As the title might suggest, Francesca Lia Block’s The Rose and the Beast takes some of the most popular of Grimm’s fairy tales and plops them down in modern-day Los Angeles. The tales are reworked to fit a modern day world, but the lessons, both new and old, behind each tale have not been lost in the least.

Now, much like the original Grimm fairy tales, these tales have not been sugar-coated in the least. While the author refrained from outright telling the readers what some of the heroines were going through, the vivid pictures Francesca Lia Block paints with her words leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind as to what they are witnessing. Sexual abuse, rape, molestation, murder - these are just a few of the things that plague the protagonists of these fairy tales.

Unsurprisingly, the more popular and well known fairy tales, such as “Snow White”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Thumbling”, and “Cinderella”, make their way into this collection. However, a couple of the lesser known tales can be found as well. I must confess to being rather disappointed with just how many of the more popular and well-known fairy tales made it into this book. While they were well written and enjoyable, they’re tales I’ve seen rewritten and redone numerous times. Just about every author who sets out to rewrite a few fairy tales picks one or two of the popular tales and rewrites them. Seeing not one but six of them in a collection of just nine tales was very disheartening to say the least.

Lia Block’s version of Bluebeard, entitled “Bones” in her book, is one of the few lesser-known fairy tales included in the collection, and also one of my favorites from said collection. A young girl stuck in a dead end job waiting, dreaming, and hungering for something better to come along, receives an invitation to a producer’s party one night. She’s alone in the world and unsure of her place in things - a perfect victim because she won’t be missed. The producer, Derek Blue, takes an interest in her and invites her to stay after the party. Like the original tale, the heroine is presented with a key, however there is no need for her to wander into the forbidden room as the villain is more than happy to tell her about all of the other girls who have suffered the same fate that awaits her.

Now, what I liked most about this tale was the heroines’ ability to fight back and escape all on her. Rather than fall down in a heap of despair and terror, the story’s heroine acknowledges that there will be no brothers running to her rescue and instead fights off her would be murderer with a pocket knife and runs for her life. Unlike trite horror movies, this girl has some common sense, so instead of running up the stairs or into the woods she makes a beeline for her car and escapes. Instead of the stereotypical bimbo we’re treated with a young girl who makes mistakes but has the wits about her to get out fast - I loved this.

The author’s renditions of Thumbling/Thumbelina (”Tiny”) was amusing and interesting to see adapted to a modern day environment, but was an overall unoriginal take on the classic tale. Likewise I found the renditions of Beauty and the Beast (”Beauty”) and Snow White (”Snow”) to also fall short of the mark. I was impressed with the author’s version of Little Red Riding Hood (”Wolf”) however and how she cleverly weaved a tale of child abuse and domestic violence into the classic storyline and adapted it for modern times. The abused runaway daughter as little red riding hood, and the abusive father as the big bad wolf was absolutely perfect.

I would also like to point out that the author seems to have an addiction to hyphens and run on sentences. If you’re the type of reader who cannot stand to see a work published, or deliberately written, with several grammatical mistakes then this novel is going to grate on your last nerve. Frankly, I didn’t find that the run ons, and over hyphenated sentences added anything to the story. One might even say they detracted a bit. And when it comes to grammar and punctuation, I am certainly far from perfect, yet even I was tempted to bust out with the red felt-tip pen.

In short, while the author provides an interesting and unique spin on many of these fairy tales, the appearance of widely known, and thus widely-retold, stories will be a let down for anyone looking for a truly unique retelling of fairy tales. The fact that the bulk of these fairy tales are made up of commonly retold fairy tales also takes away from the enjoyment factor.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

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The Bruja’s Tale is the first book in a series of mystery thrillers that pit the heroes against the spiritual as they struggle to solve the case. Sounds interesting doesn’t it? The protagonist of this tale, Tomas Guzman Schoen, is a European-educated bachelor who boasts a home in Guatemala City, a ranch in the Peten, and a lover who “resembles Salma Hayek”. Guzman is basically a guy who has it all. That all changes when his uncle, the Chief of Police in El Paraiso, asks him to investigate two deaths before he himself dies under suspect circumstances. Throw in a Mayan bruja who seduces him in an attempt to possess his soul and you have a story that is ripe for the picking.

For more information about the book you can visit the book’s homepage, and if your interests run like mine, you’ll be please to note there is even a link at the top of the site where you can buy the book. When you order online through the website there is a code on the checkout page that you can use to apply a 25% discount to your purchase. I tried to add this book to my wishlist at Paperback Swap, but alas, it didn’t show up on their radar.

Now while this book sounds like it could be the beginning of a promising new series, I can already see some aspects that have the potential to turn this gripping read into something less than amusing. After all, the basic premise of taking a well educated man and plunking him down into a society steeped with magic and shamanism is a very common one. There are many trappings that the author could fall into that would bring the story down, so it may be interesting to see how this tale plays out.

