Angieville

I get so excited when my favorite authors break into hardcover. In fact, I'm pleased as punch to shell out the bigger bucks because it means that the awesome I've been basking in for awhile now has finally caught on and is being recognized on a wider scale. So it was, in a word,  thrilling  to open up the package from  Penguin  and see the words "#1  New York Times Bestselling Author" atop  Patricia Briggs ' shiny new hardcover  Bone Crossed .  Mercy Thompson starts her fourth adventure staring herself down in the mirror trying to decide where to go from here. The closing events of  Iron Kissed   left our favorite VW mechanic feeling, at best,  very  conflicted. She managed to make several key decisions, but can't quite seem to outrun her demons. Of course occupying the place of honor as lone walker, Alpha's declared mate, and vampire public enemy #1 doesn't help. She doesn't have long to fret, though, when an old acquaintance shows up on her doors...

Check out Jeri Smith-Ready's blog . Looks like Ciara leaked the cover of her upcoming book, Bad to the Bone , on her Twitter profile . Scamp. That's a big dog, btw.  Wicked Game was so great , I can't wait to continue the fun come May 16th! 

Shelli over at Market My Words has an interview  up with the lovely Martha , in which she discusses her job as editrix extraordinaire at Greenwillow and lists several great ways to promote yourself and your book. Check it out !

Yay!

I decided I had to read  Perfect Chemistry  based on  Trisha's awesome review . In her words: Simone Elkeles '  Perfect Chemistry   is a teen romance full of cliches, melodrama, an unrealistic denouement, and a completely over the top epilogue. And I freaking loved it. Ate it up with a spoon like it was an ice cream sundae. Rock on, Trisha. I love it when reviewers are honest about how much they loved a book. I'll add to her description The Cover. Every time I sat down next to  DH  to read he'd say, "You still reading the The Cover?" And I'd smile like the cat who ate the canary and say, "Yeah." In my best what's it to ya voice.  Brittany Ellis and Alejandro Fuentes go to Fairfield High on the outskirts of Chicago. And that is the one and only thing they have in common. She is the captain of the pom squad. He is a member of a local gang. On the whole, they could be categorized as Less Than Thrilled to be made lab partners in ...

To celebrate the upcoming publication of the sixth book in John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series , Penguin is making the first book, The Ruins of Gorlan , available in free eBook format. The site went live last week and will run until February 15th. Check it out here .  Synopsis: They have always scared him in the past—the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger's apprentice. What he doesn't yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people. And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied....

Publisher's Weekly  got  the first peek  at the cover of  Catching Fire -- Suzanne Collins ' sequel to The Hunger Games . I like it. But then I really liked the first cover as well. Looking forward to some interesting developments in this one. Thanks to  Jen  for the heads up!

If you're a House fan, you'll probably think this is as hilarious as I do. Hehehe...

As you probably know the fourth Mercy Thompson book, Bone Crossed , is being published by ACE on Feb. 3rd. To support her first hardcover release, national bestseller  Patricia Briggs is going on a 7-city book tour. Kicking off her tour in Seattle, Patty will be traveling to the following cities and stores:  February 3rd University Books 7:00pm Seattle, WA February 4th Third Place Books 7:00pm Lake Forest Park, WA February 5th Powell's Books (Beaverton Store) 7:00pm Portland, OR February 6th Borderlands Books 7:00pm San Francisco, CA February 7th Mysterious Galaxy Books 2:00pm San Diego, CA February 8th Barnes &  Noble (Bella Terra) 2:00pm Huntington Beach, CA February 9th Borders (Waters Place) 7:00pm Ann Arbor, MI Sadly, none of these are near me. So if one of them is near you, make sure to go and show her some big fat Mercy love! And make sure to tell me all about it afterward...

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme..."  Since reading this book I have not been able to get that song out of my head. It has been, you'll forgive the pun,  Impossible . It's all good, of course, because I've always loved the  Simon & Garfunkel version , as well as Dylan's quasi-adaptation of the ballad  "Girl from the North Country."  And it's good because  Nancy Werlin  does such interesting things developing a novel based on the lyrics. In a few words it is a contemporary suspenseful folk fantasy with some hereditary insanity, a sweet romance, and one extremely dubious (and dangerous) elven knight.  Lucy Scarborough has spent her life with her adoptive parents because her mother, Miranda, is insane. Lucy manages to lead an eminently normal life interspersed with occasional random visits from Miranda, who is never really lucid beyond mumbling strange lyrics to "Scarborough Fair." But when prom ni...

First of all. How about those gold lips? Shimmery! The color of those lips does a good job of representing the glittery-but-dangerous magic in this book. Just as the pale skin of their owner conveys the tone of the story quite well: pale, cold, and creepy. I'm pretty sure this is my first pixie urban fantasy and I wasn't sure what to expect. What I did not expect was feeling like I was back inside the world of  Stephen King 's  It . But apparently if a book's got Maine, winter, and a town with a curse on it, it will always evoke the same prickly, back-of-the-neck feelings in me. And  Need 's heroine shares my sentiments.  Zara's stepdad is dead. After watching her waste away day by day, Zara's mother puts her on a plane and sends her to her de facto grandmother--her stepdad's mom Betty. Betty lives in Maine. Maine feels like another world to Zara. A world in which the every surface is blanketed in snow and the local teenagers are all track stars or footb...

