On Tuesday night I was one of the many people standing in line for a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Yes, I really am that big of nerd.
Regardless of whether you have read the books, seen the movies, or can’t tell the difference between a muggle and a mugwort, the Harry Potter phenomenon is something you probably haven’t been able to escape. And when you think about it, that is a pretty amazing thing. After all, how often is one book or one author on everyone’s mind at the same time? Not even Oprah can inspire that kind of reading frenzy. 
The Harry Potter series has done not only an amazing thing for young readers but the Juvenile Fantasy genre as well. As any good librarian will tell you, once a reader falls in lust with a book they will read anything that will give them that same kind of reading experience. I’ve seen kids come into the library again and again asking for a book, “just like Harry Potter.” With the final Harry Potter book arriving a week from today, I can’t help but wonder are there Harry Potters for the Romance genre?
Thinking back on my Romance reading history I can think of several books that inspired Harry Potter like reading lust in me, but one stands out above the rest. The first summer I started reading books from the adult section of the library, I somehow stumbled across a copy of Jude Deveraux’s The Velvet Promise. I don’t remember what it was about the book that made me check it out, but that book took hold of me and would not let me go until I had finished it and the other three books in the series. The rest of the summer was spent trying to find books just like the Velvet series. And once I finally returned the books to the library (I had them for quite a while what with all the re-reading I was doing), I made sure I eventually had copies of my very own. Those four books made such an impression on me that when I went to college they were the only books I brought with me from my bookshelf at home.
What about you? Are there any books that inspire reader lust in you?
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Interesting question. Years and years ago I fell in lust with “Sweet Savage Love” and the sequel “Wicked Loving Lies.” I think there for awhile I read anything with the word “savage” or “wicked” in it.
I also loved “Oriental Hotel” and even had the fabulous privilege of visiting the same places in the book – Raffles Hotel in Singapore and Oriental Hotel in Bangkok – quite a thrill.
And then there was the “Gone with the Wind” phase and every other historical romance that took place in the pre Civil War South so I had to go to New Orleans and see the setting for myself – another thrill.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention “Desiree” about Napoleon’s mistress.
Ah – those were the days – haven’t felt quite like that in a long time.
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Although I’ve not found any satisfactory books that give me the same feelings!
Also, anything by Nora.
Oh don’t feel nerdy about the Harry Potterness, it’s inescapable
I saw it in a very crowded theater and though there were only 8 seats left in the very front, where you have to tip your head up to see anything at all, I loved every minute of the movie I watched standing up or sitting on the floor.
I fell in love with Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas – it was the first romance novel I had read in years, and I loved every word of it to pieces. I haven’t found anything similar yet that sends me on the same race to the end as satisfactorily.
A juvenile science fiction novel by Robert Heinlein entitled “Have Space Suit, Will Travel.” It was my first ever sf read and it hooked me on the genre forever. It is still the gold standard against which I measure all other sf novels — including my own.
I recently discovered Lois MacMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series and fell absolutelly in love. I can’t tell how many times I’ve re-read the books. I must admit it did inspire me to go looking for more sci-fi reads.
I was at the midnight showing too!!
I love books and movies that create a hunger for more. Great post!
bungluna –try C.J. Cherryh. I like her sci-fi better than her fantasy. She has several unconnected series that all share a common universe. The Atevi cycle is one of my favorites, she builds a world and a culture and a romance with a people who do not have a word for ‘love’ or ‘trust.’
You just have to look at my keeper shelf to see:
Suz Brockmann, Julia Quinn, Jenny Crusie, Mary Balogh, Barbara Kingsolver, Catherine Mann, Neal Stephenson, Robert Asprin, DAvid Brin, Janet Evanovich, J.K. Rowling.
Suz first and foremost because I didn’t buy romances before I read the first 3 of her Team 16 books. I got my books from the library and never re-read them unless I checked one out again by accident, and if that happened I would stop reading. After borrowing TUH, TDH, and OTE from a friend and letting them sit in my TBR pile for a couple months because the military does not hit any fantasy buttons for me, I read them and fell in love. I had to re-read them! Something I hadn’t done since Madeline L’Engle in the 4th grade. And now my home is overflowing with books, mostly romance, and it’s her fault. Because I now re-read books. Because of Suz Brockmann.
Julia Quinn was just such a fresh voice and so *fun* that it made a tired genre entertaining for me again. Although the last couple have been sadly lackluster, I own the whole backlist and enjoy them.
Crusie is another author I can re-read and laugh out loud every time. There are a couple books I reaalllly don’t like, but Welcome to Temptation is my favorite romance evah. She writes about average people and makes them extraordinary fun to be around rather than superheroes we have no hope of connecting to in daily life.
