When books become 🌽 + 6 great books with no kissing

Friends! Remember me? Charlotte Chambers, mom, lawyer, person with a reading addiction—took down 95 books in 2024, and I've already got 15 in 2025 under my belt.

I'm surprised, and also not, that engagement with this newsletter has dwarfed any of my attempts to post book reviews on Instagram in the past (unless I paid to 'boost' it, of course).

I even resorted to boosting announcement of this newsletter on an IG post. And then I paid them (!), but IG was still like, "ew...no."

For example: NINE PEOPLE saw my stories.

NINE.

Not even double digits!

As of today, I have 1,379 followers, and IG showed story uploads to nine. When I post stories from personal account on which maybe 200 people follow me, the views are like half that amount!

Guh.

Whatever! This newsletter worked. Squee! The reward center has been sufficiently tickled in my brain, so here I am, back to share more.

Since it's the month of love, we'll turn to a topic that is more than a bit controversial right now: specifically, do books containing erotica deserve to be called p@rn@gra@phy (which I shall heretofore refer to as 'corn,' or with the hilarious '🌽' emoji)?

But is it 🌽?

People have been making 🌽 since the dawn of humanity. Early French cave paintings show this (of course they do, that's so French). Creating and seeking out such a thing seems to be a natural human impulse.

The romance genre is having a wild resurgence, often in the more specialized universe of fantasy. The trend even has its own celebrity combo name—Romantasy. The erotic language in these books ranges from pretty mild and euphemistic to full-blown, highly-detailed, pages-long blow-by-blows of what's happening onscreen.

The romance genre is having a wild resurgence, often in the more specialized fantasy genre.

That's not to say reading seshy books with seshy language is new. Remember the episode of 'Friends' where Joey finds Rachel's book about the lady and the 'Vicar' under her pillow (i.e., 'The One With Rachel's Book')? He loses his absolute mind learning that women have created their own version of corn and that it comes in written form ("You got [c]orn!" he shouts at her multiple times.)

But the medium, of course, has evolved, even since the 90s when this episode of 'Friends' aired. (That was just ten years ago, right?). Now the reading populace has maaaany more options. It's not just a few euphemisms over a couple paragraphs showcasing hetero boom-boom anymore.

Nope, now we have all varieties of people configurations, new and different k!nks. Even in the mainline section of Barnes & Noble, I've seen Romantasy books involving monsters and aliens and beings that don't even have human-like 🍆s. And the people (mostly women, but it's not exclusive!) reading this stuff are out there about it, loud and proud. Nobody is hiding this under their pillow anymore (good!). There are great memes about the trouble with listening to the spicy bits on audiobook (I'll pin one to the IG stories you won't see). Like when it accidentally connects to BlueTooth in your car, blasting at high volume around your kids and husband.

So are these types of books 🌽?

My opinion: when they start getting descriptive about the "private parts", yes they are. And there is a little more to it. As Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Potter Stewart, wrote—"I know it when I see it." He and I don't agree on, well, anything really, but this seems to make the most sense as a brightline test. And a lot of the times, when I see what's out now in spicy books, I think "yes, this is 🌽."

That will make some people mad at first. But it shouldn't.

Here's why:

Yes it's 🌽. But also, so what—who care?

Hey, get it. What's wrong if it is 🌽? Remember the cave paintings? This isn't new, people.

What's wrong if it is 🌽? Remember the cave paintings? This isn't new, people.

And hey, unlike 🌽 where human people are actually involved in the depiction of it, spice in books doesn't require the unethical exploitation of anybody. These people aren't actually real! There are so many awful things going on in the world right now, and if you can find happiness reading about some sesh, you do what you gotta do.

Now I do have ONE caveat—and it's not a judgmental one, I swear—that readers would do well to avoid only consuming bodice-rippers. This connects back to my first post: a lot of the spicy romance stuff is getting propped up by social media right now. And in that venue, many women appear to be stuck in a rut, which is too bad, because right now there are so many wonderful and widely-varied fiction options out there. I'll make an analogy to visual media: watch your 🌽 but also watch great 🌽-less films and the good films too, and even sometimes the bad ones.

Watch your 🌽 but also watch the great films and the good films too, and even sometimes the bad ones.

I do think if you only read 🌽 with persistent regularity, you're going to have a hard time enjoying other types of stories. Because we know from a neuroscience perspective that, for most people, 🌽 produces more dopamine than other, non-🌽 media. Eventually the baseline of what you enjoy and earn dopamine boosts for will change, and your baseline will reset to a level that reading less, erm, stimulating books will not reach. So, like in all things—moderation. If you have an addictive streak like I do, though, you'll need to be extra careful. I've seen various Reels and memes on social media where women are frustrated at the suggestion that imbibing 🌽 will mess with your brain—but folks, I'm sorry for this, but it objectively can. Still, there is an easy, low stress solution here: read other stuff alongside your spice. 😃

So in an effort to encourage choosing a more diverse tranche of books, I want to share with you six novels that don't have any romantic-style kissing, which are extremely good and I think you'll be really happy you read!

Book Reviews!

'Beautyland' by Marie-Helene Bertino
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Super Short Synopsis: A girl believes she is in commune with an alien species from whence she came—communicating with them in her dreams and via an old fax machine. She has a complicated relationship with her single mother. She's extremely bright, but has difficulty negotiating the world around her. She grows up and we get slices of her life in New York City.

Review: I don't really remember how I heard about this book (certainly not on social media). But wow, it quickly distinguished itself. This is one of my Top 3 favorites from 2025, maybe even No. 1 depending on what day you ask.

The writing is generally beautiful, but the interiority we get from Adina—our FMC—has something extra. Adina's unreliable narration is achingly poignant, and her first-person POV is unique because she writes as if she is indeed an alien (but maybe she is...?), so we get a charming "Visitor from Mars" kind of look at the world, which I tend to appreciate when its presented well. I believe if a being from outer space came to Earth, they would indeed be incredibly confused about what in the hell we're up to. An odd species, we are.

This is my favorite pull-quote from any reviews I've read about Beautyland, I think you'll like it too: In Bomb, author Hilary Leichter said "Bertino taps into a particular nostalgic awe familiar to a generation of kids raised on Carl Sagan and inflatable lunchroom planetariums" and she calls Adina's observations about the world "breathtaking, mundane, and sometimes both."

Adina is a very unique character in the canon of literature. You really should meet her.

'Nickel Boys' by Colson Whitehead
Genre: Literary Historical 'Fiction'
Rating: 5/5
Super Short Synopsis: A young, promising black boy gets arrested for an insane reason during the Jim Crowe era in Florida. He's sent to a reform school—based on the real, historic Dozier school in Florida—where terrible things happen to him and the other boys there, particularly those that are not white. There is a secret identity mystery I won't tell you about here because it's a spoiler.

Review: Get your tissues—if you cry at anything, ever, you'll cry sporadically throughout this. That isn't to suggest it's overwrought in any way. While the subject matter is dark, Whitehead treats the story with great dignity. And there are some light moments too. One of our main characters, Ellison, is the sweetest boy, and we see some friendships that bloom with a child-like kind of optimism despite the conditions these kids are forced to survive in.

I've read various other of Whitehead's novels, and have a hard time picking my favorite. This is certainly in my Top 2 (the other I'll share next week in celebration of Black History Month). It really hits you upside the head when you reading this knowing the school in 'Nickel Boys' is based on a real one, and some details are based on concrete, verified descriptions from that facility's official documents. This is bone-rattling to me. Like when I tell my son "don't worry, it's not real" when he sees something he thinks is "scary"? Yeah we don't get to rely on that to make ourselves feel better at the end. But the looking anyway is a crucial, revolutionary act for a reader. It simply must be done.

If you don't like reading sad books, I get if you skip this one. But if you're going to make an exception, this is the time to do it.

'Something New Under the Sun,' by Alexandra Kleeman
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Super Short Synopsis: In this story published in 2021, LA is now sporadically, but regularly, burning to the ground (!). Naturally-occurring water has essentially run dry (!). So, to make up for this, humans have invented a synthetic substitute called 'Watr' (of course they name it this). A writer goes to LA to see his book turned into a movie, and he interacts with the star—a former child actress—who insists on being paid in real bottled water. Shenanigans ensue.

Review: When the LA fires broke, this book came screaming back into my head. Various of the descriptions match the ones published in this book just a few years ago. It's honestly pretty freaky. Plus, as projected by people who know what they're talking about, areas blighted by regular drought, like California, may well run out of potable water. What will happen then? Are they going to create a synthetic alternative? (Goodness, I hope not, if 'Something New' continues to beat the odds and guess the future . . .) My guess is all you folks out there now are going to be chillin' with me around the shores of Lake Erie in 10-20 years, but hey, what do I know.

This book is weird, fortune-telling notwithstanding. It does follow some traditional story beats, but for the first act you're not super sure where the characters are going or what their deal is. The prose is excellent, though, and there is sufficient mystery to keep you reading. The various reveals/plot twists are stunners. The ending is *exhales audibly*. It is a little creepy, but also so exciting and twisty and off-beat that you'll love it even if you don't necessarily like to face hard truths about the future of humanity when you sit down to read.

'Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead,' by Emily Austin
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Super Short Synopsis: A gay woman in her late 20's struggles to do the regular things in life. She is a frequent ER visitor for panic attacks. She can't hold down a job. But after a happenstance encounter, she ends up working as a secretary for the back office of a Catholic Church. Shenanigans ensue.

