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Books, and a spontaneous rant about people who bash romance novels
M and I like to go to library book sales. The one in my hometown is often particularly good. Paperbacks are $0.35, and we have been known to buy books there for the flimsiest reasons--we can't remember if we already have it, we have read other books by the author, we have wanted to read books by this author, the cover looks neat, someone recommended it, etc. This is also where the bulk of my romance novel addiction is fed. At most any given time, I have a a bunch of books waiting on me. Last fall's reread of Wheel of Time especially didn't allow me to play catch up. (Speaking of which, I didn't start with New Spring, bur promised myself that I would read it afterwards, but I didn't. Hmm.) I have a dedicated bookcase for books I haven't read--hand-made by my grandfather. (I graciously allow my husband to put his own unread books on the bottom shelf. My kindness knows no bounds.)
Anyway, I read a lot, but I spend most of my book time reading romance novels. I do, however, have other sorts of things on my list--things that the self-righteous might refer to as real books.
I should probably interrupt this story to say that I have a real problem with the romance-bashing that everyone seems to enjoy. I've heard plenty of it in real-life, but I see it constantly in the blogging world, and I am going to be perfectly honest here: I think that a whole lot of people do it because they think that everyone should know that they are not silly, fluffy little housewives reading love stories, that they are so damned hardcore that they wouldn't be caught dead reading a book in which there is happily-ever-after. It's pretentious as hell and it makes me want to gag. I'm not saying that everyone is like that, but I think it happens subconsciously with some people. I could not care less if someone doesn't enjoy reading romances, but that whole "protest too much" thing comes to mind sometimes. (A tangent of a tangent here, but I rather think the same thing about the people who are viciously against country music.. and I'm not even really an active fan of that myself, either.) I mean, there are plenty of valid reasons that someone might not want to read romance novels--they just don't capture their interest, they prefer another genre, they don't find themselves adequately represented (it's very much dominated by white heterosexual couples), they don't read much, they don't read fiction, whatever. I will totally buy any of those reasons. But that's not what people say, generally--they usually express their disdain for the whole concept, and THAT is what I find questionable. I mean, you don't often hear people say that they would never read a mystery because they're so trashy and common and stupid, do you? Hmm. (I personally am not a mystery fan, but I have never told anyone how stupid they are.)
I would also mention that romance novels make up over half of all paperbacks sold, and they are purchased in the majority by college-educated women. (Statistically, two-thirds have at least some college background.) A secondary theory I have on the subject is that society likes to make fun of romance novels because it's yet another convenient way to belittle women* and their interests, but those sorts of statements tend to make people uncomfortable so I won't get into that one.
*But who needs romance novels for that? I mean, now we have reality television, and that does the trick just fine!
Anyway, returning from my tangent(s), I have this stack of books to read, and most of the books on it are romance novels. Those are the fastest-moving, because I read them for different reasons and in different ways. For instance, I love to read while I eat. I always have. When I read a non-romance, it's not as.. actively fun. I enjoy it, and I like reading outside my preferred genre, but it's not the same. I don't necessarily feel the gripping need to carry it around with me, to share meals with it. I read them sedately, like a normal person, whereas I devour romance novels like chocolate. Or like I would if I really liked chocolate, which I don't. (I LIKE it, but I don't LOVE it.) I'm sure that says something about me. If, for one reason or another (like months of slogging through a very good but LONG series for the fourth time followed by months of recovery and recuperation-fun-reading) it has been a while since I read something else, then I am guilty of.. well, of forgetting that I enjoy reading other stuff sometimes.
In this case, I am currently engrossed in The Water is Wide, by Pat Conroy. What is making the realization so fascinating to me this time is that I simply cannot believe that I have forgotten what pure genius that man spills onto a page. I read both The Prince of Tides and The Lords of Discipline a long, long time ago, and requested that M buy The Lords of Discipline for me for Christmas one year. That one still ranks high up on the list of my favorite books..and I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading the way he puts words together. (Quick funny: the clerk who checked him out mentioned that it was a great book, and M told him that he was buying it for his wife. "Your wife??" the guy asked in disbelief. Ha. You should all read it. And cry. Because I did.) And that's not even to mention the subject matter (it's a true story of the year (around 1970) he spent teaching school to the mostly-illiterate, completely neglected and generally abused-by-the-system black students on a remote and nearly-deserted island in South Carolina) and how thought-provoking it is. I'm a little less than halfway through it and I can already tell you that it's worth reading for the story alone, and for the visual I now have of a classroom full of students who are so cut off from the rest of the world that they don't even know that they live in the United States, or what the name of the ocean surrounding them on all sides was (or even that it had a name), or who the president was. (Although I suppose that if I didn't know who our current president was, I'd probably be a bit happier myself.)
Two more notes: fantasy and porn. Sadly, not related, so this is not going to be nearly as interesting as you hoped. I read some fantasy, and it tends to fall under the fun, gripping reading, but I just don't read that much of it for reasons that I don't fully understand. I think I get frustrated with long exposure to worlds that are completely made up.) Secondly, porn. There is a misconception that you read romance novels for the free porn. That's pretty much untrue. I (and other people I know) tend to skim past the sex scenes entirely with just a note as to whether something happens or whether it stops before it does. It's not that I'm offended by them or any such nonsense, but after thousands of books, you tend to get really bored with the whole concept, and most authors are not especially talented--and by this I don't mean that they suck, just that there is no spark to it--in this area. (There are notable exceptions and authors who make it worth reading, but even then, it's more about part of the love story and not an erotic event.) Just so you know.
So: yes, I just wrote 1400 words to let you all know that I am reading a book that is not a romance novel, as I do regularly but not recently, by an author that I have loved in the past but haven't read lately, and that it is good, and I am happy about it. I think it might be a new record for wordiness.
