I go in spurts. My last romance spurt before I got my kindle, I had about 12 books come in at once, all with bodice ripper covers. I am sure it was my imaginaton, but the librarian (I live in a snall village, and there are only 2) always glances at the books. I saw (and this is where I am imagining it) a look of distaste. I would never read a bodice ripper on the train - the guys are all in suits reading their WSJ. I am a professional as well, but no longer feel I have to wear a suit for work. But I would die if someone I knew saw me reading such a book. That is why electronic readers have taken off amoung women!
My husband says I am "dumbing myself down." I don't think that is a nice thing to say, because obviously I am not dumb, and I sure don't watch "Gold Rush." But he reads nonfiction, so he is immune.
I don't have any friends who read romances, but I read enough political commentary to carry on a conversation with my "better read" friends and my inlaws.
Given that I read several books a week (because some books are so good I read them in a single sitting. No Easy Day and Hopeless are the most recent - one an autobiography and the other a romance), anyone who turns their nose up at my reading list, can kiss my . . . .
Sorry, but even my family used to complain. I worked the late shift at a factory one summer, and used to buy a book on the way home every night. They were the suppermarket romances, which you can finish in a couple hours (189 pages). Between right before bed, breaks and lunch the next day, I would finish it. I felt kind of bad at the amount of money I was spending (about $1.50, which I believe was the minimum wage, which is what I was making), but I needed something to keep me going.
It is not illegal, or bad for me, or keeping me from doing something I shouldn't (I wouldn't be doing it anyway!) Once baseball season starts, reading will take a back seat (I knit during Cubs games) until the Cubs are out of it - I think that was around May 1 last year, which is one of the earlist I remember.
