A Few Reminders for Friday

I just have a few reminders for you today. The first is of course that today is the last day to vote in Round 3 of the "World's Favorite Detective" tournament. If you haven't vote yet, go here to vote immediately! I am headed out to Mystery Lovers Bookshop tomorrow morning for Alafair Burke's event, so I probably won't be able to get this week's results up until tomorrow night or Sunday, but I'll get them up!

Also, don't forget to enter for your chance to win a signed, first edition copy of Ken Mercer's debut novel, SLOW FIRE. If you haven't entered yet, you can do so here.

Some news I just learned this week is that Foul Play Books in Westerville, Ohio, is going to be hosting a killer line-up on Saturday, May 1st. It includes Sophie Littlefield, Brad Parks and Carla Buckley. I'll definitely be there. If you're in the area, I hope you'll come, too!

Foul Play will also have Rosemary Harris on April 27th. Unfortunately that's the day I'm flying back from California, so I won't be able to make it, but if you can, I HIGHLY recommend it. Rosemary's new book in the Dirty Business Mystery Series is DEAD HEAD and I can't wait for it! If you go, be sure to tell her "hi" for me!

The Spinetingler short story nominations have been announced. And we have to send out shout outs to nominees Hilary Davidson, Sophie Littlefield and Paul Brazill! No, I'm not trying to influence your votes, just giving props to my pals. Voting will begin next week, though, so I hope if you have some time you'll stop over to read the nominees and return next week to vote.

That's it for this Friday. Hope your weekend is wonderful and warm. We have snow on the ground this morning and 50s in the forecast for tomorrow. Gotta love Northeast Ohio weather...or not. Happy Reading!

A Winner and Around the Web...

I've been saying "it's freezing!" for several weeks now because once the temps fall below about 50, it's freezing to me. But this weekend, it was officially freezing in Northeast Ohio, with temps well below 32. Winter's coming and I'm ready to hibernate; how about you?

But, before I do, I have a winner to announce. Congratulations to Leslie from Pennsylvania who won the signed Duffy Dombrowski series. Her books will go out to her tomorrow. I threw all the winners in a hat and Tom drew Leslie from the many entries. This was my biggest giveaway -- response-wise -- to date, so I appreciate all your enthusiasm, and I hope you will check out Tom's books if you didn't win them. I discovered ON THE ROPES through the library, so check there. If your library doesn't have a copy, you could make a suggestion for them to purchase one. I know things are tight with library funds all over, but it never hurts to put in the request. If you're looking for a place to buy Tom's books, remember that THE BOOK HOUSE is going to host his signing on Saturday. You can order a book through them and have it personalized if you wish. I know my friends at The Mystery Bookstore or Mystery Lovers Bookshop would be more than thrilled to special order them for you.

And again, I have to thank Tom because he truly went above and beyond and that's what made all of this fun.

I'm so behind in reading blogs myself. I've been trying to get to my regular haunts and catch up a little at a time. If I haven't been by yours, I'm getting there, I swear! I'm in the midst of shopping for a new car (YUK!), refinancing my house (YUK!), preparing for the holidays -- too rushed this year, and finishing up some things to submit to Crimespree Magazine (O.k., o.k., that's always fun for me; I admit it.). Speaking of which, if you're looking for a good Christmas gift for your crime fiction fan, a subscription would be a great stocking stuffer, don'tcha think? You can get a subscription here.

If you haven't already been over to Pop Culture Nerd's site to see her interview with Robert Crais, YOU MUST GET THERE! This is hilarious and I'm utterly envious, of course. You're guaranteed to laugh. And if you wouldn't mind entering the contest to try to win me those post cards, because I KNOW you're looking for an Xmas gift for me and all. That would be perfect! ;) In reality, she has a contest where you can win a copy of RC's upcoming THE FIRST RULE or a set of post cards that PCN made of locations in L.A. from his books. Both very cool prizes!

Elsewhere in the blog-o-sphere, I wanted to welcome a very good friend of mine. Naomi Johnson is now a co-conspirator...I mean, a co-contributor with Corey Wilde over at The Drowning Machine blog. If you haven't been over to welcome her, I hope you will take a minute and do so. She's an amazing writer, a fabulous person, and I know you'll enjoy her posts. I didn't think it could be possible for The Drowning Machine to get better than it was, but Corey is a smart cookie!

My friends over at Criminal Minds are multiplying these days. They've taken on some new regular bloggers. Have you been over lately?

And finally, I want to share with you this project that a fellow blogger-friend of mine initiated. There was an active blogger who passed away far too early last year. I did not know her personally, but believe me when I say I have felt her influence in the blogging community. In honor of her, Lisa, a.k.a. Online Publicist, has put together The Dewey Tree project. You can read more about it here, but I thought it was Fate or God or whatever you want to believe in acting in a mysterious way. I told you not too long ago about my other friend Tina's book collection project for the hospital - these two projects go hand-in-hand. So, I hope you'll take a look at the project and consider donating some books you no longer feel you can't live without to a good cause. I have my stack ready to go for Tina, but you can donate anywhere. Everyone can benefit from the gift of reading!

And that's what I have for today. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday. Happy Reading!

This Week's Odds and Ends

Happy Sunday. I have a busy weekend lined up in an effort to get a good chuck of the Six-Word Memoir scrapbook finished for Bouchercon, which by the way, is now less than 2 WEEKS away. I absolutely can not believe it. It is on the horizon.

But, there is also something else on the horizon...Christmas. There appear to be 81 shopping days until Christmas. Don't worry. I'm not going to do a Christmas countdown, I promise. I'm not ready for decorations or music or anything like that yet, but usually I start thinking about Christmas gifts long before this. It's a financial thing. I simply can't afford to wait until Thanksgiving to start doing the shopping. Have to spread it out. This year my attentions have been all focused on Bouchercon - I know that comes as a complete surprise to you all! And I'm sure by now you're all going, "Jen, this is a book blog; what does this have to do with anything?" Well, in my wordy, round-a-bout way I'm getting to some recommendations. First, I'd like to once again begin to recommend books as Christmas gifts. I was utterly disgusted when I read this quote from a NYT article about the possibility of adding versatility to the Kindle:

"My general thought is that the limitations of e-ink make this a limited device for applications," said Evan Schnittman, vice president at Oxford University Press. "It's for reading, not interactivity. The refresh rate alone would kill anything remotely fun or cool." (Article: "Will Amazon Open the Kindle to Developers"; New York Times, Sept. 25, 2009)

Uhm, EXCUSE ME? Who says that READING isn't fun or cool? And the vice president of Oxford University Press? Huh? I think it is both, which is why I want to send that message by using books as gifts, especially for my niece and nephew who are young and need to learn from the get-go that reading is both cool and fun. So, all that hoopla to first remind you of some FABULOUS bookstores that specialize in mystery/crime fiction. I love all of these stores. They work incredibly hard to bring about the best of the best in customer service. And if you're wondering, yes, I believe all of them will be able to tell you books what would be great gifts for me - ha! Just kidding.

The Mystery Bookstore in Los Angeles totally won my heart when I visited there in April. If you ever want to feel like family, just cross the threshold of their store. Of course, I don't have the chance to visit often physically, but via Twitter, Facebook and e-mail I've experienced events and such that would have never been possible 10 years ago! Bobby, Linda and the entire staff are beyond wonderful. I have to give a special shout out to Emily who was corresponding with me this week, too. Just love all of them there! As part of their customer service you can expect many things. I know if I order a book to be shipped from them, it will come in pristine condition. I'm not kidding. They package that baby up so it could make a detour through WWIII and still come to me in perfect condition. They also have a slew of signed books, so if you want to give an extra-special gift you can find one of the many titles that they have available autographed by the author. Or even better yet, if you know the author is going to be doing an event there, you can order your book and request to have it personalized. Wouldn't that make a heck of a gift? Absolutely awesome folks!

The Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, is another great resource for your mystery book shopping list. If you're planning in advance, they can order ANY book for you (as I'm sure any of these stores on my list would be willing to do). And like The Mystery Bookstore in L.A., they are customer service-centered. The last time I visited, I was driving in to see Craig Johnson's event and I was greeted at the door with a warm reception. I almost felt like I was the guest of honor, not Craig. And that's how they treat you, like their guest of honor. They also carry a significant line of puzzles and games. I bought Banana-grams for my niece from them. Very cool. If you're ordering a purchase for delivery in advance, you can get free shipping for any order over $10. It comes media mail, so you need to have enough time for it to get to you, but if you need it quicker, for a nominal fee they will ship it in under quicker rating. They often have signed books on hand from their many events as well, so you can check and see what is available at any given time.

The Foul Play Bookstore in Westerville, Ohio, is another specialty mystery bookstore I've had the joy of experiencing. They have a nice selection of used books, cat gifts (gifts with cat themes that is - not gifts FOR your cat) and new releases. They can also order books for you if you're interested in certain titles. Their store is very unique because it is a renovated Victorian home. If you have the chance to attend an event - not in the winter - you can sit out on the beautiful back porch with them and enjoy the fresh air. And again, I can't say enough about how nice the people are. Despite the fact that villains are doing bad things IN our books, super nice folks are selling those books to us, I promise!

And finally I want to highlight a bookstore that I haven't ever actually visited. It's Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas. I am so determined to visit these folks. I've gotten to know the store a little through Twitter, and I have to tell you that I am totally in love with these. And this duel interview was awesome! I'm also extremely envious of all the amazing events they have there. You can obtain autographed copies of books, order whatever suits your fancy, and get great recommendations. As a matter of fact, assistant manager David just gave me a recommendation this week. If I can't manage to get there before, our organization has its trade show in Houston in 2011 and I'll make sure I visit THEN!

So I've given you some stores all around the country. I do hope that you will think of one of them - or another independent near you - when you're doing your book shopping this year. Remember they can order anything for you, and I know they will be willing to do so. These folks are all about customer service. They do what they do because they LOVE selling mystery and crime fiction books to you.

I know there are many more great stores out there; this list is a list of the ones who have made a tremendous and lasting impression on me. I am certain they will do the same for you.

And just a few other odds and ends before I head off to do my weekly grocery shopping...ugh. I am thrilled for Steve Weems who is going to see his first book published very soon. During the manuscript process, he asked if I would read it and give him some feedback. Well, the English teacher in me probably provided a bit more than what he was actually expecting (sorry, Steve), and I felt bad because it took me FOR-EVER to get through the manuscript, reading parts at lunch breaks and before bed and whatnot. So, it's very neat to have been involved in his "process" and now see this.

If you have a chance snag a copy of the Oct. 12th?/15th? PEOPLE magazine. It should actually be out now, whichever date it actually is. I'm picking mine up when I go out this morning. There is a review in the books section of, yes, Louise Penny's THE BRUTAL TELLING. How fabulous is this? Not only did she make a B&N Main Selection, a NYT Best Seller, a USA Today top 150, but she also made PEOPLE magazine. This is huge and it is wonderful. Go Louise!

O.k., I think that is about it for this edition of odds and ends. I hope you have a wonderful week. It may be a little on the thin side here at Jen's Book Thoughts as I plug away at that scrapbook, but rest assured a mystery backlist title tomorrow and new memoirs on Wednesday.

