I'm Not Forcing Myself Anymore

Force is a strong word, but I won't be trying to make myself read as many romance novels anymore.

I continue to struggle to finish them. 

I can read a 815 page classic with no problem, but a 215 page romance novel often leaves me bored.

THIS is NOT some crusade against romance novels. The world is ready to vilify any woman who doesn't stand on the mount of "Romances are Better Than Anything", but there has to be enough room for everything women like to read- and shocker that isn't JUST romance.

I enjoy the idea of romance novels. There was a time I could read like 4 back to to back. 

Those days are gone. 

I've always been a classics lover. Literary fiction is a close second, but the depressing theme and nature of most literary fiction (as if the only way to tell a beautifully written story is to lace it with tragedy) wears thin, and translated fiction comes in right at the same level.

But, there are times I want something light. Something that I can sit with at night and really enjoy.

I tried cozy mysteries. Over and over. Sometimes I land on a gem, but most times I care about the cozy and NOT the mystery. Well, some would say THAT is a romance novel... well, it isn't.

The cozy part of cozy mystery has our central female protagonist, but she is in a community and has other things going on (her bakery, candle shop, etc.) and the guy part is secondary.

It all leads me to this point:

When I was in college and a young mom shortly thereafter, I found solace between my graduate studies and a failing marriage in UK based chick lit. Before you send pitchforks for the term chick lit, that's how it was classified (and sometimes still is)- and I don't find any problem here.

The novels were SO far from anything that seemed realistic, that like a Harlequin Presents novel it felt hysterically unlikely for anything my life could imagine.

I began to escape into the Cotswolds or somewhere in England. The novels are women's fiction with a slight romance and very little steam. It's truly a story of the woman's journey, mixed with friends, families, etc.

There is usually a serious element found within (divorce, infertility, loss of a parent, etc.) and lots of other things that plague women. 

Sure you can go with the Shopaholics lighter side of things, or you can venture to other authors who provide a more robust view of women's experiences- although I ADORE the Shopaholic books.

I'm saying all this to say, after Nora Roberts scared the skin off of me, I realized that I can'r deny how my reading becomes influenced by BookTube, how I am NOT reading for a degree when I'm reading fiction, and I should only EVER read novels that I think will be 5 star ⭐️ books, or 5 star ⭐️ experiences.

I miss the lightness of having a coffee and being lost in a fun and breezy story.

My classics will remain. I will continue to read and re-read them for as long as I'm alive. Right now I"m on my umpteenth re-read of Anna Karenina (and I discover new things every time) and I added a cute Jill Mansell story late at night as I tried to scrub my brain free of the beginning of The Obsession.