Essays & Musings
What We’ve Been Thinking About
Thoughts on books, reading, culture, and the literary life.
The Wayback on Wednesday: Patricia Gaffney on How Does an Author Feel About Reader Criticism?
March 31, 2021(originally published in August of 1997) We asked author Patricia Gaffney, author of the Wyckerley trilogy and the upcoming Wild at Heart for her thoughts on reader criticism. Here is…
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And the next AAR Good Time Book Club pick is….
March 29, 2021You have voted and picked… The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt. AAR reviewed it when it came out in 2007–we gave it an A-. In our review, we wrote: The…
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the ask@AAR: What’s your favorite Joanna Bourne book?
March 26, 2021Beloved historical romance author Joanna Bourne announced her retirement this month. I’ve reread everyone of Bourne’s books; some many times. I respect her decision but, damn, I’ll miss her brilliance….
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UPDATED: Pick the next book club book!
March 24, 2021Here’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?
March 19, 2021Last 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?
March 15, 2021Now 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?
March 12, 2021What’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….
March 10, 2021Let’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
March 8, 2021Last 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?
March 5, 2021There’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?
February 26, 2021Even 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?
February 19, 2021This 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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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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