Happy Valentine’s day, everyone!
Today’s the day of love. Although, I don’t fully understand Valentine’s day nor do we celebrate it… but that’s a post for another day. Today I’m talking about romance novels and how they are perceived to the general public. Because seriously, what’s the deal with people hating on romance novels? I love them! I mean, there’s so many sub-genres to romance that it’s pretty much everywhere. In the Star Wars franchise there was Hans and Leia, and Anakin and Padme. Indiana Jones had Marion. Heck, even in Lord of the Rings there was Arwen and Aragorn. Now, I’m not saying all stories have romance, but there are movies out there that I gravitate to because of the romance that the Mister loves because of the story line. So, how come when I say that I like romance I immediately get the look that says, “Oh, you like those books.” Just because I like romance, I’m automatically put into a box full of books with Fabio on them. Even if all I read are Fabio romances, what’s the big deal?! It may not be an autobiography on Eleanor Roosevelt, but at least I’m reading something.
Reading is still reading, regardless of the genre.
Every once in a while I go on a rant with the Mister about the stigma that romance novels, and thus the readers who enjoy them, get. Why does it matter so much what a person reads? My bookshelves are the first thing you see when you come into the house. All of my books are on display and they are anything from The Diary of Anne Frank to erotica. If you come into my house and want to judge me for what you see on my bookshelves, well… you know where the door is. I may not read the same things as you but we both have something in common… reading. Thankfully, I have friends who understand my love of romance books and don’t judge me. However, whenever a new person asks me what I like to read, I always tend to throw up my walls and prepare myself before I tell him I like all things romance. Which I used to have to do a lot since the book club I was part of wanted us to introduce ourselves the first handful of meetings so that we could get to know each other. I always hated having to state my genre preference. Especially since everyone was like, “history”, “non-fiction”, “speculative fiction”, and I was over there like…”romance?” It was so uncomfortable and every time I said it, people would just look at me like I didn’t really read. You could see in their eyes and demeanor that they were immediately dismissing you. As if reading romance was like saying you read the labels on a milk carton or something.
You can learn a lot from a romance novel.
I will tell you one thing, you can learn something from reading romance and I’m not talking about the actual romance part either. I’ve learned some interesting facts while reading them. I don’t know how the conversion came up, but I was talking to my friend about how I’d just read this article about dogs and cats being able to have a litter containing offspring from different males. My friend didn’t believe me, googled it, and realized that it’s true. Afterwards, I went home and picked up the book I’d been reading, a were-shifter romance, and realized I hadn’t read it in a news article… I read it in the book! Really glad the author knew her stuff because there I was spouting it out like I read it in some article online. Whoops! I even schooled the Mister and his friend one night. We were driving back from some event and the Mister and his friend were in the front laughing about something and all of a sudden I popped out with, “What are you two chortling about up there?” Which of course had them giggling harder at the nonsense coming out of my mouth. I even took a bit of ribbing from them until I convinced them to look up the word online. Yeah, I shut them up real fast. When the Mister asked me where I’d come across that word I told him, “My romance novels aren’t all just bare-chested men on the covers, you know.”
Thankfully I’ve met some amazing bloggers online.
I’m very thankful that the blogging community is so open to all genres and readers. I don’t feel judged when I talk about my shifter books, an erotica book I’ve just read, or even the fact that at 31, I still enjoy young adult novels. I’m able to shout from the rooftops [of my blog] that I read romance, that I loved the Twilight books, and that I think it’s great that 50 Shades of Grey got so many people into reading. We don’t all have to like the same things, but we can all respect one another.
Are you a romance reader? Do you have a favorite sub-genre?
Ever since I was a kid, I was heavily into books and romance, and as you mentioned I’ve fallen in love with many genres. Now I’m into suspense and thrillers which touch on romance, but I still want a HEA. I had a male friend in the Air Force who used to borrow my romance novels to get pick up lines to say to girls, which I thought was pretty cool. (lol) Great Post! Hugs…RO
LoL I love it! I wonder if any of those pick up lines worked for him. My husband’s friend used to stop by all the time before he moved away, and he would pick up my current read and flip through it. He also liked to read parts out loud, and then critique them. Mostly it was him saying, “What guys says that?!”, and then rereading a part in a dramatic fashion. He never judged me though. He always asked me what I was reading when I’d see him. Although, he did dub all the men in my books as “Reginald.” Not overly sure why. Ha!
