Archive for category Navel gazing

10 Peeves and 10 Pleasures and 10 Things I’ve learned About Blogging

Just some randomness while I await the change to my new website. Thanks again for hanging in.

Peeves

1. Losing my Audiobook place on my iPod. Takes ages to find it again. This is the worst … my absolute number 1 peeve.

2. Juice box company repackaging a 10 pack as an 8 pack for a higher price. Then adding back the two juice boxes and slapping a sticker on the package that says “20% more free!!!”. (also looking at you cereal makers!)

3. The moment when I realize I forgot a lesson I have already learned.

4. Seeing one of my kids in a too-small or stained item of clothing I meant to discard or donate, but instead washed and dried, again.

5. Loud talkers at the gym. Especially when they are on their cell phones.

6. Walking to class sans tissues, and having to sniffle my way through most of it.

7. Promo codes. I have never been offered one of these in my life. Dammit.

8. No hook (for my coat or bag) on a public bathroom stall door.

9. My cats crying to go outside at 6:00am and then taking their sweet time while I stand with the door ajar in our usual 5 degree temps.

10.  Glasses, period. Example:  accidentally washing my face or falling asleep with them on; sliding down my face; getting raindrops on them as I walk to class; losing them,  you name it. Hate wearing glasses.

Pleasures


1. My youngest, an 8 year old boy who sometimes feels too big to hold mommy’s hand, absently grabbing my hand on a walk

2. The moment when I realize a book I am reading is going to be awesome.

3. When someone clicks the “Add to Any” button to subscribe to this blog.

4. Seeing my dogs, standing on their hind legs, wagging their tails, looking out the window at doggie daycare when I pick them up.

5. Finding out one of my students has gotten into the grad school of their choice (this week: two pre med students got early admission to Tufts!)

6. The sound — and sight, when I am lucky — of a black capped chickadee.

7. Watching something absolutely trashy on TV as I fold laundry in the relative quiet and solitude of my bedroom on a weekend afternoon while all hell is breaking loose downstairs

8. Realizing I’ve accumulated enough quarters to buy myself a Vitamin Water from a vending machine on campus

9. Trolling the charity used book bin at my supermarket and actually finding a treasure

10. Seeing my husband in his assistant soccer coach uniform. I thought I married a bookish Jew. Where did this hot jock come from?

Blogging:

1. The way to grow your blog is to post good content

2. Occasional drama is unavoidable: better to visit it than to host it

3. Twitter, while enjoyable, doesn’t really help me with blogging. I’ve nuked my Twitter account 3 times, and each time have seen my stats and comments go up during the period I was Twitter free, probably because I had more time for better and more frequent posts.

4. Your blog readers are not necessarily your friends. They just read your blog. They may not even like you, impossible as that seems. ;)

5. Don’t be afraid to ask experienced bloggers for help, on anything from handling code to an out of control discussion thread.

6. Trolls must be ignored. No matter how skilled you think you are, you can’t reason with them, because they are not arguing with you in good faith. Ignoring works wonders, though.

7. Be natural. Don’t strategize when it comes to frequency of posts or content or comments. Do what feels natural, or blogging will just become another chore. You can’t predict what people will like or what you will find gratifying anyway, so save yourself the wasted energy.

8. Taking back anything you say on the internet, including on your own blog, is like trying to get the pee out of a pool. Think twice before hitting send.

9. There is always room for another blog, another voice, another point of view. Be confident in your own voice and welcoming  of others’ voices.

10. Blogging is an incredibly rewarding activity.

Need Book Recs for Boy With Avg Maturity but Advanced Reading Level

In a used book store recently, my son and I found a book called Pirates! by Celia Rees. It was a hard back with no book jacket, but I leafed through it, and it looked good. I especially liked that it had female protagonists and a bit of romance. He’s been enjoying it, but he just got to a scene with a sexual assault. “It made me feel bad,” he told me, “so I put the book away”. We talked a bit more, and it’s clear the mature themes, while mild for a teen book, are making my ten year old uncomfortable. We’re thinking about reading it together, skipping scenes he doesn’t like, and a few other options, but I want to have a stack of ideas for his next read.

