RIASS stuff:
Are you'following us on Facebook? And have you'subscribed to our updates? Well? Hmm?
A review of Second Chance Summer'by Morgan Matson, the first book this year thats had me a bit teary (Rating: 
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Giveaways: Blood Brothers'by Carole Wilkinson; Revived'by Cat Patrick
Calling all bookish Melburnians! RIASS and some bookish buddies are planning a night out at the Astor Theatre on the 9th of June. All welcome, so if you're a local (or wish to commute), feel free to drop by. Details'here.
RIASS is always happy to feature guest posts from or interviews with authors and bookish folk. If youre interested, do get in touch!
Other bookish stuff:
A selection of vintage pulp fiction covers
A networked edition of Voltaires Candide
More book spine poetry
Seanan McGuires fairytale survival FAQ
The Devil Wears Prada sequel coming next year
Terra Elan McVoy on the evolution of her book cover design
Australia gets The Hunger Games DVD/Blu-Ray release first
Dork Diaries now has a UK website
'Lisa Nops, Finch prize-winning author of My Life in a Pea Soup, now has a blog
Congrats to Rachel Johns on the release of her debut Jilted
Best selling novelist Hilary Mantel talks about trilogies When I began to write the second book, I went through the same process, and realized that the project must be a trilogy. You could say I felt my way towards the decision; I felt as if I were waking in the dark initially, and then in a flash I saw the shape of the story.
Walkers Mary Verney on book addictions: Okay, I admit it. I have a book addiction. I think you can tell it's an addiction when you start sneaking around. I tend to whisk newly purchased books into my room before my flatmates can frown and say, 'Is that another book?' or 'I thought you said you weren't buying any more for a while.' The lounge room is already crammed with three groaning bookcases! But I don't care. You can never have too many.
The book cover is dead!'Which begs the question ''if so much of what book cover design has evolved into is largely a brick-and-mortar marketing tool, then what place does a 'cover' hold in digital books? Especially after you purchase it? But, more tellingly, even before you purchase it?
Emily Gale, author of Girl out Loud'on having a book adapted for foreign territories (eg, the USA): I pictured my character, 15-year-old Kass Kennedy, saying things in a different way: 'Mom' instead of 'Mum' or 'trash can' instead of 'rubbish bin' or 'cookies' instead of 'biscuits' or 'aluminum' instead of 'aluminium' (ok, there is no'aluminium'in my book, I just wanted to use that example because'why do they say that anyway?). And with that I worried that Kass wouldn't feel like mine any more. What if I saw a sea of words that I hadn't chosen, or cultural references from someone else's culture, and realised that the pages I'd laboured over didn't belong to me?
Amy McCulloch from Harper Voyager guest blogs for Book Chick Citys UK Publisher Month: Guys: if you see a woman with a massive heavy handbag, maybe she's not a shopaholic, but an editor? I advise to check hands for paper cuts.
Interview and giveaway: G.J.Koch and Alexander Outland: I actually got the inspiration for this series from a name I randomly stumbled across. I saw it and said, Wow, that would be a GREAT name for a space pirate! A mega-cool space pirate. I wonder what kind of galaxy he lives in. The rest, as they say, is history.
Is the Orange Prize winning Song of Achilles'a triumph of glitzy storytelling over literary depth? So should Miller's novel have won? It is tempting to say that it did so not because of its literary quality, but because of the power of The Iliad. We cannot escape it; it haunts us just as Patroclus haunts Achilles. But that's not to say you shouldn't go and read'The Song of Achilles. It's gloriously, wonderfully silly. And it might just send you in the direction of darker, stranger depths ' or even to Homer himself.
Jobs and opps
Momentum Books is looking for freelance proofreaders. For more information, click here.'
Freebies:
A chapter sample of John Flanagans Outcasts
An extract from Marlena de Blasis Antonia and Her Daughters
Audio:
Charles Fernyhough, Jonah Lehrer and Claudia Hammond discuss neuroscience and novels on the latest issue of BBC Radio 4s All in the Mind
Video:
Shawn_Colvin'discusses her new memoir Diamond in the Rough
A discussion of Romy Ashs'Floundering'and Kate Holdens'In my Skin'on For the Love of Books
Cassandra Clare on The City of Lost Souls:
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Thanks for sharing about, A selection of vintage pulp fiction covers. I never knew this site existed and I love Pulp
My pleasure, Michael! I only came across it the other day during a discussion of Shanghai Noir films, but Im glad I did. :)
The Fairy Tale FAQs were fantastic.
Thanks for the round up!
My pleasure, Alison! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Thanks for mentioning my quest to find books for all the US states! Ive got a lot of suggestions already but can use more. :-)
My pleasure, Judith. I stopped by and added a few as wellI hope you end up with all you need. :)
Wow! I really must say that these round-up posts are incredibly helpful. It's always nice having someone else do the work of searching the internet for useful information. The fairytale survival guide was cute.
Thanks, Patricia! Glad to hear youre enjoying them. :)