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Twenty-two entries were received, including those who gained a second entry by commenting and blogging about the giveaway. Using Random.org I input everyone’s name and smacked the randomize button. The results were:

Congratulations Christine, you are the lucky winner of The Symposium’s first book giveaway! I will be contacting you shortly about shipping.

A big thank you, goes out to all the entrants. If you didn’t win this time, have no fear, there will be more giveaways coming up!

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Author Terry Pratchett has donated $1 million USD (£500,000) to help fund research for Alzheimer’s disease. Pratchett himself recently posted, on December 11, 2007, that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of early onset Alzheimer’s disease called posterior cortical atrophy. PCA causes portions of the (posterior) brain to shrivel up. Previously, Pratchett had been diagnosed as having had a stroke, which was held responsible for his impaired motor skills.

In response to Pratchett’s generous donation, his fans (and fellow book lovers) are attempting to match his donation. The Match It for Pratchett organization, as of March 19th, has already raised a total of $3821.78 USD via donations and t-shirt sales.

Alzheimer’s is a serious disease that is not yet fully understood and has no cure. It is the common cause of dementia and most commonly afflicts people 65 years of age or older, although, as you can see, there are cases of early onset as well. This is a very worthy cause I ask that you visit the site and (if possible) donate to the cause. You can donate directly to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust or via the Match It for Pratchett Donation Jar on the site. You can even go a step further and help spread the word on your blog or purchase a t-shirt to show your support of the cause and help get the word out. All donations and proceeds from t-shirt sales go directly to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust.

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Once a medieval knight, Don Rafael Perez has clung to his honor despite seven tortured centuries as a vampire. Now he’s found peace - if not love - as leader of the largest vampire territory in North America. But a rival is challenging his rule - by targeting Grania O’Malley, the forbidden beauty to whom Rafael has lost his heart. But when she’s attacked, will he break his oath of body and soul to never help create a female vampire-and do everything he can to save her? And if he does, can Grania help him destroy the night creature Rafael has always feared?

Diane Whiteside’s Bond of Blood is an engaging, sexy, and fun romp through the countryside of Texas that will keep readers flipping the page from start to finish. While not one of my favorites, I did enjoy the book and I think others will too. Click here to read my review of this book.

The Details:
You have from now (the time of this post) until March 31st 2008 to enter. On April 1st, I will randomly select a name from the entrants and mail the book to the winner. To be eligible for this giveaway you should be 18 years or older and be comfortable with providing me with your mailing address so that I can ship the book to you. Your personal information will never be sold or distributed for any purpose other than the above reason.

To Enter
There are two ways to gain an entry in this giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this entry stating you’d like to be entered.
2. Write up a quick little blog post about this giveaway and link back here for a second entry.

You can choose to do one of or both of the methods above, it’s your choice. And it doesn’t matter whether you have a blog or website either!

Since shipping and handling can be a bit pricey, this giveaway is only open to residents of:

• United States (yes, even Hawaii and Alaska)
• Canada
• Mexico
• Europe

Don’t forget, you have until March 31st 2008 to enter. Once the clock hits midnight on March 30th 2008 no other entries will be accepted and the winner will be announced April 1st 2008!

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Kitty and the Silver Bullet picks up not long after the events of the previous book, Kitty Takes a Holiday. At this point in time Cormac has already spent a bit of time behind bars while Kitty and Ben have begun strengthening their relationship, and thus forming their “pack of two”. Despite the fact that a little bit of time has passed since the events of the previous book, Vaughn does an admirable job of keeping the momentum carried over from KTaH going strong.

Now that Kitty and Ben have established their relationship and Kitty’s show is back on air and as popular as ever it seems like everything is going great for our favorite werewolf. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Kitty’s mother’s health takes a turn for the worst prompting Kitty to ignore her exile from Denver in order to be by her mother’s side. The leaders of her former pack, Carl and Meg, are none too pleased to hear she’s back and are quite ready to rip her apart to say the least, but in actual, they turn out to be the least of Kitty’s problems. Arturo, Denver’s Master Vampire, is losing his control over the vampire population of Denver and war between Arturo and Rick has begun with both scurrying to gather troops for the upcoming battle - and they both want Kitty’s assistance.

Throw in the fact that, despite what they thought, not all of the kinks have been worked out in Ben and Kitty’s relationship. As well as a few biological anomalies previously unknown to Kitty and you have one exciting, action-packed adventure in your hands. Just when you think you know everything there is to know about the complex world that Kitty has found herself in you, along with Kitty, have the wind taken out of your sails and new hurdles are laid down. The fourth novel provided a much wanted and needed look into the vampire’s world, and even then, Vaughn gave the readers and Kitty only a glimpse of what lays beneath the surface. While a werewolf pack is fairly straightforward, we learn that there is a complex and dangerous hierarchy that governs the vampires and the politics of this species is as deadly as their fangs. Certainly by the end we [the readers] have a much better understanding of what makes them tick, yet with this newfound knowledge came a ton of new questions.

