Novelish

It’s been a few days now since I’ve updated Novelish, and that definitely wasn’t intended.

• Besides the age-old excuse of being busy, the lack of updates is due to my having been stuck on a few of the reviews I’m putting together. Writing for an audience (however small) does make me want to get it right, and I’m not quite satisfied with them yet. Reviewing something I read earlier this year, as opposed to something I just finished, is also harder in some ways.
• But, they’re in progress and hopefully one will arrive tomorrow.
• While you wait, Fantasy Book Critic reviewed The Court of Air by Stephen Hunt on June 8th, and the comparisons to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel immediately caught my attention. You may want to look into it further, if that interests you - I plan to.

In unrelated news, Apple’s WWDC event was yesterday.

• I watched a recorded video of it, as an interested Mac user - but the only really unexpected announcement was a public beta of Apple’s web browser for Windows, and some nice things I did expect never materialized.
• I need a new computer sometime soon, too. My current machine, though trusty, is now five years old.

Also yesterday, a new Publisher’s Weekly issue came out. There was an interesting article on upcoming Young Adult books. Some highlights:

• The final Harry Potter book is out in July - or 38 days from today. I’ve been following the series for a long time and I’m dying to see how it turns out, so don’t be surprised if I go to one of those midnight parties.
• Insomnomania posted a blog entry about the sixth Potter book today, which reminds me that I’d like to re-read it over the next month. Assuming there’s time, which there may not be.
• Stephenie Meyer’s Eclipse will be released on August 7 with a 700,000 copy printing - I’ve read the first two in the series earlier this year. It’s not something I plan to buy, but I’ve reserved a copy from the library.
• And then there’s the sequel to Stargirl coming up - Love, Stargirl - with a 250,000 copy printing. I haven’t read the first one yet, but it’s been on my list for a while and the level of interest in its sequel makes me interested.

In closing, there’s this bit of information:

• Dean Koontz’s The Good Guy debuted #2 on the PW list due to continued strong sales of A Thousand Splendid Suns. PW says “The Good Guy is doing very well, with more than 6000,000 copies in print after two press runs.” 6000,000 copies? Hmmmm. Very well indeed.