Manga/Anime Review: A Great Present for Kids of all Ages: Princess Tutu

Manga/Anime Review: A Great Present for Kids of all Ages: Princess Tutu

Princess Tutu created by Ikuko Ito and Junichi Sato. Released in English by ADV. Entire 26 episode series available at Amazon for $28.49. Manga adaptation available but really, don’t go there. Dear Readers, I’m cheating today. This blog is for book reviews, things you read. And so I’m going to review an absolutely terrible manga [...]

Former Mardis Gras Publisher Opens New E Publishing House

According to emails, comments, and other sources, it appears that head of Mardi Gras Publishing that went under earlier in 2007 has started a new epublishing venture called LA Media. According to some reports, Teresa Jacobs aka Teresa Wayne failed to provide renumeration to editors, cover artists and authors owed under Mardi Gras Publishing. Jaden [...]

UNICEF and OLPC Attempt to Preserve the Oral Tradition

UNICEF and OLPC Attempt to Preserve the Oral Tradition

Long before there were written words that formed books, there were storytellers. Bards, skalds, folklorists told satires, recounted legends, and preserved the historical events of the time by traveling from castle to keep to village. In an attempt to preserve the oral tradition of storytelling, particularly in regions where the written word isn’t so freely [...]

EPIC Fantasy Author Brandon Sanderson to Write Final Wheel of Time book

Robert Jordan died on September 16, 2007, before the final Wheel of Time book could be written. Yesterday, Tor Books announced Brandon Sanderson will write the final novel. Sanderson is a good guy who I poked about his blog post that we readers should buy hardcover. Sanderson, I do think that this is one book [...]

You Are What You Read

You Are What You Read

The dueling essays featured at The Guardian about Mills & Boons books sparked some significant debate here and here and some name calling. Julie Bindel took to calling the genre trash and argued that it was anti-female propoganda perpetrated by Mills & Boons. Some readers suggested that she needed to get laid more often (the [...]

REVIEW:  Along for the Ride by Michelle M Pillow

REVIEW: Along for the Ride by Michelle M Pillow

Dear Ms Pillow, I’d seen your name while browsing through ebook sites but since most of the books appeared to be paranormals I usually kept right on scrolling. Then Jane sent me a batch of arcs and review books and I saw one was yours. “Oh,” I thought, “I wonder why Jane sent me a [...]

NBCC Posts Its Ethics in Reviewing Survey

National Book Critics Circle posted a summarization of the results of its Ethics in Book Reviewing survey. It’s okay to ignore self published authors and you shouldn’t review a book without reading the whole thing. There’s lots of other stuff, like whether it is more appropriate to eat m&m’s or hershey kisses while reviewing and [...]

Interested in the Kindle?  Check Your Coverage Map Before Buying

Interested in the Kindle? Check Your Coverage Map Before Buying

The Amazon Kindle’s amazing wireless content delivery system relies on Sprint’s EVDO which has great coverage in urban areas and the East Coast but not so great coverage in the Plains and rural areas. You might want to before you hop onto the $400 Kindle bandwagon.

GUEST REVIEW: Servant: The Awakening by L. L. Foster

GUEST REVIEW: Servant: The Awakening by L. L. Foster

Dear L.L. Foster, I just finished your new book Servant: The Awakening and before I expound on its virtues first let me tell you how excited I was to find out that one of my favorite erotic authors, Lori Foster, had a darker side, L.L. Foster. I even joined the Dark Muse Society – does [...]

Trouble at LoveStruck Books?

I received an email from an author of LoveStruck books who received her rights back, even though she hadn’t asked for them. Strange, no? Karen Scott also has a report of Whiskey Creek Press’ decision to charge its authors “$90 printer set-up fee” for any books that are print published versus ebook published. I’ve also [...]

If You Love Reading, You’ll Love Ebooks

If You Love Reading, You’ll Love Ebooks

Source: Ann Aguirre’s Grimspace on my iPhone Last week, I wrote about my frustrations with ebooks and current ebook technology. Jayne, my blogging partner, commented that if she had read the article before I had converted her to ebooks, she would never have wanted to try them out. I felt like I needed to write [...]

REVIEW:  Geek High by Piper Banks

REVIEW: Geek High by Piper Banks

Dear Ms. Banks, I might be biased. You see, I spent much of my childhood in various gifted and talented programs and I even attended a magnet high school specializing in math and science. So I just might be a little predisposed towards your novel about a math genius enrolled in a school for gifted [...]

Manga’s 2007 Sales Are Up. So Is It or Is It Not Dead?

In the fall of 2007, USA Today had an article declaring that Manga was dying. Despite that Tor has signed a joint venture with Seven seas Entertainment to produce and distribute original manga titles and compete for the licenses of top Japanese Manga. Total sales for Manga is up by 10% to “more than $220 [...]

REVIEW:  Big Boned by Meg Cabot

REVIEW: Big Boned by Meg Cabot

Dear Ms. Cabot: Everyone knows by now I have an inappropriate girl crush on you and that I squeal a bit every time I get a new book of yours (okay, maybe only Ned knows that I do this squealing thing . . . and now everyone else). But I wondered, after I finished, if [...]

REVIEW:  The Warrior by Judith E French

REVIEW: The Warrior by Judith E French

Dear Mrs. French, This is a series I’ve always meant to read but just never quite got around to. When I saw book three, “The Warrior” in the store, I decided to jump in and start there. The first thing I noticed is that it’s got an older style. Romance isn’t the main focus of [...]