Is it so bad to like romance novels?

How bad can it be if it introduced me to reading in the first place? I didn't read Kafka as a kid or imbibe a hundred books a year since the middle school (although I wish I did start my book journey earlier) because I'm not the kind of reader who runs through one book after the other--though my best friend from high school can, and it bugs the hell out of me. If a sentence pops out to me, I'll think about it for a while and analyze its importance. Sometimes a scene is just so good that I'll put it down and just think about it. Bask in its dreaminess. Or in the case of Rosie Dunne , throw the book against a wall and just pace back and forth in the shoe box that is my dorm room, because gosh darn it, those two kids never was able to get the timing right.

But what they don't tell you though that making your hobby a career means your hobby is no longer is a place of escape. Being a literature major means reading four or five books at a time and reading each four to five books four to five times to the point where if you look at any other book, you might just end up wringing your brain to cytoplasmic pulp. So you do what most tired out working Americans do: go and binge-watch your favorite shows for a fourth time on Netflix. The problem with watching Gilmore Girls, aside from having to grieve over the fact that you only have one season to watch Jess and Rory be cute together before they break up and never end up together ever again, is that my childhood role model who taught me that I'm not crazy for being the wallflower who reads in the school library during her lunch hour is off reading every second she has a free moment while I am here wasting my time on Netflix.

In short, every reader has those phases where they realize they aren't reading as much as they used to or they've lost that old passion and enthusiasm they once had for smelling pages and spending their whole afternoons in a library. While it seems like a trivial phase, it's upsetting to those who live off of literature like Lorelei lives off of coffee (another thing the Gilmore Girls taught me: never let anyone shame you or your insane addiction to coffee.)

Anyway, I had to get through mine, so I spent a day in the library just picking up books without giving them thought. I picked them up, read the plot summary, listened to my gut, sat down, and read. No pulling up Goodreads, dissecting the reviews and ratings.  None of that mess. While it hurt that I was well huddled in my comfort zone, I humored myself and just let myself read the things that I enjoyed in the first place: romance. 

People complain when authors put unnecessary romance in books, and while I just smile and nod, I live for romantic arcs. It may have something to do with the fact that I've never had a boyfriend, so I just live vicariously through characters falling in love with tall, handsome men who are charmingly witty and have a heart of gold under that cold exterior (My Jess obsession is revealing itself. No, I'm not embarrassed. Although maybe I shouldn't drool.) 

I wouldn't be writing this article if my method didn't help, so go figure, it helped! I stopped shaming myself about the things I read, and just read. All books were meant to be read so might as well read the ones that come into your hands, well-rated or not. It helps though that there are so many great authors that write romance novels so well that it doesn't feel like my principles are being compromised (like the romance genre doesn't mean I'll read anything i.e the Fifty Shades series). 

The romance genre can sometimes be a little too much handle as it's a genre that often enables its audience, but well-written ones can be such a treat. I owe a lot to the genre as it helped me find the way to one of my biggest passions, reading and writing, and an encouraged me to keep at it.