Below you’ll find the top 250 books from all the write-ins from Round One. Choose AS MANY of these as you’d like.
Please pick your personal favorites, as well as any you feel should be on the list on principle.This round will be open until May 7th at 8pm EST and you will only have the opportunity to vote once in this round. So please be sure of your choices before you hit “done”!
In the next round, we’ll combine the top vote getters from this round and the top ones from our original 50 list. You’ll have 150 books to choose from in that round, before we narrow it down to the top 100! The final round will be the Top Ten Shootout, where we’ll give you the top ten from round 3 and you choose your overall winner.
Please note: each book is using its proper title, so check the “A” “The”, etc. options as well.
Click here to vote!
Here again are the rules:
Round 1: Select as many books as you want from the list provided. It is meant to just be a starting point. There are fifty books on it–the list will ultimately have 100 books. Then, in the write-in section, enter up to ten books that are NOT on the current list you think must be. All book choices will be given one vote so a write-in has just as much weight as one on the list.
Round 2: The nominations from you, our faithful community, will be provided to be voted on.
Round 3: The ranking begins…
Round 4: Once the Top 100 is established, we’ll give you a final chance to rank the Top 10. This will be the only time your vote will be restricted to 1 book.
Spread this thing far and wide – we want it to be as reflective of Romancelandia in 2018 as it can be.
What is Sarah Maclean doing here? Her historical romance novels are the worst, not to mention Elizabeth Kingston. Are you kidding me? This author writes like my niece. You should have included Shadowheart by Laura KInsale or Red Adam’s Lady by Grace Ingram (both medieval romance novels).
I’m apalled to not find Cecelia Grant, Sarra Manning, Mahiri McFarlane, Sophie Kinsella, Robin Schone, Marsha Canham, The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, Jean Webster, Jane Austen, Fanny Burney, Catherine Lowell, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, The Serpen Garden by Judith Merkle Riley, Dark Angels by Karleen Koen, Longburn by Jo Baker, etc in this list. Instead the 80% of this list are books about sex scenes, mediocre plots and poor writing. Really disappointed. Not voting again.
These books are readers’ choices. When it comes to reading, there is a wide variety of tastes out there. Also, several of the authors you mention were included in the first round of this poll and will, we feel sure, be in the final round which will open next week.
This is only the second round, and if a bunch of authors you just mentioned, like Jane Austen and Laura Kinsale don’t make it on the final list I’ll eat my hat.
I found it. Sorry.
Is the second round open now? Where do I vote?
I’ve been reading all the comments and I agree with many of the ideas expressed, namely: 1) that is very easy to be less inclusive or even unaware of (our own blind) prejudice; 2) that the AAR Top 100 is a reader’s poll and, as such, will inevitably be biased by personal tastes.
Now, I’m not sure we (as readers) can put all the effort for a faster change (for more inclusion and diversification) on the AAR staff’s shoulders. I think that their “work” right now is already remarkable. This is a big site with lot of posts, reviews, general information, interviews… plus polls. I visit it regularly because I like to read all this stuff and because there are constant updates. Now–do I want more? Yes, I do. I want more reviews etc on different authors and stories (race, gender, sexuality, etc). Heck, I’d love to read more reviews on lesbian romance or out of the America/England/Canadian background. However, I also think that for that to happen people have to approach the AAR staff and say: “Hey, I love to read different stuff, I know how to write and make some fair criticism and compliments… Will you accept me as a (occasional/steady/whatever) reviewer? I’d love to cover X kind of novels.”
Seriously–I think the path to change is not only to say what should be done but also to help on that effort. More inclusion is faster when new voices, with different tastes, join the effort.
Thanks for the support. We are always looking for qualified new reviewers!
I wish I could upvote this excellent comment.
This is an excellent comment We are always looking for new reviewers.
It is always more important to be the instrument of change than to demand that others change. .
I just wish to add that I believe we (as a romance community) are making progress. I can quite imagine, though, that for writers who have been systematically shut out it’s been too damn long in coming, and that the lack of representation should not have happened in the first place. It is also my understanding that we (white readers) are NOT being asked to stop buying/reading our favourite white authors, whoever they may be, and yes, even the outspoken racists ones. I make a choice that *I am comfortable with. But here is the problem I have with polls like this, which isn’t necessarily a reflection on AAR. Some of the older published books that continue to make the TOP Lists, I find extremely problematic–sexism, racism, erasure, etc, fill the pages. And, to me, they were just as problematic then as they are now. The difference is, we now have the internet to discuss such things. I will also add that *I am uncomfortable when an author, ANY author, chimes in on a review of her/his/their book, thanking the blogger for the reviews. I think it shuts down reader conversation. But that is just *my perspective. YMMV.
Speaking as a reader, not as AAR, I’d say that it’s possible to enjoy things that you can see are problematic. Fiction has always presented worlds that we may like to experience in our imaginations but would loathe in our reality.
Agreed.
Whether it’s a book by James Joyce, Nabokov or a Harlequin Romance author it’s up to the READER to decide its worth and if it is right for them to read.
As some one who has spent a great deal of time studying both the law and history I find it more than a little disturbing that people want to manipulate other people’s opinions.
Hi Chrisreader,
Thanks for taking the time to respo