The Wedding Date, by Jasmine Guillory
Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date boasts a delightful heroine, a memorable hook, and centers around a healthy, sex-positive, power-balanced relationship. I really liked large portions of the story, but thought it fell short on one critical front.
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Wedding Date, by Jasmine Guillory
This week's Book Giveaway is Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date, which has gotten a lot of absolutely glowing reviews (particularly for a romance novel, which are depressingly prone to being completely ignored by critics). A full review will follow shortly, and this giveaway will run through 11/23/18...
A taste for cheese
For the past six moths, PBS has been running their “The Great American Read” survey, which garnered over four million votes. The winner (which was always the frontrunner) was Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, which beat everything from Harry Potter to Pride and Prejudice...
Promising?
I recently saw the latest trailer for Syfy's Nightflyers, based in the 1980 novella by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. Writing about it on his blog, Martin sounds like he's giving the series a cautious thumbs-up...
Rest in peace, Ms. Bell
I ran across this obituary of translator Anthea Bell recently, and it took me a while to remember why I knew Ms. Bell's name. It turns out I'd spent a lot of time complaining about her in 2012, while I was wondering...
Sure, why not?
I treasure this level of geekdom: there is apparently an elaborate fan theory that the 2013 sci-fi action film Snowpiercer is a direct sequel to Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory...
Huh
How did I miss the previous trailers for this new Robin Hood movie? Why does it look so terrible? (And why are the costumes so weird?) If it didn't have a reasonably big-name cast, I'd assume this was, like, a Syfy original series...
The Highest House: Issue #1, by Mike Carey
I recently asked the owner of my local comic book store if I should buy the new Books of Magic reboot. He hesitated, but then (very diplomatically, I thought) said that while he was pleased the Vertigo reboots were driving traffic into the store, he thought he could recommend some more interesting fantasy titles. I trust his taste, so...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Highest House: Issue #1, by Mike Carey
It's been quite some time since we've featured a comic book, so this week's Book Giveaway is the first issue of Mike Carey's latest title, The Highest House. A full review will follow shortly, and this giveaway will run through 11/23/18...
Cute! But maybe too much?
Okay, so I'm torn: would wearing a vintage-style t-shirt reading "EURIPIDES" be amusingly quirky, or obnoxiously twee? I honestly can't decide, but if this is the kind of thing that speaks to you...
No, thank you
In honor of Halloween, I've been reading several article about The Haunting of Hill House, Netflix's miniseries adaptation of Shirley Jackson's novel. I'm way too much of a chicken to actually watch the series (even still shots give me the heebie-jeebies), but...
Carbs and environmental disasters!
I was interested in this crowd-sourced list of the 100 "Must-Read" nonfiction books of the year. Their subjects are limited (and please note that the list includes several titles that haven't been released in the US yet), but I found at least three books I really want to read...
Looking forward to it
We're cruising towards the launch of my most-anticipated K-drama of 2018: Clean With Passion For Now, and trailers are beginning to appear. This is based on a popular webcomic, and I'm a little nervous about...
Never Dare a Wicked Earl, by Renee Ann Miller
I am always on the lookout for promising new historical romance novelists, so I was delighted to encounter Renee Ann Miller's Never Dare a Wicked Earl. Sure, I've read more compelling romance and more ambitious historical fiction, but this was a thoroughly respectable, entertaining combination of the two—and that's harder to find than you'd think...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Never Dare a Wicked Earl, by Renee Ann Miller
This week's Book Giveaway is Never Dare a Wicked Earl, by Renee Ann Miller. It appears to be her first book, but I'm not at all surprised she was already signed for a series—this is a really solid debut. A full review will...
Clock's ticking
And speaking of Cadillac Desert (as well as David Owen's Where the Water Goes), I see that the federal government recently announced an end-of-year deadline to resolve water rights issues surrounding the Colorado River...
Even more required reading
I've said it before and I'll say it again: every resident of the American West should read Cadillac Desert. This article (part of a series tellingly titled "PARCHED") in...
I WANT THEM.
Okay, these Oliver Jeffers-designed Veja sneakers are so adorable it hurts. Jeffers is an author and illustrator best known for his children's books, and Veja is a French shoe company that produces fair trade, environmentally-friendly sneakers...
I have questions
CrimeReads has begun assembling a list of the 15 Most Adapted Female Crime Writers. Heading the list is obviously Agatha Christie, but I was taken aback by how many of the authors were new to me—I had never even heard of six of them. Also, I have questions about their methodology: I know not everywhere in the world has a thriving film industry, but...
Mid-level tech
This isn't the most elegant book stand (although I like the way it looks with a book in it), but I approve of the functionality of it, as well as its $12 price tag...
An Easy Death, by Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris knows what works for her. All of her books feature working-class protagonists, vividly imagined worlds, and a bizarre notion of romantic chemistry. Her latest effort, An Easy Death, takes those familiar elements in unexpected directions, but her basic formula is still present...
Weekly Book Giveaway: An Easy Death, by Charlaine Harris
This week's Book Giveaway is Charlaine Harris's An Easy Death. I was really into her recent Midnight, Texas series, so I'm excited about this. A full review will follow shortly, and this giveaway will run through 10/26/18...
Of course, they were adaptations to begin with, but still.
There's a fascinating article at The AV Club about an important fact that may be fueling Disney's current passion for live-action remakes of their classic animated films: Disney owns the scripts for those movies wholesale, so...
I've always wanted a comma between "there" and "God"
Apparently, Judy Blume recently announced that she was considering opening up more of her books to potential film adaptations, and someone has just snagged her most famous novel. According to Deadline, producer James L. Brooks and writer Kelly Fremon Craig...
Messy but still interesting!
Jezebel just posted an essay by Kelly Faircloth called "Something Is Wrong in This House: How Bluebeard Became the Definitive Fairy Tale of Our Era". I found Faircloth's arguments a bit difficult to follow...
Hi-def is an unkind medium
And speaking of book-to-screen adaptations, I see the trailer is out for the second season of Midnight, Texas. I liked the first season more than I expected, so I'm stoked about this, although it's clear even...
Bit of a letdown
I can't believe I missed this: next week, PBS is going to start airing a BBC One adaptation of Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White. (You can see a brief trailer here.) My parents' copy...
Stupid Love Comedy, by Shushushu Sakurai
Shushushu Sakurai's Stupid Love Comedy is an odd duck—it's packaged like a conventional romance manga, but most of the story is devoted to meta jokes and background information about manga publishing. The plot centers around Suzu Sakura, a manga artist who is disorganized, inconsiderate, and perpetually late. When her original editor changes jobs, Suzu is assigned to Hasegawa, the editing department's devastatingly handsome new recruit...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Stupid Love Comedy, by Shushushu Sakurai
This week's Book Giveaway is Stupid Love Comedy, a lengthy one-shot manga by Shushushu Sakurai. A full review will follow shortly, but please note: due to a bunch of overdue postings, this giveaway will run through 10/26/18...