Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Reading
April 13, 2012 | Friday | 123 Comments
Time to get all nosy up in your reading list - what are you reading this weekend? I'm reading several books at once, which is NOT good for my brain, especially when I mix genres, but I started too many things that I like. I have one book on the phone, one on the coffee table, one on my Kindle - it's getting messy. But Pig was right - Liz Fielding's Tempted by Trouble [Goodreads | Amazon | BN | HQN | All Romance eBooks] is really adorable. Plus, Tessa Dare's A Week to be Wicked [Goodreads | Amazon | BN | ARe] has been pushing…
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February 18, 2012 | Saturday | 116 Comments
I know Sheri was reading Evanovich's Plum series from the beginning last month (sorry I goofed on your name originally, Sheri, my apologies), as was Alina, and Booklight said Amanda Quick's backlist was on the reading schedule - how are you enjoying them? This week I've tried to read two self-published works, one full length and one short story, and had problems with both. But this weekend I'm spending about 10 hours in the car, and it's audio book time for me, which I'm looking forward to more than I expected. I am curious to see if I recall the story…
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December 28, 2011 | Wednesday | 434 Comments
It's the last day of Hanukkah, and the last day of our week of giveaways. WOO! Are you a little overwhelmed by the nonstop partay? I am! The final gift I have for you is an 8GB black iPod Touch, suitable for reading many, many things, like books! Yay books! To enter, just leave a comment and tell me the best book you read this year. Easy, huh? Just one book. Heh heh. If you're like me, this type of question makes your brain go all jittery. No, it does not have to have been published in 2011. It could…
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October 31, 2011 | Monday | 42 Comments
This isn’t quite a HaBO request about a missing book - more like a request for guidance. T. wrote and asked: Would it be possible to ask you and/or your readers which books provide the best advice on how to write a romance novel? Or what advice authors who are writing romance would offer? I’m curious and perhaps some of your other readers are as well. There are so many how-to books out there and just a brief page through at the local B&N made it clear that some of them were too vague to be of use and others…
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May 20, 2011 | Friday | 17 Comments
Since a group that bought a lot of billboards thinks the world ends tomorrow, I think this 1987 song from R.E.M. is eerily appropriate: Linkity link! “Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed, dummy with the rapture and the revered and the right, right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched.” That about sums that up for me. Meanwhile, it’s time I had some time alone… to read! What are you reading this weekend? I wish you a restful, peaceful weekend filled with excellent books and everything you value. Including…
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May 16, 2011 | Monday | 73 Comments
Kerry writes in with a specific type of book she’s looking for, in the hopes of building a reading list. Perfect for “Good Shit vs. Shit to Avoid!” I’m really looking for recommended reads of a specific nature I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere (and please point me to the link if I missed it!). I’m looking for romances with multiple (not just two) POVs, specifically ones with a secondary romance. Not necessarily an HEA for the second, but separate characters, with their own story arcs, whose subplot interweaves with and enhances the main plot. It seems like these used to…
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May 03, 2011 | Tuesday | 143 Comments
Angie James has become my cliffhanger warning sign. She’s like a giant “CAUTION! DETOUR!” sign at the edge of a literary cliff, warning me away lest I cast myself over the edge and get ripshit pissed off on the way down. She’s warned me off three books now that have cliffhanger endings in the middle of the series, thus ensuring that I will wait until I know the story is completed before I try the series. Why? Because I HATE cliffhangers. Some of it is based on Ye Olde Romance Reader’s Expectation, wherein I expect the ending to be, you…
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April 28, 2011 | Thursday | 4 Comments
Thanks to the many people who spread the word about Beverly Barton’s latest book release on Tuesday. From the comments to the entry, here are the winners Mona Garg Flo Lauren N Rae (@5:53am) I hope her book does stunningly well, and that everyone who has a copy really enjoys it. I also want to highlight this comment from Tricky: This sad event made me realize how very little I do to let my favorite authors know how much I enjoy their work. This past weekend, after reading about Beverly’s death, I wrote several emails to several authors thanking them…
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March 28, 2011 | Monday | 46 Comments
A few links! Because it’s been awhile and my inbox is full of awesome. First, in case you were under a large rock or on vacation like I was, the RITAs and Golden Hearts were announced - and Twitter pretty much exploded about it, too. What do you think? Have you read any of them? I’m pondering reading at least one from every category and challenging myself to get them all done (and reviewed) by the date of the RITA ceremony. Anyone want to take the RITA challenge with me? Over on the Carina Press blog, Angela James has big…
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March 24, 2011 | Thursday | 25 Comments
Hello Geeks, it is time once again for my monthly review of something geeky and romantic. This month I read Across the Universe, to determine whether or not it is a Romance Novel, capital R, capital N, by which I mean a story in which the love story is the main focus and a happy ever after is reached. I was drawn to this novel for two reasons. First, it’s a fairly new release that got a lot of buzz when it came out in January of this year. Second, it just screams “Teen Angst Romance”. The front cover has…
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March 23, 2011 | Wednesday | 22 Comments
A friendly reminder: we’ll be hosting the Sizzling Book Club Chat on Thursday, March 31 at 6pm PST / 9pm EST. Cara Chow will join us at 10pm EST to answer questions and discuss the book with us. We will be live here at the site with our rapidly-moving chat window, polls, merriment, and mayhem. I’ve reread this book since I picked it for the club, and I am still thinking about the heroine, and her mother - and I cannot wait to hear what you think. In the meantime, I have a question as I narrow down my selections…
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March 18, 2011 | Friday | 12 Comments
From Julianna comes this musical tribute to our favorite genre:
Link ahoy!.
Julianna says, “Hell, I’d read any of these…. I have gathered by surfing around that Fascinating Aida is a troupe of musical comediennes; some of their stuff is wistful, some arch, some filthily funny.” I’m with you. I’d read that first one, no question. Have a very creative weekend! Anyone able to tell what paperback the woman on stage right is reading? Looks like a vintage Harlequin to me!
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February 24, 2011 | Thursday | 43 Comments
One of the sessions I attended at Tools of Change was from BeneTech, which works to make books accessible to those with significant physical obstacles to reading, such as visual impairment or learning disability. Listening to that presentation, I tweeted some of it and heard back from a reader named Sassy Outwater, who agreed with some of the points and offered to school me on what blind readers need and have to facilitate their own reading enjoyment. I know absolutely squatnada about blind readers. And so I asked a bunch of really ignorant and obvious questions, and Sassy was kind…
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February 03, 2011 | Thursday | 67 Comments
Here’s some sad, sad Pac-Mans, to quote Stephanie Leary. VIDA posted their count of major publications, their reviewers by gender, and their reviews by gender of the author. Oh, that is one hurtin’ Pac Man collection right there. The New York Times book review pages feature books by men twice as much as books by women, while The New Yorker features books by men four times as much as books by women. I knew it was bad but oh, holy night, that just dropped my jaw. VIDA is ready to “invest our efforts and energy into the radical notion that…
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February 01, 2011 | Tuesday | 8 Comments
Thank you to everyone who entered our Sixth Anniversary giveaway - I loved reading all your answers as to why you love romances. It was a total celebration in the comments - thank you!! And special thanks to Kate who sent me an email with a gift: Okay, I know you know Maureen Johnson, and perhaps you are aware of her proud tradition of #crapfts? In honor of your sixth anniversary, I have crapfted you a (virtual) present: It depicts, as you can see (well, maybe you can), a heroine with flowing golden tresses and huge blue eyes and a…
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