Space Opera is not a book to read all at once. It is a book to savor. You should read one chapter at a time and bask in the afterglow. I have a chronic illness that causes me to spend a lot of time in the bathroom, so when I say that this was a perfect, incandescent, practically glowing bathroom book, I mean it, unironically, as the highest praise. If it can punctuate the last week … Continue reading Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
What the Parrot Saw is about a biracial female pirate who enlists the help of a white Englishman in her efforts to help enslaved people escape from Florida to the Bahamas in 1839. In the process she takes him to a beach and teaches him how to fight with knives while a parrot yells at him. You know full well that you are going to buy this and I can tell you that you won’t … Continue reading What the Parrot Saw by Darlene Marshall
Bad Blood will officially be known as the slump-breaker. Sometimes, I need a break in my romance reading. If I read too many books—back to back—in the same genre, I hit a wall. After my lovely roommate patiently listened to my whining about having nothing to read, despite owning 500+ books, she suggested Bad Blood. She knew I had wanted to read it and a coworker had just lent her a copy. I devoured it. … Continue reading Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
The holidays are over, but if you’re in the mood for a short, sexy contemporary romance with an emotionally-fluent hero, then I recommend Dance All Night by Alexis Daria. The novella opens up with professional dancers Jess Davenport and Nik Kovalenko meeting at a New Year’s Eve party and sharing an explosive midnight kiss. Nik is looking for more, but Jess is firmly settled in LA and he’s about to go on an off-Broadway tour. A … Continue reading Dance All Night by Alexis Daria
We have a guest review for you all! This review comes from Claudia. Thanks, Claudia! At sixteen, Claudia found her older cousin’s stash of Barbara Cartlands and assorted Harlequin-type romance housed in an old sewing cabinet and life was never the same! Claudia loves history, so she mostly reads historical romance. Favorite authors include Meredith Duran, Mary Balogh, Miranda Neville, Elizabeth Kingston, and Rose Lerner. … Elizabeth (Bess) Stoughton is a widow and a lady-in-waiting … Continue reading Guest Review: Forsaking All Other by Catherine Meyrick
I’ve been reading a lot of nonfiction lately, especially books that focus on cultural or sociological analysis and the arduous work of reframing how we talk about and examine people, events, groups, or all of the above. Good and Mad is a wonderful example and I highlighted the absolute crap out of it. I expect the file I sent back to the library was glad to get away from me. I enjoyed it in a cathartic … Continue reading Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister
This is one of those times where I wished technology had advanced so much that I could start this review with a video of me winking and doing sassy finger guns at you, and you all would just GET IT. Because that’s how this book made me feel. This sci-fi romance was nearly everything I ever hoped and dreamed I could find in this subgenre. I also don’t want to take up valuable reading time. … Continue reading Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik
My love of books examining productivity and time management is no secret, but I’ve been leaning away from books that want to tell me how to cram more activity into the house I have, and looking eagerly for books that examine how to be efficient and selective about the work I’m doing with my time. This book focuses on the idea of being “off the clock,” or, more specifically, “time freedom,” the expanse of schedule … Continue reading Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done by Laura Vanderkam
My Sister the Serial Killer is NOT a romance novel, but it might appeal to those of our readers with an interest in female rage and very dark humor. Set in Nigeria, the novel is narrated by a nurse named Korede. It opens as Korede is cleaning a crime scene. It’s clear that she has a lot of practice doing this: I bet you didn’t know that bleach masks the smell of blood. Most people … Continue reading My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
I enjoyed The Afterlife of Holly Chase very much – but I didn’t love it until the very last page. The end is what earns it a spot on my keeper shelf, and I won’t reveal the end, no, not even in a spoiler tag. You just have to trust me that it’s lovely. Holly Chase is a rich teenager who is a simply horrible person. At the age of seventeen, she is visited by … Continue reading The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
Back in the early aughts I worked in a family-owned bookstore where, during slow periods, I would pretend to dust but really sneak-read chick lit (unless you’re reading this, Peggy, then I was totally dusting). My favorite authors were Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Weiner and Helen Fielding. One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk made me nostalgic for those books while blending in enough romance that it certainly qualifies as a romance novel. Set in London, this novel … Continue reading One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk
