Fay, I've been reading Charlaine Harris for ... well, quite a while. I liked the Lily Bard/Shakespeare series quite a lot. I think her series kind of run out after five books - I found the Aurora Teagarden ones kind of cloying after that point and I've given up on the Sookie Stackhouse ones. I'm enjoying the Grave series, although the incest overtones haven't squicked me. She also did an earlier, non-series, one called A Secret Rage that I thought was good - with the popularity of her more recent books they seem to be reprinting her older ones.

Okey doke-- I think I've done a cursory (HA!) sweep of the books and here are the ones that are up for grabs. Whatever anyone wants, just post here, so others can see (And I'll edit my list to strikethrough) and then contact me at the profile addy with your snail mail address and I will do my bestest to get books out in the next week or two. I'd provide links, but I'd be here forever.

Here we go:

When a Lady Misbehaves- Michelle Marcos (Regency)
Who Stole the Funny- Robby Benson (Mainstream)
One Dance in Paris- Julia Holden (WF)
Holly Would Dream- Karen Quinn (WF)
The Other Boleyn Girl- Philippa Gregory
Wild Thing- Maggie Shayne, Marjorie M. Liu, Alyssa Day, Meljean Brook (Paranormal Rom Anthology)
Seven Nights of Sin- Lacey Alexander (Erotic Romance)
Lady Macbeth- Susan Fraser King (Historical)
Shaken and Stirred; Sex, Straight Up; Nightcap- Kathleen O'Reilly (Trio of Harl Blazes)
No Safe Place; Blaze; No Regrets- JoAnn Ross
Middlesex- Jeffrey Eugenides (Mainstream) amych
Make Him Look Good; Dirty Girls on Top- Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (Latina Women's fic)
Raintree: Sanctuary- Beverly Barton (Harl Nocturne)
Wild & Hexy; My Nerdy Valentine- Vicki Lewis Thompson
Wages of Sin- Jenna Maclaine (Para)
How to Knit a Wild Bikini- Christie Ridgeway (Contemp Romance)
Rescue Me- Cherry Adair, Lora Leigh, Cindy Gerard (Rom Suspense)
Dark Needs at Night's Edge- Kresley Cole (Para)
Something Rotten- Alan Gratz (Contemp YA retelling of Hamlet) Amy
Enthusiasm- Polly Shulman (Contep YA with an Austen spin)
Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert Ginger
Don't Look Down; Agnes and the Hitman- Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer Ginger
Underneath it All- Margo Candela (Latina WF)
Sister Chicas- Lisa Alvarado, Ann Hagman Cardinal, Jane Alberdeston Coralin (Latina YA) Glamcookie
The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes- Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer, Anne Stuart (Para) Amy
A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur's Court; What No Roses?- Marianne Mancusi (Chick Lit)
Boys That Bite- Mari Mancusi (Para YA) Glamcookie
Cinderella Lopez- Berta Platas (Latina WF)
The Book Thief- Marcus Zusak Polter-Cow
Pack Up the Moon- Anna McPartlin (WF)
Second Chance- Jane Green (WF)
The Baby Gamble- Tara Taylor Quinn (Harl Super)
Murder on Ice- Alina Adams (cozy mystery)
Marriage, Interrupted- Karen Templeton (Sil SE)
A Thief in a Kilt- Sandy Blair (Hist)
Captive Moon- C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp (Para Rom)
The Bitch Posse- Martha O'Connor (Mainstream)
Carpe Demon- Julie Kenner (Para WF) Amy
Love, Rosie- Cecilia Ahearn (WF)
Shifter- Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day, Virgina Kantra (Para Rom Anthology)
Real Women Don't Wear Size 2; Good Girls Don't- Kelley St. John (Contemp Rom)
The Red Hat Club Rides Again- Haywood Smith (WF)
The Fortune Quilt; Ex and the Single Girl- Lani Diane Rich (WF)
Maybe Baby; Crazy in Love- Lani Diane Rich (Rom Com)
Sleeping with Ward Cleaver- Jenny Gardiner (Contemp Rom/WF)
The Dead Room- Heather Graham (Para)
Tempting the Prince- Patricia Grasso (Hist)
Cover of Night- Linda Howard (Rom Susp)

Okay, I think I've managed to recreate the list.

And as before, if anyone wants any copies of mine, I have some left, so just let me know.

Ooh ooh ooh! I would take The Book Thief, Middlesex, and copies of yours!

Damn you, amych! You picked the two books I would have. Heh.

Um, whoops?

And oddly, those are two of the few books on that list that I actually bought. Most of those have been freebies from conferences.

I'll split 'em with you, P-C -- pick whichever of the two you want. But I still want Barb's books!

I would love The Book Thief ! I adored it. Thanks!

I'd like to put in for Eat, Pray, Love and the Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer books. I already own your books! If you end up with extra contemporary or historical romances, my aunt in the nursing home goes through them like M&Ms. I'd be glad to pay postage.

On a totally different subject (no new books for me! not until I clear some out! really! well, except ...)

I was reading a book and gave up on it because it hit one of my peeves. It was set in the early 1920s, obviously well researched, well written enough ... but the author kept pulling in famous real people. This is one of those things that just sets my (metaphorical) teeth on edge. It's as though someone were writing something set in colonial America and the main character is friends with Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, etc. Bringing in one or two famous people I can understand ... but let's face it - most of the people at any one time are going to be unknown (except, perhaps, to someone doing extensive research on the period). It's like reincarnation - you know how it seems people are always Cleopatra or Queen Elizabeth I or something.

Does this annoy anyone else? or is it just me?

Does this annoy anyone else? or is it just me?

Makes me crazy. I will say, however, that the further back in time you go, depending on the location, circumstances, etc., it's more plausible. Like in John Jakes' Kent Family Chronicles, I think in the first couple of books, he had some famous folks, but since the character had emigrated to Boston and it was the eve of the Revolutionary War, it seemed far more likely.

But I think the further forward you come, the harder it is to pull off, and then, only if the author is careful with it and doesn't overwhelm the narrative with the All Star Cameos.