Teaser Tuesday #51 - Odd Thomas - Odd Interlude

The book I'm reading is the first part of Dean Koontz's new Odd Thomas novella, Odd Interlude. His next Odd Thomas novel is releasing this Aug. As part of the buzz, a three part novella is being released in stages. This is from Page 2 of Part 1:

"Annamaria insists that mere hours earlier, I saved entire cities, sparing many hundreds of thousands from nuclear terrorism. Even if that is most likely true, I feel as though, in the process, I have forfeited a piece of my soul."

Really Mini Summary:

I find Odd Thomas books weirdly interesting and Odd's endearing quirkiness just draws me in.

First time visit? Check out photos of most beautiful US public libraries, John Updike's rules for reviews, and a question of whether hardbacks are dying.

Let me know if you follow this blog, I'll follow back! 

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To join into the TT fun, visit the link below!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

New Harry Potter material released in a video game!

The latest news - J.K. Rowling has written bits and pieces of stories from the Harry Potter universe, into a new format of "augmented-reality reading" that is supposed to make reading a richer, more interactive experience.

Released as Wonderbook, Book of Spells:
http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/wonderbook-book-of-spells-ps3.html 


What's interesting is that the gaming industry is in a bit of a limbo right now; with everyone in a waiting mode to see what the next new innovation in gaming tech will be - could this "reading++" experience(I'm coining words, now) be it?


More details:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18327724

Armchair BEA - The Last Day and one more post

The last day of BEA has an intriguing question for us armchair BEA followers: "Ask the Experts"

Ask The Experts. In your post, ask the visitors to your blog for blogging advice.

My questions:
1. How do you avoid any blogging "slumps", where you stay away from your blog for a week or two on end?
2. Do you find, like I do, that weekends are slow for views/people reading your posts?

My tip:
Get Cross-blog audiences! Guest post, or interview on other blogs to help promote yours.
I feature a blogger interview every month here. 
Would you like to be featured here?
 
Read my first Armchair BEA post here 
Read sample author interviews or blogger spotlights here.

Read my interview to find out my secret publishing industry hopes!

The lovely Vix from the blog Ttoria is interviewing me today!
It's got pictures of me and my newborn son, the answer to my favorite book (I bet even my husband gets this one wrong, I had to cudgel my brain to come up with just one favorite) and something that made me laugh out loud this week:


http://ttoria.blogspot.in/2012/06/interview-with-dee-from-evolving-books.html#more

An Armchair, BEA and You

BEA, for most non-American readers, would be an unknown. The Book Expo America is a massive 4 day event in NYC, starting 4th June, with over 1300 stalls, and 500 authors (FIVE HUNDRED!!)
Not only does it feature authors and publishers, but plenty of bloggers and other folks in the publishing industry.
 
Official BEA website with schedules (Don't read this, you will only want to be there, I promise):
http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/Concurrent-Events/BEAs-Book-Blogger/ 
 
To experience BEA madness without actually being there:
http://www.armchairbea.com/ 

Finally, the most awesome guide to BEA yet - use this to find titles on NetGalley that you'd enjoy reading:
Galleycat quick guide to BEA

What did world-famous authors read?

The awesome people at Flavorwire & Legacy Libraries have looked at titles on the bookshelves of author's - so here's how you and I get a glimpse into the books read by some Greats.


Well, here's a peek at the books on the bookshelves of Sylvia Plath, Herman Melville (of Moby-Dick fame, to all teens out there), Mark Twain, Fitzgerald and others!

Legacy Libraries is one of the perks of being a LibraryThing member - I personally haven't signed up (YET!) but perhaps if you are a member, you can tell me why its good to join? Goodreads keeps me happy, and I dont want to have yet another time consuming profile/thing-to-monitor.

Review: Artemis Fowl - The Lost Colony and The Time Paradox

Grade B+ Review of Artemis Fowl Books 5 & 6
Published by Disney-Hyperion


Why I read them: The 8th and final Artemis Fowl book is coming out July 2012, this seemed a good time to catch up!
 
The Lost Colony refers to a colony of Demons that have been out of sync with our universe for a thousand years. Artemis is on a race against time to prevent the humans from discovering their existence and hence exterminating them.
Quote from The Lost Colony:

"Sool was the king of red tape. As the dwarfs said, he couldn't make a decision if he was holding a jug of water and his bum-flap was on fire. "  

Plus: Artemis meets his nemesis, the young genius Minerva.  Plenty of witty comments and shenanigans occur - very fast paced. The God-names are obvious references to their intellect,
Minus: Her role wasn't wasn't as pivotal as I expected. Seemed like Minerva's story line ran out of steam about halfway through and it all became about Artemis per usual . The book overall wasn't memorable, but ended on a cliffhanger. Recommend that you borrow this novel AND have the next one ready to read!

Teaser Tuesday #50 - Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart

The book I'm about halfway through is Jane Lindskold's Wolf's Head, Wolf's Head (Firekeeper #2):

Out of fairness to Firekeeper, he spoke not one word to protect himself from accusations of being too credulous, but spoke as if he believed—as he realized that he did—both that she could understand the wolf and that the wolf could read the winds as humans read print.
When he finished his report, the king said mildly, "Well, that's interesting indeed. I wonder..."

Really Mini Summary:
Reading this for the second time in a row, as I didn't get through it first time. Picks up interest after the first few chapters - when the characters are visiting a foreign country, exploring new customs that involve weird face-painting!


First time visit? Check out photos of most beautiful US public libraries, John Updike's rules for reviews, and a question of whether hardbacks are dying.
Let me know if you follow this blog, I'll follow back! 

***

To join into the TT fun, visit the link below!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Extremely Silly Photos of Serious writers!

The two I want to show here are of Ernest Hemingway kicking a beer can & Neil Gaiman with Chuthulu on his head. Click through for Colette, Proust, Mark Twain and others *grins* 

Here are pics via Flavorwire

What happens if you try to ban a book

Take that, censor boards!

Source: unshelved.com via Deepali on Pinterest