Welcome back to Wednesday Links!

Big thank you to everyone who gave me eyedrops advice. It’s much appreciated and I’m excited to sally forth into allergy season with my new tools!

I’m currently in a giant reading slump. I can’t seem to focus long enough to make progress, like I’d rather play a mindless phone game or grind out levels in Final Fantasy XIV. Is anyone feeling the same way? I may try the “30 minutes before bed” trick and just be happy with whatever I can accomplish in that time.

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Shondaland recently had a piece about the popularity of romance.  I do think the evolution of the genre is the most interesting part of the discussion, given that I’ve been reading it for most of my life at this piece.

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Unfortunately, Twitter now forces you to log in to look at all of the tweets, but Sarah shared this thread of beautiful and interesting sculptural details.

https://twitter.com/JamesLucasIT/status/1787536073947484377

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EC Spurlock sent this link in, about the discovery of children’s notebooks dating back as early as the 18th century.

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I know we have a large figure skating contingent amongst the Bitchey, so I’m hoping someone can explain or add some historical context to this bizarro performance.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Links!

I can slowly start to feel the allergies. I’ve been good about taking Flonase recently, so I haven’t had my usual symptoms of sneezing and sinus pressure. I have had some severely dry eyes, which are new for me. I did buy some eyedrops; does anyone have a good hack to getting the drops in on the first try?

May is looking busy for my social calendar and ending with a trip back to South Korea for a traditional Korean wedding. I had to send in measurements for a hanbok! Admittedly, I’m already hope some of my plans get cancelled (Sorry, friends, if you’re reading this! I’m so tired!) I always feel like Amanda-in-the-moment is so ambitious and positive and does not take into account how Amanda-a-week-from-now is going to feel.

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Have you heard about the fish doorbell?! Lots of places have been writing about it, including Slate and Smithsonian Magazine.

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EC Spurlock sent this one in and it goes out to all the appreciators of knitwear out there! Go behind the scenes of the movie Coraline and some of its handknit costume pieces.

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Tax Day is over in the States, but in author Maya Rodale’s Substack, she included some great women in history who protested taxation. Thanks to Karin for sending in this link.

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If you need a good cry, my partner saw this on reddit and sent it to me. I cried on a beachfront balcony. It’s a bittersweet cry, not one of overwhelming sadness, just to be clear.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back, everyone!

I am still in South Korea and tomorrow I will celebrate my thirty-fifth birthday! Wowza! I never thought I’d be experiencing such a trip in my lifetime, let alone for a bit of a milestone occasion.

I am sure Sarah is steadily steering the S.S. Smart Bitch in my absence. Oh captain, my captain!

Also, we’re in mid-April now! How did that happen? The spring always feels like it flies by. Maybe because New England still have whispers of winter every so often. I’ve had it snow on my birthday before and just before I left for my trip, we had some flurries. Stay in your lane, winter!

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Did any of you hear about the Scottish grandma who has become a Fortnite sensation? Firstly, how adorable! And secondly, I love the reminder that gaming spaces can be for all sorts of players. Whether they are welcoming to all sorts of players is another story.

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I loved this reimagining of a 1950s Beauty and the Beast! The artist also has other really great fanart.

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Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom is one of the most talented pop culture writers and professors. I swear, she has no misses. Recently, some universities announced they’d be raising tuition to $90k and she astutely notes that while campuses are becoming a battleground for politics, the average student is more concerned with how they can afford to live and study.

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There’s a small clothing collection inspired by Little Golden Books! There’s a top, skirt, dress, and hair scarf.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Hey ho! Let’s go!

Though I scheduled this post a couple weeks ago, I’m an officially in South Korea by the time you’re reading this. I’m sure I’m having a great time.

We plan to do an overnight stay at a Buddhist temple and I’m most definitely going to load up on Korean beauty and skincare products. There’s also a chance some areas will still have cherry blossoms. Karaoke and ungodly amounts of Korean BBQ are on the agenda!