Happy Reading!

Winners and Other Odds and Ends

I believe my beloved summer has finally bid me its final farewell. Yesterday was dark, dreary, rainy and chilly ALL DAY LONG. The next week's forecast doesn't look much better and I don't think the temps are going to reach 70 any day. So, I'll wave goodbye to summer and begin my yearning for it to come again next year.

In happier news, yesterday I drew three lucky winners for the limited edition copies of Libby Hellmann's short story, "The Murder of Katie Boyle." They included: Lisa from Florida, Charlotte from Georgia, and Kate from Virginia. Congrats to all the winners!!

I also wanted to let you know about a contest that Chris Grabenstein is holding to name a cat and a dog in his upcoming John Ceepak novel, ROLLING THUNDER. The contest will help raise money for the Artemis Project, which is a non-profit animal welfare organization in New York City. For every $10 you donate, you get one entry in the drawing. The directions for the contest can be found here. And you know me, I'm tickled pink about this. One of my most favorite authors is doing something to benefit the animals in need. What more could a girl want?

I haven't mentioned lately the google searches people are doing that lands them at Jen's Book Thoughts, so today I'll share a few of those. First of all, I have to say how big a smile I have every time I check and there are more direct hits than the time before or when people are looking specifically for my blog name. I also want to send out a big thanks to everyone who has a link to my blog somewhere on their site. I have more people coming from links than from search engines. That's cool! But recently, I guess I established official "stalker" status because someone did a search for "Rocky River, Ohio stalker" and ended up here! I got a good chuckle from that one, and secretly prayed that it wasn't the Rocky River Police doing that search (GEORGE!!). I'm still getting folks trying to figure out how to hem leather pants and I'll not even subject you to the searches people do that brings them to my review of Island of the Naked Women. I've been fearful of a few of those searches.

We simply cannot be remiss in congratulating Louise Penny on her Barnes and Noble Main Selection this month. THE BRUTAL TELLING snatched up this honor and it will alert many folks to this phenomenal series. Yay, Louise! I'll be reviewing this wonderful book soon, be on the lookout!

And finally, I must remind everyone that this is National Banned Books Week. I hope you will all exercise your freedom to read this week. I am off now to find a good banned book to highlight for the Monday Mystery backlist.

Enjoy the remainder of your Sunday and have a fabulous week!

18 DAYS TO BOUCHERCON!!!

Someone's Having a Birthday!

Happy Sunday everyone! I need to start off this post by letting everyone know that today is Michael Koryta's birthday!! So, send a little birthday love his way today. Best wishes for a fabulous year 27, Michael. Not that you haven't had tremendous success already, but may this year bring you much more.

A few other odds and ends to mention, since I've been focuses on Book Blogger Appreciation Week this past week. It was a wonderful week and my warmest thanks go out to everyone who voted for Jen's Book Thoughts in the awards. We didn't take the whole shebang, but the nomination means the world to me. Thank you! I'm so thrilled to have you all to share fun crime fiction book stuff with.

I received an email the other day that this onlinecollege.org group listed Jen's Book Thoughts on their 100 Best Blogs for Book Reviews. So, thank you very much to them for that recognition.

I am continuing to update the Twitter Crime Fiction Directory. I am planning to put a link to it over in my sidebar so you can easily access it any time. I have a lot that needs to be updated over there. I apologize. I've fallen a bit behind, but I intend to catch up. I have several reviews I'm excited to share with you as well.

This Wednesday at 6:00p.m. is Tim Hallinan's event at the Foul Play bookstore in Westerville. I'm very excited about heading out there to see him. I hope you will join us if you're in the area!
Tim has been receiving absolutely RAVE reviews for BREATHING WATER. Of course, mine were among them. The Poke Rafferty series is outstanding. So, snag this chance to meet Tim if you can!

The final topic for Book Blogger Appreciation Week was:

"Write in 50 words or less…what do you like best about your blog right now and where would you like your blog to be a year from now?"

I didn't respond to this one on Friday since I was hosting that deliriously fun interview with Kelli Stanley. But I did want to respond to it because it gives me a chance to reflect and to look forward. Sometimes I get so caught up in the "right this minute" - because there is a ton to do right this minute - that I forget to look forward or back. I may have to cheat a little on the 50 words, though. So, here goes:

I love the sense of community here and my hope is to build that even more. I'd like Jen's Book Thoughts to really be a meeting place for lovers of crime fiction to share and discuss. So, my hope is to continue increasing the traffic and the comments. I'm definitely going to continue to work on new ideas and projects and recruiting special visitors in interviews and guest spots. But, on that same note, I have to work on saying, "I'm sorry, but I'm just overbooked right now." I need to be better about staying on top of my reviews and not getting so far behind. That's when the quality starts to diminish. I wish I could read EVERYONE'S book, but this is not my full-time job, it's my hobby. And as much as I hate the fact, I have to remind myself of that. So, I'm also working on building in parameters. That means I'll have to work on staying within those parameters as best I can.

This was a wonderful Book Blogger Appreciation Week. I have to send out special thanks to Amy from My Friend Amy and her whole crew of helpers who made this week happen so spectacularly. And now it's time to look forward. I have another rather exciting week coming up on the blog. A very special give-away, some new reviews, and another special interview. We will also have another special 6-word memoir post on Wednesday. So, I hope you'll be back to enjoy all the fun.

And of course, we need to know the Bouchercon countdown: 25 DAYS!!

