Tag: Saturday Miscellany Page 53 of 62

Getting a little more adjusted to the new schedule (but not so much that I’ve been able to watch a single episode of Bosch Season 2), I’ve got 3 posts ready for next week — and 2 more about there. We’re getting close to restoring normalcy here.

Meanwhile, here are the odds ‘n ends from over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

• The latest news on ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ shows how big corporations control copyright law — this gives me a headache . . .
• Winslow to Co-Author First Novel from Michael Mann Books — Huh. That seems like a pretty good match. Also a good reminder that I was going to read a lot more Winslow this year than I have so far.
• Against the “Serious Reader” — As an Irresponsible Reader, I have to agree with this BookRiot post. “I would like to set fire to the term “serious reader” and throw its ashes into the sea. That is my thesis here. Into. The. Sea.”
• Harry Potter’s female readers now driving the boom in ‘grip lit’ — I’d never heard of “Grip Lit” until this article — not sure I’m crazy about it, but whatever. Glad to see that the Potter boom is still having an impact.
• Lloyd Alexander’s Utterly Brilliant Prydain Books Are Getting a Second Chance as Movies — I’m somewhere between excited and apprehensive by this idea. Can we keep Peter Jackson and everyone associated with the Narnia films far away from these?
• The news got this updated (and got me to see it): The Chronicles of Prydain, which just got bought by Disney, is the greatest fantasy series ever written. I’d add an “Amen” to almost every word.
• The Fascinating Origin Stories of 7 Famous Novels — a couple of these I knew…a couple I didn’t.
• Genrenauts update — Michael R. Underwood gives some vital updates on one of my favorite new series — including word of an upcoming Kickstarter campaign. Time for me to save my pennies.
• O&F Podcast, Ep. 115: Michael Underwood — IR fave Michael R. Underwood on IR fave The Once and Future Podcast. Hard to ask for more.
• 9 Things about Mercy Thompson
• Elementary US Broadcast Approaching! — Paul Cornell — novelist, comic book writer, TV writer, podcaster — another IR fave — wrote the next episode of Elementary. Should be interesting.
• A History of the Tea-Creating Machine in Fact and Fiction — The B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy blog has this vital story (wish I’d thought of it)

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• The Watcher in the Wall by Owen Laukkanen — Stevens. Windermere. Nuff said.
• An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel — “A darkly comic urban fantasy of ancient horrors in suburban cities.” works for me.Read a few promising reviews, too.
• Snakewood by Adrian Selby — a fantasy novel I’ll fall head-over-heels for or hate. Pretty sure it’s not a “find a middle ground” kind of book.

Lastly, I’d like to say thanks for the audiobook suggestions (via email, Facebook, here, or BookLIkes), I’m enjoying the suggestions — keep ’em coming!

I didn’t think this new job would have quite as big of an impact on the blog as it has. Next week should be better.

Still, I was able to track down a few 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:

• Yes, You Can Still Teach Kids To Love Books — this is encouraging.
• New Navigation Bar on Goodreads — I’m sure you’ve all seen this — which of you isn’t on Goodreads? (serious question, if any of you aren’t — leave a comment, tell me why)
• How Following Authors on Twitter Enhances My Reading.
• Spencer Quinn interview – Woof — a quick interview with the author of Woof and the Chet and Bernie books.
• The 23 Things We Think Upon Entering a Bookstore — B&N Reads put this out, but I think it applies to non-B&N stores, too.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs — no clue what it’s about, honestly. Who cares? New Mercy Thompson, ’nuff said.
• Stop the Presses! by Robert Goldsborough — The only reason I haven’t read the last one yet is because the library didn’t get a copy, hopefully they get this one, so I can read it and hate myself.
• The Stone Bearer by Jacque Stevens — a great looking fantasy — on sale for the next few days!

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to the Defined Introvert (overdue, actually) and mpatraiko for following the blog this week.

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:

