Feb 08
The Thorn Boy by Storm Constantine Stark House, 2001 Better known as a fantasy novelist, Storm Constantine has also written a surprising number of short stories. This collection, published in 2001, features nine stories set in or around the fictional kingdom of Magravandias, which figures in her Sea Dragon Heir trilogy. The Magravandias world resembles …
Nov 15
I saw her at the edge of the cliff, dancing with her arms extended, fingers grasped, to form a perfect ring. “What are you doing?” I said. “I’m dancing with my husband before I join him on the bottom.”
Oct 17
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory A Touchstone Book, Simon and Schuster, 2003 [Challenge # 34: A book about a person you know little about.] The Other Boleyn Girl isn’t the sort of book I usually read. But since I found a copy at one of the Little Free Libraries in my neighborhood, and …
May 03
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2015 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was one of the happiest books I’ve read this year. Recently released as a movie, it originally came out in 2015, earning a well-deserved place on YA must-read lists for its …
Jan 10
Wouldn’t you like to live here? (Art by John Stevenson) Fantasies set in Germanic cultures, like those based on Italian ones, have not been published much in recent years, yet in past decades there were enough of them to have their own subgenre: Ruritanian Romance. These novels were set in imaginary Central or Eastern …
Jan 09
The One Gold Slave (Atlaind Book 1) by Christian Kennedy Waitingstar Publishing, New York, 2011 [Challenge # 5: A Free book] Ah, my first finished read of 2018, by which things are starting smashingly well. First up: A Freebie, in this case, an Amazon giveaway by the author. I knew full well what kind of …
Jun 13
The Aviary Gate by Katie Hickman Bloomsbury, USA, 2010 Challenge #7: A book in a new-to-you genre (Note: I am reading and blogging these Challenge books out of order) For this challenge, I chose The Aviary Gate, by Katie Hickman, from my pile of TBRs. From the cover copy I assumed it was historical romance, …
Nov 19
On October 6th Little, Brown Books released the 10th Anniversary edition of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, which included a special bonus: the novel rewritten and gender-reversed, with Edward now Edyth, and Bella now Beau. The bonus was born of the author’s desire to show the story as truly universal and that the gender of the protagonists …
Nov 13
The romance covers post got me thinking. How do plain old erotica book covers stack up to the waxed and buff male torso that signifies a hot read? Let’s see. I’m going to start with A. N. Roquelaure’s Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, which is the porniest mainstream book I know, chockablock with kink, and one that …
