Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

BookMatcher: Romance Without Sex Scenes

The BookMatcher is Billie Bloebaum, book buyer for Powell’s in the Portland Airport, and she brings the art of handselling books based on interest to folks writing in online for her help. Today’s request is from ninjapenguin:

If so, I have kind of an unusual request. See, thanks to your site, I have recently been introduced to the world of well-written romance novels. (Previously I had only been cognizant of the rather horrifyingly rape-tastic old school ones my grandmother would leave out.) Specifically, I have started reading, and consequently, falling hard for Georgette Heyer. But where do I go from here? See, I prefer my romance novels *without* sex scenes. Or at the very least, without explicit sex scenes. I prefer a discreet fade-to-black with the details left to my imagination or just to end on a kiss or embrace as our happy couple realizes that all the obstacles standing between them have been overcome. I am much more concerned with the witty banter between our protagonists and the working out of the plot than I am with knowing all the details of their fantasies for each other. I have to… read more »

The Bookmatcher: Space and Cowboys

Billie Bloebaum, romance book buyer for Powell’s in the Portland Airport, is exercising the power of her handselling abilities online, and fields requests for books to read. Kimberly writes in with a Bookmatcher request:

Hi Sarah,

I was wondering if you could help me out. I usually read urban fantasy or fantasy books with strong romance elements. I’m ready to move on and expand my horizons a little. I remember that you have done a feature called The Bookmatcher and was wondering if you would do one for me. I would love to read more space romances (think Linnea Sinclair-LOVE her books!)

I also used to love reading books about the western frontier as a kid and was hoping to find some romance books in the genre (I’m thinking Little House on the Prairie for grown-ups)-no Christian books please. I’ve read some and I liked them ok but I’d rather try some prairie/frontier books without the Christian elements. Do you think you (or the Bitchery) can help me out?

Billie says:

The Bookmatcher: Adults in Romances

Billie Bloebaum, romance book buyer for Powell’s in the Portland Airport, is exercising the power of her handselling abilities online, and fields requests for books to read. Thanks, Billie!

Today’s request is from Cara: I’m looking for some help finding romances with a particular kind of pairing.

I would like books with heroines who are smart, rational, and happy, and generally unconcerned with “proper” social behavior, and heroes who are equally smart and rational as well as kind.  Basically your anti -angry boner man.  Books where these two pair up because they both problem-solve in adult and unconventional ways, and where the sexy bits are clearly driven by genuine respect and admiration between the protagonists.

Any setting works, and any time period, with the exception that I would prefer no cowboys, no vampires and no werewolves.  Additionally, lesbian romances are totally welcome, so long as the two protagonists adhere to the same character requirements

For context, my favorite examples of this have been in Amanda Quick’s post 1993 books and Candace Camp’s “Suddenly”.

It seems like these would be very standard sorts of romances, but every time I walk into… read more »

Mysteries To Recommend

After I wrote about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I received so many recommendations of outstanding mystery series, and I wanted to share with you.

First, Pam wrote: “May I also suggest, the next time you are interested in phenominal prose, breathtaking attention to the human psyche and darned good mysteries , that you look up Louise Penny? First in the series: Still Life.

I have all to date from Audible.com, and this is one series that ‘listens’ better than it ‘reads’, IMHO.”

Thanks, Pam!

And of course, Bookmatcher Billie Bloebaum had a list of books to recommend:

The Bookmatcher: Apocalypse and Class Lines

Time again for hand selling online, when book mastermind Billie Bloebaum from Powells books (stop by and say hi when you’re next at the Portland airport!) matches enquiring minds with required reading.

