I know these monster mash-ups are not a new thing, but two new mash-ups that came out this month that have finally got me interested in this trend.

Little Women and Werewolves by Louisa May Alcott and Porter Grand, and Little Vampire Women by Louisa May Alcott and Lynn Messina were both released on May 4, and are the first mash-ups that I actually want to read. I’m more interested in Little Vampire Women, but I think they both sound like fun!

I think my biggest issue with the mash-ups so far is that I’m not a huge reader of literary classics, so even though they’ve been getting lots of great reviews and now have monsters added, I’ve been wary of them. It just doesn’t seem right to have your first introduction to a classic be an impure version of it. But I’ve already read and thoroughly enjoyed Little Women, AND I’m a huge fan of vampires and werewolves so they’ve added the perfect incentive for me to re-visit this classic!

I must admit to also being curious about Jane Slayre as well. (Vamps, werewolves AND slayers? All things that I love!) But since I’ve never read the original I won’t start with that one. I have downloaded the original Jane Eyre to my e-reader though.

What about you? Have you read any of these mash-ups? If so, did you enjoy them? Would you recommend them? If not, what’s your reasoning for staying away? And if you could have your wish, what mash-ups you would like to see?

Real life has been preventing me from reading or reviewing much of anything this week, but even though I’ve been out of touch, there are still lots of bookish things happening out there! Here are a few of the more exciting book-related tidbits I’ve come across in my brief web travels this week.

1. Wicked Appetite, the first book of the new Diesel series has an official cover! I know this book doesn’t come out until September, but I can NOT wait! I really enjoy the between the numbers books and I’m hoping giving Diesel his own series will equal as much fun as we get from the plum books. Here’s the image Janet has posted on her website of the new cover.

2. Time.com has an interview with Candace Bushnell about The Carrie Diaries which tells the story of a 17 year old Carrie Bradshaw before all the sex in that big city. The interview is fairly short, but as a hug SatC fan I enjoyed hearing the author’s thoughts on how the series has developed, and I can’t wait to read The Carrie Diaries.

3. Twitter spawns a book! Sometimes I’m truly amazed at the power of Twitter. Those of you who tweet have probably heard of the now famous Sh*t my dad says twitter feed which now has more than 1.3 million followers, has spawned a television pilot for CBS (starring William Shatner), and now the Sh*t My Dad Says book is also available! I had no idea this was even in the making and it’s already on the shelves. And if the reviews are to be believed, it’s hilarious!

What do you think fellow book lovers? Are you Plum fans longing for the first Diesel book from Janet Evanovich? Have you, or will you read The Carrie Diaries? And I must know if anyone is going to check out Sh*t My Dad Says??

See? This is exactly why I can’t ever decrease the size of my TBR pile. (Looks down at post below.)

As you’re all painfully aware, I love, love, love Kelley Armstrong’s books. Her Women of the Otherworld series is one of my favourites, and I anxiously await each new book that comes out. That’s why I know there’s no way I’m going to be able to resist buying her newest addition to the series Tales of the Otherworld.

Here’s a bit about this collection of short stories from Randomhouse.ca:

Tales of the Otherworld explores the lives of some of Armstrong’s most popular characters, giving readers glimpses into how Clay and Elena met, how Eve and Kristof first hooked up (a brand new novella), and how Lucas and Paige got married.

Personally I’m most excited to read about Lucas and Paige’s wedding. That’s one story I’ve wished for ever since I found out they were married “off-screen” (so to speak). And to make a great thing even better? All proceeds from this anthology go to World Literacy of Canada. How awesome is that?

It’s been a while since we’ve posted any book news, but this week I came across a few things that I just couldn’t wait to share with all my fellow book lovers! A lovely combination of technology, future releases, and opinion these three articles all stuck with me. And of course, in honor of Read an E-Book Week, we have some exciting e-book news in there too.

