The Journal
Blog
Thoughts on books, reading, culture, and the literary life.
the ask@AAR: What’s the best romance, thus far, of the year?
October 25, 2024It’s astonishing to me there are just two months left in 2024. That adage about parenting–the days are long but the years are short–gets truer for me every year. Time…
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the ask@AAR: What are the traits a romance hero has to have?
October 18, 2024I’ve just finished rereading one of my favorite books by Meredith Duran–Written on Your Skin–for an upcoming review. I adore Phin Granville as a hero–he’s complex, strong, brilliant, and willing…
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the ask@AAR: Do you read prize-winning fiction?
October 11, 2024I’m feeling like a heathen–I have no idea who Han Kang is, the author who was just awarded the Pulitzer Prize in literature. Yesterday, writing about the prize, A. O….
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the ask@AAR: What’s out for heroes these days? What’s in?
October 4, 2024A few months ago, Slate wondered if billionaire heroes were finally out in romance. Regular romance heroes could have told them, duh, yes. Other than Annika Martin’s Billionaires of Manhattan…
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the ask@AAR: Do you own a piece of art that you love?
September 27, 2024When I was first out of college in the utterly shit job market that was 1983, I, oddly, vowed to never put anything but original art on my walls. I…
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the ask@AAR: Are people finally done trashing romance?
September 20, 2024Romance novels are EVERYWHERE right now. Each week, a new romance book store opens; the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, even The Guardian all review romance. Bookstores that previously didn’t carry…
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the ask@AAR: How do you take care of yourself?
September 13, 2024Google the phrase “self-care” and you’ll see endless entries. Self care is all about looking after yourself. It means taking the time to tend to your physical, spiritual, mental, and…
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the ask@AAR: What percent of your romance reading is re-reading?
September 6, 2024I’m always slightly irked at the number of books Goodreads says I’ve read each year. In 2024, the app says, I’ve read 52 books but that’s incorrect. I’m sure I’ve…
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the ask@AAR: Do you need your characters to be likeable?
August 30, 2024I’ve read several book reviews lately praising the unlikable lead (which is not the same as flawed). The implication in these reviews is that the traits that make someone likeable…
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the ask@AAR: How have your reading habits changed over the past decade?
August 23, 2024Much to my amazement, I now regularly read non-fiction. (I blame Barbara Tuchman.) After decades of struggling to finish fat, detailed non-fictional works, I find, at my nightly reading, I’m…
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the ask@AAR: Is 2024 the year for romance at the movies?
August 16, 2024Love is everywhere this year… at least at the movies, both theatrical and streamed. Everyone is making them, watching them, and showing them! I, of course, think this is the…
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the ask@AAR: How do you feel about angst in romance?
August 9, 2024I confess I struggle to find a balance of angst in my romance reading. Though I adore Meredith Duran, I did not enjoy her last published romance, The Sins of…
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