• Ebook pricing Storify and the Cult of the Debut — Michael Underwood gives some thoughtful perspective on a couple of stories I’ve mentioned lately and some related topics. Interesting food for thought for those interested in the business end of publishing.
• B&N to Close Nook UK Store on 15 March — Not great news for Nook fans — Harry Connolly has a bit of sage advice for the affected users.
• Why Barnes & Noble Isn’t Going Away Yet — The NY Times has some reassuring words on B&N.
• Kids’ Books Have Gotten Longer Thanks to the ‘Harry Potter Effect’ — ” recent survey of books aimed at kids in grades three through eight found that the average page length has increased by 115 percent in the last 10 years.”
• How Not to Worry About Teenagers Reading
• Let This Hidden Manifesto Inspire You to Read More — It’s an older piece, but I saw it this week and wanted to share.
• The Power of Pleasure Reading
• 20 Magical Fairy Tale Retellings for Adult Readers
• Interview with Pierce Brown — from Sci-Fi Bulletin, a great interview.
• Kim Harrison’s newsletter had some great tidbits, most (all?) of which are here, including a cover for the mass market of The Drafter (which I think is probably a better fit for the material), and news about a novella that will bring Peri Reed into contact with Rachel Morgan??
• Michael Connelly and Season Two of “Bosch” — Nice little interview. Been rewatching Season One just to prime my pump. Can’t wait.
• Chapter 1 of the new Alex Verus, Burned, is up. Honestly, I’m not one for reading samples like that — just drives me crazy not being able to turn the page. But glad to see that the release date is nigh.
• 16 Hilarious Signs That Prove Libraries Are the Greatest — these really made me chortle.
• 16 Reasons To Be Proud Of Being A Book Hoarder — same for these

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• The Passenger by Lisa Lutz — I’m hearing good things about this, and the description sold me even without hearing anything. I just messed up and got my dates wrong, so I didn’t have this ordered. Hoping to get my hands on this soon.
• Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire
• Borderline by Mishell Baker — A little bit of Genrenauts, a little bit of Fringe, a little…I don’t know what. Just go read the description I linked. If nothing else, the Seanan McGuire blurb at the bottom of this page should be enough to convince you if you’re on the fence.
• East Of The City by Grant Sutherland — I’ve been wanting to get to the previous novel for a couple of months, if Fahrenheit Press would just slow down a minute so I can catch up, that’d really help.
• Who Wants To Be The Prince Of Darkness? by Michael Boatman — a reality show to find Lucifer’s replacement? Should be good for a laugh or three.
• The Courier by Gerald Brandt — a little SF, a little thriller . . . looks like a lot of fun.
• Arkwright by Allen Steele — this looks like the most realistic SF novel since . . . Clarke or Crichton, maybe?

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Fernando Ortiz, Jr. and ebookbump for following the blog this week.

If you haven’t had time to weigh-in on Wednesday’s post about books that left you a wreck , take a second and do so, would you? I’m enjoying what you all have come up with.

I was on the road last week when I got the news about Harper Lee’s death, so I couldn’t add anything to the scheduled post for Saturday. But it’s no secret that I loved her stuff, and the news saddened me. Sure, we all knew that we weren’t going to get anything new from her, and that she was in declining health. But, to hear that she’s gone, just seems wrong. I tried to come up with something on my own, but my words were inadequate. Here’s a small sample of the tributes that were worth reading and resonated most with me:

• Bye, Boo: My Love to Harper Lee.
• Harper Lee was my David Bowie: How ‘Mockingbird’ changed one writer’s life.
• Courage and Mourning the Loss of Harper Lee.

Now for the 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:

• Douglas Adams’ mother did this week
• Check out the Kickstarter for Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling Anthology — some of my faves are in here — and, overall, the tropes in question should prove pretty interesting to see inverted.
• 7 Great Stories About Stories — Michael Underwood, promoting the new Genrenauts novella, has a great list.
• New Novel Announcement: Bannerless — Finally, we start learning what Carrie Vaughn will do post-Kitty Norville
• How Books Influence Authors — Some clever things to think about here.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• The Absconded Ambassador by Michael R. Underwood — the 2^nd Genrenauts novel. I dug it and I think you will, too.
• Out of the Blues by Trudy Nan Boyce — An Atlanta Police Dept. vet turns mystery author. This will bleed authenticity. Looks like a good novel, too.
• The Drowned Detective by Neil Jordan — this detective novel looks as thoughtful and moving as one of one of his movies.
• The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury — an intriguing looking YA-take on Aladdin.
• Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky — The title’s enough, right? When being a Super-fan goes awry.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Bibliophage and greenlanddiary for following the blog this week.

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:

• Bookstore Sales Had First Gain in Eight Years in 2015 — Yahoo!
• 5 Reasons to Start a Family Book Club (and 10 Recommendations to Get You Started) — Should’ve thought of this already.
• Why Reading Comics Makes You Smarter — I used to love stuff like this when I was a young comic book geek — even if my father was never as impressed as he should’ve been. Still, thanks to Geek & Sundry for giving kids today more ammo.
• How Honest Should You Be When You Review Self-published Books? — BookRiot-er A.J. O’Connell asks a question I’ve been pondering the last couple of weeks as I’m reading a lot more self/indie-published books this year. Some very helpful comments.
• Announcing THE DAYS OF TAO by Wesley Chu — Subterranean Press is putting out a new Tao story, looking forward to that.
• Kevin Hearns has some sage words for writers (that readers might enjoy)
• 15 Books with More Characters than You Can Keep Track Of — a great infographic
• 7 Signals That It’s Time To Give Up On A Book — huh. Bustle having decent advice instead of a goofy list. Had to happen, eh?

