Hello everyone,

You might have noticed something different about us today and no, we didn’t get a haircut.

As of today, Daemon’s Books is now “Book Equals.” (http://www.bookequals.com)

Wow, right?

Now, you probably have a lot of questions about this change so we compiled a brief FAQ to answer your most pressing questions.

Why are you changing your name?

About a year ago, we started to feel that our name no longer represented who we truly were. So we started to think about a different name that would reflect our identity in an authentic way. And that is how Book Equals was born.

What is the philosophy behind Film Equals?

We believe in a very simple ideal:

All opinions and tastes are equal.

What does that mean?

We want Book Equals to be a welcoming and safe environment for all movie lovers where you can experience, discuss and share your passion for your favorite movies.

It means that whether you like a goold ol’ thriller or a YA dystopian novel, your taste or opinion of that show is as important as anyone else’s.

What is going to be different going forward?

At first, aside from the name and the URL of the site, not much. We will still continue to provide entertaining and engaging content. So expect the same regular dose of fantastic articles.

What can I do to help?

Your help is going to be crucial. Here is a non-exhaustive list of actions you can take to help us:

What’s next?

We hope that our new name and philosophy will lead us to a great adventure and that you’ll join us for the ride.

Now it’s your turn. Leave us a comment below telling us what TV Equals to you?

Thank you for all your support!

The Book Equals Team

Wings of the Wicked (Angelfire Series #2) by Courtney Allison Moulton
Available January 31, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

Midnight in Austenland: A Novel by Shannon Hale
Available January 31, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests’ Austen fantasies.

Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn’t sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside’s mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in Charlotte’s heart be a sign of real-life love?

The follow-up to reader favorite Austenland provides the same perfectly plotted pleasures, with a feisty new heroine, plenty of fresh and frightening twists, and the possibility of a romance that might just go beyond the proper bounds of Austen’s world. How could it not turn out right in the end?

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Available January 31, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

Defending Jacob by William Landay
(Order on Amazon)

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control.

Home Front by Kristin Hannah
(Order on Amazon)

In her bestselling novels Kristin Hannah has plumbed the depths of friendship, the loyalty of sisters, and the secrets mothers keep. Now, in her most emotionally powerful story yet, she explores the intimate landscape of a troubled marriage with this provocative and timely portrait of a husband and wife, in love and at war.

All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost….

Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life—children, careers, bills, chores—even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then an unexpected deployment sends Jolene deep into harm’s way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own—for everything that matters to his family.

At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and ultimately, hope.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Available January 31, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart–he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season’s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone–but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

Lenobia’s Vow: A House of Night Novella by P. C. Cast
Available January 31, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

The second in the enthralling new mini-series of novellas from the #1 bestselling authors of the House of Night, Lenobia’s Vow tells the gripping story behind the House of Night’s enigmatic riding instructor – and one of Zoey’s closest allies against evil

The House of Night is an international publishing sensation; with almost 12 million books in print, and an incredible 120 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, the series has taken the world by storm. Now, the excitement continues as the Cast mother-daughter duo shares the back stories of a few of the House of Night’s most important – and mysterious – characters. The second of the House of Night Novellas brings us Lenobia, the strong, beautiful horseback riding instructor, who guides Zoey through some of her darkest hours, and has a dark secret buried in her own past…

In a small southern town at the turn of the century, young Lenobia is developing into a beautiful young woman with ideas of her own. But when she is Marked as a fledgling vampyre, her world turns upside down, and she is drawn to the musical streets of New Orleans. There, she learns of the city’s dark underbelly, ruled by powerful black magic. As Lenobia experiences her first love – and loss – and discovers a passion for horses to sustain her, she must come face-to-face with Darkness itself. And she may not escape without scars.

The Fear Index by Robert Harris
Available January 31, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

A chilling contemporary thriller from Robert Harris set in the competitive world of high finance.

