Can we talk about cover art? There is a regular debate in the genre about the value of cover art. Is man titty appropriate? Too much? What about those headless torsos? The paranormal heroines with low-slung jeans or leather trousers, tank top and beautiful abs? The frothy gowns on the covers of historical novels that don’t actually match the period in which the books are set?

But does the underlying style of the cover art matter?

If you asked me last week, I would probably say that there are a few style contentions that seem dissonant for me, relating primarily to historical romance novels. No photo-like covers, please, and no cartoons. In my head, they just didn’t suit the content. Otherwise, I thought I was baggage free.

For the last few browsing trips to the bookstore, I’ve been ignoring some really (to me) kitschy cover art.

Objectively, the cover art works. It includes elements of the story, and hints at the paranormal or urban fantasy content of the book. But that didn’t matter to me; while the style is clearly to the taste of some readers, but it puts me in mind of kewpie dolls and Betty Boop, none of them favorites, so I kept passing it by. Not even seeing the “fantasy” categorization and the publisher (Orbit Books) on the spine were enough to get me to pick up the book in order to read the back blurb. On my last browse-through, I finally read the back cover copy, and was intrigued enough to read the first few pages. Sold! I’ve since bought the book’s sequel, which has similar cover art.

When you look at cover art, does the style matter most? Or is it the content?

I have a confession to make – I don’t read every single word of every single book that I pick up.  I’m not talking about the DNFs (do not finish)  books but the books I do finish.  Sometimes I skim, or read fast through certain parts or scenes.  It usually happens when I get to a part that’s particularly violent.  When I read Chelsea Cain’s Heartsick earlier this year there were some gruesome parts that I read really, really fast.   Skimming was definitely involved.  But I liked the book a lot and I got why the violence was there.  Same thing for Karen Rose’s Romantic Suspense novels.  I love her books but again, some parts I read really fast.  When I come to the more graphic details of torture, like in Cain’s novel, I skimmed, gaining the general knowledge of what was happening but keeping the details just a little vague.

Another type of scene that I find I sometimes skim are sex scenes.  Now, I like a good sex scene and a skilled author can make it not only about the sex but also give insight into the characters.  When I tend to skim is when the sex seems to go on forever.  Page after page after page.  It’s like someone slipped the hero Viagra.    If its erotica, well, I kind of expect it.  But for other genres, I find I’m not as interested in lengthy sex scenes.   And the scenes are not always believable if they continue for what seems like an inhumanly amount of time.  I start to wonder if the characters will ever sleep. 

As long as I’m confessing – J. D. Robb’s In Death series, I skim too.  Yep, I admit it!  I love the series, it’s one of my favorites but after listening to the series audio books and now re-reading the series, there is one certain scene that always comes up that I just don’t want to read again.  I think it was around book 20 when I started skimming past it.  It’s when Eve talks about what happened to her as a child in the room with the red light.  Those of you that read the series will know what I’m talking about.  For those of you that haven’t started the series, the scene is about abuse.  It’s upsetting and after hearing/reading it numerous times I just don’t want to read it again.  So I skip it.

Are there any times when you feel like skimming/skipping a scene?  Maybe it’s a series that the author fills in the back story in every book and after reading the previous books, you’re familiar enough with the it that you don’t need to be filled in.  Or like me you’re not a fan of reading graphic violence but you like suspense.  It could be something that makes you feel uncomfortable but not enough to put the book down.  And sadly, sometimes we just get bored with the book we’re reading.  I know this has happened to me.  I don’t want to give up on the book so I skim the boring parts.  I get any information I need for the overall story arc then move on to the parts that interest me.

So fess up – are you a skimmer?

I have a dilemma that’s only getting larger and scarier as I go along in my romance reading life. How do I choose which book to read next? Years ago this wasn’t an issue. I pretty much only read historical so it was more a matter of which author. But as I expanded my horizons and started reading other genres and other genres gained popularity, it wasn’t quite as simple. And now at times I’m almost overwhelmed by the huge number of books I have and what to choose to read. It’s getting to the point where it’s no longer just which genre I feel like reading, but it goes deeper. I have any number of Paranormals in the TBR pile now – shape shifters and werewolves; vampires and ghosts. If I’m in the mood for a historical is it a Georgian, a Regency or a Victorian? Suppose I feel like reading Romantic Suspense. Should I choose a RS light like the Blair/Wyatt books by Linda Howard or a RS dark like Katherine Sutcliffe’s Darkling I Listen?

All these choices I have now. And with the trips I’ve been taking; to the RT convention, to the RomCon convention and to the upcoming RWA conference, I just add to the dilemma. I brought a number home from both RT and RomCon and if this year is like past years, I’ll really have a lot that I pick up from RWA.

And since I’ve started going to the conferences/conventions, the invisible barrier between authors and me is also becoming a factor. Getting to know and speaking to authors causes me to want to read their books. But I want to do them justice. If I start reading a book by an author I’ve shared a drink with and it’s not really grabbing me because I’m trying to read a contemporary when I’m really in the mood for a paranormal plays a role in whether to keep reading or not. Whereas in the past I’d just put aside with plans to read it sometime later and not get back to if for some time, now I keep it near for when I am in the mood for a contemporary. My living room and bedroom are getting more and more cluttered with books.

