To start, there is going to be a prequal to the series, not written by LJ Smith.  This is going to be the story of the love triangle between Stefan, Damon, and Katherine.  At least the first one, will be set during the Cival War.  The trilogy will be called Stefan’s Diary.  The three books in order are Orgins, Bloodlust, and The Craving.

http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Diaries-Stefans-Origins/dp/0062003933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286250570&sr=1-1

The third part of The Return trilogy is also coming out soon.  Currently hardback is listed as being released on March 15th.

LJ Smith also announced recently on her website that the newest VD trilogy will be called The Hunters.   The books are tentively titled Phantom, Moonsong, and Enternity.  All that Smith has said so far is that the main characters are going off to college.  The first books should be out next summer.

Oh man, I can’t wait to read all these!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100909/ap_on_bi_ge/us_wall_street_journal_book_review

To be honestly, I haven’t read a newspaper in some time so I can’t really comment too much on their lack of reviews but I do think it is a good thing that they are adding more.  My hope is that they cover a wide range or things.  Along with that, hopefully they don’t just got for what is selling well.  There is a place for reviewing those but it would be awesome to see some underrated writings getting more visibility.

The question that actually came to mind when reading this was where are people getting book reviews these days?  I don’t know that I have read a single one written by an actual journalist in years.  Without many exceptions, the book reviews I read are online from regular people. 

My favorite site to get reviews from is Shelfari. 

http://www.shelfari.com/

This website is awesome.  It is basically sharing what books you are reading, talking about them, and all sorts of stuff pertaining to books.  Everyone on their is definately a proud book nerd.  I like that when I read a review, I can see what else the person has read.  I can see if they read and liked the same books as me and therfore can tell if their taste is similar.  It was actually through reading some stuff on a group page (Vampires, Witches & Were’s and all that………….Rated NC 17 ) that I came across a couple people talking about the Succubus books by Richelle Mead.  I also decide to read the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine based on reviews.  Most people on their really seem to think out their reviews too, even if they are only a sentence or two long.  On Amazon I sometimes get the impression that people are just writing stuff to be annoying.  I haven’t ran across much of that on Shelfari.  Plus you can put your bookshelf on your website (scroll to the bottom of my main page to see mine) which is super awesome.

I also like when I came across people doing reviews on their blogs.  I need to start linking more of those on here because I also forget to make note of blogs I like so can’t find them again.  If someone takes the time to blog about books, I take their opinion seriously.  Sidenote to this, if you have a book blog, let me know! Now that I’ve mention making a link’s page, I really want to do it.

Besides that, when I do pick up magazines or newspapers with book reviews, I read them.  I always love to hear about books no matter what. 

So where does everyone else get reviews from?  Do you even read reviews before reading books?  Do you read them afterwords?

The most exciting news I’ve come across is all the new stuff Cassandra Clare has coming out.  I had heard about The Clockwork Angel so was already looking forward to that.  It will be a prequel to her other books.  The Mortal Instruments was originally written as a trilogy.  If you have the books, it states so in the back.  I loved, I mean absolutely loved, those books.  Actually, maybe I’ll even reread them before the new one comes out.

Anyways, I was extremly excited to see on Amazon a listing for City of Fallen Angels.  The cover has not been revealed but the image right now says “Who will be tempted by darkness?”  My mind is already realing trying to think who it might be. Simon? Clary? Jace? Ah, I want to know right now.

Then I decided to check out Clare’s website to see what else I could find. There was a link to this article…

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/44067-s-s-signs-cassandra-clare-to-two-more-books.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=d16c5c928f-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email

So three new books in the works plus the possiblity of a movie?!?! Yes please!

Other books I’m excited for are….

Goddess of Legend by PC Cast
The Fledgling Handbook by PC Cast
Awakened by PC and Kirstin Cast (can you tell I’m on a PC Cast kick? Look at my reading list from this year)
Night Star by Alyson Noel
Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

So what is everyone else looking forward to?

As far as I know this will be Reichs first novel that does not center around Temperance Brennan.  The main character however is supposed to be Tempe’s neice Tory.  This book is more on the sci-fi side where as the Temperance books are crime mysteries. 

I am excited for this book because Reichs is an extremely talented writer.  The detail in her books is incredible.  I even named my cat Temperance after her character.  It will be  interesting to see her writing something in a different genre.  I would say from the description, this book will be more along the type of books I have been reading this year anyways.  I’ve really been on a supernatural kick. 

This will also be her first young adult novel.  I don’t see any information yet on if this will be a series.  I hope so.  I know I will certainly buy it as soon as it comes out to help the cause!

