Tag: Saturday Miscellany Page 1 of 62

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:
A Moment of Divine Inspiration Helped Melvil Dewey Bring Obsessive Order to the Infinitely Disorganized Stacks in the Library—huh. (probably better to say moment of boredom than divine inspiration, but….)
Rereading Mark Twain While Everything Else Burns
let’s do a ‘couch to 5k’ for reading—this is a pretty cool idea
‘Angel Down’ and Riffing on a Literary Trick—Nick Kolakowski muses on Kraus’s Angel Down.
The Stories We Don’t Tell—Reading about why and how Knighton walked away from what sounds like a promising novel (but yeah, I totally get why) and how it transformed into something else. Invoking The Faithful Executioner didn’t hurt my appreciation.
Summer’s One Must Read Book 2026—I don’t know how I forgot to post this last week. Over on Readling Ladies Book Club last week, a handful of bloggers shared one book a piece to help you come up with summer reading.
Announcement Repost: Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week 2026—Another thing I think I forgot to properly share (this time back in May), was the upcoming Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week. From what I’ve seen, this is going to be better than the (IMHO, great) ones in the past. There’s still time to get involved for readers/bloggers/writers.
Over on Instagram, @spooky_bookworm shared a (possibly controversial) list Books Written w/AI Worth Reading—I couldn’t agree with this list more.
Tom Gauld shares some Heatwave Reading Dangers

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“Beer is to Bill as methadone is to a heroin addict. The alcohol level in the beer is so low he can’t drink enough to get sloshed, to saturate his fat-laden tissues. His gray matter. But he tries. He’s in pain and needs to blot out reality. Some way. Somehow.”
—from “Midight Confession” by Lawrence Kelter in True Romance: A Noir Anthology edited by Troy Lambert & Vincent Zandri

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
The Asset by Shane Kuhn (I miss this guy’s books)
Daughter of the Sun by Zoe Kalo
The Question of the Felonious Friend by E.J. Copperman/Jeff Cohen
And I talked about the releases of: Sacrifices by Jamie Schultz ; The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez; and Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Late Night Mars by Thomas Trang—”Book 2 of the Asteroid Savage Series, a gritty, high-stakes science fiction thriller perfect for fans of The Expanse and Altered Carbon, where the line between hero and criminal is as thin as the Martian atmosphere.”
Country People by Daniel Mason—”A year in the life of a family as they strike out into the unknown (aka Vermont), leaving all the comforts of home behind”
Some People by Parini Shroff—as well done as Shroff’s previous book was, I really hadn’t planned on another. But… “A man on the brink of divorce is forced to care for his injured future-ex-mother-in-law in this wise, witty, and heartfelt novel” sounds pretty good.

image course: Book of the Month on Facebook.

It’s a tiny offering for you this week–which works out okay, because how many ‘Muricans are reading this today? (no offense to the handful of you who aren’t celebrating the Semiquincentennial).

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:
Readers’ Hit New Books of the Year (So Far)—from Goodreads, so take it with the amount of salt of your choice
The Joy of Novellas—from The British Fantasy Society
Lee Goldberg on His New Series Starter Whodunit, ‘Murder by Design’—a good profile of Goldberg. The first line describes him to a T (at least from what I know of him): “Lee Goldberg doesn’t want to change your life with his books, but he does want to entertain you.”
Book Blogging in 2026: Survey Results—Jo Lindsdell’s most recent results. I thought I submitted my answers. Apparently not. Whoops.
Let’s Not Turn Reading into a Sport—please let’s not do that. If it were a sport, I think by International Treaty or Natural Law I’d instantly be bad at it.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Quick Book Reviews with Philippa Hall Ep. 471: M.W. Craven on The Killer’s Mark Plus the Kindle That Saved a Life in Barcelona—I learned a bit more about Craven’s new book than I wanted to know before starting it, but I’m not complaining.
SFF Addicts Ep. 209: Portal Fantasies with Seanan McGuire & Micaiah Johnson (Masterclass Panel)—I’m not quite finished with this episode yet, but it’s just fantastic. These two should be recurring guests.

