🐣 #SoInSeptember...
...we love genres + First Lines From!
I was a little worried about burnout this year.
Last September I was traveling, so The RONAREADer went on a brief hiatus and pulled book recs from the archives. This year, sadly, I was doing no such traveling and decided not to take any time off. How best to stay engaged and keep readers excited?
#SoInSeptember we focused on a new genre each week to shed any guilt readers might feel for loving genre fiction and helping readers find a new fave book in a genre they may not have previously explored. Collecting titles in our three genres, sci-fi/fantasy, historical fic, and romance, was so much fun. What constitutes historical fiction? I realized, scouring online reading lists and my own shelves. Does a romance need to be mostly happy to fit more conventional standards? Genre novels tend to get branded as “less literary” and less layered, and it was good to remind myself just how untrue this is.
Love is one of the most complicated emotions humans experience. It makes sense that love stories would also be deliciously complex. Same with historical journeys, and love set in space. Even alien societies feel the warm and fuzzies, right?
Even with all this fun stuff, readership has been stagnant for a while and we’d love to see it grow. Fez and I love our RONAREADer community (well over half of our subscribers read the new issue every week, so thank you!) But if you know another reader who might love what we do, please share an issue (button below!) or tag them in a post on Instagram.
Let’s build this reading community and keep the good books coming!
…First Lines From!
To pair with our September genre recommendations, we featured First Lines From… Each week we quizzed RONAREADers on the first lines from some of the most iconic novels in each genre. How many did you guess correctly??
We tried to choose new and older classics for a bit of fun and a challenge. Here are the answers to last week’s First Lines From…Romance lines and the entire First Lines From series, answers included!
…First Lines From…💖 Romance
Here are the answers to last week’s First Lines From. Let us know below, how many did you get correct?
Line 1: Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Line 2: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Line 3: Milk in My Coffee by Eric Jerome Dickey
Line 4: How Stella Got Her Groove Back by Terry McMillan (The hint was for this novel, Angela Bassett plays Stella in the film adaptation.)
💖Here are the First Lines From…Romance:
Line 1: “My father was a king and the son of kings.”
Line 2: “1801—I have just returned from a visit to my landlord—the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with."
Line 3: “Before I could make it to the 42nd Street station in Times Square, my damn fingertips were aching.”
Line 4: “I hadn’t planned on going anywhere; all I knew is that as much as I loved my son, I was glad to see him disappear after those doors to Gate 3 closed this morning.”
…📚 First Lines From…Historical Fiction!
💡 Here’s a hint: This book title comes from a popular parlor game.
Line 1: “History has failed us, but no matter.”
Line 2: “First, I got myself born.”
Line 3: “‘So now get up.’ Felled, dazed, silent, he has fallen; knocked full length on the cobbles of the yard.”
Line 4: “Polly Nichols, a Whitechapel whore, was profoundly grateful for gin.”
The historical fiction answers:
Line 1: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (The hint was for this novel, named for a popular parlor game.)
Line 2: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Line 3: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Line 4: The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
First Lines From… 🪐 Sci-Fi and Fantasy!
💡 Here’s a hint: This novel set in the future is now happening in our current year.
Line 1: “I had my recurring dream last night.”
Line 2: “In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul.”
Line 3: “You ever seen a Klan march?”
Line 4: “When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.”
The sci-fi/fiction answers:
Line 1: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (The hint was for this novel, which Butler set in 2024.)
Line 2: Dune by Frank Herbert
Line 3: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
Line 4: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
…Best of the Book Recs
From Issue #62 “Feel the Romance!” is The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava
Ember Lee Cardinal desperately needs a job. So who cares that she lied about her Chickasaw heritage on her application? She landed her dream job in corporate accounting and Danuwoa, the hot Native guy in IT, is into her. Dating coworkers isn’t allowed so they keep their relationship on the down low. That’s working out just fine….until they get caught. Now someone is threatening to reveal the truth about Ember’s application and what started as a white lie is quickly snowballing. Can Ember get honest about herself, her identity, and her love life before it’s too late? Emily Henry calls Nava a “fresh, exciting new voice” in the romance genre.
From Issue #61 “Historical Fiction!” is The Lost Journals of Sacajawea by Debra Magpie Earling
"In my seventh winter, when my head only reached my Appe's rib, a White Man came into camp. Bare trees scratched sky. Cold was endless. He moved through trees like strikes of sunlight. My Bia said he came with bad intentions, like a Water Baby's cry."
So opens Earling’s startling novel rewriting the often misinterpreted life of one of the most famous Native women in history. A powerful and riveting story about her role in Lewis and Clark’s expedition and being an unexpecting mother thrust between warring cultures.
From Issue #60 “Sci-Fi and Fantasy!” is The Will of the Many James Islington
This one has been the darling of the sci-fi world this year. Here’s the description straight from Bookshop.org:
“The Catenan Republic--the Hierarchy--may rule the world now, but they do not know everything. I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of [civilized] society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus--what they call Will--to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.
I tell them that I belong, and they believe me. But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart. And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family…And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.”
…We love a grand gesture
Portland, OR is about to get a very exciting upgrade: Grand Gesture Books! GGB is Portland’s first Black woman-owned romance bookstore. Owner Katherine is a long-time bookseller (who ran the romance section) at Powell’s City of Books who loves romance, books, and community!
Katherine’s journey to open the bookstore has been chronicled on Instagram and while Katherine works to open the brick-and-mortar store, romance readers can shop Grand Gesture’s affiliate shop on Bookshop, follow along with the build on IG (local folks can even offer an in-person hand), or donate to Katherine’s Grand Gesture fund or charity initiatives. Oh, and of course, buy merch!
Visit GGB’s IG for upcoming events (Pride & Prejudice watch party anyone?!)
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Get Rec’d,
Wynne + Fezziwig