Jane Litte's Blog, page 972

Friday Film Review: Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Genre: Fantasy/Myth/Adventure

Grade: B-/C

I decided to check out this 30 year oldie goldie because today the sequel to the 3D 2010 remake is being released. I haven't seen that one so I'm not going to compare them but despite the fact that the 1981 version is old school and one of the last hurrahs to stop motion animation, it's worth checking out if only to see the inventive creatures Ray Harryhousen created.

Basically, the plot is the myth of Perseus (Harry Hamlin...

REVIEW: A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

Dear Ms. Zink,

I admit it. The lovely cover is what made me stop and give your new novel a second look. I'm a sucker for pretty covers, and I thought this one was highly effective for the genre. If only I could say the same for the content.

Helen Cartwright is the sheltered daughter of a British family. That all changes when her mother drags her out of bed one night and tells her to flee through a secret passage. She eventually does so but not before everyone else in the household is murdered a...

Thursday: Refurbed Kindle and Nooks; Random House Revenue Down; Book Sales Up

Amazon Fire Refurb for $139
BN is still offering its Nook Color for $129. Throw a Nook Touch on for $20

Mark Coker has provided substantive information to the DOJ arguing that agency pricing does not lead to increased prices in books.

It's also fallacy to believe that somehow the wholesale pricing model is the savior and enabler of low prices. Under the wholesale model, the publisher has always set the price at which they'll sell the book to the bookstore, typically a 50% discount to the...

REVIEW: A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare

Dear Ms. Dare,

As I read A Week to Be Wicked, I kept thinking about Cyndi Lauper's assertion "Girls just want to have fun." The heroine of this book, Minerva Highwood, prior to hitting the road with your hero, Lord Colin Payne, really hasn't had much fun. She certainly hasn't had any fun where men are concerned. As her mother writes in a letter to cousin—her rather awful mother  actually dictates it to Minerva to write—

Minerva? Plain, bookish, distracted, awkward with gentlemen. In a word...

REVIEW: That New York Minute by Abby Gaines

Dear Ms. Gaines:

The book has a very original opening. Rachel Frye is trying to convince her stick in the mud boyfriend not to break up with her. The breakup is bringing out her least favorite trait, shrillness, and is being done in front of her biggest rival, Garret Calder. Garrett is a fellow creative director at one of NY's largest independent ad agency.

Rachel is not in love with her boyfriend but she thinks, given time and enough personal investment, this relationship could work out...

Wednesday News: Harry Potter eBooks Legitimately Available

My updates today are brief given my current real life work schedule.

Harry Potter books have been released in digital and audio format. The prices are US $7.99 each for the first three and $9.99 each for the last four. If you buy them direct from Pottermore.com, they are DRM free and in epub format. If you choose to source them through a retailer, the retailers repackage them with DRM. ( Pottermore) You must create an account with Pottermore and actually purchase the books through the...

REVIEW: Frat Boy and Toppy by Anne Tenino

Dear Ms. Tenino.

I loved this book. Just loved it. I read it in one sitting, finally going to sleep at 3am on Friday night, damn you. In retrospect, it has flaws, but I didn't notice them as I was reading.

Brad is a football player and in a frat. I really REALLY love the way the book starts:

One of Brad's frat brothers bent over naked in the locker room showers early one Thursday morning, and he thought, "I'd tap that."

He stood there frozen, skin stinging from the pelletized water, soap suds...

Debut Print Book: Don't Let Me Go by J.H.Trumble

I've had some concerns by readers who are primarily print readers that the coverage at Dear Author has been too focused on ebooks. When I asked the readers what they were interested in seeing, they responded that they would like to know more about print debut authors. We developed a little questionnaire and every Wednesday at 10:00 AM CST (as long as we have content) we'll post the questionnaire answers along with links to the author's site and a buy link to her book. I hope this helps...

REVIEW: Blame it on Bath by Caroline Linden

Dear Ms. Linden:

Before I get too far into this review, I want to say right up front that I found Blame it on Bath quite likeable. I do so because the series that includes this book – The Truth about the Duke – is based on a legal issue that, even to my limited knowledge, seems kind of squirrely. That did not ruin my enjoyment of the book, but for those who require scrupulous historical realism, this series might be a challenge.

[image error]Captain Gerard De Lacey, the youngest of the Duke of Durham's...

REVIEW: Temptation is the Night by Marguerite Kaye

England, 1924

It had been love at first sight when Jack Damarell, the Eighth Earl of Crieff, and American artist Lindsey van der Maier met on the steamer to England. Their marriage had been filled with white-hot passion—until Jack's dark memories of the trenches drove them apart.

Now Lindsey has returned, and Jack has resolved to exorcise her from his heart with one final night of lovemaking to prove that reality couldn't possibly live up to his memories. But can Jack hold onto his conviction...