Yup, linkity’s on Thursday because there won’t be a post on Friday this week. Happy New Year to all of you!

Congrats to Tj, who won The Stroke of Twelve (Perfect Timing, Book 6) by Kim Dare! The Stroke of Twelve will be released by Total-E-Bound on January 3, 2011.

Congrats to Susmita, who won Offside Pass by Stephani Hecht! Offside Pass is the first book in Stephani’s new hockey series and will be released by eXtasy Books on January 1, 2011.

Contest

• Tracy’s giving away a pdf copy of Karen Mercury’s m/m/f Western historical romance, Working the Lode, to someone who comments by 11:59 pm (PST), January 4.

Bookity

• New releases and more: Elisa (GLBT); SciFiGuy (UF/PNR, YA); Tor.com (UF/PNR, fantasy, scifi); and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR).

• Book linkity from Dear Author and ReadReactReview.

• Does the Library Journal article that listed some m/m romances to get libraries started on an m/m romance collection mean that the genre is gaining mainstream acceptance?

• Sign ups are now open for the 2011 M/M Romance Challenge.

• An American Editor wonders if Amazon has too much power.

• Aw, a lamp for your nightstand that’s shaped like a little house and your book becomes the house’s roof when you’re done reading for the night. Not quite so cute if you’re reading an ebook. 🙂

Ebookity

• The state of ebooks at the end of 2010. Some ebook publishing predictions for 2011 from Smashwords. The Electronic Frontier Foundation reviews its predictions from the beginning of 2010.

• Ebook readers are putting classics on best-selling (free) ebook lists.

• How to use your new ebook reader or iPad.  Helpful tips for new Kindle owners.

• How to do more with your Kindle.

• Make your own inexpensive iPad or ebook reader stand.

Think, Do, Learn, Make

• Gluten-free cookie recipes.

• Amazing bee facts! (Thanks, Jase!)

• Build a magnet-free compass from Legos.

• Two no-sew techniques for inserting a zipper into knitwear.

• Dealing with the compulsively neat person in your life.

• Turn the Christmas cards you received this year into Christmas postcards you can send next year.

• Some ideas for keeping the holiday spirit alive throughout the year.

• If you got a new gadget for Christmas, check out Gizmodo’s handy setup guides.

• You might be able to get rid of your texting plan by using one of these eight applications.

• Why one Gizmodo writer ditched iTunes for mp3s from Amazon.

• Idling your car for longer than 30 seconds isn’t a good thing.

• Are gift cards good gifts? Some tips on how not to waste gift cards.

• An infographic on the personal economics behind holiday gift giving.

• Is it better to “self insure” your pets than to buy pet insurance?

• Even if you know you’re getting a placebo, it can still work.

• Ack! The Nintendo 3DS can actually mess up kids’ eyes! 🙁

Best Of

• Craft 2010: Knitting & Crochet

• Craft 2010: Geek Crafts

• Doctor Who crafting

Belated Gift Idea

• Recreate your classic family photos.

Cool

• Fallingwater… in gingerbread.

• A rainbow making machine.

• A coffee table that splits in half to reveal storage.

• Amazing photo of running horses.

• Twenty hours of blizzard compressed into 38 seconds.

• Turn your crappy old kitchen cupboards into chalkboards.

• A Clockwork Orange Chucks!

• Nothing says geek quite like percentile dice hanging from your rearview mirror…

• Cheryl continues to outfit her Barbies in high style. (The kitty is my favorite addition to Barbieland!)

• If you’re having trouble coming up with New Year’s resolutions, this handy generator might help. (via Paperback Writer)

Huh

• 2010’s silliest sales taxes.

• Um. If it’s cold enough that you’re using the Nose Dialer instead of taking off your gloves to dial the phone, you’re probably going to get snot all over your phone…

• Male/female plug rings (not as dirty as you’re thinking)…

• CDs that look like lunch meat…

• Panther paw/claw boots…

• Pink “shoehawk” heels…

LOL

• The secret beind bad GPS directions.

• Pets and the Christmas tree…

• Poor Ceiling Cat!

• Woe the unladen swallow!

