What We’ve Been Thinking About

Essays & Musings

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

A Roundtable Discussion on Lost Among the Living

April 1, 2016

Today, AAR Reviewers Maggie, Caz, Mary, Linniegayl and Melanie have AAR’s first ever Round Table Discussion. The book chosen is Simone St. James Lost Among the Living. Ms. St. James…

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Are you reading the Mary Russell series? Because it’s great.

March 30, 2016

Has anyone here not read the Mary Russell series yet? If so, stop now and go find yourself a copy of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice and meet young Mary Russell, 15…

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An Interview (and a giveaway) with Caroline Linden

March 28, 2016

Dabney: I’m determined to keep this interview spoiler free. So, no mentioning who it is who writes the 50 Ways to Sin stories! But can I ask, did you know who the author…

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And the winners of the AAR Annual Reader Poll 2016 are….

March 27, 2016

This year’s Annual Poll results are finally here. We thank the many many readers who responded to our survey. The format of taking nominees and then creating a ballot with the…

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Love and Star Wars

March 25, 2016

It’s been long enough since the release of The Force Awakens that I feel it’s fair to write a post with a big fat spoiler about the movie and post it somewhere where…

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Want to write for us?

March 23, 2016

You read us. You trust our reviews and comment on our blogs and message boards. You like that we’re independent, that we don’t answer to publishers, authors, or a media…

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Sunday Steals and Deals

March 20, 2016

So many books and so many deals! Here are some of our favorite bargains to be found right now. This collection has an impressive lineup of authors: Alexis Hall, Del…

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Blasts from our Past: Purple Prose Parodies

March 19, 2016

For years, All About Romance ran a very amusing Purple Prose Parody Contest. We thought we’d share some of the entries. These two are culled from the 1999 Contest. from Carol…

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March Minis

March 17, 2016

It’s another edition of the midweek minis. This time we have Melanie, Heather, and Dabney assessing seven books. Have you read any of these? We’d love to know your thoughts in the…

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What’s Up at AAR

March 12, 2016

Hello again, everyone! It’s our round-up of some of what we’ve been doing. We’ve got lots and lots of Best of 2015 lists! And fresh content for you to enjoy. Here’s…

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A Lambda Awards Roundup

March 10, 2016

The 28th Annual Lambda Literary Awards–or the “Lammys,” as they are affectionately known–kick off another record-breaking year with this week’s announcement of the finalists. They were chosen from a record 933…

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Does Size Matter?

March 8, 2016

I’ve read some pretty long books in the course of my life. Tolstoy’s War and Peace with the original French quotes included – 1,296 pages. The Far Pavillions by M….

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