Tag: Miscellany Page 83 of 175

Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 books of 2022… so far

On June 28, 2022

This week’s topic is, “Yes, we are halfway through 2022. So tell us your fave books of the year ― so far!” I haven’t done one of these in a minute, this seemed like a good time to get back to it. This list was easier than I thought it would be—but that’s because I only had to pick five. At this point, if I had to do a Top 10, it would’ve taken me a week. I think there was a 10-way tie for #6, as I looked over my 2022 log.

Huh…2 of these books also showed up on my Top 5 Tuesday – Top 5 books I will definitely* read in 2022. That’s an interesting coincidence.

In alphabetical order by author:

	Robert B. Parker’s Bye Bye Baby by Ace Atkins The fiftieth Spenser novel is also the last one in Ace Atkins’ run. It’s hard for me to separate my thoughts and feelings about this book from my thoughts and feelings about that run. This wasn’t his best Spenser novel, but it was better than his worst (which really wasn’t that bad). In this book Spenser acts as a bodyguard for a libral minority congressperson and investigates the threats behind her. It’s an entertaining time with some characters I’ve spent decades with. My full take on the book can be found here.
	Don’t Know Tough by Elic Cranor This was a hard, grim read. In brief, an idealistic, young High School Football coach brings a troubled, angry, and violent player into his home to help him escape home and get back on the right track. And well, you know what they say about the road paved with good intentions. As difficult as the material was, Cranor’s skill with writing, rich characterization, and dynamite prose made this a sheer pleasure to read—while putting you through the emotional wringer. My full take on the book can be found here.
	Reconstruction by Mick Herron An MI6 accountant is brought in to negotiate with a young man who has taken some hostages in a nursery school (2 children and 3 adults). But how did all of these characters get to this point? Why are they here? What’s going to happen after they get out of the school? This novel examines all these things—putting the pieces of the puzzle together so that by the end (and I’m talking the end), the reader is able to put all the pieces together and can construct a pretty clear understanding. This is one of the best structured and written novels I’ve read in a long time. My full take on the book can be found here.
	The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi The previous two books on this list were pretty heavy and intense reads. This is anything but. This popcorn movie in a handy book form. It’s about a food delivery app driver who joins up with a group who travels to a parallel dimension to study and protect Kaiju. There are tense and action-filled moments, but given the premise—how heavy can it be? It’s filled with a catchy, irreverent narrative; snappy dialogue; and a first-person narrator you click with almost instantly (or not at all)—it just took me a few pages to know that I was going to find nothing but joy in these pages. My full take on the book can be found here.
	Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman If the last three years have taught me anything (and it’s likely that it hasn’t, but for the sake of argument, let’s say it did), it’s that Abbi Waxman will make me laugh, warm my heart, maybe even get me misty—while telling a story full of great and quirky characters, with dialogue as good as you’ll find anywhere. That’s what you get here in this story about a young woman who came to LA to get a fresh start on life. But before that start, things have to get a little worse for her—thankfully, she finds herself among a great group of (mostly) women who decide to become her friends. My full take on the book can be found here.

Book Blogger Hop: Fiction or Non-Fiction?

By HCNewton

On June 28, 2022

In Book Blogger Hop, Books, News/Misc.

Book Blogger Hop

This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:

What is your reading preference – fiction or nonfiction?

I’ve unintentionally taken a couple of weeks off, thankfully, this is an easy way to come back—because it’s essentially crunching a few numbers. By Non-Fiction, I’m including history, biography, autobiography, memoir, humor collections, essays, science, literary/film criticism, theology…eh, pretty much anything that’s not in the 800s in the Dewey Decimal system (and even some of it). With Fiction, I’m including novels, novellas, short stories, children’s picture books, and comics/graphic novels (other than things like Maus and Persepolis).

It helps that I do a year-end table (and monthly for a while now, too) showing the breakdown by genre, so it didn’t take too much work to tweak it into a Fiction vs. Non-Fiction Graph.

If you ignore 2012 (and I don’t know what I was doing there with only 10% Non-Fiction), I average out at 21% Non-Fiction, 79% Fiction. I’d like to think I read more Non-Fiction than that, but honestly, I’m happy it’s that much.

On second thought, that’s not what the question asked, is it? The question wasn’t “What do you read more of?” was it? It was “What is your reading preference?” There’s little better in the world than a well-written Non-Fiction book. I’ve re-read The Right Stuff and The Last Chance to See innumerable times—ditto for The Big Picture by A. Whitney Brown. The books I’ve listed in Just a Spoonful of Sugar—Non-Fiction to Smile With and Learn From* are a real pleasure to read. A well-written biography is dynamite. And so much of the theology that I read does more for my heart and soul than my mind. I could go on here, but I guess I’m trying to say that I love reading a good Non-Fiction book.

