Unabridged Chick

Goodbye, and thanks for all the books

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 15:52:00 +0000

I just learned about 'breadcrumbing' and it hit me that this is precisely what I'm doing with this blog.

Twelve years ago, I left the private Livejournal where I had been tracking my reading to start this blog. In 2010, people were already talking about book blogging being a 'dying' scene but I found it vibrant, exciting, and busy. I was newly married, just entering my 30s, and had tons of free time. I was putting time, energy, and attention into the book blog world and it was incredible.

And then my life shifted. My work required more online time and between that and having a kid, I found myself wanting to spend less of my free time online. I stopped interacting with the bloggers I knew, and when I would try to dive in, I found that many of the people I knew were no longer blogging. I wasn't making the time to meet new folks nor connecting with those still online; and so I felt lonely and out-of-the-loop.

But I couldn't quite bring myself to quit here after putting so much time and energy into this blog. Being a book blogger was kind of an identity for me.

Now I just feel guilty with a swirl of FOMO -- but not enough to, you know, make the time to prioritize life here. And that's what made me realize I need to move on.

Book blogging has been an incredible experience for me: I've met the authors who've written books I adore; got to deep dive into some of what publishing is like; and my world view has been broadened due to book bloggers and other bookish thinkers who've challenged me to be an active reader rather than a passive one.

Ultimately, I need to say THANK YOU to all of you. (Now I'm getting all emotional and doubting myself.) It's not hyperbole to say book blogging changed my life. I'm so grateful to the bloggers, authors, publishers, and other folks who nerded out with me about the magic of books.

Seriously. THANK YOU.

I'm leaving this blog up a little while as I try to decide what to do with all the content. I plan to delete my Facebook page as well as my Twitter. At this time, I anticipate remaining on Instagram, so feel free to friend me there. I expect I'll delete my GoodReads account, too, but need to figure out how I'll track all my Wanna Reads (tips welcome!). I can still be reached by email: unabridgedchick at gmail.com and hope you reach out anytime you want.

Goodbye, and thank you for all the books, all the reads, all the amazing. Love to you.

I finished ... The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 10:57:00 +0000

I finished ... The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

I also finished a dress! So satisfying. (You can see the dress under the book, in fact!)

Sebastian's newest is a romance between nobleman-in-need-of-vengeance Percy and reformed-highwayman Kit. The heist was really secondary to the story, as it was about the two of them figuring out their futures -- individually, eventually together -- found family, loyalty, all that.

In reading this I discovered that I'm not deeply fond of 1760s fashion (or 1780s, I forget precisely). Sebastian does a wonderful job of describing Percy's flamboyant au courant styling -- wigs, face powder, facial patches, fancy hose and jackets and whatever -- and I loved how much Kit responded to that, even though I had to keep googling to remind myself that Percy was fashionable, not a clown.

A good, solid read but this wasn't a favorite. I can't precisely put my finger on what made this a 'fine' read versus an amazing one because it has everything there. But it took a while for sexytimes and then, I don't know, it felt oddly rushed. And both main characters take a while to open up with their secrets so we're waiting a long time for that. And Sebastian is such a stellar writer that the great books are SO GOOD.

I finished: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 16:28:00 +0000

I've gotten myself all stressed about writing 'perfect' reviews (even though my earlier reviews are hardly perfect) so now I'm just going to share my kneejerk thoughts when I finish something.

So...

I finished ... Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

What a lovely and fun read -- although as my first HFN (happy for now), I found the end a little unsatisfying (this book made me discover I'm 1000% a Happily Ever After girl).

Our POV character is a total hot mess; he begs a grumpy and buttoned up lawyer to be his fake date to rehab his reputation. Their relationship shifts from vaguely adversarial to friendly to romantic, with inevitable (but captivating to read) bumps along the way.

I got my wife to start reading this one by describing as a bit of David-and-Patrick from Schitt's Creek, although obviously huge differences in terms of plot and setting and all that. Hall's writing is very funny; the POV character Luc is snarky and sad, surrounded by a wonderful cast of friends and family and coworkers). The love interest, Oliver, is such a doll I can't even, but both Luc and Oliver have to wrestle with some serious stuff in their lives, and that journey was just as compelling as the romantic one. (Heat rating is about PG, by the way, if that matters to you.)

There's a sequel (coming out next year, agony!) which made me realize that I've never read a multi-part romance. Will it be boring going through the same romance beats in hopes of an HEA? Or maybe that's the deal -- it's HFN going into an HEA?

Anyway, super fun and super cute and more of that is always needed in my life!

Love at First by Kate Clayborn

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 14:03:00 +0000

I first learned of this book via the Fated Mates podcast, and one of the hosts admitted that Clayborn was a friend of theirs. I took their enthusiasm with a grain of salt, but reader, every word of their gushing praise was true. In addition to being a sweet romance, it's a beautifully written book that had me hanging on every word.

Love at First by Kate Clayborn
Kensington, 2021
Copy via public library

It's a romance of two kind people who have felt unwanted, possibly even unworthy of love. They're lonely, and respond in different ways: Nora, by making the neighbors in her building her family; and Will, by filling every moment of his time with work.

Loosely inspired by Romeo and Juliet, Clayborn takes the familiar elements of Shakespeare's story and uses them to hang a wonderfully romantic relationship with no tragedy or stupid decisions. But it's stuffed full of emotion, and lots that's unsaid, and the only conflict is the internal stuff Nora and Will have to deal with so they can get out of their own way.

Plus, it includes one of my fav romance tropes: one-person-is-ill-and-the-other-cares-for-them. So much cute.

Also, I teared up SO MUCH during this book because the walls and blocks and wounds were so real and tenderly realized and articulated by Clayborn so beautifully.

All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 11:50:00 +0000

Late to this gorgeous, gutting novel and can't really offer anything that hasn't already been said about it. My reflections will be merely admiration and awe: mood, language, storytelling technique.

I requested this read as part of batch of books that could help me hit some reading challenge goals; I opened it up not recalling what it was about. Sheep, it turned out, and the steady tick of choices that push us further and further along.

The novel alternates between moving forward, as Jake tries to keep her sheep alive as something slowly kills them off; and moving backwards, taking us back through the (mis)steps that led Jake to this moment. The technique brings a kind of thriller-ish tension and intensity to the story, which maybe would seem mundane otherwise (solitude, labor, terrible choices, youthful stupidity).

Thomas Hardy first educated me on the many ways sheep are basically impossible to keep alive; and then real life observation confirmed it. Still, I prefer sheep to goats although I'm not the one who has to work with them. (My wife is Team Goat.)

All this is to say, Wyld writes about sheep, and everything involved with them, in a way that is horrifying while being ordinary. She's accurate, but she's also poetical about shearing and slaughtering. It's disquieting and pretty. In this book, sheep and their senseless inability to keep themselves out of trouble is a parallel, perhaps, to the actions of our main character, Jake. Unlike her sheep, however, Jake is brave and resourceful and cautious. She's learned from her injuries and her mistakes.

I can't stop thinking about this book, and I'm talking about it to everyone who makes eye contact with me. I've no doubt it'll make my top 10 for this year.

All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld
Vintage, 2015
Copy via my public library
Reading Women Challenge - Task 18, Rural Setting

Review: John Eyre by Mimi Matthews

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 11:59:00 +0000

The moment she released his hand -- a hand she'd clutched like a lifeline all the way from the church to the room on the third floor -- their romance had ended. Their friendship, too, by the look of it.

I love me a good retelling and Matthews' gender bent imagining of Jane Eyre is a wonderfully fun, Gothic-y read that takes some of the expected, beloved moments of the classic novel and mixes in new, surprising ones.

John Eyre: A Tale of Darkness and Shadow by Mimi Matthews
Perfectly Proper Press, 2021
Review copy via NetGalley for blog tour

Our eponymous hero, John Eyre, has a background very similar to Brontë's Jane, including a dead Helen and a teaching job for some mysteriously acquired wards. He arrives at Thornfield rattled by the ghosts of his past, disturbed by the heavy mists that surround everything, and edgy from his increasing laudanum use. But when he meets the mistress of Thornfield, Bertha Mason Rochester, he's mesmerised by her fierce impatience, boldness, and worldly curiosity.

Normally shoving a male-identity into something that was female-identified would irritate me, but I found Matthews handling of it to be interesting, especially as she didn't water down any of Bertha's power. John felt very much a kind of Jane, and Bertha had the bold, brash temperament of Rochester.

Matthews' Bertha was the highlight of this book: while I'm a devoted fan of Bertha by way of Wide Sargasso Sea, I'll also take this iteration of her. Here, Bertha's life is such that she could easily be accused of being mad; instead of racism and patriarchy being the impetus, Matthews imagines something more supernatural as provoking her decisions and behavior.

I confess that I've never "gotten" the romance of Rochester in Jane Eyre (seriously, what is romantic about that man?!) but Matthews convinced me of the intensity felt by Bertha and John -- and even more, she convinced that I should want a HEA for them. Both ultimately wanted a happy partnership with someone, built on trust and respect, and it was easy to see how each could give that to the other, if they could just figure their way around all the completely freaky stuff happening at Thornfield.

Reader, they eventually do and I loved every page of the journey.

Weekend reads, or it's all garden all the time...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 May 2021 16:40:00 +0000

It's been more than a month since the car accident and we're all healing well. Gardening has been a welcome respite from screens -- which is good because we doubled the number of raised beds! Clearly expansion is a theme here because we've also picked up 25 chicks of different ages for our flock. (My Instagram will usually include the cutest animal pics and videos, for those interested in our microfarm.)

I've finally able to get back to reading -- time combined with physical therapy, acupuncture, and muscular therapies does wonders! -- but I'm still struggling with concentration and short-term memory. So I'm still moving slowly through my non-fiction reads -- Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc and Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad. Fiction has been a bit easier to manage, so I've started Ariadne by Jennifer Saint.

What are you reading this weekend? Any other weekend plans?

#RomBkLove 2021: Inclusive Historical Romance

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 May 2021 10:00:00 +0000

I uh-dore historical romance. Historical fiction is probably my favorite genre, and I love historicals that offer a point-of-view that isn't cisgendered and white.

Historical romance is rich with diversity that reminds us that many people want love and partnerships that affirm them. I'm so excited to read stories with romantic protagonists who aren't cisgendered, or white in Regency England, or straight in 19th-century United States.

So when Ana Coqui of Immersed in Books put out the call for people to help with this year's #RomBkLove, I jumped at the chance to participate.

Assembling this list was fun and I'm thrilled many of the books I'm recommending have already been recommended (sometimes, more than once!) during #RomBkLove 2021. And of course, other bloggers have been writing longer about diversity in romance for years and years and I owe all of them a debt for cluing me into many of the reads here.

Inclusive Historical Romances

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

Alyssa Cole is an astounding romance novelist who could convince me that anything can be turned into a compelling romance. Example: this book, which is set during the US Civil War and features an interracial couple in the US South. Cole manages to write an evocative thriller and sexy romance without ignoring the realities of setting and era and is also hopeful and warm. Fluffy this is not; deeply satisfying it is.

Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins

One can't assemble a list on this topic without starting with a nod to Beverly Jenkins who has long been writing historical romances featuring people of color. I had a chance to read her newest release, Wild Rain, earlier this year. Among the many things going for this book is the cover (heroine in pants!), the main characters (sunshine-and-grump), best confession of love I've ever read, and a strong sense of place and family that reminds me of 'classic' romance.

The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan

It's hard not to fangirl madly over Milan and her books. This book is the first in a series, featuring two main characters of Chinese descent in Regency England, with all the trappings of a romance of that ilk: titled families, misunderstandings, manners, and mischief. I haven't read it yet and I can't wait to do so.

The Longest Night by E.E. Ottoman

This brief novella is a set in the early 1900s featuring two transmen, penned by a trans author. Longtime correspondents, the two main characters finally have an opportunity to be together in person. This is another book I haven't yet read but plan to this year; I'm absolutely here for 'cozy', 'sweet', 'warm'.

A Delicate Deception by Cat Sebastian

A historical romance in which both leads are bisexual, and the secondary couple of the story is aromantic/asexual (it's not named). There is Queer found family in abundance. This read is a delight.

And I am definitely pushing the definition of historical with this next one, but whatever, it's my list and more people need to read...

Letters for Lucardo, Vol. 1 by Otava Heikkilä

This is a m/m erotic romantic fantasy graphic novel penned by a trans artist/author featuring a 61-year-old lead who falls in love with a 400 year old vampire. I'm handwaving it into this list by the fact it's not a contemporary setting. I fell hard for this book (as well as its sequel) and I can't forget the two romantic leads. It's a graphic novel that focuses on the sex in addition to the romantic relationship, so there are graphic sexual illustrations.

And that is my brief and biased list of recommendations! For more, be sure to check out the other themed posts in #RomBkLove!

Do you have a favorite historical romance era or setting you can't get enough of? What era should start getting the historical romance treatment? And of course, what inclusive historical romance should be added to this list?

Top 10 Tuesday, May 4

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 May 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Thank goddess for an easy task this week for Top 10 Tuesday: my 10 most recent reads! (Although, as per usual, I'm tweaking slightly to note it's reads I haven't reviewed yet!)

It's probably weird (?) to post about recent reads when I previous asked about quitting my blog, but much of the advice was a reminder to focus on what I enjoy about blogging (and to take a break to refresh). Just giving myself the space to wonder was a nice break, and I found I wasn't ready to cut and run. I want to talk books but I want to do it ... better? Different? I'm not sure precisely yet -- can I blame concussion brain?? Anyway, here's me dipping my toe back in with ...

My 10 Most Recent Reads (That I Haven't Reviewed)*

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. Read this in one night. Quiet, atmospheric, immensely stressful

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey This was as good as the buzz promised. Somehow both soap opera splashy and moral ethics deeps.

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole This romance was an absolute delight and is based on a classic email spam, being told you're a royal descendant. Only...what if it were true???

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda This was such a wonderfully creepy read, reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore This was so great and I regret I haven't reviewed it yet. Apparently the working title was 'Medieval Queers' and it really is. It is a wonderful re-imagining of 'The Red Shoes' fairy tale with a medieval love story and I inhaled this one.

Revenge by Yōko Ogawa One of the creepiest things I've read in forever, this collection of short stories is MESSED UP. All are slightly interconnected and I'm getting goosebumps just recalling them.

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade Another book I regret I haven't reviewed yet. This romance was adorable and sexy and revealed to me some crap I still hold about being a fat woman. So a fluff with substance!

The Heiress Gets a Duke by Harper St. George Gilded Age romance that really stumped me in terms of how the HEA would happen, as our business-minded heroine didn't want to marry someone who just needed her cash. The author pulled it off. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

The Edna Lewis Cookbook by Edna Lewis My first read of 2021, I actually read every recipe in this book, partially because there was so much information to be gleaned from the brief introductions. Lewis is called the Julia Child of Southern cuisine, but there's also the start of the farm-to-table and slow food movement in her cooking, and I loved this cookbook. I'm working through her longer one now!

* Once more, I counted wrong, and there's only 9 reads here. Womp womp.

When is it time to quit blogging?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 11:00:00 +0000

The other night I had the sudden urge to just scrap the blog and everything with it -- all my socials, my GoodReads page, this actual website -- and think about just reading (and reflecting) privately.

I'm not sure if this urge is real or a result of my concussion; but I keep flip-flopping between wanting to hit 'delete' on a lot of accounts and feeling small pangs of worry that I'll regret moving on.

This is my 12th year blogging but I feel like I'm getting worse at it rather than better. I find my reviews lacking; I feel very aware of how little I interact with other bloggers. I don't think I have a fresh viewpoint or perception. And I'm less interested in the book publicity machine these days so I'm not sure what value there is in me trying to talk about books rather blandly. (This isn't me fishing for compliments, btw!)

This might be the second or third time I've considered moving on, so maybe that's hint enough. If you've kept on, what keeps going? Any tips? Or any questions I should ask myself before deciding to move on? I don't want to keep doing something out of inertia or a fear of missing out and I don't want to quit something because I'm feeling moody from my accident or insecure or whatever. I'm not sure I've got anyone reading here who was a blogger and no longer isn't, but if you've any advice, I'd love to hear it.

Do you know when you might quit?

Weekend reads, or being kind of overwhelmed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 18:38:00 +0000

I don't have a book to talk about for today's #weekendreads post, although I do hope I'll get time to read.

We've had a rough few weeks: my wife's farm suffered a terrible fire earlier in March that destroyed the barn and killed 16 animals. It was demolished this week. Last weekend, we were in a serious car collision that totaled our car and has had us in-and-out of doctors offices and on the phone, it feels, nonstop.

Like so many of us, we've had lots of stresses during the pandemic that feel like they're coming to a head, and I'm just overwhelmed.

How are you doing?

Book Review: Victorine by Drema Drudge

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 13:51:00 +0000

I am La Parisenne, the notion of the representative Parisian woman; I am Paris. From the scores of paintings of me to this newest way of showing all a woman is. From fashion to action, I do as I please.

This debut novel joins one of my favorite genres of historical fiction, that of restoring personhood to a forgotten figure -- usually one associated with a famous white guy. In this case, Druge breathes life back into Victorine Meurent, a notorious painter now mostly remembered for modeling for Manet.

Victorine by Drema Drudge
Fleur-de-Lis Press, 2020
Digital review copy provided by author via France Book Tours

But as Drudge so deftly demonstrates, Victorine was more than a passive figure sitting around without agency. Victorine's voice is centered -- first person, present tense -- making it impossible to ignore her. Even more, her every action is driven by frustrated desire to make art. Capital A art, too, not, as she so aptly puts it, "paint[ing] flowers on a cup that someone is going to drink from without seeing."

Set in Paris in the late 1800s, Druge depicts a Paris that is both alluring as well as stifling. Victorine is not wealthy, so she has to scratch out to get the things she needs, but she has no shame about it. She's almost vicious in her pursuit of her artistic ambition and freedom, and it was so refreshing to read a heroine who was unapologetic about the pursuit of her genius (even though society hated her for it). She also has fierce opinions about art (I'm unsure if these reflect her actual thoughts or are the imaginings of Drudge) but through her, I got a small education in late 19th-century French art.

Each chapter focuses on a painting featuring Victorine, and often dives into the making of said painting; it means this book is a mix of history and art nerdiness combined with dishy drama of sex, gossip, and drink. Given Victorine's storied life, Drudge does a great job of focusing on a handful of key figures and relationships, making it easy to get lost with Victorine.

There's no Author's Note in the novel, sadly, so it's impossible to tell what is 'historical' versus what is embellishment. It's doubly sad as it appears Drudge did some significant research into Victorine Meurent and appears to be the first person to publish Meurent's self portrait outside of an auction catalog (all this learned from a fab post Drudge wrote for Art Herstory).

Do we need six-hours on Hemingway?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 15:04:00 +0000

I can think of dozens of other authors I'd rather see featured in a long-form documentary series, but maybe I'll be surprised by Hemingway from Burns and Novick.

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is 'Top 10 Books I'd Glad Throw Into the Ocean'; my list would just be hateful ones that used concern trolling to hurt trans*/nonbinary/gender expressive kids and other terrible books that don't deserve to be named. BUT I could be persuaded to smudge this topic a bit to say, Top 10 Authors I Don't Think Need A Six-Hour Documentary Feature.

Do you plan to watch this? Who would you rather get a six-hour documentary feature?

Book Review: Near the Bone by Christina Henry

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 10:30:00 +0000

The creature roared again, and the person outside was screaming, screaming long horrible cries of pain that seemed to push inside her ears and press against her eyeballs and stop up her throat.

I think because I found Henry's Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook so brilliant and new, I had high expectations for whatever of hers I'd read next; and it turned out to be this book, which is a very fine horror thriller but nothing exceptional or stand out.

Near the Bone by Christina Henry
Berkley, 2021
Digital review copy

It's a creature feature, only there are two monsters: the one in the woods mutilating things and the one Mattie's married to who hurts her relentlessly. Very quickly, Mattie has to decide which monster she fears more, especially when surviving one monster exposes her to the other.

The book is a quick read, and has a very cinematic feel; it hews closely to the standard horror movie formula so well that I could anticipate the next beat. But the quick clip means there's not enough space to breathe into the story, so to speak, so while we get great insight into Mattie and her marriage, everything else is just landscape or tension. The insight, depth, and emotional horror that Henry evoked in Lost Boy is just missing here. It's entertaining and diverting, but on closing the book I felt like I missing half the story somehow.

Book Review: You Should See Me In a Crown by Leah Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 13:09:00 +0000

"I'd love to go to prom with you, Liz. We deserve good things too. No matter how we have to get them."

Never in ten thousand million years would I say a book about becoming high school prom queen would not only reduce me to a blubbering-yet-feel-good-mess, it would also likely be on my top ten reads of 2021, but ha! jokes on me because this book has done both.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Scholastic Press, 2020
Copy via my public library
Read Harder 2021 Task 17: Read an own voices YA book with a Black main character that isn’t about Black pain

I do not even know where to start in my squeeing.

I picked up this book for Read Harder 2021 Task 17: "Read an own voices YA book with a Black main character that isn’t about Black pain" but stayed because it was SO CUTE, so compelling, so bittersweet, so perfect.

Our narrator Liz Lighty is just ... omg, adore her. Her voice is so genuine, consistent, real, compelling, and human. She felt like a person on the cusp of (college-aged) adulthood, someone who had to grow up fast and has all the skills and scars that come with that. Liz's desire to become prom queen starts because of the scholarship it comes with, but as she begins the process of drawing attention toward herself, navigating that very painful and complicated journey of adolescent social interactions, and trusting that she deserves every happiness presented to her, the prize at the end of all this represents something else entirely. I have never been so emotionally invested in any prom, and it's all because of Johnson's writing.

The romance in this book is sweet and cute and bumpy -- I'm #TeamMighty forever -- but I just uh-dored Liz and Jordan's friendship. I have struggled with male friends growing up due to the way people treat male- and female-identified persons in high school being friends -- as in there can only be romantic and/or sexual desire at the root of it -- and seeing how Liz and Jordan rekindled their friendship was escapist and cathartic. I wept for the male-identified friends I lost in high school -- I'm still missing them! -- as I celebrated what Liz and Jordan cemented.

I started this actually via the audiobook, read by Alaska Jackson, and it was wonderful -- Jackson makes a fantabulous Liz. I only quit the audiobook to stay up all night to race to the end and I feared listening would prompt me to fall asleep in a way that holding the book and reading wouldn't.

So either way you want to consume it, this book is worth your time.

Book Review: Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 14:47:00 +0000

"Not happy with this falling-in-love thing. It hurts. Any idea how to make it stop or to stop thinking about him?"

I have so many things to say, but don't know how to be coherent. But this book gave me so many feels:

1) The cover. The. Cover!!! I love that Spring is wearing trousers on the cover, which is so in character for her. And while I would have loved to see her in the burgundy gown from the end of the book, this is so perfect.

Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins
Avon, 2021
Digital review copy from NetGalley

2) Our heroine Spring. I love the spiky-falls-for-lovable trope, and I esp appreciate it when it's grumpy gal and gentle guy. Spring has such a tragic backstory and it makes her spikiness completely understandable. Garrett's un-aggressive manner of being with her is the exact thing she needs.

3) Our hero Garrett. Even though he's a total marshmallow, he's not spineless or anything. He's handy and ethical, quiet and thoughtful, strong without any toxicity which he could understandably have. His own history, including his family background, was so ... another emotional gut punch after Spring's story.

4) The combo of Spring and Garrett. Spring is quiet, inwardly focused, not much for socialising. Garrett is in town doing interview for a newspaper, and he's a curious person. Their navigating each other -- giving when they can, stumbling when they can't -- was so cute.

5) The confession of love! Made me screech out loud with surprise and delight. It was totally unexpected but wholly in character and *chef's kiss*.

6) This could have easily turned into one of those James Michener-like multi-generational sagas because of the richness of the setting, era, characters. I'm excited to go backwards and read the books for the previous characters, and I desperately, desperately hope that Garrett's sister Melody has her own book soon.

7) CHILD FREE HEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4EVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was sooo disappointed when pregnancy showed up in The Rakess because, I don't know, I want more romance novel heroines to reject the 2.5 and picket fence and all that. I loved that Spring was firm about it and it wasn't a 'for now' kind of thing -- it was 'no discussion' boundary and it didn't dissolve once she was in love. YES.

8) This was my first Western romance in addition to being my first Beverly Jenkins read. I loved reading a historical centered on Black people and other people of color. I read this book while listening to the new podcast Black Cowboys, and it's fascinating to learn the myths and stories of the American West from a non-white point of view. For Spring and Garrett, this translated into an additional challenge/tension throughout the entire story that was impossible for me to ignore. Their tender moments felt all the more vulnerable and special for happening within a world that didn't value them (even though their community of Paradise was mostly loyal and protective of them).

Weekend reads, or maple sugar life

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 17:40:00 +0000

My wife has been doing 16+ hour days at the sugar shack, so we've joined here when we can. It's gone from freezing and snowy to muddy and 60s in the last week or so. I haven't done any reading really; but it's been nice to spend cozy time with the family at the sugar shack (even though the novelty does wear off after the first hour!). I'm hoping to get to return to my reading from last week!

What are you reading this weekend?

Top 10 Tuesday, March 9: Spring Cleaning - Non-Fiction I Own

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:30:00 +0000

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Today's theme: Spring Cleaning Freebie!

I've decided to interpret this as going through my bookshelf to pull out the non-fiction I own that I plan to read.

Top 10 Non-Fiction Books I Own That I Plan to Read *

* It seems I only pulled out 9 books. Oops!

9) Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, Living Revision: A Writer's Craft as Spiritual Practice

8) Fran Hauser, The Myth of the Nice Girl: Achieving a Career You Love Without Becoming a Person You Hate

7) Judith Heumann with Kristen Joiner, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist

6) Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

5) Crystal Marie Fleming, How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide

4) Dina Gilio-Whitaker, As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock

3) Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross, A Black Women's History of the United States

2) Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race

1) John Buehrens, Conflagration: How the Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender, and Social Justice

Weekend reads, or plant-related heartbreak

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 16:21:00 +0000

My original post was all sweet about how much I'm enjoying Beverly Jenkins' newest romance, Wild Rain.

And then I discovered my cat has been using my seedling tray as her bed and I lost my ability to think.

I'm going to need this romance novel more than ever. (Which is wonderful. I don't read many Westerns and maybe have never read a Western romance, but I am loving our genuinely fierce heroine and her dreamy love interest.)

What are you reading this weekend?

Top 10 Tuesday, March 2: Characters Whose Job I Wish I Had

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Top Ten Characters Whose Job I Wish I Had

10) John Rodríguez (aka "Control") from Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy): A different me would have to have this job because the shit going on in Area X is too petrifying for current me to handle. But it would be so interesting! Even though I'm a total wimp, I love weird conspiracy X-Files-y type ambiance (in fiction, not real life!) so I imagine there's a fictional me that would enjoy (or "enjoy") working at Southern Reach. All three of the books in this trilogy are gorgeous, and REALLY weird, and very creepy, and worth reading.

9) Millie from Mishell Baker's Arcadia Project trilogy): This is another one where I wouldn't want to be Millie, but I wouldn't mind a job at the Arcadia Project, which is kind of an agency that manages Earth / Faery Realm relationships and all that. Not that Baker's fairy realm is all fluff and fancy; it's deliciously, terrifyingly dark, and I'd like to be someone who could succeed there.

8) Kivrin from Connie Willis' Doomsday Book: In this book, academics do their research via time travel (the book is set in the 21st century) but medievalists like Kivrin aren't really allowed to travel to that era because of the dangers. Imagine how fascinating it would be to do on-location research in various historical eras? (Obviously, lots of ethical questions about academic 'observation' and judgment and all that, which I supposed I'd be wrestling with if I were a time-travelling academic?!). If you haven't read this wonderful book, add it to your TBR because it's also a pandemic thriller on top of fascinating historical novel and sci fi think piece.

7) Philippa from Rumer Godden's In This House of Brede: This book caused me to research becoming a nun and for a few weeks, I did some daydreaming about it. (Then I remembered all the problems I have with the Catholic Church and the ways I don't think convent life does much for the world.) Demi Moore's daughter is named for Godden, and this book launched my deep dive into Godden's backlist (which really varies from quality to trash). But this book reminded me of how I sometimes dream of a monastic kind of life (hello, Hildegard von Bingen...!).

6) Ginger from Mary Robinette Kowal's Ghost Talkers: First, our heroine here is an heiress, and I have to confess I'm shocked I don't have more heiresses on this list as I'm confident I would make an uh-mah-zing lady of leisure. Second, this is a historical fantasy in which Spiritualism is real and Ginger is a medium whose job it is to debrief soldiers killed on the front. It's a tender, terrifying job but one I'm kind of obsessed with.

5) Nix from Heidi Heilig's The Girl From Everywhere: More time travel! On a ship, too, and with a fascinating crew (save for Nix's terrible father). Heilig's novel is gorgeous and intense and beautifully imagined, and while I don't want Nix's precise journey (pretty much all my responses here are couched in caveats, oops!), I wouldn't mind being able to travel through time by way of historical maps...

4) Claudia from Penelope Lively's Moon Tiger: Claudia is a war correspondent and amateur archaeologist, and those were both pretty much my dream jobs when I was a kid. Add to that the romance of a World War II romance and all that, and yeah, this hits all my Martha Gellhorn-fangirl dreams.

3) Bathsheba Everdene from Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd: My wife would be rolling her eyes so hard right now but whatever, she's not the boss of me. In all actuality, being a farmer is really, really, really hard work so I am being quite precious for including this job on the list, but whatever, Hardy sold me on Bathsheba and her life (in the drama of it all and what not). Bonus if I get to look like Carey Mulligan as I do so.

2) Pauline from Tessa Dare's Any Duchess Will Do: I was telling my wife how surprised I was that more romance novel heroines weren't appearing on this list, and we easily imagined a half dozen I wouldn't mind being. But Pauline really rose to the top for a variety of reasons, mostly that she owns a bookshop, lives in Spindle Cove with some amazing friends, and has a pretty dreamy spouse (terrible past aside that we'll handwave away).

1) Patricia from Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky: God, this book wrecked me. It's the story of a witch and a scientist, once childhood friends, pitted against each other as adults as they attempt to save the world. You know, ordinary challenges. So flippin' good. Patricia is the witch, and Anders' world-building here had me so desperate to attend Patricia's witch school. (It appears being a witch might be the thing I want to be the most, followed by heiress...) But this isn't a light or comedic story about nature versus science, and it's that deep emotional core that has kept this book with me. Patricia's ability to work right and wrong in a just and fair manner is Goals.

Okay, so there are my 10 -- any characters whose job you wish you had?

Weekend reads, or sugaring season is upon us!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 15:57:00 +0000

It's finally gotten warm (or "warm") -- above freezing during the day! In our house, this means it's sugaring season!

My wife started the pan this week to begin boiling sap into syrup. The kids love sugaring season for a variety of reasons: the sugar shack is always warm and steamy and smells good; there are mugs of warm sap to drink (at various levels of sweetness, depending on how much water has been boiled off); everyone stays up late waiting for the pan to finish; and usually, there's a crowd of visitors and friends hanging out in the warm, steamy, sweet-smelling shack (less so this year with the pandemic).

I'm alternating between romance novels and other genres these days; while I haven't started another romance yet, I've just begun Riku Onda's The Aosawa Murders and I'm loving it. I picked it up as it works for a task for both of my reading challenges and I guiltily hope there's a ton of boiling this weekend so I can have a long stretch of alone time to finish it!

What are you reading this weekend?

Book Review: The Worst Duke in the World by Lisa Berne

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Now that Anthony was in closer proximity to her, his brain not only failed to return to its usual state of semi-coherence, his body had yet to cool to its normal temperature. He was burning up inside himself, he was more than a little agitated, his mouth had suddenly gone dry, and altogether he felt, in fact, as if he'd come down with the influenza which two years ago had felled Wakefield, but in an extremely nice way.

This was a very adorable PG-13 historical romance. My first time reading Berne, I snagged this digital review copy via NetGalley, unaware it was the 5th in a series. However, reading it cold wasn't an issue as the main characters seem to have little connection to characters from earlier books.

The Worst Duke in the World by Lisa Berne
Avon, 2021
Digital review copy via NetGalley

Our hero Anthony is a widower who suffered an unhappy marriage that resulted in a beloved, precocious child, Wakefield. Our heroine Jane is the illegitimate great-granddaughter of a Penhallow ancestor, warmly welcomed by her family. Anthony wants to focus on his estate while his widowed sister is determined he make another marriage -- and not to Jane.

Berne's writing style had me laughing out loud more than once, as it's a little fussy in a wonderfully fun way. Anthony's point of view -- and his child Wakefield -- were both delightful, and Jane was a bland but fine love interest. Their conflict was pretty low stakes, all things considered, and they both knew they were into each other and the story was just waiting out the rest of their families. Honestly, it was kind of what I needed right now. And I enjoyed it enough that I'm going to seek out Berne's backlist for when I need fluffy low-stakes reads for the future.

Book Review: Madame President by Helene Cooper

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 14:24:00 +0000

This book exemplifies why I love my reading challenges; I wouldn't have picked this up without the impetus of my reading challenges and it's launched my deep dive into contemporary Liberia.

I am ashamed to admit I was unfamiliar with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf before searching out books for this challenge; and as I started reading, I realized I knew nothing about Liberia aside from some vague tidbits I recalled from popular culture. (For a great, evenhanded intro into Sirleaf, this video is really helpful.)

Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf by Helene Cooper
Simon Schuster, 2017
Copy from public library
Read Harder 2021 and Reading Women 2021 Challenges

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Liberia's first female president as well as the first female president in Africa. When elected president in 2006, she inherited a country traumatized from decades of war and violent human rights abuses; a country whose infrastructure and economy was so destroyed that 80% of Liberia's residents were under the international poverty level. And like so many other countries, Liberia had a history of classism and bias, with an upperclass population of families descended from freed American slaves and an underclass of Liberian indigenous groups.

The work needed to transform Liberia beggars belief and and in her twelve years as president, Sirleaf managed the impossible.

(There's a hilarious/heartbreaking anecdote about Sirleaf, newly elected, calling on a pay-as-you-go phone to then US President George W Bush to accept congratulations, when her phone drops the call. Her calling card had run out of minutes, so her staff frantically drive to a roadside market stand to buy all the calling cards, and staff frantically scratch off the codes so Sirleaf can finish speaking to Bush.)

However, Sirleaf's legacy is complicated, and as stated in a 2019 Al Jazeera English interview, she might be better admired internationally than in Liberia. This biography, however, doesn't dig into that, and it's the only reason this isn't a five star read for me.

Author Helene Cooper is a Liberian herself but opted to focus on US politics in her journalism rather than Liberia and West Africa. Still, her cultural connection to Liberia created a warmth in this biography that I appreciated; it wasn't the gaze of an outsider. However, it felt to me that connection also impacted the way she wrote about Sirleaf -- the book had touches of being an 'authorized' biography (although Cooper says she wouldn't let Sirleaf read any of the draft). There's a lack of critical analysis of Sirleaf that I've come across in other summaries of Sirleaf's life and presidency.

An interesting reader moment happened for me during the sections around Liberian responses to the 2014 Ebola outbreak. As this book was published in 2017, Cooper's section justifying why Liberians violated quarantine protocols during the Ebola outbreak reads so differently in 2021 than it probably did in 2018. As I read now, after a year of watching people protest over wearing masks, closing public areas, and suggesting social distancing, it wasn't surprising to me that some Liberians rushed to care for their sick family members or why some were in denial about the seriousness of the outbreak.

I'm counting this read for both Read Harder Task 18: Read a book by/about a non-Western world leader and Reading Women Task 17: a book about a Woman in Politics.

Book Review: Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

"Hitting you was unforgivable."

"It doesn't have to be."

THAT QUOTE IS MESSED UP, RIGHT?!

That's our hero telling his mother that maybe she can forgive her boyfriend who has spent decades engaging in verbal and emotional abuse toward our hero and then mere pages before the novel's end, PUNCHES our hero for backtalk.

That pretty much sealed my dislike of this book, which already was hovering around a C- or so.

Book Review: Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
Berkley, 2020
Copy via public library
Read Harder 2021 Reading Challenge: Read a book featuring a beloved pet where the pet doesn’t die

I honestly don't even know where to start in terms of reviewing this book. Overall, I found the writing to be meh: the characterization is wicked thin and the plot emotionally draining with terrible morals (aka forgive everyone no matter what terribly shitty thing they do).

I'm also genuinely shocked at all the positive reviews because this book has such a toxic message at the heart of the story and harmful interpersonal life decisions (for a book that wants to be all feminist-y and all that). I was prepared for so-so read given that Smart Bitches gave the first book in this series a C; and generally, this was a C or so level read for me. But my rating dropped to the floor as it became clear that there would be nothing nuanced or interesting about the forgiveness theme that was starting to be hammered home.

So, the gist of these books is that a bunch of cishet men use romance novels to guide their relationships with women, which is SUCH a cute idea. But in this book, the romance novel is a secret baby trope, which the guys say is all about forgiveness (as we learn in the one page where the guys have book club -- disappointed book club was such a tiny part of this book!). That translates into a hero and heroine who forgive people for a variety of transgressions that range from worthy of forgiveness (misunderstandings) to unforgivable (emotional, verbal, physical abuse).

Overall the characterization was thin -- perhaps because this is the third book in the series -- and it was impossible to understand why either Alexis, our heroine, or Noah, our hero, were into each other. We're told over and over how much they love each other as friends, and how important they are to each other, but there's not much demonstration of it, nor is there any sexual attraction simmering on the pages. When they finally have sex, I just skipped them because I was not invested. The shorthand for both Alexis and Noah are their careers, which feature about three pages total in terms of relevance to the story -- until one conflict between the lovers which hinges on Noah's professional life. (Noah is the one person exempt from forgiveness as Alexis is constantly dumping and ignoring him for things that are, overall, pretty mild and understandable.)

There's a massive cast of secondary characters who get tons of peanut gallery time, and I suspect longtime fans probably find it charming but as someone new to the franchise, they were just irritating. I love me some heroes who eschew toxic masculinity but it's super performative here.

And the plot was exhausting, with one of those blood-trumps-all plot lines I really hate. (And in this case, it's literal, as Alexis is a genetic match with an unknown family member who needs an organ transplant.) Decades of dysfunction and weeks of shitty assed behavior are handwaved away for forgiveness.

Anyway, I read this because it was a hot romance release in 2020 and it seemed like it would work for a Read Harder 2021 Task 24: Read a book featuring a beloved pet where the pet doesn’t die. Having finished, I'd say it's a real stretch to count this book toward that task, but there you go.

Book Review: Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir by Padma Lakshmi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 12:00:00 +0000

I am not fond of memoirs. With novels, when characters behave in a way that makes me bananas, there's at least some reason for it: some artistic flourish, or some plotty setup, or even philosophical what-is-art-and-who-am-I musings. With memoirs, there's no guarantee of payoff at the end, and the inexplicable things people do isn't tempered by, say, my genuine love for them (in the event of best friends who do things I wouldn't do) or the dictates of society that prevent me from demanding "What were you thinking?" when eavesdropping on strangers.

Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir by Padma Lakshmi
HarperAudio, 2016

Digital audiobook via my public library
Read Harder 2021: Read a food memoir by an author of color

I read this for this year's Read Harder challenge -- a food memoir by an author of color -- and I was torn between this and Tembi Locke's From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home. (I'm still going to read Locke's book since I've lived in Sicily but Lakshmi's book was available as an audiobook at the moment I needed something to listen to while I was knitting.)

I am a fan of Lakshmi from Top Chef and briefly noted some of the gossip following her divorce from Salman Rushdie. However, I wasn't otherwise familiar with her career nor her deep connection with food, and her memoir is a delightful mix of life event, beautifully drawn reflection, and musings on food, memory, and identity. In fact, very little of the book covers Top Chef, and certainly there's no behind-the-scenes gossip or tattling. I thought I would be disappointed, but what Lakshmi serves instead is far more delicious.

In a non-linear manner, Lakshmi explores her identity as an Indian-American woman, a model who loves food, a devoted reader yearning to exercise her mind more. She opens with her meeting and marriage to Salman Rushdie, then dips back into her childhood. Asides bloom into episodes of luminous musings before returning to the more mundane '...and then this happened...' narrative.

Lakshmi reads her book, which makes the experience feel all the more intimate. It's also what made the interpersonal stuff she shares seem more intense. Listening was like being with a friend, updating you on their life, and I couldn't help but have some knee jerk feelings about the decisions she was making and the company she was keeping! (Seriously -- the Teddy Forstmann anecdotes she shared were not charming at all! Despite claiming he was great with boundaries, she literally talks about how he'd call and demand she'd leave meetings to talk to him; and when she didn't, he'd call her friends and pull them from meetings so she'd call him. And don't get me started about Adam Dell! I guess I'm glad she's reconciled with the man who is the father of her daughter, but damn, he pulled some seriously awful shit! See -- this is why I can't do memoir!)

Still, Lakshmi managed to beautifully knit together a life still happening into a narrative that felt compelling and interesting. Her thoughtful introspection and almost awe-struck pleasure in food was palpable and has considering how food and identity intersect in my life.