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Week 2: A romance
January 8-14, 2015


It's week two of our reading challenge, and it's time to get all cuddly with a nice romance novel. You can go classics or you can go contemporary, just go for the love! ^_^

*Originally this week was classic romance. Now it is just romance.*

How to Create a Topic:
1. Choose your book and create a topic in the appropriate folder using your book's author and title.

2. In the body of your post, comment about why you chose this book. Have you read it before? What are your expectations?

3. Feel free to use the thread as a way to update the group on your progress. Also, when you are finished reading, add a small review and your thoughts about the week's challenge.

4. Comment on everyone else's posts as well! Participation and group involvement will make this challenge so much fun!

**If you chose the same book as another group member, do not create a duplicate thread.**



Week 2 Recommendations:
Young Adult Romance Novels
Best Love Stories
2014 Romantic Novels
Best Gay Romance
Historical Romance Novels

Is The Great Gatsby considered to be a romance novel?

No, not really. I mean you can argue it, but it's "technical" classification is just novel/literature.

How about The Fault in Our Stars? I realize it's not a classic, but since the category has been expanded to include all romance would this qualify?

I know I'm not an admin but I can't help giving my opinion xD. I would say overwhelmingly YES to TFIOS. I've never read it but I would say it is pretty clearly a romance

Good! I wasn't totally sure. I have not read it, but it seems to be pretty clearly a love story. I guess I wasn't sure if we were talking Harlequin romance type o' stories or if sappy, saccharin love stories were okay also.

I would have to say The Great Gatsby, in my opinion, is a tricky grey area. It isn't solely a romantic novel, it deals with some bigger themes, but I think love plays into the bigger picture. There is the question of Gatsby's romantic feelings for Daisy. Does he genuinely love her or is she more of a prize to him? Is he just enamored with the idea of love? (I hope that's not real spoilerish since the Gatsby/Daisy relationship is mentioned in the plot summary.)

Anyway, PopSugar included it in their list of . I'd count it. If you'd rather not, you can always use it for your "a book you can finish in a day" requirement. It's a short read.

I would count Gatsby as a romance. It would be interesting to discuss afterwards. I think you summed it up nicely though!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to read "Lola and the Boy Next Door" by Stephanie Perkins. That definitely counts :)

Would Great Expectations count as a Romance?

I've decided to go with Pride and Prejudice because I'm going with the 'classic romance' target and I don't think it gets much more classic romance than Pride and Prejudice, hehe.

Well, just finished week 1 book...and still have decided what I want to go with here...I have some strictly romance, I have some books that are a mix of mystery and romance.
Too many decisions. I may just sleep on it. :-)

I want to do the classic romance, can anybody tell me if this one is considered a classical romance??

There is romance in Little Women but I wouldn't strictly call it a romance novel. Still, in my opinion, the challenge is more about challenging yourself than sticking to super strict rules. In the beginning I was really concerned with adhering to the rules in the strictest of contexts but I think that kind of sucks the fun out the challenge and undermines the point of it (to challenge yourself). I can't speak for the mods, but I'd say just try to follow the rules as best you can, have fun, and challenge yourself. :)

I couldn't comment on Great Expectations, Caleb. I've yet to read it. But I'd still say the above applies. :)

Michelle pretty much took the words out of my mouth!

I am a sucker for rules though ;) somehow if I am getting into something that has any frames, rules, indicators I am strictly sticking to it :) in my nature :D that's why the questions :D thanks for the answer though :)

That is fine too, Emilia. If that is how you enjoy the challenge, can't fault you for that, right? In that case, personally, I wouldn't call Little Women a romance.

I agree with Michelle because if each book with a love story is a romance, it means I read only romances. No way! :p
But if you really want to read the book and if it's all the romance you can deal with, it's ok :)

Hmmm...so I finished my 500+ page book the other day...and I just read a book I had on my Kindle. And I could probably get another book in before Thursday when the romance week technically starts. I'm unsure whether or not to start the romance I was planning to read now, or wait until Thursday. Romances' are so easy for me to read that I fear I'll end up far ahead in the challenge. Jessica, I know you are already ahead...does it make it difficult to follow what's going on? I get so many notices of new comments, and hate seeing that "unread" category. LOL! But then I'm on here a ton trying to clear them out. (Why can't there be a "mark all as read" button?) I'm rambling...but I do that when I'm nervous/confused/unsure...

I just read Pride and Prejudice a few weeks ago before joining this challenge, so I'll have to think of something else. Maybe the easiest option would be to go with another Jane Austen.

Britteny, there a "mark as read" link when you are on computer ;) For a more easier following, at the bottom of each thread you have the notification settings, so you can follow with notif only the important threads (for you) and go with the unread when you want to discover new things ;)

If you think you'll read too fast your romance, maybe you can start another book from the list? Like a big one or one where we have not a lot of discussions (initials for example).

Do you think "Looking For Alaska" by John Green is considered romance? According to amazon books it is :D I'm not so sure...

Margeri wrote: "Do you think "Looking For Alaska" by John Green is considered romance? According to amazon books it is :D I'm not so sure..."

If you are refering to the book written by John Green the character is called Alaska Young and the brief synopsis seems to qualify it as a love story.