* An updated version is due in a few months, but I’m giving myself a chance to add a couple more entries to it first.

Now, I did say “there’s little better in the world than a well-written Non-Fiction book.” Chief among that “little” would be a well-written novel. My preference is definitely fiction—my practice reflects my preference.

The danger in writing these Book Blogger Hop responses in a pretty stream-of-consciousness fashion is that it ended up taking me 421 words and a bar graph to get to the point rather than saying, “Fiction,” and moving on.

What do you want for nothin’? A Rubber Biscuit?

What about you—what’s your poison?

Saturday Miscellany—6/25/22

By HCNewton

On June 25, 2022

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday 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:
bullet Whither Children’s Bookselling? asks Publishers Weekly
bullet In Defense of Unsympathetic Protagonists
bullet Copywriter Slash Novelist: How My Career in Advertising Helped Shape Me as a Novelist—Matthew Norman talks about some of the lessons he carries with him today
bullet Summer Reading Assignments for Grown-Ups
bullet “Dance” like no one’s watching, but for bookish types
bullet Canva 101: How to Use Canva as a Book Influencer—I really need to play around with this post next time I try to display my lack of graphic design ability
bullet The NeBUloUs Topic of ARCs—a dose of sagacity from The Orangutan Librarian
bullet Novels with Terrific Opening Lines—Jami Fairleigh shares some of her favorites
bullet Book Quotes to Love in 2022—Read Betwixt Worlds shares some favorites from this year

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Page Break with Brian McClellan Ep 44 – Scott Lynch—Good conversation about mental health, writing, Lynch’s plans, and more.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet The Self-Made Widow by Fabian Nicieza—Profiler-turned-suburban mom and recently-no-longer-disgraced journalist team up on a murder investigation again. I am very excited about this follow-up to one of last year’s best debuts.
bullet Movieland by Lee Goldberg—the strongest outing yet for rookie detective Eve Ronin, as she and her partner investigate a killing in a State Park.
bullet One Decisive Victory by Jeffrey H. Haskell—I won’t look at the description of this one until I read the second book in a couple of weeks here, but as much as I enjoyed Book 1, I’m happy to see that it’s out.

The Friday 56 for 6/24/22: Movieland by Lee Goldberg

By HCNewton

On June 24, 2022

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

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

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

from Page 56% of:
Movieland

Movieland by Lee Goldberg

Duncan put the bag down and picked up the one containing Netter’s watch. It had come through the crash unscathed. “The only Rolex I’ve seen that’s bigger than this is the one in the Calabasas clock tower.”

Netter’s watch had clearly been built to last, Eve thought. Rolex could use it as a selling point. You might not survive a car crash, but your watch will.

WWW Wednesday, June 21, 2022

By HCNewton

On June 22, 2022

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

I’m very glad that the U.S. is now celebrating Juneteenth, but I tell you what, that day off is messing with me. I did manage to get some good reading in over the weekend, but still feel like I’m out of sync with reality. Anyway, let’s tackle this WWW Wednesday, and see if that helps calibrate my mind.*

*Narrator: It won’t.

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 Movieland by Lee Goldberg—it’s so good to be back in Eve Ronin’s world—and I’m wrapping up Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston, Imani Parks (Narrator) on audiobook.

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished David Rosenfelt’s predictably fun Holy Chow, K.B. Jensen’s very strange Love and Other Monsters in the Dark, and We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor, Ray Porter (Narrator) on audio.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

Two of my most anticipated 2022 releases arrived at my house yesterday (The Botanist by M.W. Craven and The Self-Made Widow by Fabian Nicieza), and I’m beyond tempted to throw out my carefully (for me) constructed plan and dive into them. I’m pretty sure I won’t do that, but you never know. My next book should be The Border by Don Winslow, it’s been a week and a half since I read a paper book—that’ll be a nice change—even if this thing is intimidating. My next audiobook should be a quick return trip to Daughter of the Morning Star by Craig Johnson, George Guidall (Narrator).

Blank Space

What are you reading here in the first few (official) days of Summer?

Saturday Miscellany—6/18/22

By HCNewton

On June 18, 2022

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Weeks (like this one) where I don’t have a lot of fodder for this post always make me wonder: Did I have an off week? Was it just one of those weeks where everyone was thinking about other things? Does it matter—it takes three things to make a list, as long as I have that…
I tend to lean toward the last one, my streak of these is long enough that as long as I’ve got those three…

