the ask@AAR: Is there still a canon for romance? What books should or shouldn’t be on it?
Almost exactly a year ago, I asked whether or not AAR should, as it typically does every five years, do a new Top 100 poll. As is the case with most questions, readers were split. They also made interesting suggestions.
People love top 100 lists. Put in Top 100 Romances in Google search (AAR comes in at third, after Amazon and Goodreads.) and you’ll see list after list. Are any of them definitive? No–how could they be? Are they evil? Some people think so. I’m not so sure. I see such lists as a source, not a final word, and as such things that may be mined for possible enjoyment.
We will be doing a Top 100 post this year. How, exactly, I’m still pondering. Feel free to offer suggestions! One place to start is to ask: What do you think does or doesn’t belong in a very best of romance novels list? What do you feel absolutely doesn’t?
