Jane Litte's Blog, page 992

Our enduring love/hate relationship with linked books

Some conversations in romancelandia never go away: accuracy and authenticity in historical romance, whether Jamie Fraser of Outlander is a great hero or the greatest, and whether series books are wonderful or maddening or both. Coincidentally, I was about to finish the last book of an eight-book series when I saw a column lamenting the lack of stand-alone books in romance. I was nodding my head in agreement when I suddenly stopped and thought, wait a minute. I've been reading series and...

REVIEW: Fracture by Megan Miranda

Dear Ms. Miranda,

At first impression, your debut novel is a YA paranormal. It has a lot of the trappings. After a life-changing event, a girl develops unusual abilities. She has to choose between a couple guys. But I think applying that label and reducing it to those tropes does it an injustice. This is one of those cases where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

[image error]Delaney Maxwell is just a regular high school student. She's the top of her class and aims to be valedictorian. She's not a...

Monday News and Deals:

News

NYtimes has a big piece on Barnes & Noble. The upshot is that BN is working hard on a new Nook to debut later this spring and that its entire lifeblood appears to rest on the Nook's success.  Without BN, says the article, publishing may die. Which is ironic given that the VP of something for BN was at Digital Book World this last week touting that 75% of books sold are still in print format.  If BN was so positive that print books were going to be a mainstay of publishing, why is so much ...

REVIEW: The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig

Dear Ms Willig,

I always seem to be behind in keeping up with this series but I think it's because I want to be sure I have a Pink Carnation book on hand. And in this instance it worked beautifully for me. You see, I've been in a reading slump for it seems like ages (actually about 3 months) and "The Orchid Affair" is what I needed to finally pull out of it. So thank you for doing me such a service. Now, on to our regularly scheduled review:

[image error]Miss Laura Gray has been a governess for sixteen...

DA/SBTB Bestseller List, January 24, 2012

Week ending January 24, 2012

And Then He Kissed Her by Laura Lee Guhrke | Amazon | BN | Sony | Kobo Beauty and the Duke by Melody Thomas | Amazon | BN | Sony | Kobo Devil's Bride with Bonus Material by Stephanie Laurens | Amazon | BN | Sony | Kobo Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer | Amazon | BN | Sony | Kobo Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell  | Amazon | BN | Sony | Kobo Angelfall by Susan Ee | Amazon | BN | Sony | Kobo To Love a Thief by Julie Anne Long | Amazon | BN | Sony | Kobo

A catalog of Android reading apps

Everyday more and more folks are getting Android based phones and tablets. For readers these devices can be a great way to read both on the go and in a more relaxed setting. The problem comes when looking for reading apps. There are so many out there and searching the Android Market often dosn't give great results unless you already know the apps name (which doesn't help if you're browsing).

This is my attempt to catalog the multitude of reading apps available for the Android platform (and ...

A catalog of Andriod reading apps

Everyday more and more folks are getting Android based phones and tablets. For readers these devices can be a great way to read both on the go and in a more relaxed setting. The problem comes when looking for reading apps. There are so many out there and searching the Android Market often dosn't give great results unless you already know the apps name (which doesn't help if you're browsing).

This is my attempt to catalog the multitude of reading apps available for the Android platform (and ...

REVIEW: The Players' Club series by Cathy Yardley

This post reviews all three Players' Club books, two of which are available now and one which is set to be released digitally on February 1, 2012. I will say that if you read one, you'll have to read them all.

Players' Club: Scott

The Players' Club is an urban legend of men jetting around the world, throwing amazing parties, playing huge pranks, or so Scott Ferrell  thinks, but when he stumbles upon the monthly meeting he refuses to leave until they reveal the truth to him.  The Player's...

First Page: UNTITLED FANTASY

Welcome to First Page Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a first page read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. You may comment anonymously.

***

Blue's boots sunk into the sand. A gust hurled even more curls into her face. She paused and tightened her bun. This unholy constant wind from the sea to the hills only got worse at night, so what was this guy doing here? Why wasn't he in a nightclub? Tourists...

Friday News: What Google's New "Privacy" Policy Means for You

Google has changed some of its policies regarding how it is collecting data from users. A couple of good links on the subject include the WSJ write up and the EFF write up at the USA Today.

WSJ:

In sum, Google is tracking every move you make and connecting it together. If you watch a Youtube video, google logs this and then analyzes it against the searches you've made and the emails you send. To avoid this, you must be logged out and by default, Google logs you in. To make sure you are...