Review: This book will make you belly-laugh out loud. So don't read it at the airport or on a train or something if you aren't comfortable drawing some attention in public. Austin writes her FMC—Gilda—with a beautifully wry, hangdog style and you get some razor-sharp interiority from her. My take: she's struggling to wrap her arms around an untreated mental illness (untreated thanks in no small part to her family generally believing that sort of thing isn't "real"), though the author doesn't bog you down in categorizations or diagnoses. We just get to live with Gilda. Similar to Beautyland, we get some "Visitor from Mars" kind of observations (this is the fodder for the really funny, laugh-out-loud stuff).

Gilda's quirky personality and engagement style get her into a few, kind of adorable messes. We also see her navigate a relationship with her maybe-girlfriend Eleanor (who is clearly a saint, or at least very compassionate, in that she puts up with being perpetually confused by Gilda). But as the reader, over the course of the book you feel very compassionate toward her too. Gilda has a big, big, throbbing heart. The quirkiest things get to her, make her cry. Some of the not-so-socially-acceptable things she does are for very kind, tear-jerking reasons. Really, this is one of those books that makes you wish you could 3D print a character so you could be friends with them in real life.

'A Tale For A Time Being,' by Ruth Ozeki
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Super Short Synopsis: A writer living on an island off the coast of British Columbia finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox with letters from a girl named Nao. Nao, a second-generation Japanese American, is a 16-year old girl who is uprooted from her life in California when her parents move the family to Japan. Things don't play out in Japan like they'd hoped. Nao isn't doing great, but she begins to document everything she can learn about her great-grandmother, Jiko, who was a Buddhist nun. There is a colliding of worlds.

Review: This is one of those books that Feels Very Big. It's a sweeping meditation about life, that seems to sweep on to a plain of reality we don't really have access to. Part coming-of-age, part coming-to-inspiration, and a lot of parts in between, this book really pushes you to think about time as a construct (and then in doing so you break your brain). The title is a clever play on words, I think anyway, in that you could read it realistically: 'A Tale For A Time Being', as in, a tale for a time that is being told right now, or 'A Tale For A Time Being,' that one or both or all the characters are beings that navigate time like it is a palimpsest. Like the characters are merging, layer over layer over layer, in one book telling the same story.

Ozeki is a fantastic writer, so for me reading the book was as easy as breathing. I've read other of her work, and they didn't all hit me like this one did, but her narrative voice is consistently strong throughout her portfolio. Her characterizations are wonderful–you too will love Nao hard and deep, just like I did—and the scene setting is beautiful. Thanks in large part to this book, Murakami novels, and Studio Ghibli, I am desperate to get to the Japanese countryside one day.

This is one of those books you will just like because it is so pleasant to read. Even when the themes or the circumstances get a little dark they serve to contrast the beauty and brightness of the rest of this unique tale.

'Mistborn' by Brandon Sanderson
Genre: High Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Super Short Synopsis: In this universe, certain individuals have the capability to imbibe precious metals to activate certain powers. Most of the people able to do this can only burn and activate one metal. A few (including our bad ass FMC, Vin) can burn and activate them all. There is a Lord Ruler of this world who is thousands of years (who is also a huge ashhole), and he enforces a strict caste-system. You can guess where this is going.

Review: I normally don't get into super high fantasy, where the worlds, systems, magics, peoples are very detailed and complex. And this kind of high fantasy goes well beyond the ACOTARs and Fourth Wings, I assure you—we're talking pages on pages on pages of exposition explaining the physics, history, geology, etc of this universe.

But, when I picked this up 10+ years ago at the Tattered Cover on Colfax in Denver, Colorado, I decided to buy it because I liked the cover. As one does. Turns out these books by this Sanderson guy are kind of 'a thing' in the world of genre fiction. And boy, 'Mistborn' delivered! For all the minutiae, the story is incredible. Vin, the FMC, is a major baddie. There is a noble guy who ends up being not so terrible that has a thing for her, but her primary and secondary attention and focus are bringing the house down *swoon*. There are awesome battle scenes, swishing capes, eating metals + magic powers, super freaky monsters, a wise old dude who teaches our FMC cool stuff, and all the great 'Eat the Rich' plotting that people love about contemporary fantasy right now (despite the fact many of those people don't subscribe to these principles IRL, which I find strange).

If you were going to skip any on my list (assuming you read any of them at all lol), I'd go with this one simply because, as noted, you've really got have an interest in world-building for the sake of it. But if you want to try something new, and figure out why everyone keeps talking about this Sanderson dude, I think 'Mistborn' is a great entry point.

You've made it to the end again, singular you may be. And this post was longer than the last one (whoopsie). Next week I'll be sharing seven books I LOVED by black authors before Black History Month wraps up. In the meantime, if you could send to your friends and ask them to subscribe—even if they, and you, then send me to the junk folder—it would bring this social media luddite so much joy 🙂.

Have a beautiful week and don't forget to read banned books,
Charlotte Chambers

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