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willaful

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Romancelandia mod. Contact @mom with technical issues.
#AutisticParent and mom of a #transgender and #ActuallyAutistic adult I adore. She/Her

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willaful , to bookstodon group
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Book Challenge: 20 books that have had an impact on who you are. One book a day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just book covers (don't forget the alt text). Day 2.

@bookstodon

The original paperback cover for the Witch Family by Eleanor Estes, Illustrated with line drawings by Edward Ardizzone. A gnarled witch sits in a rocking chair on the porch a house on top of a glass hill. A black cat perches on a railing. A young witch girl flies by, with a kitten on the back of her brown, while a bird with a letter in its beak flies down the hill. The cover is largely green with black & orange colored letters
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    • willaful OP ,
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    Book Challenge: 20 books that have had an impact on who you are. One book a day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just book covers (don't forget the alt text). Day 3.


    @bookstodon

    ScribblingSandy ,
    @ScribblingSandy@romancelandia.club avatar

    @willaful @bookstodon That's a fun challenge! I love it!

    willaful , to bookstodon group
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    Book Challenge: 20 books that have had an impact on who you are. One book a day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just book covers (don't forget the alt text). Day 1.

    @bookstodon

    I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I'm cheating, I guess, because this is not an actual book cover but an art print by Simini Blocker, but it's certainly my favorite interpretation of the cover and I own a copy. The cover depicts a girl writing in a large book by the light of a candle. She looks away thoughtfully through a large arched, barred window towards a full moon above a tower in the mist.
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    • willaful , to Romance Books
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    ? I enjoyed the dated charm of Across the Counter by Mary Burchell, where the up-and-coming shopgirl gets promoted and gets to eat in the assistant buyers dining room! Which begs the question, how many separate dining rooms did they have?! No huge fireworks, just a nice, slightly angsty fake engagement romance.

    @romancebooks

    willaful , to Romance Books
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    ? I finished Bass-Ackwards by Eris Adderly, which would be an excellent choice for this month's "Bananapants" . (Alas, I already read a truly terrible Harlequin Presents.) This is very fun smut if you can get past the premise (not everyone can.) The strong characters and sharp writing also make it work as romance.

    @romancelandia
    @romancebooks

    willaful , to Romance Books
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    Came across an odd sentence in the Harlequin Presents I'm reading for the . It says the heroine's dress makes her look "very feminine, but hid none of her curves."

    Might just be a careless way of writing but it implies that the "femininity" of the dress comes from an air of modesty and that demonstrating you have curves is generally considered unfeminine. Unless you do it just right.

    Weird.

    @romancebooks

    shalafi ,

    I think the author means in imply she had a classy look, not just hanging it all there like a TikTok thot. I'm seeing Rachael from Blade Runner.

    Or for you Discworld nerds, Adora Belle Dearheart.

    Dagwood222 ,

    My guess would be that the writer confused the terms "ladylike" and "feminine."

    A "lady" wouldn't want to look like she was showing off her body.

    My vote is that it's bad writing and nothing else.

    willaful , to Romance Books
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    ? 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

    wendypalmer ,
    @wendypalmer@mastodon.au avatar

    @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 🤷‍♀️

    willaful OP ,
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    @wendypalmer Good to know, thanks!

    @romancelandia @romancebooks

    willaful , to Romancelandia group
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    ? I'm buddy-reading A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo, which isn't really grabbing me the way Last Night at the Telegraph Club did. I'm probably not the audience for it.

    Read oldie Reluctant Relation by Mary Burchell (on KU) which is not one of her more interesting books, but a pleasant time passer. I like it when she writes an Other Woman and you can actually see what the appeal is instead of wondering WTH is wrong with the dude.

    @romancelandia

    willaful , to Romance Books
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    ? I found Level Up by Cathy Yardley a bit of a slog. She's reworked some of the same themes (career vs love, introversion vs isolation) in later books more successfully, and the geeky elements feel more authentic in her later books too, IMO. (Though perhaps that's just because game design isn't my thing.) Also needed some editing. Not sure I'll continue this series.