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 29 Works of Nonfiction You Need to Read This Summer—I will not be reading any of these this summer (which goes for all of LitHub’s summer lists), but most of these look interesting a couple might find their way to the Fall list.
bullet Constable signs three more titles from Craven in six-figure deal—The lines there about “global brand” and “North American rights” warm my heart. The idea of not having to put up with the cost/time (mostly time) involved in getting Craven from the UK makes me very happy.
bullet When Will Novels Fix Society Already?—I dunno…tell me the U.S. hasn’t been “fixed” into a dystopian/cyberpunk prequel? We just need to pick better books (see also: less pretentious works than this piece talks about)
bullet Peat Long posted a couple of good ones this week (well more than a couple, but I’m sharing two): Secondary Belief vs Suspension of Disbelief—Secondary Belief is a term I’ve been grasping after for months. Good stuff…
bullet As much as I enjoyed that post, and will be reacting to it (not that anyone but me will likely be able to tell) for a while, On Objectivity as a Reviewer is better.
bullet 10 Quick Takes on Common Bookish Controversies—Sure, I’d co-sign 80% of this (likely 90%, if pushed, but my reflex is to shudder at the upscaling idea). If I disagreed, it’d still be a fun post to read.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Trouble with the Cursed by Kim Harrison—the latest Hollows novel dropped this week, it looks like Rachel has some cleaning up to do/keep doing after last year’s novel.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Shristy Singh, who followed the blog this week.

The Friday 56 for 6/17/22: Against All Odds by Jeffrey H. Haskell

By HCNewton

On June 17, 2022

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

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

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

from Page 55 (because 56 was blank) of:
Against All Odds

Against All Odds by Jeffrey H. Haskell

“Don’t worry, sir, you’re in good hands. I’ll take care of everything so you can focus on your research,” she said with a smile.

She was certainly chipper. An optimist to keep him company wasn’t a bad idea. Not to mention, nothing made an old man feel young like a beautiful girl at his side. He sighed. Those days were long past, but the reminder would be nice. Not that she would think of him that way, nor would he ever try anything. It would just be nice to have her along.

Yes, this was going to be the best year of his life.

The aircar swooped out of the sky and came to hover next to them. Iker picked up his bag and loaded it in the trunk with a smile, daydreaming about how the future of the galaxy was about to change.

Spelling the Month in Books: June

By HCNewton

On June 15, 2022

In Books, News/Misc.

Spelling the Month in Books: June
Okay, I broke my streak of sticking with books I haven’t blogged about—but it’s not that easy finding books that start with “U.” Sue me.

	Jurassic Park It took me several tries to get into Michael Crichton’s best-known work, I kept getting bogged down in some of the early science-y info dumps, but I had a couple of friends who kept insisting that I read it, so I kept trying and failing. Then, with just a month or so left before the movie was released, I forced myself to try again—and pushed ten or so pages further than I’d gotten before and read the rest in one sitting. Or maybe it took two—it was 1993, who knows? I just remember being captivated and loving every second of the rest of the book. It wasn’t like anything I’d read before. I do wonder what I’d think of it today, but not enough to take the time to try, the memory’s enough.
	Uneasy Relations Aaron J. Elkins’ Gideon Oliver series was one of the early “adult” mystery series that I got hooked on, so they’re always going to have a sentimental appeal to me. Thankfully, even without that, they’re clever little reads with characters that feel like old friends, so I’m always game for one. The setting for this one, Gibraltar, is the star for sure. Elkins is either very well-traveled or great at research (likely both) and is the rare kind of author I’d like to read travelogues by. When I initially posted about this I said, in addition to the archeology the book features “some satirical takes on publishing, literary agents, and academics…Oh yeah, and the murder—there’s that. That was a good puzzle…The solution to the murder was a nice twist, and the Skeleton Detective was as clever as ever.”
	The Name of the Wind What is there to say about the novel that launched Patrick Rothfuss to Fantasy novelist stardom that hasn’t been said a million times? For me, it took very little time before I was in love with this book. I’ve read it three times—and even sought out a hardcover so I could use my paperback as a loaner (and then had to replace that when my first one wasn’t returned). I love the way Rothfuss uses words, I want to spend more time with every other character (except Ambrose, natch—cannot stand that guy). I’m familiar with—and even agree with—many of the criticisms of the book. And you know what? I don’t care because the overall impact of the book just works for me on levels I can’t express. Yeah, I know, I know, I know—Rothfuss is as bad as/worse than Martin when it comes to needing to finish a series. But as much as I want to see how things wrap up here, I’ll be forever grateful I got to spend some time with this book—no matter what happens with the rest.
	Evil Ways This is the second novel in Justin Gustainis’ too-short series about an Occult investigator and his white witch consultant. Think Harry Dresden but split into two roles, just not as funny. Evil Ways focuses on someone killing white witches around the country, and the FBI’s investigation into a series of child murders. From that grim and sober premise, the reader gets a wild and intense thriller about a ritual to bring Hell on Earth (literally).

WWW Wednesday, June 15, 2022

By HCNewton

On June 15, 2022

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

I don’t have the vim, much less the vigor, to come up with an introduction, let’s move on with the 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?