Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Discussion Forums - Book Bazaar Book Bazaar

Topic: Why do you read romance novels?

Club rule - Please, if you cannot be courteous and respectful, do not post in this forum.
  Unlock Forum posting with Annual Membership.
calgreg avatar
Subject: Why do you read romance novels?
Date Posted: 2/7/2011 5:16 PM ET
Member Since: 10/30/2010
Posts: 495
Back To Top

My sister, a novelist, told me that romance novels make up over 50% of the total books sold in the US.

So, please tell us why you like to read romance over other fiction? 

berd avatar
Standard Member medalPrintable Postage medal
Date Posted: 2/7/2011 5:33 PM ET
Member Since: 10/13/2010
Posts: 4,443
Back To Top

I wouldn't necessarily say romance is my choice OVER other fiction but I like romances because I like the story lines... my love life always sucks so it's sometimes nice to read a book about someone with a better love life than myself, LOL.  Seriously, that's probably sad but it's true.

hillcountrygirl avatar
Date Posted: 2/7/2011 6:17 PM ET
Member Since: 3/23/2010
Posts: 190
Back To Top

Well, I don't just read romance, I read everything, but  I was talking to my husband about this just this morning.  You couldn't pay him $1000 to read a romance novel, and I'm sure it's the same with most men.  It is very telling, men and women will never be the same!   There is a such a fundamental pleasure and sense of completion for me to read a simple and-they-lived-happily-ever-after novel.    I honestly don't know why a good romance novel is so satisfying and don't know what activity a man does to get that feeling.

calgreg avatar
Date Posted: 2/7/2011 6:20 PM ET
Member Since: 10/30/2010
Posts: 495
Back To Top

A man usually cuts the grass? I get a nice feeling of completion after I cut the grass and sweep up the blades from the driveway and walkway.

finnsmom avatar
Date Posted: 2/7/2011 6:27 PM ET
Member Since: 10/26/2009
Posts: 301
Back To Top

They are easy to read and have a simple, happy-ending storyline. I like to read to relax, and I do not like deep thinking, hard to follow books when I just read to loose myself. And many are good stories! Such, the series paperbacks are much more stereotypical and predictable, but many others have actual storylines and characters that just pull you in.

amandaksmith avatar
Date Posted: 2/7/2011 9:26 PM ET
Member Since: 8/12/2010
Posts: 335
Back To Top

I've given this a lot of thought because my husband asked me this recently, lol.

1) Emotional pay off. To see a couple fall in love, the uncertainty, the flirting, and then the culmination when they're completely happy and in love provides an enormous emotional pay off for me. Probably the same reason that when I do read nonfiction, I read intense political nonfiction - about emotional topics like the Rwandan genocide, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Western colonialism in Africa. I like feeling emotionally involved.

2) You get to live vicariously through people who often have better clothes, better jewelry, frequently servants, and sometimes exotic accents. So that makes it fun.

3) Practicality. I like other genres but since I had my daughter the majority of my reading has been romance novels because you can finish one in an hour. Most other kinds of books that I read (for me, I don't read churned out mysteries or horror the way some other people do so romance novels are my only "quick lit" type books) require a greater level of thought, attention, and consideration. I can read a romance novel while keeping an eye on a toddler. I cannot read Playing House by Wagman or Butterfly's Burden by Darwish while doing the same. Simply not doable for me.

Generic Profile avatar
Date Posted: 2/7/2011 9:38 PM ET
Member Since: 7/25/2008
Posts: 171
Back To Top

I also enjoy other genres - but sometimes when I want to escape my sometimes stress laden reality it's nice to crawl into a nice "fluffy" romance novel and enjoy the happy ending that you know is coming.  I even enjoy one after I mow the yard!



Last Edited on: 2/7/11 10:18 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
Generic Profile avatar
Date Posted: 2/7/2011 10:27 PM ET
Member Since: 3/29/2009
Posts: 196
Back To Top

Why are fairy tales so loved?

Same reason we love romance novels!

Jerseygirltoo avatar
Standard Member medalPBS Blog Contributor medalPrintable Postage medal
Subject: Escapism
Date Posted: 2/8/2011 9:04 AM ET
Member Since: 9/29/2008
Posts: 706
Back To Top

I don't watch sitcoms, reality shows or sports on TV so romance books are my form of escapism. I prefer historical romances because they are even further removed from my real world. Also, many romances are extremely well written. My other daily reading typically consists of articles about politics, world events, etc. but that's not the type of thing you want to relax with at the end of a long day. 

amandaksmith avatar
Date Posted: 2/8/2011 9:07 AM ET
Member Since: 8/12/2010
Posts: 335
Back To Top

Excellent point, KG! I do still read fairy tales sometimes and I never thought to put the appeal together.

Robin McKinley's main audience is adults as well which is pretty telling.

ohsonaughty avatar
Date Posted: 2/8/2011 9:36 AM ET
Member Since: 11/7/2010
Posts: 517
Back To Top

My mom LOVES romance books, especially historical romance.  She gets so into a book she's reading that you could call her name over and over, louder and louder and she wouldn't hear you!  lol!!   But me--I can't stand them.   I like books with some suspense to them, something that will make me jump or be scared.  I also like books about other people's odd and sometimes funny lives, like Augustene Burroughs. 

WingsPawsNMagick avatar
Standard Member medalMember of the Month medalFriend of PBS-Silver medal
Date Posted: 2/8/2011 10:20 AM ET
Member Since: 4/8/2007
Posts: 21,299
Back To Top

 

 

A man usually cuts the grass? I get a nice feeling of completion after I cut the grass and sweep up the blades from the driveway and walkway.

 

 

in my romance novel the man who cut the grass would be HOT..shirtless....and of course younger than me..
i would be watching him sweep up the blades from the driveway and walkway...as i hand him a cold lemonade he would sweep me off of my feet and BAM BAM BAM...we're in love ..
 
 
lol lol yescoolheartkiss


Last Edited on: 2/8/11 10:20 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
robdee avatar
Date Posted: 2/8/2011 10:23 AM ET
Member Since: 7/12/2010
Posts: 4,177
Back To Top

I don't read "Romance", but I don't mind a romantic sub-plot every once in awhile.

-RD

Oh, and why is this posted in the BB?



Last Edited on: 2/8/11 10:25 AM ET - Total times edited: 2
Generic Profile avatar
Date Posted: 2/8/2011 12:35 PM ET
Member Since: 6/19/2008
Posts: 5,773
Back To Top

You should ask this ? in the Love & Romance forum .

calgreg avatar
Date Posted: 2/8/2011 1:09 PM ET
Member Since: 10/30/2010
Posts: 495
Back To Top

My favorite book of all time is Lonesome Dove.

It's a wonderful soap opera of the old west. (and I don't really like soap operas as a rule)

 

Rob, what is the BB? 

Oh, I see!! Doh!  My bad.

 

greg

 

 



Last Edited on: 2/8/11 1:10 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
CozSnShine avatar
Member of the Month medalFriend of PBS-Double Diamond medalPBS Cruise Attendee medalPBS Blog Contributor medal
Date Posted: 2/8/2011 1:42 PM ET
Member Since: 2/5/2007
Posts: 30,834
Back To Top

The same reason I read any book.  To escape into a world I'll never live in.  To experience the romance that is unlike the ones in my life!  It is not the genre I read the most, but I do enjoy it now and then.