This week I’ve been reading almost as much non-fiction as fiction. I’ve left out a bunch of short articles, because this is not a bibliography!
A reminder. The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions. I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading. Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.
Completed:
Witchy Winter by D.J. Butler. Very different from the first book in the series in that there are numerous plot threads and timelines. Good use of a wide variety of myth and folklore in an alternate historical setting.
Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon). Audiobook. I’ve read this novel, but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to it. The reader is adequate but apparently can’t settle on one pronunciation for some of the names. But he does Grace very well. And Tab.
Making Poor Man’s Guitars by Shane Speal. Non-fiction. A terrific and fun read, mostly focused on making cigar box guitars. Great anecdotes about various blues performers and their instruments. Also offers a look at the history of the one-string guitar.
In Progress:
Witchy Kingdom by D.J. Butler. So far, quite good. Definitely not a happily ever after book, but also not a downer. Adds a lot of complexity to this alternate version of (mostly) North America.
With Strings Attached by Jonathan Kellerman. Mystery/thriller author Jonathan Kellerman collects guitars. In this book, he brings his love of research and fluid prose style to a look at his collection. Also includes a few essays on luthiers of note. I’m quite enjoying.
Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire. Urban myths, highways, and the classic ghost story all get new life and strange validation through Seanan McGuire’s prose. This is more or less a short story collection, but the stories do interrelate. (And, yes, I do know there is a novel that comes next!)
Also:
Newest American Archeology. Early articles were quite good, but the later ones have been sloppily written and edited. (Ex. “ancestor” used when “descendant” was apparently meant. Someone should have caught that!) This sort of thing always makes me begin to question the rest of a non-fiction work’s content.
Jane Lindskold: Wednesday Wanderings 
March 22, 2024 at 9:42 am |
There are actually TWO novels after Sparrow Hill Road. I have not read them yet. (And I read that book when it was a series of 12 short stories, not a novel yet.) Rose Marshall (no relation to me) shows up in the InCryptid series, too. It’s the same universe.
COMPLETED:
I finished book 10 in Glen Cook’s “Garrett, P.I.” series and book 10, “Angry Lead Skies”, is a WTF? It’s like he said, “I want to write an X-Files book about the gray aliens” and his publisher said no, so he put the gray aliens into the high fantasy world. All the characters think they’re some kind of elf sorcerers from far away on the world. Major changes in direction and tone in this book as well. 4 more in the series. We’ll see.
CURRENTLY READING:
But for now, it’s over to Andrew Cartmel’s “Vinyl Detective” series book 7, “Noise Floor”, which just came out this week. I’m 3 chapters in. This one breaks pattern as well by NOT starting out at home with the narrator and his love and the cats. The music of interest in this novel is apparently going to be electronica.
I’m also re-reading Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich”, the 1937 self-help book that most of the rest of them stole from shamelessly. (For example, “The Secret” is actually just one piece of “TaGR”.) After two months of lounging around in retirement, which I desperately needed to decompress, I decided I’d better get some focus or else I might end up an anchorite in my home, never leaving, having food delivered, etc. (Which is great, but I need something to force me out the door once in a while.) “TaGR” should help me figure out what I want next. It has done so before.
March 23, 2024 at 8:46 am |
Oh! Well, I hope the The Girl in the Green Silk Gown is as fun as Sparrow Hill Road has been. Do you recall the third title? I like Rose.
I’d guessed this was all Incryptid Universe, which is okay with me. Seanan does good skilled eloquent writing so I don’t feel the frustration some linked universes give me.
Your reading list is fun. I read Think and Grow Rich, too, just for curiosity’s sake. It’s easy to see why it became seminal.
March 23, 2024 at 11:16 am
Book 3 is “Angel of the Overpass“
March 25, 2024 at 1:00 pm
Thank you!
March 22, 2024 at 11:11 am |
I really hate how sloppy editors and proofreaders have gotten in general with professionally published works in the last several years!! It seems that no matter what I read, there are obvious grammatical errors or an excessive amount of typos or both. It can really detract from the reading experience! And, as you’ve said, with nonfiction, it can make one wonder about the accuracy of the information, the knowledge base, and credibility of the author.
March 23, 2024 at 8:47 am |
I try really hard with my own work to make sure it’s all right, but it’s hard to be perfect! But I feel a scientific journal has an extra responsibility to its readers.
March 23, 2024 at 10:38 am
I agree