Greywalker

Greywalker by Kat Richardson
PW says, "Fast-paced fun, this first novel will captivate fans of Charmed, Buffy, and Charlaine Harris." So of course I'm interested.

Jailed Joshilyn Jackson

You have to read this blog post from author Joshilyn Jackson about her recent stint in jail for the most ridiculous reason ever:

http://www.joshilynjackson.com/mt/archives/000561.html

Here new book is Between, Georgia.
LJ's review: After a great debut with Gods in Alabama , Jackson's follow-up poses the same dilemma for readers: you can't wait to finish it but don't want it to end. Between, GA, is a real place--it lies between Athens and Atlanta--but Jackson's little town is fictional. Thirty-year-old Nonny exemplifies “between”: she works as an interpreter for the deaf in Athens, yet the folks she loves are in Between; her erstwhile husband is in Athens, but a little girl in Between owns her heart. Plus, two local feuding clans make Nonny a Frett by name but a Crabtree by birth. Jackson gives us Southern chick lit with a twist while she explores, mostly through spunky female characters, the themes of family obligations, nature vs. nurture, the mysteries of love, and the gods at work. While the subplot with Nonny's husband stretches credulity at times, the characters, especially Nonny's deaf-blind mother and her two polar opposite aunts, are spot on. Jackson's got a winner, and public libraries will definitely need multiple copies.

Chick Lit vs. Not Chick Lit

vs.

Model Student

I will never look at the cover of a fashion magazine in the same way after reading Robin Hazelwood's semi-autobiographical debut novel Model Student: A Tale of Co-eds and Cover Girls. It's the mid-eighties and Wisconson native, Emily Woods, is pursuing her modeling career while trying not to flunk out of Columbia University--because jetting around the world for photo shoots doesn't leave much time for studying. There's a happy ending, but the book definitely shows the seedy side of the modeling business. I was completely sucked into the story, though. Even more entertaining is the slide show of bad eighties fashion on Hazelwood's website:

http://www.robinhazelwoodbooks.com/index.html

Hear her interview with Diane Rehm:

http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/06/08/15.php#10661

Battlestar Galactica

I recently checked out the first Battlestar Galactica DVD (season 1, disc 1 of the new version) and am now addicted to this TV show. If you have fans of Battlestar Galactica looking for books to read, this one might appeal to them:

Crossover: A Cassandra Kresnov Novel by Joel Shepherd
From PW: Set in the far future, Australian author Shepherd's energetic debut introduces Cassandra Kresnov, an experimental killer android-with-a-heart who has defected from her League Dark Star special ops assignment. Graced with a yen for human art almost as insatiable as her libido, Kresnov first tries to melt anonymously into Tanusha, the sybaritic capital of Callay, a planet of the League's galactic archenemy, the Federation. But Cassandra can't leave her martial past behind when she's caught up in a heroic struggle to protect the Callayan president from assassination by Federal forces. Shepherd's intriguing heroine and strong female characters bode well for this projected series. Lacing Cassandra's search for identity and acceptance with plenty of hand-to-hand combat and racy sexual exploits, Shepherd also convincingly presents vividly realized ethical dilemmas: what happens to soldiers when the war is over? can a culture that opposes the artificial manufacture of life accept its creations? Shephard grapples with some genuinely thought-provoking questions on the nature of humanity.

Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom has a new fiction book coming out in September, which Starbucks is also going to sell:

For One More Day is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that covers a lifetime and beyond. It explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one?

The End of Mr. Y

The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas (author of Popco)
I am intrigued by this book due to the following words used by PW's reviewer: renegade academic, troposphere, askew, shenanigans, Back to the Future, and gooey love story. Plus I like the cover.