I try to be literary. Really, I do. That\u2019s what Smart People do.<\/p>\n
I read Racy Romance Reviews<\/a> and Read For Pleasure<\/a> and Teach Me Tonight<\/a> and I think, \u201cGee, these women are Smart.\u201d I am not that Smart. So I don\u2019t comment much.<\/p>\n I read the in-depth reviews at Dear Author<\/a> when they talk about worldbuilding and layering symbolism and use all sorts of literary techniques I learned but didn\u2019t absorb for whatever reason. I read Mrs. Giggles<\/a> reviews, wherein she\u2019s snarkalicious but not (IMO) unkind\u2014and I think, \u201cGee, these people are Smart.”<\/p>\n I read A Motley Vision<\/a> and occasionally, Segullah<\/a>. I read Theric<\/a> and Tyler<\/a> and Trevor<\/a>. I think, \u201cGee, these people are Smart.\u201d I am not that Smart. So I don\u2019t comment much, except at AMV, where I probably drive the regular inhabitants insane with my less-than-suave sensitivities. Every time I post there I think, \u201cThat was a stupid thing to say.\u201d But I let it lie because that\u2019s who I am, even if I don\u2019t like it sometimes.<\/p>\n And this is why I didn\u2019t study English lit. I can\u2019t analyze worth a damn and half the time, I don\u2019t even know what the existing analyses are saying. I suppose there\u2019s something to be said against a writer who doesn\u2019t think about Great Works beyond \u201cthumbs up\u201d and \u201cthumbs down,\u201d but really, I\u2019ve just come to the point where I have to admit that I like what I like and a good portion of it is crass and commercial.<\/p>\n Then again, sometimes the labels are deceiving. Perhaps I do like crass and commercial, but most times when I pick up a romance novel that intrigues me (mostly historicals), they\u2019re rich and complex, layered and moving so that I\u2019m still thinking about them long after. Sometimes they depend more heavily on characterization or on plot, leaning to one side or the other, but I really don\u2019t care. When they strike a balance\u2014well, that\u2019s a lagniappe.<\/p>\n All I want is a good book to curl up with and a story that sticks with me a while.<\/p>\n