OCD, Vampires, and Rants, oh my!

Often with these Friday Night Movies, I share with you something that's silly or just plain random. Tonight, though, I feel like indulging in something worth a closer look, a mesmerizing act of human skill. Fair warning: This is one to sit back and watch when you have a few minutes, not something to click on for a quick couple of minutes when you're in the middle of doing something else. As an added bonus, you can watch the members of the audience holding their breath, watching him.

Hey, it's Thursday! The perfect day to find a new and cheap e-book to fall in love with. Since it's Valentine's day, the deals are a little heavy on the romance side, but there's some fantasy, sci-fi, YA, and a touch of horror in here, too.

All standard disclaimers apply, blah blah blah. Retailers like to change their prices frequently and without warning, so if you see a deal you want to take advantage of, please do pounce. These links take you to Amazon, but some deals may be available at other e-book retailers. Sometimes the deals are good in countries outside the US; sometimes they're not. And I ferociously wish we could just work out these nonsensical territorial issues already. Bow ties are cool.

-Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey, contemporary romance, 0$
-A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman, 1920s-era historical romance, 0$
-Touched by AJ Aalto, urban fantasy, 0$
-Driven by Eve Silver, sci-fi romance, 0.99$
-Wait For Me by Elisabeth Naughton, romantic suspense, 0.99$
-Tall, Dark, and Deadly trilogy by Lisa Renee Jones, romantic suspense, 1.00$
-Wizard's Blood by Thomas Head, epic fantasy, 1.97$
-Blue Angel by Logan Belle, erotica, 2.01$
-Sanctum by Todd Grimson, YA dark fantasy/occult horror, 1.99$
-Fortune's Hero by Jenna Bennett, space opera, 2.97$
-Sins & Needles by Karina Halle, contemporary romance, 2.97$
-Be Mine by Jennifer Crusie, Victoria Dahl, & Shannon Stacey, contemporary romance anthology, 2.98$
-The Magic Knot by Helen Scott Taylor, paranormal romance, 2.98$
-The Legend of Eli Monpress 3-book bundle by Rachel Aaron, epic fantasy, 3.04$
-Lion of Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn, historical fiction, 3.50$
-Crewel by Gennifer Albin, YA paranormal, 3.50$
-The Duchess War by Courtney Milan, historical romance, 3.81$
-Silent Revenge by Laura Landon, 3.99$
-Sanctum by Sarah Fine, YA dystopian, 3.99$

So it's Valentine's Day tomorrow (or today, depending on where you are), and I'm here hoping everyone has a good one. Whether your date this year is with someone new and exciting, someone you've loved for many years, or a most excellent book, have a fabulous day. And do something special for yourself. It doesn't have to be anything epic; just a little gesture will work. We spend an awful lot of time focusing on our own flaws, and the hype for Valentine's day tries to tell you your only validity is if someone wants to spend the evening canoodling with you. Which, of course, we know is absolutely not true, but it can be hard not to buy into the hype when it seems like it's being thrown at you from every direction.

But you know what's just as important as showing love and appreciation to the special people in your lives? Being able to love yourself! So I'm hoping each of you will take even just a few minutes of your February 14th plans to indulge yourself in one thing that just makes you happy. Seriously, love yourself this Valentine's day. Because you're awesome.

It's Monday, and I imagine most of us are a bit grumbly about that. So hey, let's use the internet for what it does best (no, not porn) and look at some interesting links!

-Baldur Bjarnason recently wrote an eloquent and thought-provoking post about e-books, more specifically on how publishers should respect their readers, including the ones who prefer e-books to print books. He suggests that e-books are more like a service than an object, and that their priority should be customer satisfaction.

-Hyperion and Marvel have teamed up to release a pair of "adventure romance" novels, one featuring She-Hulk and the other Rogue of the X-Men. This is apparently Marvel's way of making an attempt to stop alienating women, but well... neither of them sound like they're any good. That is, of course, a judgement based on very little information, and I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong. But Marvel? Where's my Black Widow movie?

-And for a bit of interesting but geeky reading, we've got a list of the 10 Most Common Grammatical Errors and How to Fix Them. It's targeted to writers, and some of them aren't so much grammatical errors as they are a word of advice in writing style, but there's some really good stuff in there to look over.

For this week's Friday Night Movie, I'd like to share a little gem with you starring Daniel Radcliffe explaining to everyone the best ways to handle success. Ok, it might not be your standard how-to guide, but it's certainly worth watching.

It's Thursday, and you know what that means: time to restock your digital bookshelf with all the good deals!

All standard disclaimers apply. All links lead to Amazon, although some e-book deals may be available at other e-book retailers. Some deals may not be available outside the US, and most are available for a limited time only. Being listed here is not necessarily a recommendation, just an acknowledgement of a really good price.

-Heir to the Underworld by ED Walker, YA paranormal, 0$
-Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina, steampunk, 0.99$
-Siren by John Everson, dark fantasy/horror, 0.99$
-Bombay Assassins Greatest Hits Box Set by Leslie Langtry, 5-book romantic suspense series, 1.95$
-Henry Franks by Peter Adam Salomon, dark fantasy, 1.99$
-The English Witch by Loretta Chase, historical romance, 2.98$
-Fly by Night by Ward Larsen, mystery/thriller, 2.99$
-Mister Monday by Garth Nix, YA contemporary fantasy, 2.99$
-Modern Sorcery by Gary Jonas, contemporary fantasy, 3.00$
-The Magic Knot by Helen Scott Taylor, paranormal romance, 3.00$
-Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C Wrede & Caroline Stevermer,
-The Big Exit by David Carnoy, technothriller, 3.52$
-Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon, YA paranormal, 3.52$

This is perhaps old news, but awesome nonetheless. And it makes me wish I'd been in London last August.

Two artists and their crew of volunteers created an enormous maze out of 250 000 books, which ended up being 5000 square feet with 13 foot walls. Literary quotes and images were projected in the hopes of inspiring people to see something new in the books, to "discover "new textures, images, and emotions" and be hypnotized "by words and thoughts, designs and patterns.""

And then when it was all over, the public was encouraged to take the books home. I can't think of a single part of this that isn't awesome.

The link above includes a time-lapse video of the construction of the book labyrinth, which is definitely worth a look. And I want to know why book mazes don't pop up around my city.

Publisher: Margaret K McElderry Books, 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Sub-genre: Swords and sorcery
Rating: 3 1/2 pints of blood



Let's get one thing straight: the cover art is at least 75% responsible for me owning this book. Seriously, look at it. The gorgeous colours, the lighting, the sense of movement in the silk, the capable-looking woman of colour... it's like they designed this cover specifically to catch my attention.

And, y'know, the premise sounded pretty intriguing too, but really, it's the cover art that landed it near the top of my "I MUST HAVE THIS BOOK" list. I wound up getting it for Christmas, so all may rejoice.

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Welp, it's time for me to wrap up my contest of extreme laziness by announcing a winner! So congratulations to garnigal, who according to random.org is our winner, and who should therefore e-mail me at genrereviews (at) gmail (dot) com to claim her wonderous prize. Or lazy prize. One of those. (Both of those?)

Thanks to everyone for the well wishing! The husband caught my bug right after I did, but we're both back to normal now. Or as close to normal as either of us gets. It's all relative, really.

It's Friday and, at least where I am, it's very very cold outside, so I'm staying inside and thinking warm thoughts. Warm and fuzzy thoughts. Ok, I'm thinking about kittens, because who wouldn't?

If you're sitting there and thinking this week's Friday Night must be about kittens, it's not at all because I'm predictable, it's because we're kindred spirits and you've also got kittens on the brain. But I do happen to have some kitten video for you. And these aren't just any kittens: they're SUPER kittens. They fly! In slow motion! In capes! (I'm pretty sure the capes are what make flight possible, actually.)