BLI Holiday Reading Challenge 2011: Holiday Read Recommendations

By now you have signed up for the Holiday Reading Challenge and are in the mood to start reading those holiday themed novels but you just realized that *gasp* you have no idea what to read as you don’t know any holiday themed books.

No need to worry, we are here to help you out with our selection post where we tried to list as many holiday themed books you could read for the challenge as we could think of.

Check them out, there are quite a lot I have on my TBR/wishlist, and if you know of more that should be added to the list please let me know in a comment.

So which ones will you be reading for the Holiday Challenge? 

Genre-specific recommendation lists:

Contemporary Romances
Historical Romances
Paranormal Romances
Free Kindle Reads

and some holiday novels we read in the past years (click on …

BLI Holiday Reading Challenge 2011: Link Up Your Reviews!

Now that you have signed up for the Holiday Reading Challenge and started (or will soon start) reading holiday themed books, this is where you can post links to your reviews of said books.
Winner will be selected from all submitted reviews, so the more you read and review, the better chance you will have at winning 😉

Please in the “Name” section of the linky leave the title and author of the book:
example:
Name: All I Want For Christmas by Santa Claus
Thank you!

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The International Giveaways Café (20)

Welcome back to our Saturday morning get-together, where we have the chance to discuss book giveaways, link up our own giveaways, and enter all the others.

We’ve made it into November now, just one month away from the holiday season (for those of us that celebrate it.) One thing that is consistent (year round) though is…you guessed it! Book Giveaways. Whether rain, snow, or sunshine, there are always great books around with a potential to win. So, add your link below or peruse for your chance to win. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

Let us know what your weekend has in store. Have you won anything recently that you’ll get the chance to read now? The Book Lovers would love to hear!

At Book Lovers Inc., it’s our pleasure to share the bookish love! Good luck to everyone and hope you enjoy …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

Welcome to this week’s news post! This week we have more news and development from Kobo, Authors hiding their real gender and covers galore!

A Japanese company called Rakuten, has purchased the Canadian based Indigo’s Kobo in a deal worth $315 million. Rakuten is behind a few e-ventures and companies,including an ebook store and it looks like buying into Kobo is a way to shore up and expand more into ebooks and publishing. It also looks like with a huge backing from Rakuten, Kobo will be able to expand and compete more fully with other ebook devices like the Kindle.

Another case of plagiarism has reared its ugly head. Thriller writer, QR Markham, was caught plagiarising from a variety of novels including the James Bond series, with his new book Assassin of Secrets. The book has been removed …

Interview with Jessica Scott + Giveaway

Today we are very happy and honoured to welcome Jessica Scott debut romance author and career soldier at Book Lovers Inc. Jessica is here to tell us about her debut novel Because of You, a very emotional romance novel and first book in a new series. Read on to learn more about Jessica’s series and life and get to know the characters of Because of You. 🙂

(You can read my review of Because of You here.)

Stella: Hi Jessica, welcome to Book Lovers Inc! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Jessica Scott: Hi Stella. Thanks for having me here today. I’m pretty excited about Because of You and I’m delighted to be here. I’m a pretty normal harried working mom. I love reading, writing and all things bookish. I’ve got two little girls, a husband in Iraq and I’ve been on active duty for 16 plus years. I’m blessed …

The BLI Holiday Reading Challenge 2011 – Sign Up

I am not a big fan of winter. I dread the moment the days become shorter, colder and sunshine becomes a rarity. There is only one thing which redeems winter to me and that is Christmas!
Hi Everyone, I am Stella and I’m Christmas-aholic. I love everything about Christmas: the preparation, the cookies, the gift wrapping, the decorations, the reindeers and cinnamon and Christmas carols, and I could go on and on. So of course now that the weather is becoming chilly I am looking forward to the end of December! 🙂 And what better way to start the preparations than reading holiday themed novels?
So please join me in  Book Lovers Inc’s first annual Holiday Reading Challenge! *throws confetti*
Here are the main rules, but don’t hesitate to ask if anything’s unclear:

Challenge Rules:

1. The BLI Holiday Reading Challenge will start on November 10 and will end on December 31.

2. You can read as many …

Elements in Lit 201: Historic Time Periods

Welcome back class! With our Genres lessons having waned somewhat, I thought it was time to take a new approach in our bookish higher learning. So, today I introduce the new batch of lectures, looking at different elements in the books we read, from themes and literary terms to who knows what?

I thought we’d start by taking a look at the different times that appear in historical novels. These will be mostly featuring stories set in England for the moment, but as you’ll soon find out, time is truly relative to the places and subjects in the books. Grab your pencils and let’s get back to school!:

The most commonly heard time frame in historical romances is the Regency Romance. These novels are set during the British Regency and take place within the years 1811-1820. In England, this was a time when the king (George III) was deemed unable to …

Guest Post: Writing For An Audience by Susan Kaye Quinn + Giveaway

We are very happy to welcome author Susan Kaye Quinn here at Book Lovers Inc today. Her new novel, Open Minds was released this month and she is here today to celebrate her release! She has been kind enough to include an ebook copy of Open Minds to one lucky commenter! Please give Susan a warm welcome.

When I first started writing fiction, three years ago, it was like an addiction. It gripped me, and I wrote day and night, stealing time from everywhere for this torrid love affair I was having with the written word. The mania subsided (a little), but I’ve never had a problem with motivation for writing. Motivation to do the laundry? Lacking. Motivation to clean the house? Well, I’ve never had that. But writing moved me, pulled me to my chair at the computer like …

New Releases: Nov. 7-13, 2011

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.

Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.

The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?

This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.

Author Interview with Marie Harbon + Giveaway

Today we welcome to Book Lovers Inc. Marie Harbon, author of an exciting new science fantasy series, the first chronicle of which Seven Point Eight was released a couple of months earlier. I have to confess that the title of Marie’s novel got me intrigued, so of course when I had the chance to interview her, I just had to ask her about it. 🙂 Please give Marie a warm welcome and read on, because besides learning more about her novel, you could also have a chance to win it!

Stella: Hi Marie, welcome to Book Lovers Inc! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Marie: Hi there! I’m a UK based writer of science fiction, the paranormal, urban fantasy and generally the pretty weird. I also stitch as well as write, and teach on a casual basis to draw in some survival funds.

Stella: Describe a typical day of writing? Are you a planner or pantser?

Marie: I …