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“‘The results almost never change.’
‘Almost. I hate when a sentence sounds so reassuring but then there’s that one word that just messes the whole thing up.””—Eyes of Empire by JCM Berne

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
The Quest for Merlin: Magimakía by Rafael Lovato
Let There Be Linda by Rich Leder
Dorothy Must Die (Audiobook) by Danielle Paige, Devon Sorvarititle
And I mentioned the releases of: A Hundred Thousand Worlds by Bob Proehl, Granted, Let There Be Linda by Rich Leder, The Quest for Merlin: Magimakía by Rafael Lovato , and In Twenty Years by Allison Winn Scotch.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
A City Dreaming by Maurice Broaddus—”the third book in [Broaddus’] Astra Black trilogy, which explores the struggles of an empire. Epic in scope and intimate in voice, it follows members of the Muungano Empire—a far-reaching coalition of city-states that stretches from Earth to Titan and beyond—as it faces renewed threats to its progress.” What I’ve seen about this really serves as an advertisement for the first two books, but I’ll take it.
Slop by Jared Leys—Leys goes the extra mile to prove that humans are capable on their own to generate slop, no LLM needed, thank you very much.

image source: https://www.instagram.com/bookstrofficial

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:
‘Erasing histories and voices’—Oh good, another export from the U.S. (that’s hyperbole, but that kept running in the back of my head as I read)
Louis Pope Gratacap, A Curator in Lost Worlds—The total tonnage of what I don’t know about Lost Worlds fiction could stun a team of oxen in its tracks, yet I somehow think I have a decent understanding of it. This fascinating review shows I don’t.
My breakup with Amazon—a good essay in drawing.
Future folklores: how new traditions can root us in hope
Late Night Mars: Josephine Baker, flying Lamborghinis, and film criticism—Like I wasn’t hyped enough for Trang’s upcoming book
The 61 Greatest Indie Books of All Time—No news to anyone, but the problem with Indie Books is that almost all of them fly under the radar. I think I’ve heard of 2 of these. Maybe. Several of these look like I want to hear more about them.
The Way to Read More Is to Read More: This isn’t a “just do it” pep talk, I promise.—Molly Templeton’s latest
Is There a Magic Number of Books to Read Per Year That Makes You a “Reader?”—The amount of time that I spent trying to come up with a witty comment for this post…it’s not an easy question to answer, but Briana’s headed in the right direction (maybe arrived there, too)
Bookmark This: What I Use as Bookmarks (First Edition, Maybe)—A fun listicle from Witty & Sarcastic Book Club. As was this reply
Mad Mabel: Captivating Characters of June 2026 —I haven’t finished my post for this month yet, but wanted to take a minute to point again to this fun link-up.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
The Writer’s Dossier Podcast Rob Hart—THREE HITMEN AND A BABY—I had to wait to finish my post about the book before I’d let myself listen to this.

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“…I kept working on the article, answering emails, Alt-Tabbing to social media in case someone had uploaded a video of a guy putting a lemon up his nose. Normal writer stuff, in other words.”—The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish by Douglas Adams
We’re All Damaged by Matthew Norman
Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
Hexed (Audiobook) by Kevin Hearne, Luke Daniels
I mentioned the releases of: The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg ; Play Nice by Michael Guillebeau; Waypoint Kangaroo by Curtis C. Chen; New Pompeii by Daniel Godfrey. Only one of which I read. Alas.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence—Before It’s Too Late by Cory Doctorow—Didn’t go scortched-earth on AI as I’d expected. I had to re-think a lot of what I’ve been thinking about AI (but not everything!! Especially regarding illustrations/writing/etc.). Typical good stuff from Doctorow.
Foundling Fathers by Meg Ellison—”The Antediluvian Society—a shadowy cabal of right-wing billionaires—is fed up with a country they cannot fully control or understand. So they have done what any reasonable American patriots would do: Clone the Founding Fathers and raise them in secrecy. The plan, unbeknownst to the boys, is for them to restore America to its “original glory.” And then one of the clones finds an iPhone. Whoops.
The Tinder Box by M.R. Carey—a dark fairy tale about a former soldier, a witch, and a magic box that can grant wishes.

