Tag: Saturday Miscellany Page 20 of 62

I’m off doing non-book things today*, so assembled this early. And I know I left a few things off that I’d usually include–hopefully I catch up next week. Still, there are some good things to be read. I think.

* It happens occasionally. Maybe 3 times a year? (still bet I wander into a bookstore at some point this weekend)

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:
Noted audiobook narrator, Dick Hill, died this week. I can’t imagine anyone reading both Lee Child and Dave Barry books and pulling it off, but somehow he did. He will be missed.
A group of angry library patrons in Texas has gone to court over book removals
Audiobooks: Every Minute Counts—A look at audiobook usage, how it’s affecting the book market, and too much for me to sum up.
How to Break Out of a Reading Slump—am not sure they have new advice to offer, but this is a handy collection of tips from Netgalley’s blog.
How Not To Do It: Why I’m Not Much of a Publisher—Harry Connolly talks about the woes of getting his new book, The Iron Gate, published last week. In case you thought writing a book was the tough part.
“Too Many Clients” Reviewed by Anthony Boucher, November 20, 1960—I love this idea: this blogger is posting each mention of Nero Wolfe he can find in the archives of The New York Times, after a lengthy break, he’s back with this post.
10 literary classics that didn’t sell.
I mentioned the An Author’s Monster Manual series last week, and the results have lived up to the promise:
…Featuring Andi Ewington
…Featuring J.E. Hannaford
…Featuring Geoff Habiger
…Featuring Rowena at Beneath a Thousand Skies
..Featuring Jonathan Nevair
…Featuring Dan Fitzgerald
Reading and Its Effects on Your Emotions
A quick summary of the arc of American fantasy—a compressed history of the genre in the US.
How to Make Book Blog Friends and Grow Your Audience—a handy-dandy guide that I’ll be returning to.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (and one from last week that I can’t believe I neglected!):
Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty—A Great SF/Mystery Mash Up about an investigation on a sentient space station full of aliens and a handful of humans. I talked about it some this week
6 Ripley Avenue by Noelle Holten—”One House. Eight Killers. No Witnesses.” Holten’s standalone about a murder in a halfway home for ex-cons looks thrilling.

So, this is pretty late, but…at 11:45pm yesterday, my daughter called asking me to take her to the ER. So I put this aside. Almost 20 hours later, I got home—and she has one less inflamed appendix. But it’s still Saturday (for at least some of the world), so this counts.

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:
What Book Bans Take From Kids
Books won’t save you: You can’t use literature as a shortcut to self-improvement—hear, hear
Meet the Author: Neil Lancaster
Tom Hanks is publishing a novel, and it sounds exactly like a Tom Hanks movie.—huh.
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of Friendships with Entirely Fictional Characters—this post is more directed at TV, but it easily applies to novels
The Book Character Awards! (a bookalicious initiative)—this is a neat idea
My Experience with Not Using Goodreads for a Month
Hugboxing and Scabpicking—Peat Long gives a vocabulary lesson…
An Author’s Monster Manual—Witty and Sarcastic Book Club launched another series this week—I love the premise for this—what if the D&D Monster Manual was compiled from creatures in Fantasy novels?

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
Eating the Fantastic Episode 181 Chow down with Wesley Chu—this is the first I’ve heard of this podcast, but I’ll likely come back for more, if the interviews tend to be as good as this one with Chu was.
Blood Brothers Episode 105 with Anthony Horowitz—a fun chat with Horowitz that has convinced me to give the Hawthorne and Horowitz books a couple of more installments, at least.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Iron Gate by Harry Connolly—the new installment in The Twenty Palaces series. The best Urban Fantasy series you aren’t reading. Circumstances allowed me to read this today (two weeks or so ahead of schedule), and it was great. I’ll be posting about this as soon as I can.
The Last King of California by Jordan Harper—He made a new life for himself, but it didn’t work out, and now Luke has to return to the gang he escaped from. Sure, you have to import this from the UK to read it, but I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be worth it, since its from Harper.
Treasure State by C.J. Box—a new Cassie Dewell novel has the PI on the hunt for a con man.
The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists: The Official Guide to Characters, Quotes, Timelines, and Memorable Moments by Bryan Young—this looks like it could be a lot of fun

