Dabney AAR | DIK | DIKlassic
A DIKlassic Bookclub: Thumbs up or thumbs down?
As part of our site reboot, we’ve been publishing DIKLassic reviews. These are books that, in the past (at least five years), were DIKs–this means they got an A-, an A, or an A+. I typically pick books that are on sale–I shoot for 3.99 or less for an ebook.
These reviews have been popular and AAR readers often comment on them that they loved being reminded of books they’d forgotten about.
I thought it might be fun to start a bimonthly (every two months) DIKlassic bookclub. We’d suggest a book and then, two months later, chat about it in the comments.
What do you think? And, if you think it’s a good idea, what would you like to read?
I’m in, terrific idea! How about Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught? It’s an English historical I loved years ago. It’s classic McNaught with a big misunderstanding and a hero who grovels. I remember a particularly appropriate epilogue.
Sounds good to me. I’d love to do My Dearest Enemy, which I remember as delightful.
I just read it and thoroughly enjoyed it!
I do like to read about a classic I may have missed so I say KEEP it. Perhaps do genre months or weeks? Sci-fi romance, Contemporary, Paranormal etc? Then someone would be tempted to perhaps try an unfamiliar genre with several recommendations.
That’s a great suggestion. Thanks.
Here are some DIKlassics we could consider:
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Honor’s Splendour by Julie Garwood
New Life by Bonnie Dee
Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath
My Dearest Enemy by Connie Brockway
The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann
My Beloved by Karen Ranney
Enjoying the comments here. I think that Loretta Chase’s Mr. Impossible is THE THE THE quintessential romance book, a true classic that will withstand the test of time with a caring, intelligent, strong but not mean or necessarily damaged hero and a smart, feisty heroine.
I’ve only read a couple of those and it’s been a very long time for all of them (the Brockway and Heath are on my shortlist for rereads–so I’d lean toward those, if not LoS).
I love this idea. I read LoS a LONG time ago and didn’t get all the hype. I wondered why it was so beloved/hated by romancelandia. I think it’s an excellent book to start for that reason – I’m in!
I think it sounds fun. I look back at books I read 5 years ago that maybe were written longer ago and feel so differently today. Look at some old Linda Howard books. They feel so different today. I’m looking at you John Rafferty!
Anyway, I think it would be fun.
Thumbs up! Loved Lord Of Scoundrels.
I’d enjoy this. Though – and I understand your time is limited – I’d vote for a monthly club, both because it would be easier to remember to turn up for the discussion if it was on the same date(s) every month, and because the book club I belong to meets every 6 weeks, and if I read the book early, I find I forget details by the time we come to discuss it.
(Maybe some commentators would be prepared to take turns leading a discussion on an assigned book, so that the work didn’t all fall on your shoulders.)
I think some DIKLassic books were really great at the time they were published, because the authors tried something new to the genre – but then other authors follow suit. So if you happen to first read them later, after you’ve read the other authors, you wonder what all the fuss was about.
I’d actually be up for rereading Lord of Scoundrels – Chase is hit or miss for me – Lord Perfect was a DIK; Lord of Scoundrels I disliked. I’d always intended to revisit it some time – see if my opinion would change – and given it’s enduring position at the top of the best of the best list, it’s almost the classic DIKLassic.
What think you guys about starting with Lord of Scoundrels? The Kindle edition is 1.99 right now so it’s affordable. We could begin in May with it.
Ugh. Not only do I hate that book, but I can’t believe anybody who’s spent more than 20 minutes in Romancelandia hasn’t already heard of it. I feel like everything to say about it – should she shoot him? How is he with the kid? – has been talked about to death.
Well, I disagree with you which is, of course, just fine!
I love that book and I think there are many younger or new romance readers who haven’t lived through conversations about it. I’ve actually never discussed it with anyone!
We did a Winsome or Loathsome on Jessica about a year ago.
I love the book and am fine with it. Last time AAR had their book club, Lord of Scoundrels was read in it. It might be good to select other books less read and discussed, but I’m always happy to read this one anytime.
I haven’t read this book in many years and have been meaning to reread it so I would be interested in starting here.
Thumbs up!
I’m in! I just started doing a variation on this idea in audiobooks yesterday. I used AAR Power Search to find a DIK review by Caz and chose one of my earliest favorite authors (Amanda Quick/JAK). With an old favorite (Mistress) and a classic narrator (Barbara Rosenblatt) it will be interesting to see if the “book on tape” (it really was on tape in 1994!) has stood the test of time!
Thumbs up!
Definitely interested in this. I actually haven’t read a lot of “classics” so these could be first time reads for me (not a bad thing). But I have to admit, I tend to avoid older romances now because so many of them are really problematic.
I recently reread Judith McNaught’s Remember When and was astounded that it didn’t just hold up, but it was in some ways very prescient. That’s particularly interesting to me because i think her more famous works come across as very dated. I’d love to see that as a pick.
Love it! Count me in.
I think a book club reading is a great idea. There are still so many “classics” in the romance genre that I have not yet read.
As far as judging books, I believe that first and foremost books emerge from specific historical periods and context is therefore very important to keep in mind when reading any book. As far as whether we judge them by our contemporary standards, I think it is fair to consider how much if at all a book still speaks to us today, while balancing at the same time the historical context. There are plenty to books that I read today that do not speak to me but reveal so much about a particular time in the past, and therefore that book is relevant to my interests.
I am all thumbs up for this idea!
I have been reading romance since the 60’s (mostly the gothics and odd Harlequins) and the historicals of the 70’s.
Let’s do it!
If a book wants to live, it has to speak to today’s readers. Some classics become too dated (too sexist, or an outdated hero or heroine–the “feisty” heroine or the abusive hero) to endure. Others manage to transcend their original time. Nobody reading “Jane Eyre,” for example, considers it dated. It was a contemporary, but now it’s an historical, but its plot, characterization and theme are so well done that it is eternal. I would be very interested in a discussion of a “classic” book. Right now, I’m rereading “Honor’s Spendour” which used to be an all-time favorite of mine, but I’m finding the heroine too cutsey for my tastes, but that may just be my age, not the fault of the book.
I agree… and yet. I have what I think of as guilty loves. I know I should be appalled by the behaviour of the heroes in some older books that I love but I somehow am not because my morality assigns them to a different time.
I didn’t read Garwoods the first time around so I only tried her nearly a decade post publication. I’ve tried several and not one has held up, more than anything due to the exact problem of childish heroines you describe. I think in the age of Duran, Milan, Sherry Thomas, etc, the goalposts for historicals and especially their heroines have dramatically shifted.
The more I think about this, the more I see that, for me, the relationship I have with the books in my past is just that: a relationship. I am unwilling to dismiss my older loves because that means dismissing who I was when I read them. My teenaged self, struggling to make sense of the insane 70s, loved the order and clear roles of my trashy romance reads.
Completely agree. Garwood’s heroines are cringe inducing for me. I didn’t read her when I was younger though.
I read all of Garwood’s books back in the day and loved them. I tried to read one a couple of years ago and found it dreadful. Rather than spoiling more of what were great memories I decided I wasn’t going to try any more of her.
And I love this idea. Being a romance reader from way back I’d love to see how they’ve help up. I just yesterday got an ebook copy of Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught since it’s currently a very good price. I did the same with Once and Always. I’m almost afraid to try them though since I adored them back in the day but they are certainly old skool compared to books of today.
Kristie, I recently reread Once and Always, which I loved years ago, and it didn’t hold up for me. It was still well written and compulsively readable–I finished it easily. But, I was really disturbed by many things that happened in the book. There were really bothersome power dynamics, rape, and casual racism, none of which I remembered.
I think this is a lovely idea. I am always interested to see how a book I really adored has held up over the years. It’s not only fascinating to see how attitudes have changed in male-female dynamics but to see how the “levels” of what constitutes a really “burning” hot book has dramatically shifted as well.
Some of the “classics” popped into my mind like Lord of Scoundrels etc. but I think they get discussed in passing here quite a bit anyway. How about an author that used to dominate the awards and lists here that we don’t see mentioned so much as a favorite anymore like Suzanne Brockmann? I remember when her SEAL books and new releases occupied 90% of the discussion boards.
Yes! I’ve been thinking about whether or not it’s “fair” to judge books written in another time by the mores of our own. I’d love to hear readers’ views on this.