Favorite Cover: Yellow Moon by Ginger Simpson

Juliet Waldron asked for this to be posted for her.

My favorite cover by Michelle Lee is that of "Yellow Moon" by Ginger Simpson. Here is the scene and the setting and beautiful Indian maiden whose story we'll definitely want to read. It's period correct and yet mysterious and beautiful, too.

I'm jealous of this cover.

It was a tough pick, tough, and "The Barbers" by Katherine Pym and Kathy Fischer-Brown's "The Partisan's Wife" would be my runners-up!

    

Jude Pittman's Favorite Covers

My favorite covers are twofold, one that everyone might not have seen yet, is Ron Crouch’s The Weatherman  and the other my all-time favorite is Witch Resurrected. 

 

The Weatherman cover absolutely speaks the story. This guy’s deadly. He’s also Native American and not “old time” this is a contemporary hard edge thriller. Coming Soon!

 

 

And Witch Resurrected. What’s there to say. This is fun and magic, sexy and dangerous.  Wow, witches, black cats, and a sexy hunk with a big gun, this is going to be a rollicking good read – and it delivers as promised.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NSY9NZ8

Jude Pittman

http://bookswelove.net/authors/jude-pittman/#

 

Favorite Covers by Michelle Lee

Jamie Hill's two cents:

BWL's Art Director has asked us to share our favorite cover and why. I had a horrible time narrowing it down to two. In fact, I could easily choose one favorite for each BWL author! But since we're supposed to choose one, I took the liberty of choosing two.

Heart Throb by Janet Lane Walters

Cover by Michelle Lee

http://amzn.com/B0057AGQ4W

Without reading the blurb, this cover gives you a good idea what this story is about. Romance, with a medical twist. I love the graphics Michelle has weaved through the text including the the heart between the words Heart and Throb. To me, this is a beautiful, sexy romance cover.

Jack Shadow by Graeme Smith

Cover by Michelle Lee

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00904HKQE/

This is a quirky mystery story and again, without reading a blurb you can tell that from this cover. I love the man, the rain, the font choices and of course the tagline. Now go read the blurb. It'll definitely make you want to read the book!

I could go on and on about my favorite BWL covers but there are simply too many to choose from. My own included! But don't take my word for it...check it out!

Jamie Hill

http://bookswelove.net/authors/jamie-hill/#

Favorite Covers Challenge

To start off the new year, I decided to do something a little different with my post - I issued a challenge to the BWL authors.  The rules are really very simple - and I am looking forward to seeing the results.

1. Authors are to post a BWL cover that is one of their favorites that is NOT THEIR OWN.  Obviously, they have their favorites among their own covers - but I am curious what they like about some of the other covers.

2. All of the posts today should be labeled as follows - Favorite Cover: book title by author

3. I instructed them to tell us what they like about the cover.  Be creative and descriptive.  "I like it because it is pretty" isn't enough. :)

4. And finally because I don't want repeats - if someone posts their favorite cover before they get a chance to - they are supposed to just respond in the comments section what they like about it.

Now, because turn about it fair play - at the end of the day, I will post five of my favorites and why.

Let the games begin ...

Here comes the bride - wait, what???

By Michelle Lee

BWL Art Director

Finding images can be somewhat of a challenge - especially for historical fiction.  The costumes are just so expensive, and each time period had such drastically different clothing styles.  Plus there were different styles within each time period depending upon where in the world the story is set.

Yeah, historical fiction can be a challenge to create cover art for.

So I was tickled when I came across a suggestion for a simple and easy way around it (in some cases at least).  You ready for it?

BRIDES!

That's right, most bridal gowns are poofy and have those small beading details that just add so much depth to the image.  And they really are very versatile in what you can use them for - plus the women generally have intricate hair styles, which also adds to the appeal of the images.

Now I am not saying that will work for all historical fiction (it will work best with romances), but it does offer some more options.  Like I mentioned in a previous post, not all details are going to be time period exact.  So sometimes you have to overlook the fact that some details won't be perfect ... and look at the cover and evaluate the images as a whole.  

Now for an example of how a wedding gown can be used ...

When the dress is white, it is very obviously a wedding gown.  But how I have modified it to dark blue?  It has the look of a ball gown ... and with that hair-do, she could easily fit in several different time periods.

Thoughts?

* * *

If you are interested in other rambling about cover art by Michelle Lee, check out the following Inside BWL Blog Posts:
Alas Poor Images, I Cannot Find You
Fonts, Fonts, and More Fonts

and other Behind The Cover Art posts ...

