In celebration of Sherlock Holmes's birthday (Jan 6) and the release of the new movie, BooksOnBoard is offering free Sherlock Holmes e-books. How can you go wrong with Holmes? Especially when he's free? YOU CANNOT. Get downloading.

I was in the bookstore (as you can imagine, this is a rare occurrence) and saw a book that made me stop everything I was doing, including breathing. No, it wasn't a rare special edition or an early release that had me staring at the shelf. It was, in fact, a book I'd never heard of before: The Girls Guide to Gaming. Obviously it was misshelves, as I found it in the science fiction and fantasy section, but that's not what bothers me (this time). Let's take a closer look at the specimen, shall we?



Yeeeah. The product description is even more charming, with phrases like "Are you, your wife, your daughter, your niece or your best friend a Nintendo DS or DS Lite girl gamer? Do you want complete guides to Animal Crossing, Nintendogs, My Sims, Zoo Tycoon and all of your favourite games? Tired of all the other gaming publications ignoring all your favourite games in favour of the latest big boy's toys? So you want all the latest hints and tips especially written for you?"

I can't get past the fact that enough people thought this book was a good idea that it got published. I am raging to the point where I can't even express all the ways in which this book makes me froth at the mouth, so I figure this would be a good time to turn it over to you people. Share your rants about this book with me, and my favourite rant will be sent a 20$ gift certificate to the bookseller of your choice, for you to spend on anything that is not this book.

Ready? Get ranting!

With the holidays officially behind us, most hardcore book lovers are swimming in shiny new TBR piles (or have gift certificates with which to create their own). Which means that stack of yours is finally going to topple over and bury you if you don't choose something to read right away.

And this brings me to my point. How do you select the next book to read from your TBR list, however large it is? Do you go by first-come, first-read? Do you close your eyes and grab whatever's closest? Do you use a strict catalog system or let the fickle finger of fate decide? Is there some sort of "priority" that shuffles certain books ahead of the queue? I am nosy, and want to know.

Well, it's that time, folks. So I'll let the cats speak for me:



( Wishing you the best New Year, and that you don't end up like Fred. Who's Fred? Check out behind the cut. )

For the sake of the utterly unobservant and the good folks who tend to read updates on something other than our front page, there have been some minor but significant changes. Ok, one minor but significant change, namely the gorgeous banner designed and painted for us by the incomparable (and only slightly evil) Farlander. If you've never experienced his amazing talent and diversity, you should go explore his rather geektastic gallery. He's the only artist I know who can go from cartoony Star Wars love to Les Misérables to a lifelike portrait of Isaac Asimov. I mean, just look at the insane detail in that banner art (if you're wondering, yes, every book has a title) and try to tell me you're not interested in seeing more of his work.

Also, he makes this page look very very pretty.

After hearing the doom and gloom about flagging book sales for months now, Crain's year-end report gives the surprise announcement that books didn't do so bad, actually. According to the numbers they looked at, total book sales were only down 3% from last year, and if you take into account e-book sales, it breaks even with last year.

It's occasions like this I wish I could grow a beard so I could stroke it as I murmur "Iiiiinteresting."

Of course, a number of bookstores have closed or announced their impending close over the past year or so, which seems to counter Crain's claims of a breakeven with last year, but they're crediting a large number of sales to Amazon's price war with Wal-mart, neither of which is exactly a bookstore.

Amazon has announced that on Christmas day, for the first time ever, they sold more e-books than paper books. Just like everyone else on the internet, I have a few things to say about this. First of all, duh. E-book readers were a hot ticket gift item this year (just ask all the many people who are still waiting for their Nooks to arrive), and it's not like there are a whole lot of bookstores open on Christmas day. Of course people are going to be taking advantage of the instant gratification made available by e-book readers and the internet. It's a beautiful thing, it really is. Welcome to the addiction, all you new Kindle/Sony/Nook owners.

The e-book enthusiasts are celebrating the increase in e-book sales, and the bookstore huggers are predicting doom and gloom. I shall do neither, not only because both opinions are all over the blogosphere but because this was a one-time spike. Yes, it shows a slow increase in e-book sales, but let's face it, e-book sales will not surpass paper book sales again until... well, probably next December 25.

I do have to wonder, though, what exactly does the term "e-book sale" mean? The kindle e-book bestseller list is dominated by books available for free. According to Galleycat, 64 of the top 100 "bestsellers" are free kindle books. Should these count as bestsellers, if they're available to be downloaded for free? How do the books which are actually being sold for money compete? Wording aside (we'd have the same problem if they changed the label from "bestseller" to "most popular downloads" or something equally neutral sounding), would we rather know the list of books people are most willing to actually pay for, or do we prefer the freebies included in there, too?

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company 2009
Genre: Horror/Romance
Sub-genre: YA; Gothic horror; Paranormal romance
Rating: 3 pints of blood




This is another book I bought for the pretty cover - and it is very pretty - and was ultimately disappointed by. I try not to think of star ratings while I'm reading a book, but with this one I would oscillate between being 2-stars-annoyed and 4-stars-entertained, all within the space of a couple of pages. It took me a long time to read - there was a gap in the middle where I put it down for a week or so and then struggled to pick it back up again (and not just because it's heavy!). If we have to compare, though, this is a better written book than the other recently released paranormal YA with a gorgeous cover and a similar setting, Fallen.


( If you go down to the woods today / You're sure of a big surprise... )

Ok, by now everyone is well aware I can be pretty picky when it comes to book covers. So it should come as no surprise that I have a new cover-centric rant.

Most series have a similar look to their covers. Obviously there are differences to suit the individual story, but they tend to use a similar art style and layout so readers can tell at a glance that this is the latest book in a series they've been following. This means the books look all pretty and matchy on my bookshelf, and I am therefore happy.

