Tag: Saturday Miscellany Page 54 of 62

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.

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:

• How Jane Austen’s Emma changed the face of fiction — this almost makes me want to give this novel another shot. Almost.
• Re-Introducing Harper Lee and the Real Atticus Finch
• Books are getting longer, confirms a new study — Wow. A 25% increase between 1999-2014?
• A Market-Defining Auction for Genre Fiction at Swann Galleries — as someone who will never have the cash for this kind of thing, this is not a story I would typically give a rip about. But…this particular auction featured an ARC for the second Nero Wolfe novel, The League of Frightened Men. Man, I wish I had that kind of dough…
• Why Writers Need Pen Names
• USAToday has an exclusive excerpt from new Rick Riordan — I’m cautiously optimistic about this series.
• A few more end-of-year lists:
  • The New York Times’ The Top Books of 2015
  • The 32 Best Fantasy Books Of 2015 — from BuzzFeed
  • Oline Cogdil’s Best mystery novels of 2015
  • Don Winslow Picks His 5 Favorite Books from 2015
  • Bill Gates lists the best books he’s read this year

Only stumbled across on New Release this week that caught my eye, should be a good one though,.
• The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley — One of the best satiric novelists around (maybe the best) brings a tale about a 16th century attempt to fake the Shroud of Turin. A slight departure from the rest of his work (which is primarily set in or around Washington, D. C.)

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Hooked on Books for following the blog this week. Thanks to Casey Owen for the comment and email — really appreciate it.

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:

• 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards Winners — I’ve never claimed to have the most mainstream taste, but I’m very underwhelmed by this year’s winners (I only voted for one winner).
• When Popular Fiction Isn’t Popular: Genre, Literary, and the Myths of Popularity — Because it’s been, what, a week? since I posted something on the genre-wars, Lincoln Michel on Electric Lit calls for more facts and stats and numbers to be used in the discussion. I’m not sure it’ll help, but it’s interesting.
• Baby Boomers Still the Spine of Independent Book Selling
• How Social Media Changed The Way We Read Books — I bet we see this kind of thing talked about more and more.
• What? I Can’t Hear You Over My Nerd-Rage! — Inspired by a recent episode of The Once and Future Podcast, Melanie R. Meadors puts (virtual) pen to paper to talk about Nerd-Rage. Pretty good stuff here, worth the read if only for Delilah S. Dawson’s perfect last line.
• Two interviews with authors of books I read and blogged about this week: The Most Revealing Thing I Can Say: An Interview With Mary-Louise Parker, Author of Dear Mr. You and Ethan Hawke: By the Book
• It’s that time of year, some Best of 2015 Lists:
  • The New York Times’ The 10 Best Books of 2015 — I’ve heard of a couple of these.
  • The Guardian’s The best fiction of 2015 — I did better with these lists, especially SF/F and Crime & Mystery.
  • BuzzFeed Books’ The 24 Best Fiction Books Of 2015
• The 17 Funniest Tweets About “Harry Potter” In 2015 — should give you a grin or two

Only one New Releases this week that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• The Revolution was Televised by Alan Sepinwall — an updated/revised version of one of my favorite books of recent years — written after the finale’s of Mad Men and Breaking Bad. If you like good TV drama, you’ll find something in this book that’ll resonate with you. Sepinwall’s reviews are lurking in the background of what I post here (not that anyone but me can tell), can’t wait to get my grubby little hands on this.

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:

• If you enjoyed a good book and you’re a woman, the critics think you’re wrong — Jennifer Weiner fires another volley at the literary establishment.
• At Long Last, Sci-Fi and Fantasy Have Infiltrated the Literary Mainstream — I’m not entirely convinced by this evidence, but hey…what do I know? Nice idea anyway.
• These Books Are Also Brazilian Subway Tickets — A couple of months ago there was something about books as water filters, now this? Books are so versatile! and I hear that many of them contain facts, opinions and stories! Snark aside, this is pretty cool.
• A Thank You to The Hunger Games Film Team — Suzanne Collins thanks the people behind the films, in the films and the fans as she prepares to “move on to other lands” than Panem.
• Speaking of which, BookBub has 12 New Series to Read Now That ‘The Hunger Games’ Is Officially Over.
• The True Story of Sergeant Goosby and His 19 Dogs — a profile of the man behind Crais’ Sgt. Leland from The Promise and Suspect.
• This week’s Infographic: Memorable Lights From Literature — from the Solar Centre. Nice list — which gets bonus points from me because Eilonwy’s “bauble” is featured — just not enough Chronicles of Prydain love out there in the world.

This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
• Luke Skywalker Can’t Read by Ryan Britt — A combination of geekery, humor and cultural commentary. I’m seriously stoked about this one, having heard Britt on a couple of episodes of The Once & Future Podcast — notably this one about the book.
• Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe — the brain behind xkcd has a new book, where using only the most common “ten-hundred” English words and line drawings, he explains complicated things like: food-heating radio boxes (microwaves); tall roads (bridges); the shared space house (the International Space Station), the pieces everything is made of (the periodic table), boxes that make clothes smell better (washers and dryers).
• Santa 365 by Spencer Quinn — a Chet & Bernie short, seemingly holiday related. If nothing else, should ally fears some fans had at the end of Scents and Sensibility

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Ana Spoke and affyyia 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:

• Why Are the Copyright Owners of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ Saying it Was Co-Authored? — huh, this is problematic on a number of levels.
• Literature vs genre is a battle where both sides lose — there’s some really good material here
• Along those lines… Everything is miscellaneous: why publishing needs tagging
• Don DeLillo received an honorary National Book Award this past week, and the bits of his speech I saw tweeted sounded great. Can’t post it, but here’s a great interview from the Paris Review: Don DeLillo, The Art of Fiction No. 135
• Orbit Books Will Publish An Astonishing 90 Books A Year Starting In 2016 — io9 nails it with “Astonishing”
• New looks for old books: Why classics are getting makeovers
• Fahrenheit Press go ‘Transmedia’ – another first — these guys just keep doing what you wouldn’t expect
• Of Beards and Books: An Interview with Patrick Rothfuss
• B&N’s The Best Science-Fiction & Fantasy of 2015 — Sigh…we’re at this point already in the year? Goodreads is about done with their voting, I’m starting to see these lists popping up. Anyway, some good TBR fodder here.
• My Complicated Relationship to the Dust Jacket — I’ve recently gone a few rounds with online friends about this. Where do you come down on this? I’m pro-dust jacket, and go out of my way to preserve them

This Week’s New Release I’m Excited About, hopefully the month ends stronger:
• The Shootout Solution by Michael R. Underwood — I blogged about this yesterday, a fun genre-mash up. Over at Tor.com, Underwood wrote about one of the bigger challenges of the book: The Stand-Up Hero: Third Time’s the Charm

Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to S. C. Flynnfor following the blog this week — and for tweeting a couple of posts. Thanks to sheialanipov for dropping by the comments section. Both of them have great looking sites that I’ve enjoyed browsing through — check them out.