Teh Cute

• Kitties! Baby bun! Baby cougars! Kitten! Squirrels! Tiger cub! Bunny! Charlene Butterbean! Kitten! Cheetah! Kittens! Baby reindeer! Baby penguins! Kitten! Baby chinchilla!

Reading Update
Ummm… So I’ve been on vacation since last Friday and have gotten rather a lot of reading done… and I read a lot of shorts. Don’t freak. 🙂

Life Changes Everything (Life, Book 2) by T.C. Blue. ebook. Very good m/m romance mostly about Ben from Life or Something Scary Like That as he goes on with, well, life after the events of that book. This book does a nice job tying up the loose ends, even if I was kind of cranky about one of them while it was in process.
Sno Ho by Ethan Day. ebook. Reread. Very good m/m romance about a guy staying at a ski resort whose boyfriend was supposed to join him there, but instead dumped him over the phone. Funny, yet touching.
Life in Fusion (Sno Ho, Book 2) by Ethan Day. ebook. Very good m/m romance that picks up exactly where the first book left off and continues the story of Boone and Wade during the six months Boone said needed to pass before he would move in with Wade. And like the first book, this manages to be both funny and touching.
Big Balls and Trouble by Sarah Black. ebook short. Good short m/m romance about a pro football player who’s in Boise for the summer and ready to admit that he’s always loved the childhood friend he hasn’t seen for years. I found this story frustrating because it was so short – it felt more like a fragment from a longer story than something that could stand on its own.
Tooth and Nail (His Hearth, Book 2) by Mary Calmes. ebook. Very good paranormal m/m romance about a big, tough warder who takes too many chances because, according to the other warders, he doesn’t have a hearth (i.e., a mate). And then he rescues an angel…
Just One Bite (Volume 1) by Scarlett Blackwell, J.L. Merrow, Josephine Myles, Erik Orrantia, Nix Winter, & Stevie Woods. free ebook collection. Scarlett Blackwell: Very good, want more! Vampire. :: J.L. Merrow: Very good. Stone circle. :: Josephine Myles: Very good. Genie. :: Erik Orrantia: Pretty good. Mayan. :: Nix Winter: Ok. Fantasy. :: Stevie Woods: Pretty good. Vampire.
Delany’s Catch by Diana DeRicci. ebook short. Pretty good short paranormal m/m romance about a wolf shifter who walks into a bookstore to ask for directions and realizes that the proprietor is his mate.
Same Time Next Year by Eden Winters. ebook short. I’m not usually a fan of ghost stories, but this one, about a guy whose true love died when they were in college, worked pretty well, although I found it to be very sad.
Vanilla: The Dominant Ingredient by Andy Slayde & Ali Wilde. ebook. Very good m/m romance about a sub-for-hire, escaped from a bad situation, who is desperately trying to convince the man he’s staying with while he sorts out his life that he’d be the perfect sub. I want to read more about these characters!
Commanding Acquisitions (1-800-DOM-HELP, Book 2) by Christine d’Abo. ebook. Good kinky m/m romance about a dom, struggling not to lose his bookstore, who’s also lonely and needing something more than just casual encounters. He finds the mysterious 1-800-DOM-HELP business card in his office…
Floggers’ Holiday Sale by Stormy Glenn & H.C. Brown. ebook. Meh two-story kinky m/m holiday romance collection. The two stories were supposed to be about two different doms, each of whom purchased a sub at the Floggers’ (bdsm club) holiday auction, but things weren’t consistent between the two stories: in one, the dom’s not allowed to take possession of the sub until they both negotiate contracts; in the other, the club owner sends the virginal sub with the notoriously brutal dom and just tells the dom to bring the sub back to the club at the end of the week. Editing was consistently horrible across both stories, although perhaps a bit worse in the Stormy Glenn story – for the first part, “dominate” was substituted for “dominant” and “dominant” was substituted for “dominate”…
Hang a Shining Star by Ashlyn Kane. ebook short. Very good m/m holiday romance about a high school teacher who runs into a former student working at a Christmas tree lot and, discovering that the former student has no one to spend the holiday with, impulsively invites him over. My only complaint with this one was that the main characters were named Evan and Eric – I kept getting the names mixed up, as did the editor/proofer at least once! 🙂
Snow and Mistletoe by T.C. Blue. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about a guy with a really bad self-image who hasn’t had any luck finding journalism work. He starts finding mysterious presents outside his apartment door – he’s sure they’re from his friends, trying to cheer him up, because no way could he have a secret admirer…
Christmas with Danny Fit by Amy Lane. ebook. Very good m/m holiday romance about a guy who’s still living with his mother at 30, not really living his life, until his burgeoning friendship with his sexy assistant at work inspires him to start making changes.
You Can’t Choose Your Family by Zahra Owens. ebook. Very good holiday m/m romance about a couple who’s been together for 20 years. One guy’s family is fabulously accepting; the other’s was controlled by his fire and brimstone father. Now that his father is dead, will anything change?
Christmas Bells by Andi Deacon. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about an assistant professor, staying at his parents’ house for Christmas, whose brother brings home a very attractive friend from grad school who doesn’t have anywhere to go for the holidays.
Silver Thaw by Nora Catherine Price. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about next door neighbors who get the chance to know each other a bit better because of an ice storm.
Sharing Christmas by Shae Connor. ebook short. Steamy short m/m holiday romance about a guy, recently moved to Atlanta for work, whose next door neighbor invites him over to help put together packages for the homeless shelter.
The Santa Mug by Patric Michael. ebook. Very good m/m holiday romance about a guy whose boyfriend died four years ago and who’s basically retreated from the world since then, until a friend drags him along to a family Thanksgiving celebration.
A Very D Christmas by Jane Seville. ebook short. Very good short m/m holiday romance about D and Jack from Zero at the Bone, reconnecting with family, and being a bullied teenager. (Through 1/31/2011, a portion of the purchase price will be donated to the Trevor Project.)
The Christmas Visit by Marshall Thornton. ebook short. Good short m/m holiday romance about a guy returning to the small town he grew up in to see his dad at Christmas. He keeps running into the deputy who he’d had a crush on and who is now married…
Secret Santa by Deanna Wadsworth. ebook short. Steamy short m/m holiday romance about a guy waiting naked, blindfolded, and wrapped up with a bow as a present for his boyfriend, hoping to revitalize their fading relationship.
Well-Hung by the Chimney by E.M. Lynley, Ryan Field, & Chloe Stowe. ebook. Pretty good m/m holiday romance collection. I really liked EM Lynley’s story about the difficulties involved in mixing business with pleasure. Ryan Field’s story about a couple dealing with career changes and meeting family was ok. I found Chloe Stowe’s story about an Air Force colonel and a doctor at the Air Force base to be sort of confusing. I might’ve enjoyed Field and Stowe’s stories more had I realized they were about characters from a previous collection and read it first.
A Little Something for Santa by J.M. Snyder. ebook short. Ok short m/m holiday encounter about a guy waiting tables at an all-night diner who confesses to the cook that he has the hots for Santa.
A Christmas Eve Wish by Nicole Dennis. ebook short. So-so m/m holiday romance about a celebrity chef, planning to escape to his mountain cabin for a few days, who gets caught in a blizzard and discovers his cabin is trashed. This one didn’t work for me because of instalove and awkward writing.
All I Want for Christmas by Aeryn Traxx. ebook short. So-so short holiday m/m romance about a guy dreading his friends’ holiday party because his cheating ex will be there.
It’s a Calling by Mara Ismine. ebook short. Ok short paranormal m/m romance that I actually read in October, but I somehow managed to not write down the dates I read it or what I thought about it beyond “Huh.”
My Life in Your Hands by A.R. Moler. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about an ER doctor and an undercover detective who get together.
Eyes Wide Shut by Meredith Shayne. ebook short. Very good short m/m romance about a doctor and a miner who care deeply for each other, but that’s not enough, because the miner doesn’t want anyone to know they’re together. Part of this takes place in Perth!
Of Sound Mind by Elizabeth Brooks. ebook short. Good short futuristic m/m romance about a guy who has cancer and doesn’t want to telepathically bond with his destined mate because if he dies, his mate would die with him.

This is definitely a picture you need to click on to embiggen. 🙂

“Have a Happy New Year. Or else.” -Chaos