Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

Welcome to this week’s news post! This week we have more news and development from Kobo, Authors hiding their real gender and covers galore!

A Japanese company called Rakuten, has purchased the Canadian based Indigo’s Kobo in a deal worth $315 million. Rakuten is behind a few e-ventures and companies,including an ebook store and it looks like buying into Kobo is a way to shore up and expand more into ebooks and publishing. It also looks like with a huge backing from Rakuten, Kobo will be able to expand and compete more fully with other ebook devices like the Kindle.

Another case of plagiarism has reared its ugly head. Thriller writer, QR Markham, was caught plagiarising from a variety of novels including the James Bond series, with his new book Assassin of Secrets. The book has been removed …

Interview with Jessica Scott + Giveaway

Today we are very happy and honoured to welcome Jessica Scott debut romance author and career soldier at Book Lovers Inc. Jessica is here to tell us about her debut novel Because of You, a very emotional romance novel and first book in a new series. Read on to learn more about Jessica’s series and life and get to know the characters of Because of You. 🙂

(You can read my review of Because of You here.)

Stella: Hi Jessica, welcome to Book Lovers Inc! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Jessica Scott: Hi Stella. Thanks for having me here today. I’m pretty excited about Because of You and I’m delighted to be here. I’m a pretty normal harried working mom. I love reading, writing and all things bookish. I’ve got two little girls, a husband in Iraq and I’ve been on active duty for 16 plus years. I’m blessed …

That’s the Question: Ebooks or Paperbacks?

Hey Everyone!
 
We would like to introduce to you a brand new feature here at Book Lovers Inc (it’s still so shiny and new this will be our tryout tour *winks*). 
 
I am happy to present That’s the Question!
 
What is That’s The Question? Well we think the name speaks for itself but no feature can go without a short introduction, so here it goes: in this biweekly feature we will discuss and debate on some of the most burning questions we book lovers ponder: series or stand alone novels? ebooks or paperbacks? sad or happy endings? etc. and we very much hope you’ll join us in our discussion and share your two cents.
 
So for this inaugural post I would like to share with you my thoughts on a dilemma I revisit quite frequently: Ebooks or Paperbacks?

 
Before summer 2010 BK (=Before Kindle) if you had asked me this question I would have stared at …

Review: Wild Lilly by Ann Mayburn

Format read: ARC provided by the author
Release Date: 11 Nov 2011
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Length: 258 pages
Formats available: ebook,
Series:Willow Creek #1
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Decadent Publishing

Book Blurb:

When Connecticut socialite Lilly Brooks inherits land in Caldwell, Kansas, she finally has the chance to break free from the gilded cage of Victorian society and chase after her dreams of excitement and romance in the Wild West. Excitement arrives with angry Indians, smelly dogs, and drunken cowboys who won’t take no for an answer. Romance comes in the form of a ruggedly handsome rancher named Paul McGregor. Too bad he calls her a whore within the first minute of their acquaintance.

Paul has spent the last three years trying to hold his family and ranch together after the death of his parents. When he saves a stunning blonde, who he thinks …

The BLI Holiday Reading Challenge 2011 – Sign Up

I am not a big fan of winter. I dread the moment the days become shorter, colder and sunshine becomes a rarity. There is only one thing which redeems winter to me and that is Christmas!
Hi Everyone, I am Stella and I’m Christmas-aholic. I love everything about Christmas: the preparation, the cookies, the gift wrapping, the decorations, the reindeers and cinnamon and Christmas carols, and I could go on and on. So of course now that the weather is becoming chilly I am looking forward to the end of December! 🙂 And what better way to start the preparations than reading holiday themed novels?
So please join me in  Book Lovers Inc’s first annual Holiday Reading Challenge! *throws confetti*
Here are the main rules, but don’t hesitate to ask if anything’s unclear:

Challenge Rules:

1. The BLI Holiday Reading Challenge will start on November 10 and will end on December 31.

2. You can read as many …

Elements in Lit 201: Historic Time Periods

Welcome back class! With our Genres lessons having waned somewhat, I thought it was time to take a new approach in our bookish higher learning. So, today I introduce the new batch of lectures, looking at different elements in the books we read, from themes and literary terms to who knows what?

I thought we’d start by taking a look at the different times that appear in historical novels. These will be mostly featuring stories set in England for the moment, but as you’ll soon find out, time is truly relative to the places and subjects in the books. Grab your pencils and let’s get back to school!:

The most commonly heard time frame in historical romances is the Regency Romance. These novels are set during the British Regency and take place within the years 1811-1820. In England, this was a time when the king (George III) was deemed unable to …

Review: Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn

Format Read:  E-bookNumber of Pages:  241 pages  Release Date:  1st November 2011Publisher:  CreateSpaceFormats Available:  E-book, Paperback.  Purchasing Info: Susan Kaye Quinn, Good Reads, Amazon,  

Book Blurb:
When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

My Thoughts:

After reading the …

Guest Post: Writing For An Audience by Susan Kaye Quinn + Giveaway

We are very happy to welcome author Susan Kaye Quinn here at Book Lovers Inc today. Her new novel, Open Minds was released this month and she is here today to celebrate her release! She has been kind enough to include an ebook copy of Open Minds to one lucky commenter! Please give Susan a warm welcome.

When I first started writing fiction, three years ago, it was like an addiction. It gripped me, and I wrote day and night, stealing time from everywhere for this torrid love affair I was having with the written word. The mania subsided (a little), but I’ve never had a problem with motivation for writing. Motivation to do the laundry? Lacking. Motivation to clean the house? Well, I’ve never had that. But writing moved me, pulled me to my chair at the computer like …

Review: A Midnight Dance by Lila DiPasqua

Format read: paperbackSeries: Book #3 in the Fiery Tales seriesRelease Date: 2 August 2011Number of pages: 320 pagesPublisher: BerkleyFormats available: ebook, paperbackPurchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon

Blurb:

Inspired by the tale of Cinderella, Lila DiPasqua weaves a steamy historical romance that offers a glass slipper, a dangerous deception, and an impoverished beauty determined to find her handsome prince…and make him pay.

Born into wealth, Sabine Laurent and her twin sister lived a life of luxury, their father’s prestigious theater frequented by royalty and aristocracy alike. And Sabine dreamed of her own prince charming—the devastatingly handsome Jules de Moutier.

That was before the loss of her sister and her family’s fall from grace—a disaster Sabine blames on the Moutier family. Now, with her father’s death, she’s inherited his sizable debt and the responsibility of caring for his spoiled long-time mistress and her two wastrel daughters. But with the help …

New Releases: Nov. 7-13, 2011

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.

Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.

The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?

This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.