Bookish Rants or Raves: ARC-gate at ALA

Last week, and it is difficult to believe it was already more than a week ago, the American Library Association held its Annual Conference in the land of Mickey Mouse, Anaheim, California.

And there was a kerfuffle on YouTube about ARCs and who should be able to pick up how many on the exhibit hall floor.

Two bloggers at The Lost Lola posted a 22-minute video, since retracted, detailing their incredibly awesome book haul at ALA. They scored, and I think scored is a fair assessment, two copies of everything possible, including a lot of books they had no personal interest in.

A librarian who blogs at Stackedbooks questioned on Twitter how authors would feel “knowing a librarian couldn’t get an arc of their book at ALA, but a blogger picked up multiple copies.”

The Lost Lolas have printed an impressive and well-thought out response and clarification, but …

Interview with Coleen Kwan + Giveaway!

Greeeetings book lovers! Up for some fun steampunk talk? If so, you’ll want to check out the following interview with romance author Coleen Kwan. I’m pleased she’s allowed me to inundate her with questions about her latest release, Asher’s Invention, and the steampunk-ish goodness that it contains. We also talk a bit about her journey to writing (from the IT field!) and some of her writerly habits. Please give her a warm welcome (and check out the end of this post for some giveaway information)!

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Alisha: Hi Coleen, welcome to Book Lovers Inc! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Coleen: Thanks for having me on your blog. I live in Sydney, Australia with my partner and two teenage children. I’m your classic bookworm—I love nothing better than losing myself in a good story. I used to work in IT but at the moment I’m lucky enough to …

New Releases: July 2 – 8, 2012

Samurai Game (Ghostwalkers #10) by Christine Feehan

In an underground club, a high-ranking public official spends his secret nights indulging in fantasies as exciting as they are depraved. For a seductive employee of the Dungeon, it’s her job to fulfill them. But she’s playing a far more dangerous game—one of blackmail, politics, and murder that reaches into the shadow world of the Ghostwalkers, and the creation of a spectacular, one-of-a-kind new weapon of defense.

But when a dictator makes his own catastrophic moves, the Ghostwalkers have no choice but to bring in two major players—a man and woman both driven by passion and revenge. Both expendable. Both with nothing left to lose.

 

Read Chapter One of Samurai Game

. . .

A Hunger So Wild (Renegade Angels, #2) by Sylvia Day
Alliance Forged (The Light Blade #2) by Kylie Griffin
A …

Guestpost: “Choose Your Own Fantasy: Summer Heat Edition” by Anna Randol + Giveaway

We are very happy to welcome Anna Randol here at Book Lovers Inc today. She writes heartwarming historical romance with a twist of mystery and suspense in it. Her latest release, A Most Naked Solution, can be bought as ebook already and will soon be available in print too. Today Anna will tell us how she escapes the summer heat and asks you for your dream destination. Be sure to tell us for a chance to win a book. Please give Anna a warm welcome.

So chances are it is hot wherever you’re reading this. Blazing hot. Stick your head in the freezer hot. Now as an author, when I feel an uncomfortable sensation like that, I try to step back and analyze it for future use in my writing. I try to focus on whether the sweat is beading on my nose? Or on my neck? Or …

Explore This!: Manhattan

In Sylvia Day’s Bared to You, the heroine, Eva, has just left her home in San Diego, crossing the country to Manhattan to start a new job. I thought it would be nice to take a look at this often mentioned, affluent part of New York City. Manhattan is one of five boroughs in the city, though maybe one of the more familiar of them all, as seen in films and TV shows.

Manhattan was the origins of the city of New York, from which the town expanded north. It lays claim to many famous landmarks as well as being the former site of the Twin Towers. For that fact alone, its skyline, then and now, has to been one of the most recognizable in the world.

An overview of the island.

Brownstone living.

Lower Manhattan, as seen from the bridge.