Starred Review in Publisher's Weekly!!!

Eek! Lips Touch has gotten a starred review in Publisher's Weekly, and it is an awesome starred review. It makes me purr.

Lips Touch: Three Times Laini Taylor, illus. by Jim Di Bartolo. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-545-05585-7
Taylor offers a powerful trio of tales, each founded upon the consequences of a kiss. She explores the potentially awkward conceit in three dramatically different fantasies, each featuring a young female protagonist out of place in the world she inhabits: contemporary Kizzy, who so yearns to be a normal, popular teenager that she forgets the rules of her Old Country upbringing and is seduced by a goblin in disguise; Anamique, living in British colonial India, silenced forever due to a spell cast upon her at birth; and Esmé, who at 14 discovers she is host to another—nonhuman—being. The stories build in complexity and intensity, culminating in the breathtaking “Hatchling,” which opens with a spectacularly gripping prologue (“Esmé swayed on her feet. These weren't her memories. This wasn't her eye”). Each is, in vividly distinctive fashion, a mesmerizing love story that comes to a satisfying but never predictable conclusion. Di Bartolo's illustrations provide tantalizing visual preludes to each tale, which are revealed as the stories unfold. Even nonfantasy lovers will find themselves absorbed by Taylor's masterful, elegant work.

"Masterful, elegant work." Yippeeee!

On another note, you know that poor skinny cat I mentioned the other day? Well, yesterday I took him to the Humane Society. He had Humane Society tags, so I was able to find out that the phone numbers of his owners has been disconnected :-( He really needs some looking after, so I just thought it was best to bring him back there -- they'll fix him up and feed him, and put him back up for adoption. They said he looks pretty old; I can't tell. I felt so terribly treacherous putting him in a box, though! He meowed these tiny, pitiful meows the whole way in the car, poor little guy. Our Humane Society in Oregon is awesome -- there's even a new, state-of-the-art teaching hospital on-site so staff and veterinary students can provide medical care that shelter animals are rarely fortunate enough to get. Anyway, I've got the kitty's processing number so I can call in and check on him and see if he gets adopted. Fingers crossed he finds a great new home!

And speaking of cats, does your warrior cat need some armor, by chance? If so, see this artist. How awesome is this cat armor???