hkellick | Network

vriddy posting in

The FAQ entry about renaming a journal is very helpful to understand what happens and the options when renaming, but I'm not sure what happens to the image links?

Do image links also get redirected automatically ? Or do you need to update your old posts referencing those images, since the username is in the URL too??

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/12/cover-snark-best-of-2025/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=163689

NB: This week, we’re taking a look back at some of our favorite and our most popular pieces of writing this year. We’ve got a week of best-of posts to share, with reviews, cover snark, and more. We hope you enjoy revisiting our archives, and most of all, we wish you and yours a wonderful holiday and a happy new year – with all the very best of reading.

…

Say hello to the top five Cover Snark posts of 2025! These are the most viewed Snark posts from last December to now! It’s such a joy to put these together and I hope you all get as much joy from reading them.

Let’s count them down!

5. Does Jane Austen Know About This? (September 8)

Classic Jane Austen novels received some modern cover designs that left us all a little perplexed. There’s also a man with a hazardous belly button and a pair of smug bears (the animal kind).

Best reader comment is from Kate Rose:

Wow…nothing about the Northanger Abbey cover says romance with gothic vibes, unless she’s actually trying to strangle him with her hand on his neck. I must not be the target audience – the cover is off-putting and that it’s supposed to be Jane Austin just makes it worse.

…

4. What Have They Done to Jude Deveraux (February 24)

This is another case of a well-known author getting cover redesigns that are real head-scratchers. There’s a font that hurts our eyeballs. We also learn a little bit more about rugby and pose the question: Would Dunkin Donuts ever sponsor a rugby team?

Best reader comment is from Empress of Blandings:

Re rugby: there is also a loosehead prop, which sounds messier.

Someone needs to write a romance set in the world of cricket, as I feel there’s potential in several of the fielding positions such as long on, or fly slip. Perhaps less so for square leg or silly mid-on. But you have to respect a game that has built-in tea breaks.

…

3. How Do Legs Work? (Diagrams Included) (August 11)

We really tried to make sense of some leg placement. Sarah even drew a diagram and turned it into a gif. Now that’s dedication! I was also confused about the title, Pall Mall Peer, as Pall Malls to me are cigarettes.

Best reader comment is from Randall M:

Amanda:

Your question about Pall Mall got me wondering. According to Wikipaedia (which we all know is never wrong), Pall Mall is a fashionable street in London, particularely known in the 19th century for fashion, the War Office, and some Royal Family housing. It also notes, “The cigarette manufacturer Rothmans has its head office at No. 65 Pall Mall”. The name “Rothmans” is a link, clicking on which takes you to the “Rothmans International” page, which has on its “Products and Brands” listing, Pall Mall. That takes you to the “Pall Mall (cigarette)” page, which tells us it was a “premiere cigarette”, named for the street.

And now you know why I’m not allowed to answer questions any more.

Ed. note: We are clearly an educational website.

…

2. A 20th Anniversary Cover Snark Retrospective (January 29)

To celebrate the site’s 20th anniversary, Candy and Sarah swam deep into the waters of some vintage Cover Snark, unearthing things that probably aren’t fit for human eyeballs…or any eyeballs for that matter.

Best reader comment is from Jill Q.:

Candy! The scream I scrumpt when I saw you were making a guest appearance! I don’t know if I’ve been reading Smart Bs for the whole 20 years, but I definitely go back all the way to the Candy days and when I was not Jill Q. but Jill some other initial It’s so great of you to stop by and I hope life is treating you well.

Meanwhile, yes in all important cover snark commentary, that last lady in the Victoria Alexander looks like she’s thinking “man, I really got to let one rip. Let me position my butt just so in this strategic gap in the holly bushes for maximum effect.”

…

The Lonely Mortician by D.M. Tregaskis. A white table linen with hobby berries, sticks of cinnamon, and a corked apothecary bottle. The label says formaldehyde, but the liquid is red and dripping down the rim and onto the cloth. 1. An Us Anus (June 9)

Confusing choices abound! I have no statistics to back this up, but I feel like fonts, leading, and kerning were some of our biggest Snark offenders.

Best reader comment is from the Jazzlet:

The Lonely Mortician isn’t very professional, while the bottle is labelled CH2O, or formaldehyde, it clearly contains blood. The properties of these liquids are very different, and that cover is a lesson in why you should keep liquids in the original containers unless you have another correctly labelled bottle.

And that’s our top five! What do you think? Did you have any Cover Snark favorites this year?

