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Bodice Rippers, chick books, mommy porn… romance books have been referred to in many disparaging terms over the years. Luckily, I’ve never held that bias against this genre. As long as I’ve been reading, I remember being drawn to romance books. In middle school, one of my favorite series to read was called Couples by M.E. Cooper and Linda A. Cooney. In high school, I graduated to anything written by Danielle Steel. Post college, as we began our family, I needed time to relax after work and found myself drawn to The Mitford Series by Jan Karon. Not a traditional romance, but one that has romance at the core.

Over the years my reading life has varied. At times I read more for my students than I do for myself. Three years ago, I found that I was drawn to the world of romance once again. When I began reading these books and recommending them to others, there were two general responses. One, people would ask why I was reading this genre when there were so many better books out there. Or two, friends would quietly message me, confiding they were romance readers as well, and wondered if I had any recommendations.

Today, as we celebrate Bookstore Romance Day, I thought I’d share my top ten reasons to read this genre. If you want any recommendations, head on over to my blog (linked at the bottom of this post) and I have another top ten list for you, my top ten must reads in this genre. Or, stop by Hartfield Book Co. where they'll have my recommendations on display, or Nicole can point you in the direction of another great book. Because romance books or not, we’re not here to judge what you read, just to celebrate that you do.

Last week I confessed to being a mystery junkie and, while I am continuing to make a conscious effort to read more broadly, I am physically incapable of avoiding a new Jane Harper novel. Anyone who's come into the bookstore and asked for a mystery recommendation has probably heard me talk about The Dry. It is absolutely one of my favorite books of the last few years, and last year's follow-up, Force of Nature (recently released in paperback), was excellent, too.

Sometimes I think I do a pretty good job choosing books by a diverse range of authors and from a variety of genres, but at the end of the year when I flip back through my planner (my current method for tracking my reading), I usually get a cold, hard reality check. It's apparently all too easy for me to slip right into a reading rut. My personal go-tos tend to be literary fiction and mystery/suspense. Don't get me wrong, there can absolutely be diversity within each of those categories, but honestly, I've noticed that unchecked, I tend to gravitate toward very similar types of stories.

I think I've always been a seasonal reader. As the weather changes, I find myself drawn to specific types of books. I tend to go darker and more complex in the winter months. Faced with evenings and weekends spent inside, cuddled under a blanket on the couch, I'm more apt to dig into a meaty biography or memoir, explore a complicated topic like war, or accompany characters into a richly drawn story that isn't necessarily heading for a happy ending. An introvert to the core, I am perfectly content to spend day after day tucked cozily inside.