M just went to the kitchen and asked if I wanted anything, like a drink, or a book contract for this novel I am writing in this post perhaps. He is such a little bitch but I love him.
Anyway, I read a lot, but I spend most of my book time reading romance novels. I do, however, have other sorts of things on my list--things that the self-righteous might refer to as real books.
I should probably interrupt this story to say that I have a real problem with the romance-bashing that everyone seems to enjoy. I've heard plenty of it in real-life, but I see it constantly in the blogging world, and I am going to be perfectly honest here: I think that a whole lot of people do it because they think that everyone should know that they are not silly, fluffy little housewives reading love stories, that they are so damned hardcore that they wouldn't be caught dead reading a book in which there is happily-ever-after. It's pretentious as hell and it makes me want to gag. I'm not saying that everyone is like that, but I think it happens subconsciously with some people. I could not care less if someone doesn't enjoy reading romances, but that whole "protest too much" thing comes to mind sometimes. (A tangent of a tangent here, but I rather think the same thing about the people who are viciously against country music.. and I'm not even really an active fan of that myself, either.) I mean, there are plenty of valid reasons that someone might not want to read romance novels--they just don't capture their interest, they prefer another genre, they don't find themselves adequately represented (it's very much dominated by white heterosexual couples), they don't read much, they don't read fiction, whatever. I will totally buy any of those reasons. But that's not what people say, generally--they usually express their disdain for the whole concept, and THAT is what I find questionable. I mean, you don't often hear people say that they would never read a mystery because they're so trashy and common and stupid, do you? Hmm. (I personally am not a mystery fan, but I have never told anyone how stupid they are.)
I would also mention that romance novels make up over half of all paperbacks sold, and they are purchased in the majority by college-educated women. (Statistically, two-thirds have at least some college background.) A secondary theory I have on the subject is that society likes to make fun of romance novels because it's yet another convenient way to belittle women* and their interests, but those sorts of statements tend to make people uncomfortable so I won't get into that one.
*But who needs romance novels for that? I mean, now we have reality television, and that does the trick just fine!
Anyway, returning from my tangent(s), I have this stack of books to read, and most of the books on it are romance novels. Those are the fastest-moving, because I read them for different reasons and in different ways. For instance, I love to read while I eat. I always have. When I read a non-romance, it's not as.. actively fun. I enjoy it, and I like reading outside my preferred genre, but it's not the same. I don't necessarily feel the gripping need to carry it around with me, to share meals with it. I read them sedately, like a normal person, whereas I devour romance novels like chocolate. Or like I would if I really liked chocolate, which I don't. (I LIKE it, but I don't LOVE it.) I'm sure that says something about me. If, for one reason or another (like months of slogging through a very good but LONG series for the fourth time followed by months of recovery and recuperation-fun-reading) it has been a while since I read something else, then I am guilty of.. well, of forgetting that I enjoy reading other stuff sometimes.
In this case, I am currently engrossed in The Water is Wide, by Pat Conroy. What is making the realization so fascinating to me this time is that I simply cannot believe that I have forgotten what pure genius that man spills onto a page. I read both The Prince of Tides and The Lords of Discipline a long, long time ago, and requested that M buy The Lords of Discipline for me for Christmas one year. That one still ranks high up on the list of my favorite books..and I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading the way he puts words together. (Quick funny: the clerk who checked him out mentioned that it was a great book, and M told him that he was buying it for his wife. "Your wife??" the guy asked in disbelief. Ha. You should all read it. And cry. Because I did.) And that's not even to mention the subject matter (it's a true story of the year (around 1970) he spent teaching school to the mostly-illiterate, completely neglected and generally abused-by-the-system black students on a remote and nearly-deserted island in South Carolina) and how thought-provoking it is. I'm a little less than halfway through it and I can already tell you that it's worth reading for the story alone, and for the visual I now have of a classroom full of students who are so cut off from the rest of the world that they don't even know that they live in the United States, or what the name of the ocean surrounding them on all sides was (or even that it had a name), or who the president was. (Although I suppose that if I didn't know who our current president was, I'd probably be a bit happier myself.)
Two more notes: fantasy and porn. Sadly, not related, so this is not going to be nearly as interesting as you hoped. I read some fantasy, and it tends to fall under the fun, gripping reading, but I just don't read that much of it for reasons that I don't fully understand. I think I get frustrated with long exposure to worlds that are completely made up.) Secondly, porn. There is a misconception that you read romance novels for the free porn. That's pretty much untrue. I (and other people I know) tend to skim past the sex scenes entirely with just a note as to whether something happens or whether it stops before it does. It's not that I'm offended by them or any such nonsense, but after thousands of books, you tend to get really bored with the whole concept, and most authors are not especially talented--and by this I don't mean that they suck, just that there is no spark to it--in this area. (There are notable exceptions and authors who make it worth reading, but even then, it's more about part of the love story and not an erotic event.) Just so you know.
So: yes, I just wrote 1400 words to let you all know that I am reading a book that is not a romance novel, as I do regularly but not recently, by an author that I have loved in the past but haven't read lately, and that it is good, and I am happy about it. I think it might be a new record for wordiness.
M just went to the kitchen and asked if I wanted anything, like a drink, or a book contract for this novel I am writing in this post perhaps. He is such a little bitch but I love him.
no subject
Thanks for the tip about Lords etc ... I loved Prince of Tides so I'll look out for that and the other if I ever get on a fiction whim again or can't find a good non fiction book, which is becoming increasingly common...
Hi by the way :)
no subject
The one that I'm reading now is also non-fiction. I don't remember if I said that or not but what DIDN'T I say so I probably did. ;) I wish I read more non-fiction sometimes but I am somewhat easily distracted when I try. Just like right now, in fact, when I am supposed to be programming..