(Publishers, publicists, and writers--you are welcome to send me full schedules of blog tours, reviews I missed, etc. etc.)
The Reviews:
The Abandoned, (aka Jennie), by Paul Gallico, at In Bed With Books
Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith, at Maria's Melange
The Beyonders: Chasing the Prophecy, by Brandon Mull, at SciFiChick
The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, by Charles De Lint, at Mundie Kids
Cloneward Bound, by M.E. Castle, at Akossiwa Ketoglo
The Colossus Rises, by Peter Lerangis. Ongoing joint review at Maria's Melange and The Brian Lair, and another review at the American Book Center blog
Fake Mustache, by Tom Angleberger, at Books & Other Thoughts
The Flame in the Mist, by Kit Grindstaff, at YA Bibliophile (audiobook)
A Greyhound of a Girl, by Roddy Doyle, at Reads for Keeps
Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault, by Adam-Troy Castro, at Pass the Chiclets
Hammer of Witches, by Shana Mlawski, at Finding Wonderland
The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healy, at The Book Smugglers and Sonderbooks
Johnny and the Bomb, by Terry Pratchett, at Charlotte's Library
The Key and the Flame, by Claire Caterer, at From the Mixed Up Files
The Last Free Cat, by Jon Blake, at Ms. Yingling Reads
The Menagerie, by Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland, at Charlotte's Library
Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, at That's Another Story
Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, at Fantasy Literature
Rump, by Liesl Shurtliff, at Book Nut and books4yourkids
The Spindlers, by Lauren Oliver, at Kid Lit Geek
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz, at Abby the Librarian
and One Librarian's Book Reviews
Stolen Magic, by Stephanie Burgis, at Random Musings of a Bibliophile and Sonderbooks
Undertown, by Melvin Jules Bukiet, at Sharon the Librarian
Whatever After: Fairest of All, by Sara Mlynowski, at Becky's Book Reviews
Authors, Interviews, and Artwork
Shana Mlawski's Hammer of Witches is this week's Big Idea at Whatever
Liesl Shurtliff (Rump) at All For One and OneFour Kid Lit and I Like These Books
Kit Grindstaff (The Flame in the Mist) at Steph Su Reads and Literary Rambles (giveaway)
Claire M. Caterer (The Key and the Flame) at GreenBeanTeenQueen,
Nerdy Book Club. IceyBooks, The Hiding Spot, Fantasy Book Addict, and The Book Muncher (with giveaways)
Art work reveals (and giveaways) of The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, by Christopher Healey, at Ms. Yingling Reads and The Book Smugglers
Marissa Moss (Mira's Diary series) at That's Another Story
Kate DiCamillo (talking about the metaphor matrix of Tiger Rising) at Cynsations
Other Good Stuff
The Victorians were strange, or perhaps just very much like us. They would have made great Peep Dioramas, in between creating headless portraits (from PetaPixel, where there are lots more, via io9).
Actually I think they were weirder than us. (These are really taxidermied kittens, from the museum of Walter Potter, who didn't have Peeps to work with....).
Moving back to books, if you want to feast your eyes on award winning picture books of many lands (many of which are fantastical, and so relevant!), Tasha at Waking Brain Cells has a gallery of the nominees for the 2014 Hans Christian Anderson Award. I can't decide if this one, published in English as Great Book of Animal Portraits, by Croatian illustrator Svjetlan Junaković, which is now stuck in my mind forever, is one I Must Have, or the stuff of nightmares (or possibly both, but at least these animals aren't taxidermied):
I see on further perusal that many of the other illustrations (re-imaginings of Old Masters with animals) are less disturbing....so I am very tempted. Here's "Vermeer's Study of a Young Frog: