Welcome back to Get Rec’d! How are we all doing? I haven’t said it in a while, but thanks to all the people who lurk on these posts and interact in the comments. I hope I’m able to introduce hidden gems to your TBR pile or find that perfect book for the reader in your life. What great recommendations have you received lately? I want to hear all about ’em!
This Rec League comes from Maggie: I’m looking for recommendations for contemporary romances that have fitness training, especially running and especially with amateurs or beginners, as central to the plot or subplot. I read a few last year and found they really inspired me to take up running again after time off for physical therapy. Now at New Year’s I’m looking to hack my motivation for working out and I’d love to add some more … Continue reading The Rec League: Fitness & Running
Hey hey! Welcome back to Get Rec’d! How are we all doing?! I have another eclectic assortment. There’s a graphic novel, some literary fiction, and memoir with plenty of wry humor. I feel like I don’t recommend a ton of genre fiction in this column, as we cover a lot of that in other places of the site. Not something I see as good or bad, but merely an obseravation! Do you have any recommendations … Continue reading Get Rec’d with Amanda – Volume 42
Sarah and I frequently talk about video games, and I thought it would be fun to find pairings of video games and books that work well together. We’d also love to hear what games you’ve been playing recently and what books may complement them. Stardew Valley is a cozy, farming game that Sarah and I have streamed many times. You revive a farm in a small town. Maybe you spend your day fishing or wooing … Continue reading Book and Video Game Pairings
Ed. note: This is clearly a current, ongoing, and difficult topic, and your feelings on reading books that include the COVID pandemic may be different. We want to remind folks that it’s ok to like very different things. This Rec League was sent in by Anna: I recently read Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, which made me realize that reading a romance set during Covid, especially one that doesn’t sugarcoat lockdowns, could really help me … Continue reading The Rec League: Lockdown Romances
This Rec League comes from Nancy. Thanks, Nancy! I just finished reading Don’t Look Down by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. Since I retired I’ve been doing extra work on tv shows that are filmed locally and I really enjoyed that the action of the book happens on a film set. Loved all the details that I’m now actually familiar with. I’d love to have some recommendations of other romances which take place on a … Continue reading The Rec League: On Set Romances
This Rec League comes from Allison. Thanks, Allison! I am wondering if you can recommend any romance books featuring unions, labour organizing, or similar? Thanks! Tara: Hoosier Daddy by Ann McMan and Salem West has that! Amanda: Isn’t there a Milan with one? Sarah: Rose Lerner has one. I’m pretty sure Sweet Disorder is the one I’m thinking of, though that’s election organizing The Duchess War for sure. And of course North and South Doesn’t … Continue reading The Rec League: Unions & Labor Organizing
Welcome back to another edition of Get Rec’d! Definitely have a focus of fantasy this time. However, there is some variety here. I have a graphic novel, a mystery, and more. Sometimes I have a better mix of genres and other times, I consult my notes and the last four books I jotted down are all within the same genre. Have any of you gotten some good book recs since the last Get Rec’d? Share … Continue reading Get Rec’d with Amanda – Volume 39
Thanks to Deborah for this Rec League request! I have a 4-year-old friend who loves to read, and as his pseudo-aunt I like to bring him books. And then I get to read them to him which is the best thing ever. But I’ve run out of books I know he’ll love – the Mog books, Wombat Stew, the Canadian monster books, and the Knight Owl which was a fantastic rec from here (and I’m … Continue reading The Rec League: Fun Picture Books
This Rec League is from Kay. Thanks, Kay! My catnip: books with two plots, relevant to each other, taking place in different time periods. An example would be Sarah Maine’s The House Between Tides or Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden. There’s usually a romantic element but they’re not necessarily romances. Sarah: Does Susanna Kearsley fit, I wonder? It’s dual time line but sometimes the characters cross over or between the timelines. But if this person … Continue reading The Rec League: Dual Timelines
This Rec League comes from Frances. Thanks, Frances! I am wondering if anyone can recommend romances or not-depressing books where a main character has vaginismus? I’ve been working through vaginismus with my ob-gyn and a physical therapist (and very thoughtful and supportive partner) with the goal of penetration. While it doesn’t bother me to read books where penetration is easy and straightforward and there are a lot of non-penetrative sex scenes out there, I do … Continue reading The Rec League: Vaginismus