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/12/cover-snark-best-of-2025/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=163689

skygiants

Sometimes I hit a romance in media and I'm like well. I don't know that I'd say that I ship this. I wouldn't be sad if these people broke up. But unfortunately I do actually believe that they are in love and find it compelling to watch what happens about it ....

anyway that's how I felt about the central relationship in The Legend of ShenLi, which is a xianxia cdrama about ✨ The Greatest General Of The Demon Realm ✨ and her epic romance with -- well. For the first five or six episodes ShenLi, the Greatest General of the Demon Realm, is trapped on Earth in the form of an angry CGI chicken, in the care of a sickly human scholar who has discovered that his angry CGI chicken is in fact some sort of supernatural entity and thinks the whole situation is very funny.

Here, for the record, is angry chicken ShenLi:

and here is ShenLi and her love interest when nobody is a chicken:

This whole introductory arc is really charming. Incredibly happy for that sickly scholar and his angry bird wife. But alas! all things must end, the lovers are parted, and ShenLi The Greatest General of the Demon Realm grimly returns home to confront her upcoming political marriage to a playboy from the Divine Realm, in the full assumption that she will never see her sickly scholar again because even aside from the political pressures one day in the Demon Realm equals a year in the human realm so the time difference is not workable.

However! then some monster nonsense starts happening in the Demon Realm, and so the Divine Realm sends its last surviving actual factual god to help out -- who bears a Mysterious Resemblance to ShenLi's sickly human boyfriend .... ( spoilers )

But enough about the leads! ( Here's a short list of my other favorite people in the drama, cut for some images as well )

senmut

Yesterday was eaten alive by yuletide pinch hits, so day late with these.

~ Samson and Delilah gifs - young Angela Lansbury the Hottie

~ Smokin' MoTown - Temptations, Miracles, Stevie, Smokey, Vandellas, and Supremes in one photo

~ Art of Dorian Pavus and the Iron Bull in a bath

~ Trans Art for Maevaris Tilani

~ Beowulf Essay titles? - anecdote from a professor

~ Xuanji Tu - A mathematical art of poetry

goodbyebird

❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Rec-cember Day 21

Killing Eve
baby, be gentle (it's my first time) by

seabisquit (15,923 words). Eve being perfectly Eve, Vilanelle being perfectly Vilanelle, and the two of them being defenseless in the face of that.
So this is it. She’s going to kill Villanelle, and this is how it happens. To hell and fuck with everything that had happened. Their sort of half-truce in Scotland. Their agreement to not let things be boring. She is going to take that pretty, slender throat between her hands and squeeze her like a rubber chicken. “You are absolutely the stupidest, most selfish, most infuriating person I have ever met.”

“Oh, you flirt.” Villanelle smirks. She takes a few steps forward, hands on her hips.

“I’m going to—” Kill you, her brain completes. The words won’t come out of her mouth, stopgapped by rage, leaving Villanelle a wide opening to slip through.

“You’re going to what, Eve?” She sighs in a derisive voice, sticking out her bottom lip in a mockery of a pout. “Spank me? Have I really been that bad?”

The word spank grinds everything to a halt within Eve. It hits a switch in her, killing the rising steam in her stomach. Of course she can’t kill Villanelle. That would be silly and short-sighted. But spank her?

It could be just as effective and tremendously less permanent.

“Yes.” Eve says with bland finality. And oh, the way that word wipes the condescending smirk off Villanelle’s face and replaces it with surprise. To accentuate her point, Eve drops behind her onto the bed, sitting on the edge with her hands on her knees.

This makes for two fic recs featuring the holidays and two featuring spanking so far. Taking bets on which is gonna take the win *g*

oursin

This week's bread: a loaf of Bacheldre Rustic Country Bread Flour, quite nice, but not as nice as Dove's Farm Seedhouse.

Friday night supper: ersatz Thai fried rice with chorizo di navarra.

Saturday breakfast rolls: the ones based on James Beard's mother's raisin bread, 50/50% Marriages Golden Wholegrain (end of bag) and Strong Brown Flour, quite nice.

Today's lunch: lamb chops which I cooked thusly, except that as I had no small bottles of white wine I used red, turned out very well; served with Greek spinach rice and padron peppers.

forestofglory

Here's some more recent DecRecs!

Day 18
Today is one of those days where I really wish I was capable of napping. But since that isn't going to work I'm planning on spending some time curled up on the sofa with an ereader full of fic an hopefully a cat on my lap
So for today's #DecRecs I want to rec one of my favorite fics ever "on a long journey" by twigofwillow
https://archiveofourown.org/works/29819775/chapters/73366473

This is a Lan Sizhui centric post-canon CQL fic and It's really the best!

Things I love about "On a Long Journey":
*It's beautifully written
*The characterization is so perfect!
*The way the story is non-linear and includes. memories, stories and letters (Jiang Cheng's letter is so funny and pitch prefect)
*found family and good feelings while still letting people be complex and messy!

Day 19
For today's #DecRecs I have a really cool boardgame that I first played this year Vantage by Designer Jamey Stegmaier
basically your party crash lands on an alien planet and you are all in different locations, represented by illustrated cards. You can tell the other people about the cards but not show them the cards

It's very fail forward game, so you kinda wander around and interact with the environment and maybe complete some goals. There's lots of cool stuff to do! Once I have taken a child on an adventure, almost gotten eaten by a dragon, and stolen a flying vehicle!

( Read more... )

goodbyebird posting in

vidding

Humble Bundle is running a package with Vegas Pro 22, Sound Forge Pro 17, Music Maker 2024, and movie Studio 2024 Suite. The minimum is €48.56, and it supports the World Central Kitchen.

It's up for another four days.

oursin

Happy birthday,

lannamichaels!

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/12/sbtb-2025-unhinged-romance-bingo/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=164050

We’re trying something new! And a little unhinged.

Over the course of the year, Sarah and I would suggest silly categories based on trends we’ve seen this year, gripes in the comments, or just general nonsense that came into our brains. Thus the unhinged bingo card was born.

The 2025 Unhinged Romance Bingo begins today and will conclude on March 20, 2026.

Please save the image to use on your own or click on it for a larger version! If you’d like to share on social media, please use the hashtag #SBTBingo so we can see how your card is coming along! Participants who complete at least one bingo are eligible to win a box of books, though there won’t be any stickers for this one.

Here are some explainers for categories that feel less than obvious:

Start Mid-Series: For when a series is mostly standalones and you can dip in anywhere. This is not meant for continuing a series you’re already in the middle of.
Swiss Army Knife Character: Coined in the comments by Mikey! This refers to a character who seems to have so many different jobs and identities. They’re a small business owner but also a vampire but also moonlights as an taxi driver.
Sprayed Edges: You don’t have to own this version, but any book that has gotten the sprayed edge treatment at some point.
Social Media Made You Buy It: I’m counting the site (or any other blogs, bookish news, etc.) for this one, as I know many of you avoid social media platforms.
Romance Meta-ness: A well-known real life author is named or alluded to in the text. I’m including Jane Austen here.
Am I the Asshole: Any setup or plot moment that could serve well as an “Am I the Asshole” post on reddit.
A Book in a Book: Any book (even non-romance) where there is a book being written or occurring in tandem with the plot.

These squares are meant to be subjective and up to some interpretation. Sarah and I aren’t going to be sticklers and verify each of your selections. The middle space is a free space, meaning any book will qualify there. Also, please use one book per space. No double dipping!

To submit your card, please fill out this form. Maximum of five entries per person!

Standard disclaimers apply: Void where prohibited. Must be over 18 and ready to read some excellent books. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law.

The entry form will close the evening of March 20 at 10pm eastern.

If you need further clarification on any of the categories or want to crowdsource reading recommendations, feel free to ask or brainstorm in the comments section!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/12/sbtb-2025-unhinged-romance-bingo/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=164050

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/12/sunday-sale-digest-62/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=164353

This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you'd like to join, we'd love to have you!

Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun!

If you want to have a little extra fun, be a little more yourself, and be part of keeping the site open for everyone in the future, we can’t wait to see you in our new subscription-based section with exclusive content and events.

Everything you’re used to seeing at the Hot Pink Palace that is Smart Bitches Trashy Books will remain free as always, because we remain committed to fostering community among brilliant readers who love romance.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/12/sunday-sale-digest-62/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=164353

skygiants

Last time I got the chance to hang out with

raven, about a year ago -- there would have been another time recently but, alas!, airline crimes interfered -- I ended up with two books shoved into my hands: Mavis Doriel Hay's Murder Underground and Death on the Cherwell.

I was not particularly familiar with Hay's game before this; she falls squarely in the Golden Age but only ever published three novels before focusing all her attention on Rural British Handicrafts.

raven is right however that these books are both very fun and worthy of attention for their structure: neither of them have a kind of traditional primary detective figure, and both of them instead focus on a group of people in the murder victim's broader community who sort of collectively solve the crime by bouncing against each other in various directions until the right information comes to light.

In Murder Underground, the unloved landlady of a boarding house is found murdered on the subway, and her Bertie Wooster of a nephew promptly bumbles his way all over the crime scene and makes himself prime suspect number one (Dorothy Sayers, in her review, called this man one of the most feckless, exasperating and lifelike literary men that ever confused a trail and I couldn't put it better! god bless!) We spend a good chunk of the book following the Feckless Nephew and another good chunk just hanging out with the people who live in the boarding house, all of whom have Opinions, Mostly Incorrect.

Death on the Cherwell has some returning characters from Murder Underground but mostly focuses on a group of Young Lady Students who have been having an inaugural meeting for their we-hate-and-curse-our-bursar club when they happen to see said bursar floating down the river in a boat, presumably pre-cursed because she's very obviously dead. The police detective on the case has more to do in this one but the charm of the book is all in the Young Lady Students bopping around trying to investigate on their own, annoying various of their friends and relations in the process.

Hay has also written a third book that I've not yet read and I'm curious to see if it leans as much as these two into the ensemble and the way that a whole community can become stakeholders in A Murder Problem. In the meantime,

raven has encouraged me to pass these along to another good home if anyone else would like them! ETA and they are CLAIMED

(As always when reading Golden Age mysteries one is inevitably going to run into some classic Golden Age racism, and in this case it would be remiss of me not to mention that Death on the Cherwell has some opinions about Eastern Europe ... ah, those excitable Yugoslavians! A Yugoslavian Young Lady Student MIGHT declare blood feud against one of her admins. Who Could Say. We Just Don't Know.)

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

1. Dear Eric: My daughter-in-law decided a few years back to have a Friendsgiving dinner which she hosts a couple of weekends before Thanksgiving. She invites her family (as her mom has never done Thanksgiving) and then a bunch of her and my son's friends.

In my mind I know this shouldn't bother me, but it does. I waited my "turn" growing up and having a family and to be the one to host Thanksgiving (my parents have both passed as has my husband's mom) and now I have my own grandchildren. We still do the whole Thanksgiving dinner, but I don't feel it is as special as it was because now everyone has already had the traditional Thanksgiving meal that previously we only had that one time a year.

She always says “oh y’all are welcome to come, too,” but I just can't get into it and feel resentment that I waited all the years to be the grandma to host the meal and now it is like feeding everyone leftovers. Can you give me another way to look at this or some advice that will make me not as resentful about it?

– Leftovers Anyone?

( Read more... )

**********

2. Dear Annie: Christmas at my parents' house used to feel magical, but lately it feels like I'm walking into a performance review. My older brother's new hobby is "radical honesty," and apparently the holidays are his favorite time to practice. Last year, as we decorated the tree, he announced that my handmade ornaments looked "like a Pinterest fail" and suggested I "sit out the creative parts" of Christmas.

He says he's only being truthful and that any discomfort is "my issue to examine." My parents beg me not to make waves because he's "working on himself," but his self-work is coming at my expense.

I don't want to blow up Christmas, but I also don't want another holiday spent swallowing my feelings while he unloads his. How do I keep the peace without letting his "honesty" ruin the season? -- Silent Night No More

( Read more... )

rocky41_7 posting in

booknook

Title: Solo Dance
Author: Kotomi Li
Genre: Fiction

Last night I wrapped up Solo Dance by Kotomi Li, translated from Japanese by Arthur Morris. This short book is about a young gay Taiwanese woman who struggles with both internal and external homophobia, and eventually moves to Japan looking for understanding.

Queer stories from other countries are always interesting to me and it’s a good reminder that progress has not been even all over the world. Much of the book is pretty depressing, because the protagonist struggled with fitting in even before she realized she was gay, and she has some real struggles. She is battling severe depression for much of the book and at several points, suicidality.

The book is touching in that the protagonist’s struggles feel real and she’s someone who is so close to having positive experience that could change her life for the better, but her luck keeps dropping on the other side each time.

I don’t want to spoil too much about the end, but while I was grateful for the overall tone of the it, it is contrived and not very believable. But I did enjoy the protagonist’s travels leading up to that point. It’s not at all subtle, and it packs a lot more plot into the final handful of chapters than the rest of the book, but it was still sweet to see the protagonist’s perspective shift a little through her engagements with other people.

I’m not sure if it’s the translation or the original prose, but the language is stilted and very emotionally distant. The reader is kept at arm’s length from the protagonist virtually the whole novel, and while we’re often told she’s feeling these intense feelings, I never felt it. It was like reading a clinical report of her feelings, which was disappointing.

