Angieville

For your Thursday allotment of giggles, I present the Romance By You website. That's right. For only $39.95 + shipping, you can be the proud owner of your very own personalized romance novel! Simply fill in the blanks: girl's and boy's names, toss in a couple of physical characteristics, an exotic locale or two, and presto! You've got yourself a story. Now the only question is which of the nine titles to go with. I'm thinking it's got to be either Click for Love or ER Fever . Choices, choices... (via Ilona Andrews ' excellent blog)

Recently it's been brought to my attention that a good number of my very favorite heroines are incredibly stubborn girls. Downright bullheaded at times. I began thinking about why I seem to respond so favorably to characters who can almost be relied upon to buck the norm--their society, their family, the very path their lives seem to be taking. Particularly when this recalcitrance blinds them to a few key, sometimes obvious realities and their degree of importance in their lives. I realize (and completely understand why) this oftentimes troubling quality in a character can really rub some readers wrong. I'll frequently recommend a favorite book with one of these gals in it and it gets returned or reviewed negatively because they could not stand the main character and her inability to back down or admit she was wrong. So. In these instances, why do I like them so much? Instead of being turned off, why do I actually relish their refusal to compromise? One of my most beloved stubb...

Deanna Raybourn posted a link to a fan's artistic rendition of her character --Mr. Nicholas Brisbane. As I know a few of you are admirers of Mr. Brisbane, I thought I'd post the link. Perhaps it'll help tide you over till the 4th Lady Julia Grey novel. He's really quite lovely. Scar and all. I recently ran across this rather whimsical site called The Book Seer . You enter the book you just read (along with the author) and it generates a series of books recommendations for you. They seem to be drawn from Amazon , LibraryThing , and BookArmy . This might not prove excessively useful but it's good for a spot of fun and some messing around. I keep a long list of upcoming books I'm looking forward to and Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire was a fairly recent addition. Rosemary and Rue is the first in a new urban fantasy series and it looks thoroughly promising. To get a taste of what's to come go read this excerpt Ms. McGuire has posted on her site.

And the winner is. . . tigrlily ! Please contact me with your mailing address and we'll get your copy of Shiver on its way. I was delighted to see there are so many Mercy Thompson and Kate Daniels fans out there as they are my very favorite urban fantasy series. Lots of good shoutouts for Blood and Chocolate and Bitten , both of which I've read. I've got the Kitty Norville books sitting in my stack and I'm eyeing them as we speak. Thanks to Maggie for the interview, thanks to Scholastic for the giveaway, and thanks to all of you for the wonderful comments and recommendations!

In the spirit of summer reading lists of yore, I thought I'd focus on another book that was on one of the many lists I went through. Or rather the sequel to one of those books-- Morning is a Long Time Coming -- the sequel to Summer of My German Soldier . Reading Summer of My German Soldier kind of wrecked my twelve-year-old self. I loved it, but man did it hurt. I was on Patty's side from the beginning and I was frankly horrified at the way her family treated her. Particularly her atrocious mother. In fact, it was probably the pains she suffered at the hands of her parents that lingered in my heart far longer than the loss of her sweet friend. I remember being outraged and bereft at the end of it, having come up hard against Patty's many injustices, both social and personal. It's a beautiful book, but man does it hurt. Fortunately, this lovely sequel went a long way toward healing that hurt. Just as it did for Patty. And every time I read it it makes me want to go to s...

I'd seen this cover batted about the internets for awhile and I admired it at every encounter. It really is effective, I think, in giving you an accurate and enticing glimpse into the goods inside. The slant of the modern font, the steampunky parasol, the charmingly off kilter stance of the heroine. Put that together with it's killer tagline, "A novel of vampires, werewolves, and parasols." It was pretty much a foregone conclusion I'd be picking Soulless up. Then at BEA I happened to turn a corner and come across a delightful lady sitting at a small table at the Orbit booth. I approached and she smiled and inquired as to whether I would like some tea and shortbread. Oh, and perhaps a signed copy of her book? I nodded, completely charmed, accepted a cookie, and then caught sight of the cover of her book. It was Soulless ! And the lovely lady was Gail Carriger . Miss Alexia Tarrabotti is larger than both the stuffy Victorian social mores and the stiff stays of he...

It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Diana Peterfreund 's work. I discovered her Secret Society Girl series last year and, in what seemed like no time at all, it quickly became one of my very favorites. Tap & Gown -- the concluding volume of the quartet--came out in May and it was a perfectly splendid end to a series I know I'm going to re-read over and over again. The problem was I went into a bit of mourning when it was over. What saved me was knowing a brand new Peterfreund book was coming out just three short months away. The first in a new series (and a YA one at that!). I let the knowledge of the rather wonderfully titled Rampant carry me through as I said my goodbyes (for now) to Amy and the whole Eli gang. Astrid Llewelyn's mother is nuts. For the whole of her sixteen years she has raised Astrid to believe in unicorns. And not just any old sparkly, frolicking through a meadow unicorns. Rabid, slavering, gore you through the chest and tear the skin from yo...