wendypalmer

wendypalmer , 2 days ago to Romancelandia group

Queer Romance Club book choice for July

I’ve got the tiebreaker, so let’s go for the indie author, AJ Demas.

The official pick is Sword Dance.

Technically the first in a trilogy, but stand-alone with a HFN ending. Damiskos is an absolute cinnamon roll of a lead character, and the book itself is down the cosy end of the spectrum (with more plot than some cosies I’ve encountered 😊), though there is discussion of severe injuries including castration (Varazda is a eunuch).

However, Honey and Pepper is currently free on various sites, and The House of the Red Balconies just released a few days ago.

So, officially we’re chatting about Sword Dance in July, but perhaps we can also have a general AJ Demas appreciation month, whichever of her books you happen to pick up. They’re all set in the same fictional classical Mediterranean-inspired ancient world (which does include era-appropriate slavery), and they all feature rather sweet and comforting relationships. You’ll find them on Kobo Plus, your library if it’s better than mine (mine only has Sword Dance), or they’re all reasonably priced.

https://www.kobo.com/au/en/search?query=aj+demas

QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under #QueerRomanceClub and @queerromanceclub — CW for spoilers if you’re posting early and going into details. No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc.

Follow the hashtag #QueerRomanceClub, add @queerromanceclub to a list/notifications.

#AJDemas #GayRomance @romancelandia @gayromance

wendypalmer OP , 1 day ago

@herhandsmyhands @queerromanceclub @romancelandia @gayromance @bookstodon Sword Dance is one of my very favourite comfort re-reads 😊

Scotter , 3 days ago to bookstodon group

@bookstodon
Next book I'm listening to. So interesting! Covers so many words--their first use and how their use evolved. Pretty quick at 8.5 hours and just under 300 pages.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

wendypalmer , 2 days ago

@Scotter @bookstodon thanks, this is on my TBR list, I’ve moved it to the top of the list 😊

kimlockhartga , 9 days ago to bookstodon group

@bookstodon on this #WorldRefugeeDay I'd like to both list and solicit recommendations for books about refugees. With the deepening Climate Crisis, each of us could find ourselves in such a position at any time.

My rec's:

The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Christy Lefteri

Illegal, Eoin Colfer

Welcome To The New World, Jake Halpern, Michael Sloan

What Strange Paradise, Omar El Akkad

The Best We Could Do, Thi Bui

Almost American Girl, Robin Ha

The Wrong End of The Telescope, Rabih Alameddine

Lark Ascending, Silas House

Feeding Ghosts, Tessa Hulls

wendypalmer , 9 days ago

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon can add The Mars House, Natasha Pulley

wendypalmer , 9 days ago

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon wasn't it just! Only Natasha Pulley could present an anti-immigration billionaire politician and say, yeah, but you're going to like them anyway😆 (or at least I did. I imagine reception might be mixed...)

wendypalmer , 8 days ago

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon that was the first one of hers I read, blew me away. I pretty much turned straight back to the start to read it again, and I never normally do that

willaful , 19 days ago to Romance Books

#WhatchaReading ? I'm halfway through Behind These Doors, a queer historical (with some polyamory) involving class issues and women's suffrage. One main character is a "nob," the other a reporter who was raised "above his station" and feels like neither fish nor fowl. It was edited by K.J. Charles so you know it's good. :-)

On KU, supposed to be part of a series but I think there's only the one so far.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks
#RomanceBooks

wendypalmer , 18 days ago

@willaful @romancelandia @romancebooks I was reading an historical m/f regency but then I paused for Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light and Natasha Pulley’s The Mars House in quick succession, and now I’m having trouble finding any other fiction good enough. I’ve had to switch to non-fiction for a bit 😊

wendypalmer , 18 days ago

@willaful @romancelandia @romancebooks “the good book hangover” - yes! That’s exactly what it is, I’ll have to remember that phrase 😊

I adored The Mars House but—assuming you’ve not read Natasha Pulley before—might be better to start with one of her earlier books. She’s previously written literary historicals with a mild fantastic element and understated gay pining, whereas the Mars House is science-fiction, also with the understated gay pining, but also all in on her tendency to zigzag all over moral grey areas. I love her, she’s my favourite author, but she’s not traditional romance genre as such 🤷‍♀️

Schnuckster , 21 days ago to bookstodon group

I saw this dreadful neologism in Oxfam Islington. #CharityShops #books #bookstodon @bookstodon

wendypalmer , 21 days ago

@glc @Schnuckster @bookstodon not to be too pedantic but it’s possibly because when the trend was just taking off “romantic fantasy” and “fantasy romance” were meant to be two different things ie mostly fantasy with a strong romance subplot vs mostly romance with some fantasy elements (the litmus test being if you can remove the romance and still have the story work)…but that’s not where we are now.

wendypalmer , 25 days ago to bookstodon group

Queer Romance Club June pick: A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske (The Last Binding #1)

(QRC is open to all, read the pick at your own pace over the month and post about it under #QueerRomanceClub and @queerromanceclub — CW for spoilers if you’re going into details)

I particularly enjoyed this book (and the whole trilogy) the first time I read it (it’s another of my favourite queer romance historical/fantasy trilogies, more here: https://wendypalmer.au/2024/02/11/books-favourite-queer-romance-trilogies/), so I’m happy for chance to re-read. And I’m looking forward to a new Marske book coming out later this year.

I like the Edwardian setting: this feels like a relatively under-used era in (queer) fantasy, compared to Regency and Victorian eras. Off the top of my head, only CL Polk’s Witchmark uses the Edwardian (I’m sure there’s plenty more!). Every other early 20th example that occurred to me was actually between the wars (prohibition, bright young things)…This setting gets to maintain the 19th century formality of relations, class disparities and sexism that makes for good plot and character tension, but also use our knowledge of the coming Great War to cast a long shadow.

The opening chapters do a great job laying out the era, magical system, and opening dilemma, and introducing the two MCs and their problems and backgrounds.

Also:
Robin, about Edwin: he has a eminently punchable face
Edwin, about Robin: he’s half-witted and incurious, not enough wit, not enough sense
😊 It’s basically a nerd-jock dynamic, let’s face it.

I’ll post a bit more on the book in coming days (under spoiler warnings from here on in), but I have the audiobook reserved for later in the month, so I’m looking forward to reading it in a different way to see what strikes me differently.

#QueerRomanceClub #BookClub #FantasyRomance #books #bookstodon #TheLastBinding #FreyaMarske

@queerromanceclub @bookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon

wendypalmer OP , 25 days ago

@Kay @queerromanceclub @bookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon oh yes of course, the Think of England pair 🤦‍♀️ I knew I missing something obvious (too busy trying to think of magic examples)

kimlockhartga , 29 days ago to bookstodon group

Since we are coming up on June, it seems like a good time to check in with everyone here on @bookstodon regarding favorite reads of 2024 so far. Whatcha got?

My top five reads of 2024 so far:

The Criminal series of graphic novels by Ed Brubaker (ten primary works)

James, Percival Everett

The Book of Love, Kelly Link

Poor Deer, Claire Oshetsky

Prequel, Rachel Maddow

wendypalmer , 28 days ago

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon top five reads for 2024

Ink Blood Sister Scribe - Emma Torzs

Lola in the Mirror - Trent Dalton

The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie

The Mountain in the Sea - Ray Naylor

Djinn City - Saad Hossain

willaful , 1 month ago to bookstodon group

#WhatchaReading ? I haven't been posting about books much, been kind of in a meh mood. Still slowly reading Demon Copperhead, which is amazing but a LOT. Listened to Carrie Soto is Back, which was a bit of a hard sell because of the unlikable narrator but very enjoyable in the end. And just finished The Prisoner's Throne which I enjoyed but kind of forgot about as soon as I'd finished it.

@bookstodon
#bookstodon #AmReading

wendypalmer , 1 month ago

@willaful @bookstodon I should finish City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky today…I don’t normally read very long books with ensemble casts but he won me over with the set-up and his sense of humour.

I am looking forward to finally finishing though, and this weekend will be Connie Willis’s The Road to Roswell — longtime fan, looking forward to it