* * *

Michelle Lee is a self-taught cover artist who has an opinion on pretty much everything, and a love of the natural world that often means tidbits and trivia are shared on a whim.  You can check out her portfolio at: Stardust Creations

Two Sides to the Cover

By Michelle Lee

BWL Art Director

On the one hand ...

As a fiction writer, you probably already know that research is vitally important.  For example, if you are focusing on a specific time period, you want to use historically accurate words.  Your characters need to feel, to the reader, like they are coming alive - and are authentic.

You polish your work, pouring all of your love and attention and determination into it, and almost grudgingly hand it over to a publisher.  And then the fun begins.

You get a cover concept back - and *gasp* the clothing isn't exactly right.  The waist of the dress is too high, the sleeves not poofy enough, or even worse, the dress isn't flaring enough at the bottom to be a ball gown.

All that research - and for what?

* * *

The other side of the story ...

A cover art form comes in, and after looking it over, the task seems almost impossible.  Finding a couple, wearing the exact clothing in the exact colors, with the perfect hair and eye color, and without modern looking manicures on the woman.

How on earth are you going to come up with a cover that perfectly encompasses all of those details, with stock art.   Especially considering you are not a historical scholar.

The answer is - you aren't.  Which means you are going to disappoint the author in some way (even if it is only a small detail).  And that is a very hard thing to accept on a day to day basis - but it is the reality of the job.

* * *

As an author, I know how important cover art is in not only branding your books, but also giving hints (at a quick glance) of what the story is all about.  I know how frustrating it can be trying to get your vision for the cover across in a two-page form.  I know the agony of waiting for the cover art to come in.  And I know the frustration when details are slightly off.

As a cover artist, I am very familiar with the hours that can be spent (and quite often just wasted) trying to find the perfect image for a cover.  Sometimes the angle is off and it won't merge well with the background, or the model has a very obvious french manicure, yet is posing in Renaissance clothing.  You want to create something both you, and the author, can be proud of ... and yet ... the images just won't cooperate.

* * *

I guess what I am trying to explain with all of this is ... the cover artist-author relationship is a lot like any other relationship.  There has to be some compromise to it.  A lot of understanding.  And the product of the relationship - the cover art - might be slightly flawed by not being perfectly accurate but it is a reflection of both the artists efforts to provide a reflection of the author's hard work and the author's work itself.  So before you get frustrated at the details, take a step back and look at the overall picture.

And ask yourself these simple questions:

* does it overall reflect the tone or feel of the story?
* is is quality and something you would be proud to have showcasing your hard work?
* is is obvious that the artist tried to meet your needs?
* will this cover help your book sell? (and will reader feel it is an accurate - within reason - reflection of the story)

If your answer is no to any of these questions, then you should feel the right to request some serious revisions to the cover, or a complete start over.

But if you answered yes to them all ... ask yourself this ... does that one little inconsistency, that one historically inaccurate detail detract from the overall cover, and is it realistically likely that a better image will be found?

* * *

If you are interested in other rambling about cover art by Michelle Lee, check out the following Inside BWL Blog Posts:
Alas Poor Images, I Cannot Find You
Fonts, Fonts, and More Fonts

and other Behind The Cover Art posts ...

* * *

Michelle Lee is a self-taught cover artist who has an opinion on pretty much everything, and a love of the natural world that often means tidbits and trivia are shared on a whim.  You can check out her portfolio at: Stardust Creations

Just who is Michelle Lee ...

As I mentioned in my first post about myself, (found HERE) I am a big geek and am working on my master's degree in biology.  I have also alluded in past posts about my start in the whole writing world with the erotica genre.  So to anyone who knows this about me, it should come as no surprise that when I am required to give presentations in class, and I am given a fairly free reign, my comfort zone is within a realm that is embarrassing to many others.  Which works for me, since I am a lot calmer during presentations if I am shocking the audience.  See, what many people don't know is ... lean closer ... I'm shy.  I know!  Right?  Me?  Shy?

Truly I am.  So I get really nervous when I have to present - but if I can make the audience also uncomfortable, then I actually feel less nervous.  Which leads to some, well, interesting presentations.

Case in point ... during one class, we were asked to do a presentation on the topic of Species Extinction.  Now most of my classmates picked species we will be sad to see go, which for someone who cares as much as we all do, was a fairly morose and sad class period.

