I was never much of a reader when I was younger, and when raising my kids cross stitching was my primary hobby. No time for reading. About 10 years ago I realized I was skimming everything I was reading and not really reading. Decided to work those old gray cells and went to the library to find something that would catch my interest. From that point on I was hooked on romance. So I'm pretty much a newcomer compared to most of you. Oh, and my mom told me my grandmother (her mom) liked romance books, too. So it skipped a generation....
There was never a time I wasn't reading. My folks would get rather exasperated about it! When we'd visit my mom's Dad's family; my aunt (2 years older than me) had a complete run of Nancy Drew. I'd hole up in her bedroom & read ND for as long as they'd let me. Acc. to M&D; I should be out visiting. And yes, I should have been, but shoot, what they were doing was boring! The books were better. I really don't care for ND any more; haven't for years! But I still like an occasional Hardy Boys or Trixie Belden.
And I think I was always looking for books with that touch of romance in them; When Jim gave Trixie a bracelet..., when The Witch of Blackbird Pond had a happy ending; Wilderness Bride by Annabel Johnson set among the Mormons leaving Nauvoo & heading for Utah; happy ending there & I loved that book! Oh, Eloise Jarvis McGraw usually had a bit of romance in the ending, such as Mara, Daughter of the Nile Then there were the Laura Ingalls Wilder books; I used to reread the last few quite a bit...Yep, I was always reading romance!
And that's just when I was younger & borrowing (heavily) from the library. I discovered Woodiwiss shortly after starting college & then I really read all levels of romance! Then my collection got started!
I come from a family of readers. I was mostly into fantasy and science fiction and mysteries as a little girl. When I was in my very early teens I started reading books with elements of romance in them, and I found I enjoyed the characters growing up, physically, emotionally and mentally. I started ready full romance books when I was in my mid-teens. I think when I started dating I wanted to read more of it, I was always encouraged to read as many books as I could. I believe Amanda Quick was my first historical western book. My cousins saw it and tried to make a joke of it and my grandma said it was a decent book my mom disagreed, and from then on my grandma, mom, aunties would meet once a month and we had our own little book club. We have new family members now that are joining us, we no longer meet once a month but every two or three months we make time to meet up and discuss the latest trends and books we are reading or re-reading and we disagree and argue about the books, the trends the authors and some of the reviews.
I read that book when I was in elementary school. Over the summer before a new school year, we were given a list of books and had to read at least two of them. I always hated it because I never liked the choices. But The Witch of Blackbird Pond was actually the only book I liked reading. I always loved when we got the Scholastic flyer and got to pick books to buy. I did read a Babysitter's Club book when I was like 13. When I was 16, I was visiting my older cousin and she was cleaning up her bookshelves. She gave me her Sweet Valley High books. I can't remember if they were really romances but more everyday teenager stuff. Anyway I also got a Jude Deveraux book, Eternity, and a few harlequins by Lynne Graham and Jacqueline Baird. Although I liked reading all those books, it wasn't until I read Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas at age 21 that I really got into reading romances. And I haven't looked back since.
I have been reading books since I was about 5 (Mom was trying to teach my older sister, who unbeknownst to us desperately needed glasses) and I didn't stop. Trixie Belden was quickly my series of choice. First romance I can remember was the Silver Oar when I was about 11 (it was hidden under the kitchen sink so I knew it had to be good). Next up was Desiree and I was hooked. There were more books hidden under the sink but those are the two where I still have the hardcovers.
Last Edit: Dec 27, 2019 18:47:56 GMT -7 by JaniceC
Be careful what you wish for, it might just come true.
Post by Banana Boat on Dec 27, 2019 19:17:23 GMT -7
It seems like I've been reading forever. I think my first romance book was Gone with the Wind at about age 13. That got me started and I've never looked back. Lucky for me both of my parents were readers so books were always big in my family.
Under the kitchen sink...well, that's a new one on me! tops of closets, etc, yeah, that's normal, but never under the sink! Amazing where people put things!
Yes, those dreaded lists of titles we "should" read. We never had to read over summer vacation, but I always did. One summer, I reread & reread & reread The Wizard of Oz. I felt that Witch of Blackbird Pond really deserved winning that Newberry Award & it held up well over the decades! Quite a few of the winners didn't.
Under the kitchen sink...well, that's a new one on me! tops of closets, etc, yeah, that's normal, but never under the sink! Amazing where people put things!
well it was a farmhouse in the early 60's and we didn't have running water (or electricity) so the cavity was used for storage. What got my attention was that they were separated from the rest of the books in the house.
Be careful what you wish for, it might just come true.
Under the kitchen sink...well, that's a new one on me! tops of closets, etc, yeah, that's normal, but never under the sink! Amazing where people put things!
well it was a farmhouse in the early 60's and we didn't have running water (or electricity) so the cavity was used for storage. What got my attention was that they were separated from the rest of the books in the house.
Under the kitchen sink isn't a place I would ever have looked. Good spot! Definitely would have sparked my interested if they were stored away from all the other books! By the time I started reading romance books my 2 oldest kids were already on their own and my DD was 16 y/o. She's been a avid reader since she was young and by the time I was into romances she was already reading Y/A books. So, I never had a need to tuck my physical books away.
So, I never had a need to tuck my physical books away.
By the time I started reading ones with covers needing brown paper wrappers, I was living by myself & always have. A friend (sweet, but a ditz!) suggested one time; her daughter likes to read, maybe I could loan her some of mine? The daughter was in her young teens at the time! I reminded her; what I read isn't for that age! (not to mention the fact; daughter doesn't take care of her own stuff, let alone other folks stuff--no way she was getting her hands on my books!)
And every time I've moved, the fam has let me pack & unpack my books...
I've read since I was 10 or so. I have dyslexia, so when I was younger it was hard for me to read and it took a while for me to get into it.
When I was a teenager I was obsessed with sex, as one naturally is. I knew historical romance novels had some saucy parts, so I started buying them occasionally. I remember I used to mostly skim to the good bits, because a lot of them where really boring and foreseeable, but a few where good and those I read through. I kind got hooked more on the romance part of things after a while and started reading the cheeper monthly Historicals, which just had the romance parts, though they where also pretty sappy and not very good, in retrospect.
Then the internet came around and I got into fanfiction, yaoi and slash and abandoned the books, because I could get enough awesome content for free. But later I found out M/M romance also does exist and so I got back into the genre, just on the other side of the scale. ^^
I've always been a reader. 'Library day' was my favorite in school. No one else in my family was interested in reading so I tended to make friends with other kids who read. One of my friends, Barb, had a mother who read romances. We started reading some harlequins and historicals when I was 14 - 15. They were OK and I enjoyed them but more often than not they didn't have plots that interested me. I wanted something with more imagination. I started reading PNR (Lords of the Underworld, YUM) until I got my first laptop and discovered e-books. There were so many indy publishers then. I discovered more paranormal and sci-fi smut. I was hooked. I didn't take me long to buy a kindle. The rest is history.
It seems so long ago that my friends and I were sending boxes of paperbacks to each other. Really wasn't though. We were still sending book 7-8 years ago.
It seems so long ago that my friends and I were sending boxes of paperbacks to each other. Really wasn't though. We were still sending book 7-8 years ago.
I remember getting those LOTU books, and then sending them back to you!!
It seems so long ago that my friends and I were sending boxes of paperbacks to each other. Really wasn't though. We were still sending book 7-8 years ago.
I remember getting those LOTU books, and then sending them back to you!!
~Linda~
Maddox, Lucien, Reyes, Paris, Torin, Sabin....swoon.....I feel a re-read / listen coming on.