In the beginning...

For the avid reader there is no end to the literary options available: fiction, mystery, true crime, sci-fi, biographies, military histories, travelogues. The written word connoisseur could spend hours perusing the shelves of their local bookstore, finding endless opportunities for entertainment. Yet there is one aisle of books into which we slink like a thief. It is among these books that we feed our guilty pleasure. With cover art that ranges from from sedate to scintillating, we sneak these titles to the cashier sandwiched between magazines and greeting cards. Despite the potential for embarrassment (raise your hand if you have ever had to bob and weave your way out of the romance aisle in order to avoid running into one of your students...yeah) we continue to return to these shelves time and again. Romance, intrigue, passion, angst. These books deliver them all. We love them. We devour them. We DO NOT read them on the train during our daily commute. That is where our chick lit selection come in to play. Chick lit (or "romance light") gives us a hero, a heroine, and some romance, but in a safe-for-the-work-place delivery. We love these darlings, too. How could we not?

Herein lies a problem. There are so many books we can get our hands on (bobbing and weaving not withstanding). How does a girl find the book that is right for her? How do we sift the good from the bad? The hot from the not? The "it's so bad I love it!" from the "it's so bad my brain has melted (and not in a sexy way)!"? Sure there are hundreds of sites out there on this here Internet that provide you with reviews. You could check out any of those. Heck, I do. So what is special about What Women Read (WWR)? Well, I don't know. Hey, I'm being honest here! I am not an author or an editor. My opinion is not in any way that of a professional. I am, however, a reader. A romance junkie. So here on WWR I would like to share reviews and commentary of books that span the whole women's literature spectrum (fiction to chick lit to the good old steamy romance novel.) In addition, (and this is something I like to think may be unique-ish to this site) I would love to have a book of the month. A book club for women who love romance, angst, intrigue, and passion. I hope you will join in because, quite frankly, arguing with myself over the quality of the latest Nora Roberts book can get quite boring. Share you thoughts, your ideas, and your book recommendations! Please! This girl needs some new reading material!