I’ve read few short story collections that I would want to put in my Book of the Month list. Most of the time there are some stories that I’m not thrilled with. This month I read one that is exciting from cover to cover. Some of the authors are familiar; many are not, though I may have heard the names before. I am not certain what the theme for the book is, but I do know that the stories are realistic fantasy and each addresses at least one social issue. Firebirds Rising by Sharyn November is the sequel to another collection, Firebirds. Firebirds is the name of the publisher also.

I just learned about this alternative to PayPal donations for websites. It is still PayPal, but in this instance the person donating receives a link on the site temporarily. As more people donate the link gets bumped down and off the list. It may conceivably work better than ads for webmasters (more direct). It also is a way to have more control over whose site you advertise on. It is simple to add to your site.

My TopSpots Widget is set for the minimum $1.oo.

To read more about it check out this article on Webmaster-Source.

The release of <i>Bloodhound</i> has been delayed twice. It was originally supposed to be published in 2007. Delayed to December 2008. Now again to Spring 2009. Haven’t heard any news about why it was delayed. Within the Ntugo Network we have been speculating about the reason. In all seriousness, we are excited about the Cooper series. Beka Cooper from <i>Terrier</i>  is an excellent character, and we are hoping to not wait much longer for the next book.

Note the poll to the right for laughs. (Poll taken down)

post updated – Aug 2008

Thank you. Thank you. Scott Westerfeld is working on a new trilogy that is alternate history. It is set in 1914 before WWI starts. Airships are a big theme, and it will be heavily illustrated.  His site says it was supposed to be out September 2007. There is a video on My Space TV from October 2007 in which he says he is still working on it. There is nothing on Amazon. There is also a short description on TeenReads about it. So far not much has been said. Can’t wait to hear more.

Related Post 

Finishing this book, I so wanted to select it as a Book of the Month, but decided against it as I posted another Rinaldi book so recently. It is an exciting book, though.

As her mother lays dying, Emily plans to move in with her best friend Annie Surratt. Her plans are ended by the assassination of President Lincoln and the suspicion of the Surratt family’s guilt. Emily’s Uncle Valentine (a local doctor and anatomy teacher) saves her from becoming entangled in the conspiracy, only to expose her to his own illegal activities.

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Because Robert McCloskey is one of our favorite picture book writers and illustrators of all time, he is our choice for the month. I would love to pick 4 of his books at once. After comparing their qualities, I decided on the lesser known Burt Dow.

REVIEW

Current Pick and Previous

For those interested, I added reviews for The Fires of Merlin and The Mirror of Merlin to T. A. Barron’s series The Lost Years of Merlin. Both books have some exciting extensions to the series. Both continue the theme of interconnectedness, and <i>The Mirror of Merlin</i> shows some relation to the Arthur stories.

REVIEW OF SERIES

The author of this month’s choice has been around a while, but I only recently discovered his books. His outrageousness reminds me of Dave Berry (only more coherent and cohesive). Like some of my favorite fantasy authors, he has created a whole realm and is branching out in limitless directions. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett is clear and easy to read, yet deeper than you would expect for tongue-in-cheek comedy.

REVIEW by Minerv66

REVIEW by Matt of EX LIBRIS

I want to spotlight this novel because the topic is so unusual,  interesting, and possibly controversial that readers might be motivated to research the subject for fun (what a concept). Since the idea of doing self-study is rare in our society, I think this makes the book noteworthy despite its low reading level.

The setting is modern with historical information inserted. There are two strong themes: a mystery of a missing valuable and the question of whether or not William Shakespeare actually wrote the plays for which he is noted.

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I recently tried to find kindred book reviewers through Blog Carnival. Because book reviews is too wide of a category, I set up carnivals with themes. The entries I received both times had nothing to do with what I listed.

While I’m giving up on that idea, I did receive an entry that my readers may be interested in. Scott H sent Top Ten Most Popular Books in College from the site College and Finance. It’s no surprise that <i>Harry Potter</i> tops the list. I like at least half the books on the list. Some of are newer, and I haven’t read. A couple are romance that I think are hyped too much. All in all a good list that students are choosing to read in their spare time.