    @romancebooks

    pretensesoup ,
    @pretensesoup@romancelandia.club avatar

    @willaful I am listening to the audiobook of On the Move by Oliver Sacks and reading Good-Bye to All That by Robert Graves, so I guess it's a memoir-heavy week for me. @romancebooks

    antoniaaquilante ,
    @antoniaaquilante@romancelandia.club avatar

    @willaful @romancebooks I just started The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen in audio. I enjoyed the first in the series so I have high hopes for this one. I keep starting and putting down books lately because I just can’t figure out what I’m in the mood for.

    willaful , to Romance Books
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    ? I read The Wedding Dress by Mary Burchell, one of the follow-ups to Under the Stars of Paris and inevitably a bit meh in comparison. The great design house setting is fun but the romantic relationship seems largely based on Daddy Issues.

    @romancelandia
    @romancebooks

    notTheAudience ,
    @notTheAudience@romancelandia.club avatar

    @willaful I'm listening to Rebecca Yarros's "The Things We Leave Unfinished" which has an interesting dual timeline structure, 1940 and present day, but I'm still not sure I care about the present-day characters very much. Reading Tarah DeWitt's "Savor It" in which not much is happening but I could read the characters (especially the FMC) bantering all day. I like the style. @romancelandia @romancebooks

    willaful , to Romance Books
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    I once again had mixed feelings about one of the "Amazing Alpha Tau" fraternity romances.

    https://willaful.wordpress.com/2024/05/29/the-amazing-alpha-tau-pledge-project-by-lisa-henry-and-sarah-honey/

    @romancebooks
    @romancelandia

    NathanBurgoine ,
    @NathanBurgoine@romancelandia.club avatar

    @willaful @romancebooks @romancelandia I always have similar reactions to sports romances. Like, especially when so many sports have zero out currently playing gay or bi male athletes, I just get annoyed. I can’t suspend my disbelief.

    (Of note, all my experiences of Frats in uni were pretty much homophobic awfulness, so…)

    willaful OP ,
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    @NathanBurgoine Yeah, and it's creeping way too close to Copaganda for me here.

    @romancebooks @romancelandia

    willaful , to Romance Books
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    ? I liked Funny Story by Emily Henry enough to write a review, damn! 😂

    https://willaful.wordpress.com/2024/05/22/funny-story-by-emily-henry/

    @romancelandia
    @romancebooks

    willaful , to bookstodon group
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    Wonderful news! Press will be publishing again!

    https://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.com/2024/05/breaking-news.html

    @bookstodon

    willaful , to bookstodon group
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    ? Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh which is very intriguing so far. Lots and lots of undercurrents, clueless main character.

    @bookstodon

    nnschiller ,
    @nnschiller@glammr.us avatar

    @willaful @bookstodon (so good)

    willaful , to Romance Books
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    ? I very much enjoyed The Wonder Engine, the sequel to Clockwork Boys. Suspense, romance, humor, redemption!

    I actually followed Ursula Vernon on the bird site because of her gardening posts long before I thought to read any of her books. Might be a lesson there... 😇

    @romancelandia
    @romancebooks

    @bookstodon

    willaful , to Romance Books
    @willaful@romancelandia.club avatar

    Been reading Forever My Girl by Heidi McLauchlin but giving up and deleting it because the MMC can't have a single thought about a woman that isn't misogynistic as hell. They all want him, they're all trying too hard, they all make him sick. He makes me sick.


    @romancebooks

    lenoreo ,
    @lenoreo@romancelandia.club avatar

    @willaful @romancebooks yeah, was super meh on that book, and I don't remember if I finished...

    Crackhappy ,
    @Crackhappy@lemmy.world avatar

    My daughter sent this series to me. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Court_of_Thorns_and_Roses

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