"Sunday Scoop" The Gang's Weekly Column

SUNDAY SCOOP

This week we have some cool stuff going on!

First of all, we didn't make it to see the Tree on Christmas day.  It was nothing more than a timing issue.  We go every year and still have hopes of going.  Of course if we do, we will post the pics for you guys.  Next, we mentioned that Dave was going to review "The Looking Glass Wars" by Frank Beddor.  That will still happen (Dave LOVED the first book and is currently working on book 2, "Seeing Redd" as well as some others).  We still plan to do the review, but it will wait until after the New Year, when Frank Beddor himself (NYT Best Selling Author) has agreed to give us an interview!  So cool!  For those of you who have not yet read "Looking Glass Wars" we will only give you this spoiler before we post everything--- GO READ IT!  That should say enough since you know how we feel about books we suggest to you guys...

Next, we were in Barnes and Noble today "browsing" as usual, and Dave came upon a book that he immediately fell in love with and had to buy!  It is called "ICECORE" by Matt Whyman.  A second book in the series, "GOLDSTRIKE" is due out in February.  What looked so cool about the book that he had to pick it up???  Well, besides the flashy cover, the synopsis was enough to do it.  Normally, we wait for the review to post the synopsis, but in this case, we are going to post it so you guys can see what got him so excited.

Carl Hobbes is no criminal mastermind.  

He's a seventeen-year-old British computer hacker who penetrated the security systems at Fort Knox for a laugh.  But the American government was less than amused.  Since his prank, gold bars have been landing in the hands of terrorists across the globe.

Now, Carl has found himself in a military prison deep in the Arctic and far off the grid.  He's been caged alongside the world's most notorious terrorists, with no one to trust and no end in sight.

Carl Hobbes may not be a criminal mastermind, but if he wants to escape this subzero prison with his life, he'll have to start thinking like one.

Umm, hello... does that sound AwEsOmE or what??  Anyway, look for the review real soon!

What's In Store for 2010??

The Gang plans to do a whole bunch of reading in the new year!  It is our resolution to read more than we did this year.  That means more awesome reviews for you guys!  Also, we do want to start doing more fun things around here.  For that reason, we are looking to you guys to give us some ideas on what you would like to see us do.  It will benefit you, so the more ideas you give us, the better off you are!  Obviously, more contests and fun stuff we already are beginning to work on the ideas for, but that is a given with us.

Book Expo America

Hopefully all of you know about Book Expo America.  If not, you can find out more info at www.bookexpoamerica.com

This year, for 2010, the Gang is planning on attending BEA as "media" which is really cool since we will be able to go and check out all the cool books that are expected out for 2010!  Plus, since we are all going, hopefully we will score a TON of those hot title's ARCs as have some super cool contests with them.  If you are not familiar with BEA, it's held in Manhattan every year and is the book industry's largest conference of the year.  It is totally cool and nearly every publisher you can think of sets up a booth there and showcases their hot new stuff for the year.  We are super psyched to live close enough that we can go.  If you want to go, hurry up and go over to the site and look into registering.  You can not register yet, but you can get an email sent to you when the time comes to register, which we believe is real soon!  That would be awesome if any of you guys went so we could totally meet up with you there and hang!

NEW ADDITION TO TLG!

Ok, so NO we are not having a baby! (although Dave would like another male in the house since he is outnumbered 3-1 now!)  However, this Friday if all goes well, we plan to pick up our newest member of TLG, Bella.  We will post more pics of her as soon as we get her (Friday, Friday, Friday!!!) but for now we will show you the one picture we do have of her.  She just turned 8 weeks old and is ADORABLE!!  Seriously, can you get any cuter???  We are going to spend the week and go shopping for Bella (do you expect any less of Mara and the girls???) to make sure that when we bring her home, she has everything she wants.  Without further delay, here is a shot of our newest "child" Bella!

Dave, Mara, and Lauryn know that we are going Friday morning to get her (4 hour trip!) but we are trying to keep it a secret from Sami.  If we tell her for sure, she will not be able to handle waiting the 5 days!  Instead, she thinks we are going to call Friday and try to see if nobody else bought her maybe we can buy her and pick her up over the weekend.  She is going to be one happy camper when she wakes up Friday morning!!!

OK, so that concludes this week's "SCOOP" and we just want to remind you guys that we put up a BUTTON for you to grab for our "Nook" contest.  You get +10 for putting the button up on your site and posting about it as well as +5 for every person that enters and mentions you sent them!  WE WILL ADD THE +5 for you so you don't have to do anything!  Just remember to make sure your referral mentions you BY YOUR SCREEN NAME so we can credit you the entries.  Thanks and talk to you guys real soon!

THE LATEINER GANG