To lighten things up, and because I am shy as heck and hate presenting, I picked something a little bit different.  I picked a species we would be thrilled to see go extinct.

Now, I will warn you in advance, there is a LOT of delicately put language as I attempt to take a very off-color presentation and make it general audience friendly.

So, I started off talking about how this is what we typically think of when we talk about habitat destruction and fragmentation.

This is another view of habitat destruction and the results.

Then I told them that today I wasn't going to be talking about that - about the bad habitat loss, and the evils of man caused species extinction.  Not because it isn't a serious concern, because it is.  There are so many species I could have picked, and just thinking about it is enough to make me cry.  So to get through presenting, which I hate, especially without crying, I needed to do something different.

Rather, I was going to be talking about ...

Well, to put it delicately - a habitat loss caused by hygienic attention to intimate body parts.  Although for them I had a nice, um, image.

(Pausing a moment for the laughter to die down)

After everyone got back into their seats, because some people fell out of them, we had to wait for one poor guy to have the picture I used explained to him. Since it was of a house cat with its hair removed.  Nuff said. 

:-)

Then I really started into my presentation.

The Background: Habitat Destruction

The Brazilian wax Brought to the U.S. by 7 Brazilian sisters: 

Jonice, Jocely, Janea, Joyce, Juracy, Jussara and Judeseia Padilha

Growing up in the Brazilian coastal city of Vitoria, the sisters, like other women there, routinely waxed hair from intimate areas to accommodate the ever shrinking bikinis worn on the beach.

The JSisters Salon is about a block from New York’s famous Fifth Avenue shopping strip.  The Salon opened in 1986.  In 1994 they introduced the Brazilian waxing technique.

After this, I showed a diagram of what a brazilian wax involves.  Um, I will spare you that very vivid imagery.

Regulars return approximately every four weeks, and pay $75 for a Brazilian Bikini Wax. 

Treatments range from complete hair removal to custom designs.

(Next I showed diagrams of different styles of grooming that were possible)

 Men are also getting Brazilian waxes. Some go for complete hair removal, and some also for designs.

(Had to throw in the eye candy there.)

(again I showed the possible grooming options)

Then I got into the details of it all, just why waxing is "bad".

Short and Simple: Habitat loss

WARNING: Science content ahead!

Lice of the intimate body region (Phthirus pubis) infest about 2-10% of the human population

A female louse needs to mate only once to remain fertile throughout her lifetime, and can lay eggs every day.  Think about that - it's terrifying!

Plus they are ugly little creatures.

Of course, I had to bring the science into it, and discuss lice eradication treatments.

Lice of the intimate region were usually treated with topical insecticides, Rid, Nix, and Malathione lotion.

Best treated with prescription wash containing permethrin.

From there, I moved on to the stats ...

Just How Wide-spread Is The Habitat Loss?

Greater than 80% of U.S. college students remove all or some of their, um, intimate hair.

A majority of men and woman in Australia remove all of part of their intimate hair.

In the U.K., 99% of women remove some hair, generally on their legs, pelvic area, and underarms.

The trend of the Brazilian wax (and other hair removal processes) is an alternative to pesticides in stemming one of the planet’s most contagious STDs.

Clipping, waxing, and shaving the pelvic region destroy the optimal habitat of this particular species of lice.

Intimate area "grooming has led to a severe depletion of crab louse populations.  Add to that other aspects of body hair depilation, and you can see an environmental disaster in the making for this species” says Ian Burgess, medical entomologist with Insect Research and Development Ltd.

Although the WHO doesn't have records on this species of louse, because it doesn't transmit disease, some records are kept by health care workers dealing with STDs.

2003 Study: In Australia at least 1/3 of people experience an infestation at some pt, in their life.  Since 2008 – Sydney’s main sexual health clinic hasn't seen a woman with lice of the pelvic region, and male cases have fallen 80%.

Ten years ago in the U.K. doctors started noticing a dwindling rate in cases of these lice, even as prevalence rates of other STDs increased.  

CDC has no stats for U.S. on this species of lice, because it isn't a disease causing agent.

Although this species of louse isn't a current threat, there is potential for new outbreak emergence, especially with its increasing resistance to pesticides.  Its cousin, Pediculus humanus humanus (body louse) is a vector of disease.  

"In the case of pubic lice, habitat destruction is a good thing” says Richard Russell, director of medical entomology at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital. 