Aside from the chance to get a better understanding for the structure of the vampire’s lives in Kitty’s world, I was pleased to see that there was a great deal of character growth in this book, and not just on Kitty’s part either; not even Cormac was exempt from this. The most noticeable growth was seen in Kitty, who we get to see truly do a complete 180 from where we initially saw her in Kitty and the Midnight Hour. Over the course of the series she has grown by leaps and bounds, but in the course of this single book, these changes are all emphasized and come together nicely. Kitty has a great deal of strength, emotionally, physically, and mentally, and steps up into a role she would have never been able to fulfill before.

Ben and Kitty’s relationship, as I mentioned previously, starts off seemingly perfect, but over the course of the novel the flaws in their relationship are soon noticeable. Like any couple, Ben and Kitty have their quirks and hangups which make their relationship strained at times. Rather than ignoring these problems, as they might have done at an earlier point in time, they work through the difficulties while combating multiple enemies on several fronts.

In short, Kitty and the Silver Bullet ties up several loose ends and brings closure to several arcs in the Kitty Norville series while opening up new avenues of possibility at the same time. Now that Carl and Meg are out the picture, Kitty has a werewolf pack to lead and a new level of responsibility and a role of leadership to contend with. She’s gained a home and an extended family with but one can’t help but to wonder what new troubles this might bring. Not to mention, one can hardly picture Mercedes Cook, and other vampires, leaving everything as it is. The only aspect I found disappointing in this novel was the epilogue for the sense of finality it brought to Kitty and Cormac’s possible relationship. While I do like the chemistry between Ben and Kitty I couldn’t help but to feel saddened that Cormac had truly lost his chance for a future with Kitty. I had really been looking forward to Cormac’s release for that very reason.

Joana’s rating: (5 out of 5 stars)

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Until I happened to notice this book while perusing the meager selection at Wal-Mart, of all places, I had never heard of, let alone read anything by this author. While I was pleasantly surprised to find an author whose style and skill is captivating I can’t say that I was exactly enamored of the book. Allow me to elaborate.

The book’s heroine, Grania O’Malley, is a wildlife veterinarian and scientist who specializes in owls and has just gotten a position at the Texas Hill County Raptor Center. On the surface she seems like your average wildlife vet. In actual, Grania has been having vivid dreams that feel like memories to her. In these dreams she is always a woman named Blanche, who she looks nothing like in reality, and she has a husband named Rodrigo, a knight in the Spanish court. When she comes to Texas to work at the Raptor Center she meets wealthy businessmen Don Rafael Perez, a flesh and blood mirror image of her Rodrigo. The attraction between the two is immediate, strong, and confusing for them all at the same time.

It wouldn’t be much of a story however if that was the whole of it. An old enemy of Rafael’s, now known by the name of Beau, is through bidding his time and is now ready to exact his revenge and because of her connection to Rafael, Grania becomes the perfect target. Now, Whiteside creates an interesting world for her vampires to move in and painstakingly sets up the mythology of the characters and their world in this first novel in her series. Despite the time spent on developing the characters and their relationship, as well as the mythology and hierarchy of the vampire structure, the novel itself never seemed to drag and kept moving along at a steady pace. I would not go so far as to say that the concept behind the vampire hierarchy was unique or different though, in fact, you’ll find similar setups in several other books. Whiteside does manage to put an interesting spin on the norm and her Texan vampires are definately different from the average literary vampire in a very good way.

The conclusion of the story itself was a bit of a let down however. The entire story built up to the confrontation between Don Rafael and Beau and yet the actual “battle” between them was over in a flash it seemed. Although, Grania’s contribution to the fight was exciting.

Whiteside provides a handy glossary at the back of her book that lists all of the terms and phrases used by her characters (Spanish, French, and Arabic) and a definition of their meaning. In the case of words that were used to define a rank or special meaning beyond just what the word means, Whiteside even provided a quick but detailed explanation. Of course, it’s been my experiance that some readers do not like it when the author switches languages back and forth in the story (code switching). If you do not understand Spanish, French, or Arabic you may find yourself flipping to the glossary for a quick explanation and then turning back. I didn’t find this to be a problem, but then I do know Spanish and French. Not to mention, it is the norm, in my area, to flip back and forth between English and Spanish in a conversation.