If you are familiar with the highly praised Pirates! you might be thinking: “Duh! That book is for 6th to 9th graders.” I know that, now, but here’s the problem: in 3rd grade my son passed the language arts test our 12th graders take to graduate high school. Like most old curmudgeons, I suspect standards have gotten lower over the years, but on any measure, it’s clear (not from some test score, but from how fast he reads books for 10 year olds, and how unexcited he is by them) he need something different from chapter books for kids his age.

So, I’m looking for recommendations for books that are challenging for a precocious 10 year old boy, but don’t have adult-ish themes. He likes fantasy, sci fi, and adventure, but is pretty open minded.

Perhaps in anticipation of the closure of our Borders, which hasn’t been announced, but which only a nitwit could fail to predict, our local music store is opening a giant book section today. I’m definitely going book shopping, and I need ideas for my boy.

Thanks, thanks, thanks, in advance!

On Safari: Old Posts for New Readers

I’m heading to South Africa with the family and putting this blog on hiatus — more or less (The surest way for me not to do something on this blog is to promise to do it) — for a few weeks.

In the meantime, if you’re new here, please have a look around. I started Racy Romance Reviews in August 2008. You can find out what this blog is all about here.

If you like what you see, consider subscribing to this blog’s feed.

My journey as a romance reader, beginning in 2007 (The post is called “Why I read romance now”).

The following are this blog’s most read posts and pages:

Top Posts and Pages
1. Top 9 Most Romantic Love Scenes in Romance
2. Reviews A-Z
3. Polyamory, Menage, Erotic Romance, and Culture
4. What (Not) To Do Wednesday: Love, Actually
5. Top 10 Signs You Are Reading Too Much Historical Romance
6. Do Author Comments Have a Chilling Effect on Review Discussions?
7. Review: Definitely Dead, by Charlaine Harris
8. Top 10 Lies of the Romance Novel Hero and Heroine
9. A Rape by Any Other Name
10. Top 11 Signs You Need to Lay Off the Highlands Romance

A few older posts:

Is a Book Review Just One Person’s Opinion?

Come For Me, Baby: Orgasm on Command

The Procrastinator’’s Guide to Grading at Home

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: Alpha Heroes as Nietzschean Supermen

Audiobooks: Reading, or Cheating?

See you in January.

Happy New Year!

DNF Smackdown: Grandma Racy v. Outlander

You know those success stories where romance novel readers convince their skeptical friends and family to try a romance, and they love it? This is not one of those.

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Grandma's Fridge

To my delight, my mother, who is a voracious reader of nonfiction and literary fiction, picked up a copy of Outlander a couple of months ago. She lives down the street, and whenever I visited, I would surreptitiously glance at the placement of the bookmark to see what progress she was making. At first, she seemed genuinely enthused and the bookmark moved steadily forward. After a few weeks, as the bookmark stalled, I started to doubt her protestations to the effect that “I’m reading it, really”.

Finally, I confronted her with the evidence: the bookmark had been at p. 233 for a month. She looked at me, took a deep breath, glanced at my husband (my husband! the traitor!) for moral support, and said “It’s awful honey. I can’t finish it.”

After I removed the dagger from my heart, I asked her to at least explain herself on this blog.

J: What motivated you to pick up Outlander?

GR: My younger daughter was very interested in the genre. I saw the Gabaldon books, and they looked interesting.

Mr. Racy: Cuz she was feeling a bit randy.
GR: Aye lad.

*Ten minute digression into faux Gabaldon speak.*

J: What do you usually read?

GR: I read everything. My area of abiding interest is Russian and English literature, but I am equally interested in exploration and maritime history. And I like poetry.

J: What are a few of your favorites?

GR: My favorite novel of all time is Anna Karenina. I also loved The Grapes of Wrath, which I first read about 25 years ago. It had a profound impact on me and opened my eyes to poverty.

J: What did you expect Outlander to be like when you started reading it.

GR: I thought it would be a good, fun read. I’m very interested in the Scots heritage and was looking forward to that.