Then I went to my sources slide:

Pubic Lice (Pthirus pubis): History, Biology and Treatment vs. Knowledge and Beliefs of US College Students.  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Vol. 2, pgs 592–600. 

Brazilian Bikini Waxes Make Crab Lice Endangered Species, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-13/brazilian-bikini-waxes-make-crab-lice-endangered-species-health.html

And, I ended on a comic slide, something I learned from one of my professors that I now always do.

S

So, aren't you glad you're not going to school with me?  My classmates both love - and hate - when I have to present.

I also did a talk on 50 Shades of Animal Sex: Kinky, Painful and Deadly Sexual Practices in the Animal Kingdom and another talk on The Technology of Orgasm: Hysteria and the Origin of the Vibrator.

If you're interested in seeing one of these as a future post, let me know.

As for anyone interested in my covers ... check out Stardust Creation  Come on, geek - so of course I had to go geeky with my website name. :)

He's Sexy and you know it!

By Michelle Lee

BWL Art Director

This post is primarily for romance authors, readers, and those that love them.

We all know there are trends in romances.  Tropes many people call them.

Amnesia.

     One-night stand baby.

          In love with the boss.

               Cowboys.

                    Vampires.

                         Werewolves.

A vampire who has a baby with her werewolf boss, who is also a cowboy, and then he develops amnesia right after telling her he loves her too, so she has to make him fall in love with her again, while together they fight off the bad werewolf female who wants the hero for herself.

Ok, so that last one I might have been making up - but you watch, now that it is out there in the blog-o-sphere, someone somewhere will write it.  So long as I get creative credit, I'm okay with it.

Anyways, we all know there are trends.  Just like in the storylines, there are also trends with cover art, specifically cover models.

For example, anyone remember this guy?

If you read romances in the '80 and early '90 you should.  That's right - that's FABIO.

(want a blast from the past - check out this post of his 'Top 40 Covers')

Fabio was on more than 400 romance novel covers.  And that was a big deal at the time.

Now, let's fast forward to today.  And we have JIMMY THOMAS.  He is an even hotter commodity than Fabio was in his day.  At one point a year or so ago, Mr. Thomas mentioned he had been on something like a 1000 book covers, and since then he has become even more prolific.  Current stats put him at 6000 covers.

Think about that - 6000 covers!  Holy moly!

But then again, looking at him, I can certainly see why he is so prolific.

      

(Images (c) Jimmy Thomas) - I just LOVE that second picture.

Part of Mr. Thomas' appeal is his tall, dark good looks, as well as his versatility ... but also his support for the romance community.  He started up a romance stock image site.  He started a cover art convention (which welcomes big named authors as well as those just starting out) and occurred for this year just a couple days ago.  He started a newtworking site just for the romance community - readers, publishers, cover artists, authors, etc.  From everything I have heard about him, he is open, personable, and generally a nice guy.  I have hopes to eventually make it out to his cover art convention myself, and maybe get a first hand account.

So what covers from BWL can we find the prolific Jimmy Thomas on?

Alas poor images, I cannot find you!

By Michelle Lee

BWL Art Director

So how many of you, when trying to visualize the ways you want a cover to look, quickly get frustrated trying to find images?

(Waiting a moment as people start jumping up and down, madly waving their arms, screaming ME!  That's ME she's talking about).

I should have mentioned, make sure not to scare your pets with your answer.

(Waiting longer while poor Fluffy and Fido are coaxed out from behind the fridge and Tweets snagged off of the curtain rod in the shower; don't worry - Slither will come out of the sewer somewhere in the neighborhood - so just wait for screams to clue you in to his location.).

As you can imagine, many authors find themselves in the same ... exact ... boat when it comes to finding images.

So here are some tricks to image searches (from my own personal frustrated experiences).

* First off ... do some sample searches and see what comes up.  Go to images sites like 123rf.com and use their search function and search for random things, so that you can familiarize yourself with the site.  Like any skill, practice is going to work to your advantage.

* Don't get discouraged; sometimes cover artists have problems finding images.

* All too often, when it comes to something like finding the perfect image authors have to come to terms with the fact that they don't exist.  Going to wait a moment, and let that sink in.  The perfect images do not and will not ever exist.  We work with what is available, and within the bounds of what models are willing to pose for certain genres of images.  So sometimes, close-enough is what we work with.

* Now, if you're not finding images, not because of looking for the perfect one, but rather because nothing is showing up as a result of your search, just try new terms, and things that are close.  For example, I have found Regency era styled images by search for Medieval and Renaissance.  The terms Baroque, Vintage, etc also have worked when trying to find historical images.  So expand a little with the search terms.

