What is this? A new Deconstructing the Romance Novel column? I can almost hear you saying with mingled incredulity and alarm. I thought I had learned all there is to know about romance novels and their construction! I’ve done setting! Characters! “Plot”! What else could there possibly be? What more can one novel be expected to hold? Aren’t time-traveling Vikings and female Navy Seals enough?? Darling readers, the short answer is: No.1 I too, was shocked and appalled to come [...]
columns
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Literary Yearbook: Alice in Wonderland
This month, literary yearbook planned to take its readers on an edifying tour of Victorian Moralistic...
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Book Cover Critique: Whodat?
Today, friends, I am going to talk to you about a pet peeve I didn’t even realize I had until...
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Deconstructing the Romance Novel: “Plot” Edition
Darling readers, I would apologize for the unseemly lateness of this long-awaited installment of...
- In Which We Try to Decipher Dalkey Archive Covers
- Comic Relief: My (Angry) Thoughts on the DCnU
- Deconstructing the Romance Novel: Characters Edition, Part 4
fun and games
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QOTW: Creeptacular!
With Halloween just a couple of weeks away, we want to know, what are some of your favorite creepy...
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Question of the Week: In Which We Imagine Literature as a Video Game
This week’s question is inspired by the little video game that could: The Great Gatsby for...
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Question of the Week
I have an almost superhuman tolerance for bad movies. I’m not talking so bad they’re...
lists
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Friday Five: Kids We Kind of Buy
Charles Dickens. Love him or hate him—I love him and I’m not afraid to say it—you have to...
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5 Excuses for Why You’re Reading All the Time
Are you frequently asked why you seem to be reading ALL the time? Are your friends puzzled, concerned,...
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Friday Five: In Which Our Two Worlds Become One
I find myself talking quite a bit about comic books and my love for them on this here literary website....
- Friday Five: [insert interesting title here]
- Friday Five: My (Somewhat Less Angry) Thoughts on the DCnU
- Friday Five: Badass Women in Lit
advice & lessons
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Julian and the Art of Personification
Here’s the thing. I’m on my way to New York right now (presumably, hopefully, since...
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Lessons from the Odyssey: On Being a Good Host and a Better Guest
You may have thought the Odyssey was about one man’s journey home but the Odyssey is full...
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The Ryder-Guest Method of Moving In and Never Moving Out
When I decided to major in English, I also decided to start a list. I called it, informally, the...
complaint
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Book Cover Critique: Whodat?
Today, friends, I am going to talk to you about a pet peeve I didn’t even realize I had until...
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Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
High school students complaining about a book? It’s more likely than you think....
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The Long Books No One Will Read Chronicles
At least once in your life, I’m sure, you’ve put down a book and needed, desperately, to talk...
- My Sin, My Soul, My Blah Blah Blah
- New York Writers, or How Sex and the City Lied to Me
- Close the Book and Get Off the Bus
something that vaguely resembles analysis
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Friday Five: Kids We Kind of Buy
Charles Dickens. Love him or hate him—I love him and I’m not afraid to say it—you have to...
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Comic Relief: Supergods
I’ve decided to do a little something different with my little corner of the Internet this week....
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Book Cover Critique: Whodat?
Today, friends, I am going to talk to you about a pet peeve I didn’t even realize I had until...
- Neville Longbottom and The Magic of Puberty
- Literary Oddities: The Voynich Manuscript
- Jesus on Toast is Literature Too
fanmail
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An Open Letter to Pip from Great Expectations
Dear God, Pip, you need to get OVER her. Speaking as one (mildly) (not so mildly) spurned...
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An Open Letter to Dr. John Watson, 221B Baker Street
Dear Dr. Watson, Hello! And congratulations. A couple of months ago, a friend of mine posted a link...
