Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Because I can’t get hammered at 8:00 in the morning, I can’t play along with the drinking game.  In addition, I gave up reading “mainstream” reviews of romance novels a long time ago (condescending and patronizing are just two of the adjectives that come to mind).  As my mom used to say when I’d complain about something a bitchy mean girl said to me in school (yes, we had those types even back in the seventies), “Consider the source.”

No link to Emerson article :(

http://media.www.berkeleybeacon.com/media/storage/paper169/news/2010/02/11/Lifestyle/Judging.These.Books.By.Their.Steamy.Covers-3871080.shtml

That article wasn’t even worth abusing the Shiner.  Only Natural Light will do.  No research, no analysis, and no logic if she thought those four covers were raunchy.

Maybe this is the review

Not sure I got the right one but I was also curious to read the review so I could properly participate in this early morning drinking binge. ;-)

Wait, so… You can get screen-space by writing with supposed authority on subjects you know nothing about and don’t expect you’ll even enjoy? So you’re telling me I could be a successful sports writer? Well hot damn. Suck on that, journalistic standards!

Wow.  This gal sounds like all sorts of fun, huh?  What a glorious evening out one would have with her.  I predict a life full of sadness as she’ll never stoop so low as to read a good romance and won’t want to start building up a cat collection, just in case someone thinks she’s pitiful.

I sincerely hope I never came off as so prissy, self-congratulatory, and ill-informed when I was her age.

Apropos of questionable media coverage of romance novels, on Bravo last night SHEAR GENIUS challenged their hair stylist contestants to team up and style models for a ‘romance novel cover shoot,’ with looks inspired by some very bad pseudo-titles.

I can haz late-night annoyance?

See, this is what asshats like Kimya Kavehkar don’t have…the ability to be funny and original. 

Great job on your drinking game…LOL!

What Cara said.  I know the difference between a review and…well, the best I can label this is snarky synopses that make little sense and are not amusing.

I was a news director/producer who worked with students for many years.  Novice college writers who don’t know what they’re doing?  No challenge in that game, it’s hand grenades vs. fish in a barrel.  I’ll save my single malts for a real game.

As a single woman who does not own cats but loves her two dogs, I feel distinctly discriminated against.  I’ve had it with all of the pea-brained writers that act like only cat-people have the taste to also read romance.  I might not own every single Nora Roberts book ever written but it isn’t for lack of effort on my part.  Good God, the woman writes faster than I can breathe with my heaving bosom.  Do you known how difficult it is to keep up with her new releases and still have time to reread old favorites?

But I digress. 

I’m a dog lover AND a romance reader.  I demand equal recognition.

Frankly, the only thing more annoying than the cheap, unimaginative, trite drivel written by Kimya Kavehkar is the underwire in my bra that snapped this morning on my way to work and is now poking said copious bosom. 

FYI, Sarah, you missed a chance to lampoon another cliche.  Since most romance critics like to stereotype us as tasteless, cat-loving, BON-BON eating peasants, instead of drinking over each cliche, we should have been popping chocolate truffles.

I’m a dog lover AND a romance reader.  I demand equal recognition.

Me too! Let’s start a club!!!

DOG LOVING ROMANCE READERS, UNITE!!  Heck, I even write my dogs INTO my romance novels.  Daisy starred in her own book.  My imaginary (until I have room for a real one) Irish Wolfhound will be in the next. 

Also, publicly displaying ignorance of a genre and then presuming to mock it displays a special kind of moronic.

I think I am more bothered by her stereotypes than by her attack on cover blurbs.

Why should being single be considered bad? I rather am proud of the fact that I did not get married to the wrong person and divorced. I avoided all that BS.

Why should being a pet owner be considered bad? I love my dog. My dog accompanies me on runs. Yeah Pets.

Why should being a reader of ANYTHING be seen as something we should not want to be? In a nation plagued by illiteracy both in children and adults, then I think we should encourage any and all reading. I pick of Foreign language romances to work on my Spanish (because if I am going to have to work at translating, I want to enjoy the story.)

I don’t get it.

OK, I love the bad summaries of books with just plot points. I think you should do that for your next novel. I’m having a hard time figuring out what the books are, though! The first is Lamb by Christopher Moore and the third is almost certainly The Bad Seed, but what are the other two?

I always feel that reviewers act like asshats because maybe… deep deep down… they LIKED IT!  *gasp*!!!!!  But since no self respecting journalist would EVER say that they enjoyed the frivolity of a romance novel, they bash till they can bash no more.

Its really such a sad situation.  Poor reviewers… must you always live in shame and vinegar?

Ugh. This crap only made today’s headache worse. And these people have jobs and get paid in the real world? What a pisser. So insulting to smart women everywhere. Flaccid humor for sure. Great line.

instead of drinking over each cliche, we should have been popping chocolate truffles.

Hells yes!  Can we start the game over?

Except reading that dreck again would probably kill off several brain cells.  I like my brain cells.

Wait. Those are steamy covers? Seriously? Someone must have had an extremely sheltered upbringing.

Otherwise it’s clueless snark as usual.

Now who has the mad photoshopping skillz to put “Nora Roberts: Bigger Than Tic Tacs” on one of her covers?  It must be done!

As a married, cat owning romance enthusiast I too would like to weigh in on the discrimination issue. What about married cat lovers who pop bon bons and read romance novels to maintain sanity while raising three kids currently in diapers?? I ask you!!

And really, the biggest issue is, that if that article were available in the check out line at the grocery store, no one, regardless of how much cat food was in their cart, would spend good money on it.

Third, that’s the best you got? Come on, I got half a flask left here.

SB Sarah, you’ve made my day, again. If I’m ever under fire, I want you next to my fourth-degree black belt sister and take-no-prisoners cousin, saving my ass. Tic Tacs are on me.

This writer is a stereotype herself…the oh-so-serious college student, full of her own literary and journalistic aspirations, who feels that she’s not being taken seriously enough by her professors. Therefore she decides to publicly bash an entire genre and its authors in some lame, desperate attempt for scholarly recognition. Wow, such literary prowess, I tell you.

Oh, yay…another person pretending to be clever by making fun of romance.

Wow. Three misnomers before we’ve even gotten past the headline: “steamy,” “raunchy,” and “review.” To which I’d add “writing,” as in, this barely qualifies as writing much less a review. Even for a college publication, this is bad.

Except, I also agree with Darlene. If you’re not a snotty know-it-all in college, ur doing it wrong. Turning the awesome attention of the Bitches on this pathetic “publication” feels a bit like squashing a flea with a sledgehammer. But, YMMV.

OMG, I smell the shit but haven’t seen the fan yet.  Sarah my dear you are golden today.  Pure gold!   

BTW, I got all excited seeing the flask cuz I thought “hell yah! where’s my credit card, I need one of those!”

Perhaps the Nora Roberts fans descending upon Boonsboro this weekend can bring a can of cat food to donate to a local shelter. 

(Ms. Roberts is hosting a book signing at Turn The Page Bookstore, www.ttpbooks.com, with Sophia Nash, Cathy Maxwell, Tracy Ann Warren, Linda Barron Heinrich, and Stephen Hunter.  The combined talent and sales of these authors puts them in a different universe than Kimya Kavehkar). 

As Jessica pointed out, SHEAR GENIUS further promoted romance stereotypes with their cheesy cover shoot.  Then again, SHEAR GENIUS is a bit cheesy.  I miss the classy Jacklyn Smith).

Frankly, I don’t care what anyone thinks of the books I read.  And I’m sure the NYT bestselling authors are laughing all the way to the bank.

Oh Ugh!  She is a poor poor wannabe trying to sound like part of the bitchery!  A pox on her!  I bet you a copious amounts of money that she’s a lurker on this blog.

BTW, Her Colorado Man sounds really good.  Wonder if I can get that from Amazon on the Kindle.  Oh and I loved Irish Thoroughbred.  Boo!  You fail Kimya Kavehkar.

I thought about commenting on her blog for about ninety seconds, then decided to do so would just elevate a silly, inaccurate and kinda baffling bit of business. Raunchy covers? Where? Boy, this lady must spell S-E-X instead of having any if the ones depicted could be considered rauncy on her scale.

I like cats, prefer dogs. My husband actually buys the dog food. And since he owns a bookstore, I steal—that is buy—my books there. Gee, so do a lot of other cat or dog loving readers.

I wouldn’t comment at all, but it really was a stupid insult to my readers, and readers of the genre altogether.

What a sad, self-important person this woman with the strange name must be.

I probably shouldn’t have commented on the article but I did, just to counter the stereotype of a “typical” romance reader.  I suggested s/he read “Beyond Heaving Bosoms.”  I hope for his/her sake s/he does so, and that s/he discovers “a new passion”  (and, yes, I mean that in all possible ways).

I just cannot tell if that is a male or female name.

Offended and annoyed? Check. Rolling eyes at the stereotypical snark? Check.

...Thought there was a SBTB flask that would be for sale? CHECK!!! Damn!

Wow…this doesn’t really reflect Emerson College well, does it? Also make me think that the ‘writer’ has some lovelife - luggage…

Once again, Sarah, you have made me snort aloud in public. Thank you.

And to you, Ms. Kavehkar - a giant raspberry. Get a clue.

Wearing my “mommy of 19 & 21 year old girls” hat…I just want to say, “Bless your heart, you poor, brainless little thing, you have no idea the wrath you’ve just brought down on your head.”

As the romance reader, I so don’t give a damn what said poor, brainless twit thinks of what I do.

PS: It appears she is only about 19, and has a fixation with frivolous shoes, fashion and Carrie Bradshaw. So much for the “serious” journalist. Just a little girl talking out her ass.

My advice the author of that article: Stay in school, honey.  You still have a lot to learn.

PS I’ve never bought even one tin of cat food—or dog food for that matter.  I love animals as long as someone else takes care of them.  I guess I don’t get full points on fulfilling the Romance reader stereotype.  I do love bon-bons though.

Bitch, if I ever decide to get into a playground fight, I want Sarah backing me up.

Tawa

Oops. Perhaps someone will regret attempting humor by playing MadLibs with the back covers of a few novels and calling the results “reviews”, on account of having garnered a nice, solid block of well-worded negative comments from the intelligent, outspoken and kick-ass-take-names romance community…

Or perhaps not. Perhaps someone will simply buy more shoes. Sigh.

Although I enjoy bourbon on my cornflakes as much as the next girl, this was really too much. I think instead of commenting on the twit-brained article, it would be better to direct comments to this helpfully supplied information:

Looking to buy an ad, pitch a story, make a suggestion or complain?

E-mail us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address),
or call us at 617-824-8687.

The editor’s name is Paddy Shea

@ Nora Roberts:

I’m no longer a Nora Roberts virgin…read my first one yesterday thanks to the recommendations of the lovely readers here… Naked in Death. The next one beckons from my Kindle even as we speak. And hell, yeah, you’re bigger than tic tacs! And just as enjoyably consumable :) With the added benefit that I can’t sneeze a book up into my nose. That burns a lot when you do it with a tic tac.

Regarding trashing romance, it’s easy to do if you don’t define the genre. I have never categorized myself as a romance reader. Fantasy, literary, thriller, mystery. My favorites in all of these genres, however, have one common thread: romance. The protag meets his or her soul mate somewhere in the story and by the end of the book or series, they are together.

Allison Brennan posted on a blog sometime last year regarding romance. She said (paraphrased) that she didn’t consider herself a romance writer primarily but technically, what she writes is romance. Two single characters get together by the end of the book.

If you look at it that way, Dean Koontz writes romance, too.

At any rate, I can go into any genre and find examples of poor execution. If you want some truly laughable covers, check out 80’s sci-fi/fantasy. That does not mean that Tolkein was a loser and everyone who reads it is a socially stunted Dungeons and Dragons/Renaissance Fair wannabe.

Extrapolating conclusions about an entire (and huge) portion of literature from the worst book covers you can find is a very poor research method.

I played along with coffee, and am now very, very jittery. So I am inscenced, and caffienated…. ohoh.

And FTR, WTF? Irish Thoroughbred? Steamy cover? Bedpans? *sigh*... I want to beat this “reviewer” over the head with a copy of that book, and then make her actually read it. I will never forget Paddy, he sticks with me, that character.

And another FTR, WTFBBQ? Toxic Bachelors? It was pure, rompy, escapist reading, perfect Danielle Steele. If she’d ever read any of Ms Steele’s work, she’d know just how much fun it can be to check “realism” at the door and just enjoy a good story, which this author has always delivered. Boo-urns to her… Boo-Urns!

I think this “reviewer” will have plenty of shrapnel to dodge as people defend their chosen reading genre, and tell her to actually read the books before offering her opinions. I don’t need to add to it, really. I’ll just do the thumbs on temples finger wag *NYAH* at the web page and then go get another coffee. Oh, and BTW, I am a romance reader, I have no cats, I am married, I have children, and wonders upon wonders, am a full-time professional with a *gasp* education! Ooooh.

One more thing…. a SBTB flask? That would be awesome. Srsly…..

Sassy Irish girl, Adelia Cunnane, immigrates from Ireland to America to live with her Uncle Paddy at Royal Meadows

Um. Shouldn’t that be emigrate? The way the sentence is structured implies departure from, not arrival to. Immigrate would be correct if Adelia immigrated to the United States from Ireland.

I guess eschewing romance does not automatically elevate one’s use of the English language.

I wrote a scathing email to the newspaper and warned them that this was now being past from reader blog to reader blog and that authors and yes even those in the publishing world read what is being said on the reader blogs. I then posted it on my blog. I did love what Cheryl St.John had to say on the article though.

Nora is one of my literary heros, and I am proud to say that I own almost all of her books, think I am missing 4, and have read all of them.

I googled the author and the only link took me to her Facebook page - it includes a photo of three female friends (I assume she is one of them).  The photo appears to be taken by a cell phone during a pub crawl.  Perhaps the pub crawl contributed to her lack of judgment in posting something for which she did not research.  No doubt that Kimya will, later in life, cringe when she remembers that she took on a million romance readers (and Nora Roberts fans). 

I do offer her a quote from Percy Bysshe Shelley, “All of us who are worth anything, spend our manhood in unlearning the follies, or expiating the mistakes of our youth. “

Hmn… I was going to re-look at one of her quotes, but now it looks like they want us to register to see the article. Apparently the webmasters (or whever) are taking the standpoint that more interest must be a good thing, and possibly capitalizing on our outrage to garner further interest in their itty bitty bit of verbiage.  So I don’t need to see it… no more hits on that page from me.  I’ve often thought the most effective way to punish spoiled children, if you can’t just pop ‘em upside the head, is to ignore them and reinforce how unimportant they really are.

Diane :oP
no pets at the moment but would have a dog if I could, single by choice, and not inclined to justify my reading preferences to a spoiled, insecure little child.

Please add me to the list of those clamoring for the SBTB flask.  It would be the ultimate accessory for carrying Edradour to my next MaltCon.

How “raunchy” can a 1981 Nora Roberts cover be?! It shows two people and a horse running in the background. Good grief, if this person thinks that’s raunchy, I don’t even want to know what they think about the Victoria Secrets Christmas shows….

I actually don’t get it. What is the article author trying to accomplish, here? It just looks like a bunch of plot summaries with one or two put-downs tossed in, like SB Sarah says above. What’s the point?

Also, I LOVE being a single lady who buys food for her cats, like a responsible pet owner. Joining in with all the other out and proud pet owners.

Yeesh.

Has anyone checked to see if Sarah is okay?
Or sent aspirin?

I’m not reading the article because I’m All Done giving my time to people who want to get their 15 minutes in the (very) dim spotlight writing about the same old tired crap on a subject they know nothing about.

So my usual response to columnist like Mr/Ms Kavehkar: Shut Up

I don’t comprehend what is wrong with the fact that a) I love romance novels and b) I’m single. I choose to be single. Even if I didn’t choose and hadn’t found anyone, there’s nothing awful about that either. I’d rather be single (or divorced, considering today’s society) and happy than married to the wrong person. Maybe that’s me being overly romantic.

Ok, boring, yeah, hard to defend myself against that one.

Too many cats, yep, that’s me.  (But in my own defense, I also have 2 dogs, 2 birds, 27 tropical fish and a pet snake that compete for my attention with the 4 cats.  Never marry a veterinarian.)  My pets, however, eat better than I do, and I never get their food at the supermarket.

Lonely?  Ya gotta be kidding, if I get 10 minutes alone, all by myself in a week, I consider it a blessing.

Nora Roberts fan, yep, guilty.

But if she’s only 19, I recall making many foolish statements at that age.  (But at least I never published anything at all to come back to haunt me.)

First of all, what is wrong with being single and a cat owner?  Cat people of the world unite against romance hating, cat hating people. ;)

Secondly, to Laurel who just discovered the In Death series.  My condolences.  I did that a few years ago and spent a couple hundred dollars IN A MONTH catching up.  #30 is coming out next month.

I read this post this morning, before the link to the article. And I was kind of let down by the article, which was much less awesome then I would have expected due to the amazingness of this review of the review. Honestly, when I read the synopsis, I kept waiting for something interesting.

@ Laurel
Ironically, my library system does have romance genre stickers on several Dean Koontz books. I’ve not read any of them, but I’ve asked several patrons if they consider them romance. Our genre stickers are all over the place, which I kind of like because it means you can’t rely on them. I like romance novels, but I like it when people can find books and not be put off because they are not in the “genre” they prefer. I’ve recommended J.D. Robb to mystery fans, and Sherrilyn Kenyon to fantasy fans because even though the authors are “romance novelists” the books are more than one thing.

@Sarah: Oh, yes. SB Flasks. Please!

@SandyO: LOL! If it gets too out of hand I might engage the library and pick up the books a few at a time. I don’t spend much money on anything besides kids and groceries (cough, beer, cough) so I figure books are my vice. Better than compulsive gambling, at any rate.

I’m stuck on the fact that she thought chess pieces were steamy. I couldn’t get beyond that, tbh.

Obviously the poor dear hasn’t seen the cover of “Big Spankable Asses,” or anything at Ellora’s Cave Taboo. 

“Irish Thoroughbred?”  Come ON.

@Sarah W
The Borders that I shopped at when I lived in NYC actually included a lot of romance novels in the literature section.  Among them were Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele.  It took me awhile to realize this, though because there was a separate “romance” section,” so i was constantly in search of the books I wanted.

I wonder what the romance-haters have to say about that.

My new goal in life is to be bigger than tic-tacs.

i’ve been wasting time reading this girl’s blog (she shares it with her equally arrogant boyfriend), and dear God she needs an editor STAT (and some taste in fashion—her bf could use some help with music history too, although he is a hell of a lot better writer than she is).

My favorite sentence so far:

Today Zach goes to Europe today, so hopefully he’ll have great adventures to tell us about!

Another good one (this one shows that she has no problem talking about things she doesn’t know about:

But most of all Rose Byrne was gorgeous in it, and really stand-out. Apparently she’s also in the show “Damages,” which is a really good show about…something. Or so I hear.

How can you say something is good without having watched it?  God to be 19 and stupid again…then again, no, i don’t want to be 19 and stupid.

When I went back to school in the 80s, one of the things that blew me away was the crap that got printed in the campus (not Emerson) newspaper under the supposed banner of free speech.  This type of unbridled content was still getting published when my daughter went to the same school just after the turn of the century.  There were both opinion pieces and “news” articles that made Rush Limbaugh and his ilk sound like Miss Manners.  I vaguely remember an article justifying rape that was supposed to be humorous, and I used to wonder whether the paper had any editorial policy beyond maximizing shock value.  It seems to me that this review falls into the same category—some uninformed twerp using the school newspaper as a stage to parade their faux cleverness.  To Kimya, I can only say, enjoy the tons of rotten fruit flying your way.  You earned it.

I also vote for the SB flask! Would order STAT! Great snark.  Would also want Sarah to watch my six in any fight.

I always find the Nora goes better with icecream.

Not everyone likes romances.  Is most of her stuff ignorant and hateful sounding?  Yes.  But she doesn’t have to like them.  I hate mysteries (I’m not really sure why… probably because I picture that guy Periot with the skinny mustache and I have flash backs to boring TV) but I don’t go writing nasty blogs calling people names and insulting those who enjoy the genre.

It’s not like romance readers are out there screaming that ALL ROMANCE IS THE BESTEST WRITTEN THING SINCE SHAKESPEARE OMG SEXY SHAKESPEARE *pantyshiver*

Even here, there is honesty in what is good and discussion on what makes a story good and what makes it “HOLY HELL THAT’S A TRAIN WRECK I CANNOT TURN AWAY FROM!” bad.

To me this smacks of ignorance and a whole lotta hate.  Or perhaps a closet love of bic flicking material if you catch my crude drift.

Well, at least there is the Yale article to balance out that Emerson crap.

ok. ok. It was a dumb blog post, but let’s take it a little easy girls. This isn’t some great literary critic. It was some kid.  I’m assuming this is some 19-20ish year old college kid. We were all pretty full of our own sass back then.

I AM a 19-20 year old college kid and even I think this “review” is dreck. For one thing, as many of you have pointed out, it is not, in fact, a review. It has neither originality or a point. The most (only) interesting part was the angry comments from people better informed than the “reviewer.”

I suppose all I want to say is, youth is not an excuse. If you haven’t actually read something, you can’t review it. If you haven’t even read something from the GENRE, you really can’t review it. And, as anyone who reads knows, those back covers frequently don’t actually tell you what happens in the book.

Because nearly everything has already been said about this review, I just wanted to point out something I noticed reading these comments:  Why are you making fun of the author’s name?  The name has nothing to do with the person. You’re not elevating your argument by adding a snide remark about the gender or strangeness of this name.  I agree that the article is utter shlock, but if your best argument against it is “at least Nora Roberts doesn’t have a weird name!!”, it’s not a credit to yourself or other readers.  please don’t be petty.

to clarify, the comments I was talking about are those on the actual page of the article

@ ashley: Thanks for clarifying. As to your intitial comment, let me guess:

You are friends with Ms. Kavehkar, who is taken aback at the violent response to her “review.”

You responded to some of the comments posted on the original article, not here, based upon the realization that her “review” had achieved a higher profile than the undergraduate bunch who normally frequent such musings and the volume of said response may well have originated here.

You are defensive of your friend.

Good on you. Seriously. I’m totally the same way.

If I am correct, your reasoning is not faulty but you should have read the comments first.

In addition, Ms. Kavehkar is a journalism major. Clearly, she has some interest in publishing or writing. She needs to do her homework.

That being said, she is an undergraduate. Everybody gets it. We were all nineteen-twenty year olds once and back then, we knew everything there was to be known, too. This is a mild episode in her career towards working in publication and it will pass, but hopefully with a couple of lessons learned. One, the internet is anonymous and extremely public at the same time and two, it can follow you forever. One snarky review of the entire romance ouevre won’t hurt her but an ongoing disrespect of the power of the almighty internet might.

It’s not a big deal. It will pass. I made sweeping, uniformed generalizations when I was that age, too. I was just lucky that Al Gore hadn’t invented the internet quite yet.

Cheers and best of luck. Really and truly. It’s a fun and hard age to be. That’s why so many romance writers pick MCs around the same age…easy conflict!

Nora Roberts and cat food? Now that’s just silly. Everyone knows she would have a line of cat food, puppy food, baby rattles and wine.

Actually, those would be pretty kick-ass!

Ok, now I want some Nora Roberts wine to put in my SBTB flask.  Please?

Ms. Kavehkar, please do your research as a journalism major.  Nora Roberts is the second best selling author to JK Rowling.  She’s obviously better known than for her “check out line” romances.  And my cat does enjoy her books as much as I do. 

Also, Ms. Kavehkar, as a reviewer, you may not enjoy everything you review.  Gene Siskel even admits some of the movies he didn’t enjoy when he reviews them.  I subscribe to World Magazine, a Christian publication, and they have given better reviews to Nora’s books than you did.  The reviewer even took the time to read them.  I suggest you do the same before writing a review.

If you’re going to review a book based on the cover, then just confine your comments to the cover please.

Okay, I get the outrage and the defensiveness for the genre, but the cracks about Kavehkar’s “strange” name are really uncalled for. The entry could’ve been written by someone named Jane Smith and it would still be a poor showing.

@Laurel

With the added benefit that I can’t sneeze a book up into my nose. That burns a lot when you do it with a tic tac.

Oh my GAWD!  I nearly wet myself.

You know, my real problem with her article is that it’s NOT an article.  There’s no lead in, no questions answered.  This could be a good article that the Bitchery would have loved.  IF….. she read the books. 

I personally would have loved to read an introduction paragraph telling me “Hey I read a couple of these romances and guess what… they’re raunchy and the covers are even worse.  Let’s review a couple.”  That I could have stood behind and disagreed with but still respected.  To me this smacks of high school jounalism.  Not something that someone is paying years of parental salary to acheive.

(forgive spelling errors, I’m not a journalism major)  *snork*

I’ll also raise my hand for a Flask, that is awesome!

I’m going to assume Kimya did read the books.
Was it a case of she was expecting to hate romance and it turned out she did?
The books she chose spanned a wide variety of sub-genres and time periods. A nice spread in the romance genre and that was a great start.
Did she find the plots silly? Was it the geographic regions or the time periods she found unappetizing? Were the heroines un-relateable? I would have loved to hear more about why and what specifically she did or didn’t like rather than a generalized snark.
I’ll be the first to admit there are some romance plots and sub-genres that I say waaaay far away from! But I’ll tell you why.
I would wager if we knew more about Kimya we could recommend a romance novel that she would might think did not suck like a hoover and maybe even enjoy.
Doc Turtle’s experience comes to mind.
Hey! Kimya! What do you usually enjoy reading? I’ll bet we could match you up with a romance novel that you’d like! Who doesn’t like a story that has a happy ending. C’mon sweetie drink the koolaid!

Okay, I get the outrage and the defensiveness for the genre, but the cracks about Kavehkar’s “strange” name are really uncalled for. The entry could’ve been written by someone named Jane Smith and it would still be a poor showing.

Really, Ms. Mala? I don’t know what comments you were reading, but here at the Bitchery we respect ourselves and others more than that. A mention that an unusual name made people unsure of said person’s gender does NOT equal making fun of it. Please get off your moral high-horse when there’s not even a reason for it.

Maisey Yates wrote:

And really, the biggest issue is, that if that article were available in the check out line at the grocery store, no one, regardless of how much cat food was in their cart, would spend good money on it.

That’s at the heart of the matter. Taking on the likes of megablockbuster authors Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele while still an apprentice is akin to shooting yourself in the foot before even getting said foot in the door. Instead of snarking romance novels, figure out what magic these two stars create with their romance novels that makes something so easily snarkable so likeabe, so marketable, so profitable. Now, that would be a worthy journalism undergraduate thesis.

1: YAY DOG PEOPLE!

2: Heh, I just can’t stop myself from commenting to people like her. And, if you go to look at all 33 comments you’ll actually find mine where I called the “writer” an idiot and a bigot.

Aren’t we missing the bigger picture here? We need to unite as writers and readers of romance and get grocery stores to start stocking our books in on the other side of the pet food aisle! We’re obviously missing out on millions in sales because books are only near the checkout line! *snort*

Ok, but seriously, the flask would be fabulous. And whether or not she’s 19, and no matter how she spells her name, if you’re a journalism major (been there, done that), then you ought to know that anything you write for public consumption is open to public “analysis” and you ought to do yourself (and your future career, should you actually hope to have one) a favor and do your research. Know how to construct an ACTUAL review. Make sure your headline matches what your article is about. And for pity’s sake, know the correct useage of words (immigrate vs, emigrate).  Sheesh.

I’d type a witty reply but I’m smashed. Nightie night. [falls face down in TBR pile]

I’m nineteen years old and I’d be ashamed of posting something this half-assed on my own LiveJournal, let alone my college’s online newspaper.

Hi there, me again.  I’m wondering if Harriet Klausner reads this blog?  She needs to go school this young lady on reviewing novels.  I always find her reviews very helpful.

Single woman / spinster - check.
Nora Roberts reader - check.
Romance reader - check,check,check check !
Obsessive animal lover (implied by article) - Only if they’re steamed, boiled,grilled,or roasted & served with a decent sauce. (+ some fava beans & a nice Chianti !!! )
Can someone please send this dozy dora the link to Sarah’s blog on the 17.2.10 re:- interweb links/assorted content.
You never know -,  she might actually learn something useful; instead of making sweeping generalisations about a subject of which she knows remarkably little.
Shoddy, shoddy research for a wannabe journo !

Ok, in the funny coincidence pile - just went to the grocery store today, and guess who’s books I saw? At numbers one and two of the best sellers list? Nora Robers and Danielle Steel!

(and seriously? steamy? This girl needs to get off her computer and get out more. I’ve seen steamier on a Cosmo cover. Perhaps retaking Writing 115 would be a good idea for her, as well…...)

laurel: I don’t even know who kavehkar is.  I just voiced an opinion.  you’ll notice everyone else did that.

ash: I think Mala may have meant the comments on the actual website.  i didn’t really notice any high horsedness on her part, I think she was just remarking on something she noticed.

WE at the bitchery don’t bitch about each other’s comments.  because if there is one thing I’ve learned off this website it’s that everyone has an opinion and should be allowed to voice it.

I’m not sure if all the people who commented on her blog are from here but that would be sort of awesome if it were. Everyone disagreed with her in a well-written, well thought out way. If we are an army than i am glad to be enlisted.

And slightly frightened of the power.

ash: I think Mala may have meant the comments on the actual website.  i didn’t really notice any high horsedness on her part, I think she was just remarking on something she noticed.

WE at the bitchery don’t bitch about each other’s comments.  because if there is one thing I’ve learned off this website it’s that everyone has an opinion and should be allowed to voice it.

Firstly, if Ms. Mala was talking about the comments on the original site, she should have either posted them there or made it clear what she was referencing.

Second, I don’t appreciate you implying that I was bitching about anything. I made it clear that the comments on this site were in no way offensive to the author of the review’s name.

I was actually referencing comments made in this very thread, namely Nora Roberts’ “What a sad, self-important person this woman with the strange name must be,” and also Karen H’s “I just cannot tell if that is a male or female name.”

I made it clear that the comments on this site were in no way offensive to the author of the review’s name.

How lovely of you to make that judgment call for everyone, Ash. I don’t think I’m on a “moral high horse” simply because I disagree with it.

And, ashley, I didn’t realize “WE at the bitchery don’t bitch about each other’s comments.”  Oops. Back to lurker mode for me!

I just realized that the last line of my previous comment sounded like a petty “Goodbye cruel Internetz!” thing, and wanted to clarify that it wasn’t that at all. It was definitely meant to be more of a “let me learn the social culture of SBTB before I wade in again” thing.

:::off to refill my own flask:::

I’m sorry Ms. Mala, I don’t see how someone who is genuinely wondering if an unusual name belongs to a male or a female is in any way offensive.

As for making the judgement call for everyone, I have been to this site for a very long time and the wonderful people here don’t stoop so low as to make fun of someone’s name because it’s different. I simply don’t understand why you feel you need to lambaste people who made innocent comments.

I’m generally a lurker as well, but I hope I see you around. This is a great place to me. :)

I googled the writer, too. Obviously a college student with a few blogs and a class deadline.

My favorite line: “Puking ensues.”

Her journalism professor must be so proud.

And YES Her Colorado Man is available for Kindle!

I really want a flask.
I find this “article” really not worth the energy required to comment on the original page.
I do think it is funny that out of all the covers she chose some of the tamest covers I’ve seen. She chose a really strange selection of covers spanning a decent period of time, and what she did with them was kinda disappointing. It would have been a lot more interesting if she had analyzed the content of the covers from different time periods and then compared it with the content of the books to help understand the norms/gender roles and or courtship customs of those times. I guess thats just the sociology student in me.

“What a sad, self-important person this woman with the strange name must be,”~

I actually think opining someone’s sad and self-important is a lot more snarky or offensive than commenting on a strange name.

But if you’d rather tsk over that part of my comment, feel free.

I keep going back hoping she replied. Am I just a hopeless dreamer, longing for people we’ve challenged to respond that they learned their lesson?

I’ve posted on the actual article about the viciousness that I perceived in the comments there, and although the comments here are somewhat more restrained, I just want to point out something of which all of you seem to be aware, but not FULLY realizing.

She is a NINETEEN YEAR OLD GIRL. She has a lot to learn about journalism, yes, but she has time to learn it. She’s still practicing, she’s still learning, and she’s just a kid. It actually makes me a bit sad to think of all the grown women here picking on a girl’s attempt at journalism.

Perhaps I have sympathy for her because I’m just 20, I write articles for my school newspaper, and I think I’d just about have a breakdown if I got the sort of reaction she’s getting. We make mistakes when we’re twenty! It happens! I know you guys say you remember being that young, but really?

She’s a girl having fun at other people’s expense. It’s too bad, but it happens. And now all of you are having fun at her expense. She might deserve it more, but I don’t think she does deserve the full war y’all seem to have waged on her.

And no, I don’t know her. I just feel really bad for her.

@Ali,
You have a point.  In that case we should also be asking why and how her editor let that “article” (for lack of a better word) be published.  Unless they are also 19 y/o girls.  But seriously that article was barely high school newspaper worthy, someone attending a university as prestigious as Berkley should really produce better.

It probably didn’t do anything good for me to add my comments to Ms. Kavehkar’s article, but I felt compelled, because as I stated there: “anything you say about women who read Nora Roberts, Ms. Kavehkar, you say about my mother.”

@Ali - I don’t feel bad for her at all. Being young is no excuse for stereotyping and bigotry. Which is what her “article” is.

I’m always hearing about how much more open minded the young of today are compared to say - my parents. That they’re so much more accepting of homosexuals, “minorities”, etc. But I see JUST as much bigotry, but aimed at other groups. The overweight, people who believe in God/many gods and goddesses, romance novel readers/writers, those who don’t watch What Not To Wear or Sex In The City.

The groups have changed, but the bigotry and the hatred is still there.

Bigotry is bigotry is bigotry. Period. It doesn’t matter if your target is fat people (Such as the insulting remarks I read about writer/director Kevin Smith when he was thrown off a flight for being “too fat) or fans of romance novels or any group you can name. There is NO EXCUSE for bigotry. NONE. Not youth or inexperience or anything.

It’s one thing if you hate your neighbor down the street because he’s be proven to be a pedophile - rape is repugnant and raping kids even worse. That’s because you’re judging him by his disgusting actions.

But to judge every single person who enjoys something by a stereotype is wrong. Period. No excuses.

She deserves no sympathy. She deserves a big verbal smack in the face to show her that she’s not so high and mighty.

Berkley….
you’d think this center of enlightment would have a little bit more respect for a genre that is largely:
Written by women
Read by women
Agented by women
Published by women
Edited by women

And yet the article is narrow minded and intolerant. If anyone is surprised, you haven’t been paying attention.

I heard from Kimya’s boyfriend via a personal email today. He’s fiercely protective - a very romantic and hero-like trait.
:-)