* Generally one and two word searches work best.  This is by far the best advise I can possibly give.  ONE or TWO word searches.  For example: "Sexy Couple" is going to yield much better results that "Couple Sexy Embrace Bed Red Silk Lingerie Lace England Castle Curtains Blond Man Redhead Woman".  Yes, there will be more images to look through, but you are more likely to find what you need.  Many photographers put really good search terms to their images, but that can't think of everything.  So simple is going to yield better results.

* Also, keep in mind if Sexy Couple didn't work, maybe Attractive Couple, Nude Couple, Lingerie Couple, Embracing Couple, Couple Kiss, Couple Love, etc might yield better results so try alternative search terms.

* If I find a search term set that yields great results, and I know I might need to use it again, I will save the terms in a word doc.  I put what I am trying to find, and what terms I ended up using.

* * *

Now, I know that many authors feel they are not a good judge of images, and what would make a cover.  And that is fine.  That is the role of the cover artist.  But cover artists are not fluent in all fields.  So some genres are more difficult for an artist to find images for without author suggestions.  To that end - consider finding images that fit your characters, and suggest them.  Keep in mind however, the cover artist might not use them.  Because some images lend themselves to covers better than others, the cover artist and publisher is always going to reserve the right to opt for a different image.  But by suggesting possible images, you are more likely to get something closer to what you want than not.

For example, I am a biologist by training.  Specifically an ecologist.  So, someone saying to me 'I want a nice snowy owl on the fore-cover, and a timber wolf in the background, with a couple in between'.  As a result, I am able to fit those requirements without much effort, because I am familiar with both, and if not - I have easy access to field guides that will make me familiar with them.

But saying to me, 'This is set in Edwardian England, and I want the hero to have period clothing, and the background needs to be a period house, and so on', um I am going to space out at Edwardian, and my eyes will be completely glazed over by hero ...  So for that cover, I am so going to need every suggestion I can get.

So keep in mind that cover artists are not fluent in all fields, and thus not fluent in all genres terms and specifics.  We do the best we can, with what resources we have available - so make sure YOU are one of those resources.

* * *

Oh and one last, tiny little suggestion.  As you are searching, if you come across an image that screams at you - but for a book you aren't working on filling out the information for - SAVE THE URL, image number and site, whatever!!!! 

Either create a word document that you put all of them into, with the Genre/WIP Title etc with them, or bookmark them, something.  

So many times, authors lament that they had found the perfect image, but forgot to save it since they were looking for a different book's suggestions.  So don't let that be you.  Find some way to keep track of the images that stand out to you - because you never know when you will need to find it again.

Did you know ...

By Michelle Lee

BWL Art Direct and Resident Bio-Geek

Following up my summer reading list, I wanted to take a moment and share some fun biological facts with you.  Some are interesting, some kinda gross, and a few are in the category of what the heck?  You have been warned.

Those that are on the BWL Facebook Group might have seen a couple of these already ...

There are going to be a lot of links provided in this post to fact based sites.  To make reading the post the most enjoyable, stop and click the links where provided.

* * *

Fun Fact 1: You know that long 'kee-eeeee-arr' sound that a Bald Eagle's make in commercials?

Like this one ...

That sound that has become an almost iconic Bald Eagle sound ... isn't actually an Eagle.  Bald Eagles have a weaker, whistling or thrilling call.

So if it isn't a Bald Eagle, just what are you hearing?  It's a hawk of some kind, normally a Red-tailed Hawk.

* * *

Fun Fact 2: The chemistry of fireworks

What makes fireworks so breathtaking is the various different colors they come in.  What makes those color possible is the different color certain elements produce.

"Sodium produces yellow/gold colors. Barium creates green, copper compounds produce blue, strontium salts give you red and titanium metals give you silver colored sparks.

Other commonly used chemicals are carbon which provides the fuel, oxidizers which produce oxygen for burning, magnesium which increases the overall brilliance and brightness, antimony that gives you a "glitter" effect and calcium which deepens the colors." ~ Science Is Awesome

For more information on the colors and what element they are created from check out:

How Do Professionals Make the Colors in Fireworks

The Chemistry of Fireworks

* * *

Fun Fact 3: Lobsters

BLUE LOBSTERS 

That's right, the lobsters that we consider a food of the rich (which used to be considered trash food, or food for the poor, and there were laws about how often someone could feed them to their servants - little tid-bit for you history buffs) have a 1 in 2 million chance of a mutation that gives them blue pigmentation. 

