What I've Been Reading - The Old Book Pile

I'm back into the old book pile and I'm still super surprised at how little I remember some of these books I've been rereading. I'm almost wondering if I read them at all. Which is strange because I'm usually pretty good on read-recall. I'm not going to name names, though. Mostly because the books in question of the last couple of weeks have been both out-of-print and (embarrassingly) god-awful romance novels that I've been hanging on to for I can't remember how long.

For some of these books, I don't even know why I've been holding on to them. Even though I love a well written book, several of these are not. And like an earlier complaint of mine the relationships kind of suck. I don't see the attraction between our protagonists at all and/or some of these people are just plain ridiculous.

It doesn't help that some of the plot lines seem to go along the lines of this:

Actually, that may have been why I saved them all these years. It would have been lovely, right? ;) I've had most of these for about that long. I'm still weeding through them, mostly because I figure I need to decide if I'll ever read this popcorn again. Especially since I have books that I've read both more recently and had for a really long time that inspire me to feel like this:

I suppose I just can't figure out why I can't remember these books as well as some others. (Including that high fantasy book I disliked in high school that got me banned from a friend's house because I gave it to him and warned him that there were some parts his parents wouldn't like and I wasn't particularly interested in having just lying around my house -- not that I recommended the book at all, just that if he wanted it, it was all his. I'm just glad my sisters and brother never read it -- there's just something about a woman getting flayed alive, leaving nothing but her face recognizable and vividly described that just struck me as something I didn't want my sibs to get their hands on.....)

Maybe it's because they're fast reading? I don't know. I'd get rid of the lot, except that I know there must be some reason I've been hanging on to some of them forever.

I dunno. Does anyone else have the same issue?

What I'm Reading - Bad Bad Romance

So, yeah, I've been working through a whole bunch of old books hoping to figure out what to keep and what to throw and I've realised that the 80s and 90s were pretty terrible for romance.

Just how awful do you ask?

Well, I'm starting to take notes on just how often in these books the following occurs:

1) How often does the hero "take charge" and "show her who's the boss" by randomly kissing her, despite the fact that they're supposed to be discussing business, whether as adversaries or as boss/employee?

1.1) How often do the hero and heroine have an unequal and therefore unhealthy dynamic between them? (I consider this a subheading because of this often being a boss/employee relationship. This is not to say that this can't work out, but when someone uses their position of power to force or coerce an awkward relationship of some kind to happen, this definitely is a doesn't work in my book.)

2) How often does the heroine "melt" or "swoon" for no apparent reason, other than his manliness? (and this doesn't necessarily include strictly bodice rippers, either.)

3) Is this about a big city ___ and a country ___?

4) How many times is __ iterated as being a "man's" or a "woman's" job?

4.1) How many times is a man called misogynist or a woman a feminist? Does one of these two not actually fit the definition, leaving you to wonder if the writer knows themselves what the word means (usually the woman)?

5) How often is lust turned into "love" by the end of the book (inexplicably)?

Oh, I'm still working up my metrics, but holy heck, I'd forgotten just how bad some of these are. And you might ask how I'd gotten so many bad romances if I'm tearing them apart now. Well, many I inherited over the years from other people, left at my house, borrowed, a few bought for a quarter at garage sales. Some bought at the used bookstore while I was still forming my understanding of male-female relationships. Some, I apparently read without getting the "romantic" element. I was HUGELY surprised recently by a reread book that I remembered some big plot points -- there was an immortal rape-y/incest-y father-cult-leader guy, reincarnation, this scarf that was supposed to bind people together -- but apparently entirely missed or forgot just how completely.... anti- each other the protagonists were. To the point that I don't understand AT ALL how the two of them ended up "falling in love." Seriously. They're not nice to each other. She suspects him of being this other person. (Someone who, by the way, neither takes no for an answer nor understands the meaning of "bad touch.") Meanwhile, he's angry at the world for an accident that had left him unable to do many of the things he used to enjoy -- like non-pity sex and sailing. And oh yeah, not constantly bleeding from a psychic curse.

I have --seriously, now -- read better fanfic. I do not remember AT ALL why I liked this book.

At this point I'm not sure what I'll do with the books when I'm done, but probably get rid of them unless they give me a huge laugh. If anyone is interested... just let me know....