Day 06: A Book I'm Reading

It must be guilty-pleasure o'clock, because I'm about to admit my long-running love for historical fiction... ahem... ok... historical romance novels. Especially those written by Judith McNaught.

I'm currently re-reading Whitney, My Love. By the image along you might have guessed that it's been in my possession for some time, and you'd be right. If it still had a cover (which tore off ages ago, along with the first few pages before Chapter One begins) you would see the inscription which a dear friend wrote on my 16th birthday when she gave me the book as a gift.

Ten years I've had this book, and though I've read it more times than I can count, I know that it has often been discussed with hatred, and is littered with controversial scenes. This isn't a post for me to dive into the matter, but a quick Google search will do it justice if you're interested.

This book is absolutely a guilty pleasure, as I've mentioned, as are the rest of her stories, however, the writing is captivating and I enjoy feeling transported to a period of time so different from our own.

And despite being fraught with issues, I know I will continue to read it, because I'm not one to shy away from taboo topics. Perhaps I view them as tools, solidifying my own beliefs, challenging my views or confronting things which are often hushed or pushed aside. Many have taken offense to some of the scenes in this book (to the point where it was actually edited to tame them), but for those who are sure of what they know to be right, should it be a concern? If 50 Shades of Grey can outsell Harry Potter as fastest selling paperback, then the worries our culture may have toward sexually explicit content do not seem to be reflected in our choices of reading material. But perhaps that's another discussion altogether.

Judith McNaught does write very strong female characters, but any feminist reading her works will cringe along with me at those moments when those same women turn to puddles for arrogant men. But it's all fantasy and dreamland and perhaps, if there are fellow historical romance readers in the audience, you'll weigh in on why we keep reading.

I promise I didn't start this post by stepping up on a soap box and I hope I didn't end up there, but I really am re-reading Whitney at this moment, and as soon as I hit publish, I'm going to cozy up with my tea, and devour another chapter before I fall asleep.

PS. While we're on the topic of guilty pleasures... what are yours? Reality TV? Sauce'n Cake? The Twilight series? No judgement here, but c'mon, I'm curious.