Tag: Saturday Miscellany Page 34 of 64

I had huge plans for this week—and accomplished absolutely none of them. Of the 3 posts that went up this week, 2 of them were written last week! I really don’t know what happened. I do know that I’m the only one who thinks about it, but…it bugs me. Hope you fared better this week.

I have nothing whatsoever planned for next week. Let’s see what happens…

Enough of that, on with the stuff you came here to see:

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
           Inside the Book Industry’s Battle to Stay Afloat During the COVID-19 Crisis
           The Great Big Book Club—a new site set up for bookish folks in the lockdown, featuring interviews, live-streams, reviews and more
           Science fiction builds mental resiliency in young readers—a bit too focused on reading for moral/educational benefit, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
           The Different Types of Book Formats Explained—nice to see it layed out like this.
           The Most Iconic Detective Sidekicks, Ranked: 45 of the greatest detective-adjacent crime-solvers in history.—I really enjoyed this list—I’d quibble with it a bit (as you’re supposed to with lists like this), for example Natalie Teeger should be there instead of Sharona Fleming. Bonus points for including Mozzie and Mac. Regardless, a near perfect Top 5 (indisputable top 2)
           20 Books of Summer—I saw a few people do this last year (and maybe the one before), and told myself I had to play along. But first I have to come to grips with the idea that June is right over the horizon (how is that possible?)
           The Great Fantasy Debate: What is the Best Fantasy World for Vacation? with authors Pierce Brown and Jim Butcher—I liked the first one enough to make sure I tuned in for #2
           The Benefits of Reading—I always appreciate it when Lashaan decides to goof around.
           Book Characters I’d Love to Spend Isolation With… And Ones I Wouldn’t!—ditto for The Orangutan Librarian
           Never judge a book by its cover?! – Part Two: The Truth—Bookends and Bagends continues this series.
           How to write book reviews, my reviewing process—always good to read someone else’s process (her new rating system intrigues me)
           Book Slumps—two posts about Slumps in two weeks, not an auspicious trend.

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Murder by Death, EmilyJane1995, Tea With Stevie (which I first misread as “Tea with Stevia” and thought “ew”), Christine, Katie @ Melting Pages and pen2m3 for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

I actually left the house this week, for a whole 20 minutes. Thankfully, I do remember how to drive. You all doing okay?

I didn’t see anything about supporting Indie Bookstores this week—the first time since the COVID-19 shutdowns began. So…no article/blogpost/etc this week just me urging you to support your local (or someone’s local—I’m partial to Rediscovered Books) Indie Bookstore. Use: IndieBound.org, Bookshop.org, or Libro.fm (for Audiobooks) to help you find one or order online.

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
Lockdown diaries: the indie publisher—Orenda Books’s Karen Sullivan talks about her COVID-19 experience, and looks at how it’s affecting the publishing world (particularly the independent publishing world).
Small presses fear being ‘wiped out’ by autumn—This focuses on UK & Irish presses, but am willing to bet that things look similar in the US.
The world turns on stories…—It’s an Indie Book Blog talks about how great Indie Presses are, how much trouble they’re in and calls for us to keep buying from them (directly, when possible). I should take the time to write things like this, I know. But I’ll just point you to this one instead.
DEAD GIRL BLUES-How My New Novel Came About and Why I’m Publishing It Myself—the famed, inestimable, and prolific Lawrence Block talks about the process of writing his upcoming novel and why he chose to self-publish it.
Book Pirates Don’t Think They’re Stealing: In the pandemic age, a fight about e-books tests the limits of free information—…and they’re wrong. It’s clear-cut and indefensible, in my not at all humble opinion.
My First Thriller: Michael Connelly—”How the creator of Harry Bosch discovered Chandler, forged a career, overcame rejection, and got his first book published”
The Great Fantasy Debate Video Series Tackles Fantasy’s Greatest “What Ifs?”—This looks like it could be a brilliant series.
Bosch covers re-imagined—Graphic Designer Rusell Walks merges Titus Welliver with Bosch’s love for jazz to come up with new covers for all the novels. Love this.
Five fantasy series that are great for beginners —for Wyrd and Wonder, Mug Full of Books provides this handy guide.
Women in Fantasy: the good, the bad, and the hardcore—Witty and Sarcastic Book Club kicks off their Wyrd and Wonder month with this.
The Standard Post About Reading Slumps—a few thoughts on the dreaded Reading Slump from The Fantasy Inn’s Kopratic
Never judge a book by its cover?! – Part One: Musings—Bookends and Bagends kicks off a series focusing book covers
ARC Overload?! – My Ity Opinion—something I battle with all-too-frequently (and keep opening myself to)

