Essays & Musings

What We’ve Been Thinking About

Thoughts on books, reading, culture, and the literary life.

UPDATED: Pick the next book club book!

UPDATED: Pick the next book club book!

March 24, 2021

Here’s the final round. Pick one of the four and we’ll read it the first week in May! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FinalRoundMay   Let’s read together. Pick your top choices from this list….

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the ask@AAR: What’s your least favorite thing about AAR?

the ask@AAR: What’s your least favorite thing about AAR?

March 19, 2021

Last week I asked what works for you at AAR and your answers were lovely and useful. Thank you. This week, I’m curious what we could improve. I can’t promise…

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What are you reading? Watching?

What are you reading? Watching?

March 15, 2021

Now that I have been vaccinated–yay!–I have been doing less reading and watching than during the pandemic. For the past year, I’ve read several books a week (The best: Bench…

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the ask@AAR: What’s your favorite thing about AAR?

the ask@AAR: What’s your favorite thing about AAR?

March 12, 2021

What’s your favorite thing about AAR? I ask not because, as my mom would say, I’m fishing for compliments but because as we figure out how to survive and move…

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And our next book club book is….

And our next book club book is….

March 10, 2021

Let’s do this! Let us know in the comments what subgenre you’d like to read, offer any specific choices, and weigh in if any of these choices appeal to you:

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Over the Big Mis

Over the Big Mis

March 8, 2021

Last night my mom and I watched the 1995 rom com While You Were Sleeping and…. well, let’s just say it was not for us. (My mom, every 15 fifteen…

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the ask@AAR: Are you ready for romances set in the pandemic?

the ask@AAR: Are you ready for romances set in the pandemic?

March 5, 2021

There’s been a slew of novels set in the pandemic on Netgalley recently and I for one am not here for them. I am so tired of lockdown and COVID…

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the ask@AAR: What’s your favorite romance featuring musicians?

the ask@AAR: What’s your favorite romance featuring musicians?

February 26, 2021

Even before COVID-19, I worked at home. I’d get the kids ready and to school, wave my husband off to work, walk the dog and then settle down with my…

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the ask@AAR: Do we need to change our name?

the ask@AAR: Do we need to change our name?

February 19, 2021

This week an author we’ve reviewed frequently declined to discuss her latest work of women’s fiction with us. Her reason? ….AAR is not the place to discuss this book, simply…

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In 2000, our readers loved….

In 2000, our readers loved….

February 16, 2021

Twenty years ago, these are the books AAR readers picked as the best of the year…. (a column from March 1, 2001)

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Words on Love… for Valentine’s Day

Words on Love… for Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2021

Ever since the start of 2020, I’ve been–more or less–posting a poem a day on Facebook. It’s been a wondrous gift. A poem, short and searing, takes just a few…

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the ask@AAR: If you could give your partner (or your dream date) one romance novel, what would it be?

the ask@AAR: If you could give your partner (or your dream date) one romance novel, what would it be?

February 12, 2021

In 2010, when I’d fallen deep deep deep into the wonderful world of romance novels (as an adult), my husband got curious. “What do you love about them?” he asked….

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What We’ve Been Thinking About

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