I don't understand all this love in these books

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I can't seem to find a good fiction book, on Amazon, without some cheap, shallow love story embedded within. I do enjoy reading, and at times I find the dance of love interesting. But why? Do people actually do this in real life? I'm not a complete social outcast ,I've just never had an intimate relationship before. But it blows my mind to an extent I cannot explain.

btw any fiction or non-fiction books you'd suggest

Mine! lol

Brave New World.

I read somewhere that the majority (80%) of readers of fiction are women which means they want what they want - romance. I wouldn't be surprised if over 75% of Kindle buyers are women. I can, therefore, see a lot of writers "diluting" their horror/fantasy/sci-fi/crime novels with some romantic twist just to get readers (and buyers).

^That was a bit of a sweeping generalisation, which I find offensive. Not all females want to read romance novels.

I don't think he meant that to be offensive, though it could be that writers assume women like that stuff. I am a woman myself, and I know it bores me to tears hearing about a fictional romance. Especially if I read a vampire book, I will have little interest in hearing about how much Zoey really likes Jesse and wants to have his babies, because all I will be interested in (and why I'm reading the book) is if they wind up as a dinner for the vampire.

Depends what your interests are

Do you like historical fiction?

science fiction?

^That's the same as how I feel about those kinda books.

I was reading a book like that and I wanted the vampire to eat the girl he was diggin. Is that weird? Anyway to the other guy i really both history and science fiction, but after awhile they all blend together. I know it sounds cynical, but its true.

"600 Hours of Edward" (no romance)
"The Fault in Our Stars" (definitely includes romance, but is an awesome book)
"Marcelo in the Real World" (a little bit of romance, but mostly just friendship with the opposite sex)
If you are actually interested in how an AS/NT relationship can work, then I highly recommend "The Journal of Best Practices"

Last edited by sbarne3 on 20 Dec 2012, 7:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I read a lot of crime and mystery novels, and it always bugs me to have to hear about the characters' love lives. I want to hear about the case, not about the characters' (usually tortured) private lives.

If you like crime/mystery, try Raymond Chandler. Pick up The Big Sleep and see what you think. IMO that is the best of his Marlowe novels (it's also the first).

Dashiell Hammett is also good, particularly The Maltese Falcon. Of course, you could just watch the Bogart movie - it's a pretty faithful adaptation.

A more recent series is the "Hennessey and Yellich" books by Peter Turnbull. There is a small amount of info on the private lives of the characters, but it's mostly about the cases. I think he is better known in the UK than the USA, but you can find the books on Amazon.
http://www.goodreads.com/series/65737-h ... nd-yellich

Oh, and of course the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels by Arthur Conan Doyle.

I'm female

I have read nearly all the books in the Shardlake series of historical novels by C.J Sansom, about a lawyer who solves murder cases in the time of Henry VIII in Tudor period of history in England

http://cjsansombooks.com/matthew-shardlake-series/

Shardlake is a lawyer and he has a hump back and so this puts a different slant on the usual stories where the 'hero' would usually be getting together with lots of different women. He has had to suffer a lot of prejudice and physical pain from his disability but he's risen above it and become very good at his job as a lawyer.

He usually has an assistant in his investigations and he has some romance but it's not a main part of the stories

I recommend the books - really good historical scene setting, mystery, and solving of murders

First book in the series 'Dissolution' - he's sent to investigate at a monastery where monks are being murdered.

Lately I get an overdose on Facebook of all those messages of love...I don't feel it, I try to take it on board,, but it doesn't work in real life..I find it all so cheesy...do you?

I don't relate to mushy romantic stuff most of the time - it's cliched and boring to me usually.

I like them to get on with the story rather than having romance or sex scenes in books or films as they do nothing to further the plot.

If you can relate to the characters in some way though ie imagine you are the male or female character, you can get some enjoyment out of this kind of stuff. It all depends on how likeable the character is though.

I came off Facebook (again) several months ago and don't miss it. It is for idiots who want to talk about every boring little detail of their lives and who have no interest in deep thought about a subject. They are shallow boring people being shallow and boring basically.

[Moved from General Autism Discussion to Art, Writing, and Music]

Well he didn't phrase it like that, even if that's what's going on. He presented it like it was a fact that "women want that stuff", that's the offensive part. I agree he didn't say that *just to offend people* or out of malice, that probably is what he sincerely believes. Still offensive. Nothing wrong with pointing out casual sexism in a nice way.



I don't like romance in books either. There is so so so much else out there though, that I can't really complain. But I guess the OPs question is more "are there more aspies out there that just can't stand romance and please suggest some nice books" and if so: Try some non-fiction. Or just find a list about the different genres there are, and look one up that sounds like something you might like. Good luck anyway