TGIF - Feature & Follow Friday

* Quick note: Blogger seems to be flaky this morning, giving me a 'bX-tm5jc4' error every time I try to leave a comment but I am still following everybody back . . . I'll leave some comments whenever Blogger is fixed.*Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to provide some much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each of...

Read More

eBook Review: The Traveling Dildo Salesman by Kevin L. Donihe

Bizarro is, as the publishers proudly proclaim, the genre of the weird. It's definitely an acquired taste, and while the more extreme or obscene elements may cause some readers to shy away, the sheer quality of the writing is often excellent, and the cleverness of the more surreal elements is always worth the read.Kevin L. Donihe's The Traveling Dildo Salesman is a collection that definitely flirts with the boundaries of the genre, but which...

Read More

Christopher Priest on How (NOT) To Win a Genre Award

Awards, literary or otherwise, are tricky things. To paraphrase the old saying: you can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time.Every author, every reader, and reviewer, and every critic has their own particular tastes and their own particular prejudices that they bring to a book. For every book that somebody loves, you can guarantee that somebody else despises it, somebody else thought it was passable, somebody else couldn't finish it, and somebody...

Read More

Waiting On Wednesday: The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:The Apocalypse Codex by Charles StrossIn the world of the Laundry, there is One True Religion — and we know how to deal with cultists when we find them. When a prominent televangelist with connections to 10 Downing Street shows disturbing...

Read More

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme created by Kristi at The Story Siren. The idea of the meme is pretty simple - share the books you bought for yourself, won via a contest or first-read program, received as part of a book tour, or were provided with for the purposes of a review.Since my wife already complains (good-naturedly, of course) about the bookshelves that have spread across two bedrooms, the pile on the floor by our bed, the pile...

Read More

TGIF - Feature & Follow Friday

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to provide some much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each of whom feature a chosen blog for the week, it's an interesting way to get to know one another.Question of the Week: What is the longest book you've read? What are your favorite 600+ page reads?Oh, that's an easy...

Read More

Waiting On Wednesday: The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen BaxterAn unmissable milestone for fans of Sir Terry Pratchett: the first SF novel in over three decades in which the visionary inventor of Discworld has created a new universe of tantalizing...

Read More

eBook Review: Cinema of Shadows by Michael West

Michael West's Cinema of Shadows is the most fun I've had between the pages of a book in a long time. I honestly can't remember the last time I felt so compelled to keep my wife awake for just a few minutes longer, so I could read just one more scene aloud, only to feel the need to finish just one more chapter.It's just that kind of book.This is supernatural horror at its darkest, wildest, and most unapologetic. It's a story populated...

Read More

Paperback Review: The Fermata by Nicholson Baker

Nicholson Baker's The Fermata is a strange read . . . awkward and hard-to-categorize, much less review. It's comprised of equal parts literature, science-fiction, romance, comedy, erotica, and memoir.On the one hand, it absolutely deserves an five-star review for its sheer audacity, innovation, and mastery of language. This is a very clever, beautifully written novel that manages to deliberately meander without boring the reader. It's also a...

Read More

TGIF - Feature & Follow Friday

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to provide some much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each of whom feature a chosen blog for the week, it's an interesting way to get to know one another.Question of the Week:What is the best book you've read in the last month? What is the worst book you've read in the last...

Read More

Waiting On Wednesday: The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine & Tee MorrisEvildoers beware! Retribution is at hand, thanks to Britain's best-kept secret agents!!Certainly no strangers to peculiar occurrences, agents Wellington Books and Eliza Braun are nonetheless...

Read More

Hardcover Review: The Scar by Sergey & Marina Dyachenko

The Scar is one of the most original and most intriguing fantasy novels I've read in quite some time. It's a shame that the cover blurb tries so hard to compare it to the likes of Robin Hobb and Michael Moorcock, because the comparison really does the novel a disservice. I love them both, but they are truly unique authors with a style that's almost entirely their own. If you make the mistake of reading The Scar with those expectations, you're...

Read More

TGIF - Feature & Follow Friday

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to provide some much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each of whom feature a chosen blog for the week, it's an interesting way to get to know one another.Q: Have you ever looked at book’s cover and thought, This is going to horrible? But, was instead pleasantly surprised? Show...

Read More

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff SalyardsMany tales are told of the Syldoon Empire and its fearsome soldiers, who are known throughout the world for their treachery and atrocities. Some say that the Syldoon eat virgins and babies-or perhaps...

Read More

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Probability Angels by Joseph Devon

I'll be completely honest - I've become rather jaded with the whole angels-among-us theme, and have generally lost patience with the concept of dead loved ones watching over us. It's a story that's been done to death, and usually with such heavy-handedness, and such intimate ties to matters of faith, that I lose interest long before the end.Imagine my surprise, when Probability Angels turned out to be, quite possibly, one of the most original...

Read More

INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Probability Angels by Joseph Devon

Please extend a warm welcome to Joseph Devon, who has wandered into the ruins today to talk about his book, Probability Angels. Stick around for my review, and be sure to read through to the end for details on today's giveaway.αωαωαωαωαωαωαωBeauty in Ruins: If you could exchange lives with any of your characters for a day which character would you choose and why?Joseph Devon: Do I get to have their bodies and such? I’ve got a samurai named Kyo...

Read More

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well. Hosted by Sheila over at Book Journey, it's a weekly meme with the added incentive of contest for those who visit 10 or more of the participants and leave a comment telling her how many you visited.The idea of the meme is to first post the book(s) you read last week, and then the book(s) currently being read...

Read More