Charlie Newcomb was plagued by addiction until a car crash cost her the one thing that she had always counted on: the ability to sing. Scarred by her past, she sets out to deny the dependency that had dogged her steps for so long, and had finally settled into a routine. One that came to…
Being a dedicated and proud-of-it genre girl, I had to post a link to this New York Times article: Great Literature? Depends Whodunit. The piece basically discusses “the assumption that genre fiction — mysteries, thrillers, romances, horror stories — is a form of literary slumming. These kinds of books are easier to read, we tend…
If you’re a fan of Neil Gaiman‘s work, or, you know, even if you are not currently a fan {due, of course, to the fact that you have yet to read this brilliant man’s work} you may want to amble on over to his journal. In order to celebrate his journal’s birthday – 7 years,…
Technically, Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series has been on my radar for some time; those who know me kept insisting I read them. And, wouldn’t you know, when I finally got around to it I ended up devouring the first two (with the third in progress) in a matter of days. Moon Called 1st in…
Fresh from a six-month sojourn in Italy, Lady Julia returns home to Sussex to find her father’s estate crowded with family and friends— but dark deeds are afoot at the deconsecrated abbey, and a murderer roams the ancient cloisters. Much to her surprise, the one man she had hoped to forget—the enigmatic and compelling Nicholas…
When the Queen in pursuit of her wandering corgis stumbles upon a mobile library she feels duty bound to borrow a book. Aided by Norman, a young man from the palace kitchen who frequents the library, Bennett describes the Queen’s transformation as she discovers the liberating pleasures of the written word. Julie recommended this one;…
If you look over to the right on our sidebar, down where we’ve included links to other book bloggers, you may see the name Stainless Steel Droppings. A daily reading obsession for inkonvellum, Stainless Steel Droppings is run by a wonderful {insightful, fun, generous, puts-together-the-best-challenges} gentleman named Carl. He graciously agreed to kick off a…
The last unpublished work of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers may be close to being destroyed in fulfilment of the author’s last wishes, his son has hinted.Vladimir Nabokov requested in his will that his unfinished novel, The Original of Laura, should be destroyed on his death, saying that he abhorred the idea of…
Reviewing poetry isn’t an easy endeavor; it’s such a subjective creative field, moreso even then fiction, and whether you respond to a particular collection or poem relies entirely on the life you have lived. At the very least I’ve always found that to be true. The beauty found in Kirkey’s collection is of the best…
A patron recommends Ivo Stourton’s The Night Climbers; typically he’s a non-fiction reader, but he said this novel was wonderful. When James Walker arrives at Tudor College, Cambridge, he tries to create a vague air of mystery about himself in the hope of making the right kind of friends. By accident or fate he encounters…
Jaz Parks has enough trouble in her personal life. What she doesn’t need is more trouble with her vampire boss and another mission. This time she has to retrieve a vital piece of biotechnology by killing the maniac who stole it: an ancient Chinese vamp. Their cover in this mission: professional entertainers at the Corpus…
“Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.” These ominous words, slashed from the pages of a book of Psalms, are the last threat that the darling of London society, Sir Edward Grey, receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he…
While her boss becomes entranced with a beautiful armoire at the countywide craft bazaar, Maggie can’t help noticing the Amish craftsman who made it. Though his clothes may be plain, he himself is more handsome than a man sporting a jawline-only beard has any right to be. And he seems pretty aware that the ladies…
The Painter of Battles Andrés Faulques, a world-renowned war photographer, has retired to a life of solitude on the Spanish coast. On the walls of a tower overlooking the sea, he spends his days painting a huge mural that pays homage to history’s classic works of war art and that incorporates a lifetime of disturbing…
Jasper Fforde, author of the wonderfully funny and smart Thursday Next series, has written a short story for The Guardian Unlimited. It’s called “The Locked Room Mystery” and you can find it here.