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:
EveryLibrary Poll Finds Book Bans Are Broadly Unpopular With Voters
The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books—a tribute to and look at the origin of the series
S. A. Cosby: Interview and Cover Reveal—a nice (but quick) interview with Cosby and a look at the fantastic cover of his upcoming book.
How to Get Books For Free – Legally—a quick, but potentially valuable, list
Misconceptions People May Have About Book Blogging
CANON: It’s Not What You Think It Is—quibbles with some of the details in the first paragraph of “Definitions” aside, I appreciated these thoughts on Canon in SF. (Hat Tip to Peat Long for this one)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman—It’s the third Thursday Murder Club book, I really don’t think more needs to be said.
Wealth Management by Edward Zuckerman—Financial shenanigans, international crime, and terrorism mix in this thriller. I talked a bit about it.

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

How does being a parent of adult children take so much time? I’m not complaining about (actually enjoyed and would welcome more of) the interruptions they brought this week, but I had pages to read and posts to write, fer cryin’ out loud! It was far easier to claim my own time and send them to bed when bed wasn’t in a differnt building 7 miles away.

Still, I did manage to get a bit done, and even find a few things for this collection. Hope you enjoy.

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:
Was It Ever Possible For One Person To Read Every Book Ever Written (in English)?—Randal Munroe tackles this ever-so pressing (or not) question
You Can Procrastinate Anything If You Have Enough Books—Well, yeah…
The Books That Made Me – The First Law by John Palladino—another fun installment of this series from Before We Go Blog (although it could use a quick fact check in the first paragraph).
An Ode to Reading—a nice (and fairly relatable) memoir of a reader/introduction to a blog
Have You Ever Suffered from Book Blogger Imposter Syndrome?
The Best Way to Track Your Reading: 18 Bullet Journal Spread Ideas for Readers—I’ve tried Bullet Journaling a couple of times over the last few years, and it really seems like a good idea and I wish I could stick to it. Although I seem to enjoy reading about it more than actually doing it.
Some Research to Ponder about Book Piracy—some good stuff on this regrettably evergreen topic

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (after last weeks handful, only finding one this week makes me think I missed several—fill me in!):
A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan—a bookstore owner/cryptozoologist looks into a series of deaths that might indicate there’s an actual lake monster living nearby.

This is the 4,010th post to this blog—the ol’ odometer rolled over on 4,000 on Monday. I wasn’t prepared for that, and probably should’ve done something to commemorate it. I’ll have to try to remember to do something big for number 5,000 in 2025(??).

This was a rough week on the reading front—3 books I’d planned on reading on Release Day* came out (ignoring that 2 of them came out the same day), but I’m so behind on Review Copies that I’d also planned on prioritizing them. And then I literally grabbed the wrong book off the pile Thursday and didn’t realize it until I was 100 pages in. I’m glad I’m not getting paid for this stuff, because I’m such a disorganized mess right now.

Super-short list this week, but there’s hopefully something you’ll enjoy reading.

* Nothing against the fourth, I just needed a little break from that series after reading the initial trilogy this summer.