Young Adult Lit Comes of Age: I thought this was a great article on YA literature becoming a hit with adults as well as teens. I know there are plenty of us who love our YA books, and this fantastic article shows that we’re not alone! Read all about this growing trend here.

Introducing the enTourage eDGe – The world’s first Dualbook: I am absolutely smitten with this new device!  The enTourage eDGe functions as an e-reader, netbook, notepad, and audio/video recorder and player in one! This is what I was hoping Apple was going to release instead of the extra-large iPhone iPad.  With both an e-ink screen and an LCD display screen, the eDGe really has the best of both worlds! Add to that a virtual keyboard AND the ability to take notes on screen, and I have to keep reminding myself that my Sony PRS-505 is a wonderful device and absolutely does not need to be replaced. Alas, I will have to covet from afar. But that’s probably better so I won’t get any drool on the shiny Dualbook. Check it out for yourself here.

Harper Teen Pays Seven Figures for Debut YA Trilogy: I know it’s far too early to be excited, but this news has me giddy nonetheless!  It seems Harper Teen has snagged the North American rights to a YA trilogy by debut author Josephine Angelini, which is being described as “a Percy Jackson for teenage girls”. The first book is called Starcrossed, and is expected to come out summer of 2011.  See the full article here.

As a big fan of the e-book and digital readers, I was very excited to learn that March 7-13, 2010 is Read an E-Book Week! That’s right, a whole week dedicated to the awesomeness of e-reading! Yay!

As I mentioned in a previous post on digital books, I believe e-books are an important way for readers to help our environment by saving trees and avoiding all the harmful pollutants involved with printing and shipping traditional books. Add to that the benefits of having an entire bookstore available at the click of a mouse, and the fact that e-books don’t take up any extra space on a crowded bookshelf and it seems like a winning combination no matter how you look at it.

Even if all that hasn’t won you over, something everybody can get on board with no matter how they feel about the environment, e-ink or a full bookshelf, is saving money and free stuff! And that’s where Read an E-Book Week comes in. For one week (March 7 – 13, 2010) e-book retailers, publishers and authors will join together for this international literary event by offering e-books for free or at deep discounts to encourage book lovers around the globe to give e-reading a try. See the Read an E-Book Week store for a list of participating vendors, publishers and authors.

So, what can you do to help promote e-books this week? First check out the Read an E-Book Week site, then try following some of their great suggestions:

• Talk to your friends about e-books.
• Participate in (or host!) an e-book reading challenge.
• Display a Read an E-Book Week banner on your site. (Choose from a wide variety of banners here.)
• Tweet links to the e-books you read during REBW 2010 using  #ebookweek
• Seek out your favorite authors, and see if they have e-book versions of their novels available.
• Most importantly, support e-books yourself by buying them! Spread the love by gifting e-books to fellow readers.

And of course continue to check back here throughout the week, where we’ll continue to talk e-books and share our Read an E-Book Week finds with you!

Will you be participating in read an e-book week? I definitely will be. Tonight I plan to kick things off by using my gift certificate to the Sony e-book store (Thanks Rae!) to buy some great new e-books. Check in tomorrow to find out what I got.

I vaguely remember reading about this some time ago, but it seems that Candace Bushnell is releasing a YA prequel to Sex and the City titled The Carrie Diaries.

The book will give us a glimpse into Carrie’s life back when she was in high school, and presumably back before she met the 3 ladies who would become such a huge part of her (and our) life.  It will touch on how Carrie began her writing career, and of course some of her early relationships. Would we expect anything less from Sex and the City?

Entertainment Weekly has a first look at the newly released cover of The Carrie Diaries, which will go on sale April 27, 2010.

I must admit that I’ve never read the first book, but I loved the show (and the movie) so I will definitely be checking this one out! What about you… Were you a fan of Sex and the City? Will you read The Carrie Diaries?

