Reading Withdrawals

I've been going through a prolonged period of the *mehs* when it comes to reading.

It’s my fault.

I O.D’d on a bunch of books that were in certain subgenres and featured a favourite hero type.  Also, I wasn’t all that discriminating when it came to erm… the quality of the writing.  So had some hit and misses there while looking for, primarily, a quick read.  Now I’m finding it hard to even choose a romance/romance-subgenre book to download, much less decide to read one.

Some of the blurb words/phrases that have me backing away from possible downloads/buys:

- Billionaire hero/brothers/best-friends (especially when it’s paired with something incongruous like Billionaire Lumberjack(s), or Billionaire pastry chef, or if he’s only in his 20s.)

- “Book 1” or any indication this is part of a novella/short story serial. (Read/started a couple of excellent series/serials but I’ve hit my limit on them at this point. I will only start a series/serial now if all the books/parts have been released.)

- BDSM (which I actually like, but you can usually tell from the blurb when the element of bdsm is not intrinsic to the story/characterization but more of a hook.

- Anyone (usually the heroine) who is finding/exploring their sexuality, etc., - if this is the *main thrust* of the story, I’m giving it a pass. There are a handful of authors who write this trope very, very well, with layered/fleshed-out emotion and characterization. But there’s a lot of crackalicious boink-fests out there too, with a sprinkling of the heroine’s angst/backstory masquerading as story-depth.

- Sassy, Snarky, Smart-ass/mouth as a description of the heroine.

- Anything that sounds like it was inspired by Twilight/50 Shades.

There’s more, but those are the ones that come to me at the moment. :P

While I still prefer a romantic subplot in my stories, I’m shying away from full-blown romances or romance/subgenres and more drawn to stories that are primarily about other things (journey of self-discovery, mystery/thriller, etc).  But even there, I’m not making much progress. I’m partway through a couple of excellent reads (Anna Dressed in Blood and The Mystery of Mercy Close). In both cases, I enjoy the books while I’m reading, but find it soooo easy to put them down and it takes forever to pick them back up again.  

On the other hand, I’ve been reading the newspaper daily, going through a variety of magazines, and enjoying some really great writing on a handful of tv shows. 

 
I’ve gone through this phase before, it’ll pass. But it sucks to be stuck in the *mehs*.