Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

About Candy Tan

OK, so I’m totally shit at this biographical stuff, which is why I’m happy I have all these reader-submitted questions to answer.

Is any book - romance or otherwise - deserving of a SmartBitch grade of A+? And like what would it take to get an A+? Oh yes, definitely. For romance novels, Laura Kinsale, Loretta Chase, Patricia Gaffney and Jennifer Crusie have gotten A+ grades from me. Non-romance: Dan Simmons, Barry Unsworth, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, C.S. Lewis, Tim Winton, Pat Barker, Jonathan Franzen and various others have written what are, in my opinion, A+ books as well. My list is long, not because I’m not picky, but because up until a few years ago I was a voracious reader and went through loads and loads of books a year. Now that I have a car and can’t read during my commute any more, my pace has slowed way, way down. As for what it takes for a book to get an A+: I have to love the way it’s written, I have to love the plot, and I have to believe in the characters. It’s shocking how many books fail significantly on at least one (if… read more »

About Sarah Wendell

Hi, there! You can read more about me at SB Sarah.com, which has additional links to media, upcoming appearances, and an assortment of silly and serious headshots. I'm really, really pensive in one of them.

Is any book - romance or otherwise - deserving of a SmartBitch grade of A+? And like what would it take to get an A+? When Candy and I first talked about this site, we had a conversation about what our A+ books were, though we spent more time yelling and howling about the F books (Mine, for the record, is Honey Moon by SEP, the first romance novel ever to make me physically nauseated). But each of us has a romance or two against which we judge all the others. Among mine are Bitten by Kelley Armstrong (the first paranormal I’d read in awhile that wasn’t full of angsty vampires and overwrought “ma petite.” Shut UP with the “ma petite” shit), Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie (loved Cal, loved Min, loved it all), and an upcoming review that I’m still pondering how to grade and describe.

Are you guys going to write a book? Like, SMART BITCHES GUIDE TO ROMANCE NOVELS,… read more »