Jane Litte's Blog, page 989

REVIEW: Heat by R. Lee Smith

Dear Ms. Smith,

This book was not what I expected when I picked it up. In fact, I'd even venture so far as to offer a caption.

Heat is probably the best independently published book I have read, and one of the best books I have read in a long while. It is also one of the most graphic, and most disturbing books I have read in a long while. When I finished this book, I told a friend about it and she said it sounded awful. On paper, it does sound awful, but it was a truly compelling read and I...

Friday News and Deals: Penguin Pulls Entire Digital Catalog From Libraries

News

Penguin has severed all ties with Overdrive which means that there will no longer be any titles from Penguin available for library loan in digital format. The parties are negotiating terms in which books that the libraries have already purchased can be lent but no agreement has been forthcoming. Chilling, isn't it?

Perhaps libraries won't need an agreement from the publishers in the future depending on the outcome of the ReDigi lawsuit. ReDigi is a company that allows the resale of mp3s...

Friday Film Review: Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Genre: Comedy/Spoof

Grade: A-

"He rode a blazing saddle, he wore a shining star.

His job to offer battle to bad men near and far.

He conquered fear and he conquered hate.

He turned dark night into day.

He made his blazing saddle a torch to light the way."

It's been a while since I've reviewed a bromance so here goes with one of the funniest movies from Mel Brooks. Not only is it an homage/spoof of the great Western classics but it's also a social commentary on race...

REVIEWS: Master Class and SUBlime by Rachel Haimowitz

Dear Ms. Haimowitz.

I've been remiss in not reviewing these books. I recommended them in November, but then the end of the semester and the holidays and then the beginning of the semester and and and…caught up with me. But I've been dipping into them again and again through the last few months when I needed to cleanse my palate from other books.

Nicky Avery is a TV star who is rehearsing for a Broadway show. He meets Devon Turner, film star and all around amazing actor. They connect instantly, ...

Thursday News and Deals: Crime fiction overtakes romance

In the UK, romance checkouts at the library are being overtaken by crime fiction titles.  Does that mean that the interest in romance books is declining? Melville House wonders if, instead, readers are going digital.

But while this story is being billed as romance vs. crime fiction, it seems like there could be a digital subtext. Much has been made of the migration of the mass market, especially romance genre readers, to the digital platform. Cheap, fast, and perhaps the allure of being...

REVIEW: Still Hot For You by Diane Escalera

Dear Ms. Escalera,

In the teaser for your book, Still Hot for You, your publisher Lyrical Press, describes it thusly:

Want to get your man talking?  Give him booty!

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And Shay LaCosta is pretty desperate. She's wrecked her blissful marriage of five years by demanding she and her husband Dylan have a baby. What the hell was she thinking? She knows she was wrong and she's ready to set things right, if only Dylan will let her. Bet he can't shun her Booty...

REVIEW: The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Dear Ms. Bridges,

I first encountered your debut novel on NetGalley. I admit I've always been fond of historical YA, especially if there's a paranormal flavor. Your book sounded like the ticket. It was a nice change of pace from the urban fantasies and dystopians overwhelming the genre right now. The unique setting was just icing on the cake.

Katerina Alexandrovna is a young aristocrat in late 19th century Russia. She's expected to marry rich and marry well and thus, is attending finishing...

GUEST REVIEW: Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

Allow me to engage in some nepotism here.  Yesterday, tot came home and reported that she had started her own review blog pursuant to instruction from the teacher. Instead of the book reports that I used to write as a school child (or perhaps in addition to), tot and her class are learning to write book reviews on a blog.  They then read each other's blog posts and exchange comments.  I about died.  I asked for her permission to reprint the review which she graciously gave.  The Humphrey...

What Jia's Been Reading in January

It's a new year! That said, I feel like I haven't done a whole lot of reading this month. Hmm.

Skirmish by Michelle West

This is the latest in West's fantasy cycle and the first in a long time that got me extremely excited about events in this world. That's mostly because this is the first installment since Sun Sword ended that takes place in the present time. No more flashbacks, no more expanding the past. Good read and got me excited about the world again. (Full review here.)

Goodreads | a

REVIEW: Eternal Captive by Laura Wright

Dear Ms. Wright:

I read book one in the series and didn't love it so I skipped the second, but I think you may have hauled me back into the fold with this one. The two characters are at daggers drawn (to use an old fashioned phrase) because the hero is destined to be a Breed Male which means he can have no mate. The heroine has no mate either but has faked a mate sign through a tattoo of sorts with another vampire who had lost his true mate.

There is a lot going on here with mutores...