Across a Crowded Room, reminiscent of “The Price of Salt” by Patricia Highsmith, opens just before Christmas 1950 in New Canaan, Connecticut. Towards year’s end, Bennie Grant leaves an unhappy marriage for an unknown future. All she knows is that she can no longer be the society housewife her husband Will and his domineering mother,Read More
Vacation Reads by Julie Thompson
Part of the idea behind selecting summer reads is vacationing from our jobs, whatever they may be. I’ve already taken my longer vacation, tramping up and down the streets of San Francisco. Now, I squeeze in the odd long weekend here and there, scouring stacks of unread books for the one (or two…or five) thatRead More
Julie Thompson reviews The Unbinding of Mary Reade by Miriam McNamara
My earliest memories of pirates include Muppet Treasure Island, The Goonies, and the treasure chest at the dentist’s office. Female swashbucklers, however, did not enter my consciousness until much, much later. I lived vicariously through sanitized depictions of redeemable and charming male anti-heroes. If you want more than tired tales of Black Beard or evenRead More
Julie Thompson presents A Mother’s Day Booklist Bonanza!
Happy Mother’s Day! In the United States, Mother’s Day falls on the second Sunday in May. I’m lucky in that I was able to share a whirlwind of a Saturday with my mom recently. We shed the hustle and bustle of city life behind, shopped the outlet mall, and had fun watching Dwayne Johnson saveRead More
Julie Thompson reviews Heart of the Game by Rachel Spangler
Sports journalist Sarah Duke lives for the crack of a bat and a deep hit caught at the wall. After years busting her chops reporting college baseball games on up, dealing with sexist locker rooms, fans, and colleagues, Duke finally scores her dream job: covering the St. Louis Cardinals. At the season opener, she meetsRead More
Julie Thompson reviews Ask, Tell by E.J. Noyes
Just in case you’re unaware, author Jae is hosting Lesbian Book Bingo. There are twenty-five genre categories, including a free square in the center of the board. If you’re like me, some of the squares will challenge you to give books you might otherwise skip over a second chance. Celebrity romances and hospital dramas, forRead More
Julie Thompson reviews Don’t Date a Writer by Maj al-Yasa
Inspired by a summer spent swirling between Germany, Spain, and Iowa City, Iowa, poet Maj al-Yasa explores the vagaries of love. This poetry collection is organized as a journey in four parts: Unrequited Love (I don’t understand); Requited Love (why you loved me once); Loss (and then let me go.); Vices (Asshole). Or, read moreRead More
Julie Thompson reviews Mistletoe Mishap by Siri Caldwell
For science professors Kendra and Viv, winter vacation means catching up on paperwork and maybe squeezing in research, too. They’re a long-term couple with a wonderful rhythm, but romance gets buried beneath the layers of routine. Long hours dedicated to the geology and immunology departments at the university plus professional obligations equals short evenings atRead More
Julie Thompson reviews Ripped: A Rapunzel Retelling by M. Hollis
Modern-day fairytale revisions let us see ourselves more broadly reflected. My favorite stories include rows upon rows of crowded bookshelves and women who happen to be in a pickle, but aren’t afraid to ask for help in kicking down the tower’s front door. I also love stories with more than one swashbuckling heroine. M. Hollis’s Ripped:Read More
Julie Thompson reviews A Heart Well-Traveled: Tales of Long Distance Romance & Unlikely Outcomes by edited by Sallyanne Monti
A Heart Well-Traveled presents nineteen stories, highlighting the stress and strain, and love and hope between couples physically and emotionally separated by circumstance. Long distance love and all of its baggage (distance, work, social obligations, limited free time) are things with which I am all too familiar, making this collection especially appealing to me. AsRead More