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Switcheroo by Aaron J. Elkins — A trip to Britain’s Channel Islands with Dr. Oliver? Don’t mind if I do.
• Calamity by Brandon Sanderson — the final book in the Reckoners series. This should be great.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to JAH and raulconde001 for following the blog this week. Thanks to Brenton Dickieson for the interaction.

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:

• William Gibson: how I wrote Neuromancer
• The Truth: A Three-Star Review Is Not a Bad Review — I think I missed this when it was first published last year, and I know I did when they re-posted it in January. But for some reason, I saw it twice on my social media feeds this week — which is both good and bad, I was in the middle of writing my own version of this at the time and I stopped because this got into my head and mine would’ve subconsciously ripped bits off (or sounded like I had, even if I’d written them before I read it). But hey, I got to write/read other things, so yay!
• Terry Pratchett’s name lives on in ‘the clacks’ with hidden web code — As much as I wanted to be, was never a Pratchett guy, but this is cool.
• Placing Literature Maps Out Real Places You’ve Read About in Books — Warning: you could lose many hours here
• Crime Novelist ACE ATKINS Comes To Comic Books with NICK TRAVERS: LAST FAIR DEAL GONE DOWN — I read the first Travers book, and it was nice, but I wasn’t compelled to grab the next one, still, glad to see Atkins leaving his mark on the world — this looks like the kind of comic Travers belongs in.
• 10 Bookish Feelings We Need English Words For ASAP — Sharanya Sharma nails this one.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Morning Star by Pierce Brown — the trilogy comes to a conclusion — and something tells me there’s a lot of death, destruction, and twists along the way. I’m hearing very good things about this.
• Dead Is Better by Jo Perry — A ghost solving his own murder with a ghost dog by his side — okay, my paraphrase doesn’t sound nearly as good the description on Fahrenheit Press’ site, click the link and it’ll convince you.
• Atlanta Burns: The Hunt by Chuck Wendig — Atlanta Burns’ senior year looks like it’ll be tough and violent and twisted — basically, like the rest of her life.
• As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley — A new Flavia de Luce novel means I’m even further behind.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Fictionophile and Aidan Reid for following the blog this week. Thanks to S. C. Flynn and Jayme the Scribbler for the interaction (and the reblog!).

Because of a friend’s question, I did some checking — in addition to those who follow via RSS feed and Twitter, there are 282 of you subscribed to this thing in one form or another — that’s just mind-boggling. Obviously, all of you don’t read everything, but you’ve at least taken a moment at some point to read something here, and liked it enough to get more delivered to you. Thanks, thank you very much. Now — make some noise! What do you like, what am I doing right? I suppose, if you must, tell me what I’m doing wrong! What could I do more of — comments are open. There’s email, FB, Twitter options over to your right. But seriously, thanks for the views, the reads, for following, etc.

Anyway…the 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:

• What Makes Great Detective Fiction, According to T. S. Eliot — Because who hasn’t wondered what Eliot thought about Detective Fiction? Believe it or not, he has some really good thoughts about the genre as Paul Grimstad shows.
• 92 Percent of Students Prefer Paper Books Over E-Books: Survey — 92% seems high, but I’ll buy it.
• No You or Me: On Love, Death, and the Kindle — Jacob Lambert explores why some — at least he (but many will sympathize) — prefers paper.
• How to Tackle Your TBR Pile — some good advice from Bookish — not good enough to conquer my mountain, but it could start.
• Off the Grid … a new series — “reviews or recommendations of works that are getting very little online attention,” keeping an eye on this, should find some good stuff.
• Cover Reveal – There Will Always Be a Max — Michael Underwood announces a new Genrenauts short story, shows us the cover and gives me some movie homework in the process.
• Cover Reveal for Fran Wilde’s Cloudbound and Updraft — Not that there was anything wrong with the cover for Updraft in hardcover, but the TPB cover Gorgeous. Ditto for the sequel’s hardcover.
• The Bullet Catcher’s Author: An Interview with Rod Duncan — an interview with Rod Duncan on the eve of the release of the new Gas-Lit Empire book (see below). #11 is my favorite answer.
• Bringing Back Nero and Archie — as much as I enjoyed that last interview, this one ruined my digestion. Publisher’s Weekly talked to Robert Goldsborough, the man I can’t help but dislike, yet I keep reading.
• 13 Of The Most Glorious Made-Up Words From Literature
• The Book Marketing Landscape Infographic — A nice visual depicting the village it takes to make a best-seller.
• Bustle brings us: 14 Secret Habits Every Book-Lover Is Guilty Of Having