“Amazon has purchased J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard at an auction held by Sotheby’s in London. The book of five wizarding fairy tales, referenced in the last book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is one of only seven handmade copies in existence. The purchase price was…
Just couldn’t pass this up…The Top 10 Most Manly Writers Ever From the eNotes Book Blog: “So who would win in a fistfight? Ernest Hemingway or Norman Mailer? James Fenimore Cooper or William S. Burroughs? This week we present the most burly, manly men of letters. In their world, or at least in their fiction,…
The authorities have finally rumbled the nation’s most famous illegal immigrant. That’s right. They’ve got Paddington Bear in a jail cell, waiting to be interrogated. No, really; I’m serious… In a surprisingly political opening chapter to Paddington Here and Now police interrogate the duffelcoat-wearing stowaway from darkest Peru about his residency status and right to…
A private buyer has paid £5,400 at auction for a book alleged to be bound in the skin of a Jesuit priest executed over the 1605 Gunpowder Plot. Did you have to read that twice? ‘Cause I did. BBC News has the full report. And, in case you were wondering, that there book went for…
I’m Jaz Parks. My boss is Vayl, born in Romania in 1744. Died there too, at the hand of his vampire wife, Liliana. But that’s ancient history. For the moment Vayl works for the C.I.A. doing what he does best–assassination. And I help. You could say I’m an Assistant Assassin. But then I’d have to…
In 1811, murder has jarred London’s elite. The sons of prominent families have been found at dawn in public places, their bodies mutilated and strange objects stuffed into their mouths. Although Sebastian St. Cyr is distracted by his seemingly doomed relationship with actress Kat Boleyn, the oddness of these murders nags at him-and he becomes…
NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas keeps the streets of a near-future New York City safe in this extraordinary series. But even she makes mistakes, and is haunted by those she couldn’t save-and the killers she couldn’t capture. When the body of a young brunette is found in East River Park, artfully positioned and marked by signs…
Once he had scorched the world. Once he had driven back overwhelming darkness. Once he had loved with such passion, his name was legend… TAIREN SOUL Now a thousand years later, a new threat calls him from the Fading Lands, back into the world that had cost him so dearly. Now an ancient, familiar evil…
London, 9th November 2007: New research released today by Costa, the UK’s fastest growing coffee chain, reveals that 77% of UK readers have enjoyed a book* so much the first time that they’ve gone back to read it again. {Full article here.} I’ll post the top twenty reread books, as listed in the article quoted…
“It was the revelation of the millennium: witches, werewolves, vampires and other supernaturals are real. Fast-forward 13 years: TV reporter Delilah Street used to cover the small-town bogeyman beat back in Kansas, but now, in high-octane Las Vegas—which is run by a werewolf mob—she finds herself holding back the gates of Hell itself. But at…
“In Shaggy Muses, we visit Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Flush, the golden Cocker Spaniel who danced the poet away from death, back to life and human love. We roam the wild Yorkshire moors with Emily Brontë, whose fierce Mastiff mix, Keeper, provided a safe and loving outlet for the writer’s equally fierce spirit. We enter…
A patron said that she loved these books, and was glad to have found a new author: “Daddy’s Girl by Lisa Scottoline Natalie Greco loves being a law professor, even though she can’t keep her students from cruising sex.com during class. She loves her family, too, but as a bookworm, doesn’t quite fit in. Then,…
Robert Jordan, author of the popular fantasy Wheel of Time series, passed away on September 16th as a result of a rare blood disease. According to a BBC News story, Jordan’s personal assistant said: “the disease caused the walls of his heart to thicken.” For more information on Robert Jordan and his books, take a…
Raise your hand if you thought that The Animals were the only ones to record “House of the Rising Sun”? Even if you knew better, you just might be surprised to find out how rich the history of this song truly is. Anthony traces its origin as far back as he can, managing to sweep…
“Lucifer and the Creator have entered, yet again, into a wager they’ve made many times before, but this time, the existence of creation itself is balanced on the outcome. Born in California during the twilight years of a weary millennium, nine year old Joby Peterson dreams of blazing like a bonfire against the gathering darkness…
Characters and world building. Those two devices drive Anne Bishop’s remarkable dark fantasy trilogy. But if picking up an oversized paperback comprised of over 1200 pages seems a bit daunting, don’t worry; you can still enjoy the trilogy, novel by novel. Start with Daughter of the Blood – you’ll immediately find yourself in a complex…
Stephenie Meyer’s Eclipse. We waited patiently for it. We read it as soon as we could get our hands on it. ta calmly enjoyed it; kimb8 was quietly dismayed; and inkonvellum wanted to throw it across the room. Here is a collection of thoughts on the third installment in Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling young adult series……
The Hugo Awards {recognizing sci-fi and fantasy novels} will be handed out in September. The nominees in the Novel category are: Blindsight, Peter Watts Eifelheim, Michael Flynn Glasshouse, Charles Stross His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik Rainbows End, Vernor Vinge For more nominees, check out The Locus Index to SF Awards listing.
