JoanGrey

herhandsmyhands , 8 days ago to romancelandia

@romancelandia @bookstodon

I was seduced by the murder yellow in the cover: I read P.F. Ford's A Body Under the Bridge; it really didn't work for me.

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/06/26/a-body-under-the-bridge-by-p-f-ford/

JoanGrey , 7 days ago

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

What IS it with incredibly attractive covers and not-good stories inside them? UGH.

herhandsmyhands , 23 days ago to romancelandia

@romancelandia @bookstodon

I read Matilda Madison's historical romance A Duke Makes a Deal

#RomBkBlog

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/06/11/a-duke-makes-a-deal-by-matilda-madison/

JoanGrey , 22 days ago

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

Is it even possible for the lady and her dowry to have been wagered in that way?

herhandsmyhands , 1 month ago to romancelandia

Covers have a purpose: they signal the genre within.

A cartoon cover of two people dressed casually for camping does not--and I cannot stress this enough--signal EROTICA to anyone.

Holy jumping WHAT THE HELL, #HarperCollinsUK, WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL--you are setting that book (and its author) up to fail.

#CartoonCoverFail #CategoryTagFail

@romancelandia @bookstodon

JoanGrey , 1 month ago

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

The vector illo style isn't helping this at all. If you told me this was NA hiking/college romance, with fade to black closed-door intimacy, I'd be more willing to believe it than if you handed this to me and said it's erotica. Oof.

herhandsmyhands , 1 month ago to romancelandia

If a book is part of Kindle Unlimited, it is NOT free; not any more "free" than something you watch as part your streaming service subscription.

Marketing a KU title as part of "FREE" promotions is utter bullshit.

#ReadingRant

@bookstodon @romancelandia

JoanGrey , 1 month ago

@herhandsmyhands @bookstodon @romancelandia

I am so tired of the KU=Free fallacy!!! UGH.

I have KU, I sell in KU, but I pay for the first and get paid for the second. NEITHER is free.

Augh.

herhandsmyhands , 2 months ago to romancelandia

@romancelandia @bookstodon

I read Emily Royal's Oddity of the Ton; unfortunately, not for me.

#RomBkBlog

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/04/29/oddity-of-the-ton-by-emily-royal/

JoanGrey , 2 months ago

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

You're not having any luck with books recently, are you? I'm so sorry!

herhandsmyhands , 2 months ago to romancelandia

@romancelandia @bookstodon

A day late, here's my April's #TBRChallenge review of Sarah Morgan's First Time in Forever.

#RomBkBlog

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/04/18/first-time-in-forever-by-sarah-morgan/

JoanGrey , 2 months ago

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia @bookstodon

Hmmm, that sounds dreary.

MagentaRocks , 2 months ago to bookstodon

This never occurred to me. I read anytime throughout the day - whenever it strikes the mood. I think reading is good for you, no matter the time of day.

Anybody else feel the same as the writer of the opinion piece?

#books @bookstodon

Opinion
I’m retired, and I still won’t let myself read in the daytime. Why not?

Gift Link:

https://wapo.st/4aG52cI

JoanGrey , 2 months ago

@MagentaRocks @bookstodon

Huuuh. I read all the time. I read while I eat. I read while I wait for the water to boil while I'm cooking. I read literally whenever I have a free second.

JoanGrey , 2 months ago

@willaful @MagentaRocks @bookstodon

Oddly, I don't like most commercial audiobooks, but I've tumbled into podfic, which is audiobooks of fanfiction, and somehow those are perfect for me.

I'm trying to use one that I really love as a 'reward' for exercising - I only listen to that one when I'm on the elliptical or doing body weight exercise.

herhandsmyhands , 3 months ago to romancelandia

@romancelandia

A blog post by a long-time Romancelandia member, Lori Green, inspired a rant (heed thee the content warnings)

#USPolitics #4B

#RomBkBlog

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/03/24/wealth-greed-bodily-autonomy-control/

JoanGrey , 3 months ago

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

I'm in a discord server for people using a specific Planning and Organizing system.

