Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

From today’s Publisher’s Lunch:

Big Library Cuts in Philadelphia
As municipalities across the country face large gaps in their budget, Philadelphia is taking “drastic new steps” to face the “economic storm” that include closing 11 of the 54 branch libraries that comprise the Free Library of Philadelphia. Three other branches will have Sunday hours eliminated. Mayor Michael Nutter said the branches were chosen “after careful review of building conditions, utilization and distance to other libraries in the Free Library system.” Cutting 220 jobs throughout the city government, approximately one third of those layoffs will come from the library staff.

That fucking sucks for fucking hard I’m having a difficult time coming up with a response more nuanced and apt than: “Oh, FUCK that.”

Jill Sorenson had a hell of a time picking the winners of her ARC. Not only are you guys well read, but you have a huge discography of musical knowledge, too.

Jill says:

It was a lot of fun to read the comments and suggestions.  Ah, the bitchery is wise.

It was so hard to pick the winners!  Some of the ideas were very close to ones I’d already suggested to my editor (Fall Into Me).  And others made me laugh out loud (Pounce On Me, It’s My Wildlife).  But I picked these:

Missy Ann COVER ME
Alyc LAY ME DOWN
Kim Boler I FALL TO PIECES
maris_32 INTO THE WILD
Inez Kelley HUNGRY EYES, TAKE ON ME

Congrats to the winners! You can with your contact info to get your delicious, shiny ARC. Thanks for playing!

If you’re tired of the political wonkage, skip the video below the fold, which is so full of dry sarcasm that I snorted a whole mess of times. If you’re in the mood for silly: enjoy this one. 

Nicole writes:

Okay, I have absolutely no desire to read this book (again), but I’ve got to know what it is.  It’s the first wall-banger I ever came across and I did literally throw it across the room and even remember making a dent in the wall.  I read it about ten years ago, so it’s most likely mid 90’s or earlier.

Anyways, it’s set in the US, I think during the Alaskan gold rush.  Heroine is some socialite or heiress or something.  Anyways, through some circumstances that I don’t remember, she ends up going to Alaska, I think to find her betrothed.  I swear she ends up prostituting herself because she’s broke.  Which I think is where I threw the book across the room.  I remember it the writing being completely over the top and most likely there were bodices being ripped.  So help, anyone know of any formerly wealthy prostitute heroines in the Klondike?

I vaguely remember that there was a lot of blue on the cover.  I know, my memory is bad, but I’ve really been wanting to remember what book this was.

Oh...wow. Ho in the Snow?! Someone must remember this one. I hope!

Shanna writes:

I have been looking for a book for a year now, a historical romance I read back in the 90’s.

The book started out with a scene of a very young girl looking for her kitten in the hull of (her father’s?) ship, knowing she was told not to go down there.  She ends up being raped by two crew members.
Then it flashes forward years later, she is the captain of a ship.
Now, she either robbed one of the hero’s ships, or the king/queen sent him to find her, can’t quite remember but then the story follows that he is looking for her “Phantom Ship”, unaware that she is in fact a woman- though I don’t thinks she is disguised.
I know at one point he boards her ship with permission, he wants information from her.

If you can remember this book, I will spread my praises for you far and wide! lol

Thank you for your time!

Shanna (yes, named after that damned book! lol)

I’m not sure if I could read this one, but if her ship is the Black Pearl, I am cheering this heroine on. And I’m cheering on Shanna, who was named after another book I can’t read.