How has your week been? What have you been reading? I spent most of the month of reading fantasy as an unofficial participant of Wyrd and Wonder, but for the last week, I needed a break so I started the Nameless series (of short stories), Dean Koontz. These are Amazon Original stories, and are available free on the platform.
one+ I pre-ordered You Like It Darker, Stephen King and it arrived this week. Then I saw Stephen King’s favorite recent reads and What I’ve Learned: Stephen King (via Esquire). Lately, I’ve been looking for interviews with some of my favorite authors, or learning more about authors of the books I’m reading and loving. That’s how I’ve found out about some of their other projects.
two+ Do you use a Kindle? Here’s 10 Kindle Tips To Enhance Your Reading Experience. I personally use the Kindle app on my phone to read eBooks, and my favorite feature is seeing what other people have highlighted in the book I’m reading.
three+ I’ve been seeing this bookish trend on #bookstagram – making a graphic of your IG name out of your favorite books.
four+ This A RAD Summer Reading Guide for 2024 is so creative and has so many recommendations. You’ll find book recommendations to match your favorite shows (10 of them! with 6 books each!), books to match your mood, vibe, or location and lots more!
five+ Inside Reese Witherspoon’s Literary Empire (NY Times). I rarely link to potential paywalled articles, but this was such an interesting read. “When her career hit a wall, the Oscar-winning actor built a ladder made of books – for herself, and for others.”
six+ The Goodreads Guide to Summer Reading was very comprehensive with quite a few lists including Goodreads Biggest New Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror Reads of Summer.
seven+ I know many people like fun, lighthearted books in the summer, but I’m preparing to have the best time with some horror and dark fiction this summer. If you’d like to experience a little of the darkness with me, try the recommendations on Softer Scares: Light Horror Books and 8 of the Best Haunted House Stories To Make You Shiver.
eight+ “It’s Out of Africa Meets Pretty Woman!” On the Problem With Comp Titles. Comparing the book you’re working on with other already successful titles is important in the publishing industry … But What if, instead of contorting new titles to fit into a box of previously published books that did well in some way, there was more space to grow and evolve? I personally never believe these comparisons and it makes no difference to me when looking at a book.
nine+ Off the books – What have you been watching lately? I watched the new movie Atlas on Netflix, starring Jennifer Lopez. I actually liked it as an action, thriller, but the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are mixed. Also, I just saw that The Most Popular Shows and Movies on Netflix are Adapted From Books, so I’m looking forward to watching more book-to-screen adaptations this summer.
ten+ In case you missed it, on the blog this week we posted #20BooksofSummer and #BigBookSummer 2024 – My Reading List. I didn’t see the NY Times Best Books of the 2024 So Far until after I had my summer reading list, but surprisingly – all the Fiction novels seem like books I’d like to read. Let’s see if I can get to them later in the year.
Cheers to the weekend and week ahead!
Watched – Re-watched Sherlock Holmes
Love the tips in How to Design Your Summer Reading List: A Guest Post by Gretchen Rubin. I am choosing to read mostly books in the genre I wanted to read more of this year – horror. I plan to read other genres though, to switch things up as well.
I recently started using NetGalley again to request “Advanced Reader Copies” of books (ARCs). I’m trying to practice restraint and not request too many, so I’ll be able to make the time to read everything I get approved for. If you want to (or do) use them, here are The Different Ways to Access Books on NetGalley.
The Wordy Habit Best Book Recommendations has a list with quite the variety of genres. I don’t think I could ever put together such a list – it would be miles long! Any books on the list you’ve read? I did love The Legend series, Marie Lu and Vera Wong’s
Immerse yourself in these 20 full cast recording audiobooks
The Different Ways to Access Books on NetGalley
Off the books, I loved this simple Mimosa Gift Basket Idea. I’m thinking it might make a nice hostess gift for when we have people staying over.
Evil Kids –
Villains The Damsel in the Mirror: Thrillers Where the Heroine Saves Herself
Killer Plots: Five Books Featuring Professional Assassins
4 Books In Which Children Are Accused – And Their Parents Wrestle with the Truth
7 Novels Featuring Ghost Children
Horror –
The Five Best Novels About Hauntings
8 of the Most Polarizing Horror Novels
8 Grim and Gruesome Medical Horror Books
Love to Hate Her: Novels About Destructive Women
8 Ghost Stories That Will Haunt You
It Takes Boo to Make Haunting Go Right: 8 Terrifying Horror Short Story Collections
watching
There is a TV series on Hulu based on the book Queenie, Candace Carty-Williams. The Limited edition series of the same name, Queenie, will come out on June 7th. I’m nervous fam! I hop it’s just as good as the book, but I’ll report back. In the meantime, I’ve bought the print version and I’m going to do a re-read.
Jun 26 – final episode of Dark Matter released – Books for Fans of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter
9 Books to Spark Your Creativity
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POC – 12 Mystery Novels Featuring Black, Indigenous, and POC Protagonists
7 Books About Black People Who Pass as White
SciFi September – – A.I. Chatbot, Will You Be My Friend? Seven Stories of Robot-Human Relationships
Five SFF Stories Featuring Experiments With Unexpected Outcomes
LitFic
7 Books From University Presses You Should Be Reading
8 of the Best Books About Intergenerational Friendships
SviFi – 10 Books That Shatter the Concept of Time
November – novellas – 8 Thrilling Novellas to Read in One Sitting
Feb – The literary romantic holiday that should replace Valentine’s Day
10 Works of Eco-Fiction Worth Celebrating – Apr. 22 – Earth Day
The instant I saw Hot Honey–Mustard Firecracker Hot Dogs, I knew this was going on our summer menu.
