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Thoughts on books, reading, culture, and the literary life.
the ask@AAR: What are some romances with train rides in them?
November 12, 2021Tomorrow, I’m taking the train from North Carolina where I live up to Washington, DC to spend the weekend there. It’s been a tough week here–I had to put Sophie,…
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We’re starting to work on our Best of 2021 lists–and we want yours!
November 8, 2021AAR staffers are beginning to compile our Best of 2021 lists. We’d like a list of our readers’ Best of 2021 too! So–and I know many of you will find…
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the ask@AAR: Why is the sexiest question in sex so rarely asked in romance?
November 5, 2021We’ve discussed here how we feel about consent in romance–in general, good–although there are those, me among them, who feel constant questions in a love scene are hard to do…
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Best re-read? Worst?
November 1, 2021I love to re-read–I’d hazard that at least a quarter of my romance reading is re-reading books I’ve previously read and loved. I’m lucky–it’s rare I’ve re-read a book and…
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the ask@AAR: Do we care what heroines (or heroes) look like?
October 29, 2021In the last three recently published romances I’ve read, I’ve very little idea of what the heroine looks like. The heroes are still chiseled with piercing blue/green/grey eyes, abs like…
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the ask@ARR: It makes me crazy when fertility is used to punish women–is it just me?
October 22, 2021–there are spoilers ahead for the Grant County series– I’ve recently just slogged–and, sadly, it was a slog–my way through Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series. I love the Will Trent…
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the ask@AAR: What do you think about the modern wedding?
October 15, 2021Recently, a close friend of mine’s step-daughter eloped which did not make her parents happy. Her mother and father felt it was disrespectful to not have them as a part…
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I’ve read some EXCELLENT books lately! How about you?
October 13, 2021I have read several truly superb books recently–being on crutches has given me more time to read and I’ve picked, in general, a bunch of winners. The best book I’ve…
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the ask@AAR: What happens when writers fictionalize the lives of others?
October 8, 2021I, like much of the writing attached world, have been unable to stop thinking about Dawn Dorland and Sonya Larson whose feud was covered in depth by the New York…
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What would you like us to review?
October 6, 2021Thanks to the generosity of publishers and authors, the AAR staff has a wide variety of books they can choose to review. (We don’t assign books–reviewers can pick from our…
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Best looking on screen couple of all time?
October 4, 2021A friend came over this weekend and said he and his 22 year old daughter had been discussing this for fun and, no shock, had completely different answers to the…
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the ask@AAR: Is there a romance canon?
October 1, 2021According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a canon is a. Literary Criticism. A body of literary works traditionally regarded as the most important, significant, and worthy of study; those works…
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