Dr Max Hoffman is a legend. A physicist once employed on the Large Hadron Collider, he now uses a revolutionary and highly secret system of computer algorithms to trade on the world’s financial markets. None of his rivals is sure how he does it, but somehow Hoffman’s hedge fund — built around the standard measure of market volatility: the VIX or “Fear Index” — generates astonishing returns for his investors.

Late one night, in his house beside Lake Geneva, an intruder disturbs Hoffman and his wife while they are asleep. This terrifying moment is the start of Robert Harris’s new novel — a story just as compelling and timely as his most recent contemporary thriller, The Ghost. Over the next 48 hours, as the markets edge towards another great crash, Hoffman’s world disintegrates. But who is trying to destroy him?

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones
Available January 31, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

Charley Davidson—grim reaper extraordinaire, private investigator . . . meh—is practicing her profession under the influence, caffeine and copious amounts of it, due to an extreme desire to induce insomnia. Every time she closes her eyes, Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan, is there. Only thing is, he’s a tad peeved. She did bind for all eternity, so it’s hard blame him. But 13 days without a wink is bound to bring out the crazy in a girl. So, when a man hires her to find his wife, Charley accepts the job with one goal in mind: Put the man behind bars, and not the wet kind. She can sense the guilt waft off him and vows to find the woman’s body and prove he’s a murderer.

In the meantime, Reyes is back in prison and none too happy about it . . . so Charley thinks, until she is carjacked by the dark-haired rake, who swears the very man he went to prison for killing is not only alive, but close by. And he wants Charley to find him.

While a visit to her old friend Rocket sheds no light on Reyes’s situation, Charley finds out the man’s wife is still alive and time is running out. Finding her before she dies would be a miracle, but she has to try. Together with the help of a fashion-impaired receptionist named Cookie, Charley sets out to bring the bad guys to justice. She just hopes Reyes is not one of them. And that she’s not hallucinating from her self-induced bout with insomnia.

The catch is this promotion ends today January 31st, so make sure to head over to Epic Deals’ Facebook page to take advantage of the deal.

The books which are part of this deal include: Bumped by Megan McCafferty, Lucky by Rachel Vail, Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have) by Sarah Mlynowski, Withering Tights by Louise Rennison, The Unidentified by Rae Mariz, The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood and The Duchess Of Northumberland, Vesper: A Deviants novel by Jeff Sampson, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, Entwined by Heather Dixon, and Hereafter by Tara Hudson.

Whether it’s in books, comic books, movies or tv shows, librarians can turn out to be the best allies you have. And as such they should be celebrated. io9 has written a great article about “20 heroic librarians who save the world.”

I’ll admit, I don’t know most of the ones they list, but they do mention a few of my personal favorites:

1) Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) in Buffy The Vampire Slayer

2) Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle) in the wonderful The Librarian movies which aired on TNT

3) Evelyn “Evie” Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) in The Mummy movies

4) Lucien in the Sandman comic series by Neil Gaiman

What about you? Who’s your favorite librarian?

Even though I have only read the first two books in the series, I couldn’t pass on sharing this excerpt from Charlaine Harris’ new Sookie Stackhouse’s novel Deadlocked.

Harris has posted Chapter Two of the novel on her website an early peek at the book which will be released on May 17th of this year. Please note that the excerpt cannot be read on mobile devices, so you better get in front of that computer screen if you want to read it.

You can find the excerpt here. Enjoy!

Here is the official synopsis for the book:

With Felipe de Castro, the Vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), in town, it’s the worst possible time for a body to show up in Eric Northman’s front yard—especially the body of a woman whose blood he just drank.
Now, it’s up to Sookie and Bill, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl’s fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who’s out to make Sookie’s world come crashing down.

It’s January and time to pick up some new books to read. This week, the book I am curious about is Stealing Magic, that cover is really pretty, so I might have to pick up the series. But if that’s not your thing, there are plenty to pick from. You can take a look at other titles released this week below.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Available January 24, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled “quiet,” it is to introverts that we owe many of the great contributions to society–from van Gogh’s sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer.

Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so. Taking the reader on a journey from Dale Carnegie’s birthplace to Harvard Business School, from a Tony Robbins seminar to an evangelical megachurch, Susan Cain charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal in the twentieth century and explores its far-reaching effects. She talks to Asian-American students who feel alienated from the brash, backslapping atmosphere of American schools. She questions the dominant values of American business culture, where forced collaboration can stand in the way of innovation, and where the leadership potential of introverts is often overlooked. And she draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to reveal the surprising differences between extroverts and introverts.

Perhaps most inspiring, she introduces us to successful introverts–from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Finally, she offers invaluable advice on everything from how to better negotiate differences in introvert-extrovert relationships to how to empower an introverted child to when it makes sense to be a “pretend extrovert.”

This extraordinary book has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how introverts see themselves.

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey
Available January 24, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

Acclaimed, award-winning author Margot Livesey delivers her breakout novel: a captivating tale, set in Scotland in the early 1960s, that is both an homage and a modern variation on the enduring classic, Jane Eyre.

Fate has not been kind to Gemma Hardy. Orphaned by the age of ten, neglected by a bitter and cruel aunt, sent to a boarding school where she is both servant and student, young Gemma seems destined for a life of hardship and loneliness. Yet her bright spirit burns strong. Fiercely intelligent, singularly determined, Gemma overcomes each challenge and setback, growing stronger and more certain of her path. Now an independent young woman with dreams of the future, she accepts a position as an au pair on the remote and beautiful Orkney Islands.

But Gemma’s biggest trial is about to begin … a journey of passion and betrayal, secrets and lies, redemption and discovery that will lead her to a life she’s never dreamed.

All In: The Education of General David Petraeus by Paula Broadwell
Available January 24, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

General David Petraeus is the most transformative leader the American military has seen since the generation of Marshall. In All In, military expert Paul Broadwell examines Petraeus’s career, his intellectual development as a military officer, and his impact on the U.S. military.

Afforded extensive access by General Petraeus, his mentors, his subordinates, and his longtime friends, Broadwell embedded with the general, his headquarters staff, and his soldiers on the front lines of fighting and at the strategic command in Afghanistan to chronicle the experiences of this American general as they were brought to bear in the terrible crucible of war. All In draws on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with Petraeus and his top officers and soldiers to tell the inside story of this commander’s development and leadership in war form every vantage point.

When Petraeus assumed command in Afghanistan in July 2010, the conflict looked as bleak as at any moment in America’s nine years on the ground there. Petraeus’s defining idea-counterinsurgency-was immediate put to its most difficult test: the hard lessons learned during the surge in Iraq were to be applied in a radically different theater. All In examines the impact in Afghanistan of new counterinsurgency as well as counterterrorism strategies through the commands of several Petraeus protégés, with special emphasis on those who, like Petraeus, have served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

To inform this unprecedented reporting of Petraeus’s command in Afghanistan, Broadwell examines his evolution as a solider from his education at West Point in the wake of Vietnam to his earlier service in Central America, Haiti, Kuwait, Bosnia, and Iraq. All In also documents the general’s role in the war in Washington, going behind the scenes of negotiations during policy reviews of the war in Afghanistan in Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House.

Broadwell ultimately appraises Petraeus’s impact on the entire U.S. military: Thanks to this man’s influence, the military is better prepared to fight using a comprehensive blend of civil-military activities. As America surveys a decade of untraditional warfare, this much is clear: The career of General David Petraeus profoundly shaped our military and left an indelible mark on its rising leaders.

Stealing Magic (Sixty-Eight Rooms Adventure Series #2) by Marianne Malone
Available January 24, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

Ruthie and Jack thought that their adventures in the Thorne Rooms were over . . . until miniatures from the rooms start to disappear. Is it the work of the art thief who’s on the loose in Chicago? Or has someone else discovered the secret of the Thorne Rooms’ magic? Ruthie and Jack’s quest to stop the thief takes them from modern day Chicago to 1937 Paris to antebellum South Carolina. But as more items disappear, including the key that allows them to shrink and access the past worlds, what was once just an adventure becomes a life and death race against the clock. Can Ruthie and Jack catch the thief and help the friends they meet on the way before the magic—and the rooms—are destroyed forever? Fans of magic, mystery, and adventure will love this rollicking sequel to Marianne Malone’s The Sixty-Eight Rooms.