This is Li’s first novel, and it reads that way. There’s a lot of heart in it, and I appreciate it for that, but it lacks a lot in technical skill. I would be interested to see more of Li’s future work, when she’s had more time to polish her ability, but I don’t regret taking the time with this one.

rocky41_7 posting in

books

oursin

And the reporting on the acquisition of the Cerne Giant by the National Trust was very very muted and mostly in the local press. Mention of the sale as part of the Cerne and Melcombe Horsey Estates in 1919 in the Bournemouth Times and Director. The Western Daily Press in June 1921 mentions it as having been presented to the National Trust by Mr Pitt-Rivers; and the Weymouth Telegram's account of a meeting of the Dorset Field Club mentioned that the 'valuable relic of antiquity... had been placed in the custody of the National Trust'. There was also a mention in the report of a lecture on 'Wessex Wanderings' in the Southern Times and Dorset County Herald in 1921. No mention of the Giant's gigantic manhood, though references to his club.

Other rather different antique relics (heritage is being a theme this week....): The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are getting a glow up (gosh, writer is in love with his style, isn't he?)

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: impressed

princessofgeeks

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

goodbyebird

+ Been doing a poor job of lighting my Christmas incense, but I remembered today and the place smells cozy.

+ Know what you need right now? Funny animal pictures. Know where to find a whole gallery of them? Right here! Delighted to find there's an annual Comedy Wildlife Photo contest.

+ Humble Bundle is running a package with Vegas Pro 22, Sound Forge Pro 17, Music Maker 2024, and movie Studio 2024 Suite. The minimum is €48.56, and it supports the World Central Kitchen. Annoyingly, I cannot for the life of me find whether or not I can avoid the fuck out of Vegas' AI features (preferably deleting them entirely), but I've been missing a video editor for ages now. I know I never finish my vids, but definitely not if I'm missing the software.

+ Speaking of bundles: there's a Wholesome Snacks games bundle! And I know we could all use a wholesome snack or two. So I'll do a tiny giveaway, just comment which game you'd like and I'll do a random draw.

On Your Tail - You are Diana, a young detective who is obsessed with uncovering the small town's secrets. By day, you enjoy the cozy life, by night, you use stealth, observation, and deduction mechanics to secretly follow suspects and gather clues to crack the case!

NAIAD - An ethereal and meditative river journey game! You embody Naiad, a curious water spirit who awakens in a remote spring and embarks on a long, winding journey down a mysterious river to the sea.

Spirittea - After accidentally drinking mystical tea, you gain the ability to see and interact with mischievous spirits. Your job is to restore and manage an old spirit bathhouse, serving the quirky spirits, gathering resources, and building relationships with the fully voiced townsfolk, all while trying to solve the local town mystery.

Little Known Galaxy - A colorful cozy space adventure and life simulation game where you manage a spaceship and explore the galaxy. You take on the role of a new captain and work with your crew to improve your ship, explore new planets, and solve the mystery of an ancient relic.

SUMMERHOUSE - A small-scale, extremely zen building game and a love letter to lost summer afternoons. There is no management, no goals, no combat, and no failure states. You are invited to simply sit back and doodle whimsical castles, cozy cottages, and romantic ruins in tiny diorama settings.

+ I've just re-downloaded Disney Dreamlight Valley to see what the holiday decor is like. I am going to Christmas to the max dammit (says the one not bothering to decorate her own damn apartment). Also picked up a DLC for Rimworld and CK3 now that the holiday steam sales started.

+ My brother invited me out to help decorate their tree yesterday though! And both the cats vocally and physically greeted me. They live in constant Stranger Danger, making it extra heartening whenever they don't run for the hills.

+ It's not pouring rain outside hallelujah, this is a sign I should go buy butter chicken, isn't it? And find some holiday costumed Pokemon on the way, you say?

oursin

Happy birthday,

hafren,

holli and

inchoatewords!

The color of infinity inside an empty glass

The random insanity of your not-entirely-typical geek

Do images also get redirected when using a rename token?

Cover Snark: Best of 2025

(no subject)

Various Links 12/14 - 12/21

Thank you for the inappropriate touching. It was actually pretty nice.

Culinary

DecRecs 2025 days 18-21

Vegas Pro bundle is back

(no subject)

SBTB 2025 Unhinged Romance Bingo

Sunday Sale Digest!

(no subject)

Holiday drama

Book review: Solo Dance

Recent Reading: Solo Dance

I did run to find out

Rereading The City and The City by Mieville

Tom Hiddleston!!!!!

As a treat.

(no subject)

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