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:
In 2022, a New Urgency for Banned Books Week
Library 101: Everything You Need to Know to Utilize Your Library—not sure any of this is news to anyone, but…who knows, you might pick up something new here
Classic literature, rewritten for kids.
Subtlety, Ideological Novels, and Me
If you didn’t like this, try that…—This is a fun take on the tried-and-true method of recommendation (their more traditional list wasn’t bad either)
How Do You Choose Your Next Read? (& 100 Reading Prompts!)—this post feels like it should forever eliminate take care of the “what do I read next question” (maybe I spent too much time going through the 100 prompts)

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Final Heir by Faith Hunter—The final book in the Jane Yellowrock hit the stands this week (although, how much actually stays dead in Jane’s world?). I went on and on about it a couple of weeks ago.
Robert B. Parker’s Fallout by Mike Lupica—Lupica’s third Jesse Stone novel shakes Paradise from a couple of directions. I had a good time with this and should have a few things to say about it next week.
Hell and Back by Craig Johnson—This looks like it picks up a dangling string from the last book and gives it a good yank. Looking forward to diving in ASAP.
The Night Watch by Neil Lancaster—a vigilante killer on the team investigating murders. DS Max Craigie has his work cut out for him.
A Grimm Sacrifice by Jeffrey H. Haskell—Grimm has to contend with training new officers while helping an unlikely ally against a common foe in a Cold War that isn’t that chilly anymore.

It was 20 years ago today that I started blogging—not this one, I’ve been involved in five blogs before I gave up trying to do other things before just embracing my particular brand of nerd and did this. It’s a little odd thinking that I’ve been practicing this particular hobby that long.

This is the second week in a row where I’ve felt like I was running on fumes, and barely got anything posts together (and I didn’t find a lot for this post, either—but that’s likely a function of this being the end of the month). I’m very glad this is a 3-Day Weekend, I need some time to regenerate.

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:
Forgotten treasures: the stranger things people leave in library books—Over the years, I’ve linked to a handful of pieces about odd things found in library books, but a library making an exhibit out of them? It’s almost enough to make me want to travel…
Who is the real “Queen of Crime”? Agatha Christie’s estate sends a stern letter to Val McDermid.—This is stupid. I’m willing to bet McDermid didn’t tag her self with this title, in the first place. In the second place…never mind—it’s not worth me duplicating what LitHub said.
The Psychology of Fandom—Jennifer Lynn Barnes talks about writing a series while thinking about what will inspire fandom.
5 Ways To Drop Book Recommendations Into A Conversation—there are strategies for this? Huh. I just open my mouth and it happens.
The thing about ‘must read’ lists
10 (Not So) Easy Steps to Cure A Book Hangover—I think this is my favorite of the Book Hangover posts I’ve linked to over the years.
5 Tried and Tested Ways to Get Yourself Out of A Reading Slump!
5 Fantasy or Science Fiction Books With a Character Named Bob—I’m sure there’s a reason for this post and probably a good story to go with it. But I (almost) don’t want to know it, I really like the apparent randomness of the topic.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Be the Serpent by Seanan McGuire—The last book in the series was all about joy. Now it’s time for the reader to pay for that. Personal/work life has prevented me from finishing it this week—and I both resent it and am a little glad, I think it’s going to rip my heart out (okay…it broke my heart before page 60, I think it’s going to get worse).
Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston—The sequel to Amari and the Night Brothers. No need to know more than that, is there?
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes—The third book in the Inheritance Games trilogy promises several reveals, a conclusion or two, and an interesting puzzle or two along the way.
The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith—this sixth installment in the series is longer than complete trilogies I’ve read. Cormoran and Robin are on the hunt for the killer of someone whose life parallels a certain children’s author. I honestly don’t know when I’ll muster the endurance to get through this thing. But I am curious.

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

I’ve got a hort list this week—it must be near the end of the month.

I’ve had three nights this week where I’ve shrugged off my plans (including writing) and just read—it hurt the blogging, but it was good for the reader. Hopefully, I get back on track next week.

