Brad Pitt on a horse, win a book, have genuine input into the title of another book, and some Mortal Instruments.

What's in a title?
In the case of the title of this post, the answer's easy.
Too much.
But title's can fail in all sorts of ways. Don't judge a book by it's cover. Absolutely. That's right. But its title? Judging a book by it's title is one of the things you're supposed to do.
The Mortal Instruments series are my current favourite YA books, amazing characters, plotting, imagination.
Rubbish titles. 'City of Ashes,' 'City of Glass.'
Yawn.
'City of Fallen Angels' is the best, but it's not actually true, so that's hardly fair.
'The Iron King.' Similar.
There's definitely something about books in a series having vanilla titles. I guess it's difficult to be both striking, and fit into a theme, but I'm going to give it a shot. After 'Song to Wake to' and 'Rock Anthem' the third levels book will have a title that's got something to do with lullabies. I've got two options.

'Lullaby of Lies'
or
'Lullaby for a Sleeping Lion.'

Please tell me what you think. I'd be really grateful for any input. Use the comments section to tell us which title you prefer, and if you like, tell us your favourite book title. I'm going to start off with 'Legends of the Fall.' Not the film, the book by Jim Harrison, which is brilliant. The film is overblown and histrionic, but if you advance the clip at the top of the page to minute 3:00 you'll find its winning scene. This is how all men should ideally arrive, preceded by a vanguard of galloping horses. It's an Eddy Moon moment.
I look forward to getting your input. One of the comments will win a FREE copy of Rock Anthem...

Congratulations, you're a winner! As is Kelly Clarkson

So when I was a kid it was my firm ambition to have my moment on top of the podium at the Olympic games. I gave everything a try and I swear I would have been a decent runner if my legs actually had some muscle on them, instead of being like sticks of uncooked spaghetti. My legs were also an obstacle to my being a swimming champion. I couldn't get them to stay near the surface of the water, so I would labour through the pool in a kind of upside down 'L' shape.
Other sporting success was affected by a lack of hand eye co-ordination.
Or timing.
So then I thought maybe X factor? Something like that. However I sing like a cat in the rain.
In the end, I'm left with hoping that one day I may win a minor lottery prize. You, on the other hand, may have won a copy of Song to Wake to. Check your email.
And in a stunted, text version of a rubbish Oscar winning speech, thanks so much everybody who entered the blog hop competition! You couldn't have done it without me. Winning stuff is always cool, even if it's just a 99cent e-book. Okay it doesn't quite merit a podium, a medal or an anthem (though that would be nice). I doubt you feel much like Kelly Clarkson either, but in case you wanted to check, here's what winning moments can be like...


If you left your details, but haven't heard from me drop me a line, I had problems with some email addresses and you may have won. jdfield@jdfield.com

FREE books.

So here it is, the YA and Fantasy giveaway hop. I'm giving away TEN free e-book copies of Song to Wake to. In order to be entered in the draw for the book please like my Facebook page HERE (or alternatively share this post) and leave your name and contacts in the comments section below.
When you've done that check out the rest of the marvellous giveaways...

The Best Book I read in 2011

This recommendation is a tiny bit complicated, as its kind of not just for one book, but for three. The book I'm recommending is the last of a trilogy, and you really should read the first two. Interestingly I almost didn't get to the 2nd one. I think I downloaded it mainly cos I needed something to read, and I was going to be out of wifi range in a moment... Needless to say, I read it, liked it, got drawn along to the 3rd one...

I'm currently in the very early days of writing a long series of books, and so I have especial admiration for what the author of this one has done, really achieving a spectacular climax and answering a ton of questions.
What's the book?

City of Glass (Incidentally, full props to the guys who made this trailer, so imaginitive... )

I'm trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but apologies in advance if I give anything away, or tell you something I didn't think was obvious.

So in CoG the Mortal Instruments saga moves to Alicante - long time home of the Shadowhunters. And that makes a nice change. It's fantasy, without being too fantastic. I only have two quibbles, the first is with Venice-like canals, somehow halfway up a hill, the second is that though the setting is a massive confrontation between all the most important supernatural beings in the world, how come 99% of them are from New York? Including practically all the werewolves and vampires?

But that's picky. The Jace/Clary issues are resolved beautifully and Cassandra Clare plays her trump card - the revelation of the angels - with massive style. There's even a little hook left for us into another sequel - a good thing, considering hoe badly everybody wanted City of Fallen Anegls.
So there you have it, heroism, romance, drama, violence. Recommended to everyone.