News! Anticipated Books! And Finally the Answer to a Burning Question...

There is always so much going on and so much to tell you about in the wonderful world of books.

Small Press Spotlight
First, do you know about the Small Press Spotlight Series? We all know about the BIG books and the publishers that can afford to spend boatloads of money to make sure we know about that best-selling authors latest book, but sometimes smaller presses specializing in literature of a certain era, or theme, or just a book that's very good but hasn't been bought by a larger publisher slip under the radar. Our first tour spotlighted my own personal favorite, Unbridled Books, and our next our covers another favorite...New York Review Books Classics. Learn more about the tour and make sure to sign-up!

The Heart is Not a Size Book Club
Enter to win a chance for one of ten copies of the book and join in a skype book chat on June 3rd. Details here!

Vote for your favorite children's books!
Voting for The Children's Choice Book Awards closes on May 3rd. Be sure to go by Book Week Online and cast your vote!

Anticipated Books
My contribution to Waiting on Wednesday....

I've been reading Rachel Held Evans blog for awhile now and I can't wait for her book, Evolving in Monkey Town this July. Rachel is also just lovely herself, and faith memoirs are among my favorites. I love her honesty and compassion and suspect this will be a great read.

About the Book: Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial made a spectacle of Christian fundamentalism and brought national attention to her hometown, Rachel Held Evans faced a trial of her own when she began to have doubts about her faith. Growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, Evans asks questions she never thought she would ask. She learns that in order for her faith to survive in a postmodern context, it must adapt to change and evolve.

Using as an illustration her own spiritual journey from certainty, through doubt, to faith, Evans adds a unique perspective to the ongoing dialogue about postmodernism and the church that has so captivated the Christian community in recent years. In a changing cultural environment where new ideas threaten the safety and security of the faith, Evolving in Monkey Town is a fearlessly honest story of survival.

I just got Karen Essex's latest newsletter today and have to admit to just about dying from excitement to read of her forthcoming book. Any guesses as to why? (and is that cover not to die for?????)



About the Book: From the shadowy banks of the river Thames to the wild and windswept Yorkshire coast, Dracula’s eternal muse, Mina Murray, vividly recounts the intimate details of what really transpired between her and the Count—the joys and terrors of a passionate affair that has linked them through the centuries, and her rebellion against her own frightening preternatural powers.

Mina’s version of this gothic vampire tale is a visceral journey into Victorian England’s dimly lit bedrooms, mist-filled cemeteries, and asylum chambers, revealing the dark secrets and mysteries locked within. Time falls away as she is swept into a mythical journey far beyond mortal comprehension, where she must finally make the decision she has been avoiding for almost a millennium.

Bram Stoker’s classic novel offered one side of the story, in which Mina had no past and bore no responsibility for the unfolding events. Now, for the first time, the truth of Mina’s personal voyage, and of vampirism itself, is revealed. What this flesh and blood woman has to say is more sensual, more devious, and more enthralling than the Victorians could have expressed or perhaps even have imagined.

And finally! I realized I never answered the question to my Two Truths and a Lie Game so here goes:
Here they are again:

1) My favorite Japanese food is sushi.
2) I totaled my car two weeks after I got my driver's license.
3) I have spent Easter in Mongolia before.

And the lie is number 1! My favorite Japanese food is sukiyaki. YUM!!!!!! I do really like sushi, though. And yes, I totaled my car on the way to a birthday party two weeks after I go my license. The car I was in the accident with also was on their way to an 80th birthday party. It was seriously sad stuff. Bye bye car, hello guilt.

And yes, I was lucky enough to spend an Easter in Mongolia. It was really really cool.

Now tell me....have you ever had a really bad car accident? What's your favorite Japanese food? Have you been to Mongolia?