To Be Read

I work at a small new & used bookstore. Last Saturday, in preparation for putting in new shelving, my boss was weeding one section and I was helping. As she went through, she got rid of nearly a hundred books that were not selling. I was the lucky recipient as I plan on donating them to my local writer's group.

Since I had a little free time yesterday, I decided to go through the books. They are historical romances, a genre I used to read - make that, devour - on a regular basis. It was not unusual for me to have three or four going at the same time in various spots in the house and I read those three or four in less than a week or two. But as I sat there going through them, I realized how much my tastes have changed over the years as not a single one of them tempted me beyond reading the back blurb. No longer do I drool over whether the dark duke gets his just desserts and the young, innocent femme fatale meets her true love.

Have I lost my taste for romance? Nope. Not a bit. But I have lost my taste for wimpy heroines who can't exist without a man at their side. These days, I prefer a strong woman who can take care of herself - the man who she ends up with sees her as a partner, to be cherished, but to also work with her, not dictate to her. And I realize many of those historicals do this today, but I also find I am more drawn to the paranormal, the futuristic, the fantastic and the suspenseful.

Maybe it's because my mundane world is just too...mundane. Maybe it's because escaping to the fantastical is a way of escaping reality and I know that historically, reality wasn't much better than it is now. Maybe it's just because my tastes have changed over the years and I need something different. I will always love the historicals I have read over the years, but now, I need more.

And more I have. In a flurry of life imitating work, I went through my own shelves and did some weeding. And have more to do. But I also found that I have over 300 books on my "to be read" pile - make that shelves. Because the ones to be read now take up more room than the ones I have read and kept.

And yet, I keep getting more. Because, after all, what is life without a good book to read?