Well, the Los Angeles Times has just posted the first review of Thomas Harris’s new novel about everybody’s favorite cannibal serial killer, Hannibal Rising. Grrr! I am so frustrated because I had asked for an advance copy of this book but was told by the Delacorte publicist that I couldn’t get a copy until the on-sale date, which is today.  Thanks a lot, Mr/Ms. Publicist! Obviously in the embargoed books world, there are different standards for who gets advance copies. Major media like the LA Times, the BBC (as Margaret Heilbrun noted in her own incisive blog Embargoed. Not Embargoed) and the New York Times get first dibs on the “big books” while professional publications like LJ  have to scramble to catch up. Ironic really, considering that  in recent years major newspapers have been drastically reducing or entirely eliminating their book review sections. Meanwhile for this year, LJ has reviewed well over 5000 titles. How many newspapers can boast those numbers?