Lightened Up

Taking a break from romance blogging wasn't planned, but it did have some good side effects.  During my self imposed exile I learned to lighten up and not take romance reading so seriously.  Most of us read for escape and entertainment, not for enlightenment or to find a life plan, yet so many of us take the process of reading and blogging so seriously, in the past myself included.

The other day there was a review Carolyn Jewel's Indiscreet on Dear Author. It seemed like a good review, sounded like a book I'd enjoy, like one I'll be adding to my TBR pile (I'd already decided on this one, Rosie's review had already convinced me to pick this one up). The woman who posted the first comment apparently is married to a Kurdish man. This is from her initial comment...

I just can’t stand cultural appropriation. So I will have to pass. Middle Eastern/Persian/Arabic culture has become taboo, so it will be popular for exploitation

I flinched. It had nothing to do with the review or the book. For several comments it looked like the review might be hijacked, morphing into something that might cause another controversy.  Was she entitled to make this comment--of course.  Was this the forum for discussion--maybe, maybe not. Sarah Frantz is looking for papers, wouldn't this be a perfect topic?

My husband is Sicilian American, should I not watch The Godfather movies or the The Sopranos because they are sterotypes of Italian/Sicilian American culture, or do I allow myself to escape and be entertained.

Several years ago I read Scottish Historicals on a fairly regular basis.  After numerous discussions on message boards,  it was brought home how inaccurate so many of these books were in  historical information and culture, to the point that I gave up on them, rather than focusing on the story between 2 characters I was focusing on the details.  I've probably missed some great books because of this.

I'm not trying to diminish the need for historical and cultural accuracy or personal preferences.  I'm annoyed about historical inaccuracies when I find them and I have definite preferences but these days first and foremost I want to escape, be entertained and believe happily ever after is possible.