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To all my fellow board gamers! There’s a game hitting Kickstarter in May that might be of interest to you: ApotheBakery. It looks very cute and I signed up to be notified when the campaign goes live. When it comes to board games, I definitely make purchase decisions based on aesthetics.

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I went down an Anne Hathaway rabbit hole! Here is a segment of her watching some of her previous roles and I loved how seeing The Princess Diaries again makes her so emotional:

And of course, I was recommend even more Anne Hathaway content and proceeded to watch this conversation between Anne and Emily Blunt about their careers and friendship.

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Malaraa in the SBTB Patreon Discord dropped a link of more Murderbot casting news! I know it’s hard to come back from the Alexander Skarsgard casting choice.

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Enjoy this kitty being excited by the “rat music” of the Baldur’s Gate menu music. Do your pets react to any particular TV sounds?

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Hellooooo! It’s time for Wednesday Links!

How are we feeling about April? Have the allergies started for anyone yet? I’m always dreading allergy season, but mine didn’t start until mid-May last year. I keep waiting for the day I don’t get them because I’ve heard if you live in an area for a decade, your body gets used to it. Well…I’ve surpassed a decade and I still have ’em. Maybe I’m just a…late bloomer. (lol)

And you thought you only get corny jokes from Sarah on the podcast. But also seriously, I’m sick of allergies.

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What timing, everyone! Last week, we had a discussion in the comments about Trader Joe’s, their offerings, and their awful labor practices. An article dropped on Monday about their copycatting consumer goods from small business, often business run by people of color.

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Is a Wikipedia article worthy of Wednesday Links? It is when you discover something called the Chicago Rat Hole. Any Chicagoans familiar?

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Beyonce’s latest album, Cowboy Carter, dropped last week and I’m enjoying it! I also loved this critique from NPR, about the Carter’s desire for recognition from particular institutions and how sometimes that undermines the art they make.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, I think “Bodyguard” and “Daughter” are tied for my favorites on the album.

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For my very first concert, I saw The Spice Girls. I’m still a huge fan and will go off anytime “Wannabe” is played. I thought this cover by Postmodern Jukebox was really fun and the costuming of the singers was a great nod to the group.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Wednesday Links!

The Boston spring has devolved back into a Boston winter this week. Typical! I don’t really mind the cold so much; it’s the wind. The wind is so brutal sometimes.

My partner recently made a Trader Joe’s run and TJs is so good for fun and interesting snacks. But I have a gripe. They’re so popular and I get very overwhelmed and overstimulated in crowded areas. I want to browse, but I feel like I cannot do that before I need to run screaming out the building. My partner’s brother works at a TJs and he’s been very helpful in giving me some ideal “down times” to try and shop.

Any Trader Joe’s disciples in the house? I’d love to hear about some of your favorite TJs go-to foods!

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The greater Boston area is getting a romance bookstore! No news yet on its opening, but I’m excited. Lovestruck Books, if you ever want a moderator for events, I’m in the neighborhood!

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A colleague at work told me about this article on A.I. art pushing the limits of happy puppies and silly geese. I think I was able to grab a gift link for it. They also reference this Twitter thread.

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I haven’t been shy about my fanfic preferences, which have included Dramione. I saw this post on reddit about a person organizing their favorite fics, which led to some great discussion in the comments about how people do this for themselves.

So how do you keep track or organize your fanfic TBR pile?

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As I’ve been preparing for my trip to Korea, I’ve been doing some language learning. A friend recommended Mango Languages to me and told me she gets her lessons through our public library system! Does your library have language learning resources? Have you tried Mango Languages?

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back!

Last time I talked about making tiramisu. This time, I’m talking about lasagna. My partner had a dinner request, which they so rarely have, so I had to oblige. I’ve never made lasagna, but I’ve made plenty of other involved pasta dishes like stuffed shells. However, I was not expecting to make a hearty sauce from scratch. I did, though, and it was amazing. I used this recipe and I really don’t think they’re joking with the title of “World’s Best Lasagna.” It was delicious and worth the effort! We even had some leftover sauce. My only change would be to double the ricotta measurements.

