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Romance Novels

"The romance novels I read feature the powerful-yet-sensitive, jealous-yet-knows-his-boundaries kind of men."

By Precious James

I love to read! Nothing makes me happier than coming home after a hard day at school and opening up a book. When I get frustrated trying to figure out the answer to the physics question that seemed easier in class, reading a book helps me relax.

Books to others are a chore and should be done only when “necessary and proper.” But to others, myself included, books are a means of escaping reality and discovering what your imagination can hold! When you read a book you enter the author’s universe and become a fly on the wall. You have the chance to explore new worlds and realities.

But nothing picks at my bone more than when I am reading my favorite type of book and people notice. I love to read romance novels! In my opinion they make a brighter day brighter and a gloomy day sunny! Romance novels give me the chance to create a universe of my own. I can always honestly say, “ I belong to the National Romance Society!”

One of the many reasons why I love to read romance novels is because of the happy go lucky feeling you get at the end of the book, yet the enlightened mind you can share with the rest of the world. When I open a romance novel, I open my mind to many different lessons in the way of the world and life. When I turn the first page of a romance novel, I turn to a page of modern and savvy heroines with the top-rated jobs and the intelligence of geniuses. Never will I open a romance novel where the heroine is one of those I-can’t-do-without-my-man types. Today, when I open a romance novel, I open the cover to congresswomen, doctors, photographers, teachers, and women of all sorts.

The romance novels I read don’t have the take-all type of men. Instead they feature the powerful-yet-sensitive, jealous-yet-knows-his-boundaries kind of men. When I read the first sentence of the first page, I am absorbed in the everyday lives of people. I don’t have to worry or get mad about reading the general stereotypes of people or their chosen way of life. When I open a romance novel today, I open the first door to the classroom out of the classroom. I am able to regenerate the metaphysics I learned in political theory, the elements I learned in chemistry, and the value of everyday life.

A few months ago it was the second Sunday of September and I was participating in a Feed The Hungry program at my church. The feeding didn’t start until 1:00 and it was 12:30, so I decided to spend some time reading a book. Possession, the book I was reading, had a picture of a woman hugging a man on the cover. I was intimately indulged in reading the book that the cover was no mind. So there I was reading, and one of my friends at church asked what I was reading. I showed her the cover — I didn’t even have the chance to give her the title — when she made a face and said, “ Oh, you’re reading ‘those books!’” I asked her what she meant by “ those novels” and she said, “Romance novels are for people with no life and for people who don’t have anything to do with their lives.” Then she gave me one of those, “ I’d rather spend better time watching chickens cross the street!” looks.

I never understood those looks until I realized that people are not romantics anymore and I am one of the minority members of the National Romance Society. We as people have forgotten to take off our serious glasses and the way we view the world. We have forgotten the essence of being a person. We let reality block our views and we don’t save anytime for our imagination to run wild.

The other day, while reading my favorite novel, No Compromise by Rochelle Alers, for the fourth or fifth time this month, I was thinking about how sad it is that people are no longer romantics. We are so caught in a world of materialism and vanity that we don’t take the time to indulge ourselves in a book. We are so caught up in getting the highest grades or competing for a medal, that we forget about curling up on our favorite part of the couch and reading a book! People of today are so caught up in trying to impress others that we forget about the “me” time and the last time we sat down and read any type of book. In today’s world, we don’t allow ourselves the chance to escape reality and use our imagination.

Is it really hard to pick up a book or have people forgotten how to read? Reading doesn’t have to be a chore; it can be the ticket to the land of discovery, the land of the yellow brick road, and the lost world.

— Precious James is a senior at Oakland Technical High School.