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Why Don’t Sheep Shrink? by M. W. Craven—a Poe & Tilly short story exclusively on The Crime Vault.

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome toSakari Lacross, The Apocalypse Daddy, and Stine Writing for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

Hey, it’s Saturday. Which looks a lot like every other day lately, but I’m sitting at a different computer than I was yesterday at this time. And I’m not typing nearly as quickly. How’re you all doing?

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
           Independent Bookstores Get Creative to Survive the Long Lockdown: A business that relied on walk-ins and impulse buys has to find new ways to connect with customers.
           Coronavirus: Library books rearranged in size order by cleaner—The strangest COVID-19 symptom yet. (Hat Tip: Mike Finn)
           Fiction, fact and crows: How I wrote a zombie pandemic heist novel—Russell Day talks about the writing of his new novel, King of the Crows, and its strange publication context.
           One Man Audiobook Drops in a Few Weeks—Harry Connolly comes to audio! One Man soon, and the Twenty Palaces novels soon after. Hopefully this helps a lot more people discover the work (and helps me decide how to use Libro.fm credits for the next few months)
           SFF World Tour—Spells and Spaceships launched a series this week promoting “Science Fiction and Fantasy inspired by, set in and written by authors from every continent.” Cool series.
           Welcome to Wyrd and Wonder—a month-long celebration of Fantasy fiction kicked off yesterday. I’d hoped to come up with a few things to contribute, but…Reality has set in and that’s just not going to happen. Check out this great-looking set of posts instead.
           Why Read Fiction? 4 Common Reasons (and a New Rating System)—Blacksail Books wades into the choppy waters around rating/evaluating books with an interesting angle.
           Does My Mood Affect My Ratings?—Obviously, the answer is a yes—but how many of us take the time to reflect on it?
           How to Listen to Audiobooks!—a handy guide to diving into the medium (something I could’ve used a few years ago, turns out that I stumbled my way into a lot of these ideas on my own, would’ve been nice to avoid the stumbling though.)
           Pacing: What’s Good, Bad, and in Between—I didn’t mean to grab 2 Blacksail posts in one list, but I had to share this one, too. Good thoughts on pacing—and citing Sepinwall on Breaking Bad‘s “Fly” is a nice bit of icing on the cake.

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
           King Of The Crows by Russell Day—I’m only 1/4 through with this, but I’m already stressing about how I’m going to possibly talk about it (thankfully, I’m not alone). But the essence will be: BUY THIS NOW. Don’t care how long your TBR is, make it your next read…click the link there, read the Day piece above. I’m really excited about this thing, and will probably talk about it a lot this year.
           Critical Point by S. L. Huang—Cas Russell deals with the fallout from Null Set‘s revelations and tries to save a friend. This should be a blast.
           Of Honey and Wildfires by Sarah Chorn—a fantasy set in a Wild West-esque world, about family, love, loss and a magic that’s mined. I talked about it a bit earlier this week.
           Firefly – The Ghost Machine by James Lovegrove—hard to believe, but a run for Badger goes very, very wrong. River plays a significant role in this one, so it has to be good.