Britteny wrote: "Jessica, I know you are already ahead...does it make it difficult to follow what's going on? I get so many notices of new comments, and hate seeing that "unread" category. LOL! .."

Oh, it's absolutely overwhelming. I'm a 21 year old senior at university juggling work, a boyfriend, and a hedgehog. Ha! I love the group here, though. I usually try to stay on generic threads (not book related ones) and let other members deal with those. I'm thankful for Michelle and Zaz, though.

Zaz wrote: "Britteny, there a "mark as read" link when you are on computer ;) For a more easier following, at the bottom of each thread you have the notification settings, so you can follow with notif only the..."

Except that I really want to stick to the list--go in order and I can't read two books at once. I ended up reading a "side read" in between and starting my romance today. Only read a little but am putting it away for the night. :-)
I also can't find an author with my initials. :-(
P.S. where is the dang "mark as read" button...cuz I was on my computer the other day and was looking! :-( UPDATE: I found it. Dumb thing wasn't where I thought it should be (at the top).

I'm officially abandoning week 2, I still have 200 pages to read from my 800 pages week 1 book (Luminaries). I'm not that into Romance anyway...

Sophie wrote: "I'm officially abandoning week 2, I still have 200 pages to read from my 800 pages week 1 book (Luminaries). I'm not that into Romance anyway..."

I don't blame you. :P

I think I'll do that too not because of the romance topic but because it's a little bit of a boring book ( Delirium) can't say that I haven't tried though :(

This 2nd weeks genre seems difficult, if you stay strict romance novels and don't include books that are shelved higher with another genre. All young-adult novels include somekind romance, but it is not main topic in those. If you accept loose rules, I thin 90 % of books I have read has some kind romance(love, sex) aspects.

I'm not a Mod or anything, but I don't take this to mean a strict Romance novel. I don't tend to seek out Romance as a genre, but I figure that any book where the romance between two characters is integral to the plot would fit. I'm personally going with The Virgin's Lover, which is a Historical Fiction novel about Queen Elizabeth I, but her romance with Robert Dudley seems like it will be pretty integral to the plot. If I had to classify it, I would go with Historical Fiction before I would go with Romance, but that doesn't mean it isn't also a Romance book.

Does this make any sense?

At least The Virgin's Lover has romance in 3rd place, so it definitely has some romance in it. Usually I avoid books written by females, because they seem to place romance first and realism in last. On the other hand old James Bond movies were like that. "Yes Moneypenny, we have time to have some fun. Bomb isn't exploding in 15 minutes."

So I'm trying to find a romance book that is realistic and romance isn't added in to lure female readers in to an another genre. Young-adult dystopias and Glitter-vampires seem little bit forced. Some of those are good books and I also enjoy them, but not for their romantic side.

Historical Fiction might be good choice for me too.

Haha, it's funny because I think most of the realistic characters (the ones with real feelings) are written by women :D For me, romance is definitively the worst part in most of the books, and I read really poor or shameful ones, (no) thanks to men :p
Luckily there are good chara writers on both genders :)

Why did I choose a classic romance? I'm dying reading it. I've to read a zombie book to wash my eyes!

The romance aspect is my least favorite part also, Zaz. Rarely do I find the romance part to be well written. There are always exceptions, of course. Plus, I don't know, a lot of the time it feels like male characters are handicapped by things like loyalty, honor, their personal ethics, etc. and female characters are only handicapped by their hormones and their love interests. And this is so disheartening. I can't tell you how many times I've been lulled into a false sense of security reading a female character that seems independent and strong only to have a male enter the picture and to have her softened for it. *sigh*

ok so Wuthering Heights it is :)

Fielding's Bridget Jones, Nabokov's Lolita which have categorized under romance genre. Kinsella's Shopaholic was also suggested. Two of those fit also under female author. It is good to think which would fit under other weeks.

I am not reading books in order for this challenge. I'm still looking for a classic romance title. I'm not interested in revisiting Jane Austen or the Brontes. All those people do is sit in parlors or attend a ball. Boring. And if your friend says you are engaged to that certain gentleman over there, poof! all the neighbors think you are too. Ugh.

That's a good summary :D
You can choose a modern romance, you'll find something with more drama and action and no "my father said no to the poor man, so I'll be single for the rest of my life, doing nothing all the day because I'm a woman (x300 pages)".

Have you ever tried Georgette Heyer?

Could I choose to read a romance manga which is like a comic book ?!

Can I ask another silly question
what do yiu mean by my expectation ? I am not sure can you give my example

Yes, you can read manga or comic books for some weeks, but try to read almost "classic" books for the challenge ;)
Expectations are what you think you'll find in the book after reading the summary or look at the genre, the cover, the title, etc. Sometimes the story is surprising because you expected something else, other times, it's exactly what you thought.

Zaz wrote: "Yes, you can read manga or comic books for some weeks, but try to read almost "classic" books for the challenge ;)
Expectations are what you think you'll find in the book after reading the summary ..."

Thanks alot
I am not sure if there's a classic manga :) so I will not consider it under this week challenge

I chose Persuasion by Jane Austin for this week (though I am not reading the challange in order yet since some of my reading material was in progress when I discovered the challenge).