In short, Bond of Blood made for an engaging read. I had a hard time connecting with Grania’s character in some parts, and especially later in the book however and as a result, the believability of her situation and reactions lessoned as the story continued. One such occasion is when Grania happens upon Rafael feeding off of a woman. While she notes the woman enjoys it, she herself seems to be under the impression the woman is unaware of the attack, as she calls it, and is frightened by the sight of Rafael’s razor-sharp fangs biting into the woman’s neck. Grania is prepared to even dash out and save the woman, and yet she becomes highly aroused at the sight and reaches orgasm while watching what she believes to be is an “attack”? I had a very hard time getting into this character’s head and reconciling her thoughts and actions, they just did not match up in my opinion. Other than that, this book made for a very good read and could be the start to a promising series.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

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The strategy in question? Why a Nymphomercial of course.

Minds out of the gutter now folks, Jay Nussbaum and a small group of his friends cleverly brought to life an entire scene from the novel and posted it on YouTube. In it, the main character is at a job interview, and boy does he lay the B.S. on thick - in more ways than one. What made the biggest impression on me however was the opening to the video, where a blonde bombshell in a bikini is reading Jay’s book and does a little promoting of it. She reads an excerpt from the book that states that you can sell anything, any product, if you use a pretty girl.

Naturally the bombshell thinks that’s absurd. Is it? Does sex really sell? I’d have to say that he is right on the money there. The video doesn’t necessarily say what the book is about, and while the interview is amusing, I imagine most will remember the girl and her mention of and endorsing of the book. I can also imagine a lot of people buying it out of curiosity now because of said video.

Nussbaum, by the way, is holding a little contest where you will have a chance to win a free autographed copy of A Monk Jumped Over a Wall. Exact details are posted on the video’s page and his website.

A Monk Jumped Over a Wall revolves around a young Manhattan attorney employed at a law firm whose clients take great pleasure in brutal foreclosures on home mortgages. When the attorney decides to try to help a family keep their home, he finds himself at odds with his firm.

It sounds intriguing to me, because let’s face it, we’ve all been brought up to believe lawyers have no soul and no heart. So the idea of an attorney with a soft spot is quite compelling, not to mention the thought of people being forced out of their hard-bought homes is a topic to push anyone’s buttons.

Is this a book you, yourself will be looking for the next time you visit the bookstore? What about this marketing strategy, is it possible to see more books advertised in this manner in the future?

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Yes, you read that correctly, she stole material from research on ferrets for her Native American bodice-ripper. I couldn’t believe it either. The entire time I was reading the Newsweek article I couldn’t help but to snicker at the sadness of it. The passages that Tolme quoted from her book were insane, the stolen words stand out like a ferret in a room full of dogs. Yeah, that was a poor joke on my part, but it illustrates my point perfectly. I saw better plagiarized papers back when I was a teacher’s assistant in high school, and I was grading freshmen and sophomores’ papers!

A round of applause goes out to the authors at Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books for spotting this. They managed to stomach reading four of Edwards’ books in under 12 hours just to spot all of the segments that had been lifted from other works published before her own. The list is amazing and the ordeal was lengthy, as noted by the series of posts on this topic.

My thoughts on this range from outraged to highly amused. As someone who has been a victim of plagiarism in the past I feel offended on behalf of the authors whose work was stolen. As the writer, the creator, you invest a lot of time, effort, and love into your work and to see it with someone else’s name on it is like a slap to the face and knife in the gut. At the same time however I can’t help but to laugh at what she did. The lifted portions are awkward and absurd at best, and in the words of Tolme himself: My words did not enhance her novel. They were filler. I can imagine frustrated and horny readers cursing the ferrets and skipping ahead in search of the next nipple (p5).

Why do it? I’m glad that whoever sent in the request filled out the contact form with a fake email address and couldn’t be bothered to even name a book specifically to read. I’m glad I never had to subject myself to the torture of reading one of this author’s “works” and I certainly won’t be accepting requests to read any of her works - ever. It might be tempting to review one of her books for the LitBlogs challenge to review a book you can’t stand, but truth be told I’m not interested in wasting my time on her stuff, period.

Signet is apparently reviewing her works and “taking the allegations” seriously. Considering what their first response was I’m inclined to believe it’s only happening now because of the widespread public backlash.

For further reading:
Associated Press Article
Centralized Document of Cassie Edwards articles from SBWLTB

After reading all of this, how do you feel about this situation? Her husband and some “experts” are stating that she did not lift or plagiarize anything and that her paraphrasing is completely appropriate given that she writes historical fiction. Do you agree with this?

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I did some database pruning to make sure everything is running in tip-top shape, removed the trouble rotations that were really bogging down the site. I may even be removing the Blog Rush widget here so, we’ll see.

I think the biggest difference though is one that, I’m sure, you noticed ASAP. A brand new look! It’s a new year so it’s time to start it off with a bang I say. Hope you all like it as much as I do.

There might still be a few bugs and kings to work out around here so bear with me. If you spot anything please drop me a comment here in this thread and I’ll get on it right away.

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