J: And after the first few pages, what did you think?

GR: I was bothered by the constant stream of dialogue between Claire and Jamie, and the dialect that I thought was overused. It is a good tale, but there were elements in the way the book was constructed that prevented me from giving over to the story and the fantasy.

Mr. Racy: “Git yer haggis, right here… chopped heart and lungs… boiled in a real sheep’s stomach… tastes as good as it sounds! Good fer what ails ye, eh?”
GR: [gales of laughter]

J: [fuming] What else?

GR: Because I know something about that period in time, the fact that nothing really horrible happened to Claire after she went back in time, was too unbelievable. I also thought Clare’s assimilation was also unbelievable. No one would have had anything to lose by taking advantage of her sexually or otherwise. So why didn’t they? Surprisingly, I had no problem with the time travel. I thought the author handled that really well.

J: But how about that Jamie? Isn’t he-?

Mr. Racy: “Ah, ya silk-wearin’ buttercup…”
GR: Fegs!!

J: You guys, cut it OUT!

GR: He was a very typical hero. I thought, “Oh, here he is. Here’s the guy. He’s going to sweep her off her feet, save the day. The Scottish superman.” I mean, any normal guy would have been dead many times over.

J: So is it the fantasy elements that you didn’t enjoy?

GR: The number one reason I did not enjoy the book was the dialogue. I just don’t think Claire would have been able to understand most of what was said, for one thing. All the Scottish-ese just got in the way.

Mr. Racy: Aye woman, get me my haggis!!!
GR: Aye, me laddie!
Mr. Racy: Yer a bonnie lass. (shouting towards the living room) Where are me wee bairns??!!

J: (Growling) But back to Jamie. So is there something problematic about the fact that you have a hero and heroine and you know they are getting together problematic?

GR: I was hoping for a heroine who was going to get through the book without a Jamie. I don’t read anything with fantasy usually. I’m reading the Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White (1859) right now, which was written for a popular audience, and it’s predictable, but I like it. It’s not the predictability I don’t like, which the Wilkie has. I’m against predictability that isn’t well done.

I loved Exodus, for example. Ben is a hero. He leaves America and goes to Israel, and does superhuman things and gets the girl. But to me, he was believable.

And I loved Chewbacca, and Incredible Hulk. So I don’t have a problem with fantasy.

J: (changing tacks) Did you know you bought me my first romance novel when I had mono in 7th grade?

GR: (horrified) I didn’t.

J: (triumphant) Yes, you did. It featured a woman doing it against a tree with the hero. I had a dread fear of splinters after reading it.

GR: [hangs head, rubs eyes.] What was wrong with me? [Silence. Looks up.] You must have asked me for it. I never read them.

J: Didn’t you have friends who read romances?

GR: Yes, but not me. When I think back on it now, the woman was the heroine in the books I loved as a teen. Nancy Drew, the nurse novels [can’t remember titles], Wonder Woman was one of my favorite characters.

J: Why do you think you have never read romance novels?

GR: Cause I never had to fantasize about having a man.

Mr. Racy: [loud guffawing, followed by silence and a puzzled look.]

J: (Splutters in outrage) What? I’m happily married!!!!!!

GR: Well (backtracking), I think I’m just rooted in concrete reality. The romance novels around back in the day didn’t have the female heroines I would have liked to read about. You have to remember that I went all though Catholic schools. The strong women in that literature were always punished severely for stepping outside the role prescribed for women. I didn’t want more of the same as an adult.

J: You haven’t mentioned anything written by women among your favorites so far.

GR: Oh! Edith Wharton, Eudora Welty, Mary McCarthy, Zelda Fitzgerald are some of my favorites.

J: Was there anything you liked about Outlander?

GR: Yes, I liked the part when Claire was figuring out medicinal techniques, and how to mix herbs. I liked Claire in general, and how she translated her talent from the 20th century to the past.

J: Will you ever finish Outlander?

GR: No.

J: Will you ever read another romance novel recommended by your youngest daughter?

GR: No.

