This month’s Kickass Woman is Claudia Jones. Wielding a pen instead of a sword did not make this woman any less of a warrior, one who did battle in three countries in her short life and shared not only Black anger but also Black joy. Born in 1915, Claudia Vera Cumberbatch was born in Trinidad and Tobago, which was, at the time, a colony of Britain (it is now the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Claudia Jones
Usually when I fall in love with a book, I devour it in one giant gulp and at one sitting, and only come back to savour it on a second reading. So Book of Love was unusual for me, in that I loved it, but also kept putting it down because I wanted to make it last longer. The quality of the writing and the sweetness not just of the central relationship, but of the … Continue reading Book of Love by Erin Satie
Content Warning: Sexual Harassment, #MeToo and the costs of reporting Undercover Bromance is an enemies to lovers story that plays with traditional romantic tropes in some clever ways. I have very mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed reading it, and I think it was trying to do some fairly interesting and ambitious things. And it succeeded in some of them; the recurring theme of fantasy/perfection as a romantic hero versus the authenticity/respect for … Continue reading Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
Cranky Ladies of History is an anthology of short fiction about real historical women who were angry and did things with that anger. Some of these things were spectacular, and some were just spectacularly appalling (looking at you, Erszebet Báthory) (but not looking too closely, because I really don’t want to provoke you), but it makes for a fascinating anthology theme, tailor-made for fans of Carrie’s ‘Kickass Women in History’ series. In the introduction, Tansy … Continue reading Cranky Ladies of History edited by Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Croft Wessely
It’s Wednesday! My allergies are here in full force, making their presence known. I also think I may have food poisoning, so that’s fun. I’ll be in New York for Book Expo, learning about all the cool new books coming out. I’m sure I’ll give you all the deetz when I get back. … Author Jennifer Weiner is at Publishers Weekly talking about the phrase, “I wrote a thing.” I’m guilty of this and have been working … Continue reading Links: Wine, WaPo, & More
It’s Wednesday and BookLovers Con is about to kick off! SBTB is here and we’d love to meet you if you see us all out and about. We also are doing a live podcast taping tomorrow. If you reserved your spot for that, it’s going to be a fantastic time! … I’m a sucker for mythology retellings in romance, so I particularly loved these recommendations by Sil over at Frolic.Media! I’ve only read one of … Continue reading Links: Tattoos, Mythology, & More
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
The Trouble With True Love is a historical romance that combines the ‘rake meets wallflower’ plot device with the ‘pretend dating’ plot device and the ‘advice columnist gets characters into trouble’ plot device. There’s nothing new here but it’s all quite delightful due to excellent characterization and use of language. Clara is a newcomer to Society and is shy. All her life she’s been overshadowed by her older sister (they mutually adore each other – … Continue reading The Trouble With True Love by Laura Lee Guhrke
NB: This is a wonderful guest post from Rose, who recently saw the film Wonder Woman. To see the site’s grade, check out Redheadedgirl’s review of the film. We also did a Wonder Woman-only Links post and some book recommendations for before or after screening the film! … Wonder Woman is, start to finish, an absolute dream. I took one breath before the movie started and one breath after the credits, and have no memory of any taken … Continue reading Guest Post: The Power of Wonder Woman
I’ve been struggling to write this Dating You/Hating You review for weeks, simply because I’m worried I won’t be able to convey how truly wonderful I thought it was. But I’m going to do my best, because this is a pretty worthy competitor for my favorite book of 2017. It’s funny, feminist, and a great example of a modern romance. I should also mention that this is a complete standalone and not tied to any … Continue reading Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren
The heroes of the Marvel Universe have had so many storylines and incarnations that they’ve become loose templates open to a variety of interpretations. Chelsea Cain has written an eight-issue arc of Mockingbird in which her version of Bobbi Morse, AKA Mockingbird, is sexy, smart, kickass, feminist, and hilarious. While it refers to previous Marvel events, it works fine as a stand alone series. Cain’s version of Bobbi is a scientist, spy, and super soldier, … Continue reading Mockingbird by Chelsea Cain
