NEW Rare Romance Hardcovers!

JULIA QUINN hardcovers
What Happens in London
The Viscount Who Loved Me
An Offer From a Gentleman
When He Was Wicked
Everything and the Moon
Brighter Than the Sun


buythebookcv.com now has two dozen book club hardcovers by BERTRICE SMALL going all the way back to the mid-1980s!

SKYE O'MALLEY SERIES
Skye O'Malley
All the Sweet Tomorrows
A Love For All Time
This Heart of Mine

SKYE'S LEGACY
Darling Jasmine
Bedazzled
Besieged
Vixens

FRIARSGATE INHERITANCE
Rosamund
Until You
Philippa
The Last Heiress

BLAZE WYNDHAM
Blaze Wyndham
Love Remember Me

CHANNEL (Contemporary)
Forbidden Pleasures

WORLD OF HETAR
Lara

A Memory of Love
A Moment in Time
Betrayed
Captivated (anthology)
Deceived
The Dragon Lord's Daughters
The Duchess
The Love Slave

New Listings and Gift Ideas

Thanksgiving is next week, and we are officially in the Christmas shopping season. Here are some new additions to the store and gift highlights:

GIFTS FOR KIDS
Lord of the Rings trilogy
His Dark Materials trilogy
Eragon
Little House on the Prairie 5 in 1 omnibus
Dragon trilogy by Margaret Weis
Sterkarm Kiss/Handshake by Susan Price
Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn
The Shapechanger's Wife by Sharon Shinn
Sevenwaters fantasy trilogy by Juliet Marillier
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Julie Kenner's high school vampire duo (Good Ghouls Do/Getting Even)
Mammoth Book of Manga
Drawing Shoujo Manga

NEW in stock
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson HC
White Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz - Arcane Society HC
Mercenaries by Angela Knight - TP
Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong HC
Hotshot by Catherine Mann pb
Book club hardcovers by Sabrina Jeffries, Nicole Jordan, Bertrice Small, Eloisa James, Karen Hawkins, Karen Ranney, Hannah Howell, and more

COMING THIS WEEK
Book club hardcovers by Bertrice Small, Catherine Anderson, Virginia Henley, and more

SERIES AVAILABLE (books sold individually)
LA Banks Vampire Huntress series in trade paper and some pb
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series in hardcover
Laurell K Hamilton - Anita Blake and Princess Merry - HC and pb
Charlaine Harris - Sookie Stackhouse - pb and HC
Jim Butcher - Harry Dresden HC and pb
Jillian Hunter - Boscastle HC and pb
JR Ward - Black Dagger Brotherhood pb and some HC
Kim Harrison - Hollows pb and some HC
Lara Adrian - Midnight Breed pb
Sara Douglass - Crucible, Troy Game, and Wayfarer Redemption HC
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time HC
Lora Leigh - Feline Breeds pb
Cheyenne McCray - Magic pb
Anya Bast - Witches pb
Christine Feehan - Ghostwalker pb and some HC
Jacquelyn Frank - Nightwalker pb
JD Robb - In Death pb and some HC
Karen Chance - Cassandra Palmer pb
Carrie Vaughn - Kitty Norville pb
Keri Arthur - Riley Jenson pb and some HC
Kresley Cole - Immortals After Dark pb

Updatery with recent listings

Recent additions to the store, all new:

