Every year in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day and on the holiday itself, the radio station I listen to every morning engages in a tradition that always gets under my skin. They call it “Romantic Ramblings,” and it involves sending one of the on-air DJs from the morning drive team over to nearest Walgreens, where he (always a he) selects a romance novel off the shelf, opens to a random page, and begins reading the “smut” he finds inside.
The DJ is instructed to select the book with the most extreme cover, and given that he always – always – manages to select a page that contains some kind of physical interaction between the hero and heroine, you have to wonder how random his selection process truly is. No romance, not even the bodice rippers of old, contains sex on every single page but he manages to hit pay dirt 100% of the time. The folks back in the studio giggle and joke while bow-chicka-wow-wow music plays in the background. Despite the bit’s title – “Romantic Ramblings” – there’s nothing romantic about it. It’s more titillating in that thirteen-year-old boys ogling contraband copies of Playboy sort of way. (more…)
You probably have already heard about the Wall Street Journal breaking the story of the Department of Justice plans to sue Apple and Simon & Schuster Inc., Hachette Book Group; Penguin Group (USA); Macmillan and HarperCollins Publishers Inc for price fixing related to e-books. And you might have read their response that they only did it to keep the market competitive. And you might be rolling your eyes thinking “not another blog about e-book pricing”. And I agree with you. I am talked out on the subject. There is only so many way you can say that agency pricing is wrong. So for something new, I thought I would write an article with a positive slant. To be honest, I had planned on writing about all the things that publishers do right. But it was a very short list. Maybe it’s because when I look at things, it seems as if the publishers focus more on profits. We have seen that over and over again with gluts of similar types of books. And authors have relayed that they want to write something different but are told that doesn’t sell. However, I easily feel the love for authors. For over a year now, I wanted to have an author appreciation day on the blog.
I’m an enthusiastic lover of romance. I love the action and adventure, the sweeping sagas, the old school and new alike. But lately I’ve come to appreciate yet another facet of my favorite novels, the scenes of quiet domesticity. Sure, these aren’t the ones that typically grab your attention and make your heart pound. They usually aren’t even the ones you will remember after you close the book. But I believe they plan an important role in the development of the romance and give the reader a deeper understanding of the book’s characters.
I hadn’t realized until this week what a liar I was about romance books. If anyone asked what kind of romances I like best, I would have said those that transport me away to somewhere I haven’t been in either time or place.
As many of you know, I compose a list of all the books that I am looking forward to reading. It is like a security blanket or comfort item knowing that there are some books out there that I want to read. For the next three months I only have six books on my list, which is not good. There is not much security in that unless I plan on doing a lot of re-reads.
Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t read the Lord of the Rings books or seen the movies, this post contains spoilers regarding the ending.
And no, I’m not talking about certain recreational activities. I’m just wondering where you guys like to read.
If you are not a fan of the 1960’s western television show, The Virginian , then this title means nothing to you. As a caregiver for an aging relative, I can almost repeat all the dialogue. One episode opens as a young woman and her mother are traveling out west to visit relatives. On the train, the young woman is reading a dime novel featuring the western hero, Deadeye Dick. When an older man saves her from falling off her horse after tumbleweeds spook him, just like Deadeye Dick saved Bessie Burton, she has her hero. Throughout the episode the mother understands that her daughter’s impressionable age is to blame rather than the dime novels and never forbids her the joy of reading them. While watching the show, I wondered how today’s mothers guide their daughters’ reading choices through the immense choices available.
As a genre, romances have largely moved beyond the “bodice ripper” forced seduction-style stories (despite lingering stereotypes). They still pop up from time to time, but generally now the “she said no, but I know she really means yes” and “her body betrayed her” are ridiculous, sexist, and indicative of rape, not romance. 