A Weekly Roundup - and Input Requested

Wow! Where in the world did August go? It seems to have just zoomed by. The days are getting shorter again, which means the cold weather is just around the corner. I saw some leaves turning colors, and I was stopped by the school bus twice this past week on the way to work. It wouldn't be bad if the stop was ONCE, but no, it's about 5 times in less than 50 yards. The bus usually has 20-30 cars lined up behind it before it turns off that main road. I didn't miss the school buses over summer. Going to have to leave about 5 or 10 minutes earlier again so I can have a better shot at beating the bus now.

In book news, however! This was a fun week with another great six-word memoir round-up and a guest post on "Madcap Noir." And this week the visitor counter topped 19,000. That's amazing to me. After year #1 of Jen's Book Thoughts it hadn't quite hit 5,000. So, yes, I'm doing the requisite little happy dance over here in Lorain, Ohio. But there's fun stuff going on elsewhere that I'd like to tell you about, too.

My friend Corey over at The Drowning Machine has announced a crime fiction short story contest called "The Watery Grave Invitational". And he's rustled up some big time judges for this contest, too. So, all you writers make sure you hustle over to Corey's blog and find out the details to enter your short stories!

I know it may seem like a long way off, but the blog for Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis is live now. I, of course, am already making plans for this one since Robert Crais will be one of the guests of honor! The hosts include David Thompson and Jon Jordan; I have a feeling it will be a hoppin' time in St. Louis Sept. 15-18, 2011!

I've started to hear rumblings about panel assignments for Bouchercon 2009 in Indianapolis, so if you've been assigned a panel, let me know so I can start making out my plan. Since this is my first B'Con, I'm a little obsessive! ;)

Also don't forget that Tim Hallinan is going to be in Westerville at FOUL PLAY Bookstore on September 23rd. I hope you'll make plans to come out if you are in the vicinity. I'll look forward to seeing you there!

This week has also been full of Book Blogger Appreciation Week work. I will again be participating in the blogger interview exchange, so I'm getting to work on that. I'm working on one of the award panels and that's keeping me busy. I submitted my links for my own award nominations. That was a killer! I appreciate all the input people gave me on what posts they most enjoyed. It helped me a lot; I discovered that trying to pick your favorite posts is like trying to pick your favorite child! Again, I thank all of you who submitted nominations for me. I'm not really expecting the nominations to turn into me being on all the short lists - there are a lot of great blogs nominated. It's an honor just to receive a nomination. Thank you.

Thanks also to everyone who voted for Hershey and Nestle in the Dog Days of Summer photo contest. Hershey managed to snag 2nd place and Nestle got 3rd. The two of them together actually had 50% of the votes. Maybe I should have found a picture of them together, huh? Literate Housewife, Jennifer, did an awesome job on coordinating the theme week. And she planted some seeds in my little brain as well.

And finally on tap for today is a question for you all. I've been doing author interviews for about a year now. I enjoy doing the interviews and hope to keep highlighting fun crime fiction writers for you. So, I'd like to know what kinds of questions you enjoy hearing responses for. A lot of the questions I develop have to do with my own curiosity. But what types of things are you curious about? Are there questions I seem to have stopped asking that you'd like me to fit back in? Are their questions I ask that you couldn't care less about? What peaks your interest? You can leave your responses in the comments section or you can always feel free to email me.

And I think that's about all I have for today. Hope your weekend is a great one, and happy reading!!

Bouchercon countdown: 47 days!!

A Whirlwind Week

Whew! This week flew by. And that old adage holds true: time flies when you're having fun. It was a very good week for Jen's Book Thoughts. Not only did we have TWO fabulous guest posts and another great 6-Word Memoir week, BUT Jen's Book Thoughts ended up with FIVE Book Blogger Appreciation Week Award Nominations!

THANK YOU!

I am literally flabbergasted. I know I pestered you all to get over and get your votes in, but I honestly did not expect to receive five nominations. And bless whoever voted for Jen's Book Thoughts for Best Non-Fiction Blog, but since out of my 450 posts only 5 are related to non-fiction books, I declined the nomination so I wouldn't be wasting the committee's time. The five nominations that I received because of you all were:

Best Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Blog
Best General Review Blog
Best Series/Feature - for "You Have the Right to Six Words: Six-Word Memoirs from Crime Fiction's Best Writers."
Best Writing
Best Reviews

So what happens now is I've submitted five posts for each of these nominations. Those five posts will be given to the members of a committee (each category has its own committee), and a "short list" will be based on their ratings of all the nominees. So we wait now. I can tell you that I can not be short-listed for all five categories. For the niche categories, a blog can only be nominated in one category. So Best Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Blog and Best General Review Blog can't both result in short list nominations. That means at the most I could be short listed for four categories. In all honesty, I would be over the moon if I was short-listed in one. I am grateful beyond words just for these nominations; I am beyond flattered at the Best Writing and Best Reviews nominations. Truly folks, "thank you" doesn't even come close to expressing my gratitude.

Enough gushing. I am hoping to get a couple reviews up this weekend. I am now officially seven reviews behind. Yikes! September has a lot in store. I have some big giveaways coming up so be on the look out for those. Of course Book Blogger Appreciation Week will be coming up in September. I have a couple interviews, a couple guest spots, and hopefully a whole lot of fun.

My puppies are going to be in a blog contest next week. They - or rather their pictures - are being entered in the Dog Days of Summer contest at Literate Housewife's blog. I will also be reviewing one of the books for Jennifer's theme week, too. You know I can't resist anything having to do with dogs! I need to find someone who can make me a button for my blog that is dog-related. Anyone know how to do that?

The Shamus Award Nominations for 2009 have been announced. Bill Crider has them posted over at his blog, so I'll let you step over there and see the list. The winners will, of course be announced at a reception at Bouchercon.