OK Book lovers, I am excited to report that I will be attending the Simon and Schuster Fantasy Authors Event at Chapters here in Ottawa on Thursday evening! The event will feature Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, and Scott Westerfeld! Being only one girl with a huge pile of books, I haven’t read much by these authors, so I thought I’d put the call out to YOU for questions and insight.

If you have anything you’d like me to try and ask any of the above authors, please let us know in the comments below.

And if you have any comments regarding the above author’s work, please share those with us too! I’d like to go in knowing as much as possible.

Hey fellow Fantasy Lovers! If like me, you’re a fan of the fantastic Inheritance Trilogy Cycle by Christopher Paolini, and you somehow haven’t gotten your copy of Brisingr yet (unlike me), then you’ll be pleased to know that the Brisingr Deluxe Edition was released this week!

According to the press release, the Deluxe Edition includes: deleted scenes, an exclusive foldout poster, never-before-seen art by the author, and a guide to dwarf runes.

Now, I’ve never heard of a deleted scene in a book is, but I’m super curious! So, I did some looking and found a great review that details all of the “special features” in this deluxe edition. Check out this fab review at Shur’tugal.com to learn all about it!

Are you a fan of the series? Have you read Brisingr? What do you think about the Brisingr Deluxe Edition?

And as a reader, what do you think of Deluxe Editions in general? A welcome addition to your library, or an unwelcome cash grab?

That’s right folks, after more than 80 years, an official Winnie-the-Pooh sequel is being released today! And I for one couldn’t be more excited! I know original Pooh scribe A.A. Milne didn’t write Return to the 100 Acre Wood, and some people feel that Winnie and friends are a treasure that shouldn’t be messed with. But c’mon… it’s Winnie-the-Pooh (and Tigger too!), what bad could there be?  Even if it’s not quite the same as it was in the 100 Acre Wood we all grew up with, isn’t a collection of positive, heart-warming tales something that all children (and parents) will cherish?

New character Lottie the Otter. Photograph: Egmont/PA

The first stories about the beloved bear arrived in the 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh, with the last official stories by A.A. Milne coming just 2 years later in The House at Pooh Corner. British author David Benedictus wrote the new book titled Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, which has been officially authorized by the trustees of A.A. Milne’s estate. The book contains 10 stories, which pick up right where we left off over 80 years ago with Christopher Robin returning home from boarding school to spend the summer with his friends from the 100 Acre Wood.  And aside from the introduction of a new character – Lottie the Otter, the goal was to remain as faithful to the original world Milne created as possible.

Were you a fan of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories as a child? What do you think of the release of a new story by a different author?

What is a Vook you ask? (I assume you ask this because that’s what I wondered when I read the news.) Well, a Vook is apparently a new concept that blends text and video into a single, complete story. Even with this description, I wasn’t entirely sure what they were talking about, but this article from The New York Times certainly explained it well.

Basically, Simon & Schuster have paired with Vook - a multimedia company that produces video content for books – and have created 4 (so far) digital books that have video links integrated throughout the text of the story. These videos will either enhance the scene descriptions and/or advance the plot when used in fiction stories, or in the case of non-fiction books they will be used to demonstrate items that are described in the books.

The first four available Vooks include 2 Self-Help novels; The 90 Second Fitness Solution, and Return to Beauty: Old World Wisdom and Recipes for Great Skin, along with Promises - a romantic novella, and Embassy, a short thriller.  You can check them out here if you’re interested.

The Vooks are viewable on any computer, the iPhone and the iPod Touch. But, they aren’t compatible with e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle or Sony e-Reader because they don’t support video. The Vooks will be sold on  Simon & Schuster‘s website for $6.99 apiece, while the Apple App store will sell them for a promotional price of $4.99.

As a TV fan who doesn’t even enjoy watching shows on the internet, I’m not sure that I really want to interrupt my reading to watch videos – even if those videos are to ‘enhance’ my reading experience – but I do think it’s a pretty neat idea. What do you think? Are you looking forward to reading your first Vook? Does the idea intrigue you? Do you think this is the future of books? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!