USA Today Best Sellers  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100722/ap_on_en_ot/us_best_sellers_books_usatoday

#6 The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
#11 Breaking Dawn
#12 Eclipse
#23 Twilight
#28 New Moon
#50 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Mark Cotta Vaz

New York Times Best Sellers
www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller

#25 (Trade fiction) The Host
#1 (Series Books) Twilight Saga (also note this is it’s 154 week on the list.  The Percy Jackson books however have been on the list of 158)
#4 (Graphic Novels Hardback) Twilight: The Graphic Novel Vol 1

Amazon.com Best Sellers
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books

#20 Breaking Dawn (Pre-order for Paperback)
#23 The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
#64 Breaking Dawn (Hardback)

Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Bestseller-Books/379001057/?start=21&cds2Pid=17351

#25 Breaking Dawn (preorder for paperback)
#26 The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

I really find it interesting that a presale of a book that has already been out for years is a topseller. It is insane how well the books are still doing.  Honestly, I think it is cool.  Kudos to Meyer for doing so well.  Being on the best sellers list is a huge thing for an author.  Seeing anyone do that well is very cool.

I was very excited that this week I got to go see a Q and A with one of my favorite authors, Charlaine Harris.  As you might already know, she is the author of the Sookie Stackhouse books (along with many other books) that the HBO show True Blood was based on.  Her most recent book, Dead in the Family, just became a best seller as well.

Alright, so what were people asking….

I asked her about advice to writers.  A couple other people did as well and each time she said write a great book.  Kind of a given so not the best advice ever.  She did talk about her writing processes a little though.  I found it interesting that the first book was not written thinking it would be a series.  She said that when she is stuck she thinks about who will show up at Sookie’s door than goes from there.  Interesting advice.  I could definately see that as being a good writing exerise.

She got asked many questions about True Blood.  I liked that she agrees with the show writers decision to deviate from the books so that even if you read the books, the show is a surprise.  She said this season she is looking most forward to see what they do with the Fae.  Yes, they are showing up in season three! I’m excited for Alcide. 

Harris said her favorite scene from the show was the pie scene after Sookie’s grandmother passed away.  Lots of people at the q&a asked food related questions.  Harris laughed that the meaning of the show was pie.  She didn’t know the secrets of Lost but the secret of True Blood was pie. 

She also said that she wishes she would have written a character like Jessica.  She loved that character.  Jessica is the vampire that Bill was forced to change on the show. 

As for favorite books, Harris said she enjoyed writing Altogether Dead a lot.   That was the one in which Sookie goes to the vampire summit with the Queen.  Harris said it was fun to get to come up with a way to blow up a building. 

A few people asking questions and a few in line said that Dead to the World was their favorite.  That is mine so far as well.  I think it is because I’m Team Eric all the way.  It seemed liked most the crowd was as well.  In the series, Bill definetely turns into a bad-ish guy or at least kind of a jerk.  Eric has his romantic moments which I love. 

Of course, someone asked her about Stephanie Meyer and Twilight.  I think she had a very good opinion on the subject.  Obviously, vampire books are going to have things in common.  She wrote her first Sookie novel five years before Twilight so obviously she didn’t rip it off.  Harris said that she was proud to see any female making a living in writing and being sucessful.  I completely agree with her on that.  Again, I find it interesting how people are so negative on Twilight.  In line I overheard a girl complaining about how awful of a writing Stephanie Meyer was.  She pointed out she was no Virginia Wolfe.  Of course she isn’t!  She never tired to be.  She wrote a fantasy book for teens.  There is no comparing the two.  Plus the girl in line also mention how she read the entire Twilight series twice.  If the books were so awful, why read them twice and see the movies to compare?  If a book makes you want to read it twice, it is a good book.  At least that is what I think.

I know there was lots of other questions that Harris answered but those were a few that stood out to me.  I can’t wait to start reading Dead in the Family.  I’m almost done with Burned by PC and Kirstin Cast so I’ll start it after I finish that one.

Here are a few pictures I got of Charlaine Harris.  Sorry they didn’t turn out very well.

This last week I got to go see PC and Kirstin Cast, authors of the House of Night series at Powells in Portland.  First off, they are so funny.  It is awesome seeing a mother and daughter work together.  PC writes the story first then Kirstin edits.  PC had obviously been an author for some time but Kirstin is also starting to do some stuff on her own as well as working as an editor.

Okay, I’ll admit, I couldn’t help but ask about how many cats they had adopted from the shelter Street Cats that they talk about in the book.  I love the fact that they include both the shelter and a cat they got from there, Nala, in the book.  When I publish a book, I’m definately going to continue to give money to the West Columbia Gorge Humane Society, where I adopted by cat Temperance.

Most of the people there ask questions about the plot but there was some about writing and publishing.  A few people asked questions about why certain characters died or had other things happen to her.  PC kept saying that she cried and cried when certain characters died and some of them she just couldn’t part with so had to come up with new plots.  Some people acted confused about this answer but it made perfect sense to me.  When I write, I’m just conveying what I see and hear in my head.  I tried writing stories that I planned out the entire  thing first but it didn’t work.  I just have to write as it comes into my head and then edit later.  PC said it is like writing out a movie in her head.

Since I’m big into House of Night right now, I’ll have a few more post going up soon.  Watch for those.  Thanks everyone that reads my blog.  Love you guys!

The first thing it said was of course saying that she was the author of Twilight.  I had no problem with that because obviously it is true.  Plus I know that I read The Host because I enjoyed Meyers writing.

The part that bothered me was they described the book as “A truly unexpected love story.”   I would never describe the book that way.   There was a slight love story involved but it was in no way a focus of the story.   It would be like saying Twilight is a fight movie because there is some fight scenes. 

What they should have said was “A truly unexpected story of humanity.”   That is what the book was about.  The basic premise was that an alien race has taken over to make the world peaceful but there is still some rogue humans.  When Melanie, a human, is taken over by Wanderer, she refuse to give in.  I guess there is some love involved because Melanie’s memories of the man she loves set the story in motion but it becomes such a minor storyline.

I absolutely loved this book.   It is by far one of my favorite books of all time.  It told such a beautiful and powerful story of how amazing humans can be.  I actually started crying at the end because it was so powerful.  It was a unique story line.  It had elements of sci-fi that were very interesting.  The space stuff I loved because in case anyone didn’t already know this, I’m obsessed with everything star and space related. 

I would highly recommend this book to everyone, male or female.

http://blog.mtvmusic.com/2010/04/20/mtv-music-book-club-lights-on-the-oath/

The books Lights talks about is The Oath by Frank Peretti.  I was not familiar with him.  According to Lights, the book fits under the fantasy/horror genre.  It is about a cult that has to do with a dragon.  She talks some about the themes behind it. 

I certainly want to read this book after seeing her talk about.  I was into fantasy books as a teen then kind of fell out of them for a while.  In the last few months, I have picked up more and more.  I think that pretty much any vampire books fall under this and if you look at my list of books I’ve read this year, you will see that is my main source of enjoyment these days.  Plus I’ve picked up a few Dan Koontz books which are probably along that horror/thiller type novel.  Oh and I’ve decided that I want to read the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.

The part of the interview that made me think the most was the last question about if a song or album can tell a whole story.  Lights answer not quite.  I would agree with her almost completely but there are some exceptions to that.  If you are looking at the whole album, there is some concept albums that tell an entire story.  A perfect example of this is What to do When You Are Dead by Armor for Sleep.   The album tells the entire story of a person that commits suicide for the one they love, goes into life as a ghost, then ends with moving on.  There is main characters, there is a plot, and there is emotions.  It definitely tells a complete story.

On the other hand, there is concept albums like Volcano by Gatsbys American Dream.  The songs are based on Lord of the Flies by William Golding.  Some songs are emotion driven, other are more story.  Overall, you get a feel of the novel but the album doesn’t tell the whole story.

As for songs, Lights definitely has a point that maybe a ten minute country ballad can but most songs just give a peak.  In the case of Meg and Dia, they write a lot of their songs based on novels.  They usually are about the emotions you feel after reading the books though.  Like in the song Indiana, based on the novel of the same title by George Sands, as a reader, you definitely notice the sad injustices going on.  That is exactly what the girls wrote about in the song.

The only example I can think of that is a relatively short song that captures a whole story is Bob and Bonnie by Houston Calls.  It tells the story of a couple that meets, falls in love, and lives happily ever after.  I can’t think of any songs that capture a whole novel though.  I do think that would be nearly impossible.

Man, I love when music and books combine! Nothing makes me happier.

PS, make sure to check out The Listening by Lights! It is amazing.  My favorite song is Pretend [Reprise].  Close behind it is The Last Thing on Your Mind which I actually plan to have a line from tattooed on me.

Here is one article I found from Yahoo talking about publishers outlook on the iPad.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100402/media_nm/us_apple_ipad_media

The part of this article that I found most interesting was that it points out that early ebook models have failed.  Everyone keeps hoping that they will become this great devices but it just has not happened yet. 

My question, is it the market/sales model that is holding ebooks back or is it that physical books have a value beyond that?  I tend to think the latter.  Is there not a value in curling up with a book on a sunny day?  Can you get that value from the iPad?  I certainly don’t think so. 

Even though I still don’t think Ebooks and Ereaders are going to take over, I do understand why publishers are continuing to try.  It is another way of getting your product out there.  And I would imagine, it is a low cost way to do so.  I could be completely wrong on that but I would imagine it is cheaper to have an electronic version of a book formatted then to go through the entire product of a physical book. 

It will be interesting to see how much the iPad focuses on apps that have to do with books.  I work in a store that sells a device with an ebook app and it is something that we tell customers about but don’t always push.  In my experience, it has not been a selling point yet.  Will this change as more devices enter the market?

Did anyone actually pick up the iPad?  Have you tried reading a book on it?  It seems a bit too big to make reading comfortable to me but I would love to hear what other people think.