"As we get into the hottest, most languorous months of the year, it's the perfect moment for a hot read — and just in time, our big summer book list is here. It's the NPR Books Summer of Love, and we have 100 great romances for you, from historical to paranormal to LGBTQ to the subgenre that started it all, category romance.
Back in June we asked you to tell us about your favorite romantic reads, and you responded in droves. (We had to shut the poll down early after more than 18,000 nominations flooded in!) Once the votes were tallied, we turned to our expert panel, reviewers Bobbi Dumas and Sarah Wendell, and authors Sherry Thomas and Michelle Monkou, to help us break down the categories and shape the final list into a love story for the ages.
"It is my sincere hope and belief that readers new to the romance genre can pick up any recommended title on the list and find an interesting, affecting and satisfying read," says Thomas. We hope new readers and longtime fans alike will find a happily ever after here — but if we've left out one of your favorites, please tell us about it in the comments!"Click here for the full list. There truly is a great romance read for every reader.
Save this list to help you all the year through! I think you should especially save it to reuse for Valentine’s Day this year. See how I help you? Now you are already set for February! Seriously though, a great list like this is not only useful when it comes out. I addressed this issue in more detail in that post from last month.
Also, I am very impressed with the inclusion of this article as part of today’s list release-- “Heartbreakers: Why Some Books Didn’t Make The Final List.”
Making lists of the best of anything is hard. People love what they love and they are upset when their favorites are left out. Me, I am glad that people et so worked up about books that they love, but as someone who frequently makes book lists, I understand that best lists have rules and parameters. I am so happy NPR had strict guidelines, clearly listed them here, and stood by these rules even when it meant excluding a book they wanted to include themselves. I try to do the same when I make a list.
But most importantly, I am glad they acknowledged, upfront, that this list will not make everyone happy. That is important for all of us who work with leisure readers to remember. Always acknowledge how personal “a good book” is. The reason it is great for one person, can also be a reason someone else hates it. This is at the heart of what we do as readers’ advisors and it is often the toughest hurdle to get over as we work with patrons. This NPR example of being upfront about how hard it was to leave some books off the list AND kindly offering opportunities for people to include their own favorites in a supportive manner (i.e. not mean and troll-like) should be a model to us all.
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