Paige Braddock

That was really cool. I've followed Jane's World here and there, but had never seen so many of the story lines in one place.

From Jane in space to all of the great Chelle/Jill kick ass stuff and so much more (so much Dorothy). I thought this collection gave a good look at a lot of different types of Jane stories.

And the comments both from the 'real' people as well as the well known names were sometimes hilarious and sometimes touching.

And this collection brought to mind one question over and show more over. Is Jane the first modern literary useless lesbian? Heh.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Lion Forge. show less

A child on a field trip snaps up Cecil the toad and brings him back to live in the classroom terrarium. Cecil's animal friends embark on a mission to save their friend...with the help of a hamster named Jeff who knows how to fly a remote-control helicopter. Meanwhile Cecil luxuriates in the terrarium, with guaranteed meals that drop from the sky, even though his roommate chameleon is super-annoyingly talkative. The silliness zings non-stop: when the friends look for Reggie the fly to join show more their quest, he's legs-up dead on the ground, to which Jeremy the worm responds "Curse that five-day life span." The kids won't get all the jokes (there's an exchange about Voltaire and Jim Morrison) but the adventure never wanes. show less

This is the first book I've read from Missouri Vaun. I knew going in that is in part based on her family history, though I wasn't (and I'm still not) certain to what degree. I do know it's an engaging and believable tale with moments of joy and tension and longing and tragedy and a whole lot of love.

The story opens with Lovey recently widowed, moving in with her father (a preacher) in his new home. Royal is an 'out' lesbian (which I assume was unusual in smalltown USA in 1939) from a family show more of moonshiners. I liked that a lot of the drive in their relationship came from Lovey, who is slightly older and has no prior same-sex relationship history.

I've read in a couple of reviews that readers expected Royal to be living as a man. That is not the case, though she dresses in men's clothing as shown in the excellent cover artwork, by the author herself.

The prose is lovely, a little steamy in places but there's more romance than erotica here, and it works. The story includes some violence and racial bigotry perpetrated by minor characters.

Very recommended. show less

LOVE LETTER TO JANE’S WORLD by Paige Braddock, who created the first syndicated comic to feature a lesbian main character, is a funny, goofy book with a ridiculously likeable cast of characters that I found myself enjoying more and more as I read about them. While not a progressive series of stories from the comic, this is more of a "greatest hits" collection of Jane & Co's shenanigans, paired with "love letters" from fans. I'm going to have to find JANE’S WORLD either online or in print show more and read this in order. It's a gem of a fun story.

I received an eARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. show less