Image source: @artlovergirl.bsky.social

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:
Fakes of the Future: Literary credibility in the age of AI.
Mother-Son Summer Book Club—What a Fantastic Idea!
Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
THE MAN OF STEEL AT 40: Why John Byrne’s Superman Will Always Be MY Superman—this was a big barrel of feel-good nostalgia for me. I cannot tell you how many times I read this series (and the ensuing Action Comics and other titles). I think the details for me might differ a bit, but that headline could be written by me.
Five Things I Learned Writing A Murder Most Fungal—Adrian Gibson gets a little confessional here.
Over at Reading Ladies Book Club, Carol has two good lists for the week:
20 Favorite Book Recs for Fathers (2026)—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
Bookish Books 2026—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“But you can’t put something as dumb as a hauler bot in charge of security for anything without spending even more money for expensive company-employed human supervisors. So they made us smarter. The anxiety and depression were side effects.”—Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Unshakable by K. Scott Oliphint and Rod Mays—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
Steel Victory by J. L. Gribble
The Asset by Shane Kuhn
NYPD Red (audiobook) by James Patterson, Marshall Karp, Edoardo Ballerini, Jay Snyder
And I mentioned the releases of: The Ghost Rebellion by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris; The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez; Shadowed by Karen E. Olson; Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley; Man On A Rock by Grant Sutherland; Escapology by Ren Warom; and Mechanical Failure by Joe Zieja

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Three Hitmen and a Baby by Rob Hart—The recovery meeting members have to keep their sobriety in face of a Russian mob’s threat, danger to two families of the group, and–worst of all–babysitting a toddler. I had a few things to say about it yesterday.
A Murder Most Fungal by Adrian M Gibson—”Return to the mushroom metropolis of Neo Kinoko, immerse yourself in a sinister world of gangsters, blackmail, and fungal cuisine, and prepare for a Michelin-star tragedy in six courses.”
Rising Gale by Z.B. Steele—I have only heard good things about the first book in this series (and I WILL read it this year), this looks possibly better.
Homer’s Odyssey: An Illustrated Retelling by Barry B. Powell—”Illustrated by dramatic, colorful artwork, Barry Powell’s retelling of the 24 chapters captures the grandeur and lyrical feel of the original appealing to both fans of the story and those reading Odyssey for the very first time.”
Kill All Wizards by Jedediah Berry—”Kill All Wizards is a blood-soaked romp through high society—picture Conan the Barbarian caught up in a comedy of manners, and you’re almost prepared for this unmissable new series.”
Somebody Worth Killing by Jessica Payne—”Meet Nadia Davis, a doting mom and loving wife who has a big secret: she’s actually an assassin. And she really needs a babysitter who shows up on time.” Oh, and she’s just been tasked with assassinating her husband.
The Pinnacle by Abir Mukherjee—”When an over-the-hill American actor finds his wife, a rising star in Bollywood, dead in their Mumbai high-rise, he quickly becomes the prime suspect in this atmospheric, razor-sharp social mystery.”

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 End of Books: What happened when a dumpster arrived behind my university’s library
Authors Guild Looks at Why Author Incomes Are in Decline
AI Has Come for Serif Fonts: AI companies are using serifs to project humanity. Critics are calling it “tasteslop.”—huh.
“The Myth of Neutral Books”
Calvin and Hobbes and the Price of Integrity: How Bill Watterson Stuck to His Guns — and Vanished—much of this is a re-hash of well-established facts, with a little commentary thrown in. I’m not sure how much I agree with the commentary, but I liked reading it anyway. Also, I’m a sucker for anything about Watterson, so bring on the rehashes (as long as there’s something new to it, too, like this one)
Speculating, Ambiguously—I’m not going to comment on this, go read the first paragraph, and you’ll know if you want to read more (hint: you do). Hat Tip: Runalong the Shelves
Reviewers on Reviewing: Positivity, Negativity or the Secret Third Thing (Criticism)
Was There a Recent Past Where “Everyone” Read and Loved the Classics?—Of course there was…like a generation before me. Or a generation before you–whoever you happen to be. Briana sheds some common sense on this notion.

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“It wasn’t so much of a surprise that Pepper McKay was dead as much as it was an amazement to everyone in the county that it had taken so long for him to die, or for somebody to kill him.”—The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Guilty Minds by Joseph Finder
The Ghost Rebellion by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
The Highwayman by Craig Johnson
Cheap Shot (Audiobook) by Ace Atkins, Joe Mantegna
And I mentioned the releases of: Infomocracy by Malka Older and The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar

Last Week’s New Release that I Can’t Believe I Forgot About (and nothing grabbed my attention this week, tell me where I went wrong):
Asteroid Savage by Thomas Trang—I’ve been eager to get my hands on this for months, so of course I forgot to mention this last week. Trang’s LA-noir last year blew me away–and now he takes that sensibility to an (police/police-ish) investigator on Mars dealing with a corrupt system while she tracks down terrorists responsible for a bomb attack.

Saturday Miscellany—6/13/26

Image Source: Tweet from @CaffeinatedLiha

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:
Lee Goldberg has a new book out this week, naturally, he’s doing a lot of press and whatnot. Lee Goldberg’s favorite books that find the humor that makes us human —isn’t part of the press for the new book, but I hadn’t seen it before and really appreciated it.
Building a whodunit from the ground up: Lee Goldberg on his new series starter, ‘Murder by Design’—Is part of that PR.
Book Reviews Vs. Book Reactions and Reviewers’ (Lack of?) Confidence
Behind the Book: Rübezahl by M. Laszlo | Story Inspirations—this is so cool. I hope Gina posts several of these.
Time to start making YA for teens again—novel concept.
A Murder Most Fungal playlist—Adrian Gibson has curated a playlist for his upcoming novel. I remember when many authors did this, and am glad some continue. I’m on track 4 of 23 and know 2 things: I would not have found any of this music myself, and it seems perfect for that world.
It’s time for AJ Calvin’s The Indie Author Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror New Release List: June 2026
@AlexAndBooks_—makes me feel so much better about the number of unread books I have.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
High Stakes Ep 36 – Lee Goldberg on MURDER BY DESIGN & Splitting His Time Between Television and Novel Writing

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“She really didn’t understand people at all, they were so weird. Dealing with them was like being slapped in the face over and over.”—The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Condominium by Daniel Falatko—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
The CleanSweep Conspiracy by Chuck Waldron
No Problem, Mr. Walt by Walt Hackman—a nice book by a very nice man
A Change of Heart by Mark Benjamin
I mentioned the releases of: The Cupid Reconciliation by Michael R. Underwood; We’re All Damaged by Matthew Norman; The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman; and Death by Cliché by Bob Defendi

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Murder by Design by Lee Goldberg—first in a new series: “Edison Bixby is wealthy, handsome, and, due to a traumatic brain injury, impulsively rude. He’s also a brilliant insurance investigator who solves baffling crimes by figuring out how the design of the man-made world around us makes them possible. Enter Wally Nash: a struggling actor hired to keep Bixby from offending everyone he meets.”
Castaway Cays: Curse of the Sea Serpent by Amy Maren Rice—The second Fuzziwigs MG adventure, “Aliens are running amok in the backwoods of Idaho, Grandpa Slater is trapped in another dimension, and the crazed sea serpent of Castaway Cays-Dragula the Dreaded-has stolen something the Slater family desperately needs.” I’m looking forward to this!
Assassin in the Alehouse by Z.S. Diamanti—”Embark on a cozy fantasy tale of found family and quiet mysteries. A quaint quest to find the place that feels like home and the ones who make it so. A journey filled with self-discovery and new romance. From cloaks and daggers to mugs and flagons …” Sign me up!

Psychological Thriller Readers’s Post on Facebook.

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:
Ian Rankin: ‘Why people who read books live 1,000 lives’—Rankin, talks “about libraries, comics, BookTok, prisons and the enduring power of reading in an age of digital distraction.” If I didn’t already like the guy, this would make me take a second look at him/his work
Comparisons as Predictable as the Sunrise—”An analysis of 200,000 similes from popular fiction.” Not only is this interesting (if not more), it looks great. You’ll end up spending more time on this than you expect.
This Archivist Has Saved 175,000 Articles from 30 Years of Writing about Magic: The Gathering—This is primarily about archiving, but you’ll pick up some fun info about Magic along the way (I know at least two of you will read it just for that)
Love Language: The undying dream of Esperanto—One of my regrets is not continuing on in my study of this (if only because the persistence with it might have helped with other language aquisition). It also was fun–and made me think that one day I might just be as cool as “Slippery Jim” diGriz. (an idea forever labeling me as un-cool)
Rediscovering Rereading (Again)—I resonate with so much of this (if not the individual works being discussed)
Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki—This one might end up on my TBR
The Best Writers of the Future May Be the People Who Never Go Online—I’m not sure I can agree with this–but I liked thinking about it.
Magical Minds: Neurodivergent Fantasy Recs!
Typos, Glitches, and Postal Fails: The Unexpected Quirks of Publishing a Book—AJ Calvin gives a look at some of the mishaps that can befall a self-published author along the way..
Why I’m Raising My Prices as an Indie Author—Claudie Arseneault is doing what some would see as unforgivable and/or foolish–but it really makes sense.
Adam Holcombe “does the math” on a recent post about Indie Authors’ income
These last three have got me thinking about all the work our beloved Indie/Self-Published authors go through to bring us their works. I wish there were an organized way to celebrate them. Oh wait–that’s right, there is! Announcement: Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week 2026—That’s right, it’s back! And (hopefully) better than ever. I’m pretty excited about what I’ve started to put together for it.
Garbage Pail Kids as Books: Part I—put together by book promoter Lori Hettler, who has introduced me to some of the best and strangest work I’ve read. I hope we get more of these.
Tom Gauld’s latest brought a smile to my face