I'm so glad I finally got around to this one. The laughs were much needed. Of course, there were bouts of tears to go along with those laughs, so it probably evened out in the end. But that is the mark of the best kind of story. It made me feel genuine emotion, and not all one kind, so I feel fulfilled and stretched out, rather than left wondering if I'll ever be able to crawl my way up out of the hole.  Junior's life is unenviable. And that is putting it mildly. He lives on the Indian reservation in Wellpinit, Washington with his parents (part to full time alcoholics), his sister (a depressed basement dweller), and his grandmother (the one functional member of the family). He also has a best friend called Rowdy, a young man whose father beats him and who, in turn, beats up everyone in his path. Except Junior. When we first meet him, Junior is excited to begin his first day of high school. A self-proclaimed nerd of the highest order, Junior eagerly opens his geometry book o...

Well,  everyone 's in love with the one person they can't have and  no one  seems to be able to communicate their woe to  anyone  who could help. Must be Tuesday in Luxeland.  Rumors   is the second volume in the Luxe series and, as the deep red dress and haughty gaze of the cover model suggest, things are just getting worse and worse for our crew of Manhattan debutantes/bachelors/scheming underlings. I checked this copy out from the library and the girl at the checkout desk smiled knowingly and said, "I liked this one." I smiled and said, "I just finished  The Luxe . " Her grin got bigger. "I liked this one much better," she said. So. There you go. I was beginning to get the impression that lovers of  The Luxe   fell into two categories: even bigger lovers or big time haters of  Rumors . I was interested to see which category I fell into (if any). So everyone thinks Elizabeth Holland is dead. And pretty soon (oh, let's go ahead and say it)  sh...

First, for fans of the Hero series, Moira J. Moore has posted the matching scene from the first book, Resenting the Hero , written from Taro's perspective instead of Lee's. And it's awesome. Only 8 months left till the fourth book comes out! Next, here is the cover for the second Alpha and Omega novel, Hunting Ground , by Patricia Briggs . (Thanks Renee  for the heads up!) Lastly,  Urban Fantasy Land is holding their Reader's Choice Awards right now. If you go vote and spread the word about the awards, you'll be entered in a contest to win a $25 gift card from a major online bookseller. Go have your say !

Another Christmas gift, and one I wanted to read very much when it first came out, but shied away from somewhat after reading several reviews comparing it to the  Gossip Girl  series and stating that the writing left rather a lot to be desired. Oh, I thought sadly. That's too bad. It looked better than that. So I just admired the cover from afar, and that of the sequel  Rumors . I probably would have just gone on ignoring the series if my mom hadn't given me a copy of  The Luxe . I'm glad she did. The prologue begins with Elizabeth Holland's funeral. The darling of upper crust Manhattan society, her sudden and inexplicable drowning in the Hudson shocks everyone from her frozen fiance Henry Schoonmaker to her scornful maid Lina Broud. The story then immediately jumps back several weeks to show us how events came to such a strange state. You think Elizabeth is going to be the main character, but she's not. She's not even very likable. Quiet, passive, perfect. Perf...

I read  The Boyfriend List   awhile back and enjoyed it but somehow didn't make it on to its sequel,  The Boy Book ,  or any of  E. Lockhart 's other titles. Then  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks  came out and there was just so much buzz. And then it was named a finalist for the  National Book Award . So I figured I'd better pick it up. Fortunately, Santa brought it to my home this year so I was able to jump right in. Frankie is a sophomore at Alabaster Prep, super exclusive boarding school for the children of the elite. Ever since she was a kid, Frankie had heard her father and his cronies go on about a mysterious secret society known as the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. Once she starts at Alabaster it becomes clear that the Order is alive and thriving and open only to males. When she suddenly gains a few curves in the right places and a snazzy new boyfriend to go with them, Frankie becomes  aware  in a way she hadn't been up to this point in her...

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more. Book Snob   Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm   Literate Good Citizen   Fad Reader   Non-Reader   What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz Thanks to Aidan over at A Dribble of Ink for the link. Take the test and see if you're the kind of reader you think you are. ;-)

January Princess of the Sword   by  Lynn Kurland Third and final book in the Nine Kingdoms Trilogy. Morgan and Miach are wonderful characters and I'm hoping they can vanquish what needs vanquishing and find a kind of rest.  February The Fetch   by  Laura Whitcomb I fell in love with Whitcomb's graceful ghost story,  A Certain Slant of Light ,  and have been anxiously awaiting her second novel.  Bone Crossed   by  Patricia Briggs Fourth Mercy Thompson novel.  Thea 's already read it. *twitch* And I'm over here languishing. Like an animal. March Silent on the Moor   by  Deanna Raybourn Third Lady Julia Grey mystery. There will be progress Brisbane-wise in this one. I can feel it. The Forest of Hands and Teeth   by  Carrie Ryan There will be zombies. That is all I know. Magic Strikes   by  Ilona Andrews Third Kate Daniels novel. Things are really getting intersesting and I just love Kate and her magic drenched Atlanta.  April Blue Diablo   by  Ann Aguirre First in Aguirre...