bookshelves of doom

Another reason to think about a trip to NYC.

Matilda might be heading to Broadway.

The Composites.

Images of literary characters created with law enforcement composite software.

Mockingjay drawing tutorial.

By Karen from Norway, via Courtney Waters' Pinterest.

Seussian Taxidermy Sculptures.

Many more at DeviantArt by artist Biscuit Boy.

#litpickuplines

I'm sure you know where to find them, what with the hashtag and all.

Regardless of how you feel about Valentine's Day...

...you'll want to bookmark this link: the 573 love letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett are now online.

Awww.

New YA: February 14.

Hardbacks out today:

Graffiti Moon, by Cath Crowley:

The dialogue pops, the voices and perspectives ring true, and Leo—Ed’s partner in crime—writes poetry that occasionally brings to mind early Tom Waits. I dog-eared so many pages that it would take less time to reread the book than it would to go back and find all of the passages I want to remember. Like Anna and the French Kiss, it’s a book that I loved so much that I hugged it when I was done reading. Yes, literally.

Amazon | Indiebound.

Various Positions, by Martha Schabas:

It's beautifully written. That should already be apparent from the excerpt above. But it's not just in the way that Schabas strings her words together. It's in the depth of emotion, and in Schabas' complete honesty. Georgia is a sharp observer—which is fitting in a book so full of cruel truths—but she doesn't always understand what she observes; she's extremely self-aware, but doesn't always understand her own feelings; she's very composed on the surface, but her insides are a mass of confusion. She's a difficult—for herself, those who know her, and those of us in the audience—mixture of mature and immature, understanding and confusion. 

The Vanishing Game, by Kate Kae Myers
Amazon | Indiebound 

Thief's Covenant (A Widdershins Adventure), by Ari Marmell
Amazon | Indiebound 

Someone Else's Life, by Katie Dale
Amazon | Indiebound 

Scarlet, by A. C. Gaughen
Amazon | Indiebound 

The Nightmare Garden: The Iron Codex Book Two, by Caitlin Kittredge
Amazon | Indiebound  

The Galahad Legacy, by Dom Testa
Amazon | Indiebound 

Fractured Light, by Rachel McClellan
Amazon | Indiebound 

The Butterfly Clues, by Kate Ellison
Amazon | Indiebound 

Bewitching, by Alex Flinn
Amazon | Indiebound 

Arcadia Awakens, by Kai Meyer
Amazon | Indiebound 

Paperbacks out today:

Blessed (Tantalize), by Cynthia Leitich Smith:

Pros: Everything. Writing, characterization, plotting, surprises, chemistry, originality, action, confidence in and respect for the audience, EVERYTHING. I love these books. LOVE. THESE. BOOKS.

Wolf Blood, by N. M. Browne
Amazon | Indiebound 

Orchards, by Holly Thompson
Amazon | Indiebound 

Wish, by Joseph Monninger
Amazon | Indiebound 

So Shelly, by Ty Roth
Amazon | Indiebound 

Sektion 20, by Paul Dowswell
Amazon | Indiebound 

Kindred, by Tammar Stein
Amazon | Indiebound 

The Iron Thorn The Iron Codex Book One, by Caitlin Kittredge
Amazon | Indiebound 

Girl Parts, by John M. Cusick
Amazon | Indiebound 

The Fire Opal, by Regina McBride
Amazon | Indiebound 

Death Sentence: Escape from Furnace 3, by Alexander Gordon Smith
Amazon | Indiebound 

Cloaked, by Alex Flinn
Amazon | Indiebound 

Brave New Love: 13 Dystopian Tales of Desire, by Paula Guran
Amazon | Indiebound 

2011 Cybils Winners announced!

I got so excited about the YA SF/F winner that I had to jump up and run across the hall and tell my co-worker buddy who won before actually settling down to write this.

BLOOD RED ROAD WON.

AND I NOMINATED IT.

ROAR!!*

Sidenote: one of the panelists—who, like Voldemort, shall not be named—said that it "read like the Harlequin Romance version of Mad Max". I'm shaking my tiny fist at you, Unnamed Panelist. (But not really. Because I think it's a fabulously hilarious line. And because it's kind of true. IN A GOOD WAY.)

Anyway, on the straight-up YA side of things, the award went to Geoff Herbach's Stupid Fast, which is way cool, as it's always nice to see funny books win awards. And you can see the rest of the winners at the Cybils website.

I shall now update my 2011 Cybils Pinterest page.

_______________________________

*I kind of feel like I won the Cybils. In a totally Take-No-Glory-Away-From-the-Real-Winners sort of way, of course.

RIP, David Kelly.

From the Guardian:

Despite playing old codgers, he was one of life's great dandies. His actor friend Niall Buggy said: "He was the best-dressed actor I've ever known – even when I look at myself." Happily married to the actor Laurie Morton, whom he met at the Gate theatre in the days of Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir (they founded the theatre in 1928), Kelly was always attired off stage in hand-stitched shirts, Jermyn Street suits and a trademark bow tie.

:(

The most random item I've seen branded with the Hunger Games logo.

There are a couple other Hunger Games items posted at io9, but they, at least made sense: action figures and a mug.

FLIP FLOPS?

REALLY, REALLY UGLY FLIP FLOPS??

Speaking of a whole lot of ridiculous fun...

...fans of the classic Teen Camping Horror Movie subgenre need to see Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.

Bonus? Alan Tudyk!:

 

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter...

...looks like a whole lot of ridiculous fun:

 

New pendants in Ye Olde Etsy Shoppe.

Including some made from that Jane Eyre series:

and some from a German series dedicated to the ever-terrifying Struwwelpeter:

and some from the US 2006 Favorite Children's Book Animals series:

After making all of those, I had a minor meltdown on eBay and bought a bunch more stamps... so there are definitely more to come.

Heather Hepler.

Her website.

Her blog.

Titles I've written about:

Love? Maybe. (2012):

It moved along and technically had many of the classic elements of a likable romance—including the male best friend who is suddenly hot—but for a Book about Lurrrve, I never felt any real heart. It ticks all of the boxes—including a romance for Mom—but never does more than that. In other words, there was no swooning. 

I also wrote about it at Kirkus.

Love? Maybe. -- Heather Hepler

Piper's birthday is on Valentine's Day. Thus, she has a huge collection of heart-themed items.

Which is ironic, as she's pretty cynical about the whole romance thing—although she's always been the dumper and never the dumpee, she's seen enough Romantic Trainwrecks to want to stay far, far away from it all.

But then, just a few weeks before Valentine's Day, one of her best friends suffers her own Romantic Trainwreck.

So, in the spirit of friendship, Piper agrees not only to help Claire find a date for Valentine's Day, but to attempt to find one for herself.

Pluses:

• Set in a candy shop!
• Gentle little romance starring a heroine who is a responsible daughter, great older sister, and good friend.

Minuses:

• Despite all of Piper's good qualities—and her complicated feelings about her father and ex-stepfather—she never became real to me. 
• It moved along and technically had many of the classic elements of a likable romance—including the male best friend who is suddenly hot—but for a Book about Lurrrve, I never felt any real heart. It ticks all of the boxes—including a romance for Mom—but never does more than that. In other words, there was no swooning. To some degree, of course, that makes sense, given Piper's mindframe and disposition. But, no matter fair-minded I attempt to be, it comes down to this: a romance without any swooning is not a particularly enjoyable romance.

Recommended to: Someone looking for an inoffensive contemporary, but only if s/he's read everything else and/or is dying for a book set around Valentine's Day.

__________________________

Author page.

__________________________

Amazon | Indiebound

__________________________

Book source: ILLed through my library.