Congrats to Joder, who won Stranded by Andrew Grey! Stranded will be released by Dreamspinner Press on July 15.

Randonymity

• On Saturday, the movers (Tyler and Tyler) moved the bulk of my worldly goods from my old third-floor condo (no elevator) to my new condo 6.5 blocks away… on the same street.

• Hey, I like my neighborhood! 🙂

• And I am soooooo glad I hired movers (a first for me) – it was worth every penny.

• But oh, I forgot how time consuming it is to unpack and find a place for everything…

• Need to buy more shelf lining paper – have so far gone through around 55 feet of the 18″ wide stuff and I am not done.

Contests

• Ava March is giving away winner’s choice of Men Under the Mistletoe or O Come All Ye Kinky holiday anthologies. Closes July 17, midnight EDT.

• Blodeuedd’s giving away A Spy To Die For by Kris DeLake. Closes July 20. US & Canada.

• Blodeuedd’s also giving away Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan. Closes August 4. US & Canada.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Elisa Rolle (LGBT), Rarely Dusty Books (m/m), Fiction Vixen (romance), Tor.com (PNR), and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR)

• Download a copy of the Literary Map of Minnesota. (via A closer look at flyover land)

• Infographic on why readers abandon books.

• Writerly links from Becky Black.

• The Hypeless Romantic shares some thoughts on how book blogging has changed over the years.

• More weird books.

• “There’s a 12-foot tall statue of Colin Firth’s wet-shirted Mr. Darcy emerging from a lake in Hyde Park.“

Ebookity

• Apple’s been found guilty of conspiring with publishers to raise ebook prices (aka agency pricing).

• The Pay-What-You-Can Humble Ebook Bundle includes content from xkcd, Wil Wheaton, Holly Black, Peter S. Beagle, and Neil  Gaiman.

Do, Think, Make, Learn

• 50 debunked science misconceptions.

• Another Google Reader replacement. And another. Zombie Reader lets you sort through your downloaded personal Google Reader archive.

Cookity

• Chocolate chip cookie dough brownie bombs. (via oflights)

• Oreo fudge ice cream bars. (via The Kitchn)

• Lemon meringue pie shooters. (via The Kitchn)

• 10 summer fruit recipes.

• 13 quinoa recipes.

• Buffalo chicken salad. (via The Kitchn)

Gluten Free

• Cherry coconut crisp.

• Flourless chocolate quinoa cake.

• Easy chocolate mousse ice cream.

• Ice cream cake.

Drinkity

• Strawberry mojito slushies. (via The Kitchn)

• Candied grapefruit cocktail. (via The Kitchn)

Cool

• Dr. Who tokens for Monopoly. (via The Mary Sue)

• LEGO Acropolis.

• Diagon Alley is on Google Street View.

• Knitting Spock action figure.

Cool or Wha…?

• New foods for the 2013 Minnesota State Fair. (via The Kitchn)

• Sandy Play-Doh.

Wha…?

• Sherbet-flavored Oreos.

• Knitted pizza hat.

LOL

• Observe the behavior of the untangled headphones…

• Interesting side effect of so many people having camera phones. (Make sure you hover your cursor for additional text.)

• May doesn’t sit on my head, but she’ll make happy paws in my hair when I’m in bed, which takes bed head to whole new heights.

• Cat geometry.

Teh Cute

• Baby clouded leopard! Kitten! Lion!

Reading Update
Undone Deeds (Connor Grey #6) by Mark del Franco. This is a book that seemed to be trying too hard and simultaneously not trying hard enough, as the first half was slow and the second half was hella fast. Refreshing your memory of Celtic mythology before you read it wouldn’t be amiss.

“Well, I guess this new purple couch is ok…” -Chaos

Picture taken from my new purple chaise lounge. 🙂

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.

Mayhem impersonating a Dali clock…