A Long List of New Releases for the Week that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Keep Calm by Mark Binder — a thriller recommended by Jonathan Tropper and Lee Child? How can I not? (yeah, Tropper recommending a thriller seems strange, but if you’ve watched Banshee you realize he knows whereof he speaks)
• The Custodian of Marvels by Rod Duncan — the conclusion of the Gas-Lit Empire series — can’t wait to see how he pulls this off.
• Blood in her Veins by Faith Hunter — shorter works about Jane Yellowrock and friends, from various points in the series. Read the Big Idea she wrote about this book and the dual voices in her protagonist.
• Graft by Matt Hill — this looks like a crime novel I’ve read before (or something very like it), but this one is set in 2025 and involves crimes we can’t even imagine yet. Creepy cover, too.
• The Alchemy of Chaos by Marshall Ryan Maresca — super-heroes in a traditional fantasy setting? I’m in — and apparently I have to read the first one from last year, too. He did a Big Idea this week, too.
• A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly — In 1926 and the 18th Amendment bans sorcery? Okay, sure — and just like you’d expect, it creates an underground of magic. Goofy enough to work.
• Harmony Black by Craig Schaefer — a FBI agent and witch working off-the-books occult case. Perfect.
• The Deavys by Alan Dean Foster — a strange YA fantasy with a premise too long for me to try to summarize, but looks like fun.

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Haidji and Marve Gandah for following the blog this week. Thanks to S. C. Flynn for the interaction.

(via Read it Forward)

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:

• Rediscovering the magic of reading books — this may not reflect your life, but if you’re here, odds are you can relate.
• Book-of-the-Month Club Reboots — huh. Who knew? Some of my fave reads came from forgetting to send in my “Do Not Send” postcard 20 years ago (and some that weren’t so great).
• Don’t feel guilty about buying used books — I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not sure if I can help but feel guilty.
• How Do You Like Your Science Fiction? Ten Authors Weigh In On ‘Hard’ vs. ‘Soft’ SF — Title says it all.
• Speaking of SF, Charlie Jane Anders tells us What It Means To Be a Science Fiction Writer in the Early 21st Century.
• 5 Questions in 5 Minutes with Kevin Hearne! — in honor of the release of Staked
• Even better — Hearne tweeted some great news and a better pic!
• RISE THE DARK, Coming August 16, 2016 — Michael Koryta announces the release of the second Markus Novak novel.
• A Crash Course in Bookish Acronyms — A handy resource from BookRiot
• 10 Weird Literary Phobias and Manias for Book-Lovers — I’m sure one or two words here apply to my readers (and hope there are some that don’t!)
• 14 Secret Habits Every Book-Lover Is Guilty Of Having — another fun Bustle list

There’s a Bumper Crop of This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Staked by Kevin Hearne — by the time this posts, I should be finished with this. So, so, so good!
• Broken Hero by Jonathan Wood — I’m so excited to see this series return — the first two books were great, can’t wait to get back to this world.
• All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders — This one looks great — Check out The Big Idea.
• Where it Hurts by Reed Farrel Coleman — The first Gus Murphy book, which I really enjoyed.
• The Murder Quadrille by Fidelis Morgan — A very strange looking crime novel, I’m seeing the words Hitchcock and slapstick a lot. Because why not?

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Edmond Sanganyado and natalieslovelyblog for following the blog this week. I forgot to welcome As the page turns.. to our little group last week – so a belated thanks and welcome there.

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:

• Neil Gaiman Reads A CHRISTMAS CAROL for Christmas — Patrick Stewart’s version holds a special place in my heart, but this just might supplant it. Neil bleepin’ Gaiman, folks.
• Harper Lee: my Christmas in New York — The Guardian reprints the classic story from everyone’s favorite (and our least favorite) story about Atticus Finch.
• Reading Is About the Lines That Leap Off the Pages — blah
• A Cosmic Find in The Screwtape Letters — This is a couple of months old, but I just stumbled onto it. This is just cool.
• Books vs. e-books: The science behind the best way to read
• The Man Behind The Martian — Reason.com’s interivew with Andy Weir, not your typical Weir-interview.

This Week’s New Releases That Caught my Eye:
• Bryant & May and the Burning Man by Christopher Fowler — It’s been years since I’ve read a Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery novel, but reading the description for this one makes me want to get back on the horse. Hmmm, need another 2016 project….

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to writtengems for following the booklikes version of blog this week.