Hiding the book in public places... My teen self can relate! Ha ha! I did love it when the digital bookstore hit Switzerland. Free at last! Thank you for this take on the Bridgerton subject.
I read romances. I especially prefer Loretta Chase, who has a strong historical background and goes out of her way to make the Regency/Romantic environment (and especially the women's clothes) as accurate as possible, excluding the scads of dukes about. She also emphasizes consent and agency, and joyful sex and relationships. Most of her oevre is pretty spicy, but she does have a few in the "offscreen" category. I also read my good friend Annabeth Albert's contemoprary M/M romances. These are picante! Again, tho, she emphasizes inclusion, consent, agency, and joyful partnering. I've tried some that were "classic", but when they run right over consent or any other nonsense, I just can't ignore it, anymore than I can ignore the lack of shifts in Bridgerton.
Some of my favorite moments has been when I’m deeply immersed into a romance novel, completely forgetting the world around me. Yes, I enjoy action books, fantasy and sci-fi, heck, even non-fiction. But if I just need to escape for a few hours (or days, for that matter)? Romance all the way.
Romance is absolutely my favorite genre! I started reading it by borrowing my mom’s Romance books starting about age 8 (and trying to be sneaky about it, though Mom absolutely knew). Though now most of what I read now are fanfic romances from a curated set of authors that are awesome. I just started being bugged by problematic things I was seeing that I used to be able to dismiss. But all of my favorite entertainment is the happy-ending escapism kind. I would love recommendations for those without lots of problematic consent issues!
I appreciate your covering this angle on the series, it (partially) covers what I’ve been waiting for someone to talk about, in addition to the costumes and racism and size discussions. I’ve read and seen some romance (as the genre - I’m still confused about when other books have romance in them but aren’t the romance genre, and others sound like they’d be more appropriately called sex novels rather than romance novels) and determined I like the Hallmark movie level of romance generally. My sort-of-question has been that such a variety of people have enjoyed Bridgerton the show (I haven’t read any of the books so can’t compare) that I wonder if most people consider the level/amount of sex scenes normal? I guess it’s a rhetorical question and the answer is yes, given the popularity of Game of Thrones, Outlander (the fantasy and historicalish elements of those shows appeal to me, but the amount of violence, etc puts me off) and other HBO type and MA rated shows. I enjoyed your discussion of books in general, and would happy if you want to put your librarian hat on again for future videos.
Thanks so much for your comments! There's definitely a wide spectrum of comfort levels when it comes to romance in entertainment, both film and written. For those who want to have more of a "mild salsa" rating, you start to pick up on which authors and publishers will be appropriate. There's everything from Harlequin Amish (yes, Amish) stories all the way to, as you say, sex books where the plot is secondary. Nora Roberts is a good mainstream author that is more around the "medium spicy" level, including sex scenes but usually written with a euphemistic haze. For those that like the emotion without the descriptions, novels that are somewhat targeted toward the older "young adult" can be a great joy (like the Hunger Games books). Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy is so beautifully written as a coming of age story. You're so right about the concept of the entire romance genre itself being very vague. I think it's like Christian music (if you'll excuse the strange comparison): inclusion has more to do with the topic of the lyrics than it does the style of the song. So you'll have romance books that are also sci-fi/fantasy (my personal favorite), historicals, modern, mysteries, etc. There are some books where the first sex scene doesn't come until 80% of the way through, and others where it's in the first 20 pages - sometimes both by the same author, just with different character motivations. I've been reading romances for so long, I don't have a good idea of the general public's "acceptable" level, though as you mention there's plenty of steamy steaminess in various tv shows and movies. And of course, I can go on another rant over the American Puritanical cognitive dissonance of accepting violence but not sexual content. But maybe I'll save that for another time.
Wow, myself 20 years ago but i have moved into audible.... lol romance move aside enter fantasy. Admitting to romance addiction very hard lol love me some earls and ladies....Claudette Williams back in the day could be so hilarious oh yea georgette heyer used to LOVE
I love the fact that you openly admitted to reading romance novels. I am 46 yo and I struggle telling people that I like them. I guess it is because I like everything from bodice ripping to abdl. the part of the genre that even people reading romance stick their nose up at. I feel like that when I say I read romance that I have to justify it because I don't like tame. Am I looking for escapism yes. I started reading romance around 10 by reading Kathrine Woodwiss (although I hated her last book) is it wrong of me to like books with trauma and how the characters overcome it. Is it wrong that I love spice, books being the closest thing i will ever get to it Is it wrong that I actually liked 50 shades of gray knowing full well it was a terrible book
Hiding the book in public places... My teen self can relate! Ha ha! I did love it when the digital bookstore hit Switzerland. Free at last! Thank you for this take on the Bridgerton subject.
I don't personally care for Romance (in any media format) but I DO really love your treatment of the genre here! Bravo, madam!
I read romances. I especially prefer Loretta Chase, who has a strong historical background and goes out of her way to make the Regency/Romantic environment (and especially the women's clothes) as accurate as possible, excluding the scads of dukes about. She also emphasizes consent and agency, and joyful sex and relationships. Most of her oevre is pretty spicy, but she does have a few in the "offscreen" category. I also read my good friend Annabeth Albert's contemoprary M/M romances. These are picante! Again, tho, she emphasizes inclusion, consent, agency, and joyful partnering. I've tried some that were "classic", but when they run right over consent or any other nonsense, I just can't ignore it, anymore than I can ignore the lack of shifts in Bridgerton.
Some of my favorite moments has been when I’m deeply immersed into a romance novel, completely forgetting the world around me. Yes, I enjoy action books, fantasy and sci-fi, heck, even non-fiction. But if I just need to escape for a few hours (or days, for that matter)? Romance all the way.
Romance is absolutely my favorite genre! I started reading it by borrowing my mom’s Romance books starting about age 8 (and trying to be sneaky about it, though Mom absolutely knew). Though now most of what I read now are fanfic romances from a curated set of authors that are awesome. I just started being bugged by problematic things I was seeing that I used to be able to dismiss. But all of my favorite entertainment is the happy-ending escapism kind.
I would love recommendations for those without lots of problematic consent issues!
I appreciate your covering this angle on the series, it (partially) covers what I’ve been waiting for someone to talk about, in addition to the costumes and racism and size discussions.
I’ve read and seen some romance (as the genre - I’m still confused about when other books have romance in them but aren’t the romance genre, and others sound like they’d be more appropriately called sex novels rather than romance novels) and determined I like the Hallmark movie level of romance generally.
My sort-of-question has been that such a variety of people have enjoyed Bridgerton the show (I haven’t read any of the books so can’t compare) that I wonder if most people consider the level/amount of sex scenes normal? I guess it’s a rhetorical question and the answer is yes, given the popularity of Game of Thrones, Outlander (the fantasy and historicalish elements of those shows appeal to me, but the amount of violence, etc puts me off) and other HBO type and MA rated shows.
I enjoyed your discussion of books in general, and would happy if you want to put your librarian hat on again for future videos.
Thanks so much for your comments! There's definitely a wide spectrum of comfort levels when it comes to romance in entertainment, both film and written. For those who want to have more of a "mild salsa" rating, you start to pick up on which authors and publishers will be appropriate. There's everything from Harlequin Amish (yes, Amish) stories all the way to, as you say, sex books where the plot is secondary. Nora Roberts is a good mainstream author that is more around the "medium spicy" level, including sex scenes but usually written with a euphemistic haze. For those that like the emotion without the descriptions, novels that are somewhat targeted toward the older "young adult" can be a great joy (like the Hunger Games books). Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy is so beautifully written as a coming of age story.
You're so right about the concept of the entire romance genre itself being very vague. I think it's like Christian music (if you'll excuse the strange comparison): inclusion has more to do with the topic of the lyrics than it does the style of the song. So you'll have romance books that are also sci-fi/fantasy (my personal favorite), historicals, modern, mysteries, etc. There are some books where the first sex scene doesn't come until 80% of the way through, and others where it's in the first 20 pages - sometimes both by the same author, just with different character motivations.
I've been reading romances for so long, I don't have a good idea of the general public's "acceptable" level, though as you mention there's plenty of steamy steaminess in various tv shows and movies. And of course, I can go on another rant over the American Puritanical cognitive dissonance of accepting violence but not sexual content. But maybe I'll save that for another time.
Wow, myself 20 years ago but i have moved into audible.... lol romance move aside enter fantasy. Admitting to romance addiction very hard lol love me some earls and ladies....Claudette Williams back in the day could be so hilarious oh yea georgette heyer used to LOVE
I love the fact that you openly admitted to reading romance novels. I am 46 yo and I struggle telling people that I like them. I guess it is because I like everything from bodice ripping to abdl. the part of the genre that even people reading romance stick their nose up at. I feel like that when I say I read romance that I have to justify it because I don't like tame. Am I looking for escapism yes. I started reading romance around 10 by reading Kathrine Woodwiss (although I hated her last book) is it wrong of me to like books with trauma and how the characters overcome it. Is it wrong that I love spice, books being the closest thing i will ever get to it Is it wrong that I actually liked 50 shades of gray knowing full well it was a terrible book