Review: The Betrayal by Pati Nagle

Format Read: MMPB

Number of Pages: 373
Release Date: March 2009
Publisher: Del Rey
Formats Available: Paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Author’s website

Book Blurb:

The noble and magical aelven were riven by war when a rogue clan embraced a forbidden source of magic: the drinking of blood. In the bitter fighting that ensued, the vampiric Clan Darkshore were cast out of the aelven and driven across the Ebon Mountains. Stripped of their various clan colors, they were thenceforth known only as “alben,” hated and shunned. An uneasy peace now holds over the land, but it is whispered that Shalár, the beautiful and bloodthirsty queen of the alben, is readying a surprise attack to win back all that was lost–and none can say where or when she will strike.

The fate of the clans will depend on two young aelven lovers, Eliani and Turisan, who …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

Borders.com announced their eBook store will be opening in June with ebooks available for a variety of devices.  They are also offering the Kobo ereader for preorder at $149.99 (US).

Borders Australia online has started offering a guarantee that they will beat the price (with shipping included) of Amazon.com books shipped to Australia.

Wired.com has an interesting article on how Amazon handles typos in Kindle eBooks.

Angry Robot Books has split from HarperCollins UK.

Variety reports that Tyra Banks has a three book deal for a young adult fantasy series.

GalleyCat reports that Gerald Posner has hired a lawyer to fight against claims of plaigarism.

Publishers Weekly writes that the Amazon Kindle bestseller list will soon split into two as Amazon makes separate bestseller lists for free and paid eBooks.

PublishingPerspectives has a short article about books being …

Interview: Author Michelle Rowen + Giveaway

We’re interviewing Michelle Rowen today to find out more about her new paranormal romance series, Living In Eden. The first book, The Demon In Me, was released on May 4, 2010. For an early look read the excerpt from The Demon In Me that Michelle has on her website.The Eclectic Lover: Michelle, before we talk about the book, tell us a bit about yourself, please.

Michelle: Sure… I’m the author of ten published novels in paranormal romance, young adult fantasy, and futuristic (writing as Michelle Maddox). I just won the 2009 RT Reviewers’ Choice award for Best Vampire Romance for Tall, Dark & Fangsome, the fifth and final book in my Immortality Bites series. I live in Southern Ontario and I’m the mother to two needy cats who are not book lovers.

The Eclectic Lover: What do you think …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

In ebook news this weekSony’s Reader Store has had over ten million books downloaded, Sony announced in a press release yesterday. The top ten most downloaded books in their ebook store are:

1. “The Lost Symbol,” by Dan Brown2. “I, Alex Cross,” by James Patterson3. “Breaking Dawn,” by Stephenie Meyer4. “Eclipse,” by Stephenie Meyer5. “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett6. “Twilight,” by Stephenie Meyer7. “New Moon,” by Stephenie Meyer8. “The Lovely Bones,” by Alice Sebold9. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” by Stieg Larsson 10. “The Last Song,” by Nicholas Sparks

It looks like the Twilight crowd is into eReaders!Barnes & Noble tweeted about a new HP ebook store and ereader available for HP computers.Book News Related to the Flooding in Nashville, Tennessee (USA)Romance Writers of America (RWA) had to move their 2010 Annual Conference to Orlando after the conference …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

The Wall Street Journal has the latest on the agency pricing dispute between Penguin and Amazon.  Looks like Amazon is selling some non-bestseller Penguin hardcovers for $9.99.