Taken by Robert Crais
Available January 24, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

When the police tell a wealthy industrialist that her missing son has faked his own kidnapping, she hires Elvis Cole and Joe Pike-and Cole soon determines that it was no fake. The boy and his secret girlfriend have been taken, and are now lost in the gray and changing world of the professional border kidnappers who prey not only on innocent victims but also on one another-buying, selling, and stealing victims like commodities. Fortunately, the kidnappers don’t yet know who the boy is, but when Cole goes undercover to try to buy the two hostages back, he himself is taken and disappears. Now it is up to Pike to retrace Cole’s steps, burning through the hard and murderous world of human traffickers . . . before it is too late.

An Available Man: A Novel by Hilma Wolitzer
Available January 24, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

In this tender and funny novel, award-winning author Hilma Wolitzer mines the unpredictable fallout of suddenly becoming single later in life, and the chaos and joys of falling in love the second time around. When Edward Schuyler, a modest and bookish sixty-two-year-old science teacher, is widowed, he finds himself ambushed by female attention. There are plenty of unattached women around, but a healthy, handsome, available man is a rare and desirable creature. Edward receives phone calls from widows seeking love, or at least lunch, while well-meaning friends try to set him up at dinner parties. Even an attractive married neighbor offers herself to him.

The problem is that Edward doesn’t feel available. He’s still mourning his beloved wife, Bee, and prefers solitude and the familiar routine of work, gardening, and bird-watching. But then his stepchildren surprise him by placing a personal ad in The New York Review of Books on his behalf. Soon the letters flood in, and Edward is torn between his loyalty to Bee’s memory and his growing longing for connection. Gradually, reluctantly, he begins dating (“dating after death,” as one correspondent puts it), and his encounters are variously startling, comical, and sad. Just when Edward thinks he has the game figured out, a chance meeting proves that love always arrives when it’s least expected.

With wit, warmth, and a keen understanding of the heart, An Available Man explores aspects of loneliness and togetherness, and the difference in the options open to men and women of a certain age. Most of all, the novel celebrates the endurance of love, and its thrilling capacity to bloom anew.

All I Did Was Shoot My Man (Leonid Mcgill Mysteries) by Walter Mosley
Available January 24, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

In the latest and most surprising novel in the bestselling Leonid McGill series, Leonid finds himself caught between his sins of the past and an all-too-vivid present.

Seven years ago, Zella Grisham came home to find her man, Harry Tangelo, in bed with her friend. The weekend before, $6.8 million had been stolen from Rutgers Assurance Corp., whose offices are across the street from where Zella worked. Zella didn’t remember shooting Harry, but she didn’t deny it either. The district attorney was inclined to call it temporary insanity-until the police found $80,000 from the Rutgers heist hidden in her storage space.

For reasons of his own, Leonid McGill is convinced of Zella’s innocence. But as he begins his investigation, his life begins to unravel. His wife is drinking more than she should. His oldest son has dropped out of college and moved in with an exprostitute. His youngest son is working for him and trying to stay within the law. And his father, whom he thought was long dead, has turned up under an alias.

A gripping story of murder, greed, and retribution, All I Did Was Shoot My Man is also the poignant tale of one man’s attempt to stay connected to his family.

Pineapple Grenade: A Novel (Serge Storms) by Tim Dorsey
Available January 24, 2012 (Order on Amazon)

First, there’s the media frenzy over the “Hollow Man,” a gutless corpse found on the beach. And yet people think it’s perfectly normal to find dead sharks in the middle of downtown boulevards—or to spot black mushroom clouds behind the airport. Then there are the roving bands of carjackers who suddenly find themselves inconvenienced. Not to mention people lurking outside sex-addiction meetings.