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:
Game of Thrones effect fires up reissues of ‘lost’ fantasy fiction classics: With big-budget TV series about to hit streaming services, publishers hope a string of cult novels will find a new audience
The Organization of Your Bookshelves Tells Its Own Story
How to read the longest classic books—Strategies/tips for tackling those big, intimidating classics
Almost Two Centuries of Impossible Crimes: Locked Rooms in Detective Fiction—Another good piece from CrimeReads on Locked-Room Mysteries
Finally, we have a Confess, Fletch Trailer—I’m mildly apprehensive, but I’m in.
The 50 Best Fictional Dragons, Ranked: Thousands of Years of Dragon Lore, from the Rig Veda to Beowulf to the Hobbit—As with every list like this, there are omissions, odd inclusions, and dubious ranking. Still a good list.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Hell of a Mess by Nick Kolakowski—The fourth Love & Bullets installment—and this time, it’s full novel. This heist-in-a-hurricane is a wild ride, and nothing but fun. As I said (less succinctly) recently.
Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs—Wulfe is missing, and for some reason, Mercy has to find him rather than celebrate his disappearance.
The Marauders, the Daughter, and the Dragon by K.R.R. Lockhaven—A sweet and humorous Fantasy about Pirates (who aren’t really Pirates), a Father and Daughter relationship on the rocks, a dragon, and what happens when you throw all of them in the way of a power-hungry politician. (I should have a link to a full post from me on it, but I haven’t finished it yet)

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

There are a lot of good book recommendations in the posts/articles/essays below, but none are hot off the presses this week. This likely means I missed a few things, feel free to enlighten me.

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:
‘Books bring us into being’: how writing about reading became an inspiring literary genre of its own—A nice little piece on bibliomemoirs
Interview with Author Wesley Chu—Beth Tabler talks to Wesley Chu about his new book and a few other things. Not that anyone asked, but I’m 150 pages or so into the new one and it’s likely ending up in my top 5 for the year…
What’s Your Process?—I was pointed to this chat with various authors about their process because of the Reed Farrel Coleman segment (which was great), but the whole thing is fascinating. I love reading these kind of things.
What’s In a Name? For crime fiction writers, few questions are more important.—a piece on naming characters two weeks in a row? Apparently.
Five Essential Lad Lit Novels—If I’d compiled a list with that title, it’d look eerily similar to this one (I’d probably have used a different Tropper novel). Been too long since I’ve re-read these…
The 50 Greatest Fictional Deaths of All Time—This list from Slate does involve several non-bookish deaths, but there’s enough literary content here that I don’t feel like it’s cheating to include it.
Sometimes, Only the Most Heart-Crushing Book Will Do
Why I Love To Read… Middle Grade
Do you really have to pay for books?—It’s beyond tragic that this is a question that has to be answered (and that so many disagree)
Why Men Avoid Fantasy Books By Women: Personal Thoughts and Theories—this is a thing I’ve never understood, but maybe I’m closer to it now Peat’s got some good things to say about it.
Alternatives to Goodreads: BookSloth—another good look at a Goodreads alternative
Where do you review?—wowzers…this is an impressive list. I feel tired just thinking of the labor involved.

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:
Where Are Mass Market Paperbacks Headed?
The Fine Art of Naming Characters in Crime Fiction
Anne Rice and the making of a modern vampire
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.
NetGalley’s blog, We Are Bookish, had a couple of handy posts this week:
NetGalley’s Guide to Who to Tag in Book Reviews
Tips for Battling Reviewer Writer’s Block
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.
Different Ways To Categorise Fantasy—another helpful post from Peat Long
Reading & Book Collecting
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)
How Reviewing Changed the Way I Read?

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
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:
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
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.
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.

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:
How to fall back in love with reading. Even when your brain feels like mush.
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.
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.
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.
More Author Influences: Founders of Urban Fantasy—Peat Long looks at the roots of Urban Fantasy
Critical Reading as a Book Blogger & How It’s Fun
On Writing Negative Book Reviews—the conclusion is the kicker here. I’ve found similar things.
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.
Why I Think Reading and Blogging Slumps Can Be Beneficial
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:
The Thriller Zone Episode 81: Fabian Nicieza, author of The Self-Made Widow—this was a fun interview
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:
The Suitcase Clone by Robin Sloan—a Sourdough prequel novella that ties it into the Penumbra universe? Sure, why not?
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.”
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.
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.