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome tojyvurentropy and Om Prakash Khare for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

Really don’t have any prologue material today…just hope you’re all staying healthy. Let’s just dive in:

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
           Idaho’s Independent Bookstores and the COVID-19 Crisis—Idaho Public TV talks with the owners of three Indie Bookstores (two of which make my personal Top 3 Bookstore list–the third would, too, because of the name alone, if I’d ever been there) about the current mess
           Read 300 books in a year: The surprising benefits of reading more: According to studies, reading is a healthy way to help combat feelings of isolation and depression.
           Escape Into These Fantastical, Imaginary Maps: When the real world feels unbearable, why not chart a course through lands that are literally unreal?
           5 Mistakes That Will Doom Any Self-Published Book—Paul “Goat” Allen speaks for many readers here. I’ve had a post percolating about mistake one for a couple of months (but I keep coming across as too harsh, so I haven’t posted yet), the rest are spot-on, too.
           How to Break Out of a Reading Slump—some handy tips—a good time for this kind of post, it seems many are in a pandemic-induced slump. Don’t know if this’ll fix it, but it can’t hurt.
           What is With All of the Self-Help Books With Swear Words in the Title?—right?
           FAKE TRUTH: Five Questions with Lee Goldberg
           Is Harry Bosch the Last Great American TV Detective?—a good look at both the print and screen versions of Bosch (and I hope the answer to the question is no)
           Rex Stout: Meet the Legendary Mystery Author Who Created Nero Wolfe: His larger-than-life sleuth left an indelible legacy on crime fiction.—I’m always game to post a link to a profile about Stout or Wolfe (always), the publication of The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe this week gives me another opportunity to do so.
           Speaking of which, COVID-19 forced The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe Launch Party to go online. Which means I could “attend”
           Those Classic Detective Series You’ve Always Been Meaning To Read, Anyway—I would’ve linked to this without the Wolfe mention, but…
           20 Must-Read Feel-Good Science Fiction Books
           The importance of pace in thrillers—This is something we all instinctively know (I believe), but it’s nice to see someone take the time to think it through
           What is Your Bookworm Dystopia Like?—Loved this post
           How I Turned Into An Audiobook Listener—point 2 is vital for someone trying to get into Audiobooks.
           How was the book? – Describing the Reading Experience: 8 criteria of the Reading Experience—fantastic post
           The Orangutan Librarian hits us with two good posts about DNFing this week: Why do I struggle to DNF? (I’d co-sign this post) and Books I Successfully DNF’d!
           Reader Confessions: 10 Ways I’m A Bad Reader—was a lot of fun

Episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
           Episode Ninety Eight – Can You Fit a Pinball Machine in the Oxford Bar? – with Ian Rankin—a fun chat with the legend, that includes a tidbit about the upcoming Rebus novel.
           Sbooks podcast It’s A Fair Cop, Guv.—talks to Neil Lancaster about his time with the Metropolitan police and turning to Crime Fiction

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
           The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe: Parodies and Pastiches Featuring the Great Detective of West 35th Street edited by Josh Pachter—a great looking collection celebrating Wolfe—I’ve dipped my toe in and am enjoying it a lot

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Quinn Patrick Fernandez, Neriman K., Not Quite Home, Caroline Paquin and SarahSansom for following the blog (in one form or another) this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

Everyone hanging in there? Hope you’re all safe and relatively healthy. I don’t have anything really to say, so I’ll just dive into the links.

You’ll note below that somehow I listened to a lot of podcasts this week, despite not driving anywhere. The one I’ve spent the most time listening to over the last two weeks isn’t listed below, but you’ll be seeing something a little different from me about that soon. (I’m working on my teases, did that one work?)

