The Best & Worst Fictional Characters to Invite to Your Book Club

October 9, 2022October 9, 2022 ~ Rhonda ~ Leave a comment

Because I participate at varying levels of involvement in online fandoms for several franchises/media works, I often see fans posing questions like "who would win in a fight, [insert character] or [insert other character]?" Basically, discussions that are overwhelmingly concerned with powerscaling and/or combat skills as if they're playing League of Legends or something. Like … Continue reading The Best & Worst Fictional Characters to Invite to Your Book Club

What Makes a Good Vacation Read?

July 28, 2022July 28, 2022 ~ Rhonda ~ Leave a comment

It is the middle of summer and many of us are travelling–or dreaming of travelling!–and looking for a good book to read on the plane or the train, on the beach or by the pool, or an audiobook for that family road trip. But what exactly do we look for in a vacation read? Do … Continue reading What Makes a Good Vacation Read?

Un-Persuaded: Who is the Real Anne Elliot?

July 15, 2022July 15, 2022 ~ Rhonda ~ 1 Comment

I’ve always had a harder time with Persuasion than other Austen novels. Every time I reread it, I get this sense that Anne has been placed in this box by everyone around her, by her society and time, and even by the narrative itself, and she can’t break out. It frustrated me because I could … Continue reading Un-Persuaded: Who is the Real Anne Elliot?

The Delicate* Feminism of Jane Austen

October 3, 2021 ~ Rhonda ~ 1 Comment

The title of this post comes from a comment by TikTok user @dramaticsonglyrics on one of my recent videos. I had never heard this phrase before, but thought for sure it must be from a famous quote. But strategic googling shows that, no, in fact, it is not very common. The phrase "delicate feminism" got … Continue reading The Delicate* Feminism of Jane Austen

Jane Austen, Mother of Dragons: A Lady’s Influence in Modern Speculative Fiction

November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 ~ Rhonda ~ 3 Comments

If I could only describe my reading taste in two terms, they would be "Jane Austen" and "fantasy." This is a totally hypothetical and unlikely scenario, but the point is that I love Jane Austen and I love fantasy fiction, almost (well, not really, I'd say about half-way) to the exclusion of any other reading … Continue reading Jane Austen, Mother of Dragons: A Lady’s Influence in Modern Speculative Fiction

Fairy Tale Echoes in Mara Rutherford’s “Crown of Coral and Pearl” Duology

October 8, 2020October 7, 2020 ~ Rhonda ~ 3 Comments

This post is a stop on the Blog Tour for Kingdom of Sea and Stone, book two of the Crown of Coral and Pearl duology. Be sure to check out the other stops on the tour here, and find more information on the book at the end of this post. Thanks to TBR and Beyond … Continue reading Fairy Tale Echoes in Mara Rutherford’s “Crown of Coral and Pearl” Duology

A Very BookTok Summer: Podcast Episode (and Newsletter Preview)

September 1, 2020August 30, 2020 ~ Rhonda ~ Leave a comment

You can listen to this podcast episode on Spotify, Apple, or anywhere you find bookish podcasts! So, how was your summer? I was unemployed for much of the summer, so I spent a lot of my days when I wasn’t sending out dozens of copies of my resume, scrolling through and posting videos on BookTok. … Continue reading A Very BookTok Summer: Podcast Episode (and Newsletter Preview)

What Do We Want in a Literary Adaptation?

July 30, 2020August 6, 2020 ~ Rhonda ~ 1 Comment

This post was originally published on BookRiot, because I'm a contributor now. I'm cool like that. For almost as long as film has been around as an art form, books have been adapted for film. In fact, the earliest known motion picture based on a literary source was filmed in 1896. (It’s a 45-second scene … Continue reading What Do We Want in a Literary Adaptation?

Words from Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and More from the KidLit Rally for Black Lives

June 4, 2020June 5, 2020 ~ Rhonda ~ 1 Comment

By now, everyone knows about the great boiling point the U.S. has reached, with the murder of George Floyd the latest in a string of such cases that has sparked protests in every state and in many countries across the globe. I have posted quite a bit about this on social media, but I haven't … Continue reading Words from Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and More from the KidLit Rally for Black Lives

How Has Social Distancing Affected Your Reading?

March 23, 2020 ~ Rhonda ~ 5 Comments

The world is a strange and kind of scary place right now. With the spread of COVID-19 affecting both physical and mental health all over the world, and social distancing, self quarantine, and shelter-in-place measures being enacted throughout the U.S. and dozens of other countries, I think everyone is at least a little on edge. … Continue reading How Has Social Distancing Affected Your Reading?