1. Betty Rosenberg: “Never apologize for your reading tastes.”-- Strike "Guilty Pleasures" from you vocabulary
-- A non-judgmental list of what you “should read”
Our job is to be nonjudgmental as we help readers. We are here to have conversations with our readers to figure out what they like to read and why. We are not here to tell them what they should read, rather our job is to help them connect with the titles they would never know about without our help.
Most of you, my regular readers, take this information for granted, but I am not exaggerating when I tell you that every single time I walk into a library (in person or virtually) there is ALWAYS someone (sometimes multiple someones) who do not buy in to this first rule at the start of the day but as I work them through the 10 Rules using their own reading preferences as the starting point and encourage conversation with their co-workers, they start to understand.
But most people in the world are judgmental about books-- even is they are not readers themselves. I know this because of my other job, as a reviewer of Horror. Genres that require an emotional response to be enjoyed-- Romance, Horror, Gentle Reads, and Relationship Fiction-- are often seen as "less than."
But here's the thing, in many ways, these genres are actually "more than." Why? Well, in order to write a book, with words on a flat page that somehow allows the reader to physically feel-- in their body-- the love or the fear, that is quite a feat.
Romance readers in particular are my favorite readers to interact with at the library because they understand what they like to read and why. And, they can articulate why, for example, this enemies to lovers book was better than that enemies to lovers book and why that trope is their favorite in general but also when you add the "but there was only one bed" they might hate it. (This is a paraphrasing of an actual conversation I have had with a reader.)
It should also come as no surprise to my readers here that along with Horror, Romance is having a moment in the spotlight. As we are living in "interesting times," fueled by anxiety, uncertainty, and fear, books that can make you feel strong emotions, emotions that can take you out of your reality and get lost in feelings that are not caused by the news, have an important part to play in many people's lives.
We know this all anecdotally, but the other day, the Guardian had this great, detailed essay where someone who was not a fan of Romance took an honest look at why it is so popular. It is a great reminder about the power of book in vernal and about the increased interest in Romance. Click on the title and intro below to read the article.
My weeks of reading hornily: steamy book sales have doubled – and I soon found out why
From fairy porn to romantasy via the Omegaverse, publishing is sexier than ever. The reason? A big shift in gen Z and millennial attitudes to respectability and shame ...By Zoe Williams
Thank you for the link! It's so good when someone who previously looked down on genre romance, suddenly, after direct exposure to the actual genre, gets it.
ReplyDeleteAnd this paragraph:
"There is also an interiority to romance-reading. New York magazine’s the Cut, which loves smut, published a list of reading accessories, which was entirely pamper items: candles, bathrobes, slippers. In the same way that culture scorns single women who keep cats and enjoy their own company, or that new mothers get so much opprobrium for walking around, plainly in love with their baby and not caring about their own appearance, society demands women to be always looking outwards, always waiting. If she is at home reading The Duke and I (a Bridgerton novel, by Julia Quinn, “regency romance”), she is not suitor-ready."
Boy oh boy oh BOY.
Thank you (even if I still don't care for the word "smut" as it relates to my reading--but then, I'm on the older end of Gen X ;-) )
You're welcome. I loved how she shared her experience honestly and did not shy away from sharing her preconceived notions. I think it makes the piece stronger for the general reader.
ReplyDelete