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Sit. Stay. Read. Ep. 39: Peter Abrahams aka Spencer Quinn, Cat on a Hot Tin Woof—I don’t know if I’ve heard Quinn/Abrahams interviewed before. Was nice if only for that

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“I know that when he sits beside me at the dining table and places his front right paw on my knee as he sniffs my food that he is trying his best to be polite before politeness loses.”—”Oscar” by Paul Yoon from The Best Dog in the World

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
The God We Worship edited by Jonathan L. Master
Thursday, 1:17 PM by Michael Landweber—I have a strong, visceral memory of this one (I should add positive)
The Cupid Reconciliation by Michael R. Underwood
Hard Court by Robert Germaux—the first of many times that Bob has made me smile
Hounded (Audiobook) by Kevin Hearne, Luke Daniels—my introduction to one of my favorite audiobook narrators
And I talked about the releases of: A Mint Condition Corpse by Duncan MacMaster; The Last Star by Rick Yancey; Dietland by Sarai Walker; and Dark Run by Mike Brooks

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Brothers McKay by Craig Johnson—Walt has to investigate the murder of one of his county’s least popular citizens.

as seen on ‪@raeradford.bsky.social‬

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:
Why the Canon Is Worth Conserving—R.V. Young makes a good case here. Maybe not convincing, but good to chew on.
The Written Word Is Having A Rough Week—”Rough” is putting it mildly.
Common Readers: BookTok’s critical values
The most famous crime writer you’ve never heard of – prepare to be hooked—a heckuva piece on Peter Grainger. About time he got some attention.
Waterstones livestreamed Brandon Sanderson in conversation with Joe Abercrombie—I haven’t watched yet, but I imagine it’s more than worth the time.
Scalzi’s recent BlueSky post about AI sums up what a lot of us SF fans have been thinking. Just phrased better.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Authors on the Air Global Radio Network Jordan Harper discusses A VIOLENT MASTERPIECE—a great conversation about the book and more. Every exposure I have to this writer makes me like him more.

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
Having a teenage daughter is like Choose Your Own Adventure, a constant set of junctures in the road. She’s in a mood? How do you respond? Do you snap? Do you sympathize? I chose my go-to: ignore.—Go Gentle by Maria Semple

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Burned by Benedict Jacka
Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
And I mentioned the releases of: The Highwayman. by Craig Johnson; Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? by Paul Cornell; This Damned Band also by Paul Cornell and Tony Parker; Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me: What Pop Music Rivalries Reveal About the Meaning of Life by Steven Hyden; The Second Life of Nick Mason by Steve Hamilton; and My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Hawai’i Rage by Tori Eldridge—”A suspicious death on a Kohala Mountain ranch draws ranger Makalani Pahukula into a tangled family tree.” It’ll be a minute before I can dive into this, but I’m looking forward to seeing how this builds on Kaua’i Storm
True Romance: A Noir Anthology editby by Troy Lambert & Vincent Zandri—the author list alone is enough to get me to shell out a couple of bucks. In this anthology, “passion isn’t red roses and candlelight. Instead, it’s obsession, betrayal, revenge, and the kind of desire that leaves bodies in its wake…From quiet suburban rot to organized crime empires, from calculated seduction to explosive violence, these stories explore the dangerous intersection where love and darkness meet. Because in noir, love isn’t salvation. It’s motiv”
It’s Hard to Be an Animal by Robert Isaacs—”a funny, magical, and tender novel following a lonely, conflict-averse man whose sudden ability to understand animals sends him on a wild romp around NYC, and ultimately helps him discover his own voice. “
Ironwood by Michael Connelly—the sequel to Nightshade (which I need to read soon) brings Detective Sergent Stilwell into contact with Renée Ballard and a violent drug deal.

