Citizen Reader

A weekly selection of reading and book news, sometimes with completely inappropriate commentary.

It's official: Millennials love libraries.

What's behind the "dramatic spike in swearing in books"?

Did you see this link about an automatic generator of romance book titles? Pretty hilarious stuff. (Thanks to Jenny at Reading the End for that one!)

Wait a second...Blake Lively also writes spy thrillers? She's gorgeous, she's an actor, she's married to Ryan Reynolds, she has two gorgeous daughters, and now she's a writer too? God how I hate her.

The author of The Rosie Project (and his wife) have a new book deal.

Mystery writer Sue Grafton is finally running out of letters. I don't actually mind Sue Grafton, but I can never hear her name without laughing. One day while working as a supervisor to two college students on our library circulation desk, the young woman was reading a Sue Grafton, and her co-worker, a rather superior (but nice; just very young) young man, saw the book and said, "Sue Grafton: H is for Hack." I laughed, because it was funny, but the young woman just said "Uh-huh" without hearing him and went right on reading. I thought that was the perfect response. Then I sent the young man out to shelve so she could read in peace.

Chinese novelist Liu Yongbiao: arrested for murder?

Check out author Hanya Yanagihara's apartment...and 12,000 books.

2017 Hugo Awards: Winners.

2017 German Book Prize: Longlist.

James Tait Black prize (UK): Winners.

This is unrelated to reading, but as a lover of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, I had to include it. Joss Whedon, if he is indeed a husband who cheated, should probably not be hailed as a feminist. This hurts me, but what hurts me even more is that I'm not particularly surprised (and by that I mean I'm not surprised at all; sigh) to read this story.

Salon: Fall Movie Preview.

NONFICTION BOOK NEWS

I do so love actor Bruce Campbell. Now he's back with a "memoir of middle age" titled Hail to the Chin.

Books on books: Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult.

A new book is out on the history and importance of American pop music.

Earthquakes: They're not just for the West Coast anymore.

This new book From Holmes to Sherlock looks good.

The New York Times: how the political radical right played the long game--and won; an "intellectual historian" wants the liberal left to find some kind of unity; a new biographer of Sigmund Freud wonders why he still has so much influence; there's a new memoir by a woman coder, Ellen Ullman; a family memoir about living with a child who has autism; can surfing help answer existential questions?; the story of the Russian Revolution as an "epic family tragedy"; Svetlana Alexievich offers a new oral history on "the unwomanly face of war" during World War II. I don't generally read books on WWII but Alexievich produces excellent oral histories.

BOOK LISTS

IndieBound: Bestselling books the week of Aug. 17.

Nonfiction to read along with the solar eclipse.

"Five books to shed light on America's problem of white supremacy."

School Library Journal: August 2017 Picks.

Three romances for your August escape.

"Memoirs that reckon with death." I'll overlook the Randy Pausch title, which was one of the worst books I've ever read.

The most iconic books set in 150 countries around the globe.

MY READING NOTES

I started reading Edan Lepucki's novel Woman No. 17, and it is okay. They seem to be trying to market it as a thriller, but I don't know that that's going to work. It is, though, suspenseful, and quite interesting. All the same I may not finish it; I'm just not in the mood. However, the author did just write this hilarious essay (about her wishes for this book) at The Millions.

I'm re-reading some True Crime books that blew my mind when I first read them, and learning it is almost impossible to re-read True Crime. When you know what's coming it's almost just too hard to read it again.

We are currently reading the CRjrs a series of books about a cat called Supercat, by Jeanne Willis. A few nights ago they wanted to finish the one we were on, but I said we had to wait until the next night for the exciting conclusion. So the next night one of them said, "Can we please have the exciting conclusion now?" Sure, the house is a mess and nobody's very good at tying their shoes. But, by damn, we are learning all the necessary book/story vocabulary.

AND NOW, YOUR OBLIGATORY NEIL GAIMAN LINK

Amazon has cast the leads for the adaptation of Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's book Good Omens.