I’ve also made a few fun posts on the SBTB instagram: books with Irish settings or characters and 2024 romance releases as Oscar outfits.

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This link is from LisaM in the SBTB Patreon discord: “Twenty-First-Century Wellness Trends That Were Also Hardhips Jane Eyre Suffered at Lowood School” McSweeney’s routinely delivers.

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If any of you are into Formula 1 racing, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of why this piece of F1 journalism was originally pulled from Road & Track. You may have to register to read it at its new home, but I think you can find an archived version on the Wayback Machine.

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The second annual Trans Rights Readathon begins March 22! Did you participate last year?

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Speaking of rabbit holes, I’m not much of a “royal watcher.” However, I very much have my tinfoil hat on for all Kate Middleton conspiracies. I’ve also been enjoying all the satire coming out, namely these PR sketches:

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Wednesday Links!

March is turning out to be a busy month for me, especially with the lead up to my international vacation next month. Also, can anyone make a compelling case for keeping Daylight Saving Time?

To cheer my partner up this week, I made them their favorite dessert: tiramisu. If you ever want a quick tiramisu recipe, I highly recommend this one!

How’s your March so far? Busy or slow going?

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Hey, can you find Madeleine?

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I’ve discovered this wonderful Instagram channel where the creator Michelle just ranks things! Want a definitive ranking on Haribo gummy varieties? Bonne Maman advent calendar jams?

Michelle has you covered!

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With the announcement of Vice‘s closure, people were sharing some favorite articles on the SBTB Patreon Discord. Larisa shared this one and I found it to be very good: “I Played ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’ on a Bar Jukebox Until I Got Kicked Out”

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I hope you all enjoy this funk cover of “Defying Gravity” from Wicked!

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Hey, ho! Let’s go (read some Wednesday Links)!

I had a big productive weekend and I’m still riding that high or I was…until I started getting the telltale pre-period discomfort. Welp, it was nice while it lasted.

Speaking of periods, I posted about this on the SBTB Instagram. I discovered the Menstruation Crustacean in a local store and then discovered there are two more varieties: a crab and a shrimp. I think shape-wise, I’d prefer the crab.

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The ebook and audiobook library app Libby has announced their own book awards, called The Libbys. You can see their inaugural finalists here.

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This link is from Karen, who posted this in my local romance book club Facebook group. It’s also timely if you’ve been listening to Beyonce’s Texas Hold ‘Em on repeat. Essence dives into the history of Black women in the Wild West.

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For the month of March, the Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts will accept cat photos as payment if you have library fines and want to reactivate your library card.

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This came from Darlynne, who wanted to share this reel from a “book boyfriend” who needs Sarah J. Maas to cut him some slack.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Wednesday Links!

Did you know the makers of Wingspan came out with a new game last month called Wyrmspan? My partner and I played it over the weekend and loved it! If you’re familiar with Wingspan, I’d say the games are 75-80% similar. However, there are some rule changes and new mechanics to Wyrmspan. I personally like this base game better than the base game of Wingspan. If you’ve played it, I’d also love to hear your thoughts!

I’m also so excited that it’s Cadbury Creme Egg season. Easter candy is my favorite because I find it to be so distinct. Other holidays just get repackaged, popular candy to fit with a color scheme…but Peeps?! Cadbury eggs?! So many jellybeans?! I love it.

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Thanks to Susan who suggested this link! The Washington Post interviewed romance authors on how to increase the chemistry when it comes to home decor. I believe this article is paywalled (sorry!).

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The Conversation has an article on the “astonishing rise” of queer romance. I did roll my eyes a little but because queer romance existed a lot in digital only spaces and I think an addendum needs to be made that they’re framing this in terms of “mainstream” media channels.

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An Atlanta stylist has turned Madam C.J. Walker’s salon into a museum! If you live in the area, I’d love a report back.