Occasionally, though, there is a dramatic shift in the covers mid-series. Take a look at Vicki Pettersson's Zodiac books:



The first three have a similar art style, the same layout, and in general the same tone. The covers set a mood, and while the pictures and cover quotes differ, the mood for all three books are more or less the same. The fourth book? Wildly different in every way. I am annoyed. The difference is so drastic, you'd have to be specifically looking for the new release to realize it was part of the same series. Also, it is non-matchy, and my OCD says "NO THIS IS UNCOOL CHANGE IT CHANGE IT CHANGE IT."

This isn't even about which type of art or layout I like better, it's the dramatic change halfway through. WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? See, visual branding works. It really does. Something dramatic and new is off-putting because my first instinct is "no wait, that can't be the same series. The author must have done something different." And also, it doesn't match on my bookshelves. Did I mention how much that annoys me? (You can imagine I feel the same way about re-releases.)

Merry Christmas (or Happy Friday, to those who don't celebrate). For the romance readers among you, I come bearing gifts: All Romance has 178 romance novels available to download for free, everything from historicals to paranormals and even LGBT. Go ye hence, download, and enjoy your loot!

I was going to pretend to be intelligent this evening, but it's Christmas Eve and I'm feeling a little braindead, so instead I'm gonna share some festive cheer from one of my very favourite Christmas movies.



(I don't know what it says about me that this is one of my favourites, so you can judge that for yourselves.)

I come bearing gifts! Here's a video of Neil Gaiman reading his novella Odd and the Frost Giants in a crowded bookstore. You'll note frustrated tv people trying to catch Gaiman's face through all the hair (especially tricky when you consider he's in a circular area, with fans in every direction).


Stay tuned tomorrow for more holiday presents.

Well with the holidays here it's only a short time before this year is going to roll over into the next. I know the burning question on everyone's mind is what to expect from digital publishing in the year to come. Well, lucky for you all, I have the top ten list for said question!

Click here to head over to LibreDigital to check out the Top 10 Things to Know About Digital Publishing in 2010. Satisfy that burning curiosity.

Random House has come out with a new application for the iPhone that promises to keep readers in touch with their favourite authors, boasting big names like Dave Barry, Sophie Kinsella, and Karen Marie Moning. According to Mashable, a social media guide:

"...the apps will allow authors to promote and sell their books, notify fans about tours and store appearances and “engage fans on a personal level” — meaning readers will have access to book previews, bonus content, interactions with other book lovers, audiobook clips, videos and book trailers."

Hmm... call me crazy, but this sounds an awful lot like blogging, doesn't it? How, uh, original! I rather love how the social media site is treating this application as something totally new and unheard of. Imagine authors being asked to actively participate in their own promotion and to benefit from modern technology. My, that's an unexpected twist.

As we're right in between the holidays, with Hannukah over and Christmas not yet begun, it seems a good time to talk about wishlists. So what books are on yours? Do you have books you're hoping to get gifted (or are hoping to trade that gift certificate in for), or is there a book soon-to-be released you just can't wait for? Which books have you all giddy with anticipation right now?

Tired of people telling you all romance novels are really just chick porn in book format? So is author Meljean Brooks, who came up with a very clever post including visuals of what she would consider "book porn." (Not entirely work safe.) My personal favourite is the BDSM book.

This does, of course, explain how my bookshelves keep running out of space. They really are multiplying when I'm not looking!

Recently, Neil Gaiman said he began blogging to change the expectations people had of him when he showed up for a reading or a signing. It used to be an issue for him that people would be disappointed upon meeting him, having expected someone 6'5", dressed in black velvet and lace, who spoke in perfect iambic pentameter couplets. An artist. He then began blogging because "it's hard to romanticize someone who was just talking about cleaning up cat vomit at 3am."

It seems to have worked out alright for him. A lot of authors begin blogging because they're told it's good (and free) advertising, but aside from adding to their presence on the web, blogs can give the author a more personal voice and make readers feel like they "know" the writer.

Which of course leads me to ask: Have you ever had your perception of an author shifted by taking a peek into their blog? Whether they were funny when their books were not, or every single post complained about the weather and you wondered where they ever found the creativity to write an entire novel, let me know!

I'm doing a lot of playing catchup this week, since last week the COLDFLUTHING OF DOOM hit my house (you may have noticed how slow the blog was last week). As part of that catchup, I figured I'd drop in a bit about Random House's battle for e-book rights. It seems Random House prefers to believe having the rights to publish a book should automatically include the digital rights, even if the contract was signed long before the advent of e-books. Legal battles between authors (or the author's estate) are ensuing in the case of backlist titles which have not yet entered the public domain but have been around long enough the original contract never considered the idea of digitalization.

The Author's Guild in all its wisdom has called Random House's efforts "regrettable and unhelpful". With such decisive phrasing, you can really tell they have a whackload of authors at their disposal, hey?

With the holidays in full swing, this seems like the perfect time to announce that Borders bookstore is permanently closing. Cheer and joy to everyone, and oh yeah, Dec 22 is the final day, so all Borders employees will be out of a job as of Dec 24. Happy holidays!

Ok, ok. Borders has been struggling for a while now, and there's still a (very slim) chance the chain could be saved by a buyer, but considering the announcement has already been made public, the saving seems unlikely.

At least there's likely to be some really good sale prices until then?

Well, it's getting to the end of the year, so it's about time to look over the treasures I've accumulated over the past 12 months and hold up the best gems. Mmm, sparkly. All links lead to the reviews, and while the books may or may not be 2009 releases, they're all reviews from the past year (and therefore newish to my bookshelves).

( The best of the best. )