About Dabney Grinnan

Impenitent social media enthusiast. Relational trend spotter. Enjoys both carpe diem and the fish of the day.

The AAR Good Time Book Club: Elizabeth Hoyt’s The Raven Prince

Hoyt’s The Raven Prince, her debut novel, got a DIK from us when it was released and has a 4.4 rating on Amazon.

Here are some question to think about:

1. Every chapter starts with a snippet from an original fable, also called The Raven Prince. The first one is:

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived an impoverished duke and his three daughters. . . .

What do you think about this technique? Does the fable support the story in meaningful and enjoyable ways? […]

By |2021-05-01T12:07:27-04:00May 3rd, 2021|Categories: Good Time Book Club|24 Comments
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the [email protected]: What are your favorite romances featuring interracial relationships?

I’ve been happily struck by the number of interracial couples I see on the news and in advertising these days. There’s exuberant coverage of Kamala Harris’ marriage to Doug Emhoff, squeeing over Megan and Harry, or couples on TV driving with their families, couples planning pregnancies, and families heading home for the holidays just to name a few.

According a Gallup poll, approval of black–white intermarriage rose among whites from around 4% in 1958 to 45% in 1995 and 84% in 2013. […]

By |2021-04-30T15:33:30-04:00April 30th, 2021|Categories: the ask @AAR|Tags: , , |27 Comments
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the [email protected]: Have you checked out our new forums?

Have you checked out the new forums at the Agora? We redesigned them, offered lots of new was to interact, and continue to tweak them. (There are SO many options!)

Many here at AAR were highly displeased when we shut down the forums two years ago. We did so because the software we used kept crashing our site, slowing it down, and opening us up to endless spam attacks. Since then, I’ve searched for another option and–fingers crossed–I think I’ve found it.

What do you think of the new forums? What would you like to see us add? How are they working on your end?

 

 

 

By |2021-04-22T13:16:04-04:00April 23rd, 2021|Categories: the ask @AAR|Tags: , , |20 Comments
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Best biography you’ve ever read?

My serious book club–as opposed to our Good Time Book Club and my we only read books that make us glad to be alive Book Club is currently reading Barack Obama’s A Promised Land. You’d think we’d love it. We’re all Obama fans, the book has five full stars at Amazon from over 100K readers but… nope. Only two women, enviable overachievers both of them, have managed to finish this 753 page book. It’s just too long or too detail oriented or the sentences are too hard to follow or too something. […]

By |2021-04-18T10:48:52-04:00April 19th, 2021|Categories: Dabney AAR|Tags: , |44 Comments
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the Way Back on Wednesday: The 2001 All About Romance Reader Awards

originally published March 1, 2001

(many of the links in this post have been lost to history)

To all the winners in our fifth annual readers’ poll, congratulations and continued success! With nearly 30 categories polled, the AAR Reader Awards ballot is quite comprehensive; readers must study the ballot and be prepared with details on titles, characters, and definitions in order to participate. Turnout far exceeded expectations for the 22 positive and 6 negative categories polled. […]

By |2021-04-13T19:00:26-04:00April 14th, 2021|Categories: Way Back on Wednesday|Tags: |5 Comments
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Read any mesmerizing mysteries lately?

I’d been in a bit of a reading slump when the upcoming thriller by the always good Clare Macintosh hit my iPad. Hostage is a page turner, the sort of book one happily ignores one’s loved ones to figure out HOW IT ALL ENDS.  (It comes out in June and I can’t wait for everyone to read it.) […]

By |2021-04-11T14:49:24-04:00April 12th, 2021|Categories: Mysteries|Tags: , , |43 Comments
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the [email protected]: What do you think about grading books?

I so enjoyed Caroline’s thoughtful and in-depth post about how she grades books here at AAR. Like many readers, I came to AAR because of our Power Search system and its unparalleled ability to sort, in many ways, the proverbial wheat from the chaff.

When I began seeking out good romance novels, I relied on AAR’s grades. […]

By |2021-04-08T15:26:51-04:00April 9th, 2021|Categories: the ask @AAR|Tags: |33 Comments
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The Wayback on Wednesday: The Harem

(originally published in 2002)

 

The Harem

by Ellen Micheletti

Simply defined, a harem is the area in a household where the women of the family live. But in romantic imagination, it is so much more. For many years movies, books and paintings have romanticized the harem. What a life. You ate delicious food, wore silken clothing, lived in beautiful surroundings and made passionate love to a handsome Sultan at night. […]

By |2021-04-07T18:24:12-04:00April 7th, 2021|Categories: Way Back on Wednesday|Tags: , |7 Comments
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