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Author Maggie Tokuda-Hall, who we love on this site, has co-founded Authors Against Book Bans.

Future resources will include:

• best practices for when your book is banned
• how to talk about banned books EVEN IF you are not personally banned!
• best practices for testifying at school boards/city halls/state legislatures

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Wednesday Links!

I had my Romance Novel + Cheese Night on Friday and it went really well! Keep your eyes peeled for a write-up soon on how it went and what the yummy pairings were.

I’m still a little sick so my partner and I definitely put a pause on any Valentine’s Day celebrations. We even had a fancy dinner reservations planned, which we wound up cancelling in favor of eating chips and dips.

Listen, I was recording a podcast episode with Sarah and she mentioned bean dip and that was suddenly all I could think about.

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The Guardian wrote about the influx of romance bookstores popping up around the U.S. Do you have one near you? Have you visited one?

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This link came from Marlene! The New York Public Library compiled a list of new romances. I think it’s a pretty great list!

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Posted on r/HistoricalRomance, there’s a lovely tribute to author Louisa Rawlings who passed away recently.

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These leading men have the Hallmark Channel on speed dial! I definitely think it’s interesting that Hallmark often reuses the same actors and actresses. Thanks to EC Spurlock for this one!

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I’m always so impressed by people’s creativities. Look at these cool wreaths!

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Wednesday Links! Romantasy is inescapable; sorry, folks!

If you remember last week or maybe even the week before where I mentioned my partner was sick…well, it finally claimed me. Boo! Hiss! I started feeling a cough on Thursday and I’m definitely over it. Please send me all of your good, healing vibes!

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If you watched the Super Bowl, you might have seen that Michael Cera is the new spokesperson for CeraVe. That led me to this Allure article, “More Little Weirdos in Beauty Campaigns, Please.” I’m 100% on board for more quirky skincare campaigns.

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Sarah was in the Washington Post talking about romantasy! (Still hate that portmanteau but it is clearly here to stay.)

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And speaking of romantasy, Humble Bundle has some “romantasy” audiobooks up on offer, though to me some of these are more urban fantasy. Though Sarah and I had an interesting discussion of whether romantasy has taken over urban fantasy because UF isn’t a term we see much anymore.

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If you like crochet or amigurumi, there’s a Humble Bundle for that as well! For both this and the audiobook deal, you can find info about the formats in “Bundle Details” section in the righthand sidebar.

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If you have the Libby app, you can gain access to the Queer Liberation Library, which also offers a handy “quick exit” feature.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Links! I know I just did one of these last week, but it has felt much longer. Maybe it’s because I’ve been quite busy.

I also went to the mall over the weekend. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been shopping, let alone an actual mall. I know TikTok has been abuzz with the tweens invading Sephora for skincare brands and I can confirm that it’s very real.

As someone who gets overwhelmed in chaotic, crowded spaces, I was disappointed that things I wanted were all out of stock, I wasn’t able to leisurely take my time exploring the fragrance section, and that I lacked the patience to both dodge around girls testing skincare products and find a Sephora person to ask about additional stock. So I grabbed the one thing on my list I could find and tried to get out of there as fast as possible.

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Did you know that romance author Nikki Payne is a tech anthropologist for the White House? That’s so cool! And also I want to know more about tech anthropology.

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If you’re into making cheese, here’s a handy tool to find out how much milk you need based on which cheese you want to make and what kind of milk you’re using.

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This link came from Georgia; thanks, Georgia!

Thought you might like this one for the next Links post, from Casey Blair’s email to readers:

I can finally announce I was asked to be a panelist at this year’s TBR Con! This is a completely free virtual event that will stream live on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook on January 26th at 11am Pacific Time.

The panel is called “Cozy Fantasy’s Rise — Grimdark’s Demise?” and I’ll be talking with five other fantastic cozy fantasy and/or grimdark authors, moderated by reviewer extraordinaire Mihir Wanchoo. We’re going to have a lot of fun with this one.