J: Why not? You don’t like love stories?

GR: [The woman is not giving in. Sooooooo typical. Can you win an argument with your mother? I can’t.] I do enjoy love stories. I loved The Age of Innocence, Anna Karenina, the BBC Cranford series.

J: But things don’t end up well in those books for the lovers.

GR: They just seem to struggle more realistically.

J: Have you ever read a love story that you liked which ended happily?

GR: Geez, I read so much, Jess, I can’t remember. I guess if it ended happily it wouldn’t be worth writing.

J: Why not?

GR: I think human beings are naturally attracted to tragedy and are always sort of looking out at how people go through tragedy and how they solve it. It’s resolution that the reader wants, one way of the other. I think Anna Karenina would have been a successful novel if Anna had gone on with Vronsky and her husband looked the other way, which he was willing to do, but that’s not resolution.

J: Why do you read?

GR: Reading is my hobby. I love books. I love books all around me. I hate giving them away, although I do. It’s like parting with friends, but there are people who love to read and can’t afford their own books. It’s therapeutic, it’s educational, it leads me to new places.

J: What do you make of your youngest daughter’s reading habits.

GR: I find them amusing. That’s all I’m going to say.

[Just wait dear reader. This is a woman who always has something to say.]
[five seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1--]

Ok… I’m not judging it. I think it’s a very, very interesting activity, that whole genre. The romance novels served important functions for women who were at home 50 years ago when I began parenting. Most of my friends devoured them and exchanged them. You’d have a cigarette and sit down and read your story. You took it everywhere. But I never read them even then.

J: What did you read, then?

GR: I first got serious about reading in 1956-7 when I began to read Hemingway and Fitzgerald and Dreiser. I began my journey with the American novelists.

J; Who did you talk to about those books?

GR: Women I knew didn’t really talk to each other in those days. And they didn’t acknowledge reading them to each other. It was not considered appropriate. There was a bias against meeting other women during the workday, when you were supposed to be taking care of your kids. Our roles were very clear. Remember when JFK ran for President, and people started having coffee klatches to talk about politics. So we began to have coffee hours, and that was the beginning. Invariably, the discussion would turn to other things.

J: When did you read a feminist book? Was it Betty Friedan? Late 1960s?

GR: Yes, but I had had very strong role models. All she did for me was legitimize what I was already feeling. In my own family, my mother and my aunts were very strong. The prescribed role for me in the 50s and 60s felt like being in a strait jacket.

J: Was there any connection between your fiction and nonfiction reading?

GR: I don’t think I realized the impact of my reading on me, until the late 1960s. Then I was able to put everything I knew and read and experienced into a context. That’s what Friedan did for us.

Where I Get My Books: A Photo Essay

Wendy the on-blogging-FIRE Superlibrarian asked not too long ago where we get our books, so I thought I’d answer.

Depending on how you define “piracy”, almost every one of the following sources could be considered “piratical” –  to use a term the genre first introduced to me, and which I inject into every possible conversation, much to everyone’s irritation.

1. The library. Our town has about 30,000 people, and our library’s circulation is over half a million books per year. I’m told that’s really high. (See the bottom of this post for a picture of the home of the famous author who built the addition on the right side of the main building.)


public library

I can often be found here, in the new fiction room, although I have never seen those flowers. They must reserve them for special patrons.

fiction room

2. Used book store. There are only two in town. One of them eschews genre fiction. This one has a huge section of romance, although much of it is categories circa 1985.

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3. Borders, near the mall.

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Notice how close the Romance section is to the Literature section. I approve!

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4. The supermarket. They have a table of used books for charity, fifty cents for a paperback, $1.00 for a hardcover. I have gotten very lucky with this one, even if my family wonders why the ice cream is always melted by the time I get home. (I bought the Janice Kay Johnson, BTW).

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5. Amazon.com. The bulk of my reading is on the Kindle, and my purchases are through Amazon. Shopping is so much easier on my laptop than on the Kindle itself, that, unless I know exactly which title I want, I usually purchase on my laptop. the Kindle downloads it wirelessly the next time I turn it on.

