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Albedo One, Ireland's magazine of speculative fiction, invites entries for the Aeon Award 2008 short fiction contest. Open to international writers. Grand prize is €1000 and publication. Submissions: 8000 words max., in any speculative genre (e.g. fantasy, science fiction, horror, etc.). Deadline: November 30, 2008. More details...

To celebrate the holidays we asked some of our favorite people in publishing what their favorite book was. Let us know in the comments what your favorite book is and be sure to check back throughout the week for more “favorites”.

Erin Cox, Book Publishing Director for The New Yorker, avid reader and lover of books.

Wow, to pick just one is actually quite hard. So, I’m going to actually list a few. Some old, some new.

Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins is a book that I’ve long mentioned I would like to read, but never actually had. One stormy afternoon this fall, I finished a book and thought, okay, now is the time. I started reading and didn’t look up until the room was so dark I couldn’t see anything. I spent the next two evenings ditching plans and reading into the night. I had to see what happened to Fos and Opal and Flash, the main characters of the book, who live in Tennessee post-World War I and are all enchanted by light in all its many forms. (more…)

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Crannog Magazine (Ireland) seeks sharp contemporary fiction and poetry for their Spring issue. Deadline: January 1, 2008. More details...

I usually review Chicano Kidlit or YA novels on La Bloga and I thought it would be fun to give you all a taste of some of the books I read and recommend on AmoxCalli. I've picked three of my favorite YA novels to give you a little taste of something different - The Lighthouse Land, Anahita's Woven Riddle and Castle Waiting. Enjoy!

Oh and by the way mis compadres y comadre - you've been tagged for the What Books I'm Reading meme. Check out AmoxCalli for the details.

Castle Waiting
Author: Linda Medley
Publisher: Fantagraphics
ISBN-10: 1560977477
ISBN-13: 978-1560977476

This wonderful graphic novel brings together the first twelve issues of the Eisner Award winning comic. It opens with Brambly Hedge, a tale of a Sleeping Beauty with a twist. After Sleeping Beauty leaves with the prince the castle is left waiting. Her three ladies in waiting stay there and open it to people in need. The castle is infested with hobgoblins and is a little beat up but it welcomes the needy with open arms.
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Among its inhabitants are a pregnant woman on the run, Sir Destrier, a horse-headed knight who wants a place to rest between adventures; and Sister Peace, a bearded nun with a wild past. The women of the castle seem to love telling the stories of their lives and it is these stories that are the meat of Castle Waiting.

Linda Medley has created a masterpiece of fantasy, fairytale and just plain good storytelling. Castle Waiting is light-hearted, fun and different. The stories within stories are wonderful and the characters are multi-faceted and interesting. For me, Jain’s story was the most interesting. Jain was the pregnant woman on the run from an abusive nobleman husband and her tale was riveting and so different from the typical fairy tale.

The artwork is as light-hearted and fun as the story. The bearded nuns are a riot and really made me smile. Through the whole book with the intersecting stories is a thread of kindness and caring that really makes me smile. I love that Sleeping Beauty’s left behind castle is used to help those in need. I love the fact the women who remain have so much love to give to those who show up at the castle door and are willing to share whatever they have. I would have loved this book anyway but that just made it so much more special. Highly recommended.

The Summer King
Author: O.R. Melling
Publisher: Amulet Books
ISBN-10: 0810959690
ISBN-13: 978-0810959699

The Summer King is a haunting, absorbing and lavishly told tale set both in present day Ireland and the world of Fairy.

Laurel, an 18 year old girl who is grieving the death of her twin sister Honor, returns to Ireland and the scene of her twin’s death to try and find out who killed her sister. While the devastated family thinks it was an accident, Laurel, armed with her sister’s puzzling journals believes her sister was led into something unsavory. She finds odd references of little people, in particular one little man and other more disturbing entries. She’s also starting to be plagued with dreams.

Upon arrival in Ireland, Laurel finds her old boyfriend Ian Grey with whom she was with the day her sister died still nursing hurt that she had left him, blamed him for her not being there to save her sister. These young people have lots of angst and passion to work out and that alone could fill a book.

But wait. There’s the small matter of a cluricaun, something like a leprechaun but a little darker. This little guy reminds me of a small Bacchus, always toting around his poteen and pissing drunk when he’s not lying through his teeth. There are ravens that turn to warriors, scary sea fairies called the boctogai, a wild Irish pirate named Grace O’Malley, eagles that talk and worlds within worlds.

There is also the possibility that Laurel’s sister isn’t dead but sleeping somewhere in Fairy and if Laurel can complete the quest of freeing the Summer King, then her sister will be freed. The quest isn’t all that it seems though and neither is Ireland, the Summer King himself, Laurel’s grandparents or Ian who may just have the darkest secret of all.

I loved The Summer King and was completely swept away by it. I discovered that it is the sequel to Hunter’s Moon which I haven’t read (now I will). It stands as a single novel though. You really don’t need to read Hunter’s Moon although you like me after reading this, will most probably want to read it and everything else Melling writes. The Summer King is romance, magic, mystery, betrayal, legend, lore, history and simply marvelous, engaging storytelling. It’s wonderful.