Borrowed Book Challenge

Welcome to my first personal blog!

I was a little shy about using my name, but have been told twice in the past to use it in some public fashion. So here goes. Me, out there. Yes, it's sparse, for now. I like the free form of this and will be experimenting in the months ahead. Maybe I should say enjoy the peace and quiet for the time being...

I just joined latoyaliterally.blogspot.com's Borrowed Book Challenge. Gotta keep our libraries open!! With a  new challenge every month, February's challenge is to borrow a romance novel. Simple enough, but it's actually a real challenge for me. See, I rarely read romance novels. Not too long ago, I created a lifelong reading list on http://www.goodreads.com/miss5elements of over 800 books and add to it monthly. Thinking finding a few to read from there would be easy, I was shocked to find only one!

Maybe it's because I have a degree in English and am now a romance book snob. Maybe my definition of a romance novel has changed. Covers with Fabio-like men rescuing damsels no longer make the cut and are instantly demoted to the fairy tale section in my brain. My idea of a romance novel is Frankenstein. Romance is more about communing with nature. Have we distorted the idea of communing with something to only mean sex plus butterflies in the stomach? Many (many) years have passed since college graduation. Maybe it's high time I upgrade my definition of romance, or at least research it.

Well now, would you look at that? I just found another topic to blog about! The true definition of romance literature. Until then, I have Confessions of a Shopaholic on hold at the library. Hey, no one said research couldn't be funny. Besides, in my zeal to read more - I'm holding myself to read 48 books this year - I joined an online book club. I missed January's selection, but have jumped into February's: Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 and it's a doozy!