CW: Homophobia on the page and mentioned in the past Cat Sebastian is an auto-read for me. She never lets me down. And she certainly hasn’t with this book. Nick Russo is on the city desk at the Chronicle, a progressive newspaper in New York. (Progressive because they don’t toe the party line and they dare to criticise the police.) He’s worked hard to get there and he’s good at his job. He’s brusque, respected … Continue reading We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian →
I really loved Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. Celebrity romance is one of my favorite tropes, and for me this book stands out. Romantic Comedy features a hero who is not purely defined by celebrity status, gives readers a deep dive into a world I found fascinating, contains an epistolary courtship, and at times is laugh-out-loud funny. Sally Milz is a writer for a weekly late-night sketch comedy show called TNO that is based on … Continue reading Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld →
I loathe exercise. I don’t mean that I dislike it. I don’t mean that I talk about how much I hate it as a form of humble bragging i.e. “You know running is just SO HARD on the knees but it was SUCH A RUSH finishing the marathon in first place.” No, I really, really hate it. I would never, ever, ever have expected to fall in love with a book about exercise but…I think … Continue reading Work It Out by Sarah Kurchak →
Recently I devoured a book, and when I mentioned it, Shana squeed right back at me. So, enjoy our absolute squee-party about this book! Sarah: Shana, I just tore through Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade. Devoured the whole book in less than a day. Oh my gosh, there is so much to love about this book. The Pining. Top-shelf pine forest full of pining. For six years they live on that island for months and … Continue reading Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade →
Content warning: homophobia I love romantic suspense, but they can sometimes be a little light on the suspense and a little heavy on the romance for me. The mystery plot in this book is strong enough to stand on its own, but my god, does the romance sweeten the deal. Detective Everett Larkin works for the cold case squad in New York. A tree has blown over in Madison Square Park and in its uprooting, … Continue reading Madison Square Murders by C.S. Poe →
Sometimes a blurb is so horribly misleading that it does a book a disservice. Certainly the blurb for this book is unhelpful at best. By describing things as ‘ghoulishly fun’ and ‘wickedly whimsical’, it’s clear that the person who wrote the blurb did not, in fact, read the book. There was no ‘whimsical fun’ for me in this book. But there was a lot of absolute brilliance though. This Gothic tale feels fresh and real … Continue reading A Dreadful Splendour by B.R. Myers →
We are in the middle of a witchy pop culture wave (see: many, many recent witch-themed romance novels, for example). Toil and Trouble: A Women’s History of the Occult looks at the roles that women have played in America’s occult history. It’s a very complicated topic, and I admired the authors for being able to present an organized and inclusive, although not comprehensive, look at some of the many ways that women have been active … Continue reading Toil and Trouble by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson →
Ed. note: This was intended to run in January but due to a snafu on our end, it didn’t publish. So, holiday romance? Sure! All year long, right! … I’m a firm believer that there is no such thing as an objective review. If there IS such a thing, let me tell you up front that this review is not objective in the slightest. One of the first things I wrote for this site was … Continue reading Holiday Heroine by Sarah Kuhn →
Rest is Resistance is a tiny book but it took me a long time to read because every sentence was a truth bomb that I needed to carefully absorb. This is a short book with a lot of repetition, but I felt it powerfully. I am so excited about this book, but I find it difficult to review because I just want to quote it. Essentially, this book crystallized a lot of things I’ve been … Continue reading Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey →
A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts is so much more than the book I thought I was getting. This book tells a lot of ghost stories, but it is also an examination of why so many ghost stories are by and/or about women and what they say about our culture and history. It’s also a critique of the business of Ghost Tours, demonstrating how they can exploit historical suffering at … Continue reading A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts by Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes →
Okay, so first of all, I need us all to understand that I’m going to write this review without telling you much about what actually happens in the book. That’s because, and I’m not exaggerating when I say this, every single event is a spoiler. The plot of this series is a giant Gordian knot where each new revelation changes everything else you think you know, so you really can’t discuss any part of it … Continue reading Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir →
If you like colorwork and making socks, then Charming Colorwork Socks is a must buy for you. This book contains 25 adorable patterns, including holiday themes, animals, and my personal favorite: coffee socks. Most of the patterns involve only working with two colors at the same time, so it’s ideal for colorwork beginners who don’t want to manage too many strands at once. There isn’t much in the way of tutorials in the book, although … Continue reading Charming Colorwork Socks by Charlotte Stone →
