May We All (Culhane Family #3) by Gay G. Gunn  Recent 20th-c. historical literary fiction  Different Drummer, 2017  May We All resumes its compelling interpersonal and sociopolitical journeys with the Culhane Family in 1955 in the shadow of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Beloved eight-year-old daughter Jaz manages to infiltrate a fascinating all-male bastion when her father, Coach Hep Culhane, takes her to watch football practice with her older brother TC. Jaz is curious about unfamiliar people and places. Limitations imposed upon her explorations prod her to move beyond them to discover what's on the other side. Curiosity and a willingness to step forward into the unknown are signature personality traits that assert themselves throughout her life and the entire narrative for each featured character. Jaz's point of view yield's to her sister Mel's, then her aunt's and so forth, per character, providing radial perspectives shaped according to age, gender, g…

[Photo credit: courtesy of Alexi Venice 2020] https://youtu.be/9Flc0VwlPlk
(Filed under the “Champagne Problems” category)  Panel Prep Checklist Four talented panelists and one moderator in agreement on a date and time to record “More Than Tragic: Happy Endings, Adventure and Fantasy for All” chat? Check. #TWWBF2020 logo backdrop hanging on the moderator's wall? Check. Strong WiFi signal, functioning 100% charged tablet, and legible discussion notes? Check—at least until an hour before start time, when the moderator's home Internet connection suddenly disappeared. Totally gone; wouldn't reboot. (Some people's nightmares are about falling. Mine are about dropped tech connectivity.) Options? Cry. Curse. (Are you kidding me with this right now, Divine Cosmic Forces of the Universe?!) Run to a nearby generous neighbor's house. Which friendly neighbor? The ones with the pack of adorable spoiled rotten yappy fur babies or the ones with the adorable rambunctious kids? Wait…

The loss of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is devastating. All the heartfelt tributes are well-deserved, and have turned my thoughts toward consideration of the early years of her legal career at the ACLU and the Women's Rights Project. Without RBG and WRP then, would we now have women in combat in the U.S. military? The Lilly Ledbetter Law? Marriage equality? Federal mandates for equitable insurance coverage? And many more legal protections against sexism and other forms of discrimination?  
The #TWWBF2020 More Than Tragic: Happy Endings, Adventure, and Fantasy for All panelists and authors of the following titles, and I, along with millions (billions?) more people have benefitted from Justice Ginsburg's life and work for human rights. Her existence improved the world and will continue to do so, which is a significant part of her substantial legacy.   

Standby Counsel (Monica Spade #2) by Alexi Venice  Contemporary legal thriller romance   August 2020  After sur…

(My personal video highlights some benefits of reading anthologies, and falls under the category of "Do as the guidelines say, not as I have done." 😊) https://youtu.be/nEbmFqxAZKc
PARTICIPATE IN OUR “READING & WRITING OUTSIDE OF YOUR EXPERIENCE” ON SOCIAL MEDIA HOW IT WORKS  Read a book that is by somebody outside of your own experience. White readers, please use the below for guidance as to the criteria.   #OwnVoices is a term coined by the writer Corinne Duyvis, and refers to an author from a marginalized or under-represented group writing about their own experiences/from their own perspective, rather than someone from an outside perspective writing as a character from an underrepresented group.  (Source - https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/list/share/628692720/1259856807)  https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/   Or that could be tagged with #100blackgirlbooks by https://grassrootscommunityfoundation.org/1000-black-girl-books-resource-guide/   “This resource guide was cr…

Reading for pleasure, research, and for more than one professional outlet for book reviews makes it easy to lose a few submissions in transmission. Through absolutely no fault of their own, the following worthy titles' reviews didn't reach their intended online destinations earlier this year.  
Vitality   Crysta Levere (Twitter: @LevereCrysta)    YA contemporary supernatural romance  Hot   August 25, 2020   Dangerous secrets churn beneath the veneer of small-town charm in Aberdeen, Massachusetts. Nineteen-year-old Ava has pulled herself up from abandonment and homelessness into being a student at Agatha College. A classified ad leads her to off-campus housing with Dahlila, a local, and friendship with her fellow designated Outcasts. Their small group ventures to an underground social club that pulses with sinister intentions. Soon, Ava's life becomes entangled with mysterious Layton's murky existence and hidden agenda. Their chemistry sizzles. Volatile confrontations, m…

Love Wins (Eventually):
Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole
Then Came You by Kate Meader
Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian

Trauma, Recovery, Leaps of Faith & Cultural History:
Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

Contemporary Culture Clash Drama:
Then, Now, Always by Mona Shroff

Historical Culture Clash Romance:
Forever My Duke by Olivia Drake

Repartee as Foreplay:
The Two-Date Rule by Tawna Fenske
First Comes Scandal by Julia Quinn

Books Nerds Collide:
The Write Escape by Charish Reid

Smooth Covert Operators:
The Cost of Honor by Diana Munoz Stewart
Forever Strong by Piper J. Drake

YA Fantasy:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
June 2020* (Bloomsbury reprint of 2015 original)

Eight years ago Fate turned its back on nineteen-year-old Feyre, her two older sisters, and her lame father. Keeping them fed becomes Feyre's responsibility, which she teaches herself to fulfill through trial, error, and some fickle luck. They're living on the edge in more ways than one…