Contests

• Joyfully Jay is giving away an ebook copy of The Brat-tastic Jayk Parker by JA Rock. Closes June 7 (t0day) at 11:59 pm.

• The Novel Approach is giving away an ebook copy of either Tarnished Gold or For Men Like Us by Brita Addams. Closes 11:59 pm PDT, June 10.

• The Armchair Reader is giving away an ebook copy of Save the Date by Kate McMurray. Closes June 11 at midnight CDT.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Fiction Vixen (romance/UF) and Tor.com (PNR).

• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.

• Becky Black has links for authors.

• KZ Snow considers how the early days of ebook publishing spoiled her.

• Kaetrin wonders why people in books don’t just talk to each other (or misunderstandings as plot point).

• The Hypeless Romantic lists the book blog land generalizations she finds most annoying.

• Fanfiction infographic.

• “Why fiction is dangerous” – Neil Gaiman.

• Turn several books into a secret storage compartment. (via Lifehacker)

• Book wallpaper.

• The Little Prince is going to be a movie…

• Books that don’t exist.

• Cats can make reading more challenging.

• Definitely false advertising.

Ebookity

• Android reading apps.

Think, Learn, Do, Make

• Study finds that sunscreen slows aging.

• Use science to cook better.

• “When (if ever) did the sun finally set on the British Empire?“

• 20 odd June holidays. (You’ve already missed National Hug Your Cat Day…)

• Google Reader: NewsBar (iOS), Reeder and other apps will be supported by Feedly, Feedly update, Curata Reader, Google on why Google Reader is being cut.

Cookity

• 10 recipes for green beans. (My favorite way is with soy sauce, some peanut sauce, and a dash of sriracha.)

• 8 recipes for chickpeas.

• 5 filling noodle salads.

• Cold noodle salad with creamy peanut sauce.

• Quinoa confetti salad.

• Airplane salad with greens, grains, and seeds.

• Spicy black bean cakes with avocado butter. (via The Kitchn)

• Green curry veggie burgers with black beans and walnuts.

• Mason jar salads. (via The Kitchn)

• Soy sauce eggs. (via The Kitchn)

• Chili crab deviled eggs. (via The Kitchn)

• Seared sea scallops with gingered pea puree and cilantro gremolata.

• Jagermeister chicken tacos. (via mental_floss)

• Mocha latte frozen yogurt. (via The Kitchn)

• Frappucino on a stick. (via Consumerist)

• Samoa popcorn. (via The Kitchn)

• Fresh strawberry buttermilk cake. (via The Kitchn)

• Very berry pie bars. (via The Kitchn)

Drinkity

• Sweet and sour cherry sparkler cocktail.

• 7 rhubarb drinks.

• 5 sangria recipes.

Gluten-Free

• No-bake granola.

• Pulled pork on a gluten-free Hawaiian roll.

• Brown rice risotto.

• Dark chocolate almond butter cups.

Cool

• Minneapolis.

• Baby with superpowers.

• Ewok village LEGO set.

• Links from kmkat.

• A collection of the Hockey Night in Canada (HNiC) intro videos for the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Cool or Wha…?

• Death Star bird house.

Wha…?

• Girl Scout cookie-flavored coffee creamer.

• Travel hoodie pillow.

• Anatomical wine carafes.

• Hands-free Whopper holder.

• Cicada scampi.

• Bacon and egg doughnut sandwiches.

LOL

• 21 autocorrects from May.

• Humorous Amazon reviews.

• I know that feeling.

• This is why Chaos is locked out of my bedroom at night.

• Flee! Flee!

Teh Cute

• Alpaca and baby! Beleaguered cheetah and babies! Tiger! Kitten! Baby skunks! Burrowing owlets! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! Wolves and babies! Black kittens! Baby hummingbird! Fennec! Cat and kitten! Baby cheetahs! Bison! Spoonbill and baby!

Reading Update (I know, I’m as shocked about this as you are)
Unshapely Things (Connor Grey #1) by Mark Del Franco. reread. I originally read this in February 2008. Upon rereading, I definitely appreciated some of the more “old school” urban fantasy elements (harking back to Charles de Lint, Emma Bull, Terri Windling, Tanya Huff, etc), such as the involvement of the Fae and the city/urban environment seeming to almost be a character itself. In this tale of druid who’s lost his powers and helps out the Boston Police Department as best he can, the urban fantasy elements pair interestingly with a first-person noir detective narrative (as with the Dresden Files). On with my reread of the next two books, which is as far as I made it before running out of steam with the genre last time.
Unquiet Dreams (Connor Grey #2) by Mark Del Franco. reread. Very good urban fantasy in which Connor encounters trolls and dwarves and tree spirits, oh my!
Unfallen Dead (Connor Grey #3) by Mark Del Franco. reread. Another good installment in the Connor Grey series. Like orannia, I didn’t think the romantic relationship added anything to the story.

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Mayhem impersonating a Dali clock…