September 6, 2018
You may recognize our very own J.L. Gribble from all the Sound Off! posts she writes for Speculative Chic, but if you’ve followed us for any length of time, you know J.L. is also a published author. Last year we had the privilege of announcing her third book release, and we enjoyed it so much we asked if we could…
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February 6, 2018
Here’s something that you don’t know about me: I’m a little fascinated with the Roaring Twenties. I know that it was a tremendously difficult period for so many people, but something about the flappers, jazz clubs, and speakeasies always catches my fancy. So when I was browsing NetGalley and came across a novel that seemed to be set in a…
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December 13, 2017
Taste of Marrow (2017) Written by: Sarah Gailey Genre: Alternate History Pages: 192 pages Publisher: Tor.com Why I Chose This: I loved the first part of this series, River of Teeth, and I was super ready to jump back into hippo-infested water. The premise: A few months ago, Winslow Houndstooth put together the damnedest crew of outlaws, assassins, cons, and saboteurs…
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November 8, 2017
River of Teeth (2017) Written by: Sarah Gailey Genre: Alternate History Pages: 178 pages Publisher: Tor.com Why I Chose This: Hippos. I mean, I heard about this book and the amazing idea of hippos being bred as a meat source, and I was in love with the ridiculousness of it all. The premise: In the early 20th Century, the United States…
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July 26, 2017
The cover art for A Natural History of Dragons was what first attracted me to The Memoirs of Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan. That and its title. I have a degree in biology and a passion for dragons so this seemed like the perfect juxtaposition of those two interests. And it was. It so was. Brennan also managed to…
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July 19, 2017
On Monday’s My Favorite Things, we learned that Sound Off editor J.L. Gribble spends her time writing novels when she’s not watching movies to review them for Speculative Chic. Today, we’re happy to share the news of her book release! Steel Blood is the latest in the Steel Empires series, urban fantasy novels set in a very alternate history. When J.L.…
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July 18, 2017
My recipe for success has always been: take something you’re interested in and add dragons. It started back at the age of 13 when I first read Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern and it continued straight through 2006, when I picked up His Majesty’s Dragon, the first in the Temeraire series. And I don’t just mean any dragon. There has to be something…
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September 27, 2016
We have a little less than one month until October 23 and the premiere of The Walking Dead’s seventh season! I enjoyed the Alexandria arc, but the last few episodes of the sixth season felt like Rick, Michonne and the rest of the gang were being moved around like chess pieces. I wasn’t fond of the horrible cliffhanger, either. But…
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September 8, 2016
I’m currently listening to the audiobook version of Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking. It’s a really interesting book about how we think we think versus how we actually think. I highly recommend it! Also, it’s preparing my brain to think about time travel. I recently binged-watched 11.22.63, which is a mini-series based on Stephen King’s book of the same name. Now, the…
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