Bookish Rave: What Reader Species Are You?

Here at BLI, we often ask how one can differentiate between a Book Lover and mere Reader. It turns out we were thinking to small. Laura E. Kelley realized there is an entire taxonomy of Readers and Book Lovers out there, and set out to identify and distinguish each individual species.

As you do.

Today we acknowledge that our International Book Congress requires more than simple geographic and genre diversity to be fully representative of the needs of Book Lovers. We may need to bulk up our ranks. Diversity hires, if you will.

And so, without further ado we present The Linnaean Hierarchy of Readers.* (Seriously, we did not create this. It is amazing, but also requires a scientific devotion to detail and organization that we can only aspire towards.)

Take your time to properly classify yourself. The Book Lovers will self-identify below.

Jackie: I think I fit into a bunch of the …

Sunday Cravings

Hello Book Lovers! Anna’s not back yet, so I am doing my best to hold down the fort in her absence. Of course, I will be traveling for the next two weeks, so if I can’t find another Book Lover to fill in, we may be without Sunday Cravings for a bit.

But that isn’t anywhere near important as the fact that Winter Has Come to Alaska. I’m sure you are all rolling your eyes at me while wiping the dripping sweat off your collective brows – but it’s true. For the last few days, my car windows have been covered in frost in the morning. My roommate even turned her car on to heat it up before heading out today. WINTER IS HERE.

With that horrifying cheerful prospect to keep you all going, I present this week’s Sunday Cravings. It is, after all, important to stock up on your …

Book Lovers for the Prevention of Supporting Character Neglect: The Potterverse

Time again for more Book Lovers for the Prevention of Supporting Character Neglect! Where Book Lovers from across the world stand in solidarity for the supporting cast. Those individuals that make the story and keep us coming back even when the protagonist needs a good smack (cough Harry Potter cough). Hear our anthem! Because everyone deserves top billing now and then.

As I just-so-happened to mention, certain protagonists tend to be extremely smackable, and all-around unlikeable. Which is exactly why we’re diving back into The Potterverse. Because really, who read Harry Potter for, well, Harry Potter? Nobody, that’s who.

Marlene: Have you started drinking early? Do you really want to dive into the Potterverse sober? I can, but it’s painful. Really. Let me start.

Jackie: Go ahead. That was too long ago for specifics for me.

Marlene: The butcher’s bill at the last battle was much too high. To begin with. …

Review: Never Deal With Dragons by Lorenda Christensen

Format read: ebook.
Series: DRACIM #1.
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance.
Release Date: July 22, 2103.
Number of pages: 209 pages.
Publisher: Carina Press.
Formats available: ebook.
Purchasing Info: Author’s Site, Goodreads.
Book Blurb:

Consoling a sobbing dragon and serving pig buffets are just part of the job for Myrna Banks. Working for a mediation firm, it’s her job to get humans compensated for damages caused by the dragons who now rule. But her “typical” day is interrupted by Trian Chobardan, an old flame who sneaked out of her bed two years ago, taking her heart and a handful of classified documents with him.

Myrna would love to show Trian the door, but he’s been sent by North America’s reigning dragon lord for help negotiating a truce with a powerful rival to avert war. Myrna agrees to help, even though she’ll be stuck with Trian as a partner.

As the two work together, Myrna finds Trian to be surprisingly supportive—and still irresistibly attractive. Though her …

Sunday Cravings

Hello Book Lovers! I’m still filling in for Anna while she’s buried in wedding preparations. Maybe I should have paid more attention when she told us she was taking a leave of absence from the blog, because I really have no idea how long she’ll be gone….

On the bright side, this is motivating me to look into blogging apps. Because now I can’t just not post when traveling. (Which is why there are random weeks where I am not snarking at you all. Do you miss me when I am gone?) Blogging from my iPad’s mobile browser is an exercise in frustration. Any suggestions? There appear to be a million of them, and the reviews are not anywhere approaching helpful.

On to this week’s Cravings! Not much to choose from. Which is probably for the best. I’m busy re-reading Magic Rises for the umpteenth time.

Marlene: Elysian Fields (Sentinels of New …

Review: Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews

Format read: ebook
Series: Kate Daniels #6/Magicpocalypse #7
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: July 30, 2013
Number of pages: 327
Publisher: Ace
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Book Depository, Indiebound.

Book Blurb:

Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost.

Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.

Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and …

Sunday Cravings

Hello Book Lovers! I’m filling in for Anna while she’s buried in wedding preparations. After burning through many must reads last week, I’m bound-and-determined to get a little sleep. But publishers just keep on releasing more books! Time to add to our never-ending TBR piles. Up this week….

Stella: What the Bride Wore by Jade Lee.

Grant Benton, Earl of Crowle, finally has the funds he always pretended to have, and what he wants now is a woman. That woman is Lady Irene Knopp, who spends her days helping debutantes plan their weddings. A recent widow, Irene longs for love again, but she’s afraid to risk her heart, especially to the notorious Grant Benton.

I just read my very first Jade Lee story, Winning a Bride, the #2.5 novella in her Bridal Favors series. It was lovely. I loved the fesity, unorthodox heroine and the wonderfully tortured hero, so I’m excited and can’t …

Book Lovers for the Prevention of Supporting Character Neglect: InCryptids

We’re back for another meeting of the Book Lovers for the Prevention of Supporting Character Neglect! Where Book Lovers from across the world stand in solidarity for the supporting cast. Those individuals that make the story and keep us coming back even when the protagonist needs a good smack (cough Sookie Stackhouse cough). Hear our anthem! Because everyone deserves top billing now and then.

Secondary Characters by Original Cast Recording on Grooveshark

For this round we’re diving into a relatively new series: Seanan McGuire’s InCryptids. Our previous two outings focused on long-standing series with multiple novels and the correspondingly massive supporting cast to choose from. However, Seanan McGuire wasted no time in building up a multi-generational family epic. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, we actually have two separate protagonists: Verity Price (here in the now), and her …

Book Lovers for the Prevention of Supporting Character Neglect: The Mercy-verse

Welcome back to the Book Lovers for the Prevention of Supporting Character Neglect! Where Book Lovers from across the world stand in solidarity for the supporting cast. Those individuals that make the story and keep us coming back even when the protagonist needs a good smack (*cough Buffy Summers cough*). Hear our anthem! Because everyone deserves top billing now and then.

Secondary Characters by Original Cast Recording on Grooveshark

This week we are tossing life-rafts out into Patricia Briggs’ Mercyverse. Patricia has already taken great strides to save one of the original supporting cast, with the Alpha & Omega spin off series. Tragically the spin-off (vastly superior to the Mercy books in case anyone was wondering) has only served to highlight just how fascinating all the people not-Mercy (or Adam. or Sam) truly are. This whole series …

Book Lovers for the Prevention of Supporting Character Neglect: Kate Daniels World aka The Magicpocalypse

Welcome to the our first meeting of the Book Lovers for the Prevention of Supporting Character Neglect! Where Book Lovers from across the world stand in solidarity for the supporting cast. Those individuals that make the story and keep us coming back even when the protagonist needs a good smack (*cough Harry Potter cough*). Hear our anthem! Because everyone deserves top billing now and then.

Secondary Characters by Original Cast Recording on Grooveshark

For our inaugural meeting, we will take a close look at Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels’ World. Ilona is among the more considerate authors out there, as she has given various others a chance to shine while Kate and Curran are recuperating (Andrea, Dali, and Julie), but that consideration is no excuse! There are still a plethora of magnificent characters in post-magicpocalypse Atlanta that are …