Tag: Miscellany Page 81 of 177

WWW Wednesday, August 17, 2022

By

On August 17, 2022

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

Are you up for WWW Wednesday? Hope so, cuz here we go…

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 book in the Jane Yellowrock series, Final Heir by Faith Hunter. My current audiobook is Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest, Ulka Simone Mohanty.

Final HeirBlank SpaceGrave Reservations

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Chris McDonald’s Roses for the Dead, a great conclusion to the trilogy; and the quick hit of goodness that was The Heron by Don Winslow, Ed Harris (Narrator), on audio.

Roses for the DeadBlank SpaceThe Heron

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu, which just looks great, and my next audiobook should be Out of Spite, Out of Mind by Scott Meyer, Luke Daniels (Narrator), which is hopefully an improvement over the previous one in the series.

The Art of ProphecyBlank SpaceOut of Spite, Out of Mind

Hope you’re reading something good, tell me about it!

Saturday Miscellany—8/13/22

By

On August 13, 2022

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

It’s Left Hander’s Day and I should have a list of characters to mention here, but I can only think of Kvothe and Arya Stark when it comes to fiction. Anyone out there know of any notable sinistral characters? There has to be a bunch of them…

I don’t have a long list today, apparently I wasn’t the only one not feeling incredibly creative this week. (or with time on our hands). More time for our Weekend Reads, right?

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 Where Are Mass Market Paperbacks Headed?
bullet The Fine Art of Naming Characters in Crime Fiction
bullet Anne Rice and the making of a modern vampire
bullet The Five Great Novels of Dashiell Hammett—for years I’ve told myself I need to read Hammett…this might have pushed me over the edge.
bullet NetGalley’s blog, We Are Bookish, had a couple of handy posts this week:
bullet NetGalley’s Guide to Who to Tag in Book Reviews
bullet Tips for Battling Reviewer Writer’s Block
bullet The Books that Made Me – The Once and Future King by T.H. White—Inexplicably, I’ve never been able to finish this book, I need to give it another shot.
bullet Different Ways To Categorise Fantasy—another helpful post from Peat Long
bullet Reading & Book Collecting
bullet 10 Years, 10 Favorite Books—Great idea for a post, but I have no idea how Caitlin was able to limit it to just one book for each year without at least one tie. (then again, I do, what 5 or 6 best of lists each year, I clearly have trouble limiting myself)
bullet How Reviewing Changed the Way I Read?

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet The Thriller Zone Episode 83: Eli Cranor, author of Don’t Know Tough—Cranor sounds and talks just like you’d expect, this was a great chat.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Bark to the Future by Spencer Quinn—Chet and Bernie are back for novel #13, and it’s a doozy. Bernie tries to help an old high school teammate and gets into a lot of trouble. I blogged about it couple of weeks ago
bullet The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu—What do you do when the prophecy about the Chosen One who will save the country is wrong? Taishi, the greatest war artist of her generation, decides to mold the object of the prophecy into who the kingdom needs him to be.
bullet The Deal Goes Down by Larry Beinhart—a retired PI is hired as a hitman and ends up working to save women from abusive marriages—and make money at the same time. (that’s a lousy job of summarizing the description, but without reading the book, it’s as good as I’m going to get…click the link)

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

The Friday 56 for 8/12/22: One Decisive Victory by Jeffery H. Haskell

By

On August 12, 2022

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it.

from 56% of:
One Decisive Victory

One Decisive Victory by Jeffery H. Haskell

Jennings sat back, staring intently at the map. She manipulated the controls, zooming in on the compound and rotating it clockwise to look at the building from all angles. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but… what about a compromise?” she asked.

From the expressions on the other marines, Nadia suspected those words might never have escaped the sergeant’s lips before.

WWW Wednesday, August 10, 2022

By

On August 10, 2022

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

Like I said Saturday, I’ve been largely occupied with non-book related things this week, but I did have time to put together this last night, I should be back to normal tomorrow. But for now, here’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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

Today, I’m wrapping up the third Charley Mann thriller, Persecution by RC Bridgestock, and I should be finishing Plugged by Eoin Colfer, John Keating (Narrator) on audiobook.

PersecutionBlank SpacePlugged

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished J. C. Jackson’s Divine and Conquer—a pivotal installment for this series—and Summerland by Michael Chabon on audio.

Divine and ConquerBlank SpaceSummerland

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be One Decisive Victory by Jeffery H. Haskell, which promises to be chock-full of action. To gear up for the next Toby Daye in a couple of weeks, I’m going to revisit When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal (Narrator) via audiobook.

One Decisive VictoryBlank SpaceWhen Sorrows Come

What about you?

Spelling the Month in Books: August

By

On August 10, 2022

In Books, News/Misc.