Raney writes: I recently finished an epic jag of reading exclusively graphic novels and trade paperbacks (basically trying to catch up on that entire, wonderful genre that I apparently missed when hitting the library growing up.) I was lucky enough to come across The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman. I’ve always been a fan of zombie movies, but this was my first venture into another zombie medium (oh, except for the amazing World War Z). I now think that I am drawn more to the post-apocalyptic setting than the zombies themselves. I find the idea of hearty survivors banding together against hostile forces and broken infrastructure to be quite appealing. Even the  MacGyver-ing of life-sustaining necessities (running water, food storage, etc.) is interesting to me.

A post-apocalyptic romance would be wonderful - if such a thing exists - but I’m open to any genre pairing (including more zombie fiction, if need be). I also enjoy Urban Fantasy, so if… read more »

The Bookmatcher with Billie Bloebaum

Time again for hand selling online, when book mastermind Billie Bloebaum from Powells books (conveniently located in the Portland airport!) matches enquiring minds with required reading.

Deborah writes: I adored Bewitching by Jill Barnett.  I’ve read the rest of her books, some I liked, some I didn’t, but I was looking for another author or book that has the same good sense of humor and adventure.

Billie says, “Barnett hasn’t had anything new since 2007 (before that it was 2002) and hasn’t written an historical since 1999. But, if you want historicals with magic, then Kathryne Kennedy (e.g. My Unfair Lady) might appeal.

Bookmatcher: Billie Bloebaum knows Books

Time again for Billie Bloebaum, Powell’s Airport book buyer, matching readers to books - a dying art that I can’t get over.

Amy writes: The last book I read that I really, really loved was “Sugar Queen” by Sarah Addison Allen.

Billie: My first impulse is to go with Alice Hoffman or maybe ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ or ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ or ‘Chocolat’, but to find a good romance novel with a touch of magical realism that doesn’t veer into schmaltz is more of a challenge.

‘The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes’ by Crusie, Dreyer, and Stuart has that touch of magic in a contemporary setting. Gwyn Cready has written a couple of charming novels about women being transported into books through various magical means.

(SB Sarah: I also suggest Charms for the Easy Life, by Kaye Gibbons, or Family Linen by Lee Smith.)

The Bookmatcher: Paranormals and Westerns

The response to our new feature with Billie Bloebaum from Powell’s was rather huge - we have so many letters from people who’ve never been matched to a book, or been hand-sold a new read at the bookstore or library. So, this week we have two letters.

First is Rebecca:

I’ve often been asked if I “need help” at a bookstore, but I’ve never been directed toward (or steered away) from a particular book.  Maybe I don’t need help, but I obviously don’t know what I’m looking for!  Being hand-sold a book sounds amazing. 

So, perhaps Billie can help me out, because I’ve been in a bit of a “dry-spell” lately.  I haven’t read a novel in (4?) months, and I can’t take it anymore!  I’d love to read something new though, and not something from the “box of keepers in the closet.”  So here it goes:

I love fantasy and paranormal romance.  But I am so over vampires.  (Thanks “Twilight”).  The last book I remember reading that kept me up all night was “Angel’s Blood” by Nalini Singh  Read it twice.  (But her psy-changeling series seem less appealing… read more »

The Bookmatcher: Dangerous Landscapes

We’re starting a new feature here at Smart Bitch HQ. I was having a lively email conversation with Billie Bloebaum, who is the book buyer for Powell’s in the Portland airport, and she mentioned how much she enjoyed handselling books she knew were wonderpants but not as widely known as other more prominent bestselling pants.

I mentioned that I’d never had a bookstore employee handsell me a book in a store, and she about fell over. This handselling thing is an art, and with the consolidation of bookstores and the loss of smaller independents, it’s an endangered art. Some bookstore employees are incredibly good at matching your past reading history with newer books or undiscovered treasures. You sometimes find them at indies, and you can also find them at chain bookstores, too. People who are skilled at that art of matching a reader with books she’ll like are lurking among us, and Billie is one of them. Her favorite question: “What’s the last book you read that you really, really loved?”

So, to help her answer that question for more people, we’ve created The Bookmatcher. Folks have written in… read more »