Jan 31 2008
British critic and literary editor suggests that one of the reasons for the shrinking print media coverage of books in the US is the dull book reviewing. William Skidelesky says “book reviewing in [Britain] is in fairly robust health . . . A lively chatter surrounds the British book scene, of which newspaper review sections [...]
Jan 31 2008
For Valentine’s Day, Sony is offering its eReading Device with a pink “Cross Your Heart” Skinit covering and 14 free Harlequin ebooks. “Cross Your Heart” reminds me of Playtex bras and is probably one of the more unfortunate slogans Sony could come up with for its female crowd, along with the suggestion that librarians aren’t [...]
Jan 31 2008
Dear Ms. Brook: Thank you for sharing your book with me. As you know, I’ve always thought you were a tremendous writer and I appreciate that you bring to the genre an unusual pairing of individuals. In Demon Angel, it was the halfling demon, Lilith, and the honorable knight, Hugh. In Demon Moon, it was [...]
Jan 31 2008
A Columbia University sociologist Duncan Watts a long-time opponent of Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point” theory, has published a piece showing with empirical and computer simulated tests that the Gladwell’s hypothesis is inaccurate. The ‘Tipping Point’ phenomenon has been used by marketers and advertisers to target individual influencers of opinion. Watts says that “Almost all [...]
Jan 31 2008
Janine: My friend Jennie F. and I had so much fun doing a conversational review of Jane Lockwood’s Forbidden Shores that we decided to do it again. Lo and behold, the subject of this discussion is also a novel about an erotic entanglement that involves two men and a woman! This time, it’s Megan Hart’s [...]
Jan 30 2008
In one of the most positive things to come out of Savage Gate, heavyweight authors Bertrice Small, Roberta Gellis and Jennifer Blake will be teaching a new seminar at the 2008 Romantic Times about writing a historical without plagiarism. While the change has not yet appeared on the RT BookLovers Convention webpage, Bitchery reader Kay [...]
Jan 30 2008
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle is Oprah’s newest book club pick. Apparently, Oprah is not satisfied with foisting one schlocky self improvement book on us or the public hasn’t done a good enough job of remaking their lives to her satisfaction because she is going to “co-teach” a ten [...]
Jan 30 2008
Dear Mrs. Justiss, I think if readers are looking for a nice, safe Regency that doesn’t rock any boats then “Rogue’s Lady” is a good bet. There’s the rake hero who’s trying to reform in order to land an heiress with money to resurrect his crumbling estate, there’s the “daughter of a misalliance” heroine who’s [...]
Jan 30 2008
Dear Ms. Mead, I don’t share Jane’s reservations about the succubus story, even in novels billed as romances. These days I take the romance label on spines with a grain of salt since there are an increasing number of books shelved in the romance section that are anything but. So I had no problem with [...]
Jan 29 2008
Dear Ms. Aguirre: I’m not sure why I respond so well to urban fantasy stories. I think it has to do, in part, with the escapism factor. These books are often gritty but because of the otherworldly nature, it is easy to take. Easy to lose oneself in an entire other world. While Grimspace is [...]
Jan 29 2008
Powell’s Books, home of the largest independent bookstore in the US, is launching a new book club by mail. For $39.95, you’ll receive one box every six weeks with a book and a gift. The book could be anything from a first edition hardcover with a special case or a signed high quality ARC. The [...]
Jan 29 2008
It’s books, not gadgets, that is the top selling product online across the world. According to a new Nielsen report, 41% of internet users worldwide (48 countries) and 38% of US internet users (estimated 57.5 million) buy books online. Nielsen expects this number to grow. Foner Books sales statistics show that 2007 sales numbers [...]
Jan 29 2008
Yes, I know, way late with this post. In my defense, this list is so very much the same as last week’s that it holds so little interest. *** Book Title Author Publisher Price Rank Peak Plum Lucky debuted at no. 1 Janet Evanovich SMP 17.95 2 1 Plum Lovin’ Janet Evanovich SMP 6.99 15 [...]
Jan 29 2008
moar funny pictures After weeks of thinking, whining, ranting, and being generally disoriented in the aftermath of Savage Gate (phrase courtesy of Seressia Glass), it finally dawned on me that all of the brouhaha, both with the plagiarism thing and the mean girl thing, is all about boundaries (yes, I know I’m slow). Where does [...]
Jan 28 2008
The winner of the Wendy Nelson Tokunaga Midori by Moonlight festival is Andrea. I’ve emailed you so be sure to check your spam folder if you don’t see anything from Dear Author. The second winner of the “guess that book” contest is Shannon Stacey. Thanks for commenting folks. We have a great giveaway tomorrow.
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