an oddly busy Saturday, so I’m going to shut up and move on with the Miscellany…

This is another week without any new releases catching my eye—is it me or is there something going on in the publishing world? It seems like we’ve had more of those this year than I’m used to. I will say the next two weeks will not find me saying that, however.

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:
Bryant & May novelist Christopher Fowler has died aged 69—I didn’t read as much Bryant & May as I intended to, but any time I spent with Fowler was a reward.
Roald Dahl is the last thing we should worry about on World Book Day—great perspective
Autism can be a huge publishing strength—and challenge—really glad I read this
The Indie Fantasy Fund—what a great idea, definitely worth throwing a couple of bucks at
How Two Jewish Kids in 1930s Cleveland Altered the Course of American Pop Culture: On Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and the Birth of Superman—I don’t know that I want to take the time to read the whole book, but I really liked this excerpt
Suspiciously Suspect: Who Is—and Isn’t—an Unreliable Narrator?—I don’t spend much time doing it, but I do appreciate chewing on the idea of what makes an unreliable narrator—and what supposedly doesn’t.
Why You Shouldn’t Write to Market: Book Berne-ing ep 002—Even if you ignore what he says about The Irresponsible Reader, this discussion about the relationship between authors and readers is well worth your time. Berne hits on things that I think we’re prone to ignore. The fact that my friend includes a shout-out to this here website was a pleasant surprise and a bonus.
Witty and Sarcastic Book Club is in the middle of another great series. These Conversations on Hope in the Fantastical are my favorite non-book reads of the week.
…Featuring Dorian Hart
An Interview with DH Willison
…Featuring Ricardo Victora
An Interview with Raina Nightingale
Why is every character suddenly an ‘antihero’ now? What happens when no one can call a villain a villain—The author has some strange ideas about “suddenly.” And honestly, I think a lot of what he says/concludes is flawed. But I did enjoy the piece…any thoughts?
World Book Day 2023: Books That Are Special To Us—to commemorate Wold Book Day, “the FanFiAddict team wanted to share some of the books that are special to us, whether it be an old favourite from our childhoods or a new found love.” If this post doesn’t cause your heart to grow three sizes, something’s wrong with you. At the same time, if your heart does grow three sizes…you should consult a physician immediately, something really could be wrong with you.
The Slow Horses, but Muppets—Spy Write’s bringing the grins lately, this casting of Herron’s Slow Horses with the Muppets made me chuckle—and some of the pictures sealed it (Kermit’s in particular). I’m not sure I was prepared for Scooter’s picture though, some things are still too fresh…

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Mike Finn, who followed the blog this week. I hope you enjoy the content and keep coming back.

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:
AI-generated fiction is flooding literary magazines — but not fooling anyone—Am sure you’ve all seen headlines about this already…
Literary giants have thoughts on the new edits to Roald Dahl’s works.—this is a bit (just a bit) moot thanks to the news yesterday that Roald Dahl’s publisher responds to backlash by keeping ‘classic’ texts in print—which makes a the voice inside my head that wears a spiffy tinfoil chapeau wonder if the whole thing was a publicity stunt.
The rise and fall — and rise again — of Barnes & Noble
What Is It That Makes Used Bookstores So Wonderful?: Used bookstores are more than just stores with books—Yes.
The Importance of Duality of Plot in Space Operas
The Importance of Rom Coms!
From the Pages of Slough House: Leadership Tips from Jackson Lamb, The Perfect Boss—yes, I’m critical of ChatGPT things, but when used the way that Jeff at Spy Write does here, it produces some fun content. I’m going to remember some of these tips for my next job interview…

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Chronscast E15 – Introducing Peat Long—Peat Long joins the team over at Chronscast and gets introduced here, if you’ve ever wondered about the voice behind the provocative blog posts, here’s your chance. (also, listen to their exit music at 1.0…I might make this podcast a regular listen for it alone)
The Professional Noticer An Accidental Death…with Peter Grainger—an incredibly rare audio appearance by the great Peter Grainger