My dear Bitches, I’ve been remiss in my duties. Somehow I managed to read three books in the wonderful Memoirs of Lady Trent series without writing a single review for you. Allow me to rectify that with the fourth book: In the Labyrinth of Drakes. While I recommend reading the whole series from the beginning (‘cause it’s awesome) you can jump in with Labyrinth. It works as a standalone. The Memoirs of Lady Trent series follows … Continue reading In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan→
The best thing and the worst thing about a Julia Quinn novel is that you know almost exactly what you are going to get – an enjoyable, light, funny Regency romance. Some Julia Quinn novels go the extra mile (I adored The Sum of All Kisses, and What Happens in London is one of my favorite books of all time). Some contain huge missteps (What the hell is going on in The Duke and I?). … Continue reading Because of Miss Bridgerton By Julia Quinn→
Winterwood is an alternate-history Regency fantasy novel with magic, elves, a werewolf, a ghost, and a heroine who is the captain of a privateer vessel (essentially a state-sanctioned pirate). The book is not a romance, although it has romance in it, and it’s the first book in a new series (thankfully, it does not end on a cliffhanger). Rossalinde ran away from her abusive mother to marry privateer Will Tremayne. When he died, she adopted … Continue reading Winterwood by Jacey Bedford→
Wilmatte Porter Cockerell and her husband Theodore Alison Cockerell were a couple whose scientific research took them all over the world. Between the two of them, they contributed to the fields of botany, entomology, taxonomy, paleontology, evolution, and conservation. Wilmatte was born in Iowa in 1869. She graduated from Stanford University and became a university professor. Wilmatte never lost her passion for teaching. For much of their married lives she taught high school, and after … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Theodore and Wilmatte Porter Cockerell→
I Can’t Think Straight is a contemporary romance about Tala, a Jordanian woman of Palestinian descent, and Leyla, a woman from an Indian family living in London. The book was made into a movie in 2008 – I haven’t seen the movie, but based on this book it’s on my to-be-watched list. Tala is on her fourth engagement, this time to a man named Hani. Leyla, who is dating a man named Ali, is a … Continue reading I Can’t Think Straight by Shamim Sarif→
Welcome back to Romance Wanderlust, where we daydream about actual places as swoon-worthy as those in our novels. This column is pure fantasyland fun – it’s not a review or endorsement of any featured location, most of which I haven’t personally visited. This month, we are (in our heads) visiting Wentworth Woodhouse, an amazing country house (by which we mean massive incredibly giant edifice) located in Yorkshire. Many believe that Jane Austen used this house as her … Continue reading Romance Wanderlust: Wentworth Woodhouse→
The Stars Change is a gorgeous illustrated novella with art by Jack Kotz that is very hard to categorize and describe. It’s science fiction, with romantic and erotic elements. It’s not a romance per se, but romance readers who are also drawn to other kinds of fiction will appreciate the emphasis this book places on the importance of all kinds of love. At the University of All Worlds, humans (mostly colonists from Southeast Asia), non-humanoid … Continue reading The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj→
I picked up The Book Club Cookbook on a whim because I’m fascinated with the intersection of food and literature, and I ended up falling in love with it. It’s not great as a basic cookbook for home because it’s not organized in a typical way: it’s not sorted by type of meals, or types of ingredients, or prep and cooking time. But it is great as an examination of how food and literature intersect. … Continue reading The Book Club Cookbook by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp→
Investigating Lois Lane: The Turbulent History of the Daily Planet’s Ace Reporter is a very well written, well-researched book by Tim Hanley, who also wrote Wonder Woman Unbound. It’s a fascinating look at comic book culture, how women are depicted in comics, and what happens when a female character is written almost exclusively by men. It’s also a book that pissed me the hell off (because of what the book described, not because of any … Continue reading Investigating Lois Lane by Tim Hanley→
Welcome back to Kickass Women! This month we are paying tribute to Loreta Janeta Velazquez, a woman who was born in Cuba and ended up serving as a soldier and spy during the Civil War. Much of what we know about Loreta’s life comes from her memoirs, in which fact may or may not have taken a backseat to entertainment value. But even allowing for embellishment, she led a kickass life, albeit one that was … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Loreta Janet Velazquez→
Welcome to my third and final post about Mamma Mia! In Part I, I talked about how the movie deals with slut shaming. This first post also summarizes the plot. In Part II, I talked about relationships between women. In this post I’m going to discuss the value the movie places on older adults and their romantic and sexual lives. Mamma Mia includes two generations of friends and lovers. The younger set consists of Sophie, … Continue reading Mamma Mia Part III: Not Too Old For Sex!→
