Anyone looking for a new read, my friend, Laura Anne Gilman (with whom I share an exact birthday) has a release today. It's the first book in a fantasy trilogy called the Vineart War, Flesh and Fire

Here's the blurb:

From acclaimed bestselling author Laura Anne Gilman comes a unique and enthralling new story of fantasy and adventure, wine and magic, danger and hope....

Once, all power in the Vin Lands was held by the prince-mages, who alone could craft spellwines, and selfishly used them to increase their own wealth and influence. But their abuse of power caused a demigod to break the Vine, shattering the power of the mages. Now, fourteen centuries later, it is the humble Vinearts who hold the secret of crafting spells from wines, the source of magic, and they are prohibited from holding power.

But now rumors come of a new darkness rising in the vineyards. Strange, terrifying creatures, sudden plagues, and mysterious disappearances threaten the land. Only one Vineart senses the danger, and he has only one weapon to use against it: a young slave. His name is Jerzy, and his origins are unknown, even to him. Yet his uncanny sense of the Vinearts' craft offers a hint of greater magics within — magics that his Master, the Vineart Malech, must cultivate and grow. But time is running out. If Malech cannot teach his new apprentice the secrets of the spellwines, and if Jerzy cannot master his own untapped powers, the Vin Lands shall surely be destroyed.

In Flesh and Fire, first in a spellbinding new trilogy, Laura Anne Gilman conjures a story as powerful as magic itself, as intoxicating as the finest of wines, and as timeless as the greatest legends ever told.

She's been getting great reviews and her research is absolutely meticulous, so for you guys looking for something new that's fantasy-oriented, you might want to check it out.

I read the first little bit of that somewhere, maybe in the back of one of her other books, and it was pretty compelling.

Cool new idea to have it be wine related.

I am more interested in beer-related magic. Perhaps I should be writing "Hop Tales."

For beer related: Tim Power's "Drawing of the Dark" his first book. "The Dark" in question was a dark ale.

[Edit] My mistate: he wrote several novels before the that. Just my first encounter.

::weeps with frustration::

Catwalk: Strike a Pose is Today's Featured Book of Color. This book is written by Deborah Gregory, author of the bestselling series The Cheetah Girls. Pashmina Purrstein and her fashion friends, Angora, Felinez, and Aphro, are all hard at work as a team of fashionistas in order to win the Big Willie trophy in the Catwalk Competition.

By late November, everyone at Fashion International High School has joined the competition to win the chance to stage their show at the Pitti Bimbo Collections in Firenze, Italy. And, everything will be documented by the Teen Style Network for the reality show "Catwalk:Strike a Pose." Under all this pressure, Pashmina and her friends discover if they can hack it or not.

And you're sure that's not from the Onion ?

Right? It's a "Book of Color" with a character named APHRO?!?

It makes killer unicorns sound appealing. (Comparatively speaking, of course.)