PARANORMAL

WATCHERS IN THE NIGHT Jenna Black, mm

THE VAMPIRE QUEEN'S SERVANT Joey Hill, trade

UNDEAD AND UNAPPRECIATED MaryJanice Davidson, signed and unsigned hardcovers

TWILIGHT BEGINS Maggie Shayne, trade

TOUCH OF NIGHT Susan Spencer Paul, mm

TOUCH OF PASSION Susan Spencer Paul, mm

COLD STREETS PN Elrod, mm

SONG IN THE DARK PN Elrod, 1st ed

SOCIETY OF S Susan Hubbard, 1st ed

SHADOWS IN THE DARKNESS Elaine Cunningham, 1st ed

SHADOWS IN THE STARLIGHT Elaine Cunningham, 1st ed

EROTICA/STEAMY ROMANCE

VIVID GIRLS LUST RANCH All trade paperbacks

TIE ME UP, TIE ME DOWN Sherrilyn Kenyon and Jaid Black

SUITE FANTASY Janice Maynard

SUDDEN PLEASURES Bertrice Small

STRICTLY TABOO Jaid Black

SOMEBODY'S LOVER Jasmine Haynes

SKYSCRAPER Zane

SHEER PLEASURE Maggie Shayne

SATISFACTION Thea Devine

HISTORICAL ROMANCE

THE TASTE OF INNOCENCE Stephanie Laurens, 1st ed

WHAT PRICE LOVE Stephanie Laurens, 1st ed

UNTIL YOU Bertrice Small, trade

THE BORDER LORD'S BRIDE Bertrice Small, trade

THE HAMILTONS Catherine Cookson, hcdj

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

WILDLY WINSTON Lori Foster, trade

SIMON SAYS Lori Foster, mm

SECRET LIFE OF BRYAN Lori Foster, large print hardcover

HISTORICAL MYSTERY

TWO O'CLOCK EASTERN WARTIME John Dunning, 1st ed

THE THRALL'S TALE Judith Lindberg, 1st ed, signed and unsigned

THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION Pam Rosenthal, trade

SUSPENSE AND SENSIBILITY Carrie Bebris, 1st ed

SEE DELPHI AND DIE Lindsey Davis, 1st ed

CONTEMPORARY MYSTERY

SUITE 606 JD Robb et al, mm

FANTASY

TALYN Holly Lisle, 1st ed

STERKARM HANDSHAKE Susan Price, mm

STERKARM KISS Susan Price, 1st ed

SONG FOR THE BASILISK Patricia McKillip, rare first print!

SONG OF IRELAND Juilene Osborne-McKnight, 1st ed

SOMETHING ROTTEN Jasper Fforde, 1st ed

TERRY PRATCHETT: THE WIT AND WISDOM OF DISCWORLD

LITERATURE

THE AWAKENING Kate Chopin, hardcover

NONFICTION

U2 INTO THE HEART-STORIES BEHIND ALL THE SONGS trade

THANK YOU MOM (Mother's Day gift book) small hardcover

RULING PLANETS trade

Electronic Media and the Two-Way Connection

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See all summer releases here!
New volume reader discount plan HERE.

So the big book news recently is about Amazon deleting an ebook from its Kindle e-book reader--and the huge public backlash. Yes, it didn't help that the book was George Orwell's 1984. You'd think that 1984 might be a public domain book, but for this version, as Ollivander says, apparently not.

I've read a variety reasons why Amazon did it, from discovering that this was a pirated version to belatedly realizing it only had U.S. and not international distribution rights for this version. Whatever the reason, Amazon discovered it shouldn't be distributing this, and it acted quickly to undo the damage and refund people's money.

The news has not been consistent about when Amazon notified customers about their actions. If it was contemporaneous with their actions, that's about all they can do. If it was later, yes, customers had a right to be indignant.

But it seems to me that most people who are complaining about this don't take exception to how Amazon did this but that Amazon has the ability to do it at all. They worry that the next step is for the government to unilaterally withdraw things from publication by demanding that Amazon erase the offending items from Kindle.

Yes, what is downloaded can also be uploaded--but this incident actually highlights why that functionality is useful. Amazon needed to recall a book. What other practical way is there to do it? I asked a publishing industry professional how Amazon should have handled this, and she said Amazon shouldn't have sent it out in the first place.

That's fine in a perfect world, but in the real world, people make mistakes. I hope Amazon wouldn't be fooled by someone attempting to sell product from major authors or major houses, but what about all the tiny e-publishers springing up? Publishing is much easier to get into now that e-publishing and print on demand has reduced overhead costs. So it's much harder to verify who you're talking to and what they own.