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6. The house, a few blocks from mine, which I mentioned in #1 — belongs to a writer whose books are perfect for Halloween.

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A closeup of the gate:

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All except the first two pics are my own, which I probably didn’t need to tell you.

Happy Sunday!

Signs I was Destined to Become a Romance Reader

Recently I rewatched a couple of beloved older movies through the lens of being a relatively new, but avid, romance reader, and something hit me: I think I loved romance, or at least romantic themes, long before I realized it. This post is about a few of those early romantic impressions.

To dilute the relentless self absorption of this exercise, I’d love to know if I’m alone in this, or if you think you, too, may have been drawn to romantic story elements in film and TV even before picking up an actual romance novel.

1. The Terminator (1984)

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I recently rewatched this movie, which as you likely know, is about a woman who is hunted by a cyborg sent back from a postapolcalyptic future in which machines have taken over the planet. The Terminator, played to perfection in this first installment by the present governor of California, wants to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) before she has a chance to give birth to John Connor, who will grow up to lead the anti-machine insurgency in the future. The adult John has sent back a fellow resistance fighter, Kyle Reese, to protect his mother.

As a teenager, I loved Sarah Connor in this film (as opposed to the caricature they made of her in Terminator 2). You may recall that it was Sarah, not Reese, who killed the terminator. She was a heroine I could believe in, an ordinary person who grew to meet seemingly insurmountable challenges. I also loved the time travel conundrum presented here — Sarah becomes pregnant with John after sex with Reese.  So which came first? Did John know he was sending back his own father?

Viewing it again last week, I realized that there are very strong romantic themes in this violent movie, albeit in an inverted sense. For example, there are a lot of standard romance settings:  a bar scene, a car scene, and there’s a long quiet interlude in a hotel room in which Sarah and Kyle bond, very like today’s rom suspense novels, and eventually make love. For my money, Kyle’s line, “I came across time for you Sarah,” is one of the most surprising, yet believable, romantic lines in a sci fi movie.

2. Gigi (1958)

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When I first saw this movie, I was a first year college student. I had a habit of avoiding life by going into the library, signing up for a movie booth, putting on headphones and disappearing for a couple of hours. Surprisingly, given my loathing for My Fair Lady, I loved Gigi, especially for the music (“I Remember it Well”, or “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore”, for example) and the visual experience (click here to see what I mean). The costumes and the interiors have to be seen to be believed. It’s set in the turn of the century Paris, but I would hardly say they go for accuracy, which would be very insulting to French people, but rather a stunningly transportive visual experience. I also loved the adult, forthright, fun approach to sexuality.

Re-viewing it recently, I was shocked to discover that this is essentially a historical romance novel on film (actually, it was a novella prior to its staging and filming). Gigi is a beautiful young woman being groomed to be a courtesan by her grandmother and aunt. Meanwhile, Gaston, a wealthy young sugar baron’s son, is the toast of Paris, with a different party and mistress every night. He is dear friends with Gigi and her family. Gaston is the classic depressed aimless rake. He eventually decides to make Gigi his courtesan, and at first she won’t have it. Finally she realizes, “I would rather be miserable with you than miserable without you.” They do get their (rather abrupt) HEA when Gaston realizes she must become his wife.

3. Foul Play (1978)

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This was a (comedic) romantic suspense novel on film if there ever was one. Chevy Chase, as a bumbling cop, and Goldie Hawn, as a shy librarian, fall in love while he tries to protect her from the baddies. It’s often remembered for Dudley Moore’s hysterical scene as a would be gigolo, but what I recall is how handsome young Chevy was and what a fantastic kissing scene (if you follow the link, the kiss is around minute 5) he shares with Goldie. In fact, and this is likely TMI, which is why I am putting this one in the middle (so those of you who skim won’t see it), but it was the first time I remember being completely turned on, by anything, ever.

Yes, you read it right. I owe to Chevy Chase my sexual awakening. It explains a lot, actually.