Spelling the Month in Books: August
Okay, I couldn’t stick to my “books read before I started blogging” theme—titles that start with U aren’t that common, and I had two of them this month. But I did go for books that I read a few years ago, anyway. The problem with this post is that I want to take a break from everything I’m doing to re-read these (and their sequels/other entries in the series) today.

A Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick

Joe Schreiber’s YA thriller is about what you’d expect from this title. It’s a fast, light, thriller about a high schooler stuck taking an exchange student to prom. It turns out that she’s a little more than the shy geek he imagined. Okay, she’s a lot more than that.
U Updraft

Updraft

Fran Wilde’s book is too hard for me to describe in a sentence or two—this is a wildly imaginative novel brimming with great worldbuilding, a strong story, and memorable characters. It’s not quite the book that will make you believe a man (or young woman, in this case) can fly—but you’ll hope it was so.
G Gone, Baby, Gone

Gone, Baby, Gone

Dennis Lehane’s fourth novel was my introduction to both him and his Kenzie & Gennaro. And it made me an insta-fan. It’s a great piece of P.I. fiction, a gripping story that’ll break your heart and haunt you for a long time to come (24 years so far for me).
U Unseemly Science

Unseemly Science

The second novel in Rod Duncan’s Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire series takes a lot of what was established in the first book and blows it up so that the characters are driven to new strengths and adventures and so that readers’ expectations are surpassed. Espionage and strange science take this steampunk/gaslamp adventure in a direction that few in this genre go.
S The Stepsister Scheme

The Stepsister Scheme

Jim C. Hines’s repurposing of these fairy tale princesses is one of my favorites—he takes Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty and turns them into secret agents who are defending the kingdom with their wits, magic, and martial arts. There’s a little bit of humor, but he doesn’t play this for jokes. This book sets up a series of four re-imagining of these (and other) fairy tale/Disney princesses that The Mouse definitely wouldn’t approve of.
T Tonight I Said Goodbye

Tonight I Said Goodbye

Michael Koryta’s debut blew me away—PI Lincoln Perry and his partner/mentor Joe Prichard are hired to investigate the apparent suicide of an investigator and the disappearance of his wife and daughter. Lincoln and Joe soon find themselves up to their neck in danger from the Russian mob. I’ve read this two or three times over fifteen years ago, so my memory is pretty vague, but I remember being gripped by the story and the characters—and thinking that three sequels to this were not enough. Koryta’s gone on to bigger and better things—but I’d take another book with these characters any day.

Top Ten Tuesday: Titles that Tickled My Funny Bone

By

On August 9, 2022

In News/Misc.

Top Ten Tuesday Logo
The topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesdays is the Hilarious Book Titles.

Sure, calling some “hilarious” practically invites the response of “eh, it’s okay, I guess.” Hilarity (to me) implies funny to the nth degree. So, when I picked the books for this list, I went with “Titles that tickled my funny bone (and continue to)”—that seemed more attainable. My Long List after going through my shelves and Goodreads numbered in the 70s, but whittling it down was super easy (would’ve been easier if I’d have let myself use multiple titles from Watterson, Kellett, or Trudeau).

Titles that tickled my funny bone (and continue to)

1 Live Right and Find Happines
Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster) by Dave Barry

That title is pure Barry—a little silly, maybe a little lazy, but funny. The book was largely pieces of wisdom that Barry is passing on to his daughter and grandson. More of the advice is helpful than you might think, it’s all worth listening to. The rest of the book ain’t bad, either.

In case you’re curious about what I’ve written about this audiobook (and some others written by Barry), click here.
2 Have You Eaten Grandma?
Have You Eaten Grandma?: Or, the Life-Saving Importance of Correct Punctuation, Grammar, and Good English by Gyles Brandreth

Sure, we’ve all seen the jokes/memes, etc. about “Have you eaten, Grandma? vs Have you eaten Grandma?”, it’s using it with the subtitle phrase “Life-Saving Importance” that grabbed my attention (and it was worth it—a fun and helpful guide to grammar, etc.)

In case you’re curious about what I’ve written about this book, click here.
3 Literature Unsuccessfully Competing Against TV Since 1953
Literature: Unsuccessfully Competing Against TV Since 1953 by Dave Kellett

This title for the collection of bookish-themed strips from the webcomic Sheldon isn’t the best part of the collection, but it always makes me grin. I’ve read the thing from cover to cover a handful of times, and have read bits and pieces of it frequently—I’m a big fan of Kellett’s work and this is among his best.
4 A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

I’m sure I’m not the only one who picked up this book because of the title alone—I’m not even sure that I read the blurb for it. I’m so glad I did, it was full of heart, charm, and humor—and leaves you craving baked goods (magic-free, preferably).

