Links: Thoughtful and Fun

Sunita examined other Jewish characters in Heyer’s novels, and made some interesting discoveries.

I remembered that the heroine in April Lady had also visited a moneylender, “Jew” King, to obtain money for her lovable wastrel brother.  I commented at Sarah’s post that this portrayal reduced:

A fascinating, complex man who was politically active and well connected politically and socially … to just a Jewish moneylender

Well, I was half right. The “Jew” King Heyer is referring to is actually the son of John King. He was also referred to by that nickname in the novel, but his treatment in April Lady is not the same as the depiction of Goldhanger.


In other marvelous things written about romances, Jessica Jernigan wrote a very thoughtful and thought-provoking article for Bitch Magazine about selkie romances, specifically Virginia Kantra’s Sea Witch, examining how the heroine of this selkie romance is a far, far sexually autonomous cry from the victim heroines of old-skool romances.

My favorite part, and Jane’s too:

Beauty and the Beast become a single character, and this allows for some wonderful inversions of gender expectations. When Margred alights on that moonlit beach and meets Caleb Hunter, her hand is on his fly before they even exchange names. While it would be an overstatement to say that the duo present a perfect inversion of the typical dynamic between romance heroes and heroines, they come awfully close. In Margred, the animal has long been awakened, and Caleb doesn’t offer her a sexual initiation; instead, he introduces her to such mundane phenomena as coffee, lobster rolls, and dishwashing.

Jessica interviewed me for this article awhile ago, and cites the Bosoms and our interview. I’m honestly flattered to be part of this article, as I think Jernigan did a kickass job examining her affinity for selkie romance.


Via Lynn, who saw it on Lois McMaster Bujold’s MySpace page (she’s on MySpace?): Jim C. Hines’ “Baby Got Books.”

I like big books and I cannot lie.
You other readers can’t deny
That when a kid walks in with The Name of the Wind
Like a hardbound brick of win.
Story bling.
Wanna swipe that thing
Cause you see that boy is speeding
Right through the book he’s reading.
I’m hooked and I can’t stop pleading.
Wanna curl up with that for ages,
All thousand pages.

Just TRY to get that song out of your head now.

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  1. Kerry Allen says:

    I just read Sea Witch last week, and I was blown away by the absence of Crap That Bothers Me. I usually hatehateHATE start-with-sex books (and the heroine’s making it a priority was stated in line 1), but here, by treating sex as a normal, healthy adult activity, it became Not An Issue at the very beginning and actually cleared the decks for some good relationship development and an actual plot (now with bonus Not Taken Over By Series Bait!).

    Backlist glom in progress.

  2. Caroline says:

    Oh my stars, I am *dying* at the I Like Big Books song. You’re right, I totally have that in my head now. Hee hee hee.

    Oh. My. God. Becky, look at her book. It is so big!

  3. Carin says:

    I’ve got to go to an appointment now, but if I have time later I’ll try to finish this.  I got very inspired by the big books song, but felt it needed a little something extra.  So if you need to remember, here’s the youtube link to the original: 

    And here are some lyrics you might enjoy
    *spoken*
    Oh my God, Becky,
    Look at her book!
    It’s so big
    She looks like one of those romance readers!
    Who understands romance readers?
    They only read those books for the sex
    I mean that cover
    It’s just so naked
    I can’t believe the headless torso
    It’s just out there
    I mean, look at them
    They’re going to their book club!

    *rapped*
    I like romance and I can not lie
    You other readers can’t deny
    That when the bitches walk in with their big ol’ stacks of books,
    And their Kindles and their Nooks
    You get Jealous
    Wanna read that thing!

  4. Carin says:

    *and credit to Caroline right above me, whose Becky line set me off today!

  5. Heidi K says:

    I am currently singing I Like Big Books in my very conservative office.  🙂

  6. Checking out guys’ books to see if they’re larger than average? 

    Win.

  7. Sam says:

    At the used book store where I sell (and sometimes buy) old books they have a shelf for oversized books; there’s a printed piece of paper taped on the “Big Books” sign that says “I like big books and I cannot lie” with a picture of I guess whoever sings the orginal song. They should totally put the full version there as well…

  8. Estara says:

    Did you ladies ever listen to the Jonathan Coulton White Guy version of the original? I thought that was fun as well ^^. His own lyrics can sometimes be very creepy Nice Guy but this worked for me.


    There are lots of live videos of this on Youtube, too.


  9. Erin Griggs says:

    This resonates with me, for some strange reason…

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