Leave Me by Gayle Forman: about a woman who’s so caught up in taking care of other people, she doesn’t realize she’s having a heart attack. I’ve just started, but it’s already well-written and somewhat terrifying.

The Legendary Lord by Valerie Bowman: I’ve been working my way through the books in this series and they’re all delightful. This one is no exception.

Winning by Lara Deloza: This novel follows a high school Queen Bee who’s determined to win the Homecoming crown. It’s one of those “look at these psychopathic popular girls” novels, but it’s a good one. Feels a little bit Mean Girls, but it’s not a comedy. Bonus points for having one of the characters actually try to use the plot of Mean Girls as a playbook for her scheming.

Internets:

Women in Music and Art in the Georgian Era.

A totally fascinating article about the invention of the home pregnancy test. Spoiler: everyone went bananas.

A British jeweler unearths the European royals’ most stunning crown jewels.

These Victorians flew as high as jumbo jets. You know how I love really weird historic tidbits.

If Disney princesses wore historically accurate underwear.

The stories behind birthstones.

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A Scot in the Dark by Sarah MacLean. This is Sarah’s MacLean’s newest and it is SO GOOD. If you like Regency romance novels, read this one immediately.

Internets:

Watch a football player get a ballet lesson. Surprisingly hilarious.

Racked wrote an interesting story about the popularity of charm bracelet giant, Pandora. (If you look carefully, there’s a quote from me in here.)

This is What Your Baby’s Nursery Would Look Like if You Had Actually Married a Backstreet Boy.

How to commission a bespoke engagement ring.

Life Behind the Stacks: The Secret Apartments of New York Libraries.

The history of Whitby Jet jewelry.

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What the Duke Doesn’t Know by Jane Ashford.

Taming the Highlander by May McGoldrick.

I’m on a romance novel kick right now (not unusual for me). I DNFed (did not finish) the first books in both of these series, but I enjoyed the second ones in a pleasantly lukewarm way that has me considering going back to the first ones. I wouldn’t recommend either of these for a romance amateur, simply because they’re not outstanding and you deserve a better entry point. But they’re entertaining and low-stress and they’re what my brain wanted right now.

An Elegant Façade by Kristi Ann Hunter. THIS romance novel was very well written…but also surprising. It was also a Christian romance novel, which I didn’t realize at the beginning. What does that mean? It means that near the end of the novel, when I was expecting the main characters to get it on, the heroine found God, repented her shallow ways, and everyone read the Bible and then got married.

This is the second time I’ve accidentally read a Christian romance novel and it’s always fascinating. This one really is a good story, even if the implications at the end were a little more slut-shaming than I would have liked. I did feel that the message was a little heavy-handed, but it really did work with the plot and character development. I wish the author had kept things a little less like a lesson and a little more like a story all the way through to the end – a little more delicacy with the BAM, it’s religion! ending would have made a world of difference.

Internets:

Scientists are about to try eating radishes that were grown in Martian soil. MARTIAN SOIL.

Wendy Brandes on pearls in the pool. PEARLS IN THE POOL. (Don’t do it.)

Why nobody bought the world’s largest diamond.

Still in shock from IG going all Snapstagram? Well, gird your loins – because Snap’s about to change, too.

I admit that I’m a huge nerd but this Smithsonian mag feature is so fascinating: A Secret Tunnel Found in Mexico May Finally Solve the Mysteries of Teotihuacán.

Artist adds cartoon monsters to photos of everyday life.

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