Contests
- Cecile’s giving away a signed copy of Elizabeth Amber’s latest, Dane. The contest closes sometime today (June 25), so hurry!
- Julia Barrett’s giving away a tote bag covered with book covers featuring model Jimmy Thomas. Leave a comment by June 27 for your chance to win.
- To celebrate Vampire Wire’s third birthday, Marta’s giving away a signed set of the first three Casa Dracula novels or a signed galley of the fourth book, Haunted Honeymoon. Contest is US-only and runs through June 30.
- Ralph’s giving away an ebook copy of A. B. Gayle’s forthcoming m/m romance, Mardi Gras. For your chance to win, make sure you answer the two questions in your comment. Contest closes midnight EDT, June 30.
- Patti’s giving away an ARC of Emilie Richards’s forthcoming romance, Fortunate Harbor (Happiness Key, Book 2). Contest is US-only and runs through July 5.
- The Paperback Dolls are giving away a signed copy of Carolyn Crane’s urban fantasy, Mind Games! Make sure you read through all the different ways to enter the contest, which closes July 10.
- All Things Urban Fantasy listed 170 contests this week.
Bookity
- New releases: Lily (m/m romance) and Literary Escapism (UF, PNR, plus interviews and more). Plus you can now subscribe to a UF/PNR new release update feed from Donna Fantasy Dreamer.
- Several really good posts at American Editor this week. The first wondered whether we find physical bookstores less interesting after becoming immersed in ebooks. The second asked why readers should bother investing in crappily done ebooks when the author or publisher doesn’t believe in the book enough to put out a good product.
- Some good linkity posts from Dear Author this week, particularly this bit about how publishers are keeping books in print by making them print-on-demand (and thus very expensive) so that rights don’t revert back to authors.
- Jessica’s back with the Monday Morning Stepback at ReadReactReview.
- The EU has a great initiative underway to make sure “digital devices don’t lock consumers into proprietary tech”.
- Have you been following Ava March’s new m/m romance feature, the Story Behind the Story? Highly recommended.
- If you aren’t using Calibre yet to manage your ebooks, this article will help you get started. Kindle users, you’ll need to be careful about transferring too many books at once or moving lots of books into collections.
- Stuck on what to read next? YourNextRead might help you decide.
- If you’d like to improve your reading speed, you might want to give the free Speed Reader Enhanced application a try.
- Doesn’t the Bookshelf Apartment sound cool?! Check it out if you’re in or near London.
Learn, Make, Do, Think
- Is the reason that no one seems able to figure out whether the internet’s making us dumber or smarter or whatever simply because “we’re still too close to the Internet revolution to see the full extent of the effects it will have on society”?
- Lifehacker explains why it’s important to keep your computer from overheating and what you can do to prevent overheating.
- Lifehacker also has a great post on setting up an automatic backup plan.
- This is a really cool way to deal with those stupid three-prong plugs that stick out so far from the wall.
- I definitely agree that printed phonebooks are close to obsolete and hope that they are phased out very, very soon.
- Dog owners, are you familiar with the foods (beyond chocolate) that are poisonous to dogs?
- Anyone who’s seen my handwriting will hope that I don’t take advantage of this free web service that turns your handwriting into a font.
- Lifehacker’s got all sorts of summer meal ideas.
- You might be reducing your chances of head and neck cancer by drinking coffee. Although you should beware this dangerous aphrodisiac coffee…
- Talk about a novel way to prevent rape…
Huh
- I actually didn’t make it past the picture of the clear-sided toaster.
- The National Pork Board wants to stop the sale of canned “unicorn” meat…
- You’ll now be able to buy single-serving glasses of wine, if those single-serving bottles of wine weren’t classy enough.
LOL
- What do you remember most about LEGOs? (Thanks, Jeanne!)
- The battle between good and evil looks exhausting.
- Oh dear – Basement Cat gets specific about what’s going to happen to your soul and it ain’t pretty.
- As Jeanne noted, Chaos would so steal food off the grill, if ever given the chance.
Teh Cute
- Some kittens, plus a puppy in pearls and bunny ears.
Reading Update
Sleepwalker by Jordan Castillo Price. ebook. Very good m/m romantic suspense about a night watchmen at a decrepit natural history museum who has a weakness for the skatepunk taxidermist brought in for some last minute exhibit cleanup. (Jordan reports that the followup book will be called Insomniac.)
Reasonable Doubt (The Boys in Blue, Book 2) by Mia Watts. ebook. I would’ve thought this m/m romance was very good, even if I hadn’t been mentioned in the dedication. 🙂 I loved the first book (Bad Boys, Bad Boys) and I was thrilled to read more about Geo and Mack!
Life After Joe by Harper Fox. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a medical intern who’s been living in a haze of booze and one-night stands in the six months since his boyfriend of years left him for a woman. I got sniffly while reading this one.
Marrick’s Promise (Thrown to the Lions, Book 2) by Kim Dare. ebook. Very good kinky paranormal m/m/m romance about a young man who’s determined to live life to the fullest and try everything once (but not necessarily twice). Will he change his mind after getting thrown to the (were)lions?
Miles and the Magic Flute by Heidi Cullinan. ebook. Excellent dark fantasy m/m romance about a man who’s lost his job and his dream life and been forced to return to his small home town in Minnesota. When he finds a mysterious silver flute in the pawn shop where he now works, he becomes caught in a series of fantastical events he could not have predicted… or have believed.
Word on a Wing by Jamie Craig. ebook. Very good kinky m/m romance about a directionless young man who gets pulled over by the infamously tough sheriff and offered a dangerous deal that will keep him out of jail…
Number Theory by Noah Bogdonoff. ebook short. Ok very short, somewhat literary feeling m/m about a boy who sees the world in binary/black and white.
From the Dreamspinner Midsummer’s Nightmare Daily Dose…
I Fell in Love with a Zombie by Sean Kennedy. ebook. Very good post-apocalyptic m/m with which I had two problems: the ending is abrupt (is there going to be a sequel?!) and I kept hearing this song in my head the entire time I was reading.
Raiders by Evan Gilbert. ebook short. Enjoyably wicked m/m paranormal short about two homophobic hustlers. I’m not saying anything more about this one, because the surprising twist was a big part of the fun!
Enter the Succubus by Kate Roman. ebook short. So so m/m paranormal romance short about a gay college student who’s accosted by a creepy woman who won’t take no for an answer.
66 Hours in the Devil’s House by Jamie Freeman. ebook. Pretty good paranormal menage about a celebrity trio and their best gal pal who stay in an allegedly haunted bed-and-breakfast for a weekend to determine whether the hauntings are real.
“You put your right paw in, you put your right paw out, you put your right paw in and you shake it all about…” -Chaos