Could this be the work of Serge, that eccentric trivialista and one-man vigilante? And why is he extensively photographing foreign consulates right before the critically important Summit of the Americas comes to town? Does it have something to do with Serge’s declaration to tell his ever-stoned sidekick, Coleman, that he’s decided to become a spy? Of course he’s not working for anyone yet, so Serge is content to just spy for himself until he shows up on radar and his talents are appreciated. His ace in the hole? Serge’s newly revamped Secret Master Plan! His spider senses tell him something big is about to go down in Miami, and it just might involve the recently reactivated CIA cell operating in the same historic building that plotted the overthrow of Fidel Castro.

The intelligence community isn’t amused, and they want answers:

How did Serge and Coleman get so cozy with the president of a banana republic?

Who is the femme fatale with a heart of gold—and national pride?

Why is the congressman in favor of the latest oil spill?

When did everyone in the city forget how to drive?

And what about the Most Laid Man in Miami?

Meanwhile, a mysterious international man of intrigue is shipping military arms around the clock, in competition with clandestine flights of souvenirs, causing the office of Homeland Security to take measures against people who aren’t scared enough. The crossfire of chaos continues to escalate as Serge plays Extreme Dominos in Little Havana, hurtling everyone toward a fateful climax that seems destined for the hemispheric summit jamboree on the shores of Biscayne Bay.

So put on your favorite pink flamingo shirt, hit the dunes of South Beach, and find all the answers in . . . Pineapple Grenade!

Theodora Goss is the author of a special and original book The Thorn and the Blossom (read my review here), published by Quirk Books. Instead of a spine, the book is an accordion which opens at both ends with one side telling one character’s side of the story and the other telling the other character’s side.

Daemon’s Books had the chance to ask Theodora Goss a few questions about creating the book, the possibility of her writing another accordion book, some of her book recommendations and more.

What inspired you to write “The Thorn & The Blossom”?

Theodora Goss: The editor, Stephen Segal, actually called me with the idea of creating an accordion book, and asked if I could write a story for it. I was so intrigued! I immediately knew that it had to be a love story told from the points of view of the two main characters. Right away, I started working on a proposal. And once I had my main characters, Brendan and Evelyn, it was as though they started telling me their stories.

Can you talk about the challenges of writing a story from two separate points of view?

Theodora Goss: It was quite a challenge! I wrote Evelyn’s story first, and then I wrote Brendan’s story, but then I had to go back to Evelyn’s story because some things had happened in Brendan’s story that had to be reflected in Evelyn’s. For example, I only realized toward the end of Brendan’s story that he finds a letter — I won’t tell you more than that, because I don’t want to give anything away. But then I had to go back to Evelyn’s story to make sure the letter was sent.

Readers can pick which story to start reading first, however I have to ask, which side would you recommend they read first?

Theodora Goss: You know, I’ve been reading some early reactions to the story, and people who read Evelyn’s side first are convinced that’s the way to do it, and people who read Brendan’s side first are convinced that’s the way. So I can’t give you a recommendation — I think readers have to choose for themselves. But that’s part of the fun of a story like this — you get to interact with it in a way you wouldn’t get to with a regular book.

What were the challenges in keeping surprises for readers when reading each story?

Theodora Goss: The real challenge was hinting at something and knowing that readers would only understand what was being hinted at when they read the other side! And wondering if readers would get the various clues — whether they would be too obvious or obscure. (Believe it or not, I didn’t realize until after I had finished writing the story that the town in Cornwall where Brendan and Evelyn meet is called Clews! I didn’t think about that when I wrote the book, but it must have been in the back of my mind somewhere. It actually is the name of a Cornish town, by the way.)

If you could go back to the past and talk to yourself at the beginning of the writing process for “The Thorn & The Blossom”, what advice would you give yourself?