I love this article Kristin! I used to get criticized (though not in person) about reading romance books and some even have the guts to say its a kind of books that just talk about kissing and the S stuff! Like huh?! But then again, I learned from experience (I can still clearly remember how I always read romance novels secretly while I was in highschool because if not, I’ll get a really nasty scold from my grandfather. But now I guess he’s already ok with it since I’m of age, hah!) to never mind them and just read what I want.
As for genre, I’m always young at heart so I always digs YA hehe. But after reading a really good book from Ilona Andrews, I am starting to love Paranormal Romance as well as Suspense Romance hihi
Thanks, Vanessa! It’s a post I’ve been sitting on for a while. I think I’m at the point where I just don’t care anymore what people thing, but it was hard to get past the looks I’d get from people. I could see if maybe I was a young teen who’s reading a book with a bare-chested man on the cover because it may be too mature for me, but I’m a grown woman… and yet I still get those looks. :eye roll: I’m glad that we both hit the point of not caring what others think of our reading preference. 😉
PNR is a good one. I’d say it’s my favorite, but my favorite seems to change based on my mood. 😀
Well said. I love Romance. I have never had anybody ever judge me cause the genre I read.
I’ve never had anyone outwardly say anything, but I would get looks from people when they either saw what I was reading, or I said that I read romance. :\
BTW, I haven’t been able to get onto your site for a while. Did your url change?
“You can learn a lot from a romance novel.”
YASSSSSS
This drives me nuts. My MIL JUST said to me that she doesn’t like what I read (YA, romance) because she would rather learn something new. My SIL and now niece do this too. “do you have a book rec for me – I’m in the mood for an “easy” read. They mean that as a dig at the genre.
*stabby* *stabby* *stabby*
First off, reading for pleasure, whether you learn anything or not is fiiiiine! But I have learned SO MANY THINGS (I’m angry so all caps lol) reading romance. I always shock my husband with weird random facts and words that he didn’t even know.
Authors do a lot of research because characters don’t live in a bubble. yes, it’s fictional but usually based on something real and I look up a lot of things I read after for even more insight.
I get why some people don’t like romance and that’s cool. just don’t judge others.
Okay…blood pressure lowering lol
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
LoL You’re too much, Karen! At least I’m not the only one who gets worked up over this.
It’s interesting how many people think YA or Romance novels are just light fluff or trash. Like you said, even if you walk away with just a light fun read, there’s nothing wrong with that. I read to escape reality, not to be bogged down with a tedious read. What bothers me is when people judge you for what you’re reading. I’m no longer part of that book club because I moved, but I hated having to say that I read romance because I was sick of that instant change in their face when I said I read romance and young adult.
I’ve always been a reader. I started out reading Horror as a teenager and then my mom brought me a huge box of romance books that she had read. I read one and was hooked. Right now I’m on a Paranormal Romance kick and love the vampires. I even got my daughter reading romance now that she’s in her 20’s.
That’s wonderful! I read a ton of vampire romances when I started PNR, now I’m more of a shifter lover. However, I love going back to the classic vampire stories.
I feel like I hear this type of stuff more for YA books – they think it’s all easy, or not that stimulating or whatever. But yeah, romance definitely gets it too because everyone always thinks it’s just about sex and that’s it. Umm…no. And don’t judge people for reading! I don’t care WHAT you read; I just think it’s awesome when people DO read. I do really like romance – these days, I tend to read mostly m/m romance, BUT I did used to read a lot of Urban Fantasy and PNR with some great romances, and I need to get back into those.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
Yeah. YA gets it a lot too. I just don’t know why though. I mean, we should be applauding people not for what they read but just the fact that they do read.
My hubby jokingly calls my books porno books. To be fair though the one and only time I had an audiobook on in the car with him, it was a sex scene. I lol’ed so hard at his reaction though.
Oooooh my goodness. That is hilarious! I could only imagine what the Mister’s face would be if that happened. HaHaHaHa
I’ve never really gotten the judgmental thing about what I read, but I read almost everything anyway… so I guess they felt that they would criticize themselves if they did it. LOL Although if I am criticized for liking romance I would just tell them that at least I’m not dead inside. Love is good. LOL We have your back!
HaHaHa I love it! I suppose it’s a good thing no one has said anything to you then. And thanks for having my back. 😉
I love the blogging community for all of the reasons you mentioned. And even though I don’t read much romance myself, I still love to see what books those who do love it are reading because I never know when a romance novel might come along that piques my interest. The few that I have read lately and enjoyed were definitely recs from fellow bloggers 🙂
I think that’s great. I feel the same way about other genres when I stop by a blog. I may not read it, but there have been a few reviews that I’ve read that have made me pick up a book that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
I love romance novels and I make no apologies. Frankly I couldn’t careless what anyone thinks about my reading tastes. Once someone saw me reading paranormal romance and asked how I could read such rubbish. My response was don’t knock it until you try it. Mind you this was person whose idea of reading is to read the closed caption on a television program.
Good for you! I think I’m starting to get to that point of not caring. It just frustrates me that people judge others for what they read instead of just praising the fact that people are reading. :\
I agree with you reading is reading and the blogging community is open and great. I feel you can learn so much from any book and even to this day it makes me a better reader. I feel I still learn words that I didn’t know before with almost every book I read. I like that you can talk about any book you read. I like you love all types of books. Erotica, romance, horror, thrillers, mysteries. I like books like my real life – variety! Enjoy your day and Happy belated Valentines day!
Mary
You’re right. I feel like I learn a little something with each book I read. Regardless of the genre, I always walk away with something.
I like all kinds of books in all different genres and I still appreciate when they have romances written into the books like historical fiction and all of that. My husband mocks me when I read romances. I had people tell me its not a real genre, it can be frustrating, and like I should feel embarrassed. I normally like romance books, granted I can get burned out on them, but I love a good story across any genre it just adds to that element of the book
I have to bounce between genres because I get bored otherwise. However, I tend to find romance in just about all books. The Mister doesn’t say anything negative about my books, but he does chuckle at some of the bare-chested, bodice rippers I’ve read.
I love romance novels. They make me dream of the perfect love story, so many different options, and they provide plenty of inspiration. I am a hopeless romantic, so it’s kind of a given.
People are too quick to judge and make assumptions, and it;s easy to criticize. In the end, our hobbies, interests, and passions make us who we are. 🙂
I completely agree with you. Hobbies and interests are what makes us who we are, and we are all different. 🙂
I love romance, too, and one of the things I love the most is that we have ALL the subgenres. I gravitate quite often towards romantic suspense these days, or even post apocalyptic, because who doesn’t love a good virus who just makes everything dangerous?
I have a Master’s degree in English language and literature, (just got it last year) and even so, some people kind of look at me strangely when I say I read romance…
My husband actually enjoys the fact that I read romance, he gets secondary benefits from that sometimes 😉
Congratulations on your Master’s degree! I think that’s interesting that given your degree, people would still stick their nose up at what you read. I do love that the romance genre has so many facets to it. I bounce around a lot between all the subgenres depending on my mood. 🙂
I love romance books! I have been judged for reading young adult books as an adult too. I also agree that reading is reading! We have many parents and teachers at the library that get upset when kids just want to read graphic novels. I always tell them at least they are reading! Many of the ones that love graphic novels are reluctant readers. Reading something is better than nothing. 🙂
Yes!! That’s my thought, too. At least they are reading. I, personally, see nothing wrong if a grown adult purchases, or borrows from the library, a stack of manga or graphic novels… or YA books. They are reading something, engaging their brains, and exploring a whole new world for a few hours. How could there be anything wrong with that? :rolls eyes: Some people just don’t see it that way though.
*mic drop* Represent chickie! I am right there with you on so many of these points! Down with the stigma!
LoL Yes!!! Down with the stigma!