Essays & Musings
What We’ve Been Thinking About
Thoughts on books, reading, culture, and the literary life.
the ask@AAR: Who are the best parents in romance? Why?
July 23, 2021Peeps–my kids are driving me just a little bit nuts. Two of my adult children are temporarily living with us in our three bedroom condo–and one of them has an…
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Are billionaires the new dukes? Or do we hate both these days?
July 19, 2021According to Wikipedia, there are around 2700 or so billionaires in the world. Several of them are determined, after mastering our world, to take their empires to other worlds. Many…
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the ask@AAR: What’s the most important characteristic a lover can have?
July 16, 2021When my husband and I were first dating, we’d have this satisfying conversation about relational deal breakers. (We’d proverbially pat ourselves on the back because we, of course, did not…
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The Way Back on Wednesday: A Few Historical Characters I Miss
July 14, 2021originally published on March 23, 2009 One of the perennial favorite topics around AAR is the lack of historical accuracy in today’s historical romances. Still, there is what AAR readers…
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Romances with football–soccer for our US readers!–or tennis players?
July 12, 2021This past weekend was a biggie for sports watchers. (Just ask Tom Cruise–he was seen at the Wimbledon finals AND at the Euro 2020 final game.) Novak Djokovic won at…
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the ask@AAR: Is it OK for lovers to lie to one another?
July 9, 2021My book club just read Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter and, in our meeting, we had a long and heated disagreement discussion about whether or not and/or when it’s…
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We’re more than halfway through 2021–what have you been listening to this year?
July 6, 2021Every year, since 2017, I’ve made a playlist on Spotify of my favorite songs I heard put out that year. Then, in January, I listen to all those songs and…
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What holidays do you love to celebrate? And happy 4th of July!
July 4, 2021I read an interesting–and to me, depressing–article in the New York Times yesterday about how the American flag itself is now considered by many a partisan symbol. The same is…
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the ask@AAR: Where have all the true rakes gone?
July 2, 2021In an interesting conversation in the comments for Harper St. George’s recent release The Devil and the Heiress. Marian posted a link to an article that said: The rakes in…
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What are you reading?
June 28, 2021I’ve really been on a mystery kick lately. After inhaling all the Will Trent books, I’ve moved on to the Rockton books. Both were recommendations from AAR readers. YOU GUYS…
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the ask@AAR: What’s the best vacation you’ve ever taken?
June 25, 2021I am on a mediocre vacation. It’s a large family trip to a very boring beach with accommodations that unfortunately resembles a cave. The weather has been on the chilly…
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The Next AAR Good Time Book Club is… Fool Me Twice by Meredith Duran
June 22, 2021Y’all have picked Fool Me Twice by a large swath of votes! It’s by the storied Meredith Duran–we’re SO blue she’s currently not writing–and Blythe gave it a fairly happy…
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Sometimes a name is just a name
on offense, accommodation, and the value of getting the facts right
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A Novel Is Not a Safe Space
Books are allowed to offend you. You are allowed to close them. Everybody survives.
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Prestige TV rediscovers the joy of family and friends
sappy for the win–really
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