It is a mutation that causes an overly large amount of a specific protein that combines with the red carotenoid molecule, turning the lobster blue.

for information on Toby, a blue lobster that found a home at the National Aquarium in Washington DC.

Other color variation are:

Orange at 1 in 10 million odds

Yellow at 1 in 30 million odds

Orange and Black calico at 1 in 30 million

Split color varieties at 1 in 50 million 

White at 1 in 100 million odds

Info about the process by which lobsters get their color.

For you history buffs, check out the history of the Lobster 

For more information on the biology of a lobster

As if that wasn't enough to blow your mind about lobsters, how about this?

TWO-TONED LOBSTERS

It is believed that this occurs when the egg is first fertilized.  Often times, the lobster will show characteristics of both genders.

It's believed that odds of a lobster being two-toned are about 1 in 50 million, maybe even 1 in 100 million.

Links for more info:

Nat Geo: Halloween Lobsters

NBC News: Two Toned Lobster

Lobster Dressed For Halloween

* * *

Fun Fact 4: Two-Gender Animals

As mentioned in the fact about the two-toned lobsters, some animals can show characteristics of both genders.  Now I am not talking true hermaphrodites.  I am looking at something else called Bilateral Gynomorphs - where an animal is literally half male and half female.

What is believed to happen is that two embryos, with unique DNA, fused together and developed as a single fetus, resulting in an individual with two sets of DNA in a single body; sometimes the two embryos are the same sex/gender, and other time ones is male and one is female - which is what results in such breathtaking color/morphological contrasts - such as these butterflies.

This phenomeon has been seen in animals such as the lobsters mentioned before, insects such as butterflies, and also in birds such as this cardinal.

* * *

Fun Fact 5:  Placobdelloides jaegerskioeldi

What the heck is that?  It's the elusive Hippo Leech.

There is actually a leech that is found in the last 10 cm of the rectum of hippos.  Yep, you read that right.  There is a butthole leech for hippos.  Ever wonder why they are in such a bad mood?  LOL  Well wonder no more.

While it is the dream of many field biologists to discover a new species, I am just not sure I could enjoy that claim to fame.

Parasite of the Day: Hippo leech

Hippo Leech Revisited

* * *

If you enjoyed this post, stay tuned for more bio fun facts to come.

Just who is Michelle Lee ...

It has been suggested to me that you might like to know a little bit more about me.  I am not sure that I agree, since I am a fairly boring person.  I am a true introvert, with a healthy dose of shy added on just for good measure.  But in a series of posts over the next little while, I am going to attempt to give you a glimpse of BWL's OZ, the woman behind the cover art curtain.

So, why do a say I am fairly boring?  Well, to give you a hint, my idea of a good time is reading scientific journal articles and books.  Now don't get me wrong, I like reading fiction books.  Love them in fact.  I am a voracious reader, and can put down 3-10 fiction books in a week, depending upon what I have going on in my life.

But I am also a bit of a geek.  Ok, so remove 'bit' and sub in 'enormous' and you have a better reflection of me.  So really, it should come as no surprise then that I have a few summer reading books that aren't fiction.

To put things into perspective for you, I am currently working on my Masters in Biology, with a focus on ecology and bird survival rates.  My undergrad is in Biology Education.  My favorite animal group are birds (Class Aves).

So now that you have some background about geeky me, you'll understand a little bit more when I share my summer reading list.

(If you have an interest in any of these books, the covers link to the books on Amazon where you can find more details out about them).

Ready?

I plan to start with TAKING WING, which examines the evolution of bird flight.  So from the first "known" bird ancestor to modern day.

But you can't look at flight itself without also considering one of the most important aspects that allows it - the FEATHER.

So next on my list is a fascinating look at FEATHERS.

After that, I am going to take a step back and look THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF BIRDS.

After that, it is a toss up.  I will probably read both of the following books at the same time, since one is more of a birder guide companion and the other is a textbook.

If I still have time, I plan to then get into a specific set of bird, my absolute favorite - OWLS.

In addition to OWLS OF THE WORLD, I also have several other owl books focusing on specific regions of North America.  But I figure that is about all I will get to this summer.  Ah well - there is always next year.

Now, if you like birds and have an interest in my suggestions for the best reading for an Amateur/Beginner Birders, just let me know in the comments.