All these posts by Carrie S:
Book Review

A History of the World in Ten Dinners by Victoria Flexner and Jay Reifel

If you are a history buff, a food buff or (ideally) both, then you have to read A History of the World in Ten Dinners: 2000 Years, 100 Recipes. This book is so well-organized and natural that I’m not sure if I should say that it’s a food book with history or a history book with food. I was this many days old when I learned about Edible History. Victoria Flexner and Jay Reifel host … Continue reading A History of the World in Ten Dinners by Victoria Flexner and Jay Reifel

Book Review

My Brother’s Keeper by Tim Powers

Y’all know I love my Brontës and I get so annoyed when either adaptations of their work or stories based on their lives get EVERYTHING WRONG, DAMMIT. My Brother’s Keeper is an eerie story involving the Brontë family, werewolves, and warring cults, and, darn it, it gets everything just absolutely perfect. I was so impressed with this book even though the whole warring cults thing was the least interesting thing about it. I’m copying the … Continue reading My Brother’s Keeper by Tim Powers

Kickass Women in History: Margaret Beaufort

Brace yourselves, Bitches, for a very abbreviated description of the life of Margaret Beaufort, one of the most Kickass Women in Tudor history, a period of time during which Kickass Women rather abounded despite their lack of legal rights. Here’s the basics. Lady Margaret Beaufort was born on May 31,1443. She was a descendant of King Edward III. Margaret became the sole heir of her father’s fortune in infancy and survived all manner of complicated … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Margaret Beaufort

Book Review

A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke

A Haunting in the Arctic is emphatically not a romance, but it has some elements that are relevant to our interests, specifically female rage and mermaids and selkie legends. It’s very atmospheric and creepy, but it forgets to make sense. The plot revolves around a LOT of rape, and also includes graphic violence, self-harm and gaslighting. If I had realized that the plot involved so much rape, much of it committed on page and the … Continue reading A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke

Book Review

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub

This was simply delightful. I’ve always wished for Lydia Bennet and Mary Crawford to run away together and be pirate queens. This is not that book – but it’s the next best thing. Told from Lydia’s point of view, the book posits that Lydia is a witch and that her sister, Kitty, is in fact a cat and Lydia’s familiar. In a world of secret magic where every spell has a cost, Lydia must figure … Continue reading The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub

Book Review

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

I enjoyed Bride so much that I might put it on the keeper shelf. It’s the first book I’ve read by Ali Hazelwood, so I can’t tell you how it compares to her other work. But I can tell you that while Bride isn’t perfect, it’s a fun, though violent, paranormal romance between a mysterious brooding werewolf leader and a deeply sarcastic vampyre. The narrator of the book is the sarcastic vampyre whose name, I … Continue reading Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Kickass People in History: Thomas(ine) Hall and Mary Jones

This month I’m doing something a little different. Instead of a long post about one person, I’m sharing a set of links about two different people. We don’t know how they would have identified themselves if they lived today. They might, if alive today, have thought of themselves as Kickass Women, or Kickass Men, or Kickass Nonbinary People, or, in Thomas(ine’s) case), a Kickass Intersex Person, or something different. What we do know is that … Continue reading Kickass People in History: Thomas(ine) Hall and Mary Jones

Book Review

Escaping Mr. Rochester by L.L. McKinney

Escaping Mr. Rochester is not the book I hoped for but it’s OK. This is a YA retelling of Jane Eyre.  If you’ve been reading SBTB for awhile, you know that Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. I read it annually, and each year it gives me a new experience, ranging from comforting and empowering to deeply challenging. I liked the basic content of Escaping Mr. Rochester, but wished it delved more deeply … Continue reading Escaping Mr. Rochester by L.L. McKinney

Kickass Women in History: Marlow Moss

Marlow Moss was an artist who defied conventional art rules as well as conventional ideas about gender and sexuality. Since she referred to herself during her life as “she,” I will do so here. However, critics today speculate whether today she might have defined herself as non-binary, gender-fluid, or transgender. Marlow was born Marjorie Jewel Moss in 1889 in London. She loved music, but a miserable attack of tuberculosis halted her chances of becoming a … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Marlow Moss

Book Review

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma Alban

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend is a funny, sweet variation on The Parent Trap. The plot is simple but the characters and their activities are uniformly delightful. This was a fun historical f/f romance with serious stakes that kept me wildly entertained until the last page. It’s the first in the Mischief and Matchmaking series. The plot, as I said, is super simple: Beth, who doesn’t want to get married, has one season … Continue reading Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma Alban

Book Review

Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa

Carrie: Ana María and the Fox came out back in April but it has taken lo these many months for Shana and I to manage a review. I’m glad this book made it to the top of my TBR, because I found it to be romantic, educational, and entertaining. But I had problems with some plot stuff. The plot: Ana María and her two sisters, who are the subjects of two upcoming books, are sent … Continue reading Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa

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