Theodora Goss: I would tell myself to get more sleep! Believe it or not, I wrote the book while finishing my PhD in English literature. It was wonderful to get away from doing literary scholarship by writing this mythical love story. I think so much of my own love for books and scholarship comes through in The Thorn and the Blossom. I put that part of myself into both Brendan and Evelyn — as well as some of my own anxieties about the academic life!

Is there a possibility of you writing another book like “The Thorn & The Blossom”?

Theodora Goss: Sure, if anyone asks me! So much work went into this book — you can probably tell from looking at the art and overall design. That sort of effort has to come not only from the writer but also from a really innovative publisher like Quirk. But if anyone asks me to do a project this fun and interesting and challenging, I’m up for it!

What book have you read recently, you would recommend people read?

Theodora Goss: If readers like The Thorn and the Blossom, which I would call literary fantasy, I think they would like books such as Elizabeth Hand’s Mortal Love, Catherynne Valente’s The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, and Kelly Link’s Stranger Things Happen. Those are all completely different works: Hand’s is a novel for adults or older teens, Valente’s is a book for children although it’s enchanting for adults as well, and Link’s is a collection of short stories. But they all mix the everyday with the magic in a way this book does, and they are all on my favorites list!

(Author Photo from Theodora Goss)

Once again I will be using Goodreads and their 2012 Reading Challenge to keep track of everything. And of course I will be having a book and comic book goal like last year. However this year I will be lowering my goals a bit to remove a bit of the stress and make them more achievable.

And so here are my reading goals for this year:

40 Books

60 Comic Books

I’m pretty excited for a new year of reading and discovering new books. And so now that you know my reading goal for this year, I’d love to know what your goal will be for 2012? You can share in the comment section below.

Happy 2012 Reading!

I know it’s almost the end of January, but it is still January and so I wanted to take some time to recap last year in reading for me.

Back in January 2011, I wrote about my reading goals for 2011, which was to read 48 books and 70 comic books. Thanks to Goodreads’ 2011 Reading Challenge I was able to keep track of things and here are the results.

The good news is that I not only reached but exceeded my comic book goal by reading 73 comic books. The bad news is that I didn’t quite reach my book goal and only read 43 books.

The other bad news is that I had signed up for the 2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge… yeah that didn’t totally work out. While I did reach my quota of reading 12 YA novels (yay me!), I unfortunately didn’t keep track of them on the host blog (boo me!).

Finally, like last year I am going to answer a few questions to recap and wrap up my 2011 reading. Once again I will separate books and comic books.

1. Best book of 2011?

Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Comic: Locke & Key by Joe Hill

2. Worst book of 2011?

Book: Lost Voices (Lost Voices #1) by Sarah Porter

Comic: Didn’t read anything bad

3. Most Disappointing Book of 2011?

Book: Crossed by Ally Condie

Comic: No comic book disappointed me

4. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?

Book: The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

Comic: Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?

Book: Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth, although the only reason I haven’t recommended The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern more is because I read it towards the end of the year.

Comic: The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman

6. Best series you discovered in 2011?

Book: Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

Comic: Locke & Key by Joe Hill

7. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?

Book: Sarah Addison Allen

Comic: Joe Hill

8. Most hilarious read of 2011?

Book: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker’s Guide #1) by Douglas Adams

Comic: Didn’t read any funny comic books

9. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?

Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Comic: Crossed by Garth Ennis (in a messed up kind of way)

10. Book you most anticipated in 2011?

Book: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Comic: FreakAngels Vol. 5 by Warren Ellis

11. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?

Book: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Comic: Chimichanga by Eric Powell (isn’t it adorable?!)

12. Most memorable character in 2011?

Book: Ellie from Angelfire (Angelfire #1) by Courtney Allison Moulton and Tris from Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

Comic: Madame Xanadu from Madame Xanadu by Matt Wagner

13. Most beautifully written book in 2011?

Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Comic: I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?

Book: Rereading Harry Potter probably is what impacted me the most in 2011.

Comic: Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire

15. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?

Book: I mostly read new releases so this would have to be The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Comic: Locke & Key by Joe Hill