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
           How You Can Support Your Local Bookstores Right Now—Simon & Schuster brings us this week’s version of the list.
           The Truth About Escapism—Black Sail Books talks about the value of escapism in a world increasingly focused on productivity.
           Ann Patchett on Why We Need Life-Changing Books Right Now—It might not sound like it, but it’s an excellent follow-up to the above (also, I heartily concur with Patchett’s take on the author in question)
           Say ‘I Do’ to Doorstopper Novels: Trust us, they’re worth the commitment.—I’m prudish enough to prefer a different opening, but eh…I get the point.
           Don Winslow: My First Experience With Hollywood Math—not really that related to books, but it’s a fun little story spun by Winslow
           Red Herrings in Contemporary Crime Literature: Celebrating the 21st century masters of misdirection.
           6 Completed Sci Fi Fantasy Series You Probably Haven’t Binged Yet
           Feel-Good Fiction: Books to Read in Difficult Times—A nice list for our current circumstance from the Witty and Sarcastic Book Club.
           Book Blogging is Bullsh*t
           Full circle—Don’t tell the other bloggers/essayists/etc., but this piece on the circle of appreciation between reader and writer is probably my favorite of the week.
           Book Reviewing, Is There a Happy Medium for Readers, Writers, & Bloggers—Mz Brooklyn Jay talked to writers, readers and bloggers for material to this piece. I really liked it.
           The ‘DNF’—an excellent post on this perennial topic

Episode (or more) you might want to give a listen to:
           To help publicize the release of Fake Truth this week, Lee Goldberg appeared on two podcasts (yes, there’s some overlap in his answers, but not that much). Meet the Thriller Author 94 and Author Stories Podcast Episode 849 (I’ve toyed with writing a post about that travesty Netflix recently released called Spenser: Confidential, no need. Goldberg’s take on it here said everything I’d want to say).
           Author’s on a Podcast Talking Books Ep. 35 – Nicholas Eames was plenty of fun.
           Two Crime Writers And A Microphone have been on fire since they’ve returned this year, Episode Ninety Six – Two Rolls Gets You A Squirrel – with Adrian McKinty was just brilliant, I laughed so much at this one.
           Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald—this new podcast with Braff and Faison revisiting each Scrubs episode has nothing to do with books but is so much fun that I’m sharing it anyway.

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
           King of Crows by Russell Day—isn’t actually going to be released until next month, but the date was announced this week (Fahrenheit almost never gives any book this much advance warning, which I was I’m struggling to read their stuff when it’s new). But take a look at the link and order it now, Day’s one of the best authors I’ve read in the last couple of years and this epic (“Ocean’s Eleven meets 28 Days Later”) is only going to make me keep calling him that.
           Broken by Don Winslow—Six novellas from the master. The early buzz on this collection is loud.
           Fake Truth by Lee Goldberg—Ian Ludlow is back in trouble, this time stumbling over a Russian fake news plot.
           A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones—Funny and exciting. This novel about a single mom and small-town sheriff is so much fun. I gushed about it here.

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome toMayank Sharma, youngcreativepress, Oaks CastleCollections and the reading chemist for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

Update: Naturally, I opened up my Kindle and found something that downloaded yesterday (I’d ordered it so many months ago, that I’d forgotten it was coming), so updated the New Release bit.
—
Yesterday, I talked about being wiped out lately, and I set out to prove it apparently. I’m not sure what time I fell asleep last night, but it was a few hours earlier than I expected. Anyway, I woke up about 3 am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I figured I’d read for a couple of minutes and drift off. I ended up reading for about 90 minutes, finishing a great read. I don’t remember the last time I did that–no interruptions (welcome or otherwise), no taking a quick peek at some social media, no anything. Just me and a book. It was so nice. Probably did more for my psyche than anything else in the last couple of weeks. Hope you’re able to find something like that yourself.

Also, while compiling this post, I’ve been listening to Joe Pug’s second concert from his Social Distancing Tour. I’m wagering that most of you haven’t heard of Pug before, take this opportunity to address that lacuna (loved the whole thing, but my favorite song from this group is around the hour and 10-minute mark although I almost revised that with the next song).