That's enough for now because I'm hoping to post again later with a review. Until then...happy reading!



Countdown to Bouchercon: 54 days!

Some Reminders

Sorry for the little silence there folks. I'm slipping behind a little and am trying to do a little catch-up this weekend. I've been spending some time working on the scrapbook to go with the 6-word memoir project. I'm very excited about this book, it's off to a good start but there's still a lot more to do before Indy in October!

This summer has been an exquisite one for reading. I can't get over all the fabulous books I've had the pleasure of reading the past few months. And I have a rather daunting stack still waiting for me. I've got a few reviews to catch up on as well; some books I'm very excited to tell you all about. In addition we have some fun guest posts coming up, some fun interviews, more backlist titles and of course more 6-word memoirs! Speaking of which, the memoirs will be posted on Tuesday this week, don't forget. We have another great batch of writers hangin' out with us sharing memoirs this week.

In other reminder news. This Tuesday is a big day for releases. I wanted to remind you about three of them. A BAD DAY FOR SORRY by Sophie Littlefield comes out this Tuesday. I'm so excited about this book. Sophie is just a magnificent, fun writer. Also up is THE SIEGE by Stephen White who, of course, was one of our memoirists last week. Looking forward to another great work from him. And finally, THE SILENT HOUR, Michael Koryta's fourth Lincoln Perry novel will be available this Tuesday.

And to continue with the Koryta reminders, those of you who live near me here in Northeast Ohio, we have the luxury of THREE stops on Michael's book tour. August 11th he will be at Fairview Park Public Library. You can register for that event here. On August 12th he will be at the Rocky River City Hall Umerley Center. There is no registration required for that one. And finally on August 13th he will be at the Bay Village Public Library, and you can register for that event here. If you're in the Columbus area, hop to it! Michael is at Foul Play Bookstore on Wednesday...yes, THIS Wednesday! The three events here in NE Ohio are at 7:00 p.m. and the Columbus event is at 6:00 p.m.

Another Ohio event to announce...mark your calendars, I'm so excited! Tim Hallinan is going to be at Foul Play Bookstore on September 23rd! He has an exciting presentation about Bangkok, the setting of his Poke Rafferty novels. And of course, he'll be talking about BREATHING WATER, the third Poke Rafferty thriller. If you can make it, I hope you'll be there. I certainly will!

And my final reminder is simply to remind you to vote for your favorite book bloggers. You have until August 15th to get your votes in for the 2009 Book Blogger Appreciation Award nominations. And if you're a book blogger and you have registered yet, what ARE you waiting for? So, registration here...nomination voting here. EVERYONE and ANYONE can put in their nominations. You need not be a blogger.

That's all she wrote for today. "She" will be back tomorrow with a new backlist title. In the meantime...happy reading!

Bouchercon countdown: 74 days!

My Six

It's been an incredible week already and golly, it's only Wednesday. I hope the rest of the week goes as well as the beginning.

I mentioned Tuesday that the registration for Book Blogger Appreciation Week is up. So if you are a book blogger and want to get in on the action scheduled for September 14th to the 18th, you can register here:

http://bookbloggerappreciationweek.com/index.php/site/register_for_book_blogger_appreciation_week_2009/

For EVERYONE, blogger or not, you can go and nominate your favorite book blogs for the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards here:

http://bookbloggerappreciationweek.com/index.php/awards/bbaw_2009_award_nominations_now_open/

There is a Mystery/Thriller/Crime category again this year if you think Jen's Book Thoughts is deserving of a nomination. But of course, I would never want to influence your vote or anything! ;) But seriously, go and vote. Show some love to those book bloggers that you enjoy visiting.

Some other exciting news to share with you. John Ceepak and Danny Boyle probably have a new publishing home! Chris is going to share details as soon as everything is signed and sealed. Once I have details, I'll share them with you. And he's working on book #6! Yes, yes, yes!

UPDATE: Since writing this post last night, it has been officially announced that Pegasus will be publishing the next Ceepak novel, ROLLING THUNDER. Oh, happy day!

Also this week I received a copy of THE SILENT HOUR, Michael Koryta's fourth book in the Lincoln Perry series. Many thanks to St. Martin's for that wonderful present that showed up and made my day. I want to remind folks around me that Michael will be in this area August 11, 12, and 13 (Fairview Park Library, Rocky River Community Center, Bay Village Library). He will be in Westerville at Foul Play bookstore on August 5, which is the day after the book release. And my friends up near Ann Arbor, here's your chance now to go to Aunt Agatha's. Michael is going to be there on August 10. His complete event schedule is here.

And I'm filling this blog post with 6s. Today is July 16th. October 16th is when I'm headed to my very first Bouchercon. So, I'm beginning the countdown. Counting today, there are 91 days to Bouchercon!

And finally, the most important 6 of this blog post, which is sort of not even book related. But...in another way maybe it's remotely related. Many authors will mention how music influences their writing. Of course we know Bruce Springsteen influences Chris Grabenstein's Ceepak series, ENVY THE NIGHT came from song lyrics, Tom Schreck's Duffy Dombrowski series is influenced by Elvis, etc. So, now I'm going to springboard off my dear friend Michael over at Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer who did this outstanding post on 6 songs that trigger important memories for him. Mine will not be anywhere near as awesome as his, so I encourage you to go check his out. And I will also warn you beforehand that I have very eclectic taste when it comes to music. I'm sure you'll notice that here. The first three were easy for me to come up with. The last three took a little more effort. But here are MY SIX:

1. Thank God for Kids - The Oak Ridge Boys. This song fondly reminds me of every small child that has had an important role in my life. I've always wanted to have children of my own, but as of now, I've had to make due with enjoying others' children.