Add to that are the books I pick up that weren’t on my radar when I see reviews on blogs or review sites. I’ve added a number to my pile from that source. And of course I can’t ignore that shallow that will buy a book based on a good cover. Those are books that are calling to be read.

And then there are ARC’s I’ve been sent. I don’t get a lot of them, but I do have a few to read, but I’ve been in the mood for some Eve and Roarke – now that there are a number of us reading this series at work now. I checked my reading stats earlier and I’m way ahead of where I was last year at this time – to the point that if I keep up at the current pace, I’ll be setting a record this year. But even with that, I still feel like with every book I pick up to read I’m missing out on another one I would enjoy just as much.

Each book I get, I go into it thinking I’ll probably read it within the next couple of weeks but that doesn’t seem to be happening. So how does anyone else with a rather large TBR pile decide what to read? If you are in the mood for a good paranormal and you have three or four calling, how do you decide which call you answer? Are there some books you get because you’ve met or you admire the author and then when you start, you realize that the book just doesn’t suit the mood? Do you keep reading anyway or put it aside until you know you can appreciate it more? I don’t know if I’ll ever figure it out and I know there are a lot worse dilemmas I could have. But still this one does weigh on me sometimes.

Readers, we’re a fickle bunch. We want what we want, when we want it, and we tend to hate unpleasant surprises. We don’t want to read the same plot and characters over and over again, but we also get cranky when a beloved author in our sub genre of choice jumps ship to write something “different.” Intellectually, we understand that authors should write what they want to write, and that it really isn’t all about us. But dang, we all struggle with it.

Case in point, when it was announced that Suzanne Brockmann was publishing a new non-SEAL contemporary romance I saw more than a few comments online from ecstatic readers who were hoping it would be a return to her Heart Throb days. Uh, then they found out the new book has a ghost character in it.

Likewise, there are just as many readers who were performing voodoo chants and rain dances hoping that Jennifer Crusie would release a non-collaborative book sometime in the near future. Well, she is. Happy day, right? Well, until they realized this new book has a ghost character in it.

Are ghosts the new black? Or is it just dumb luck that two of the biggest names in contemporary romance fiction have books featuring ghosts in them coming out right around the same time?

I’ve since seen several readers who were looking forward to either one or both of these books declare online that they will not buy or read them. While there is a school of thought that if you like the author’s voice, you should like it no matter what they’re writing, I can understand this. I had a bit of hissy fit meltdown when Emma Holly published a contemporary erotic romance a few years back featuring….fairies and a heroine who could communicate with the dead ::shudder:: Yeah, I bought the book. I even read it. But I gotta be honest, it already had several strikes against it going into my reading and I wasn’t entirely “fair” (which I owned up to) when I eventually posted my reaction to that book on my blog.

So what say you? Will you follow an author anywhere, across sub genres? Or do you abandon ship when they stray into a territory you’re not fond of?

If I didn’t have to work I could read more. It is a generally acknowledged universal truth that reading 15 books a month is not enough. I have no idea who first brought this truth to light, but I DO definitely agree with that person. It isn’t enough. What the magic number is, I don’t know.

If I didn’t have to work, I might have the time to test, analyze and track what a reasonable number of books would be considered “enough”. Don’t you think someone needs to do this study?

If I didn’t have to work, I would always be current logging in the books I’ve read. In fact, I would probably log them on my spreadsheet as soon as I finished them. Of course, it would follow that I would also be able to immediately write my blurb for the Monthly Reading List I post on my personal blog. I know this is possible because I sort of did it when I worked part time. Kind of. Mostly. Some of the time.

If I didn’t have to work I would definitely write more reviews. I’d probably write at least one two THREE reviews a week. While I’ve never done this in the five years I’ve been writing reviews, I know that if I weren’t slaving away each day for THE MAN, I would be able to write scintillating and fascinating reviews of all the many (more than 15) books I’d be reading.

If I didn’t have to work I wouldn’t have to waste precious reading time on doing ridiculous things like cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping. Okay, maybe I have to do a little grocery shopping, we have to eat. I guess we need clean clothes too. I draw the line at cleaning. What’s a few dust bunnies when you have the book you’ve been waiting for in your hands? Reading is always chock full of possibilities. Vacuuming is not.

If I didn’t have to work and was able to read more, I wouldn’t have my TBR (to be read) books stored in plastic tubs and numbering close to 300.

If I didn’t have to work the aforementioned TBR tubs-o-books wouldn’t be taking up a lot of precious floor space in our otherwise already over-full office. The over-full part due to the massive number of books I have already read and kept. Seven bookcases full of books. Books that are double, sometimes triple stacked, that make the room “cozy”, my word, not “cramped” my husband’s word.

If I didn’t have to work my Good Reads account might actually have some content and a list of books I’ve read.

If I didn’t have to work I’d have more time to read other people’s blogs and comment on them once in a while. I would be able to spend time reading reviews and add recommendations to my book shopping list… Wait a minute, I still do that one.

Of course my Catholic guilt never lets me linger overly long feeling sorry for myself. If I didn’t work, I wouldn’t have a generous monthly book buying budget. I most certainly would have never been able to afford to go to RWA Nationals. Look at that. I’ve proved the old adage “There’s always a silver lining” is true.

Too bad I have to work though. I’d have time to look up where that old adage comes from.

What about you? What’s something you like to do that you have either put off, or just don’t seem to have time for?