Amazon announced a new update for their Kindle that will allow users to organize their books and allow sharing “book passages” from the Kindle to Twitter and Facebook.The Romantic Times Booklovers Convention is currently taking place in Ohio.  I wish I was there, but I’ve had to settle for following along on Twitter.  The hashtags #RT10 and #RT2010 are giving me a glimpse of what I’m missing.  Laura Bush’s memoir, Spoken From the Heart, was obtained early by the NY Times breaking a Scribner embargo.  Crown Publishers made public that they will be publishing former President George W. Bush’s memoir, Decision Points, this November.MediaNet announced they will expand from digital music …

Review: Book: The Sequel by Clive Priddle (editor)

Format Read: eARC from NetGalleyNumber of Pages: 144Release Date: May 30, 2009 Publisher: PublicAffairsFormats Available: Paperback, ebookPurchasing Info: Barnes & Noble, Goodreads

Book Blurb:

After the last page is turned and the cover closed on a great book, is it really over? Ever wonder what happens to Harry Potter after, say, twenty years of marriage and a steady government gig? Or what Karl Marx would say about today’s financial crisis? What did Scarlett O’Hara really think about tomorrow?

What comes after “ever after?”

BOOK: The Sequel dares to answer these burning questions with imagined first sentences from would-be follow-ups to classics from The Bible to Lord of the Rings, and from Green Eggs to Hamlet.

A delicious and unexpected return engagement from favorite characters like Jane Eyre, Ebenezer Scrooge, Jay Gatsby, Holden Caulfield, Wilbur …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

This week Best Buy began selling Barnes & Noble’s eReader, the Nook, in it’s stores.

The Wall Street Journal reported that, starting Sunday, the Amazon eReader, the Kindle, will be sold by Target stores.

All Things Digital is reporting that Kakai is working on an eReader for students.

The Associated Press has a story on author Danielle Steele’s former assistant being sentenced to prison for embezzling. The assistant was earning $200,000 a year for part-time work and was convicted for embezzling over $760,000 USD.

Penguin announced a new program this week to provide electronic and print books to children. The website is www.wegivebooks.org/.

The list of Locus Awards Finalists were released this week. It looks like a great list. I’ve read some of the titles and already have others on my TBR list. …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

There was a lot of interesting book-related news this week.   In the US and worldwide, ebook and print, we bring you links to some of the items that we found most interesting.

Bowker released statistics today showing that traditional US publishers released slightly less titles in 2009 than 2008.   They also reported a 181% increase in the number of nontraditional titles released in 2009 over their 2008 numbers.  
GalleyCat reported the list of writers that were awarded 2010 Guggenheim Fellowships. 

Israel’s largest bookstore chain, Tzomet Sfarim, removed a controversial book from their shelves after complaints from their customers, reports The Jerusalem Post.  The book, The National Left by Shmuel Hasfari and Eldad Yaniv, criticizes the settler movement.

In Spanish ebook news, Grammata will sell the Alex eReader in Spain and open a Spanish language ebookstore online in July 2010.   …

Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

The iPad has garnered a lot of attention this past week.  It was released on April 3 and sales took off.  Mashable.com is quoting some iPad stats from Steve Jobs: iPad sales have exceeded 450,000 and 600,000 iBooks have been downloaded.  That’s a lot of ebooks!

An article at thebookseller.com reports that in the US in 2009, ebook sales exceeded audiobook sales for the first time.

Good news for air travellers in the US from the TSA’s blog: ebook readers, iPads and other small electronic items can be left in your carry-on bag for checkpoint screening. 

Mail Online is reporting that a proof edition of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book has been found in Britain with a handwritten inscription by the author dedicating the book to one of his daughters who died a few years later.

The University of …

Review: Seven-Tenths by David Fisichella

Format Read: eARC from NetGalleyNumber of Pages: 232Release Date: April 1, 2010Publisher: Leapfrog PressFormats Available: PaperbackPurchasing Info: Amazon, Goodreads

Book Blurb:  An engineer whose life is in shambles meets a blind oceanographer who spends her life at sea. In this memoir of their courtship, David Fisichella writes of science, love, adventure, and danger on the ocean. He survives heavy weather, an equator crossing, and a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia. He learns how scientists study ocean physics and why their research is so important, how people live for months on a crowded boat, and what it means to be working for, and dating, the chief scientist. Told with humor, gritty details, and a refreshing sense of wonder about our oceans.

My Thoughts:“Love, Piracy and Science at Sea.” That subtitle really caught my attention right off the …