2. The Little Old Lady from Pasadena - either Jan and Dean or The Beach Boys. My dad has always been an important influence in my life, and he always loved music from the 50s and 60s, especially Jan and Dean. His love of that era rubbed off on me. My very first music concert that I went to was with my dad and it was to see The Beach Boys. We sat on the lawn at Blossom and it rained...horribly. We were soaked. But, I remember that concert to this day.

3. There Once Was a Man - sung by Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli O'Hara in THE PAJAMA GAME - I don't get to travel a whole lot, but one of the greatest trips I've ever taken was my trip to New York City with my sister and mom. We went with the express reason of seeing Harry Connick Jr. in THE PAJAMA GAME, but we made a weekend of it. This song was my favorite from the show and I can't help but think of this weekend whenever I listen to it. I think it was also my sister's favorite. She calls it the "Wo-Man song."


4. Go Rest High on That Mountain - Vince Gill. I debated including this one because the memory it evokes is extremely painful. But, since it is still a powerful memory, I think it merits being included. My sister dated a young man in high school who was very well liked by our whole family. He died suddenly and inexplicably during his freshman year in college. Vince Gill released this song as a tribute to his own brother right around that same time. To this day I can't listen to that song. It just brings all the pain of that loss right back.

5. Playing with the Boys - Kenny Loggins. In high school, I was a student assistant for the football team and a statistician for the baseball team. I loved these jobs more than anything else in high school. That's where my fondest memories of those years are. I had the soundtrack to TOP GUN on cassette at the time and I remember one especially nice day on the way to a baseball game I had it playing in the car: windows down, volume up, typical teenager. I remember that day as though it was yesterday, and while the day wasn't anything distinctly special, I always remember it. And I, likewise, always associate this song with those jobs in high school.

6. 19 Somethin' - Mark Wills. This song reminds me of almost everything significant that was going on during my youth. And to understand what I mean, you can hear the lyrics and see the video here. (Sorry, I can't embed it.) I think they speak for themselves.

Did you notice the Atari there at the end? So, those are my six. Yeah, like I said, Michael's post was way better! But it was still fun to do. Thanks Michael!!

Now, while I have a couple of reviews I SHOULD be working on, I'm going to sneak off for a date with Lincoln Perry (shhh, don't tell Amy!). Have a great Thursday and Happy Reading!!

This Week's Roundup

It was a crazy-hectic week! A new Monday Mystery Backlist, an interview with Gregg Hurwitz, new 6-word memoirs, and a visit from James LePore for his blog tour for A WORLD I NEVER MADE. Whew! Oh, not to mention that Gregg Hurwitz's TRUST NO ONE and Chris Grabenstein's MIND SCRAMBLER both came out as well.


Speaking of MIND SCRAMBLER. I have a winner to announce! The lucky recipient of a signed copy of MIND SCRAMBLER is Cathy from New Hampshire! Congratulations Cathy.


Now I'd also like to add a comment in here. MIND SCRAMBLER could possibly be the last book in the John Ceepak series. St. Martin's Press does not wish to pursue more in this series. So all of you out there who have emailed me and left me notes about wanting to start this series - now would be a GREAT time to do that. And I'm saying this in a purely selfish light. This is one of my absolute favorite series. I just discovered it last year. I'm not ready to have to say goodbye to it already. The Ceepak series has done nothing but get better with every book. You know there are many series out there that should have been stopped long ago, but this isn't one of those. So, let's buy MIND SCRAMBLER and show the publishing world that we want Ceepak to stay!


O.k., some other things to share with you. Many of you know that here in Ohio our libraries are presently being threatened. The governor wants to severely cut funding to our libraries. People have been up in arms for several days, trying to get the attention of our law-makers. At a time like this I'm not sure how they can think that library cuts are the answer to anything. So, Ohioans, contact your representatives. Let them know this is unacceptable. We NEED our libraries now more than ever.


I received a couple of emails this week with some information to pass along to you. CJ West has a free download of his book SIN AND VENGEANCE available here. It has been optioned and adapted for film, so this is something you may want to check out before it hits the big screen.


St. Martin's asked me to pass along information about a new book that's out called SWORN TO SILENCE by Linda Castillo. You can win a copy by entering here.

There's a new blog in town. And it's a good one. If you haven't checked out 7 Criminal Minds, I highly recommend you do so. On 7 Criminal Minds, 7 crime fiction writers respond to a weekly question related to crime fiction in some way. The 7 criminal minds are: C.J. Lyons, Kelli Stanley, Rebecca Cantrell, Sophie Littlefield, Shane Gericke, Tim Maleeny and Gabrella Herkert. Very interesting stuff over there. I've added them to my blog list...which reminds me, I need to catch up on my blog reading!


For those of you in the Northeast Ohio area, Michael Koryta will be around in August to promote his new Lincoln Perry novel, THE SILENT HOUR. On August 11th he will be at Fairview Park Public Library and on August 12th he will be at the Rocky River City Hall Umerley Center. That's at 7:00 both evenings. Since he'll be taking a bit of a hiatus from Lincoln after this novel, I'm not sure how much we'll see of him in this area for awhile. You may want to take the opportunity to see him while you can. Fairview Park has a registration for his event, which you can find here.


I'm sure I'm forgetting something that I should be passing along, but tonight my brain is fried...or maybe it just wants to get back to the excellent book I'm reading now. I have a slew of reviews to catch up on this weekend, so hopefully at least a couple will show up! I also attended Les Roberts event on Tuesday, so I have some fun details to share from that. In the mean time...


Happy Reading!

