11 New Covers (Caine, Condie, Cremer, Crossan, Edwards, Jay, Kincy, Lindqvist, Mancusi, Preble)

New Pre-Order Links

Reading Wishlist has been updated with new dates. And Most Wanted has these new links. Please note that Kim Harrison’s White Witch Black Curse is now a mass market paperback to pre-order. And Mari Mancusi’s Girls that Growl has been reduced to less than $3, I think.

US LINKS
Jocelynn Drake: Dawnbreaker
Charlotte Featherstone: Addicted
Kim Harrison: White Witch Black Curse
Mari Mancusi: Girls that Growl
Tracey O’hara: Night’s Cold Kiss
Laurie Faria Stolarz: Black is for Beginnings
Anthology: Unbound

UK LINKS
Charlotte Featherstone: Addicted
Stacia Kane: Unholy Ghosts
Kelly Meding: Three Days to Dead
Lilith Saintcrow: Redemption Alley

CA LINKS
Kelley Armstrong: Frostbitten
Suzanne Collins: Catching Fire
Charlotte Featherstone: Addicted
Eric Garcia: The Repossession Mambo
Stacia Kane: Unholy Ghosts
Kelly Meding: Three Days to Dead
Tracey O’hara: Night’s Cold Kiss
Lilith Saintcrow: Redemption Alley
Neal Shusterman: Unwind
Laurie Faria Stolarz: Black is for Beginnings
Kit Whitfield: In Great Waters
Anthology: The Eternal Kiss

July 2008 Reads

Your eyes do not deceive: I only read five books this month. Obviously I’ve been spending too much time:

*on the Internet
*with my webcam
*with MovieMaker
*at the post office
*watching TV
*half asleep-half awake with the telly on

Anyway, it’s only 3PM on the last day of July, but I don’t think I’ll get another book finished by midnight, so you get the list early.

Blood Trail – Tanya Huff “Vicki’s a wily, likeable character…the world-building is original…” Buy

Boys that Bite – Mari Mancusi “…a teen vampire tale with an Arthurian twist…” Buy

Blood Lines – Tanya Huff “…well worth applauding…unusual subject matter that will appeal to readers who are bored with vampires…” Buy

Seaborn – Chris Howard “Chris Howard takes urban fantasy where it doesn’t usually tread…” Pre-order

The Scent of Shadows – Vicki Pettersson “Vicki Pettersson brings fresh ideas, deep psychology and Las Vegas’s underbelly…science enforces the magic, there’s deep character development, and it all comes together in a ripping yarn…This is one series thriller fans should not miss.” Buy

Cat with Books, Manny, WordPress & Tokyo

(Larger versions at Flickr.) Here’s Manny with Mari Mancusi’s Boys that Bite, Laura Anne Gilman’s Staying Dead, Jeff Somers’ The Digital Plague and Chris Howard’s Seaborn.

I’m really excited to have The Digital Plague, in particular. It’s actually Book 2 in a series, and I haven’t read Book 1, but here’s hoping I’ll be able to keep up. It’s a futuristic, so it’s exactly what I’m interested in reading, and I think I’ll enjoy it. And judging from his blog, the author’s a funny bugger, so that’s extra credit. Anyway, if you know someone who has a copy of The Electric Church that needs a home, tell them to contact me.

You’ll have to forgive Manny’s lack of enthusiasm – he had to visit the vet today. Da-da-DA! But there’s good news – he’s fine! His teeth have plaque, but that’s the worst thing. Even his vomiting once a fortnight is not an issue – it’s because he bolts his food down and eats who knows what else outside. Was told he has a nice coat, and that he’s a good weight – “slim” I remember her saying. Not only that, but the vet said, “His name reminds me of the Black Books character.” Which is a fair thing to say, because I named him after Bill Bailey’s character. Perhaps I should’ve named him after the landlord cat, Mr Benson…

Thanks to everyone who visited my WordPress yesterday (Sunday 6th July) – you gave me the highest amount of page views I’ve received in one day: 177. That may be little bickies to some people, but it’s big to me, and much appreciated. Here’s hoping you find reasons to return.

I leave you with this short video Liz Maverick took in the Kiddyland store in Tokyo. Not sure why anyone would want to buy that particular toy dog, except as a joke gift…

[REVIEW] Boys that Bite – Mari Mancusi

Mari Mancusi
Boys that Bite
Penguin Berkley Jam (4th April 2006)
Buy

It’s a teen vampire tale with an Arthurian twist in this first outing of Mari Mancusi’s series starring twins Sunny and Rayne McDonald.

Rayne’s into Goth stuff and wants to become a vampire – seriously. She’s even writing a blog tracking her progress as she studies to earn her certification. Everything’s arranged for vampire Magnus to bite her, but in a case of mistaken identity Rayne’s identical twin Sunny is bitten instead. But this isn’t the end of Sunny’s human life – the bite can be reversed by drinking Jesus’ blood from the Holy Grail. Magnus was one of the Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table, and Avalon is now Glastonbury, but at the time of the major music festival, the druids with the Grail go into hiding. The race is on…

There are constant pop culture references, and everyone seems to resemble a celebrity. This may help put the characters in the mind’s eye, but it’s really distracting and annoying. And though this version of vampirism has a twist (it can be changed), the novel overall seems somehow lacking in originality. However, I’ve still got my eye on the author’s novels for adults…