Bookworms Carnival: Anthologies

I am very disappointed in the book blogosphere today.  For my edition of the bookworms carnival, I chose the theme of anthologies since it’s a great way to introduce people to new authors and there are so many great genres out there, I thought it would be great to introduce people to a lot of authors in various genres without having a ton of books to go through.  Unfortunately, I only had 2 people share my enthusiasm.

Thank you Nicola for sharing some of your reviews from your recent Antholopalooza.  Nicola gave herself a challenge of reading all of the anthologies in her TBR stack (I want to say she had 13) and challenged others to read anthologies during the month of December.  For the bookworms carnival, she wanted to share a couple anthologies with us:

1. Hot-Blooded, which contains authors Christine Feehan, Maggie Shayne, Emma Holly, and Angela Knight.  Hot-Blooded ended up surprising Nicola at a time when she was starting to get sick of anthologies (I did say she had a lot waiting to be read).  Her review can be seen here.
2. Hotter Than Hell is a huge anthology with 13 different authors all contributing something.  Some of the big names in this collection are: Kim Harrison, Keri Arthur, Marjorie Liu, LA Banks, and Lilith Saintcrow.  To see what Nicola thought, click here.  I’ve also had the pleasure of reading this anthology, so for another opinion, you can see my review here.

I also have to thank Becky for adding to this carnival with two reviews she wanted to share:

1. The Starry Rift, which contains about 16 different Science Fiction authors – Scott Westerfeld, Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, Cory Doctorow, Garth Nix and others.  I’m not usually one for a lot of science fiction, but Becky sold me on this anthology with her favorite story – Ass-Hat Magic Spider by Scott Westerfeld.  Seriously, best title ever.  Here’s her review.
2. Free To Be You and Me is a collection of poems, songs, comedy sketches, short stories, etc that was a classic in the seventies and is back on the shelves.  Becky says that “there are elements of the book that are timeless” and it’s actually aimed at a younger audience.  So if you’re interested, head on over to Becky’s review.

Alright, I have a confession to make.  Yes this was my carnival to host, but I was a complete slacker and didn’t read the three anthologies sitting on my desk.  I have a good excuse why I didn’t, but that’s all it is – an excuse.  So I’m disappointed in myself as well; however, I’m going to give up two older reviews of anthologies that I loved and two that will be coming out soon that I want to read.  Here are my picks:

1. Shifter contains stories by Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day and Virginia Kantra.  Most of these authors were new to me and this collection gave me a great look into the worlds they have built and all of them were added to my TBR list.  Here’s my review.
2. When He Was Bad is an anthology featuring Cynthia Eden and Shelly Laurenston.  This was my first time checking out these two authors and this book so hooked me on them.  I was cracking up by the end of each story that I went looking for more.  Here’s my review.
3. What Happens In Vegas…After Dark (May 2009) is actually a second edition.  Jodi Lynn Copeland, Lauren Dane, Kit Tunstall and Anya Bast had so much fun with What Happens in Vegas, that they got together again and this time they are dealing with paranormal elements.  Here’s my review of What Happens in Vegas.
4. Strange Brew (7/7/09)just has an awesome cover and includes a lot of authors, some of which I am a huge fan of.
5. Unbound (8/25/09) practically has all of my favorite authors in one novel – Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Pettersson, Jocelynn Drake.  Is that not a great lineup?

So there’s the 22nd edition of the bookworms carnival. If anyone is interested in participating in future editions, there’s still time to get a submission in for the 23rd Edition will be held by Jessica over at The Bluestocking Society.  The theme is Books to Movies.  Submissions are due by February 13th.  Or you can check the upcoming editions for a theme of your choosing.