While I can't say that this audio clip surprises me, it does disappoint me. I suppose if attractive people are more likely to win a job, they're going to be more likely to have manuscripts read. But, I still find that extremely disturbing. I don't care what a person looks like if he/she can write a good book.

Maybe the writers should all hold a revolt and refuse to put their pictures on book jackets...or better yet, put someone else's picture on their book jacket! I think I know a few who would be relieved not to have to do photo shoots anymore! :)

Happy Reading!!

Not For Me, No Thanks

I was reading this article from the New York Times about the future of the digital book and I am so NOT sold on this. One of the reasons I prefer reading over other forms of entertainment such as television and movies is because I get to imagine...I see in my mind what characters look like, sound like, walk like, etc...I see the settings. I don't want a computer to do that for me. As I've experienced from movies and t.v. - it's never as good! I don't need a contraption to entertainment. I'm perfectly content doing so myself. My attention span is pretty darn good when it comes to reading, thank you very much.

So, please leave me to my beloved print books and my highly creative imagination. We're all good!

Still Fuming

Well, it is now Day 3 of the no-Internet connection drama. I spent over an hour on the phone with my provider last night, half of which was probably on hold. When I came home tonight and it still wasn't fixed, I called yet again. Four times since Tuesday - ridiculous. Anyway, supposedly someone came out today and worked on the line, BUT I still have no connection. They've assured me they will be out tomorrow again. Tomorrow is their last chance. If I don't have a connection by tomorrow I'm finding another provider. Unfortunately, there aren't many to choose from in my area. Not exactly sure why that is, but it is. In the meantime, my parents are graciously sharing their Internet with me. Thanks Mom and Dad!

I do have a couple links to share with you that I've found this week. I want to start by telling you that you can go here to win a Slanket. Have you heard of these things? All I can say is I NEED one; after all the snow I've had to endure this winter, I definitely need one. So, even if you're not interested, how about if you go enter - then if you win you can give it to ME! ;)

And I've been reading some excerpts from some new mysteries. Chester Campbell's new book, THE SUREST POISON, doesn't come out until April, but you can catch a glimpse of the first two chapters here. I especially like his character descriptions:

"A young cop with more experience at changing diapers than in confronting trauma on his beat,"

"The last time he had glanced in a mirror, the glower he saw made him think of a troll."

And there's a character who likes to jazz up cliches. That definitely tells ya something about a character, doesn't it?

I was also reading the beginning of POSED FOR MURDER. This is Meredith Cole's debut novel. Ken Isaacson tipped me off to Meredith, and I sure am glad he did. She won the St. Martin's/Malice Domestic Best Traditional First Mystery Award for POSED FOR MURDER. And she shares the beginning of her novel here. POSED FOR MURDER released this week. One of the things that I mentioned in my comment at the site was how much I liked the way Meredith weaves her physical character description into the story. She doesn't take a paragraph and describe every detail of what the character is wearing, instead she slips little details in at the most appropriate times. I love that. I know I often get frustrated when a writer pretty much stops the momentum of a story to describe the tie the guy's wearing. O.k., who cares?

O.k., and last, Alafair Burke's ANGEL'S TIP is now available on audio. She's blogging about the audio and Lee Child's opinion of it here. Oh and make sure you check out her post about our new president's potty mouth while you're there - too funny! I love it!

With any luck, I'll be back tomorrow...on my own computer! In the meantime, happy reading!!

Musing for a Wednesday

All the street lamps just went out, but I still have power - we're experiencing a bit of a rain storm here. So, while I still have power (knock on wood), I'll share a few odds and ends I found around the web today. First, I was THRILLED to see this. Love that book cover! Love that book!

And, while this is an article from Britain, MAN does it ring true for the U.S. Reading is a fundamental human right? Who knew? Before I stopped teaching, I taught a reading class - at the high school level. I wasn't trained as a literacy teacher, but I still was assigned a reading class. In this class I did a number of different things with the kids, but we READ. Every day we read. I would spend time reading aloud and the students and I would have time to read something of our own choosing, nothing forced. What fun I had modeling my love of reading. Let's start a movement!

And if you aren't "bested" out, here's the collection of 2008 favorites as compiled for the DorothyL list serve subscribers.

Enjoy the rest of your week and happy reading!

They're Back?

So by now you may have heard that some crime fighting favorites are returning soon. Despite his previous insistence otherwise, Dennis Lehane has revealed that he is writing a new Patrick Kenzie novel. And at the end of March Harlan Coben is releasing his new novel that brings back Myron Bolitar.

I know many people have loved these series (and I count myself among those folks) and they have clamored for their returns; however, I can't help but wonder if there will be some negative fall out. Here's why I wonder this: both Lehane and Coben are different writers now. They are both extremely wonderful writers and I'm sure that whatever they produce will be good, but will it be what people are expecting?

With someone like Robert Crais or Michael Connelly who have written the same character very consistently over the years, you've watched the character change and evolve with the writer. Elvis in CHASING DARKNESS is not the same Elvis from THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT. If you read those two books back to back, you definitely see that difference. But if you read the series, you see MONKEY'S Elvis become DARKNESS Elvis. And that is part of the beauty of those kinds of characters.

Dennis Lehane, himself, has admitted that he's a different writer now. Anyone who's read one of his early Patrick Kenzie novels and something like MYSTIC RIVER, SHUTTER ISLAND, or THE GIVEN DAY can see that. And when I listen to people who "really want" a new Patrick Kenzie novel, I wonder if they'll actually want the Patrick Kenzie that comes from today's Dennis Lehane or are they actually clamoring for the past?