David Brin just has an excellent vision of a future where the heroes believe in equality against overwhelming odds. And his science is good.
Neal Stephenson, up to Cryptonomicon, wrote some wonderful near-future fiction that is a joy to read and think about happening even if he has trouble ending his stories.
Mary Balogh never met a big misunderstanding. After book on book with those, MB was a breath of fresh air – even in her smaller works she throws our H/H together again and again until you believe in the end that their conflict resolution skills are strong and their HEA will stick.
Janet Evanovich. I pretty much only like her Plum series. Even when I think I’m kind of done with it, I can re-read it at still guffaw over grandma Mazur shooting a chicken in the gumpy. Same with Robert Asprin’s Myth adventures.
Rowling for all the reasons you say. I particularly liked book #3. Coincidentally, I found her on book 3 like I had Suz. I have issues with some of the later ones, but for opening up the fantasy publishing market for tweens and getting people to love reading again I will love her forever.
Basically, I love authors whose books I can re-read because I either get more out of them the second or sixth time, or the language/prose/dialogue is so clever it grabs me every time, or I just want to live in that world they created for a little longer. Even when I already know how it ends and who does what.
I also loved Diana Galbaldon’s series, though I started Fiery Cross and haven’t been able to get into it. My co-worker felt the same way about it.
Anne Bishop’s Jewel trilogy is wonderful. A bit sci-fi/fantasy/romance but not too complicated to follow. It remains fondly on my all-time favorite list.
And Suz Brockmann’s Team 16 Troubleshooter series. She pushes all the right emotional buttons with me.
Janet Evanovich’s Number series…I can’t read them fast enough (or she can’t write them fast enough) LOL!
Jennifer Cruisie’s books…just love them all!
I’ve been kind of an obsessive “series reader” since I was a kid. Starting, I suppose, with “Little House on the Prarie.” (Even with the disappointment of “Farmer Boy,” I kept reading on. …):wink:
Then Madeline L’Engle, yes, and as a teen I had to barrel through all those “Flowers in the Attic” books!
But as an adult, I read a million years worth of literary novels and didn’t really have that kind of experience again until I stumbled upon SEP about a year ago and began reading her Chicago Stars books. After Dan Calebow, I had to read every one with a character mentioned somewhere else. It brought back all those fun feelings of being a kid and having an entire “set” on the shelves.
And then I stumbled across Suzanne Brockmann — somewhere right smack dab in the middle of the series — and had to go back and obsessively read every single book about SEAL Team 16. (Like CrankyOtter, it took me awhile, because military stories didn’t sound appealing at all, but holy cow, those were good books!) I now own 9 of those, all together on a shelf, and will surely reread them (probably in order, since I read them a bit willy-nilly the first time). (Which, incidentally, was not an entirely unpleasant way to read these. Kinda fun. Like meeting someone and then going back and learning all their history…)
Anyway, I’m thankful for those women’s ability to make me feel like I did when I was a kid — waiting for that character to show up again, looking forward to the next time you’ll see him/her. Great stuff.
I’m thinking of jumping into Ward’s Brotherhood next …
Kathleen Woodiwiss
“Shana”
“The Flame And The Flower”
“A Rose In Winter”
“Ashes In The Wind”
Her books focused on the relationship between
the heroine and hero. They are stories which
have a little spice in them. And yet, this very
grand lady helped redefine the romantic fiction
genere. She will be dearly missed.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve looked Cherryh up and she sounds interesting, with a nice long back list. I’ll scout for one of hers on my next trip to the ubs.
I haven’t read a single Harry Potter. The hysteria makes me take a step back, and then another… Same with Dan Brown. But I will read a JK Rowling one day, just to see what the fuss is about, even though fantasy doesn’t really do it for me. I always say, though, I’ll read anything if it’s a great, well executed story.
Like Laurie S. my obsessive series-reading began in childhood with The Bobbsey Twins, anything Enid Blyton, the ‘William’ series, the Louisa May Alcott series, and the Anne of Green Gables books.
Later on I would grab anything by Richard Bach, Erma Bombeck, and best of all Gerald Durrell (whose books probably helped to hone my conservation/environmental bent). I read Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals as a child and collected many others over thirty or so years. Lately I’ve become a Michael Connelly fan; there’s something about his Harry Bosch character that I can’t seem to get enough of. And although I’ll pick up anything by Grisham, it’s the non-legal A Painted House that I love the best. Judy Blume. I’ve read her children’s books, her YA and her adult’s, and loved all. In the romance genre, I think Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer ensured that I’d read anything with her name on it.
Lately, I’ve read one each of Bill Bryson’s and Edward Abbey’s and I want to read the rest of their stuff.