4. The Manions of America (TV series, 1981)

This was the miniseries that introduced Pierce Brosnan to the United States. It’s kind of amusing that the hero went on to play James Bond and the heroine (Kate Mulgrew) went on to captain the Starship Voyager. In Manions, they played they two headstrong characters who fell in love against the odds. This is another romance novel on film. You have Rory, the Irish 19th century proud yet ambitious peasant, and Rachel, the haughty but vulnerable English miss, the forbidden attraction, and the famine that drives him to America, where he becomes rich and powerful.  I fell hook, line, and sinker for both of them. And when, after three miscarriages, Rachel’s doctor tells her no more babies, Rory has to stay away from her, and eventually becomes tempted by a younger gal. Determined to keep her man, Rachel confronts him and they have angry sex. He tries to resist, but …  it’s Kate Mulgrew. Resistance is futile.  It ends badly, sorry to say. Scene here.

I haven’t re-viewed this one because I am sure I would find the accents atrocious, the history ridiculous, and the acting poor. But boy, did it make an impression. If anyone has seen it recently, I would love to know what you think!

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5. The Bionic Woman (1976-78)

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God, did I love Jaime Sommers. I wanted to be Jaime Sommers. Athletic, gorgeous yet down to earth, strong and kind, and, unlike most women, who were getting sixty cents for every dollar men made, worth seven million dollars (this is controversial. Some say she was made with spare parts and was thus cheaper). We first met Jamie when the six million dollar stud, Steve Austin, traveled back to his hometown and wooed the young tennis ace. They eventually got engaged and made the unfortunate choice to go skydiving. Jamie crashes, with disastrous results. Steve convinces Oscar Goldman to rebuild her, and she gets the bionic arm, legs and ear. I recall so clearly Jamie pushing back those blond locks behind her ear to hear baddies from miles away. Jaime’s body rejects the bionic implants and she eventually dies — in Steve’s arms!! — but her character was so popular she got resurrected for her spinoff.

I responded to Jaime as a 7-9 year old looking for role models, but I am not surprised how clearly I can recall her relationship with Steve: it was a big part of the draw for me.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit the Fembots storyline also made a lasting impression. Fembots were evil powerful androids who were difficult to tell apart from humans. I am convinced I ended up writing a dissertation on trust 20 years later as a result of the terror and awe inspired in me by the Fembots).

This was a fun trip, for me anyway, down memory lane. Where would yours take you?

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The Monday Morning Stepback

I had so much fun writing my “this n that” post last week, that I’ve decided to make it a regular feature. I’m going to post random observations and opinions, links to posts of interest, and whatever the hell else I want, just like you guys do.

(If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that announcing I will do something on this blog is a sure bet I never will. Adjust your expectations accordingly.)

Here goes:

0. Tumperkin has an amazing post up about Outsider Heroines, and why she likes em.

1. I appreciate the effforts that go into them, but I don’t enjoy the AuthorTalk videos at all. I can see getting a huge kick out of them if you are friends with the people in them. But I find them painful to watch. Are they supposed to be promotions of some kind? I don’t get it. And no, I’m not going to watch any more. Do you enjoy these videos?

2. Fighting ebook piracy. Karen Scott posted about this recently, and she has the right idea with reporting the pirates to Paypal, etc. My experience teaching college students a unit on ethics and digital piracy is that most of them do not consider it wrong. So you have to find other ways of fighting it besides moral education and public shaming. Only force and threat will work.

3. I get a little sad when I find that different people in Romanceland whom I like don’t like each other. First of all, it makes it hard to be a minion, my life’s goal. Second, I don’t know why or how these feuds were generated, but they are the source of so many threads going off track due to ad hominem arguments. Do you have to be a philosopher to realize that even an evil person can make a logical argument? You know how we say reviewers should focus on the book and not the authors? I wish folks would take a little more of their own advice when it came to Romancelandia.

4. How do you choose the blogs you visit? There are so many excellent blogs that I don’t regularly visit. I was forcefully reminded of this by my recent visit to Heidenkind’s Hideaway. There’s also Rip My Bodice, which is great, but I don’t visit it much. Same for TBTBTU. Why? I now realize there is no rational basis, or if there is, it’s tempered by laziness, and routine. What blogs have you really been enjoying lately?