In case you’re curious about what I’ve written about the audiobook, click here.
5 A Bathroom Book...
A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing but Using the Bathroom as an Escape by Joe Pera, Joe Bennett (Illustrator)

When you see the title, you imagine that this is a parody of a book listing or something, right? It can’t be a real book. Ahh, but it is.

The title tells you pretty much everything you need to know about this odd source of affirmation and encouragement.

In case you’re curious about what I’ve written about this book, click here.
6 99 Poems to Cure Whatever's Wrong with You or Create The Problems You Need
99 Poems to Cure Whatever’s Wrong with You or Create The Problems You Need by Sam Pink

It was someone sharing a poem from this book that caught my eye, but it was the title that cinched it for me—I had to give these poems a try. It’s the last clause that did it.

After reading these, I don’t think any problems were created or cured, but I got a nice break from them for a little bit.

In case you’re curious about what I’ve written about this book, click here.
7 Better Than Dave
46% Better Than Dave by Alastair Puddick

It’s the specificity of the percentage that did it for me. I’m not sure what it is about the 46 that works, but it does.

A man with a perfectly nice life loses perspective when a he gets a new neighbor that shares his first name. Suddenly he’s the “old” Dave to all his friends—and “new” (with an implied “improved”) Dave seems to have a better life—46% better. It’s a funny and sweet novel about realizing how green grass on your side of the fence is.

In case you’re curious about what I’ve written about this book, click here.
8 I Just Want My Pants Back
I Just Want My Pants Back by David Rosen

I didn’t like this book as much as the title, but the title still works for me. You can hear the lament/whine… After a one-night stand, Jason Strider has to go on a quest to get his jeans back. Hilarity (theoretically) ensues.

In case you’re curious about what I’ve written about this book, click here.
9 Even Revolutionaries Like Chocolate Chip Cookies
Even Revolutionaries Like Chocolate Chip Cookies by G.B. Trudeau

I mean, who doesn’t? This subtle little reminder about our shared humanity comes from this collection of newspaper strips in 1972. It’s one of the earliest Doonesbury collections, the humor (as I recall) isn’t quite as refined as it would become—but maybe hits the targets better.
10 Scientific Progress Goes Boink
Scientific Progress Goes “Boink” by Bill Watterson

I think it’s the “Boink” that sells this title for me—if it had been another sound, I don’t know if it’d would’ve clicked for me.

This Calvin and Hobbes collection is just wonderful, which is a tautology, sure. I just can’t think of anything else to say.

Saturday Miscellany—8/6/22

By

On August 6, 2022

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Programming Note: If I seemed quieter than usual this week, it’s because I’ve pretty much caught up on my backlog of posts and read a couple of things I need to delay writing about. Whoops. I’ve got some extra-curricular things going on next week that will interfere with both blogging and reading, too. I’ve prepped a couple of things so things won’t go silent here, but it still feels to me like I’m taking a break.

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 How to fall back in love with reading. Even when your brain feels like mush.
bullet Publishing is eating itself…(again)—this week’s newsletter from Fahrenheit Press (in addition to trying to sell some great books/merch) offers a great perspective/recap on the state of publishing/book buying.
bullet Bookish Hunger Games!—is a great idea and post from The Orangutan Librarian. My inability to come up with something half as inventive as this haunts me.
bullet Dragonlance Reading Order 2022—Witty & Sarcastic Book Blog gives us a recommended reading order for The Dragonlance books. The first six of these were so formative to me that it does my heart good to see all the interest in this series today.
bullet More Author Influences: Founders of Urban Fantasy—Peat Long looks at the roots of Urban Fantasy
bullet Critical Reading as a Book Blogger & How It’s Fun
bullet On Writing Negative Book Reviews—the conclusion is the kicker here. I’ve found similar things.
bullet Did you know you could get book blogger’s block?—I don’t know why I never put this label on the experience that I’m all-too-familiar with.
bullet Why I Think Reading and Blogging Slumps Can Be Beneficial
bullet Is Readerly a Good Alternative to Goodreads?—Word Wilderness follows up their Goodreads and StoryGraph comparison with a look at Readerly