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:
New Adult: A New Category for a New Generation of Readers—I thought NA was already a thing (that really didn’t work out), but other than the use of “New” in the headline, I appreciate this call to use the category more. I think it’d help.
A Beloved Children’s Book Author Said Most Children’s Literature Is “Crud.” It Has Not Gone Well.—I’d seen some people cursing Barnett’s name on Threads (and maybe other places), but didn’t see a lot of context, just mid-conversation screeds. The man’s got himself a point, I have to say. (and now I have to read the book…)
Can Men Write Romance? The Problem With Assuming Men Can’t Write Women—Matthew Norman (who is a man who can) kicks off his substack with this lil’ essay. I wondered if I just spoiled the essay, but I’ve been saying it for years, so I don’t feel too bad.
Tough Questions with Firsty Duelist—As a former subject/victim(?) of this, and appreciator of the series in general, I’m glad to see Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub dust it off. Particularly to focus on this particular blogger.
My Top 40 Fantasy Series/Books—Peat Long revises and expands his list–which is a great big ball of inspiration and intimidation.
Witty and Sarcastic Book Club wrapped up another great mini-series of posts this week, “Looking for the Helpers: Small Roles, Big Influence in SFF.” Its focus is “smaller roles in SFF books and how they can nonetheless play big parts.” You can go see last week’s Miscellany for more (or just go to the blog and find them yourself)
…Featuring Ashley Cape
…Featuring Joel C. Flanagan-Grannemann
Announcing 20 Books of Summer – #20BOS26—AnnaBookBel is bringing it back again. For those who haven’t participated before, it’s a fun way to give your goals a little mid-year boost. I’ve almost got my list finalized (I need to trim two books from it, we’ll see if my May can help me with that)
Are books really that expensive?—Nadezh Frank has a pretty convincing answer.

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Perfect Family by H. Lovelyn Bettison—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
Giovanni Goes To Med School by Kathy Bryson
Slow Burn by Ace Atkins
The Old World by Roy M. Griffis
Shadow Rites by Faith Hunter
And I mentioned the release of The Vagrant by Peter Newman

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Robert B. Parker’s Booked by Alison Gaylin—”Boston PI Sunny Randall investigates a popular book critic on a mean streak . . . only for her to wind up dead.” It should be noted that I’ve only said good things about Gaylin’s work.

Yes, this is late–but you should blame (in part) Fall into Fiction for putting on another great event 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:
We’re going to start on a highbrow note: Seven of the Greatest Farts in Western Literature
Celebrating 20 Years of First Law—Z.B. Steele commemorates The Blade Itself‘s 20th Anniversary. “Commonly heralded as a master of the craft and one of fantasy’s greatest character writers, it’s time to celebrate Joe Abercrombie, First Law, and the impact Abercrombie’s work has had on the genre.”
How Substack became the new book tour—huh
Celebrating 15 Years at Pages Unbound!
Witty and Sarcastic Book Club hosted another great mini-series of posts this week, “Looking for the Helpers: Small Roles, Big Influence in SFF.” Its focus is “smaller roles in SFF books and how they can nonetheless play big parts”
…Featuring Jonathan Nevair
…Featuring Dorian Hart
…Featuring Ben Schenkman
…Featuring Shannon Knight
…Featuring Ricardo Victoria

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“What was it about fathers, Clay wondered, that compelled so many of them to test their children? To insist that a daughter, or a son, prove themselves worthy of a love their mother offered without condition?”—Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Madam Tulip by David Ahern
Indexing (Audiobook) by Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal
Dead is Best by Jo Perry
Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
And I mentioned the releases of: Zero K by Don DeLillo; Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo; Robert B. Parker’s Slow Burn by Ace Atkins ; The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan; Blood Defense by Marcia Clark; Double Down by Gwenda Bond; The Jewel and Her Lapidary by Fran Wilde; and Outriders by Jay Posey

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Out Law by Jim Butcher—A nice little novella that follows up The Law, Twelve Months, and Changes. Butcher’s spoiling us in 2026.
The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee—”A battle-worn corporate samurai undertakes one last mission on a merciless planet where death is always a mere breath away, in this standalone dystopian epic.”
On Faith and Freedom of Thought by Marilynne Robinson—”Marilynne Robinson’s speech for the 2026 Jon Fosse Lecture, delivered at the Norwegian Royal Palace…our creativity, along with the free space offered by literature, gives us reason for hope. This essay is a powerful exhortation to rediscover our spiritual and human obligations.”