"Romance" Novels

  • Thread starter Thread starter tundramom
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
sheilathebard said:
What I did first, to be safe (reading smut is a hard habit to break, and it was almost impossible for me to put a book down when I found a bad scene) is to go to a library or bookstore and stick to the “young adult” and “classics” sections – you will hardly find anything objectionable in them.
Click to expand...
These days it doesn’t work that way, sadly. At my library, anyway. The YA section rivals the Romance section when it comes to trash…
 
If you haven’t already read Victoria Holt, read her novels. Stick with Victoria Holt–she wrote under two under pen names that I’m aware of, but I don’t care for those novels. Perhaps if I knew more about British history, I would like them better.

Holt’s novels are romantic, but they have excellent mystery plots that always surprise me. She is one of the few writers that I read the same novels over and over because they’re so entertaining and good.

NO sexy parts. Kiss, yet, but just kiss. NO SEX! Just darn good stories.
 
BrokenFortress said:
Okay, here some more ideas, perhaps you’ve read most or all of these, but just some ideas…

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
Uncle Tom’s Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Charlotte’s Web - EB White
Watership Down - Richard Adams (a book about rabbits, the rabbits are the characters, my all time favorite book)
Click to expand...
:clapping: ^Add to this list^ Jane Austen novels, OP, and you got it!!
 
tundramom said:
Hi my friends,
I need some help here. I am an avid reader. It is my one activity that gives me the most pleasure. I read extremely quick. I have fallen into reading grocery store novels, mostly historical romance novels.

My husband has asked me not to read these any longer. He believes that it is sinning and I tend to agree with him. Reading about other’s romantic liasons can’t be good for nourishing my soul.

I can read through one of these in a day’s time. It is my means of escape and entertainment.

I need some suggestions for other books that I could read instead. I’ve read many of the classics and a lot of theology books, etc. I just seem to consume them so fast…

Please offer suggestions!! Maybe series that isn’t romance. I don’t really care about murder/mystery books, but I do like fantasy books. I tried Janet Evanovich, but there seems to be so much swearing in them. I know… romance is ok, but swearing isn’t? Go figure…🤷

Steph
Click to expand...
I haven’t finished reading the other replies as of yet, but wanted to suggest a VERY good series called the Dragonlance series by Margret Weis and Tracey Hickman. It should keep you reading for some time to come and the series goes on over MANY MANY books.
 
I like Jodi Picoult and Debbie MacComber. Both are current authors and their style is easy to read. They write good characters, with real lives and real problems. I can read a book by either of them in a day or two. Just good entertainment reading, minus the trashy parts (which is not to say that either of them never have sexual content, but you know what I mean);
 
For a really quick read, I like to try some of the Young Adult stuff. If you like fantasy, there are the Wrinkle in Time books, Anything by Ursula LeGuin, and the Dark is Rising series, which are all very enjoyable. I also really enjoy Alexander McCall Smith for books that are intelligent but not difficult, especially the Scotland Street books, and the Brother Cadfael series is good, although they are mysteries. The RAMA series by Arthur C. Clarke is very interesting, as are C.S. Lewis’ science fiction writings.
 
The Path to Rome by Hilaire Belloc is a fun read that not many have come across. Also, C.G. Chesterton’s The Napoleon of Notting Hill and the Father Brown Stories.

You could also try the intellectual Catholic book list postings:
frcoulter.com/books/booklist.html
 
Cat said:
If you haven’t already read Victoria Holt, read her novels. Stick with Victoria Holt–she wrote under two under pen names that I’m aware of, but I don’t care for those novels. Perhaps if I knew more about British history, I would like them better.

Holt’s novels are romantic, but they have excellent mystery plots that always surprise me. She is one of the few writers that I read the same novels over and over because they’re so entertaining and good.

NO sexy parts. Kiss, yet, but just kiss. NO SEX! Just darn good stories.
Click to expand...
Thank you for reminding me! I could not remember this author’s name at all. Next time I buy paperbacks, I’ll look for her!
 
Mrs_Sally said:
No it’s not weird. The books I think OP were talking about are what one friend’s mom calls “nightgown novels”–menaing the heroine is usually wearing a nightgown like garmet and the hero is barechested on the front cover. My husband has also said he prefers me not to read them and I agree. I think it is exactly like the Sports illustrated Swimsuit edition! :rolleyes:

!
Click to expand...
I’ve heard them referred to as “Bodice rippers” because the heroine always has a bodice that seems to be torn…and the hero always looks like Fabio or Ridge from “Bold and the Beautiful” 😃
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
Thank you for reminding me! I could not remember this author’s name at all. Next time I buy paperbacks, I’ll look for her!
Click to expand...
You’ll probably have to go to the used book store. Since Ms. Holt died, I haven’t seen too many of her books in new stores. But maybe they are there and I just haven’t been looking, since I own all of her novels under her pen name Victoria Holt.

I hesitate to suggest this, but I’ll go ahead and let you decide. Our library does a thing where they print handouts that say, “If you like Author So and So, you’ll also like books by these authors…” And then they list several authors that write the same genre in a similiar style.

That’s how I discovered Anne Rivers Siddons. She was listed under “If you like Victoria Holt, you’ll like Anne Rivers Siddons.”

Now the difference is, Siddons writes MODERN fiction. And of course, that means tawdry affairs, out-of-wedlock sex, rebellious teenagers, impotent husbands, and drab lives. All the stuff of our time.

However, Ms. Siddons does something magical with her books. Her plots are very simple–you’ve probably experienced more “plot” in your own life!