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet The Thriller Zone Episode 81: Fabian Nicieza, author of The Self-Made Widow—this was a fun interview
bullet WTF Episode 1353: Neil Gaiman—books, comics, TV, and more. Great convo.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet The Suitcase Clone by Robin Sloan—a Sourdough prequel novella that ties it into the Penumbra universe? Sure, why not?
bullet The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias—Am seeing a lot of people talking about this one: “Buried in debt due to his young daughter’s illness, his marriage at the brink, Mario reluctantly takes a job as a hitman, surprising himself with his proclivity for violence. After tragedy destroys the life he knew, Mario agrees to one final job: hijack a cartel’s cash shipment before it reaches Mexico. Along with an old friend and a cartel-insider named Juanca, Mario sets off on the near-suicidal mission, which will leave him with either a cool $200,000 or a bullet in the skull. But the path to reward or ruin is never as straight as it seems. As the three complicated men travel through the endless landscape of Texas, across the border and back, their hidden motivations are laid bare alongside nightmarish encounters that defy explanation. One thing is certain: even if Mario makes it out alive, he won’t return the same.”
bullet Shutter by Ramona Emerson—The premise for this–a forensic photographer gets helps from the ghosts at crime scenes to take photos that reveal clues could be the setup for a lighter UF series, but Emerson seems to have gone for a gritty suspense direction instead. Looks good.
bullet The Prince of Infinite Space by Giano Cromley—an early 90s coming-of-age story. I had a little to say about it a couple of weeks ago.

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

The Friday 56 for 8/5/22: Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker

By

On August 5, 2022

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it.

from Page 56 of:
Composite Creatures

Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker

The house already felt different.

We’d taken down our meagre Christmas decorations the day before (we’d only hung them up so the house looked festive for the party), and though the place felt lifeless now and drained of colour, that wasn’t why it was odd. The passageway seemed lighter and the doors further away, as if I was psychically stretching out into every room on alert for sharp things or towers likely to fall. I was a thousand eyes cast across the floor and tingled with electricity, ready to release a bolt.

I dropped the folders at the bottom of the stairs and flung my soaking boots on the shoe pile. Art and I gave each other a look and then began to walk the mile up the stairs, Art balancing the box carefully in his arms. My hand kept slipping on the bannister, and either because of nerves or the cold, I couldn’t feel my feet.

WWW Wednesday, August 3, 2022

By

On August 3, 2022

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

August 3 already? I’m not prepared for that. I could handle it being mid-July, but early August is…uncalled for, really.

Like I said Monday, I’m working on a couple of ARCs to start the week and then I’m tackling the home stretch for 20 Books of Summer. Then I’m shifting into the most ambitious project I’ve tried for the blog yet. I’ll get into details as it starts to come together, but now that I’ve said something, I’m going to have to get moving. (at least that’s the plan).

Enough of that, shall we tackle this 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?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading The Marauders, The Daughter, and The Dragon by K.R.R. Lockhaven, which he described as the first in a “humorous hopepunk nautical fantasy trilogy” when we did a Q&A last year, which seems like a pretty apt description. I just started listening to Summerland by Michael Chabon on audiobook. I remember almost nothing

The Marauders, The Daughter, and The DragonBlank SpaceSummerland

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Nick Kolakowski’s Hell of a Mess—a welcome return to that series. I also just finished True Dead by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator) on audio.

Hell of a MessBlank SpaceTrue Dead

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker to see why Paul recommended it to me. My next audiobook should be Plugged by Eoin Colfer, John Keating (Narrator).

Composite CreaturesBlank SpacePlugged

How are you starting August?

Book Blogger Hop: Do You Read While Listening?

By

On August 3, 2022

In Book Blogger Hop, Books, News/Misc.

Book Blogger Hop

 

This prompt was submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews:

If you are listening to an audiobook, do you follow along with the print version?

Gah! No. That would drive me nuts. Granted, the last time I tried that was when I was a little kid—I had a few of those “read along” books that had the super-flimsy and square vinyl records in the back (I distinctly remember one that went along with The Empire Strikes Back, but I had others, too) and one or two on cassette (the only one I can remember is a Disney’s Robin Hood that included a possibly-abbreviated version of “Oo-De-Lally”). But even then, I would read faster than the record/tape and it was too complicated to synchronize.

I had the same problem in school when we’d take turns reading paragraphs/pages out of a book as a class—I’d tune out my classmates and end up a few pages ahead of everyone and get in trouble when I didn’t know what to read when it was my turn. Which has nothing to do with the topic at hand, it just came to mind.

Reading speed aside, if I’m listening to an audiobook, I want to take in the characterizations and voice of the narrator, if I’m reading a book, I want to be immersed in the words and the way it “sounds” in my head. I’d end up spending too much of my mental RAM comparing the audio/print experiences to get anything out of it at all.

I’ve also never tried the whole Whipsersync thing where you bounce back and forth between a Kindle and Audible version of a book. I think that’d throw me—if I start in one format, I’m going to finish in it.

I’d like to see why someone would read along, specifically what benefit they get from it. Hopefully, a few people responding to this prompt do it. It’s such a foreign concept to me, but I’d love to see what it looks like in someone else’s shoes—er, headphones.

What about you?

Page 81 of 177

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén