Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Men and Romance

I have taken some heat for featuring both DocTurtle and Scrin’s read-a-log reviews of books as they seek an education in the romance genre, since it would appear to some that I’m erecting a massive turgid shrine to What The Penises Think of Romance.

Oh, so not so. What fascinates me personally about their responses are the fact that (a) men do not typically read a lot of romance and (b) being privvy to the reactions to a curious, intelligent dude reading a genre that is so often defined as “just for women” yields a very interesting personal dialogue as Scrin and SBiT Patrick share their thoughts with us. So I’m not squeeing with the glee that A Man has paid attention to us, preen, preen, preen for the peen.

Intelligent males asking for recommendations and then sharing their reactions opens our dialogue to include perspectives that, frankly, we don’t often enjoy. I’m not looking for validation of our collective enjoyment of romance but I am always eager to hear new opinions on the genre as readers of any gender are introduced to how good, how amazing, how truly enjoyable romance is.

So imagine my surprise… read more »

Scrinnameless and The Sharing Knife: Chapters 4-10

Scrinnameless, who I call “Scrin” for short, is a 22 year-old geology student who is curious about romance, and at my suggestion has taken to reading Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Sharing Knife: Beguilement. Here we have Chapters 4-10:

Chapter 4

In which we find out about malices. And more about Dag.

It’s a nice bit of monster-building, the malice. I could go on, but let’s say they’re thieves of life who start out small, learn as they grow, and can get nasty. Inherently evil, one might say.

Found out where the title comes from. Apparently, sharing knives are the weapons used to kill malices.

And, to my glee, the bit where he throws her his pair of sharing knives to kill the malice just goes and proves that Dag says what’s going through his head at the moment. There’s two knives in two sheaths bound together, right? She asks him which. He just says, “Sharp end first! Anywhere!

So she uses the wrong knife at first.

Anyway, something in this chapter happens that I really wasn’t expecting. I’ll say this: Forget evil. Malices are unholy.

More Men Reading Romance: Scrinnameless discovers Bujold

A few weeks ago, Scrinnameless sent me word of a wonderful used bookstore in Mobile, Alabama.

Turns out Scrin is a dude - and he later wrote to me:

I think I’ve nerved myself enough to submit myself to the Will of the Bitchery. Who can suggest some good sf or fantasy romance to start me off on?

As for about myself… I’m a 22-year-old college student in Mobile, Alabama, pursuing a degree in geology. I play video games. I read, naturally, all over science fiction and fantasy, along with odds and ends here and there. I have a thing for snarky dialogue and commentary (which is how I found SBTB in the first place). So, yes, O Masters of Romance, teach me!

Oh yeah, like I’m going to be able to resist bringing a 22 year old rock-student into the massive awesome that is romance.

I asked Scrin for more details about what he likes to read, and here was his reply: