Tag Archives: novels

Weekend Reads: How about a Little Romance?

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An Absolute gimme of a theme for today, Valentine’s Day, but I couldn’t miss an opportunity to highlight some of our favorite romance novels for this addition of Weekend Reads. While it has gained popularity in recent years, especially with the advent of Booktok, I still feel Romance is a culturally slighted genre. It often centers women’s stories and/or more mundane topics of daily life and these are important and worthy things to include in our fiction. Also, there is the possibility of a little smut that isn’t super gratuitous because it contributes to the narrative, something you might not get in another genre like fantasy or mystery. St. Valentine risked his life for love and in honor of him here are some, admittedly much lower stakes, romantic tales to delight you this weekend.

Spolier Alert by Olivia Dade

This is one that both Beth and I enjoyed! Marcus Caster-Rupp is an actor in a popular TV series by day and an avid reader and writer of fan fiction by night. He uses it to explore his character and work through his frustrations with the adaptation of the source material for the small screen. April Whittier is a geologist by day and a Cosplayer and fan fiction writer by night. When April posts a picture of herself, a plus-sized woman, in her cosplay on social media, she gets all kinds of hate from dumbasses who think the ultimate flex wiill be if they tag Marcus and he comes into the comments and also dunks on April. But then he asks her out. And he means it. Marcus then also discovers that April is his beta-reader and his very best friend in the fic writing world. Sparks fly but can they survive the publicity and secrets? If you haven’t read this but you like cosplaying and fan fiction, this one is for you. Even if you aren’t into those things, Marcus and April are such a cute pair that this one is also for you.

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by india Holton

Part of the Dangerous Damsels series, you have witches, pirates, flying houses, romance, hijinks…what’s not to love? When Beth finished this, she lent me her copy and I’m embarrassed to say that it has been on my bedside table for probably a year and a half now. Perhaps it will get bumped up that TBR queue this weekend!

iThe Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

Rhiannon is the CEO of a successful dating app and Samson is a former football player. They met once, through the app, and had a marvelous time for what it was, but nothing ever came of it. But now they are meeting again because Rhiannon wants to buy another dating site to grow her business and Samson is the new spokesperson and company representative that attends industry events. Can they both move forward in their lives? Are they both really feeling the vibes? And what happens when a former business-partner turned competitor throws his hat into the dating site purchase ring?

These characters were both so likable, with their flaws and their strengths. I needed to know what happened next in their story. I enjoyed the arc of this novel and if you want some cheeky fun with some really touching serious moments in a contemporary setting, this one is for you!

We here at Stacks hope you have a lovely Valentine’s Day! What are you planning on reading this weekend? Are you starting something new or are you finishing something up? Let us know in the comments!

Quick Review: Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

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Lethal White is the fourth Cormoran Strike novel and it begins with Cormoran being visited by a mentally ill young man named Billy who tells him about a murder he believes he witnessed as a child. Before Strike can get into the specifics, Billy flees the office and sends Strike, and his partner Robin Ellacott, on a mission to satisfy his own need to make sure that Billy is okay and that no one is getting away with murder. The tale weaves in and out of London. It ends up at protests (it is set before the London Olympics) and in the Houses of Parliament. It reintroduces characters from Strike’s past. The mystery, in the end, felt a little forced. Or, maybe that Strike just can’t let some things go felt forces. I don’t know. I didn’t love this. In fact, now that it has tied up some story lines relating to Robin and her partner Matthew, I may be done with this book series. We’ll see. I do still very much like both Robin and Cormoran. If you really loved the previous books, I say give this one a go, but if you were only so-so on them, I’d say pick something up you are more interested in.

Supporting Small Presses

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Last year, completely by accident, I discovered that small presses sometimes offer subscriptions. What better way to support books, publishing and literacy? You buy a subscription and they send books as soon as they come out! Amazing!

 

So, I did some googling around and here are three small presses who offer subscriptions.

 

Sibling Rivalry Press is a publisher of poetry. They are a publisher devoted to “[promoting] underground artistic talent – those who don’t quite fit into the mainstream.” I’ve not read anywhere near enough of this year’s subscription, but everything I’ve read I’ve really enjoyed.

 

Above/ground press seems to have their fingers in a lot of different publishing pies. (That’s exciting if you, like me, like to read around.) Their subscription includes a number of different types of things (chapbooks and broadsheets and who knows what else?) It seems pretty cool.

 

Burrow Press‘s subscription includes their physical books, ebooks and a membership pin. There are four titles listed at the link that are slated to come out in 2017 and who knows what else will be added?

 

The only one that I have subscribed to before was Sibling Rivalry and that was delightful. The other two look pretty good as well. Have you done a subscription to a small press before? Did you like it? Do you have any subscription suggestions for us? Take to the comments and let us know!

 

 

 

 

 

Review: Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

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Everyone, I have a confession to make. I don’t think I like Margaret Atwood’s writing. (Although, I’ve been told I’ve only read the meh ones). I’ve read Oryx and Crake and The Penelopiad and now the(I think I may have also read The Handmaid’s Tale in high school but I don’t remember how it ends so I’m not counting it.) And, I’ve not been super enthused about any of them.

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The Blind Assassin seems to be going for a certain kind of style and I think it succeeds. So, I can recognize that it is technically a good piece of writing. But, the main narrative which was focused on the lives of two sisters, did not keep my interest at all. The story is told by Iris, an old woman recounting her life in letters. She tells the story of her childhood as the daughter of button magnate in Ontario. World War I happens. The business booms. the depression happens. The business fails. She and her sister fall in love with a communist or anarchist or writer or artist. Iris marries another manufacturing giant to help the family stay afloat. Her sister Laura publishes a book called The Blind Assassin that becomes a huge scandal and therefore a huge hit.

The sub-plot (sub-story?) about the Blind Assassin was awesome. I wanted to read the Blind Assassin. More of that, please. But, the main narrative itself…well, I could see where it was going and I wasn’t interested enough to be excited that as the plot revealed itself and I was right in my guesses.

So, there you have it. I feel like I should have loved this. And, I didn’t. It wasn’t terrible. But, it also wasn’t life-changing. I don’t recommend it but I also don’t not recommend it.