One of the repeated issues people (women) have is that their partners (husbands) feel personally rejected when the women say that they are working at a specific time and can't be interrupted.

Their men have had temper tantrums and accused them of deliberately setting out to HURT them simply because they've said that from 2-4 every day, they're working on their novel.

JoanGrey , 3 months ago

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

One of the women's husband told her when it was okay for her to have her own working time and he still resented her and it.

The tone of the discussion is the same as one where people are talking about how to get a toddler to behave.

It's eyewatering and appalling.

(My husband, when I mentioned it, looked at me like I was high and said, If you're working, I'll ignore you. I'll scratch on the door when you're done, because it'll be funny to be like the cats.)

herhandsmyhands , 3 months ago to romancelandia

@romancelandia

For this month's #TBRChallenge, I read Michelle Willingham's Unlaced by the Outlaw. It didn't go well.

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/03/20/unlaced-by-the-outlaw-by-michelle-willingham/

JoanGrey , 3 months ago

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

This book sounds catastrophically bad, wow.

herhandsmyhands , 3 months ago to romancelandia

@romancelandia

It was a rough night here at casa aztec, but Nightmare is feeling much improved right now.

#RomBkBlog

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2024/03/16/a-little-nightmare/

JoanGrey , 3 months ago

@herhandsmyhands @romancelandia

Ohhh, sweetie. What a good baby.

Give her pets (soft, gentle) from me. <3 <3 <3

JoanGrey , 4 months ago to romancelandia

#AmWriting #MafiaRomance #QueerRomance @romancelandia
Okay. I want to write some fun, fast novellae and I'm thinking of mafia romances. Only, I don't want to write the Dark Romance tropes (I, uh, really don't like them), and I do want to write queer romances.

It's the mafia part that holding me up, I think. Are queer mafia romances popular? If I'm going against type by writing queer mafia romance, will I get away with also not writing the Dark tropes?

What if I change to vampires?

1/?

JoanGrey OP , 4 months ago

@romancelandia

Vampires can have the same sort of... in-group/out-group thing, right? And inherent, leashed violence (I'm aiming at something of the Alpha trope - protective and willing to be aggro about it.)

I've got some fun prompts to work with, but really I mostly want someone to tell me that this won't be a total waste of time.

People still like vampires, right?

skaeth , 5 months ago to bookstodon

What are your thoughts on DNF (Did Not Finish)-ing books? Do you feel guilty about it? Do you worry you missed out on something? Or are you confident in dropping a book and reaching for the next one?

At what point are you most likely to DNF, if ever? What sorts of things cause you to DNF?

My friend, book blogger Kriti, was musing on these questions a while back, and it sparked this new post: https://armedwithabook.com/dealing-with-dnf-the-practice-of-did-not-finish/

@bookstodon
#Bookstodon #Books #ReadingCommunity #BookBloggers #AmReading

JoanGrey , 5 months ago

@skaeth @bookstodon

I DNF with glee and abandon. I've DNFed on the first page. If I can tell that I don't want to be in a character's head, there's no earthly reason why I should stay there.

Reading is (for me) supposed to be fun. It's not fun if I'm hating every second of what I'm reading.

If I get bored, I'll just... wander off and find something I like better.

No harm, no foul.

SuperWendy , 5 months ago to romancelandia

So there's a fantasy subgenre called Weird West? Had no idea. #TBRChallenge – Once More With Feeling: Territory by Emma Bull https://victoriajanssen.com/2024/01/tbr-challenge-once-more-with-feeling-territory-by-emma-bull/ via @victoriajanssen #RomBkBlog @romancelandia

JoanGrey , 5 months ago

@SuperWendy @victoriajanssen @romancelandia

Yes and that book is fantastic!