Thursday's This and That

This is almost becoming a regular thing..."Thursday's This and That." But I have a few fun things to share with you. The first comes from a newsletter I received this morning from Michael Stanley. June 2nd will unveil the new Kubu novel here in the United States. This book will be called THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU. Definitely looking forward to that release. There will be some more fun news about Kubu here on my blogiversary, so make sure you check back on Monday!

I read a daily e-mail called Shelf Awareness, and I discovered this blog through that. I found Tom Campbell's commentary pretty interesting. It was in response to this article from the New York Times. I have to agree with Tom on the end of selling books. It really isn't worth the trouble for me to try to sell books I don't want anymore online. I usually either give them away, take them to a used bookstore or sell them in a garage sale. Tom's post about people lying about what they read is pretty good as well. Can't say as I've lied about what I've read lately, though.

I'm checking fairly regularly over at the L.A. Times site. They are supposed to post the authors attending this year's book festival this month. Hopefully it will be soon. I can't wait to see.

And finally, a great post by Lesa about the importance of libraries in this economy. It's a great post for all non-librarians.

Have a wonderful Friday and happy reading!!

A Top Mysteries of 2008 List

Here is Oline Cogdill's top mysteries of 2008 blog entry. You can also access the actual list from this. Of course, I'm especially fond of her list because of her choice as the second best book of 2008. Her list is a list of only books that were published in 2008. I, on the other hand, will be including the books I read in 2008, which means they could have been written in 1908! There aren't any that old, but you know what I mean. There are quite a few on her list that are on my TBR list. Hopefully it won't be 2108 before I get to them all! :) My list will be forthcoming...closer to December 31st/January 1st.

In the meantime, I have a list a mile long of things I need to get to for this blog - another review, an interview, a Christmas list... They'll be coming today, tomorrow, the next day; I'll get to them as quickly as I can. One item that is in the works is my recognition for the Spirit of Generosity Award bestowed on me by Corey from The Drowning Machine. This award is requiring me to think a lot about what I'm passing on to others, but I do want to thank Corey. I'm overwhelmed by this recognition from him. It truly means a lot to me.

In the meantime, check out Oline's list and CONGRATS MICHAEL!!

Last Call for Entries

Here's the last call for entries into the Matrimony book giveaway. I will be taking any entries through tomorrow and the winner will be announced on Monday. Click here if you need the details for entry.

In the meantime, here's a nice article you can check out from Oline Cogdill about Michael Koryta's Envy the Night.

Publish or Perish?

I wanted to share this with you if you didn't already see it in Sunday's New York Times. I thought it was a great Op-Ed piece by James Gleick and worth the read.

My favorite part is this:

As a technology, the book is like a hammer. That is to say, it is perfect: a tool ideally suited to its task. Hammers can be tweaked and varied but will never go obsolete. Even when builders pound nails by the thousand with pneumatic nail guns, every household needs a hammer. Likewise, the bicycle is alive and well. It was invented in a world without automobiles, and for speed and range it was quickly surpassed by motorcycles and all kinds of powered scooters. But there is nothing quaint about bicycles. They outsell cars.

I think this just says it all. I've been asked fairly regularly what my thoughts are about e-books. I think they are inevitable in our age of technology, but I don't think the physical book will ever go away. Most of the benefits of an e-reader are not relative to me. I don't have money for an e-reader, and since I buy a great deal of my books used to begin with, it wouldn't be a money saver down the road either. I don't read books fast enough to make one sensible for travel. I usually only need one, maybe two books to tide me over on a trip. That's not difficult to carry. Maybe someday I'll have an e-reader. I'm not opposed them any more than I oppose audiobooks, but I won't ever LOVE them the way I love a physical book either. An e-reader is simply another form of the book. Unlike CDs replacing tapes that replaced records or Blu-Ray that replaced DVD that replaced VHS...there is no improving the quality of the book. It's simply moving it to a new medium. The ideas are all the same, the words elicit the same magic, the mystery and travel and excitement are all still there. The one thing an e-reader will never be able to accommodate is an author's inscription. In that way, an e-reader will never be worth more to me.

Happy Reading!

This and That...

Just a few tidbits before I toddle off to Tyson-proof my house - my sister's nine-month-old boxer is coming to stay until tomorrow evening and I have to create a safe haven for the cats and also hide all the books (remember Tyson at my copy of Dead Connection).

Anyway...

Shelf Awareness had this picture of President-elect Obama that I wanted to post:

They later apologized becaused they had listed this as the first book sighting with Obama. They were corrected by someone who informed them the first sighting was actually Obama with a book of poetry. Regardless I'm tickled pink to see and hear him associated with books, period. He's also been reported as reading books about Kennedy and Roosevelt as he prepares to take office in the midst of this termoil.

Another little tidbit is that the Mystery Lover's Bookshop has extended their free shipping offer until Monday. They also have some additional discounts if you purchase so much. You can find out all about that and order books for your loved ones (or yourself) here. They will also special order for you if you want something that isn't mystery. In addition to books you can find some very cool puzzles and games. When I was out there this past September, I had a blast checking everything out.

And my last little announcement for today is about an author I just love, Linda Fairstein. She has a new book due out February 10, 2009. It's called Lethal Legacy and it takes place primarily in a New York City Library. Her NYC setting choices are always so intriguing to me. She originally hooked me when I read the book jacket for Entombed. The fact that it had a connection to Edgar Allen Poe was enough for me to check her out. I've been a fan ever since. You can check out Linda's website where she has a contest going to win a copy of Lethal Legacy. If you enter - tell her I said, "hi." I'm hoping she comes close enough in the Lethal Legacy tour for me to get to meet her in person. Fingers crossed!

Happy Reading!!