Lips Touch by Laini Taylor
Three tales of supernatural love, each pivoting on a kiss that is no mere kiss, but an action with profound consequences for the kissers' souls.

Goblin Fruit: In Victorian times, goblin men had only to offer young girls sumptuous fruits to tempt them to sell their souls. But what does it take to tempt today's savvy girls?
Spicy Little Curses: A demon and the ambassador to Hell tussle over the soul of a beautiful English girl in India. Matters become complicated when she falls in love and decides to test her curse.
Hatchling: Six days before Esme's fourteenth birthday, her left eye turns from brown to blue. She little suspects what the change heralds, but her small safe life begins to unravel at once.

Download this month's bookmark.

National Book Award finalist YALSA Top Ten Books for Young Adults "Masterful, elegant work." - Publishers Weekly, starred review Publishers Weekly, Best Children's Books of 2009 CYBILS finalist Special thanks to Jim Di Bartolo, the illustrator of Lips Touch, for providing the artwork for this month's banner. Check it out!

Laini Taylor

Get posters, icons,
booklists, and more
at rgz downloads!

On the nightstand: Anna & the French Kiss (ARC) by Stephanie Perkins; Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman; two travel guidebooks to Tahiti, because *dream dream*

Favorite drink while you write: A "depth charge" -- large coffee plus espresso.

Favorite bookstores: The universe that is Powell's City of Books

Favorite library: Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon

Pets: Sadly, we lost our two long-time dog companions in the past three years (to old age) and are currently petless.

Place to write: The café where I wrote my new book closed its doors TODAY. Without warning. I'm out on the street! Need to audition new cafés soon.

Inspiration: All the weird stuff people have believed throughout history.

Dream book tour: By gypsy caravan with my favorite writers, stopping overnight in castles and haunted monasteries.

Writer buddies: Stephanie Perkins whose debut Anna & the French Kiss is out this fall (yay!) and my super-talented Portland writer friends: LK Madigan, Lisa Schroeder, Suzanne Young, Christine Fletcher, Bridget Zinn, and April Henry.

Cure for writer's block: Brainstorming and freewriting. Bowls of cereal at midnight. Cute new notebooks.

Favorite outfit: Polka dot waitress dress with platform shoes.

Laptop or longhand? Laptop. It's friendlier to my psychotic ceaseless revision tendencies.

Stilettos or Uggs? Platforms. I am doomed to stumble while being chased by zombies.

Author idol: Neil Gaiman, because he can and does do everything (beautifully, always)

Next up: I just finished my new book, Daughter of Smoke & Bone (fall '11). Now: the sequel!

Website: http://www.lainitaylor.com

Blog: http://growwings.blogspot.com

Roundtable: Melissa Walker, Lorie Ann Grover, Enna Isilee, and Little Willow discuss the book Lips Touch.

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

For Email Marketing you can trust

Special Projects

Download the rgz Teen Read Week 2010 Books With Beat poster!

rgz LIVE!

Discuss the book with the author herself. Join us at Twitter #rgz on Wednesday, October 20th at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST to chat live with Laini Taylor. The chat will last for one hour.

 

Body heART is, in their own words, "dedicated to bringing awareness to positive body image. In today's society there is an unrealistic standard of beauty and we intend to shatter that illusion...We believe all of us are walking works of ART that are meant to be celebrated and valued."

Body heART has a photo campaign which features un-retouched images of girls and women of all shapes and sizes. Click here to get involved!

Also check out their videos. Every month, they spotlight a different woman (such as Dollhouse actress Miracle Laurie) celebrating who she is and how she looks. Here's a video featuring a bunch of amazing women:

For more information, please visit bodyheart.org

The following tunes were hand-picked by the author to accompany her book.

Heartbeats by The Knife
Dear Darkness by PJ Harvey
Plants and Rags by PJ Harvey
Happy and Bleeding by PJ Harvey
Bloodstream by Stateless
E Minor by Other Lives
Euphoric Licks by Maribel
Hell, Fire, and Damnation by Jocelyn Pook
Mirror Image by the Horrors
Evil by The Flaming Lips
The Arrival and the Reunion by Dead Can Dance
Saltarello by Dead Can Dance
Ningal by Vas
Arc of Ascent by Vas

 

Discuss the following questions (and more!) with other readers at the readergirlz blog.

Did you have a favorite story of the three? Why that one?

In each of the stories, characters face consequences for desire. Can you give examples? Whose punishment is the most severe?

Do you believe that in real life, desire is punished? Or is this a contrivance of society to try to trick you into behaving?

If you had to live in one of the stories, which would it be? Why?

In each story the soul is a real, physical thing that can be stolen, restored, smashed to smithereens, cleansed by fire, and otherwise manhandled. Do you believe in the soul?

In Goblin Fruit, Kizzy can't see her own "weird species of beauty" for what it is. Do you think that as we get older, our concept of beauty changes?

In Goblin Fruit, Kizzy wants. Some readers are angry that she doesn't do the safe, "good" thing, but desire is very powerful, isn't it? Do you feel like you are equipped and grounded enough to make safe choices in the face of desire?

In Spicy Little Curses, James ponders Fate versus Chance. Which do you believe in?

In Spicy Little Curses, James considers the role that God plays in disasters, and not preventing them. How does religion deal with this issue? How do you deal with it?

In Hatchling, the girl-mothers supposedly left their babies behind. Do you think they would/could do that? What do you think happened to them?

In Hatchling, the gift of long life is also a curse. Would you want to live for hundreds of years if no one else around you could?

In Hatchling, the Druj have given up their humanity in exchange for other things. What is humanity? What is it that they've given up? What do you think is the nature of humanity?

 

Planning your own book group get-together? Here are some party ideas from the author.

Invite: Thick creamy paper, dark red ink, and of course: a lipstick kiss!

Décor: Cemetery chic; picnic blanket on the floor, candles, little etched glasses

Food: Fruit, very ripe; chocolate, very dark; tea, as it is served in Hell

Movies: The Fall (gorgeous, mythic, set all over the world - especially India); The Company of Wolves (1984 gothic fantasy-horror movie of Angela Carter's werewolf stories).

Game: You could play charades in honor of Anamique.

 

Recommended by postergirlz, the readergirlz advisory council

Prowlers quartet by Christopher Golden
- Prowlers
- Laws of Nature
- Predator and Prey
- Wild Things

The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater
- Shiver
- Linger
- The last volume, Forever, will be out in 2011

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
12 Reasons Why I Love Her by Joëlle Jones and Jamie S. Rich Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems about Love by Pat Mora
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Love & Friendship by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kimberly Kirberger

Join us at our blog to discuss upcoming weekly book features celebrating monthly themes! You never know what might be up next!