Enough of that, on with the post:

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
           Bookstores Can Be Saved—Dave Eggers provides the rare serious McSweeney’s post
           Get Shorty at 30: Dennis Lehane on Elmore Leonard’s Hollywood satire—Doesn’t get much better than Lehane, unless it’s Leonard. The former writing about Leonard, much less about Get Shorty? I could end this post right here and be satisfied.
           The best $193 I ever spent: A mountain of detective fiction when my wife was pregnant—although this is almost just as good
           Crime writer Don Winslow leaves Trump behind, mostly, for the California cool of novella collection Broken
           New Ways to Organize Your Bookshelves
           100 Fairy Books That You Should Read Before You Die
           Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors Share Their 2020 TBRs—some good looking stuff here
           Reading comprehension, reviews, and jerks—I stumbled onto this again this week, still fun (but man, so glad I don’t have to read people saying things like this about my work)
           Take this (weirdly precise!) quiz to find out which fictional character’s personality matches yours.—a fun little time-killer
           Bearded by J. Billups Book Report—a very cool video version of Billups’ Bearded (and, yes, I’m envious of the beard).
           How I Became A Book Blogger—who doesn’t enjoy a good origin story?
           What Makes a Book Blog Readable?

Episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
           Blood BrothersEpisode 2 Featuring Noelle Holten—a few crime authors being very silly (and some good book talk, too). The first episode is worth your time, too.

that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
           Curse the Day by Judith O’Reilly—the first, Michael North thriller, Killing State just rocked, can’t wait to find time to read this one. A conspiracy thriller featuring an AI and a great former-assassin protagonist.

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome tosandomina, LDW, and just_tommye for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

I had high hopes for output this week, but didn’t get to them all. Nor did I get to surf around as much as I’d expected. C’est la vie—but I got extra sleep this week (that I apparently needed, about a bonus night’s worth). Still, we’ve got some good odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• Whatever next? How plot grips us, from Dickens to Line of Duty—Yes, this is geared toward TV, but what it says about plot should appeal to readers.
• Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings?: Literature’s evolution has reflected and spurred the growing complexity of society.—Not a question I ever had, but it’s an interesting piece.
• When My Mom Gave Me a Library Card—This is just great
• Have we Murdered the Apostrophe?—BBC.com asks this provocative question. Some of this piece is annoying (not everything in the world is about class and power, folks)—but mostly this appeals to my inner language geek.
• How to Get Started with Comic Books and Graphic Novels—I wouldn’t have picked everything on this list (even among those I’ve read), but it’s great TBR fodder. And, frankly, given the Comics/Graphic Novels I talk about here, who’d ask me for such a list? Stick with the folks who know what they’re talking about (many are listed at that link)
• When the Detective Is Also a Protective Parent—When family life becomes a plot complication for the protagonist. Great angle to look at things from.
• 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Audiobooks (maybe 2 or 3 things, really, but that’s beside the point)
• Behind the Scenes at a Library Book Sale
• Do you think too much about your reviews?—Well, yeah. Good advice that I probably won’t take.
• Book Lovers Share Their Absolute Favorite Opening Lines—Some personal favorites on this list from GeorgeTakei.com

A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen to:
• Author Stories Podcast Episode 801 | Eoin Colfer Interview—this was a fun one (that might have influenced my post about Colfer’s new book a bit, but I think I’d have made the same points without it.)

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• False Value by Ben Aaronovitch—I’m about 1/3 of the way into the new Rivers of London novel and it’s a doozy! Good jumping on point for those wanting to check out this series.
• Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire—the latest InCryptid novel is 1. the thickest so far, 2. features Sarah (who we haven’t seen enough of for…years, I guess), making it 3. a sure-fire win.
• The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold—” A former soldier turned PI tries to help the fantasy creatures whose lives he ruined in a world that’s lost its magic.” ‘Nuff said. (for me, anway, if you want a bit more, check out this post from The Witty & Sarcastic Book Club)
• Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore—a young woman starts experiencing her life at random ages.
• Finna by Nino Cipri—a couple of minium-wage employees on an adventure across the multi-verse.
• Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold—a promising looking modern Red Riding Hood retelling.
• For many not in the US Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh came out this week. But because I’m envious of them, I’m not going to provide a link to it. It’s a childish and useless gesture, I realize. But if I have to wait a year+ for this book, they’ll have to wait that long to get a link from me.