tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55691685557760790472024-03-14T00:26:02.055+01:00Romancing the Social SciencesDanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-75301446829183946822018-02-28T04:28:00.000+01:002018-02-28T04:28:07.166+01:00Review: Game of Hearts by Cathy Yardley<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>3.5 stars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>I received an ARC of this book from the author in response for an honest review. My opinion is my own.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Game of Hearts</i> is the third instalment in Cathy Yardley's Fandom Heart series, which began with one of my <a href="https://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.de/2016/01/review-level-up-by-cathy-yardley.html">favourite books of 2016</a>, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27068944-level-up?from_search=true">Level Up</a></i>. It was a cute, quick read with a great heroine, but I didn't love it quite as much as the two preceding books. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After her brother falls and breaks his arm on one of his frequent holidays, mechanic Kyla hits breaking point with managing her family's auto shop alone. When an upcoming conventions provides her with the opportunity to get her dream costuming business off the ground, she makes the decision to bring in extra help for the auto shop: old family friend Jericho Salomon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jericho has no desire to come back to the home town that holds so many painful memories, but he owes Kyla's family a favour, so he tells the biker group he's a part of that he'll be away for a few weeks, and heads back to Snoqualmie. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When I first read the blurb for <i>Game of Hearts</i>, I have to admit it made me nervous, since I'm not a big fan of the MC hero trope. But after the nuance of her last two books, I trusted Yardley to make it work, and she did. As a character, Jericho managed to embody the bad boy hero without comprising his moral integrity, which sits much better with me than the morally ambiguous hero. In fact, one of the major conflicts Jericho deals with is trying to suppress a revolt led by a member of the group wanting to move into more</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Sons of Anarchy </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">territory. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Yardley's previous heroines have been interesting, complex and independent women, and </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Kyla is no exception. As a female mechanic, she continually up against male customers who second-guess and patronise her as a female mechanic. Her way of handling this - being super chipper and doing Kegels - was both funny and relatable, and I think I might adopt it myself in my day-job, where Joe Bloggs frequently thinks he has a better handle on the healthcare system and medical stuff in general than a mere receptionist (read: a medical administrator who can work in over half a dozen capacities throughout the hospital, although there's nothing wrong with only being a receptionist). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Another aspect of Kyla that I - and I suspect many other readers - found to be very realistic nuanced was her relationship with her brother. The lack of boundaries and continual giving on her side and taking is something that really closely and poignantly aped a lot of real-life familial relationships. Being my idealistic, total-HEA-craving self, I closed the book wishing we had seen a little bit more of a reckoning on this front, but on another level, I think that maybe that would take away from the realism of it. Maybe it's enough to know that - with Jericho as a support and circuit-breaker - Kyla and her brother will be able to achieve a more emotionally healthy relationship in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Kyla and Jericho were both great, strong characters, and - while I was keen for them to get together - I didn't feel that the romantic arc was as strong as in the last two books. Some parts were as outstanding as always: the two are shown to be very sexually compatible (there are some hot sex scenes), and I liked the way Jericho supported and encouraged Kyla both with regards to her new business and her boundary setting. However, each was caught up with their individual conflict and character arc, which made it hard to see how they would actually function as a couple. This - together with the relatively late introduction of the romantic conflict and the Deus-ex-machina way it was solved - meant that I found the HEA less convincing or satisfying that in the other <i>Fandom Hearts</i> novels. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">As you can see, Yardley's previous work has left <i>Game of Hearts</i> with some pretty big shoes to fill. Even if I feel like it didn't quite achieve that, I still really enjoyed it, and I'd </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">definitely recommend it, especially if geeky, funny and heart-warming contemporaries with great heroines are your thing. </span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-79922731190605686232018-01-27T19:33:00.001+01:002018-08-05T06:17:21.786+02:00Best Reads of 2017: Part 1<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's almost the end of January, and - after a long, stressful end to the year on the academic front - I've finally got my ass into gear to publish my Best Reads. In 2016, I <a href="https://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.de/2016/12/recommendationsreflection-best-reads-of.html">set this post up</a> as my </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5 best reviewed reads, 5 best un-reviewed reads and 5 best not published in 2016. Given the marked lack of reviewing in 2017 comparative with 2016, I was unable to do the same this time around. Instead, I've just chosen my best 15 books of the year.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As always, narrowing a year's reading to a handful of books is extremely difficult. I chose the featured books not just because they were outstanding, extremely enjoyable books, but also because they stuck in my mind for some reason. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This may be originality or uniqueness of concept, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">outstanding</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> execution and exquisite worldbuilding and/or characterisation. It is almost always a combination of all of the above, sometimes also accompanied by a sense that a book I loved hadn't been</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> given its due when it came out, or in the end of year Round-Ups. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, without further ado, I present you with my 15 Best Reads of 2017. (This post was initially just the first half, but then I never got around to doing my second post, so I edited this one and collated them into one...in August).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33596231-the-future-chosen?from_search=true">1. <i>The Future Chosen</i> by Mina V. Esguerra</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/f NA romance in fictionalised setting)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Technically, I'm cheating on this one: it was published in the last few days of 2016, but I couldn't bear to leave it off. It's the romance between two young political hopefuls in a fictional country where only one person from each 'family' is allowed to enter the public service, meaning that - in order to have a relationship - one of them would have to bow out of political life. When <a href="https://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.de/2017/02/review-future-chosen-by-mina-v-esguerra.html">I reviewed it back in February,</a> I called it </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"</span><span style="background-color: #fefdfd;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">suspenseful and sweet and clever and just so good". To that, I would add, 'extremely feminist' and 'a nuanced portrayal of oligarchy and elitism'. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33358438-peter-darling?from_search=true">2. <i>Peter Darling</i> by Austin Chant</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/m fantasy romance with trans MC)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This queer Peter Pan retelling was everything I never knew I needed. When he can no longer bear his life as Wendy Darling in the real world, Peter Pan flees back to his childhood refuge of Neverland, only to find that Captain Hook now inspires an entirely different set of feelings. The initially immature Peter and ennui-stricken Hook offset each other perfectly in a unique rendering of the enemies-to-lovers trope. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Chant's Neverland is reminiscent of old Grimm fairytales, both in the trials and suffering the characters must face, and in the sense of hope and possibility offered by a world unfettered by mundane laws and boundaries. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30631124-pretty-face?from_search=true" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">3. <i>Pretty Face </i>by Lucy Parker</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/f contemporary romance)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Parker's second foray into the London theatre world was just as thrilling and fulfilling as her first, the much-lauded <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25750546-act-like-it?from_search=true">Act Like It</a></i>. I'm a sucker for characters snarking at one another to hide their attraction, and Pretty Face has that in spades, along with a heroine fighting against being pigeon-holed as a sexpot, a grumpy theatre director and an age-gap trope. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34120847-tempting-hymn?from_search=true">4. <i>Tempting Hymn</i> by Jennifer Hallock</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/f historical romance)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The poignant and sweet romance between a missionary workman and a fallen Filipina nurse during American colonial rule in the Philippines, <i>Tempting Hymn</i> was<a href="https://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.de/2017/02/review-tempting-hymn-by-jennifer-hallock.html"> another early-year review</a> before I got dragged down into a vortex by university work. The heroine's story - that of being seduced, bearing an illegitimate child and trying to build a better life for herself and her child after being ostracised - is one of eternal relevance, as is Hallock's exploration of the differences between preaching the tenets of a faith, and living them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30237404-an-extraordinary-union?from_search=true">5. <i>An Extraordinary Union</i> by Alyssa Cole</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/f historical romance)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'm not alone in thinking that this was one of the most outstanding contributions of 2017. The story of Elle, a freedwoman who goes undercover as a slave in the South to spy for the Union during the Civil War, has garnered a lot of praise both inside and outside Romancelandia. That's how it should be, because it's an </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">exquisitely crafted story with so much to say about relationships, race, gender, history and society. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24928834-beauty-like-the-night?from_search=true">6. <i>Beauty Like The Night</i> by Joanna Bourne</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/f historical romance)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">With her lyrical writing style, strong sense of historical place and continually strong central romances, it's hard to imagine Bourne releasing a book that isn't an instant favourite. In my opinion, the <i>Spymasters</i> series is unparalleled in its depictions of self-sufficient, strong heroines and the men who respect them, and - after following Sevie since her infancy - it was wonderful to see </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">this youngest member of the Meeks Street family come into her own and meet her match. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34878010-small-change?from_search=true">7. <i>Small Change</i> by Roan Parrish</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/f contemporary romance with bi MC)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the last few months, Romancelandia has started talking about the "<a href="https://oliviadade.com/2017/12/11/warning-extra-gooey-cinnamon-roll-heroes-ahead/">Cinnamon Roll hero</a>", a term that calls up the caring and soft hero without implying he is anything less for his lack of alpha-ness. The hero of </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Small Change,</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Christopher, is - in my opinion - a total CinRo hero. He owns a sandwich shop, through which he meets Ginger, a </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">prickly bisexual Jewish tattoo artist. Ginger and Christopher's </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">two-steps-forward, one-step-back dynamic - in which </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Christopher shoulders most of the emotional labour as he attempts to sort through Ginger's relationship hang-ups - was unlike any other portrayal I'd ever read. I umm-ed and ahh-ed about including it because its nothing flashy, but in some ways it deserves its place here even more so for just being a quiet, emotional romance that so beautifully undercuts our cultural </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">narratives about unlovable women and emotionally aloof men. </span><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35892702-the-truth-of-things?from_search=true"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">8. </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">The Truth of Things</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> by Tasha L. Harrison</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If I had to sum up <i>The Truth of Things</i> in one word, it would be 'powerful'. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The central romance is between a</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> cop struggling with the racism of his department and a photographer who finds herself the target of that racist brutality. To be honest, I can't really find too many more adjectives to describe it, because it was so many things at once. Just go read it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35919081-a-taste-of-honey?from_search=true">9. <i>A Taste of Honey </i>by Rose Lerner</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/f historical romance)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lerner's </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Lively St. Lemenston</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> series is continually outstanding, and this novella in particular was a breath of fresh air. About a hesitant baker hero and his assertive and ambitious assistant, it's dirty, sweet and showcases the historical realities of the British working and artisan classes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33841918-an-unsuitable-heir?from_search=true">10. <i>An Unsuitable Heir</i> by K. J. Charles</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Like Lerner, Charles is an auto-buy author for me, and this conclusion to her 'Sins of the Cities' series didn't disappoint. As always, both the mystery plot and the romance are beautifully crafted, and anyone who says that a non-binary main character is too 'modern' or 'ideological' can bog right off. Pen was gorgeous, and Mark so bloody sweet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36242916-hamilton-s-battalion?from_search=true">11. <i>Hamilton's Battalion</i> by Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan and Alyssa Cole</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/f, m/m & f/f historical romances)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not being American or particularly into musicals (with the exceptions of a few classics that I grew up with), the whole Hamilton thing has mostly passed me by. But that didn't mean that I couldn't enjoy these novellas set around Hamilton and the Revolutionary War. They were all gems, but my favourite was undoubtedly Rose Lerner's story of a cross-dressing female soldier who accidently comes into her husband, who believes her dead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-style: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34914811-midnight-feast?from_search=true">12.<i> A </i><i>Midnight Feast</i> by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(m/f historical romance)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Throughout this series, set around a fictionalised version of the Space Race, readers have seen the dire state of astronaut Mitch Dunsford and his wife Maggie's marriage. This poignant novella is their second chance romance, and watching them try to untangle their misunderstandings and communication break-downs and work out where to go from here is both heart-breaking and heartening, if that makes any sense. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34217566-wrong-to-need-you?from_search=true"><br /></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34217566-wrong-to-need-you?from_search=true">13. <i>Wrong to Need You</i> by Alisha Rai</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Wrong To Need You </i>was another popular favourite this year, and it's not hard to see why. Angsty forbiddden romance, long-time love...this hit all my buttons. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35832887-dance-with-me?from_search=true">14. <i>Dance with Me</i> by Alexis Daria</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Alexis Daria's 2017 debut <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35832861-take-the-lead">Take the Lead</a></i> and the follow-up, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35832887-dance-with-me?from_search=true">Dance With Me</a></i>, were strong contenders for the Best of list. In the end, I went with <i>Dance With Me</i> because I am a total sucker for Russian-speaking heroes and prickly heroines, not to mention women who are going to do this damn thing all by themselves, thank you very much. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36678478-the-boys-next-door">15. <i>The Boys Next Door</i> by Miranda Silver</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Boys Next Door is probably my favourite erotica of all time. Eminently relatable characters, a solid plot, plus an off-the-scales heat rating. </span></div>
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Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-87874805213503580812017-11-15T11:15:00.002+01:002017-11-15T11:15:24.922+01:00Review: Sugar Pie Guy by Tabitha True<div dir="ltr">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For ages, I've been going between 3 and 3.5 stars on </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30635472-sugar-pie-guy">Sugar Pie Guy</a>. </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It gets full marks for the concept and some aspects of the execution, while other - particularly the insta-love and some of the writing - didn't work so well for me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's set in 1977 suburban Cleveland, where a small, run-down strip mall serves as the centre of the local community. Roberta "Bobbie" Bell's aunt owns a business there, and Bobbie and her friends decide to hold some discos for some good, clean fun, and to help Bobbie's aunt out of some financial difficulties. But when Randy is sent to Cleveland to realise his father's ambitions of turning the mall into something more profitable, the community must rally.</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> Even though Bobbie and Randy are on opposite sides of this fight, they're drawn to each other, and soon Randy's not sure if selling the mall is the best idea after all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The romance between Bobbie and Randy developed quite fast, and I found it hard to accept that they could fall in love so quickly, especially given that they are on opposite sides of the campaign to save the mall, and would be entering into a potentially fraught interracial romance</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">(as you can see on the cover, Bobbie is African-American, while Randy is white, of Italian extraction). </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Admittedly, the</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> latter does give Bobbie pause, and constitutes part of the continued awareness of race throughout the book. I thought this was handled sensitively, reflecting both the</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> progress made in the decade since the Civil Rights Movement ended, and the entrenched bigotry that remained. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">The American disco scene is not exactly my area of expertise, but my understanding is that it - like many cultural phenomena - arose from the marginalised African-American, gay and Latino communities, and I was pleased t</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">o see that reflected in</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Sugar Pie Guy</i><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">. It is together with her cousin Luke, and his DJ partner, Sal, that Bobbie starts the disco, which is always intended to be a safe space for everyone: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>“Vel </i>[the owner of the space where the disco is being held]<i> knows that this is probably going to be a mixed straight and gay crowd, right?” </i></span></span><i> </i> </blockquote>
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<i></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>“Right. He doesn’t care. He says he saw everything there is to see during the war.” Propping her chin on her hand, she warned Luke about the house rules for a private party at the Donuteria. “No booze, no drugs, no nudity, no public sex…” </i> (14%)</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The distinction between their</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">"safe, suburban disco" (23%) and other, wilder ones is something that I found particularly interesting because of similar cultural phenomena in Australia and New Zealand, from the </span><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blue_light_disco" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Blue Light Discos</a> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">that my parents attended and that are still a fixture for young people in some communities, to the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">locally renowned </span><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/no-booze-no-groping-and-the-youngsters-love-it/2006/08/25/1156012745846.html" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Lav" dances</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> I went to in Sydney as a young teen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The 70s setting was expressed in campy dialogue and writing that - to me, as a modern reader - mostly hit a good level of 'cheesily fun'. Sometimes, however, I found myself rolling my eyes, particularly at the flowery, heavily euphemistic way the sex scenes are written. Bobbie and Randy's repeated use of the endearment 'baby' also got old, but I think has to do with my distaste for that particular pet name than anything else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But, overall, I enjoyed the way </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Sugar Pie Guy </i></span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">brought both the carefree attitudes and more serious aspects of the 70s to life. It was a novel read, and I'd recommend it for anyone who - like me - is always looking for 'outside-the-box' historicals. I think there's a lot of untapped potential for romances set in the second half of the 20th Century in a variety of setting, and I hope to see more authors taking advantage of this in the future. </span></div>
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Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-40476052716166502322017-10-31T15:23:00.003+01:002017-10-31T15:24:27.156+01:00Overview: October Reading<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read in October:</b> 23</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read YTD: </b>204 (<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/6862657">Goodread Reading Challenge</a> completed. YAY!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fiction Titles: </b></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">21 (12 historical romance, 8 contemporary romance, 1 paranormal romance)</span></li>
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<b style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Non-Fiction Titles: </b><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1 (Travel/History)</span></li>
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Noteworthy Novels</h3>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35832861-take-the-lead"><i>Take the Lead</i> by Alexis Daria</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36123044-temporary"><i>Temporary</i> by Sarina Bowen and Sarah Mayberry</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36242916-hamilton-s-battalion"><i>Hamilton's Battalion </i>by Courtney Milan, Rose Lerner and Alyssa Cole</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34099086-bountiful"><i>Bountiful </i>by Sarina Bowen</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34914811-midnight-feast"><i>Midnight Feast</i> by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33841918-an-unsuitable-heir"><i>An Unsuitable Heir</i> by K J Charles</a></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
Noteworthy Non-Fiction</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31681785-in-the-greece-of-the-east">In the Greece of the East: A Journey through Jewish Urkraine Now and Then</a></i> by Stefan Weidner</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
Noteworthy Settings</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23411525-starling"><i>Starling </i>by Virginia Taylor</a> - enjoyed the historic South Australian setting, but you can read my thoughts about the rest of the book <a href="https://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.de/2017/10/review-starling-by-virginia-taylor.html">here</a>. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34914811-midnight-feast">Midnight Feast</a></i> by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner - I am continually surprised by how Barry and Turner can make me buy the HEAs in this series, while at the same time showing the sexist and hypermasculine environment of the 60s. </span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
Kick-ass Characters</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35832861-take-the-lead"><i>Take the Lead</i> by Alexis Daria</a> - Professional dancer Gina Morales is a heroine who has set her professional boundaries, and doesn't take kindly to people who think that these are negotiable. Inspiring. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36242916-hamilton-s-battalion"><i>Hamilton's Battalion </i>by Courtney Milan, Rose Lerner and Alyssa Cole</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> - literally every main character in this anthology deserves a mention. Just read it. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34099086-bountiful"><i>Bountiful </i>by Sarina Bowen</a> - small business owner and single mother Zara has to decide if she should take a risk and open her heart to the father of her child. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34914811-midnight-feast">Midnight Feast</a></i> by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner - I'm still in awe at the authors' nuanced portrayal of a marriage gone sour, particularly their ability to imbue both characters with completely relatable and reasonable struggles, and the way that silence can become so full and heavy with preconceptions, misunderstandings and everything left unsaid. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33841918-an-unsuitable-heir">An Unsuitable Heir</a></i> by K J Charles - The love story and discussion about gender and sexual identity (sans 21st century terminology) between non-binary protagonist Pen and his partner, Mark were really something.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
This Month on the Internet...</h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Please be aware that some of the links this month discuss abortion, sexual assault and rape. I have added content warnings to the articles that deal with these themes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Romance</span></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.shondaland.com/inspire/a12821649/beverly-jenkins-romance-interview/">Romance Novelist Beverly Jenkins Talks Normalizing Diversity in Her Genre</a></i> by Gina Mei at Shondaland</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.therippedbodicela.com/ripped-bodice-2016-state-racial-diversity-romance-publishing-report">The Ripped Bodice 2016 State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing Report</a></i> by Bea and Lea Koch at The Ripped Bodice</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://jezebel.com/heres-how-not-to-critique-romance-novels-1819188174">Here's How Not to Critique Romance Novels</a> </i>by Kelly Faircloth at Jezebel</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.romancelovett.com/2017/10/04/11-things-the-ny-times-could-write-about-romance/">11 Things the New York Times COULD Write About Romance</a></i> by Robin Lovett</span></li>
</ul>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other Literature, Craft and the Publishing Industry</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://pantograph-punch.com/post/getting-along-lit">Why Can't We All Just Get Along: The Literature Edition</a></i> at The Pantograph Punch - on racism and the legacy of colonialism in New Zealand literature</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://theconversation.com/was-emily-bront-s-heathcliff-black-85341">Was Emily Bronte's Heathcliff Black?</a></i> by Coleen Fowler at The Conversation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/29/tudor-english-black-not-slave-in-sight-miranda-kaufmann-history?CMP=share_btn_tw">Tudor, English and Black - and not a slave in sight</a></i> by Bidisha at The Guardian</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other Media</span></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.themarysue.com/taika-waititi-indigenous-representation-thor-ragnarok/">All the Ways that Taika Waititi Pushed for Indigenous Representation on the Thor: Ragnarok Set</a></i> by Marykate Jasper at The Mary Sue</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Women, Sexism and Feminism</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/evgdpw/how-a-harrowing-photo-of-one-womans-death-became-an-iconic-pro-choice-symbol?utm_source=vicetwitterus" style="font-style: italic;">How a Harrowing Photo of One Woman's Death Became an Iconic Pro-Choice Symbol</a> by Amanda Arnold at Broadly (<b>CW:</b> discussion of back-alley abortions)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-16/why-the-typewriter-was-a-feminist-liberation-machine/9048786?smid=RadioNational-Twitter_Organic&WT.tsrc=Twitter_Organic&sf122322253=1">Why the Typewriter was a Feminist Liberation Machine at Radio National</a></i>, with illustrations by Freda Chiu</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/how-men-like-harvey-weinstein-implicate-their-victims-in-their-acts">How Men Like Harvey Weinstein Implicate their Victims in their Acts</a></i> by Jia Tolentino at The New Yorker (<b>CW:</b> sexual violence, rape)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://overland.org.au/2017/10/from-hashtag-to-action/">Bodies in Trouble: on sexual violence and the problem with hashtags</a></i> by Melody Paloma at The Overland Journal </span>(<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CW:</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> sexual violence, rape)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.vulture.com/2017/10/damon-affleck-father-of-daughters-excuse-harvey-weinstein.html">Stop Mentioning Your Daughters When You Denounce Harvey Weinstein</a></i> by Hunter Harris at Vulture </span>(<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CW:</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> sexual violence)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.elle.com/culture/a12796346/harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-allegations-good-progressive-men/">The Problem With Our "Good" Men</a></i> by Sady Doyle at Elle - on progressive men, feminist "allies" and the appropriation of feminist language </span>(<b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">CW:</b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> sexual violence)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Weird, Wacky and Wonderful</span></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.thewhoresofyore.com/kates-journal/buzzkill-vibrators-and-the-victorians">Buzzkill: Vibrators and the Victorians</a></i> by Kate Lister at Whores of Yore - debunking the myth that Victorian doctors used proto-vibrators to treat female hysteria. </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-39104542472330305002017-10-27T17:48:00.005+02:002017-10-27T17:48:52.766+02:00Review: Starling by Virginia Taylor<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>2 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is a case where my reading experience and thoughts about the book differ greatly. I read <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25356597-starling">Starling</a> </i>obsessively over the course of a single night, caught up in the crazy-sauce plot and the plucky heroine fighting for a better future. However, even as I did so, I was aware that the whole thing was steeped in toxic masculinity and the Madonna/whore complex. If <i>Starling</i> had been the old-school romance it so much resembles, I probably could have given it a bit of leeway, but it's not and my rating had to reflect the fact that this is a book - published in the Year of Our Lord 2015 - with some serious unchallenged on-page misogyny. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, the crazysauce plot is this: Starling Smith is fired from her new job at Seymour's Emporium because her male supervisor - who doesn't believe he needs female employees - tells the owner, Alisdair Seymour, that she is "annoying the customers". However Alisdair offers her another position: posing as his wife. He's had word from his sister that she will be visiting, with a mystery woman in tow. Desperate to avoid her matchmaking, he offers Starling 40 pounds for two weeks of pretending to be his newly-wedded wife, only to have his plan misfire when it turns out that the mystery woman is Lavender, the childhood love who left him to marry another man. As Alisdair's new plan - to use Starling to make Lavender, his real wife-of-choice jealous - also unravels, he realises that neither woman is what he thought, and that he feels much more for Starling than he anticipated. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">The whole thing was set up so that the women were continually played off against one another: Lavender against Starling, but also Lavender against one of Alasdair's maids, </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">because Lavender is your classic immoral, manipulative slut who has to steal everyone's man, even if that man is a gardener. In contrast, Starling is such a shining beacon of pure and good white womanhood she could have stepped right out of a Victorian morality tale. She's orphaned, inexplicably graceful and ladylike despite her rough upbringing, and martyrs herself in silence, declining to defend herself </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">when Alasdair repeatedly lays false accusations at her feet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Taylor makes it explicitly clear that Alasdair means to let Starling "set the limits" of their physical relationship and would never "take her" without her consent, and yet there were several scenes that bordered on rape-y. Since he believes Starling to be an ex-prostitute, there's a lot of "I could have her, she's a whore, she wouldn't stop me"-type thoughts, and times where Starling says 'no', but Alasdair takes a while to respond, or reflects afterwards that she didn't <i>really</i> mean it:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><i>Her fist thumped his shoulder and she tightened her face. He leaned forward and trued to take her mouth, but she turned her head away. "Stop. Let me go."</i></span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><i>The uncaring beast angled his hips and teased partway into the woman he didn't give a shake of his head for, while outside in the hall, separated from him only by a door, his family and his beloved Lavender made their way to their respective bedrooms. Starling gasped. Using a whisper of repressed rage, she said, "Any further and I'll charge you five sh...pounds." His eyes flitted over her face. She could see him consider. Efficiently, as though he'd judged the price too high, he buttoned his trousers. </i>(loc. 2490)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Throughout the book, there are practically big, flashing neon signs that point out Alasdair is actually Mr. Rapey McRapeculture. He spends a ridiculous amount of time </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">slut-shaming Starling - either mentally or to her face - and, sometime after the above excerpt, Starling even says to him resignedly </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You don't understand the word 'No'. You never have. To you the word means later." (loc. 2831). </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He is <i>such</i> a catch, even</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> excluding the way he intends to marry Lavender and make Starling his mistress. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">At this point, my rating might seem a bit incongruous, but I gave <i>Starling</i> 2 stars for two reasons. The first was that is was </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">so well-written and engaging, I shamefully almost didn't care about any of this stuff until I thought it over after finishing the book. Secondly, I really enjoyed the</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> historical Australian setting, and historical romances set in Australia are unfortunately few and far between. Despite my overwhelming hatred for him, Alasdair's connection to the Ballarat goldfields has stuck with me, and sparked a desire to read a romance set against the multicultural backdrop </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">of the 1850s and 60s Victorian or New South Wales goldfields. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If anyone knows of one, please let me know - </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">I can only think of MG/YA novels: some of </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Kirsty Murray's <i><a href="http://kirstymurray.com/books/">Children of the Wind</a> </i>books and </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2803843-a-banner-bold?from_search=true" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><i>A Banner Bold</i></a><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> in the My Australian Story series from my childhood, and the newer </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7551497-the-night-they-stormed-eureka?from_search=true">The Night they Stormed Eureka</a></i> by Jackie French, and of </span>Zana<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> Bell's gold rush romance </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21473689-fool-s-gold?from_search=true">Fool's Gold</a></i><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">, which I really enjoyed, but which is set on the South Island of New </span>Zealand<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">. </span></div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-56692328005783631972017-10-11T19:08:00.005+02:002017-10-11T19:11:21.908+02:00Three on a Theme: Romance Novels for Outlander Fans<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For some completely incomprehensible reason, Season 3 of Outlander is currently on a 2-week hiatus, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">so I thought I'd post a few Outlander-esque romance novels to get us all through this mini-drought. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">You can also use these as alternatives to actually reading the Outlander books, if you love the TV show but also don't want to directly give Diana Gabaldon your time and money, given the way <a href="https://bookriot.com/2016/06/22/on-outlander-romance-and-diana-gabaldon/">she bites the romance-reading hand that feeds her</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All three of the recommendations here are rich in history, setting, characterisation and plot. Two are set - or partially set - in Scotland, while the last incorporates the time-travel element but has an enticingly different setting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/891793.Midnight_Honor">1. <i>Midnight Honor</i> by Marsha Canham</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In terms of content, <i>Midnight Honor</i> is by far the closest to Jamie-era Outlander, as it features the Forty-Five Jacobite Rebellion (including Culloden, just in case your heart hasn't been ripped out enough already!). It's a poignant romance based on the true story of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Anne_Farquharson-MacKintosh">Lady Anne Moy</a>, and her husband Angus, chief of Clan Chattan: he fought for the British, and she for the Jacobites. I suppose because it's set in the same difficult time, it has that same sense of hard-won and potentially transitory HFN/HEA as Outlander (although there is a definite HEA here, don't worry), as do the other two books in the same series, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/707252.The_Pride_of_Lions">The Pride of Lions</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/707222.The_Blood_of_Roses">The Blood of Roses</a></i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6393078-highland-rebel?from_search=true">2. <i>Highland Rebel</i> by Judith James</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Highland Rebel</i> is set during <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution">the Glorious Revolution</a> when the Stuart King James II was deposed in favour of his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. While campaigning in Scotland, English spy Jamie Sinclair marries Highland lass Catherine Drummond to keep her safe. As the Revolution unfolds, Jamie and Cat must navigate shifting political and religious alliances, as well as the finer points of their marriage. Jamie can be a bit of an alpha-hole at times, but it has the same saga-like feeling as Outlander, as well as the Scottish and Stuart elements. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29415186-beautiful-wreck?from_search=true">3. <i>Beautiful Wreck</i> by Larissa Brown</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since the previous two have adhered pretty closely to Outlander's Scottish setting, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29415186-beautiful-wreck?from_search=true">Beautiful Wreck</a></i> is a bit of an outlier. But it has time-travel and a very Gothic, slow-burn vibe that I find very reminiscent of the first season of the TV show. It's set between the 22nd century, and 10th century Iceland, with the heroine being thrown back in time as she tests a machine that simulates the past. Brown conveys the harsh life and inhospitable environment faced by the early Icelandic settlers extremely well, as well as the sense of adapting to a new life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If anyone else has some more suggestions for Outlander-esque romances, hit me up! I'd love to hear from you. </span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-80049409576904177572017-10-04T17:17:00.002+02:002017-10-04T17:18:23.433+02:00Overview: September Reading<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read in September:</b> 25</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read YTD: </b>181</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fiction Titles: </b></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">24 (11 historical romance, 7 contemporary romance, 5 speculative fiction romance)</span></li>
</ul>
<b style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Non-Fiction Titles: </b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1 (History)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Noteworthy Novels</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29415186-beautiful-wreck"><i>Beauiful Wreck</i> by Larrisa Brown</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35919081-a-taste-of-honey"><i>A Taste of Honey </i>by Rose Lerner</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34928609-heart-of-the-steal"><i>Heart of the Steal</i> by Avon Gale and Roan Parrish</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34469447-a-queen-from-the-north"><i>A Queen from the North</i> by Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34913546-snowspelled"><i>Snowspelled</i> by Stephanie Burgis</a></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<h3>
Noteworthy Settings</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29415186-beautiful-wreck"><i>Beauiful Wreck</i> by Larrisa Brown</a> - this does double duty with cool settings. First is an futuristic Earth, where people are grouped by which era of the past they choose to emulate. Then the heroine is accidently sent back in time to 10th century Iceland, where the weather and isolation make for hard living. The whole thing feels wonderfully Gothic. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22814487-deep-diving">Deep Diving by Cate Ellink</a></i> - short, cute story about two professional athletes who meet while on holiday on Australia's Lord Howe Island. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34469447-a-queen-from-the-north"><i>A Queen from the North</i> by Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese</a> - Set in a alternate England where the Yorkist/Lancastrian enmity of the War of the Roses continues into the present day. A young woman of the Yorkist nobility is given the opportunity to marry the Prince of Wales (although I'm not sure that title still holds) and thus improve the lives of Northerners. There were some elements of worldbuilding that I questioned, or that didn't quite work for me, but it was fun and inventive nonetheless.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34913546-snowspelled"><i>Snowspelled</i> by Stephanie Burgis</a> - Another alternate England this time based on the premise that Boudicea fought off the Romans and established a world in which women deal with politics, and men with magic.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
Kick-ass Characters</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35919081-a-taste-of-honey"><i>A Taste of Honey </i>by Rose Lerner</a> - I've consistently loved the way this series shines a spotlight on the lives of Regency-era middle and lower classes, but Betsy and Robert struck a particular chord. They had very different ways of approaching everyday business concerns, and watching them figure this - and each other - out both charming and poignant. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34913546-snowspelled"><i>Snowspelled</i> by Stephanie Burgis</a> - After losing her magic in an attempt to prove herself worthy, Cassandra is adrift, but by no means powerless.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
From the Internet this Month</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Romance</span></b></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2017/09/new-york-times-book-review-looks-romance/">The New York Times Book Review Looks at Romance</a></i> by Sarah at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.salon.com/2017/09/30/welcome-to-the-romance-resistance/">Welcome to the Romance Resistance</a></i> by Rachel Kramer Bussel at Salon</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://bookriot.com/?p=137015">The Lack of Black Characters in Time-Travel Romance</a> </i>by Jessica Pryde at BookRiot</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://medium.com/@ronhogan/all-the-dumb-things-you-can-say-about-romance-novels-in-one-convenient-place-e7afd70a5351">All the Dumb Things You Can Say About Romance Novels, In One Convenient Place</a></i> by Ron Hogan</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other Literature, Craft and the Publishing Industry</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/my-absolute-darling-is-sexist-violence">My Absolute Misogyny: Male Authors Are Still Profiting From Women's Pain</a></i> by S. E. Smith at Bitch Media</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishabassi/aussie-bookworm-and-proud?utm_term=.xvYBbo6N1#.wh31KyjlO">25 Aussie YA Books That Influenced Every '00s Teen</a></i> by Isha Bassi at Buzzfeed Australia</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other Media</span></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://psmag.com/education/nazis-love-taylor-swift-and-also-the-crusades">What To Do When Nazis Are Obsessed With Your Field</a></i> by David M. Perry at Pacific Standard - on Neo-Nazi fetishism of the medieval era, and how scholars must contrdict the narrative of the white, utopian Middle Ages</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Women & Feminism</span></b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a12063822/emotional-labor-gender-equality/">Women Aren't Nags - We're Just Fed Up</a></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> by Gemma Hartley at Harper's Bazaar - on household chores and emotional labour</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://bust.com/feminism/193265-death-positive-movement.html?utm_content=bufferd5494&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">Inside the Death Positive Movement</a></i> by Christine Colby at Bust Magazine - looks at dying and mortality through a feminist lens, and the movement that has developed around this. </span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Weird, Wacky and Wonderful</span></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170907-the-mystery-of-the-lost-roman-herb?ocid=twfut">The Mystery of the Lost Roman Herb</a></i> by Zaria Gorvett at BBC</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-70430265400541493362017-09-25T12:30:00.001+02:002017-09-25T12:31:46.966+02:00Review: Yuletide Truce by Sandra Schwab<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>3 stars</b></span><br />
<i style="background-color: #fefdfd; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">I received an ARC of this book from the A Novel Take PR (on behalf of the author) in exchange for an honest review. My opinion is my own.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: #fefdfd; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></i>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36135262-yuletide-truce">Yuletide Truce</a></i> was a </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">short and sweet m/m Christmas novella. As always, Schwab builds an excellent sense of time and place, but I wish that the romance had been a little bit more drawn out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bookseller Alan "Aigee" Garmond loves the Christmas season, but Christopher Foreman's scathing comments in </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">About Town</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> magazine about Aigee's humble book reviews are putting a damper on his mood. Foreman's antipathy upsets Aigee,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> b</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ut, when an incident occurs that strips both men of their defences, it provides an opportunity for the two men to call a Christmas truce, one that has the possibility to turn into something more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Schwab is extremely talented at breathing life into the everyday world of her characters. Here, that's the Victorian middle-classes, and there were lots of small moments that brought me unexpected enjoyment: Aigee's reminiscences of his life as an apprentice, the descriptions of illustrations from an English translation of the Brothers Grimm, and a reference to the knocker-upper. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An awareness of class underlies the whole novella, as Aigee doesn't feel completely at home in either </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the bourgeoisie literary world in which he works, or the world of the rookery where he grew up. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">While this sense of being caught between two worlds was poignant, I felt as though it was undermined by the lack of conflict in the men's developing romance. Despite the enemies-to-lovers trope, after the men's initial on-page meeting, there was very little tension between the characters, or resistance to a relationship. It all came a bit too easy, with almost no groveling on Foreman's part, or grudge-holding on Aigee's. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That said, the lack of angst means that it fills a certain niche within the genre: everyone needs an easy, feel-good romance at times - particularly at Christmas, when many people are dealing with conflict-heavy or fraught family situations - and <i>Yuletide Truce </i>fills that need perfectly. </span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-14242987680449049472017-09-07T12:17:00.001+02:002017-10-04T17:18:32.685+02:00Overview: July and August Reading<h2>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown</span></h2>
<div>
</div>
Soo...what are the chances anyone would believe that I follow the pre-Julian Roman calendar, and that's why July didn't get its monthly overview, and absolutely nothing was posted during August? Because that sounds way better than 'I got really busy with real life and had to put the blog on the backburner'. Even as I apologise for that and tell you that I'm back now, the truth is that my blogging will probably continue to be sporadic over the next few months, as I face the unenviable but unavoidable task of finishing my thesis.<br />
<br />
To avoid the last two months being completely lost, I'm combining their monthly round-ups here, in a slightly more abbreviated form than usual. On the upside, after months of reading relatively little, the vagaries of real life seem to have bolstered my reading, and I'm back on track for meeting my goal of 200 books in the Goodreads Reading Challenge. August also saw a lot of comfort re-reading, which is quicker than reading a book for the first time, making the total for that month is unusually high.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read in July:</b> 26</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read in August:</b> 33</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read YTD: </b>156</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fiction Titles (July): </b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">24 (17 contemporary romance, 3 historical romance, 1 fantasy romance, 2 romance anthologies)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Fiction Titles (August): </b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">32 (18 historical romance, 13 contemporary romances, 1 steampunk romance)</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<b style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></b><b style="font-family: georgia;">Non-Fiction Titles (July): </b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2 (1 history, 1 urban studies)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="font-family: georgia;">Non-Fiction Titles (August): </b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";">1 (Mythography)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<h3>
Noteworthy Novels</h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Contemporary</span></div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34346381-illegal-contact" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Illegal Contact</i> by Santino Hassell</a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29422692-hate-to-want-you"><i>Hate to Want You</i> by Alisha Rai</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35670610-rogue-desire">Rouge Desire</a> </i>(Anthology)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31409116-saving-mr-perfect"><i>Saving Mr. Perfect</i> by Tamara Morgan</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31409116-saving-mr-perfect"><i>Once Upon A Rose</i> by Laura Florand</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29367958-the-wall-of-winnipeg-and-me"><i>The Wall of Winnipeg and Me</i> by Mariana Zapata</a></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Historical</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13154719-starlight"><i>Starlight </i>by Carrie Lofty</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23010033-freedom-to-love"><i>Freedom to Love </i>by Susanna Fraser</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24928834-beauty-like-the-night"><i>Beauty Like the Night</i> by Joanna Bourne</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32161804-an-unnatural-vice"><i>An Unnatural Vice</i> by K J Charles</a></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35494723-singing-electricity"><i>Singing Electricity</i> by Charlotte Stein</a> (Anthology)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<h3>
Noteworthy Non-Fiction</h3>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21920805-once-upon-a-time"><i>Once Upon A Time</i> by Marina Warner</a></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<h3>
Noteworthy Settings & Sense of Place</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19037889-safe-passage"><i>Safe Passage</i> by Carla Kelly</a> - set in Mexico during the Revolution, although readers should be aware that it centres the experiences of white Mormon colonists.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23010033-freedom-to-love"><i>Freedom to Love</i> by Susanna Fraser</a> <i>- </i>touching and sweeping romance between a British officer and a woman of the <i>gens de couleur libres </i>during the War of 1812.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13154719-starlight"><i>Starlight </i>by Carrie Lofty</a> - Incredible sense of place in working-class Glasgow, where mill owner meets one of his factory workers.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
Kick-ass Characters</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13154719-starlight"><i>Starlight </i>by Carrie Lofty</a> - Unionist, factory-worker heroine Polly is not here for your bourgeoisie shit. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31409116-saving-mr-perfect"><i>Saving Mr. Perfect</i> by Tamara Morgan</a> - ex-jewel thief Penelope at a loose end now that her husband has put the nix on her career, and watching her and Grant trying to grope towards a new, happy life together is surprisingly poignant, partly because they are both so kick-ass in their respective fields. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24928834-beauty-like-the-night"><i>Beauty Like the Night</i> by Joanna Bourne</a> - Sevie - sister of an infamous French spy, adopted daughter of an infamous English spy - was never not going to be awesome. See also: all of Joanna Bourne's other heroines. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35670610-rogue-desire">Rouge Desire</a> Anthology - </i>The heroes and heroines we need - but probably don't deserve - in these dark times. </span></li>
</ul>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-28042329620355339852017-07-24T10:00:00.000+02:002017-07-24T10:00:59.333+02:00Review: Famous by Jenny Holiday<div dir="ltr">
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4 stars</span></b></div>
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<i style="background-color: #fefdfd; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. My opinion is my own.</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jenny Holiday is one of the masters of the genre when it comes to earnest and heartwarming romances with considerate and self-aware heroes, and heroines who are strong, independent and - sometimes - a little emotionally closed-off. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In her latest book, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35389458-famous?ac=1&from_search=true">Famous</a></i>, she tackles the rock-star romance, but flips the script: instead of the trope's traditional and much-loved </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">jaded and world-weary rock-star hero, we have an art historian hero, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">and it's the Taylor-Swiftesque heroine who is worn out by her fame, and the pressure her managers place </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">on her to keep churning out hit after hit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When Evan and Emmy first meet at a wedding, Evan is dealing with the fallout of his father's high-profile conviction for art fraud, while Emmy is about to move to Los Angeles to try and make it as a singer. As they part ways, he tells her: <i>let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Seven years later and Emmy is Emerson Quinn, one of the biggest pop stars in the world. She's meant to be writing her next album, and her managers - deciding she should abandon her teenage fanbase and skew towards an older demographic - have hired "co-writers" to write her songs. Worn-out and unable to work in the conditions her managers insist on, Emmy escapes to the man who once offered her help.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Emmy shows up on Evan's doorstep at a precarious time for him. He's trying to make tenure at his small Midwestern college, and his family's background means he can't afford even a hint of scandal, let alone a big-name pop star hiding out in his house. But he also sees Emerson's vulnerability, and in the end he can't turn her away. As Emmy, with her new, anonymous look of sunglasses, baggy clothes and badly dyed hair, makes changes around Evan's house and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">charms the townsfolk, Evan finds it harder and harder to accept that this is Emmy's "Summer of No Men" before she returns to the high-paced pop star life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In some ways, <i>Famous </i>is what I think of as a quiet romance. This has to do with the levels and presentation of angst or conflict, and also the way main characters support one another, and are mindful of the other's </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">wellbeing and emotional state. Both Evan and Emmy were vulnerable in their own ways: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Evan is still dealing with the emotional legacy of his father's actions and how these affect his present and future, while Emmy is struggling with her lack of self-determination in her career.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">On the other hand, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">the sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop - </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">for Emmy to be recognised, for their idyllic time together to come to an end - but not knowing how this would come about, was</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> incredibly suspenseful. It offset the domesticity of Evan and Emmy's life together well, and was one of my favourite aspects of the book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I also loved the way Emmy related to her teenaged fans, and the teenaged characters in the book. It was refreshing to see teenagers' opinions being treated as legitimate, as opposed to the subject of scorn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Overall, <i>Famous</i> was a cute and well-done small-town-slash-rock-star romance. It was close to being a favourite within each of those tropes. Partially, that's because I'm not a big reader of either, but it's also because I'm yet to meet a Jenny Holiday book I haven't enjoyed, even if this wasn't amongst my very favourites. </span></div>
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Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-86146200125588202192017-07-09T14:54:00.001+02:002017-07-09T14:55:11.919+02:00Review: Sight Unseen Anthology<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Multiple ratings</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The concept of this anthology was that well-known romance authors would each write a story outside of their usual genre, but their name would not be attached to it until some time after publication, leaving the reader to guess which author wrote which story. I thought the concept was clever and was executed well - although I am pretty sure I know the author of one story, I can only make guesses at the rest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Even though I auto-buy three of the five authors included in this anthology (Thomas, Barry and Satie), and regularly also read and enjoy Duran's books, I found the majority of stories (3/5) just okay. I've been thinking about this: on one hand, it's very common for anthologies to be a bit of a mixed bag, while, on the other, I think the experimental nature of the anthology could also be a contributing factor. Not having the authors name attached to their </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">work means there's a lack of confirmation bias, because the reader can't go in thinking: 'I've loved all of this author's previous work, surely I will love this as well' and is thus more critical than they might otherwise be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nonetheless, I think that Sight Unseen is full of quick, interesting reads, and contains something for everyone,</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> except maybe readers who heavily lean towards historical romance. The novelty factor also adds something fun and unique to the reading experience. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>Lost that Feeling</b></i><b> - 3 stars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Before being captured as the leader of a rebellion, Alma used her magic to wipe her memory. When her fellow rebels break her out of the prison where she has been kept, she must relearn her place in this underground movement against the King, and begins to question her motives her wiping her memory, and her relationship to Driss, the man who helped her escape. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Objectively, the world-building in <i>Lost that Feeling</i> was great. I'm sure most people would have enjoyed it more than I did, but I have very been particularly interested in the kind classical fantasy setting that appears here. Given a strong romance arc - like in Grace Draven's work - I can sometimes let myself go and enjoy such settings, but there were only the slightest hints of romance between Alma and Driss. Having said that, I did like the open and hopeful ending, which reminded me of the teasing ending of a prequel novella, before the book actually dedicated to unravelling the hero and heroine's relationship.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>A Clear View of You</b></i><b> - 3 stars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kate works as a psychic to pay off her student debts, even though she hates it and the whole thing is obviously bogus. But then North shows up</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, offering her an obscene amount of money if she'll use her 'skills' to help him locate an object. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a Fey, North knows that Kate has no psychic talent, but what she does have is a mother who is meddling with powers beyond her control. He needs Kate's help to gain entrance to the compound where her mother's so-called 'coven' live, and take back a Fey orb whose power is being misused, before it is too late.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Again, I liked the world-building and backstory of this one more than the romance. Kate has issues from growing up with a hippy mother who believes she is a witch, and just wants to lead a normal life. North is more of an enigma as a character, but the differentiation between the mundane and fey worlds were well-explained and -constructed. However, I wasn't convinced by the romance arc, and feel like the story would have benefited from being a bit longer, or having a bit more characterisation on North's part. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Free</i> - 3 stars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In small-town Montana, Wren's father and uncle run the local second-hand car dealership and a motorcycle club. She's sure that the club just a social thing for bored guys for like motorbikes and wearing leather jackets until the dealership's dorky part-time accountant, clues her into some suspicious stuff on the books. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Brad has had it bad for Wren for ages, but she's the town's unofficial first daughter, not to mention the on-again/off-again relationship with one of the guys in the motorcycle club. But when he accidentally lets Wren in on what's going on behind the scenes, assuming she was already in the know, she begins to make her own investigations, and needs someone to turn to when she uncovers something unpleasant. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Heroes in motorcycle clubs are currently all the rage, and Free used this trope in a creative way that I really appreciated. Making it MC-adjacent meant that the reader doesn't have to tackle the moral greyness or suspension of disbelief involved when the hero is actually a biker. The story was also very well written and paced. I considered giving it a higher ranking, but didn't, because Wren's portrayal of the</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> dumb-blonde-with-smokin'-body portrayal rankled. There's nothing inherently sexist about it - in fact, it is a good example of Butler's concept of performative gender, but it was continually a point of focus in a way that centred the male gaze, and it dampened my enjoyment of the whole thing a bit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Chariot of Desire</i> - 3.5 stars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The 70's were good to the legendary band Donjon, but as the 1980's roll around, the rock'n'roll lifestyle has taken its toll. Lead singer Donny has joined a Christian sect, and is thus unwilling to sing any of their backlist that contains immoral themes. So, basically, all of it. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">With the stress on the band reaching breaking point, Donny turns to the band's drummer, CJ, as they try to find a balance between Donny's religion and demons, CJ's standoffishness and the good of the band.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I found <i>Chariot of Desire</i> interesting and different, for a number of reasons. There's the mid-to-late 20th century setting (which I think is massively underused in romance), the use of religion and sectism and the fact that the main characters are past their prime and live (or lived) for sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. As with other stories in the anthology, there is an open ending without a definitive HFN or HEA, but for some reason it worked slightly better for me here, perhaps because it would have been too much of an about-face for the characters to commit to a relationship together. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>The Heart is a Universe</i></b> <b>- 5 stars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Every generation, on the planet of Pax Cara, a child is chosen and raised with the knowledge that, when they grow up, they will be a sacrifice to the old gods. With less than a month left until she must sacrifice herself, Vitalis is looking for a way out. A hero in his own right, Eleian of Terra Illustrata has watched the media coverage of Vitalis for many years. When they meet at an official function, he makes her a public offer of marriage. She accepts, but both of them are hiding things from the other, and the day of the sacrifice is growing ever closer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The Heart is a Universe</i> was the anthology's stand-out story for me. The world-building, characterisation and plot were all amazing, and it several times it went in directions I genuinely did not expect. It has an unconventional HEA, and if someone else had told me about it, I would have scoffed and denied that anyone could ever pull that off, but somehow, the author does. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also, for those of you taking part it July's <a href="http://www.romancenovelnews.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1381:#">#RomBkLove</a> on Twitter or elsewhere, yesterday's theme was "favourite Virgin Hero/Heroine", and many of us talked about our love for virgin heroes, and made some suggestions. I forgot to mention Eleian, but he is an awesome virgin hero, and I love the way this is worked into the story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Concluding Thoughts</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Looking back on what I've written, it strikes me that <i>Sight Unseen</i> is not just experimental in form, but is also pushing the romance boundaries in other ways, particularly in the way many of the endings do not fit genre conventions surrounding the HEA/HFN. That makes me feel bad about critiquing them, or - more accurately - critiquing some and accepting others. But I'm all about the HEA. </span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-42831999088347669012017-06-30T16:47:00.005+02:002017-06-30T16:48:53.625+02:00Overview: June Reading<h2>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read in June:</b> 19</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read YTD: </b>93</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fiction Titles: </b></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">16 (9 contemporary romance, 5 historical romance, 1 paranormal romance, 1 romance anthology)</span></li>
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<b style="font-family: georgia;">Non-Fiction Titles: </b><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2 (History)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Other:</b></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1 Poetry</span></li>
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<h3>
Noteworthy Novels</h3>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30226770-the-lawrence-browne-affair">The Lawrence Browne Affair</a></i> by Cat Sebastian</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34878010-small-change">Small Change</a></i> by Roan Parrish</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28869598-hard-hitter">Hard Hitter</a></i> by Sarina Bowen</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35389458-famous">Famous</a></i> by Jenny Holiday (Release Date: 11th July 2016)</span></li>
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<h3>
Noteworthy Non-Fiction</h3>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33010052-romanov">Romanov: The Last Tsarist Dynasty</a></i> by Michael W. Simmons</span></li>
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<h3>
Noteworthy Settings</h3>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30635472-sugar-pie-guy">Sugar Pie Guy</a></i> by Tabitha True - 1977 Cleveland</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17726969-the-chocolate-thief">The Chocolate Thief</a> </i>by Laura Florand - contemporary Paris</span></li>
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<h3>
Kick-ass Characters</h3>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34878010-small-change">Small Change</a></i> by Roan Parrish - Heroine Ginger is not good at letting people get close, and it's lovely to see a spiky heroine and the hero who loves her.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30226770-the-lawrence-browne-affair">The Lawrence Browne Affair</a></i> by Cat Sebastian - the way the heroes were kind, caring and thoughtful to each other was absolutely my catnip.</span></li>
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From the Internet this Month</h3>
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<b>Romance</b></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/blogs/2017/06/romance-in-the-age-of-the-trigger-warning">Romance in the Age of the Trigger Warning: Do Readers Need to be Warned?</a></i> by Robin Lovett at Heroes & Heartbreakers</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Literature, Craft and the Publishing Industry</span></b><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/turning-pages-how-reading-is-still-popular-in-australia-despite-everything-20170609-gwnxl6.htmlhttp://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/turning-pages-how-reading-is-still-popular-in-australia-despite-everything-20170609-gwnxl6.html">Turning Pages: How reading is still popular in Australia despite everything</a></i> by Jane Sullivan at The Sydney Morning Herald</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/08/thomas-keneally-cultural-appropriation-is-dangerous?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks">Thomas Keneally: 'Cultural appropriation is dangerous'</a></i> by Naaman Zhou at The Guardian Australia</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/vintage-photos-bookmobiles-traveling-libraries?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=atlas-page">Vintage Photos of Travelling Libraries</a></i> by Anika Burgess at Atlas Obscura</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/looking-for-alibrandi-facts?utm_term=.msAND105z#.dte6ovxN1">11 Things You Might Not Know About Looking for Alibrandi</a></i> by Jenna Guillaume at Buzzfeed Australia</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other Media</span></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://overland.org.au/2014/05/blackface-in-a-white-nation/">Blackface in a white nation</a></i> by Morgan Godfrey at Overland Journal - On Chris Lilley's <i>Jonah from Tonga</i>, with reference to both Australia and New Zealand, where Maori TV has been receiving criticism for its decision to screen the show.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://medium.com/@SonofBaldwin/my-soul-looks-back-and-wonders-a-critical-examination-of-the-wonder-woman-movie-10ba3bfd71f0">My Soul Looks Back and Wonders: A Critical Examination of the Wonder Woman Movie </a></i>by Son of Baldwin on Medium</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-brief-history-of-steven-moffat-saying-why-he-never-pi-1795962802?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=io9_twitter">A Brief History of Steven Moffat Saying Why He Never Picked a Female Doctor Who</a></i> by Beth Elderkin at i09</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/06/13/box-office-rotten-tomatoes-netflix-and-a-perfect-storm-dooms-hollywood/#509df2793a61">Rotten Tomatoes, Netflix and A Perfect Storm That Dooms Hollywood</a></i> by Scott Mendelson at Forbes</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Women & Feminism</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://lithub.com/why-are-we-so-afraid-of-female-desire/">Why Are We So Afraid of Female Desire?</a></i> by Carol Dyhouse at Literary Hub</span></li>
</ul>
<br /></div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-50526280224574514112017-06-25T14:00:00.002+02:002017-09-25T12:41:13.783+02:00Review: Ride Baby Ride by Vivian Arend<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>2 stars</b></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31398069-ride-baby-ride?from_search=true">Ride Baby Ride</a></i> by Vivian Arend was a trope buffet: brother's best friend, amnesiac heroine and surprise pregnancy, to name the biggest three. But it's like when you arrive to the breakfast buffet 15 minutes before it closes, and are forced to make do with the one remaining crossiant, congealed baked beans and some tinned peaches, because that's all that's left. Not a particularly great combo, especially when you have to put them on a single plate, because they've started packing the dishes away. To unpack that terrible metaphor, I basically just felt like there were lots of different tropes and elements all smushed into one short novella, and they didn't have enough space to breathe. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When Katy breaks up with her low-life boyfriend Simon, Gage Jennick - a close friend of Katy's family - decides to make his move. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's far from ideal timing - he's just about to leave for a gig on a oil field - but they spend the night together, and promise to continue the relationship when he returns. Except that, in the meanwhile, Katy has a car accident and loses her short-term memory, forgetting her night with Gage and situation with her ex-boyfriend. When she finds out she's pregnant, both step foward and claim to be the baby's father. Katy has to fit the pieces together, but that's hard to do when Gage is determined to win her back and prove to her that he doesn't just want her, but the baby and a long-term future as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There was a marked lack of development of Gage and Katy's relationship. At first, Katy is trying to hold him at bay and figure things out and and then, WHAM, they're going to spend their lives together. This was - at least in part - due to the time jumps littered throughout. Those also fell victim to my pet hate when it comes to time jumps: instead of 'two months later' or similar at the top of the chapters, it says 'November', thus requiring you to remember the month named at the <i>previous</i> time jump. For someone with a goldfish brain like mine, this is pretty much impossible, and I ended up skim-reading the first few pages after each time jump, looking for clues - like how much Katy's pregnancy had progressed - which would allow me to establish how much time had passed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There was also some toxic masculinity that interfered with my enjoyment of the story, as did the gigantic suspension of disbelief required to buy the way the external conflict comes to a climax. I'm not gonna spoil that, mainly because it's just so crazysauce I wouldn't even know where to begin, but there are some Goodreads reviews that talk about it if you are interested. </span></div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-86836370970967442722017-06-03T21:44:00.002+02:002017-10-04T17:18:43.175+02:00Overview: May Reading<h2>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown</span></h2>
<div>
</div>
Five months in I'm really starting to see the value of tracking my reading like this. For example, I never realised before how, in the normal run of things, I read more contemporary than historical romance, but switch to pretty much 100% historicals as soon as my stress levels start to go up. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that historical romance - obviously - bears less resemblance to me everyday life, and therefore is more escapist? Or is it because historical romance was my first love and gateway to the genre?<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read in May:</b> 14</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read YTD: </b>76</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fiction Titles: </b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">11 (8 historical romance, 3 contemporary romance)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><b>Non-Fiction Titles: </b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3 (1 memoir/social history, 2 history)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
Noteworthy Novels</h3>
<ul>
<li><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33844561-clean-breaks">Clean Breaks</a></i> by Ruby Lang</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31951080-by-the-hour">By the Hour</a></i> by Roni Loren</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30517107-an-unseen-attraction">Unseen Attraction</a></i> by K J Charles</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25256835-seven-minutes-in-heaven">Seven Minutes in Heaven</a></i> by Eloisa James</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21956516-a-dangerous-madness">A Dangerous Madness</a></i> by Michelle Diener</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Noteworthy Non-Fiction</h3>
<ul>
<li><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27429427-talking-to-my-country">Talking to My Country</a></i> by Stan Grant</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25695605-bombing-the-rainbow-warrior">Bombing the Rainbow Warrior</a></i> by Michael King</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Noteworthy Settings</h3>
<ul>
<li>The Philippines - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32496279-prep-and-prejudice" style="font-style: italic;">Prep & Prejudice</a> by Miren B. Flores</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Kick-ass Characters</h3>
<ul>
<li><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30517107-an-unseen-attraction">Unseen Attraction</a></i> by K J Charles - Neuroatypical hero & neurotypical hero unite to solve a crime threatening their home and businesses</li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33844561-clean-breaks">Clean Breaks</a></i> by Ruby Lang - heroine Sarah is feeling angry and threatened due to a melanoma diagnosis and the reappearance of the hero in her life, which brings up memories of a long-ago teenage scandal.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
From the Internet this Month</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Romance</b></div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><i><a href="http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/blogs/2017/05/romance-isnt-the-reason-for-singledom">Romance Isn't the Reason for Singledom</a></i> by Andie J. Christopher at <i>Heroes and Heartbreakers</i></li>
<li><i><a href="https://lacyliteracy.com/2017/05/25/100-stem-heroines-in-romance/">STEM Heroines in Romance: the Master List </a></i>by A.J. at <i>Lacy Literacy</i></li>
<li><i><a href="http://openinkpress.com/2017/05/on-romance-and-pre-existing-conditions-by-cat-sebastian/">On Romance and Pre-Existing Conditions</a> </i>by Cat Sebastian at <i>Open Ink Perspectives</i></li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.pinkheartsociety.com/single-post/May2017/TheDisRomProject">The #DisRom Project</a> </i>by Dr Ria Cheyne at The Pink Heart Society - exciting project about disability in romance novels & the romance community</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Literature, Craft and the Publishing Industry</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/30/more-than-the-n-word-how-a-tense-paul-beatty-interview-raises-bigger-questions?CMP=share_btn_tw">More than the N-Word: How a 'tense' Paul Beatty interview raises bigger questions</a></i> by Steph Harmon at <i>The Guardian</i> - On a session at the Sydney Writers' Festival, which revealed much about how Australia deals with race.</li>
<li><i><a href="https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2017/05/22/classics-colonization-and-a-call-for-change-by-padma-venkatraman/#comment-64704">Classic, Colonization and a Call for Change</a></i> by Padma Venkatraman at <i>Nerdy Book Club</i></li>
<li><i><a href="https://e-tangata.co.nz/news/tina-makereti-stories-can-save-your-life">Tina Makereti: Stories Can Save Your Life</a></i> at e-Tangata - On assembling a Maori, Pasifika and multicultural New Zealand canons of literature</li>
<li><i><a href="https://medium.com/@Bibliogato/antisemitism-and-the-girl-who-wouldnt-die-1de6462f10aa">Antisemitism and The Girl Who Wouldn't Die</a></i> by Katherine Locke on <i>Medium - </i>On a grossly antisemitic YA novel published this month</li>
<li><i><a href="http://lithub.com/is-show-dont-tell-a-universal-truth-or-a-colonial-relic/">Is "Show, Don't Tell" a Universal Truth or Colonial Relic?</a></i> by Nammrata Poddar at <i>Lithub</i></li>
<li><i><a href="https://theestablishment.co/what-really-happens-when-women-writers-ask-for-more-money-556bef9f9e2">What Really Happens When Women Writers Ask For More Money</a> </i>by Brittany Stalsburg at <i>The Establishment</i></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Other Media</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><i><a href="https://racehuluhandmaid.wordpress.com/2017/05/24/first-blog-post/">On Race and Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale </a></i>by Max S Gordon</li>
<li><i><a href="https://medium.com/@Limerick1914/the-doctor-who-episode-thin-ice-is-an-allegory-for-slavery-cb7bc3ba9bb1">The Doctor Who Episode 'Thin Ice' is a Allegory for Slavery</a></i> by Liam Hogan on <i>Medium</i></li>
<li><i><a href="http://www.thewhoresofyore.com/kates-journal/i-am-sunk-in-lust-and-lechery-the-history-behind-itv-encores-harlots">'I am sunk in lust and lechery': The History between ITV Encore's 'Harlots'</a></i> by Kate at <i>Whores of Yore</i></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Women & Feminism</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><i><a href="https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/fear-of-the-clit-a-brief-history-of-medical-books-erasing-womens-genitalia?utm_source=vicetwitterus">'Fear of the Clit': A Brief History of Medical Books Erasing Women's Genitalia</a></i> by Suzannah Weiss at <i>Broadly</i></li>
<li><i><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/05/how-a-frog-became-the-first-mainstream-pregnancy-test/525285/?utm_source=atltw">How a Frog Became the First Mainstream Pregnancy Test</a></i> by Ed Yong at <i>The Atlantic</i></li>
</ul>
</div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-42385979011514921452017-05-30T19:25:00.002+02:002017-05-30T19:25:34.282+02:00Non-Fiction Review: Bomber Girls by M J Foreman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PUoJfvZ0OeA/WRGBKexIlSI/AAAAAAAAEwQ/vlqeycCwv5U-Cvs-QkvZhqQAJwU1oGqvgCLcB/s1600/Bomber_Girls_book_jacket_Jun14_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PUoJfvZ0OeA/WRGBKexIlSI/AAAAAAAAEwQ/vlqeycCwv5U-Cvs-QkvZhqQAJwU1oGqvgCLcB/s320/Bomber_Girls_book_jacket_Jun14_s.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This was a frustrating one. I picked <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22354603-bomber-girls?ac=1&from_search=true">Bomber Girls</a></i> up to learn more about the Air Transport Auxillary in Britian during WWII, where civilian pilots - both female pilots and male pilots ineligble for service - shuttled planes across the country, and sometimes to the Continent, so that they would be where the RAF needed them, when they needed them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">With its plucky heroines battling against the Germans, their dangerous and unwieldy planes AND institutionalised prejudice, <i>Bomber Girls </i>had the raw ingredients of a ripper. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">But it wasn't, because it talks of the the women and their work in ways that are </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">alternatingly patronising, sensationalist, and just plain dull, not to mention the dubious handling of the sexism the female pilots faced. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">It is not until 16% of the way through the book that the institutionalised sexism the women faced is directly mentioned, with the use of the words "gender bias", which is then allowed to fall by the wayside again until 39%, when the same term is used again. Here are those two excerpts: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Whilst forbidden to go into combat, and never required to drop bombs, the 166 women of the ATA flew right through the barriers of gender bias in such a noble way they couldn’t help but play a significant role in securing Britain’s eventual superiority in the air. Thanks to the political guile of Miss Gower they were also the first collective of women to earn the same salary as their male colleagues doing the same job.</i> (16%)</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The fact that young women like Curtis got to fly at all, and got to pilot the RAF’s biggest aircraft, remains a miracle if we consider the disconcerting whiff of gender bias around at the time. </i>(39%)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">These excerpts capture the overall tone and framing of the book pretty well, in my opinion. Both dismiss the institutionalised sexism of the time in their phrasing, thus absolving the men, instutitions and hierarchies who did their utmost to prevent the creation of the female branch of the ATA, and, once it was created, to place as many roadblocks in their way as possible. In the first, Pauline Gower's relentless campaign for the inclusion of female pilots in the ATA, and, thereafter, for better working conditions for them, is dismissed as 'political guile'. Although this is perhaps not the most overt example, this </span><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">is part of a broader pattern of </span><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">presenting the female ATA pilots not as pilots, but as </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">women (or 'girls' as Foreman often writes), 'socialites' or dilettantes. (I consider 'guile' here to be gendered language, because I cannot imagine that a man, in a comparative situation, would have a word with such a negative connotation attached to his behaviour, instead of a neutral one like 'skillful'). </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">The use of the word 'miracle' in the second example is again agency-robbing and makes the institutionalised sexism perpetrator-less crime.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">It's actually quite impressive the lengths to which Foreman has gone to avoid tackling the sexism systematically. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">One has to read between the lines in a lot of places to understand the links between what is being relayed and the instense misogyny the women faced. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Similarly, stories from the women themselves that make the sexism overt are treated as humourous anecdotes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">There is also a distinction in the way the female and male pilots are characterised. The female pilots come off as glib and vain, and are frequently saved by the actions of their male counterparts, who are presented as skilful and heroic. I have no doubt that many of the female pilots were glib and concerned with their outward appearance, as these are both mechanisms through which they could manage the sexism with which they were faced. But that doesn't excuse the way these narratives - which were also used by the media and other sources to paint the women as dilettantes - are reproduced in a 21st Century text.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">Foreman does make some genuine attempts </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">to tackle the subject of sexism, just as there are stories that do not fit the pattern I've described above. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">However, in both cases, the instances to the contrary greatly outweigh those that do fit into these discourses, and are consistent enough to cancel out any such attempts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><i>Bomber Girls</i> initally caught my interest because last year I read <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13223671-his-very-own-girl?ac=1&from_search=true">His Very Own Girl</a></i> by Carrie Lofty, in which the heroine is an ATA pilot. Ultimately, I think that <i>His Very Own Girl </i>succeeds where </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Bomber Girls </i><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">fails, as it shows the sexism of the time and the every day life of the female ATA pilots in excellent detail, as well as having a satisfying central romance. </span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-54719750741081497542017-05-03T21:54:00.000+02:002017-10-04T17:18:52.539+02:00Overview: April Reading<h2>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown</span></h2>
<div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another slow reading month *sigh*. Maybe it's time to face up to the fact that this is the new normal, and adjust my expectations accordingly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read in April:</b> 13</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read YTD: </b>62</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fiction Titles: </b>12</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";">12 Romance (5 historical romance, 6 contemporary romance, 1 historical paranormal)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><b>Non-Fiction Titles: </b>1</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";">1 Scientific Journalism/Personal History</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><b>Poetry Titles:</b> 1</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
Noteworthy Novels</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30179647-devil-in-spring?from_search=true">Devil in Spring</a></i> by Lisa Kleypas</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34198964-goodbye-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true">Goodbye Paradise</a></i> by Sarina Bowen</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30547690-the-undateable?from_search=true">The Undateable</a></i> by Sarah Title</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<br />Noteworthy Non-Fiction</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">N/A - Once again, I only read one non-fiction book this month, and I'll be damned if I let it win by default, because it was self-aggrandizing and tone-deaf Kindle Single about Henrietta Lacks, written by the journalist who originally broke the story. I only bought it because I can't afford <i>The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks</i> at the moment, but I wish I hadn't. </span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
Noteworthy Settings</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mumbai & Fatehpur - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18137933-girl-from-fatehpur?from_search=true" style="font-style: italic;">Girl from Fatehpur</a> by Sarita Varma</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">France in the reign of Louis XIV - <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33134729-the-princess-and-the-diamonds">The Princess and the Diamonds</a></i> by Lila DiPasqua</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hell (yes, you read that right) - <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31433895-happily-ever-afterlives">Happily Ever Afterlives</a></i> by Olivia Waite</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
Kick-ass Characters</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bernie from </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30547690-the-undateable?from_search=true">The Undateable</a></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">by Sarah Title - A great unlikeable heroine</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nate & Robyn from <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30059610-perv">Perv</a></i> by Dakota Gray - They're the dirty, fucked up couple you didn't know you needed in your life. Nate's your classic playboy with a fresh twist, but Robyn's not buying his practiced routine.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Gabriel from </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30179647-devil-in-spring?from_search=true">Devil in Spring</a></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">by Lisa Kleypas - Come on, he's Evie and Sebastian's son. It was genetically impossible for him not to be kick-ass, but he endeared himself to me in the way he dealt with Pandora's worries about losing her legal personhood.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
From the Internet this Month</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/apr/30/the-female-gaze-through-70-years-of-magnum?CMP=twt_gu">Viet Thanh Nguyen Reveals How Writer's Workshops Can Be Hostile</a></i> by Viet Thanh Nguyen at The New York Times - On Writer's Workshops as a construct that normalises and institutionalises Westernness, whiteness and masculinity</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://theodoragoss.com/2017/04/03/mapping-the-fairy-tale-heroines-journey/">Mapping the Fairy-tale Heroine's Journey</a></i> by Theodora Goss</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/not-your-belly-not-your-business/serena-williams-reproduction-and-athleticism">Not Your Belly, Not Your Business: On Serena Williams, Reproduction and Athleticism</a> </i>by Jenn Jackson at Bitch Media</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/books/a8776074/how-romance-novel-covers-get-made/">How the Covers of Your Favourite Romance Novels Get Made </a></i>by Eliza Thompson at Comsopolitan</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/apr/30/the-female-gaze-through-70-years-of-magnum?CMP=twt_gu">The Female Gaze through 70 Years of Magnum</a></i> by Giles Tremlett at the Guardian</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.tor.com/2017/04/07/tradition-and-superstition-the-jinn-in-the-family-closet/">Tradition and Superstition: The Jinn in the Family Closet</a></i> by Karuna Riazi at Tor.com</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-18029526978816715212017-04-26T17:22:00.002+02:002017-04-26T17:22:46.744+02:00Review: Peter Darling by Austin Chant<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>4.5 stars</b></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33358438-peter-darling?ac=1&from_search=true"><i>Peter Darling</i></a> is a beautiful queer fairy tale that is both whimsical and poignantly real. It revolves around Peter Pan returning to Neverland as an adult, taking refuge from the real world where he is forced to live in the body of a young woman named Wendy Darling. Things have changed in Neverland and Captain Hook and the Lost Boys are no longer at war, but Peter resumes his old feud with Hook all the same, only to discover that his old nemesis now evokes a whole other set of feelings. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">At the beginning of the book, we see Peter much as one would imagine: he's the boy that never grew up, playing his war games without thought for the cost of his </span><span style="font-family: "georgia";">vendetta. As much as I came to love Peter - and the book - I struggled a little bit with this initial third of the story because of the senseless and casual violence Peter inflicts. However, I think this has more to do with me and my </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">sensitivity to violence than the book itself. Hook also reveals to Peter - and thus the reader - something about the nature of Neverland that made the violence much easier for me to bear, allowing me to get lost in the story in a way that I had previously been prevented from doing. Similarly, regardless of how I reacted to it personally, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">this initial immaturity is essential to Peter's character, and his progression to realising the consequences of his actions - while still maintaining his boyish enthusiasm - was masterful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">The energetic and impulsive Peter is balanced perfectly by Hook's ennui-stricken and world-weary facade, and</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> the relationship between the two was everything you ever wanted from the enemies-to-lovers trope.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Both characters are morally ambiguous, and the Neverland here is not the sanitised version of the Disney film, but - as I mentioned earlier - one with real dangers, real violence, and slightly sinister undertones like those in old fairy tales.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Nevertheless, Chant's Neverland is the best kind of fantasy world, </span><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">the kind that frees us from the oppressive realities of our world, instead of replicating them. There, Peter isn't faced with gender dysphoria, or disapproval, judgement and condescension from his family. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Neither must James remember the sorrows of his life in the 'real world' of post-WWI Britain.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">This has been a short review - by my standards - but it's very hard to capture the magic of <i>Peter Darling</i> in words. It's rekindled my childhood love of the story, when I would open the copy of the book my great-uncle had given me just to look at the pictures, or when I watched my VHS copy of the animated movie so many times that it eventually unspooled in the video player, breaking them both. But it's added another deeper dimension to the story, and, as far as I'm concerned, Disney and J. M. Barrie can both go home, because <i>Peter Darling</i> is now canon Peter Pan. </span></div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-28540586469682232372017-04-20T22:10:00.001+02:002017-04-20T22:10:08.123+02:00Review: Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>2 stars</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">*SPOILER ALERT*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13511369-against-the-tide?from_search=true">Against the Tide</a></i> is an inspirational romance with a wonderful sense of place and a good premise, but I was disappointed by the male characters and the presentation of faith.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">It takes place in 1890s Boston, where Lydia Pallas works as a translator for the Navy. Desperate to make enough money to buy her apartment outright before she is evicted, she takes on extra work translating Turkish and Albanian for Alexander Banebridge, a friend of her boss', in his attempt to crack the North American opium trade. Bane has dedicated himself to his crusade, and he won't be swayed by his attraction to Lydia, even as he puts her and her job in danger. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">If my blurb doesn't sound entirely neutral, that's because it isn't. I really did try to write an blurb that uninfluenced by my opinion of Bane and the other male characters, but it was impossible, so in the end, I just went 'stuff it, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia";">I'm going to be talking about it in the next paragraph anyway' and cast some subtle shade. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">The two main male characters - Bane and his friend, Admiral Eric Fontaine, who is also Lydia's boss - both treat Lydia abominably. Bane sweet-talks and manipulates her into undertaking actions of questionable legality for his crusade against opium, trading on her desperate need for money, and when Eric discovers this, he promptly fires her, without any thought about what it will mean for her ability to provide for herself. Having got what he wants from her - translations about shipments of opium - Bane drops her like a hot rock, not even paying her the rest of the money he owes her until many months later. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">So Lydia is forced out of her home, and into a hand-to-mouth existence working in a bakery. Bane's actions are made worse by the fact that Lydia's upbringing in an orphanage has left her with a need for security and ordered surroundings, and she repeatedly makes him aware of how much she fears sliding back into poverty. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">It read like a penny dreadful, with Lydia as the poor, waifish heroine, whose fall from grace has a moral about consorting with men and being a heathen. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Other elements of the plot also reinforce this Gothic vibe, such as - SPOILER ALERT - Lydia's addiction to opium, and her imprisonment in a isolated estate. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Throughout most of the book, Bane is the one of the two who is supposedly a committed Christian, while Lydia isn't very religiously inclined (of course, the nature of inspirational romance means that Lydia does become Christian). However, in my opinion, neither Bane nor Eric comes off well as an example of Christian charity, or any positive Christian trait. Yes, Bane's desire to end the opium trade is driven by his faith, but it's mostly to absolve himself of his prior involvement in it, rather than any genuine desire to help others. I'm not very religious, but my grandmother is from the 'whatever you did for the least of my followers, you did for me' school of thought, not the 'cause an innocent woman's downfall and a lot of grief for a lot of people, but don't worry about the ramifications of your actions, because you're a self-righteous Christian man' one. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">But, you know, po-tay-tos, po-tah-tos . </span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">As though the whole ghosting-the-heroine-for-several-months wasn't enough, Bane also feels the need to constantly lecture the female characters about how they can save their souls. Other male characters also mansplain Christianity, and I came to resent the way that this was presented as a revelation from moral, Christian men (who weren't really that moral), to women, as though women are inherently immoral or need to have men interpret religion and proselytise it to them. However, while both are inherently gendered and adhere to the virgin-whore dichotomy, I did find it interesting to note the difference between the dynamic in <i>Against the Tide</i> and many other inspirational romances I have read, where the heroine is a pure and good Christian, and must teach the hero the error of his ways. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">But, back to my problems with Bane, he was also a bit holier-than-thou about the whole fight against the opium trade, and did this horrible 'I-told-you-so' throughout Lydia's recovery from opium addiction (when he wasn't evangelising).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">At this point, you may well be wondering why I've given <i>Against the Tide </i>two stars, since I've just written a huge laundry list of all the things I *didn't* like (here's looking at you, Bane). But there were elements that I liked, or that worked for me. The naval and opium trade and usage aspects were interesting, well-researched and well-integrated into the story. It's always nice to see a historical romance heroine with an occupation, and I appreciated that Lydia was learned, employed and independent, although much of this is, of course, undercut in the course of the story. Similarly, she is an immigrant, she and her family having arrived from Greece when she was a child. I also admired what Camden tried to do here with having an opium-addicted heroine, even if the religious, paternalistic and moralising undertones meant that it didn't always work for me. Despite my problems with it, the story was also compelling, in that way that Gothic and old-school romances often are.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">I have a strange relationship with inspirational romance, as I think many romance readers do. For me, this definitely fell into the 'too much inspie' category, and I wouldn't advise reading it unless you are a hardcore inspie-lover and are totally feeling the gender dynamic (although I'm not sure that inspie-loving gender-traditionalists frequent this small-time, rant-y, feminist blog). If you are interested in giving something of Camden's a go, I have previously read and enjoyed </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25630592-toward-the-sunrise">Toward the Sunrise</a></i><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> and </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24934027-until-the-dawn" style="font-style: italic;">Until the Dawn</a>, which feature all of the strong points of <i>Against the Tide </i>- strong, working heroine, good sense of place and interesting historical tidbits - without nearly as many pitfalls. </span></div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-5138696593226371242017-04-08T12:13:00.005+02:002017-10-04T17:19:02.571+02:00Overview: March Reading<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The blog's been pretty quiet this last month, because I've been drowning in uni work. I've come up now for a quick breath of air, but I suspect I'll be pulled back down in a week or two. Apologies in advance for that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My uni commitments also meant this wasn't a very prolific reading month for me. Reading in English also seems to interfere with my ability to slip back into German when I step out my front door or put away my book at the end of a bus trip. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nonetheless, here is my reading for the month, in all its underwhelming glory:</span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown</span></h2>
<div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read in March:</b> 14</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read YTD: </b>49</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fiction Titles: </b>13</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";">13 Romance (4 historical romance, 7 contemporary romance, 1 fantasy & 1 mixed anthology)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><b>Non-Fiction Titles: </b>1</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";">1 Social History/Theology</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Since I started this feature in January, I've been playing around with what I want it to look like. The previous months have focused heavily on setting, but I'm not sure that interests anyone as much as it interests me, so I've come up with something new and different this month that I think has better long-term potential (and is less time-consuming so maybe I'll actually get these posts up on time, even if I am busy). Also, if you have any opinions about what you would like to see in these posts, feel free to give me a shout. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"></span><br />
<h3>
<br />
Noteworthy Novels</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30237404-an-extraordinary-union">An Extraordinary Union</a></i> by Alyssa Cole</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33358438-peter-darling">Peter Darling</a></i> by Austin Chant</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<br />
Noteworthy Non-Fiction</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">N/A - I only read one NF book all month, although I suppose that means that <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21007354-geering-and-god?ac=1&from_search=true">Geering and God 1965 - 1971: The Heresy Trial that divided New Zealand</a></i> wins by default!</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<br />
Noteworthy Settings</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Neverland - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33358438-peter-darling"><i>Peter Darling</i></a> by Austin Chant</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";">Antarctica - <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33292473-heating-it-up">Heating it Up</a></i> by Elizabeth Harmon</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Civil War-era American South - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30237404-an-extraordinary-union"><i>An Extraordinary Union</i></a> by Alyssa Cole</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1890s Boston - <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13511369-against-the-tide">Against the Tide</a></i> by Elizabeth Camden (review <a href="http://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.de/2017/04/review-against-tide-by-elizabeth-camden.html">here</a>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sydney, Australia - <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25213997-spiritbound">Spiritbound</a></i> by Dani Kristoff</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<br />
Kick-ass Characters</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Elle from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30237404-an-extraordinary-union"><i>An Extraordinary Union</i></a> by Alyssa Cole - Elle is a free woman with an eidetic memory, who goes undercover as a slave </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">to pass information to the Union during the Civil War</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">James Hook from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33358438-peter-darling"><i>Peter Darling</i></a> by Austin Chant - not all anti-heroes wear capes, but James probably would if you gave him the chance</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
From the Internet this Month</h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/03/the-trauma-of-facing-deportation">The Trauma of Facing Deportation</a></i> by Rachel Aviv for the New Yorker - In January I reviewed <i><a href="http://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.de/2017/01/non-fiction-review-time-to-dance-time.html">A Time to Dance, A Time to Die</a></i> by John Waller, in which Waller contends that the 1518 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_Plague_of_1518"><i>Dancing Plague of Strasbourg</i></a><i> </i>was a case of the subconscious mind physically manifesting psychological distress in cultural determined ways. In this long-form journalism piece that is both heartbreaking and enlightening, Aviv explores something potentially: children - largely from Roma and Uyghur families from the ex-Soviet and Yugoslav states - who fall into a coma-like state after their families are denied permanent asylum in Sweden, despite having nothing medically wrong with them. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><i><a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/73072-danielle-steel-loves-the-weather-and-elmore-leonard-hates-exclamation-points-literature-by-the-numbers.html">Danielle Steel Loves the Weather and Elmore Leonard Hates Exclamation Points: Literature by the Numbers</a></i> by Ben Blatt at Publisher's Weekly - Particularly interesting to me is the way this data tells a story about the genre fiction/literary fiction divide</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><i><a href="http://blog.leeandlow.com/2017/03/30/the-diversity-gap-in-childrens-book-publishing-2017/">The Diversity Gap in Children's Book Publishing, 2017</a></i> by Hannah Ehrlich at Lee & Low Books</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><i><a href="https://blavity.com/why-my-read-across-america-day-was-different?utm_content=bufferf8ac4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">Why My "Read Across America Day" Was Different</a></i> by Katie at Blavity - on Dr Seuss' racism</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><i><a href="https://electricliterature.com/how-to-suppress-womens-criticism-1fc63ddf7721">How Not to Suppress Women's Criticism: On Neil Gaiman, Shirley Jackson, and the importance of not erasing women's writing</a></i> by Carmen Maria Machado at Electric Lit</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><i><a href="http://theconversation.com/diversity-the-stella-count-and-the-whiteness-of-australian-publishing-69976">Diversity, the Stella Count and the whiteness of Australian publishing</a></i> by Natalie Kon-yu at the Conversation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><i><a href="https://rewire.news/article/2016/03/07/romance-novels-imagine-world-women-can-win/?utm_content=bufferd5919&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">How Romance Novels 'Imagine a World in Which Women Can Win'</a></i> by Eleanor J. Bader at Rewire</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-68506395265796910272017-03-19T20:34:00.004+01:002017-05-29T22:05:56.044+02:00Review: Spirtbound by Dani Kristoff<div dir="ltr">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2 stars</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Originally, I was intrigued by </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25213997-spiritbound">Spiritbound</a>'s </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">premise of a Sydney coven of "folk" where young witches greatly outnumber warlocks. The basic plot had promise, but the writing and characterisation wasn't what I was hoping for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As young children, Grace and Declan were inseparable, but that all ended when Grace </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">accidentally raised her cousin's dead cat. Declan and his horrified parents moved overseas, while Grace became a pariah. Years later, Declan's back, and the shortage of available warlocks means that every young witch in Sydney has her eye on him, except for Grace. For her, Declan's presence is associated with the worst time in her life, and she knows that her marginal position within the coven means that she should stay well away from the new Golden Boy, even if he's showing interest in getting to know her again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Much of the plot concerns Grace's ostracism and the prejudice against her, as well as the disparate gender ratio in the coven. I thought that both of these plot points were ripe for nuanced explorations, but both are superficial (while the latter is also somewhat problematic). Partly, I think that this can be traced back to the simplistic </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">writing style, which tends towards telling and not showing: </span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Of course it hurt being snubbed, but Grace had built up a tolerance for it. Still, having Declan notice and calling attention to it filled her with shame. It was as if the whole room was pointing at her, vilifying her, instead of just tolerating her. Forcing Rose to acknowledge her presence made Grace confront the ostracism head-on, something she had not done for years. </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(8%)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The gender disparity in the coven - which I had hoped would be all women-power - was pretty much the opposite. Grace continually calls the women who shun her, and/or who are making a play for Declan, "bitch-witches". The one or two of these women whose characters are developed in depth are shown to be cruel, immoral and sexually promiscious (in a slut-shaming way), while Grace is a virginal turn-the-other-cheek kind of gal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There were also other gendered behaviours that made me feel very uneasy. Firstly, when Declan and Grace are reintroduced, she is upset by the association between him and the necromancy incident, since he was the one to report her misuse of magic as a child. She is quite clearly distressed, and tells Declan to leave her alone, but he keeps talking, criticising her reaction and demanding a second chance. "Demand" is actually the word that he uses, and later in the book, they laugh about it, but I find it hard to see the humour in the way men think that they are owed women's time and emotional labour, regardless of circumstance. A few chapters later, Declan grabs Grace and kisses her - without her consent - in the school where they both work, in front of the students. Somehow, at this point, I still was wiling to accept that maybe this was just a old-school romance-influenced novel, even though it was published in 2015, but the last straw was a horrible scene in which Grace is gaslighted by Declan and her own mother, who paint her reaction as hysterical when it is really quite reasonable and proportionate to the situation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I feel like maybe the reader was meant to overlook all this stuff because Grace's mother has a sex-positive attitude, which she has passed on to Grace, but the scales absolutely do not balance. This may be fiction, but fiction reflects and impacts our real world, and these are things that women - particularly women of colour and women who are marginalised along other axes - struggle with enough in everyday life, and having it legitimised and reflected it back to us in supposedly female-oriented literature only makes it worse. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Moving back to the story at large, I also had some problems with the romantic conflict. It's not that it's lacking, precisely, but one obstacle was exchanged for another late in the piece, which meant that there wasn't much build-up. Like the first, the second conflict was also dispensed with fairly quickly, thanks to a deus-ex-machina moment, leaving me feeling slighty unfulfilled, even though I thought I'd stopped backing the romance after the workplace-sexual-assualt and gaslighting incidents.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ultimately, my experience of <i>Spiritbound </i>was defined by the diactic writing style and disturbing gender dynamics. I can chalk the first one up to personal preference, but find I'm unable and unwilling to do that in the case of the second. Make of that what you will. </span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-64111171032293063912017-03-05T20:20:00.000+01:002017-03-05T20:31:54.992+01:00Review: Follow Me into Darkness Anthology<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Multiple ratings</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In Germany at this time of year, as elsewhere across the globe, people celebrate Carnival, which here is called <a href="https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/fasching-and-karneval/">Karneval, Fasching or Fastnacht</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. The day I arrived was </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Thursday" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Weiberfastnacht</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, and it was the first day of the big festival in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Carnival" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Cologne</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. Catching the train to the town where I am now living was a funny and wonderful experience, because many people were dressed up and getting into the celebratory mood, even though it was still early in the morning. Then, yesterday, I watched my social media as my friends back home in Sydney attended </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Gay_and_Lesbian_Mardi_Gras" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">our Mardi Gras</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> parade. All of this left me feeling a bit forlorn, because I had missed out on both set of celebrations. </span></div>
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But then I remembered <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28577622-follow-me-into-darkness">Follow Me into Darkness</a></i>, an anthology of queer romances centred around Carnival that I'd been meaning to read, and which I devoured last night and this morning. It was a really mixed bag, as anthologies often are. Here are my thoughts: </div>
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<b><i>Hurricane </i>by Santino Hassell - 3.5 stars</b></div>
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Two very different men find each other and explore New Orleans in one night during Carnival. The two heroes complemented each other well, but it's told entirely from one hero's (Zay's) perspective and I would have appreciated more insight into the other character, Keegan. </div>
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<b><i>If We Be Friends </i>by J C Lillis - 4 stars</b></div>
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This was the stand-out in the anthology for me. Two teenaged cast-mates on a Hamlet-inspired TV show turn over a new leaf. Poignant, touching, and so much love for the unabashed and witty use of Shakespeare. </div>
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<b><i>Masked </i>by J. R. Gray - 1.5 stars</b></div>
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God, I don't even know what to say about this one. I was riding high after <i>If We Be Friends</i>, and this brought me back to earth with a thud. Two childhood friends whose lives have gone in very different directions meet again when one comes to the aid of the other, who is being beaten up in a homophobic attack. Attacked hero wants to get it on with other hero, despite his injuries, and then there are a lot of artificial roadblocks put the way to prevent this, including a quest to find condoms and accidental cock-blocking by the beaten-up hero's lesbian beard wife (??!). I want to say that it's very cliched, but I'm also not comfortable making that assessment. </div>
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It's supposedly set in Brazil, but who knows where because a city is never mentioned. I guess non-Western countries are just exotically cultured monoliths, so why bother? Also, I'm not sure if I missed something, but at the beginning a date of February 2000 is given and there's no apparent time-jump, yet the heroes have Kindles and iPhones??? /end snarky rant</div>
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<b><i>The Queen's Reflection</i> by Kris Ripper - 3 stars</b></div>
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<i>The Queen's Reflection </i>takes place in a fantasy world, which I would normally be fine with but the last story had minimal Carnival vibes, and it feels weird to have an anthology where two consecutive stories have only minimal connection to the prompt in real-world terms. Anyway, fantasy world is pretty standard, in terms of being medieval-inspired, until weird futuristic things like keystrips (essentially credit cards?) pop up. Stuff like this is just dropped in and not properly explained or connected to the existing world-building that has occurred. </div>
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The female-assigned-at-birth main character, queen of the kingdom, has gender dysphoria, and fictional-world Carnival presents her with an opportunity to shed her skin and move around in disguise. Despite the fact that I started off with what I didn't like about this story, it was emotional, and the menage and self-discovery aspects work well.<br />
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<b>Touched by Roan Parrish - 3.5 stars</b><br />
Towards the end I thought <i>Touched</i> was for sure going to be 4 stars, and then it ripped my heart out with a very, very qualified HFN. The narrator, Phillippe, is a bar owner in prohibitionist New Orleans. When he touches people, he glimpses their futures, but during 1929's Carnival, his visions intensifies, and signal that something big is on the horizon. At the same time, he meets African-American trumpet player Claude, who he wants like no man or woman he's had before.<br />
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Writing was a touch florid in places - really, I hate the overuse of adjectives in people's visions/dreams, it just kills me - but this had so much history and story packed in to such a little novella, and I did enjoy it immensely. Even with the soul-destroying ending.<br />
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<b>Other thoughts</b><br />
I know that in the U.S., Carnival is strongly associated with New Orleans, so I guess it makes sense that two of the five stories in this anthology would be set there. However, Carnival/Mardi Gras is something that occurs across the historical Christian - particularly Catholic - world, with many different associations. For example, in Australia, it has become completely divorced from his Lenten roots, and is solely celebrated as a LGBTQIA+ festival, while in many other places the two exist side-by-side, and in some (like Germany), it has virtually no connection to the LGBTQIA+ community. I would have liked to see both the relationship between Carnival, Christianity and queerness and Carnival as a worldwide phenomenon explored in more depth, or tackled more overtly. I also feel like questions of who Carnival is for could have been more drawn out, although Hassell's story did deal excellently with this theme in a horribly realistic fight between the heroes and some homophobic tourists.<br />
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Ultimately, I feel like the fictional world and Brazil-with-minimal-reference-to-setting-and-interaction-with-Carnival stories didn't pull their weight in terms of actually exploring Carnival. But, in the introduction, the authors talk about shedding metaphorical masks for physical ones, and how this can be freeing for LGBTQIA+ people. So perhaps the metaphoric representation of Carnival is more important than the physical representation, and as a cishet person and someone constantly stuck in academic analysis mode, I haven't been able to appreciate that as I should (<i>The Queen's Reflection</i> did pull it's weight in this regard. No comment on Brazil.)<br />
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<b>NB: </b><br />
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<ul>
<li>Potential readers should be aware that some stories feature homophobic violence. </li>
<li>I've stuck with the 'Carnival' spelling for consistency and because it's the most internationally recognised (at least, Encyclopaedia Britiannica and Wikipedia both use this spelling), but the subtitle of the anthology actually uses 'Carnivale'. </li>
<li>I may as well take this chance to say that I don't know how active the blog will be in the next month or so - I have uni commitments over 8 hours a day, 6-7 days a week! </li>
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</span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-55989286207792274272017-02-28T15:46:00.002+01:002017-03-08T19:42:59.262+01:00Overview: February Reading<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This month was a bit of a slower reading month than January, mostly because of a big personal change that happened in my life: I moved to Germany to study!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Reading Overview & Genre Breakdown</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read in February:</b> 15</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Books read YTD: </b>35</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Fiction Titles: </b>12</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">11 Romance (2 historicals, 8 contemporaries, 1 historical fantasy)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1 General Fiction</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Non-Fiction Titles: </b>3</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2 History</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1 Sociology/Social History</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am currently reading <i>Sorcerer to the Crown</i> by Zen Cho, but I don't anticipate will be finished by the end of the day, so this will appear in March's stats. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Setting Statistics</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>USA:</b> 5</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26160213-stealing-mr-right"><i>Stealing Mr Right</i> by Tamara Morgan</a> - read my review <a href="http://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.de/2017/02/review-stealing-mr-right-by-tamara.html">here</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30363225-driven-to-distraction"><i>Driven to Distraction</i> by Olivia Dade</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28693731-along-came-love"><i>Along Came Love</i> by Tracey Livesay</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31193155-the-melody-of-you-and-me"><i>The Melody of You and Me</i> by M. Hollis</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28080614-hard-knocks"><i>Hard Knocks</i> by Ruby Lang</a> - review possibly to follow (partially set in Canada, but primarily set in Portland)</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>UK:</b> 4</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31225405-wanted-a-gentleman"><i>Wanted, A Gentleman</i> by K J Charles </a>- I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it, but I don't think I'll get around to reviewing it. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29565615-sweetest-regret"><i>Sweetest Regret</i> by Meredith Duran</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30631124-pretty-face"><i>Pretty Face</i> by Lucy Parker</a> - This was - predictably - brilliant. Again, I don't plan to review it, but it has snarky humour and all the feels, and you should definitely read it. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22051626-graveyard-sparrow"><i>Graveyard Sparrow</i> by Kayla Bashe</a></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Australia:</b> 1</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30526196-barbed-wire-and-cherry-blossoms"><i>Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms</i> by Anita Heiss</a> - this was my General Fiction read. Engaging and eye-opening story about a Japanese escapee from a POW camp in Cowra and the Wiradjuri family who shelter him. Romantic elements, but non-HEA warning!</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Nigeria: </b>1</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24758910-a-tailor-made-romance"><i>A Tailor-Made Romance</i> by <span itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.8px; text-decoration: none;">Oyindamola Affinnih</span></a> - Cute romance where the conflict comes from the heroine's perception of a class difference between her and the hero. Had some trouble with her self-absorption, even though it makes sense in the context of the story.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Philippines: </b>1</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34120847-tempting-hymn">Tempting Hymn by Jennifer Hallock</a></i> - see my review <a href="http://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.de/2017/02/review-tempting-hymn-by-jennifer-hallock.html">here</a>. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Non-Fiction with a Setting: </b>3</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28150666-the-divorce-colony"><i>The Divorce Colony</i> by April White</a> (US)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25360068-new-myths-and-old-politics"><i>New Myths and Old Politics: The Waitangi Tribunal and the Challenge of Tradition</i> by Tipene O'Regan</a> (NZ)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25176651-the-cathars"><i>The Cathars</i> by Sean Martin</a> (Europe, primarily France)</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Non-Fiction without a Setting:</b> 0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As you can see, I'm still mucking around with the format for these monthly overviews. I liked the idea of highlighting books I read that took place outside the dominant settings of the US and UK, but I also don't want to focus on that at the exclusion of marginalised and/or ownvoices authors, and characters that are something other than the white, cishet able-bodied default</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. So we'll see what I end up feeling comfortable with; it may be that it continues to differ from month to month. </span>Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-36702395564419871342017-02-23T13:59:00.000+01:002017-02-25T03:52:42.125+01:00Review: Tempting Hymn by Jennifer Hallock<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>4.5 stars</b></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Release date: </b>24/2/16</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="background-color: #fefdfd;">I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. My opinion is my own.</i></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have to admit, I was nervous about <i>Tempting Hymn, </i>because Hallock has set herself a mammoth task: telling the romance of a</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">'fallen' Filipina nurse and an American missionary workman recovering physically from illness, and mentally from the death of his wife and children, in only 152 pages. Even though I have read and loved both of Hallock's prior two works, where she tackles <span style="background-color: white;">similar storylines in comparative </span>depth, I'm still impressed at the way she has pulled it off. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Like the first novel in this series, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27227742-under-the-sugar-sun?from_search=true">Under the Sugar Sun</a></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, which </span><a href="http://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/review-under-sugar-sun-by-jennifer.html" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">I reviewed at the beginning of last year</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Tempting Hymn</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> manages to give adequate breathing room to the harsh historical realities of American colonial rule in the Philippines, while delivering a romance that is sweet, realistic and - above all - emotional.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Readers of <i>Under the Sugar Sun</i> will remember Rosa, the nurse assigned to care for Georgie's erstwhile fiance, Archie Blaxton.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> After the events of <i>Under a Sugar Sun</i>, Rosa gave birth to an </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">illegitimate half-American son, Miguel, and was ostracised both by </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the people she had lived alongside her whole life, and the missionary community for whom she worked as a nurse. Despite the fact that she wants nothing more to do with American men, caring for missionary Jonas Vanderberg gives her a final chance to regain her</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> nursing position at the local hospital, and give Miguel the life he deserves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Having lost his wife and daughters to cholera, Jonas has nothing left to live for. The surly and insistent Rosa is only prolonging his misery, until he realises the unjust way that she has been treated. There's fight left in Jonas yet, but a perceived connection between Rosa and another American man will only hinder Rosa's attempts to get her life back on track.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Rosa from <i>Tempting Hymn</i> is very different to the Rosa shown in <i>Under the Sugar Sun</i>. Partly, that's because she was irreparably changed by the events described there, but also because her side of the story humanises her. As a heroine, she's at once heartbreaking and eminently relatable. The way the world has treated her hasn't left her much room to be emotional, so she just gets on with what she needs to do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jonas is a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. He decided to enter the mission field to impress his wife's well-to-do family, because, while he may not be an educated man, he can build anything, and the missionary movement needs jacks-of-all-trades as much as they need fancy preacher men. While I had initial concerns that his faith wouldn't sit well with me, the religious aspect was something that I valued most about this book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As romance readers, we most often see representations and explorations of Christian faith in inspirational romances, but I want to make clear that <i>Tempting Hymn</i> is not an inspie. For a start, Rosa and Jonas would never cut it as a couple in an inspirational romance, because Rosa is Catholic, and she has no interest in converting. Secondly, I think Hallock's implicit focus here is the way religion is an ambiguous force. While Jonas is a man of God from the 'love thy neighbour' school of thought, the missionaries are able to </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">justify the wrongs of colonisation because they are saving the heathen Catholic Filipinos, just as people - both Catholic and Protestant - use religious doctrine to ostracise Rosa (but not the man who got her pregnant, because of course not!). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In this - and in other aspects of the book - Hallock highlights the way that repressing and proscribing sexuality adversely affects both women and men. Rosa and Jonas' tentative first love scene, where they are figuring out one another and themselves, was exquisitely done. In fact, all the sex scenes here are insanely hot, just like in <i>Under a Sugar Sun</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ultimately, just like in her other books, Hallock doesn't pull any punches in <i>Tempting Hymn</i>, with either the romance or the </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">historical detail. She does her setting and her characters justice, delivering a story that is raw and unflinching, but never too dark, because it has an engaging and touching romance at its core. </span></div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-76521059010507692882017-02-20T00:36:00.002+01:002017-02-20T00:37:25.650+01:00Review: In at the Deep End by Penelope Janu<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>3 stars</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32930560-in-at-the-deep-end" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-style: italic;">In at the Deep End</a> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">was a quirky Aussie romance by debut author Penelope Janu. I'd really been looking forward to this one, but I'm left feeling ambivalent, because, while I enjoyed the second half, I didn't connect to the first half.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Harriet 'Harry' Scott grew up in the public eye as the daughter of two globe-trotting conservationist documentary-makers. But an accident in her childhood has left her petrified of water. When the ship she is captaining - which was once her parent's but is now owned by the charitable foundation they set up - goes</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> down in Antarctic waters, Per Amundsen comes to her rescue. He's a Commander in the Norwegian Navy, on loan to the Australian Navy, and he's unimpressed by Harriet's plight. The sinking of the</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>The Watch</i> has damaged Harry's reputation, but</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Per has lost his chance to undertake his research on the Antarctic ice shelves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Harry has a plan to put things right: the Scott Foundation will buy a new ship, and Per can use that for his research. But the foundation doesn't have the money. Although Harry's high profile and Per's scientific connections would help fundraising efforts, Per wants no part of it. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He thinks that Harriet is incompetent, irresponsible and a danger to herself and others. When it becomes clear that the only way he will get what he wants is by working with her, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Per places a condition on his involvement: Harriet must learn to swim. And, when Per takes charge of Harry's swimming lessons himself, sparks fly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The whole novel is written from Harriet's perspective. This gives the reader an awareness her phobia - which I thought was portrayed realistically and sympathetically, as were the other psychological matters the book dealt with - but it also means that, until late in the piece, the reader sees Per as Harriet sees him: as </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">an uptight, overbearing pain-in-her-ass. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This lack of insight into the hero was critical to me, because I had trouble relating to Harriet. She doodles in high-stakes meetings with lawyers, even when people are talking directly to her. In her day-job as a geography teacher, she seems to spend more time drawing pictures on the whiteboard or talking to her students about her personal life than teaching the curriculum. She's also massively clumsy, which never sits well with me. Some of her irrationality and juvenility can be attributed to her phobia, but not all of it. For example, about mid-way through the book, Harry elbows Per in the stomach, because he's holding her arm and she's having a panic attack. That's perfectly acceptable. But then, towards the end, she punches him - 3 times - because he's "frustrating and intractable" (loc. 4409). Not acceptable. The romance between the two is a very slow-burn, which I usually love, but characterisation here meant that I had trouble even getting to the point where the romance began to warm up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, the second half, when Per and Harriet worked through their enmity, was nuanced and engaging. As Harriet and Per opened up to each other - particularly he to her, since we're already inside her head - I was better able to invest in their relationship. Their growing closeness allowed Per to be the kind of hero that I love, caring and compassionate. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In fact, there were a few moments that gave me butterflies, especially around the way he handled consent and safe sex. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I also really enjoyed the fact that <i>In at the Deep End</i> was set in Sydney, where I live. I can't help but feel a connection to a book that references and describes familiar places like the </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Quadrangle at USyd, the HMAS Penguin at Balmoral and Royal North Shore Hospital, which I have always known like the back of my hand, first because it was my dad's workplace, and then because it was my own. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because of my background in health care (and my general pedantry), I was pulled out of the story several times because of the artistic license taken with medical matters. While there's nothing wrong with that, and I doubt it will bother anyone else, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can't help but issue a </span>PSA<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">: if someone has hypothermia, don't massage or rub or massage their body or extremities. Best case scenario, you'll send the patient into worse shock and severely chaff their skin. Worst case scenario, you've got a cardiac arrest on your hands. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Harriet's reminiscences about her childhood travelling the world also made me quite uncomfortable, because they were continually exoticising and primitivising other cultures: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>When I was fifteen I spent weeks living with him in stilted huts on the banks of rivers in South-East Asia. The village women forced me to eat even though their own children were far skinnier than I was. The following year...we catalogued the wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Kenya to the Masai-Mara in Kenya. A few months after that we spent the summer on horseback with Mongolian herdsmen on China's Silk Road. </i>(loc. 317)</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>There's a lot of footage of Drew and me dancing together--with Ghanaian drummers, North American boot-scooters, Turkish belly dancers. He used to say that he only got into trouble when I wasn't dancing with him, like the time he waltzed with a dictator's mistress in Cuba, and did the tango with a Geisha in Japan.</i> (loc. 2079)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Paragraphs like these occur throughout the book, and I suppose their purpose is to highlight Harriet's experiences across the world growing up, but they brought nothing to the story. In fact, they often interrupted the narrative flow, and the way people and their lives are made into props in Harriet's 'adventurous' life left me feeling a little bit off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because I did have such disparate feelings about different parts of this book, I've been struggling with this review for a long time. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I've had trouble putting everything into words, so this isn't a particularly eloquent or coherent review. It's very rant-y for something that I ended up giving 3 stars to, but I was just so damn ambivalent about everything.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I'd think of something I disliked and lower my rating, then remember something that worked for me and bump it back up. In the end, I went with 3 stars, but it's one of those cases where I think people should make up their own minds. Almost all other reviews have been favourable, so if it sounds like something that's up your alley, give it a go. Maybe it's just me, and you'll have an easier time with it.</span></div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5569168555776079047.post-8668454849517318032017-02-12T02:50:00.003+01:002017-02-16T10:47:46.838+01:00Review: A Dream Defiant by Susanna Fraser<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>4 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In my mind, there are two types of Regency romances: those that follow in the tradition of Austen and Heyer, showing </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the privileged world of the Ton and the upper-middle classes, and those </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">that lift the veil and show ordinary Britons and the socio-political context that affected their lives. Over the past eighteen months I've really come to appreciate this second type of Regency, and </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18039859-a-dream-defiant?from_search=true">A Dream Defiant</a></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> is no exception.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's a wonderfully detailed interracial romance, set in Spain during the Napoleonic War. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The hero, Elijah, is an black man and an non-comissioned officer in the British army. When one of his men is killed looting after a battle, he promises the dying man that he will take care of his wife, including passing on a valuable looted necklace. Elijah has admired Rose from afar for years, but her husband's death has put her in a very difficult position. She's without protection in a rough army camp, with a young son and rumours swirling that she is in possession of a valuable necklace. She needs to remarry quickly, and soldiers are lining up for the privilege. Elijah is the only one she trusts, but he's also the only one who seems to have no interest in marrying her. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The real beauty of <i>A Dream Defiant</i> is the way that it showed the realities of the characters' situations. The life of women who followed the drum was difficult, as is Elijah's position as the son of runaway slaves who now has command over white men.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Most of the conflict comes from the interracial nature of Elijah and Rose's romance. Elijah wants to make sure that Rose understands what being his wife would mean, and there's some racist blowback from other characters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Around two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through, there's a time jump, and the rest of the book is about Elijah, Rose and her son's life back in England. I had mixed feeling about this last bit. It was nice to see the couple's life together when they were settled, and to see what Elijah's life as a black man was like in his homeland, but it also just felt like a really extended epilogue with it's own mini-plot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Without giving too much away, I'm also not sure how I feel about the</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> quick resolution of that mini-plot. I know that some racism is the result of ignorance, misunderstanding and fear of the Other, but I also don't feel like we can write it all off as not being malicious, especially in the current political climate. And the impact on the individual and his family is the same regardless, so in the end it doesn't really matter what prompts people to be racist. Ditto when racism is mingled with or disguised as a non-racist grudge. Perhaps I wouldn't have the same reservations if the book were longer, but because this part of the book is little more than an addendum, there's not adequate space to give the issue the space it needs and deserves. It's sad, really, because the representation elsewhere in the story was so nuanced. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In truth, I wish that<i> A Dream Defiant</i> had been a full-length novel. There would have been a smoother transition from Spain to England. W</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">e could have seen Rose and Elijah getting to know each other and falling in love slowly, and it would have given the reader a smoother transition from Spain to England, with more context to the scenes of them as a married couple in England.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Despite the fact that I've spent the last two paragraphs listing my quibbles, I really did enjoy <i>A Dream Defiant</i>, and I thought it was done very well for a novella. The way Fraser writes about life following the drum is intense that it stuck in my mind for weeks afterward, so <i>A Dream Defiant</i> joins the many books that I've given 4 stars to lately. But what can you do? There are books that just beg to be reviewed, and, lately, many of those have been 4 star reads.</span></div>
Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075968095601002394noreply@blogger.com0