I understand people are particularly sensitive about books because of book burnings and book censorship. However, book piracy is a bigger problem than book censorship right now. People are trying to sell illegal versions of copyrighted books right out in the open. Ebay has kicked a couple of pirates off recently thanks to some vigilant authors.

Individual illegal print copies are effectively impossible to trace. Electronic media is traceable, and pirated copies can be removed from existence. Yes, that has some Big Brother overtones, but it also reduces the hit-and-run anonymity of media pirates. For now, that outweighs a threat of censorship.

[side note--my store software does not have the functionality to offer ebooks yet, but that is planned for a future revision]

NEW LISTINGS

PARANORMAL

Sherrilyn Kenyon Dark-Hunter and Dark-Dreamer books in paperback and many in hardcover

Laurell K Hamilton Merry Gentry series in hardcover; Kiss of Shadows also in large print, Bloody Bones - new HCDJ OOP!, Strange Candy, Cerulean Sins, Danse Macabre,

Anthologies - (HC) Cravings, My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, Man of My Dreams, Dates from Hell; (PB) Tapestry, Stroke of Midnight, Midnight Pleasures, Love at First Bite, Dead After Dark,

Karen Marie Moning - (HC) Spell of the Highlander, Darkfever

Christine Feehan - (HC)Dangerous Tides, Dark Demon, Dark Possession, Dark Celebration

Kelley Armstrong - (HC) Stolen, Bitten

Mary Jo Putney - (HC) The Marriage Spell, A Kiss of Fate

JR Ward - Lover Unbound HC

Angela Knight - Master of Swords HC

Maggie Shayne - Prince of Ice HC

Cameron Dean - Eternal Hunger HC

Susan Krinard - Kinsman's Oath HC

Lynsay Sands - A Quick Bite (Argeneau 1) HC

Kerrelyn Sparks - How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire HC

MaryJanice Davidson - Undead and Unappreciated HC SIGNED

Patricia Rice - Magic Man HC

Susan Carroll - Midnight Bride HC

Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel's Scion HC

Shana Abe - The Dream Thief HC

Kathleen Nance - Phoenix Unrisen

HISTORICAL ROMANCE

Kinley MacGregor - (HC) Return of the Warrior, Taming the Scotsman, Claiming the Highlander, A Dark Champion; (PB) Knight of Darkness, Master of Desire, Warrior

Eloisa James - 2 in 1 HC A Wild Pursuit/Your Wicked Ways

Hannah Howell - Highland Groom -HC

A Regency Christmas Carol - anthology with Mary Balogh

Karen Ranney - The Scottish Companion, When the Laird Returns

Suzanne Enoch - Twice the Temptation

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Wildest Dreams

OTHER

Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Contests!

I sent out this month's contest and new releases email last night. If you missed it, here is the contest part:

Next giveaway is your choice of Bengal's Heart by Lora Leigh (Feline Breeds series) or Underground by Kat Richardson, both of which will be released on August 4. To enter, click on the Buy the BOOK Club link at the bottom of any store page. That opens up an email to me. Just fill it out, and you will be entered in all future contests.

Second, the very cool author Shiloh Walker is having a twitter contest to rewrite the blurb from The Redeeming in tweet form (up to two tweets). The winner gets a gift certficate to www.buythebookcv.com. Tweet your entry either @shilohwalker or use #theredeeming in your tweet.

Finally Author Michelle Rowen has announced that her 1000th follower on Twitter will receive her whole backlist (6) signed. She's still below 800 followers.

Follow me on Twitter
See all summer releases here!
New volume reader discount plan HERE.

After taking the kids to the beach last week, the tops of my legs got very sunburned. So I've been staying inside listing books.

