Book blogs weekly round-up (August 13)

1) Justin Cronin talks about The Passage

2) A 2 hour interview with Gail Carriger

A taste:

Everything you ever wanted to know about Gail, her work, her strong dislike of sweet tea, steampunk, food and other things you would never think would come up in an interview is revealed here on Zombie Popcorn Radio.

3) Suzanne Collins on the books she loves

A taste:

Entertainment Weekly: Which classic have you never read—but pretended you did?

Suzanne Collins: I sort of half read Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge. It was assigned in 10th grade, and I just couldn’t get into it. About seven years later I rediscovered Hardy, and consumed four of his novels in a row. Katniss Everdeen owes her last name to Bathsheba Everdene, the lead character in Far From the Madding Crowd. The two are very different, but both struggle with knowing their hearts.

4) Three new e-book platforms nearing their debut

A taste:

Three entirely new ebook platforms are now poised to make their debut. Each of them has an angle, or a USP, that the others don’t and that the vendors, devices, and platforms that preceded them — notably Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, and Sony — don’t. The three new platforms are Google EditionsBlio, and Copia.

5) Interview with author T.K. Richardson

A taste:

LS: Ooh, who doesn’t love a good prophecy? What inspired this story?

TKA: Return the Heart was inspired by my children, my love for Russian history and literature, and a desire to create a captivating story that would delight teens. What followed is a story filled with action, secret gifts, a seedy underworld, and more twists and revelations than the reader expects. Toss in a Russian element and Return the Heart is like an action movie about teens and for teens.

6) Vote for your favorite YA heroes in the YA Fantasy showdown

Tournament brackets for face-offs between all your favorite YA heroes. Too fun.

7) An interview with Tim Hallinan at Murderati

A taste:

So today I bring you the immensely talented Tim Hallinan. Tim writes a series of thrillers set in Bangkok. His main character is Poke Rafferty, a travel writer who has created a new life with a patched together family that have come to mean the world to him. Rose, a former bar girl, is the love of his life, and Miaow, a girl who spent her first several years on the street, is the adopted daughter he will do anything to protect. If you have not picked up one of this books (A NAIL THROUGH THE HEART, THE FOURTH WATCHER, BREATHING WATER), you need to do so now. They are, quite simply, outstanding.

8 ) Carrie Vaughn talks about the scale of the universe

A taste:

The very first lecture on the very first day of Launch Pad started with a discussion of the size of the universe, and yes, the Douglas Adams quote (“Space is big.  You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is.”) may have come up once or twice…Prof. Mike Brotherton pointed us to this video, which I really like because it shows that a) we’re really small and b) it uses music from Disney’s The Black Hole.  Remember that one?  Scariest movie I’d ever seen, until The Empire Strikes Back came out.  (Hey, I was 7, give me a break.)

9) About the prophesied end of books

A taste:

The inertia of physical books in a more practical sense consists of the fact that people simply will continue to buy books. Not because of any inadequacy in e-book technology (relevant now, but not so much in a few years) but because books have a few fundamental advantages over e-books that are unlikely to change. I don’t think it’s sentimental to say that the security, tactility, beauty, and permanence of printed books will remain significant selling points — and not just for five years, but for ten, twenty, thirty. Unlike music and movies, books are imperfectly recreated in digital form. I wouldn’t make any bet that involves people no longer enjoying things.

10) Finalists for the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2010

A taste:

Nominees for the CWA GOLD DAGGER 2010:  Blacklands, by Belinda Bauer (Corgi/Transworld);
Blood Harvest, by S J Bolton (Bantam Press/Transworld); Shadowplay, by Karen Campbell (Hodder & Stoughton); The Way Home, by George Pelecanos (Orion)