Sunday Soup - Valentines' Day!

In The Soup This Week... More from old favorites, some predictions, plus SCIENCE.

Soup Dish:  on my mind
✽I thought this was a great article about the evolution of publishing following the trajectory of television -- a few networks who catered to the broadest possible audience fragmenting into hundreds or even thousands (think YouTube) of niche channels, and all that goes along with that, particularly the monetization model.  Good stuff.

✽There have been lots and lots of articles about e-reading versus "p" (physical book)-reading, but it continues to fascinate me. We all have our opinions and theories-- it's always good to get a re-set on what has been supported by science: The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens. Plus, I think that the baseline is going to change as time goes on and e-readers evolve.

✽Think you know what's going on and what's coming up for the romance world? I can't think of anyone better-positioned to opine on this than Angela James.  Love this post.

✽Since it's all over the news today in the US, and I'm sure rippling outward, I will say that as a woman, a supporter of gay rights and legalized abortion, I am very pleased that President Obama will have a chance to name the next member of the Supreme Court. I have no doubt that the political drama around the remainder of his presidency will escalate to new heights of hysteria. I will not enjoy that. This is one of the reasons I read fiction.

What I'm reading
✽Okay, okay, I broke my stash resolution. I bought two new books in the last couple weeks AND I'M NOT SORRY.  One of them is the third in Lilith Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series, The Devil's Right Hand, which is in progress and getting quite good.

✽I finally got around to reading Penny Watson's A Taste of Heaven. It's on sale right now for 99 cents, if you haven't picked it up yet, you should. This is a quick read with unexpected substance. Watson has charmed me before with evocative writing about food and dedicated foodie characters-- the bakers in her Christmas series comes to mind-- and it's unleashed fully in this book. You can almost taste the food she describes. But as always, it's the characters that do it for me.  A little quote that made me fall hard for Sophia - one of those pivotal character moments:

He took one step...

One step.

And suddenly, she wanted to win.

She wanted to beat the giant. She wanted to beat everyone.

She wanted to sneak into the game like a quiet little mouse and crush them all.

She was tired of being someone's wife. Good little wife, with the sweet little garden and charming parties and so self-sacrificing."

Yeah, Sophia! You go! and she does. I love how she holds up against the blustery, bullyish demeanor of the hero. Romance fans are well-accustomed to the arrogant, egotistical hero, which is not necessarily my favorite flavor of alpha, but I love the way the trope is executed here. I love the way the heroine sees through it, not just to puncture the hot air, but to leverage the strength underneath it while bolstering the vulnerabilities it hides. This is one of the important elements of a great romance, IMO.

✽I was in sort of a reading slump so I decided I need a sure thing. I looked at a handful of my favorite PNR/UF authors whose series I'm behind on and chose Nalini Singh's Shards of Hope. I know all the Nalini fans out there read it long ago; it's been out for a year or so, but I got stubborn about paying hardback prices for an e-book, and it finally came down to $7.99.  I have to say though, it was worth far more. I am completely stunned by how much I loved this book, and that's comparing it to other Nalini Singh work. It's pretty staggering for the 14th book in a series to deliver such a powerful story. It was so, so, good. 6 stars out of 5. It goes to 11. It's amazing.

February Stash Reads: 0
February Bought Reads: 1.5
February Non-Fiction Reads: 0.5
February Other Reads:  2