NEW RELEASES 6/30 and 7/7:
Darkness Calls - Marjorie Liu
Hidden Currents - Christine Feehan
Burning Wild - Christine Feehan
Witch Fury - Anya Bast
Summer Knight - Jim Butcher (hardcover)
Poltergeist - Kat Richardson
Breaking Midnight - Emma Holly

PREORDERS
Bengal's Heart - Lora Leigh
Underground - Kat Richardson
Vanished - Kat Richardson

PARANORMAL
Greywalker - Kat Richardson
Ghostwalker series by Christine Feehan
Susan Sizemore's Primes and Laws of the Blood series
Magical Seduction (Ellora's Cave) - Anya Bast, Cathryn Fox, Mandy Roth (TSP)
4 Immortal Witches series by Maggie Shayne
Eternal Highlander - Hannah Howell and Lynsay Sands (TSP)
Dead End Dating - Kimberly Raye
The Lunatic Cafe - Laurell K Hamilton (hardcover)

HOT ROMANCE
Taken by Surprise - Susan Johnson, Thea Devine, Katherine O'Neal
Sinful - Maggie Shayne, Lori Foster, Suzanne Forster (hardcover)

HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Entire Boscastle set by Jillian Hunter in paperback and hardcover
Knight of Darkness-Kinley MacGregor (Lords of Avalon)
Master of Desire - Kinley MacGregor) MacAllister #1

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
In the Garden trilogy by Nora Roberts - both hardcover and paperback

MYSTERY
Purity in Death - JD Robb (hardcover)

Reading on the Road

Congratulations to ROBIN from AUSTRALIA, winner of a free copy of SKIN TRADE.



My daughter belongs to a choir that got to perform at Disneyland, and I took her and a friend down. We left home at 6am, got to the park around 8am, they sang at 930, they got changed and reunited with parents around 11, and then we had the rest of the day to play. She's done this for several years now; most years it's very hot, but this year it was perfectly, pleasantly cool.

She and her friend went on 15 different rides (yes, they counted), and I went on 11 or 12 of those, some multiple times. I am not averse to roller coasters (I LOVE Splash Mountain), but I am averse to standing in lines, plus I did mom stuff like get food and fast passes while they were on some rides.

They changed the FastPass system since I was last there. A fast pass is a free ticket to go right on the ride--no line; the catch is that you have to come back about two hours later. You used to be able to go around the park and collect fast passes, have a snack, then go around the park using your fast passes on one ride after another without waiting in lines. Now the deal is you can only get one at a time, so if it's noon and your fast pass says to come back after 2:15, you can't get another fast pass on any other ride until 2:15. And some rides, like the Matterhorn and Pirates, don't have fast passes at all anymore. Matterhorn has long lines all day and night, but Pirates has short lines later in the day and no lines after dinner. If you get there early, go to Space Mountain first, as it is the hardest ride to get on. It does give fast passes but the return time will be later than for other rides--and there are still long lines late at night.

Speaking of which, my two charges decided to wait in line for Space Mountain at 9:45 at night. I saw them again around 11pm. In the meantime, and a few other times while I was waiting for them, I pulled out The Immortal Highlander by Karen Marie Moning. I have read this series over a long stretch and woefully out of order (the first one I picked up was Dark Highlander) but it hasn't made a big difference. The Immortal Highlander takes place just after The Dark Highlander. Adam is an arrogant fae. His offer to substitute himself to spare a mortal's life was altruistic but also grounded in the certainty that his queen would never punish him. Surprise! She sends him to earth without his fae powers. He can't see other fae, and mortals can't see him--except for one sidhe-seer (pronounced she-seer) named Gabrielle. Once he realizes she can see him, he determines to charm her with his mad fae charm skillz so she will help him. Another surprise: since she was raised to believe that the fae only want to harm her, she fights back. But Adam has an enemy who thinks that Adam's defenseless gives him an ideal opportunity to get rid of Adam--and Gabrielle, once he learns about her. So the two of them are forced to work together.