But her settings–so beautiful, so real. Most of her novels are set in the South–that’s how I selected my first Siddons novel, Outer Banks, because I lived in North Carolina for ten years and knew the Outer Banks. The novel has one of her better plots (a mystery), but the setting–I was there again, driving along the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Her characters are strong, her dialogue is believable, and with just one exception (Hill Towns–yech, stay away from this novel–very depressing ending), the endings are glorious and satisfying. You will feel like your mind just enjoyed a really good workout at the Literary Gym.

When you read Anne Rivers Siddons, you never feel like you are wasting your time. She feeds the mind and the soul with her style and the words that she strings together like a Rosary. Beautiful books.

But, like I said, they aren’t “Christian.” If you can’t handle the straying wife or the run-away teen or the lesbian couple down the road, then don’t read Siddons.

My daughter, who is 26, discovered Siddons in high school (at my recommendation). She is even more fanatically devoted to this author than I am–she buys the books in hardcover the day they come out and devours them in a few hours.

My favorite Siddons novel is Low Country. But I like all of them, except Hill Towns. And if you’ve been in Europe (where it’s set), you might like Hill Towns.
 
newf said:
Exactly. I wonder if her husband read her books and then decided they were ‘taboo’. The OP didn’t say… In any event, it’s weird for a husband to say ‘I don’t want you reading these books’… my husband would not do this. And I wouldn’t do it to him, either… unless of course, it was the Sports Illustrated Feb. issue, which I never even like in my house … and it goes directly into the trash… but he knows what I’m doing and he’s okay with that…
Click to expand...
Great…but that’s your husband and has nothing to do with the OP. Come on yall she’s trying to honor her husband’s wishes! Plus she admits that she agrees with him. There’s no problem, why try to create one?

Anyhow, I agree with the Jane Austen suggestions. They are historical and romances, so might be something of a compromise. 🙂
 
My wife enjoys romance novels as well, and we have discussed whether they are “appropriate” to read and discussed this at a church gathering with a priest (a Pre-Cana preparation meeting). The consensus was that the good/bad lies in the intent and mindset.

If you are reading the stories and fantasizing about another man, that’s trouble. However, if you are simply reading a story and not getting wrapped up in it, it’s not a big deal. You always have to be cognizant, however, that you are consistently putting yourself into a position where you could slip.

Personally, I stick to non-fiction! 🙂
 
Harry Potter books are fun,
Also on the popular media forum there is a thread called “what are you reading” or something like that and skimming through that has given me good ideas.
Let us know what you found!!!
 
If you like historical fiction, you might try Willa Cather’s O Pioneers. If you like British history, you might try some of Georgette Hyer’s Regency Romances. (There isn’t anything racey in them.) There used be companies who published 200 page regency romances that were not racey, but I don’t think they are published anymore. You would have to check out some used book stores.
 
flyingfish said:
What if her husband asked her not to step on cracks between tiles, or to always eat with a spoon instead of a fork, or to never paint or play music, to never go swimming or running?

If the books she is reading are not pornographic, and are her favorite books, in my opinion it’s pretty ridiculous of him to ask her not to read them. It would be like her asking him to never play or watch his favorite sport on TV, or to never engage in a favorite hobby.

There are reasonable requests (like please don’t read erotica), and ridiculous requests (like stop reading your favorite books even when there is nothing morally wrong with them). And it’s disrespectful and uncharitable of him to make such requests.
Click to expand...
Um, did you read my post before you made this comment? Apparently not. The request her husband made is harmless. He sees a problem, or a potential problem, the OP somewhat agrees so out of respect for her husband, she should read something else. As I said in my first post that you apparently didn’t read, he isn’t being controlling or asking for something ridiculous, he is simply making a request. It would be the same as her asking him to take out the trash. It isn’t a big deal and respect is huge in a marriage. If something as simple as this needs to be challenged then there are much bigger problems.
 
RebeccaJ said:
SF/fantasy series that I enjoyed:

Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony
Rama series by Arthur C. Clarke
Ender Wiggin series and Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card
Click to expand...
I second the Ender Wiggin series by Orson Scott Card! I haven’t been able to read all of them :(, but the 7 or so that I have, I pretty much couldn’t put them down!

Also, Robert Heinlein is a pretty good read, too… Stranger in a Strange Land has a few… smutty moments, but one could skip over those and not take away anything from the story line.
 
Do you all think reading “trashy” novels is wrong if they actually *add *to the intimacy you share with your spouse? I have found that I have a hard time getting “turned on” of my own accord, but reading romance books help put me in the mood…is that necessarily wrong? I’m curious to know what others think… (and by trashy I don’t mean pornographic; but probably what would be considered “soft” porn by some…)
 
noclevername said:
Um, did you read my post before you made this comment? Apparently not. The request her husband made is harmless. He sees a problem, or a potential problem, the OP somewhat agrees so out of respect for her husband, she should read something else. As I said in my first post that you apparently didn’t read, he isn’t being controlling or asking for something ridiculous, he is simply making a request. It would be the same as her asking him to take out the trash. It isn’t a big deal and respect is huge in a marriage. If something as simple as this needs to be challenged then there are much bigger problems.
Click to expand...
Well this doesn’t apply to the OP’s situation anymore, since she admitted that her husband didn’t want her to be reading pornographic scenes.

But if he asked her not to read something like Pride and Prejudice (very clean), then it would be akin to her asking him to give up his favorite sport or something along those lines. That would be controlling and ridiculous.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top