Date has passed obviously but it will remain online to watch at TBRCon2024 | FanFiAddict. 

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If you love to follow animal or pet accounts on Instagram, I highly recommend Rackarkatten: a Siberian cat who loves to race its owner.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome welcome! How are we this week?

My partner went on a week-long work trip and has come back with a nasty sickness. The sounds they make in the middle of the night as they’re hacking up something in their body is truly the stuff of nightmares.

And, considering that all the menthol cough drops have been sold out everywhere, I’m going to assume it’s going around. Be well out there everyone!

I made them some homemade chicken noodle soup, using some store bought rotisserie, and it was so freakin’ good. I used this recipe.

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In more positive award news, Vashti Harrison became the first Black woman to win the Caldecott Medal!

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Hunger Games fans! An illustrated edition is set to be released this year. Thanks to Heather S. for sending this one in!

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This link was sent in by JuHi: “She Wrote a Best Seller on Women’s Sex Lives. Then Her Own Fell Apart.”

What timing as Emily Nagoski is our guest for this week’s podcast episode, which is out 600th!

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Stephanie sent in this YouTube video. They say:

I have spent an unusual amount of time thinking about the lighting of scenes in historicals. Particularly how characters can always see someone’s eyes “flash” when there’s only one lit candle in the room! This video describing lighting and candles in 17th and 18th century England cleared a lot up for me. Now I just need a rebel character who illegally made their own candles!

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Links! I don’t know if it’s the fact that January and February in New England is unpleasant, but I am so sleepy and all I want to do is nap beneath my electric blanket.

At first, my New Year’s resolution was to complete a puzzle a month. I thought that’d be easy to do! However, the lighting in my dining room is pretty dim and poor. It makes doing a puzzle anytime after 4pm really strenuous on the eyes, so I haven’t made as much progress as I wanted. My partner said I don’t have to be so strict and can maybe loosen it to just “do more puzzles.”

Maybe! I’m also thinking about making an effort to get more into skincare. I have decent skin, though I only wash it when I’ve worn makeup or have been exercising. I know I need to incorporate more sunscreen wear and I’ve love to focus on hydrating and brightening. It’s been fun to look at products and figure out a routine.

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R.F. Kuang’s Babel was excluded from the Hugo Awards and people are suspicious of the reason.

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This link comes from Betsy! If you’re looking to find an alternative to Goodreads, The Washington Post has some suggestions. (This one may have a paywall – sorry!)

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Have an Icelandic horse write your out of office message! I, sadly, have never explored Iceland; I’ve only had a layovers. However, one of my friends loves it and even got engaged on one of their black sand beaches surrounded by wild horses.

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I am positively obsessed by these teeny tiny crochets designs.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Wednesday Links!

I enjoyed the long weekend in the States and got some great reading done. I posted up on the couch with my wonderful electric blanket while it snowed outside. I can’t remember the last time I did that. I’m sure I was also motivated by the fact that Final Fantasy XIV servers were down for an entire 24-hours and I needed to fill my time somehow.

Did any of you have a productive weekend or take part in any marathon reading?

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Apparently you can rent a room or two in a house that was once owned by Jane Austen’s brother. The gardens and exterior look absolutely beautiful!

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Thanks to EC Spurlock for sending us this link of bonsai treehouse dioramas. They’re very Ghibli-esque!

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Big thank you to everyone who let us know about the Terry Pratchett Humble Bundle sale! $18 gets you 39 books!

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Did you know the creator of Steamy Lit Con is also opening a romance bookstore? A grand opening will be hosted next month in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

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This link was posted in the SBTB Patreon Discord by SarBear, who said, “Loved the discussion of how writing romance was not as easy as expected!”

As part of Science Friday, Dr. Carlotta Berry talks about writing romance novels that feature Black women in science.

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Sarah: I have two links to share!

February is Black History Month, and one of my favorite series is starting up again: 28 Days of Black History, a daily curated exhibit of artifacts from The Anti-Racism Daily. It’s like having a museum exhibit emailed to you each day and every year I love reading it.