I brought along a paperback to read (I have the whole series available in paperback) but I also have this book in new hardcover. This is a good one to read before the Fever books because it gives you some background in sidhe-seers.

The LA Times Festival of Books was last weekend, and for once, I admitted I really didn't want to go. They actually had a few authors I'd like to see this year (Ray Bradbury!), which isn't always the case. Still, the combination of driving in, parking, and struggling against the wave of humanity who must want to see the same people I do sounds like less fun than flying out of LAX.
I also freely acknowledge that I am a bit suspicious of Important Books as so many turn out to be boring, disturbing, depressing, or some combination thereof, and that's the kind of adult fiction that's been featured at the LATFB. I mean, how can you have a panel called "Fiction: Exiles and Outsiders" and not have any urban fantasy authors?

The pull was strongest to go to this annual event when my girls were smaller and we lived closer. They do have cool children's authors, and I thought the girls would get a kick out of meeting real authors (not counting Mommy, who writes "boring stuff with other people's names on it"). We never did make the trek over, but my oldest, 15, has decided to become a fantasy writer anyway.

I used to wonder why they didn't have book festivals for books people read the most. I still do wonder that, but now I suppose if they did, it would be an even bigger madhouse to get to, and it would be somewhere like NYC, the other end of the continent from me.

NYC is where they have big conventions for retailers, and that's where I currently drool over going. Yes, it would be a madhouse too, I'm sure, but there would be no parking problem. There is no parking. Take the subway to midtown and walk west. And authors are there wandering around loose, not scheduled for viewing at certain times.

Spring and summer are the big times for other public book festivals, many of which sound like a lot of fun.

A New Beginning

Today is the Grand Opening of Buy the BOOK in its new home!

I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. When I was a teenager, I tried to start businesses doing custom calligraphy, embroidery, even selling hand-typed lists of the Billboard top 40 (in the days before computers). None of these really went anywhere. As an adult, I've been successful with day jobs in both selling and marketing (though I far prefer marketing) but always for someone else.

I launched my ebay bookstore on May 7, 2005, when both sun and moon were in the sign of Taurus (today, April 25, is also a Taurus/Taurus day). Yes, I know a little about astrology, just enough to be dangerous. Moon in Taurus is supposed to start a business out on the right foot, and I figured sun in Taurus couldn't hurt. Little did I know that summer is slow in the book business. But that's ok. If I had started during a busier time, I would have been disappointed when business fell off. This way, I was pleasantly surprised when it picked up.

I started out selling duplicates from paperback book lots I bought on ebay to read. As I learned more about the book business, I started investing in better books--collectible hardcovers, signed books, and new releases straight from the publishers. I started out with the philosophy to buy books I would want to read so that if no one else bought them, at least I could enjoy them. But I still stock things I like because it seems to attract people I enjoy, and how great is that? If you're reading this, it's probably because we have similar taste in books.

I think most people are aware that ebay has implemented a lot of changes lately. The painful one was doubling selling fees for books to 15%. In addition though, they are marginalizing elements of branding and individuality in favor of giving buyers a uniform and neutral buying experience. That's not what I want to do.

Do you remember the scene in My Fair Lady when Henry Higgins is up on the ladder to reach the tallest shelves in his library? Or the dance in the library in the Music Man? Since I was a kid, I wanted a library with polished wood shelves to the high ceilings, ladders on wheels and comfy leather chairs to read in. I can tell you what the room smells like and describe the view out the window. Books and reading are full-sensory things to me, and I try to provide as much of that as possible in my store.

I have always received high marks for describing my books in detail because that's important to me as a book lover. I've learned to avoid certain sources for books because there's just no telling what you're going to get--and yes, you can send it back, but what a hassle!

I never quite got the movie-set library, but I do have my grandmother's old rocking chair and over a hundred linear feet of bookshelf space spread around the house. My husband and my two teenage daughters and I live in a big Spanish style house with lots of storage for my inventory, so in a way I did get the library I always wanted--it just doesn't look quite like I imagined it.