5. My semester starts today. I teach bioethics and ethics this morning. I absolutely love this time of year. It’s fall in New England, all the hopes of a new year sprung anew. I always feel a little nervous my first day back in the classroom, but I am so grateful that I get to do this for a living. I can’t wait to meet my new students!

6. Some of you might remember an English Shepherd pup we adopted last December. Well,  he was so good at destroying our home and making us crazy, that we just adopted another one. It’s his brother (different litters, same parents). Here’s a pic, and Happy Week everyone!

Wellington and Kitchener (ok, Wellie and Kitchy)

Wellington and Kitchener (ok, Wellie and Kitchy)

Blogversary Contest (with Stat Reveal for the curious or bored)

Well, folks, it’s been a year of blogging!

To celebrate I’m sharing my stats and having a contest.

211 posts

282 subscribers

810 views on my top day, in April 2009. (this was a combination of linkage to my Top 10 Signs You Are Reading Too Much Historical Romance list from author Lauren Willig, combined with a controversial post which ended up on some site like Digg, and which also drew the ire of a breathtakingly narcissistic nonromance author)

2939 comments. My first commenters were Christine of The Happily Ever After…, Ana of The Book Smugglers, Laura Vivanco of Teach Me Tonight, and Taja of Books and Games. Thank you for your encouragement and warm welcome to the blogosphere! And I have to mention Kristie(j) who was also a very early visitor and, like Ana at The Book Smugglers, graciously pointed her readers at Ramblings on Romance in my direction. Janine from Dear Author was also an early visitor and I thank her for putting RRR on the blogroll they used to have at DA.

45,647 visitors

73,589 total views

I have two regrets: (1) posting the Top 9 Romantic Love Scenes in Romance, which, at 3000+ views, is my most viewed post of all time. It’s like my own personal Ice Ice Baby. It’s awful and it never goes away. I would never have the hubris to write a post with that title today! And (2) the name of this blog. Oh, sure, “racy” doesn’t have to mean “sexy” (it really doesn’t!), but I do think it gives the impression that I write sexy things about sexy books. If only all those people who found my blog by Google searching for orgasm on command knew that I was a longwinded, overserious feminist philosophy professor who has the power to desexify anything, yes, even your sacred Gerard Butler (LOOK! that’s me in the pink behind him). (kidding)

I have some favorite posts. My favorite review is still my snarky negative review of Beyond the Highland Mist. Funny, that’s the only negative review I ever wrote in which someone insulted me in the comments (comment #10). I also like my fake negative review of Naked in Death, although it’s the only post in which I was driven to comment that I wanted to stick my head in a gas oven (comment #27). Thankfully for all of us, comments are closed on that one.

It seems like I used to be a lot braver, or funnier, or something. I may yet be that blogger again one day. I have a draft post about a product I invented called “Hard Off: The New Stocking Unstuffer for the Alpha Hero in Your Life”, and one called  “Sperminator: Attack of the Peens”, about an uprising of penises that results when certain authors go just a bit too far in giving them autonomous locomotion, their own emotions, and, in some cases, their own zip codes. Stay tuned for “Penis Week”, later this year, here at RRR.

Anyway, although my husband accused me of writing this post to court comments like,  “I really like your blog!” and “Happy Anniversary” (to which I replied, “Duh.”), I really do love blogging and I wanted to say thanks for all of the visits and comments and smart and funny and challenging and kind things my visitors have shared here over the past year.

Special thanks also go to Tumperkin of Isn’t It Romance?, for being my occasional co-blogger here at RRR, and for being an exemplar of staying sane while blogging well.

To concretize my gratitude, I am having a contest. Make a comment on this post by Friday at midnight EST and I will gift the winner with any two of the titles I have reviewed since I started the blog (click the tab above that says “Reviews A-Z”. You can also choose Meredith Duran’s excellent Bound By Your Touch, because I happen to have an extra paper copy of it (Tumperkin and I are reviewing it later this month).

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