And! Speaking of Email!

Red Feather Romance has a special sign-up link should you wish to receive a daily collection of free and discounted romance ebooks.

The genres and tropes can be customized to your tastes, and the email newsletter is free, cheezy bread, free! 

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back to Wednesday Links!

The Boston area had its first real snowfall! Yay! My only complaint is that most of it happened overnight, so I couldn’t cuddle up on the couch with my heated blanket and look wistfully out the window as the snow fell. Aw well, maybe next time.

I moved to Boston from Florida over a decade ago and the snow still feels so magical to me. The same with mountains. Austria is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen and I’m crediting that to all the gorgeous mountains!

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Publishers Weekly has a big, international calendar of book events! They appear to be mostly cons and book fairs.

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Thanks to EC Spurlock for this link! Williams-Sonoma has a Bridgerton tea time collection from drinks and snacks to place settings.

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Sarah shared this absolutely killer reddit post, looking for romance recs with outspoken, “downright Machiavellian” historical romance heroines. This is all sorts of my house of wheels.

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Sometimes the algorithm gets it right. My partner was suggested this YouTube channel: Bread Story. They videos are like a day in the life of various Japanese bakeries. It’s so soothing to watch.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Welcome back, everyone! It’s our first links of 2024! How are we all feeling?

For New Year’s Eve, my partner and I attend a prix fixe, 5-course dinner at around 5:30 and then chilled out and played video games until right before midnight. We watched the ball drop and were in bed by 12:15am!

Some of my Christmas items were a lovely, plush electric blanket. Seriously, it’s a godsend. I also received tickets to see my favorite band in concert. It’s the 20th anniversary of their debut album, which I listened to a lot in high school, and wow does that make me feel my age a little.

How did you celebrate?

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Calling all sci-fi, fantasy, and speculative romance writers! The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association is hosting a virtual meetup, presented by their Romance Steering Committee. This event is on Saturday, January 20th and features three panels and networking opportunities. Tickets are $10.

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Thanks to EC Spurlock for this nightmare fuel. Apparently someone discovered a body butter scent that attracts spiders. No thanks!

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This year, my partner and I watched Home Alone and Home Alone 2 and frequented commented about how rich the McCallister family must be. Well, someone did the math and we were definitely right.

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My partner sent me this graph from XKCD. Also side note…is this a scatterplot or some other type of graph/chart? Please help me!

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

It’s our last Links of 2023! Next week, we’ll be taking a break from content to run our Best Of lists, from posts to reviews to Cover Snark.

I want to take a moment to reflect on these posts. When I started doing them, it was just a way to show off some cool or interesting things from around the internet. And it still is! However, I love that it’s also morphed into a little hangout spot, a community within the larger SBTB community. To lurkers and commenters alike, thank you so much!

Wishing you all a restful holiday season! I know I’ll either be at my computer, players hours upon hours of Final Fantasy XIV or trying (and possibly failing) to get some reading done.

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We learned about the All Black Book Affair from Natasha Bishop on Instagram! There’s a humungous spreadsheet of book sales by Black authors across a variety of genres. It started earlier this week, so some sales may be gone though there are plenty still active today, tomorrow, and Friday. If you pick any up, definitely tell us what you snagged!

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If you’re on NetGalley, they’ve come out with a reading journal, which is an editable PDF that you can use to track your reading.

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The Chicago area is getting another romance bookstore! Grab the confetti launchers! Check out The Last Chapter Book Shop. If you live in the area, have you been?

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Thanks to EC Spurlock for this link! Here’s a wonderful list of fantasy novels that feature the joys of bread and baking. Each recommendation also has a note about how baking is featured within the book.

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Sarah let us know about the DOD Morale, Welfare and Recreation library! It’s an online library of all sorts of resources for all branches of the military – but eligibility is pretty wide: Active duty, reserve, national guard, retired, medal of honor recipients, eligible family members, and DOD and CG civilians stationed outside the US.

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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!