If you’re a Percy Jackson/Rick Riordan fan (as in The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, and The Titan’s Curse) you’ll want to take a virtual walk over to Riordan’s blog. He’s posted the first part of a never-before-seen Percy short story entitled Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot. For all of us who cannot…
When the trustees of Ian Fleming’s estate began looking for an author to write a new James Bond book many assumed hard-bitten thriller writers such as Frederick Forsyth or John Le Carré would top the list.Certainly no one tipped the acclaimed serious literary novelist Sebastian Faulks to be entrusted with the latest incarnation of Britain’s…
Here’s the cool thing about Red Handed – besides the fact that it was really quite good – it’s a young adult novel that has an adult counterpart. But before I delve into that, a bit about Red Handed {via B&N.com}: “Phoenix Germaine has been trying to earn back her mother’s trust after going into…
Fear not! Laurell K Hamilton – and, therefore, Anita Blake – is getting back to her roots. Let there be rejoicing! But not too much; Jean-Claude isn’t in The Harlequin nearly enough. Ah, but let me backtrack a bit. First off, if you will, a synopsis: “Anita Blake is about to face the challenge of…
According to a British newspaper, “a rare copy of a book by the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton has sold at auction for £43,200.” That’s roughly $86,339.79. The paper goes on to say: “The book was edited and published by Shackleton (1874-1922) and his fellow explorers during their Nimrod expedition to Antarctica from 1907-1909. Archivists believe…
You don’t have to have read Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, nor do you have to have seen the BBC adaptation starring Colin Firth, to read Shannon Hale’s Austenland. Either way, the ending will still leave you sighing. And, hey, it may tempt you to do one of the above! {Cough*WatchColinFirth*Cough} Anyway, here’s a synopsis:…
If you had to pick one book to be the “definitive book of the 20th century,” which one would you pick? The Guardian Unlimited held a poll and asked their readers just that. The answer? George Orwell’s 1984. “Paranoia, propaganda and a state of perpetual war are the defining characteristics of the last century, according…
Will the end of the Harry Potter series bring about a publishing apocalypse? Several news sources around the world, while not suggesting that, are certainly wondering what publishers will do once the series ends this July. Take this snippet from a recent USA Today article: “‘I don’t know if we are ever going to see…
“The Decline and Fall of the Book Review Section…and What It Means to Publishers” was a recent headline in The Huffington Post. The writer’s summation is that it “certainly ain’t good.” What do you think? Do book review sections effect how you borrow/purchase books? Do you even read them?
A patron recommends Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. She said that it was excellent and that it took her right back to that time.
“Whenever a bookshelf is in a photograph, I just have to identify its titles. It’s giving me a headache.“ Read the article here. I have quite the same problem, I must admit. Both the need to identify the titles and getting the headache. And book bloggers are notorious for photographing their bookshelves, as well as…
If you’re a fan of James Bond, you’ll love Alex Rider. Sure, he may only be fourteen, but he knows his way around a karate kick and a Portuguese Man-of-War. Complete with gadgets – zit cream that can eat through eight inches of metal, anyone? – Alex infiltrates a computer manufacturing company to discover why…
A patron recommends… Dorothy Garlock’s River Rising: “A light, entertaining story.”
One day, ta and inkonvellum discovered that they were reading the same book: Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. Several days of rather, er, interesting discussions ensued. A sample: inkonvellum: “I don’t know if I like the bear. He’s kinda crabby.” ta: “But he’s so cool afterwards.” inkonvellum: “Yeah, well…” ta: “Well I think Mrs. Coulter…
jmcg is a staff member who, with insistent prompting from ta and inkonvellum, will hopefully be providing more recommendations for Read This! She may even be tempted to write a profile! But for now, this is what she’s got for you… Television Without Pity: 752 Things We Love to Hate (and Hate to Love) About…
“I am concussed.”* I was so pleasantly surprised by John Green’s Looking for Alaska that I became concussed. Okay, so that’s not entirely true – I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed this novel, but I wasn’t the one concussed; no, that was Miles “Pudge” Halter, the remarkably reasonable and intelligent narrator of…
Technically, The Dead Girls’ Dance is considered a young adult novel. But don’t let that put you off. Rachel Caine knows how to tell a good story and she creates wonderful characters. If you’re a fan of either of those concepts (and you don’t mind vampires) give her Morganville Vampire series a shot. (In case…
The 2007 PEN/Faulkner award was given to Philip Roth for his book Everyman. Below is a snippet from a press release available for download on the PEN/Faulkner Foundation’s website. “Philip Roth’s work Everyman (Houghton Mifflin) has been selected as the winner of the 2007 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Roth is the first writer to receive…
Never heard of it? Me, neither. At least not until I was reading a book blog and the blog’s author mentioned it. So what exactly is the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction? Straight from the prize’s mouth, er, website… “The founders of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction were concerned that many of the biggest…
After having seen Frank Miller’s 300 on opening night, I can tell you that it is brutal in its beauty, surreal in scope and cinematography, and totally gripping. It’s one of those films that, the more you think about it, the more it burrows under your skin. Based on Miller’s (also of Sin City fame)…
The nominees for the Agatha Awards have been announced! For a complete list of the nominees, please click here! Here’s a little info on the awards themselves (via the official website): “The Agatha Awards honor the traditional mystery—-books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The genre is generally characterized by mysteries that contain…
If you’re a fan of private investigator/vampire/preternatural fiction, you may be interested in a new television show based on Tanya Huff’s series featuring P.I. Vicki Nelson. Blood Ties will premiere on Sunday, March 11th at 9 p.m. (And, yes, this will, unfortunately, conflict with the SciFi Channel’s excellent Dresden Files series, which is based on…
“The death of history teacher Craig Foster devastated his young wife, who’d sent him off to work that morning with a lovingly packed lunch. It shocked his colleagues at the Upper West Side private school. And as for the ten-year-old girls who found him in his classroom in a pool of bodily fluids, they may…
If you’re looking for a pleasant distraction, try Krentz’s White Lies. The publisher has apparently decided to name the books that involve parasensitives as Arcane Society Novels, so while the series name may be newish, the themes are not. White Lies was a very enjoyable romantic suspense novel with paranormal tendencies. Here’s a synopsis from…
A patron loved David Baldacci’s The Collectors. Here’s a synopsis from Amazon: “People are dropping dead in Washington, D.C. First the Speaker of the House falls victim to a hitman in a carefully orchestrated murder in front of dozens of the city’s power elite. Next, the director of the Library of Congress’s Rare Books Room…
The Mystery Writers of America have announced the 2007 nominees for the Edgar award. (See them all here!) Aren’t familiar with the Edgar’s? The MWA has a whole page dedicated to explaining the award and the judging process (and here it is.) They also have a list of past winners on the site. How about…
Jim Butcher’s highly entertaining wizard P.I. series was optioned by the SciFi channel to become a t.v. series. In fact, it premiered last night, and as an avid reader/fan of the books, I have to say, they did an excellent job. (Even though it didn’t stay true to Butcher’s story.) However, the books are…
Rachel Caine knows how to write books that you can’t (or are unwilling) to put down. Great characters, fantastic premise – it’s all here! This is a series and it is necessary to read them in order, but once you do, you’ll be consuming the others at a fast rate. Here’s info (from B&N) on…
A patron recommends Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child’s The Cabinet of Curiosities. She got so wrapped up in it, she finished it in two days! “In an ancient tunnel underneath New York City a charnel house is discovered. Inside are thirty-six bodies — all murdered and mutilated more than a century ago. While FBI agent…