For the Love of Reading; Ambivalentine’s Day.
Depending on your current circumstances you might love or hate Valentine’s Day. Or be totally ambivalent. Whatever.
Romantic fiction is perennially popular, as are instruction books about dating- Goodreads list 98 of the best dating books. 98! And that’s just the best ones, not the worst ones or the mediocre ones, of which there may be more. What is the success rate? Have you read one that you might recommend? Maybe you have even written one.
There are many different types of romantic tale - historical, modern, photo-story, and now Romantasy. Which genre is your favourite?
My favourite book with a romantic plot is The Hearts and Lives of Men, from 1987, by Fay Weldon. I find it so full of hope, and it is such a neatly constructed storyline. What’s your favourite?
Would you choose a romantic storyline deliberately, or do you just find that most books have a love interest in them somewhere anyway? It’s probably hard to find a book that doesn’t have any mention of love or romance in it anywhere. Perhaps all books could come under some kind of romantic category.
And what’s the most unromantic book you’ve ever read (fiction, I mean, I’m not counting The School Mathematics Project)?
This week, as we swoon into the arms of St Valentine, I’ll be skimming the surface of an in-depth look at romantic fiction.
In the meantime, here’s my biro drawing of a pink peony to get you in the mood for love.
Pink peony, in Bic biro.