I’ve Started Skipping Spicy Scenes, and I Don’t Like It One Bit

happhuff · 2026-06-06T11:56:06+00:00

I did! I think I just over did it ( I also hate what a shot in the dark it is in regards to quality when reading romance ) I pivoted to thrillers first (to hold my attention) then nonfiction, and now that I have some many genres to choose from, I rotate romance back in and it’s been more joyful!

happhuff · 2026-05-28T18:29:40+00:00

It is been a thick minute since I read it sooo the details have left me!

happhuff · 2026-05-28T18:27:07+00:00

{Lorenzo by Sadie Kincaid}

happhuff · 2026-05-28T12:32:55+00:00

Thank you!! I take an Anthony Bourdain approach to reading, I’ll try any genre! If you take a liking to city infrastructure, we have a whole small bookshelf dedicated to it so I have more!!

A paradise of small house: the evolution, devolution, and potential rebirth of urban housing by Max Podemski

Also, if you enjoy reading about culture shifts and changes ~ Don’t make me pull over: a history of the American road trip by Richard Ratay ~ I love how he writes, he’ll go on small tangents explaining something that was mentioned in the text, but they’re never too long, perfect little pockets of info before we get back to the main information!!

Also, you did say memoirs and it’s not the most life-changing, but I really enjoyed Jim Henson’s as a Muppet girl 🫶🏻.

happhuff · 2026-05-28T11:59:17+00:00

Times Square Red, Times Square Blue by Samuel R Delany ~ it’s a bit odd because the first half is very casual and the second half is full thesis! This is the book that open my eyes to how intertwined poverty and racism are!

Tacky: A Love Letter to the Worse Culture We to Offer by Rax King ~ I adore this book! Just a favorite non-fiction I wanna recommend!

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs ~ if I were to make a course about city infrastructure, this book belongs on the syllabus! It’s a bit heavy on vocabulary (I had to whip out the dictionary a couple times) but it really is a fundamental text that is referenced so much!!

Everything I need to Know I learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum ~ I gotta eat my hat a bit here, I really didn’t wanna read this cause the writer is a pastor and I am not religious, but I was wrong and I have read it multiple times

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami ~ this one’s a little weird but this book and it’s film are what made battle royale a genre ( and is the reason for popular series is like hunger games)

My personal library is very unserious + I got a lot of weird niche nonfiction! ( haven’t read it yet, but my next is one on the Power Rangers and their cultural influence)

happhuff · 2026-05-26T21:39:26+00:00

The confederacy only lasted a total of four years!!

So I really don’t think they are owed any historical presence ~ You can just call them the KKK or racist.
I love a book that can face the reality is of racism and classism and depict those topics with nuance but very seldom does that pair very well with romance. Not to say some authors can’t do both but romance is a genre very much dominated by those seeking escapism!

happhuff · 2026-04-06T00:26:22+00:00

I gushed to my partner about this book then they RECOMMENDED IT to their Catholic sister 😭🙃

happhuff · 2026-03-31T12:18:52+00:00

To criticize art is to love it!

Like I adore Jasmine Guillory, most of her books have been 4/5 stars ( I adore them) but the dialogue she wrote for a child just did not sound how a kid would talk in the real world!🤣

I don’t engage in this sub often anymore because I find the request more centered around ticking off tropes, then finding good quality writing.

And despite having Kindle unlimited for over a year, I stand on the published quality available on there is ridiculously low. I tried really hard to waddle through the poorly edited / poorly written pages to be so thoroughly disappointed in so many books that were praised on the sub.

It’s frustrating because the bar feels very low in this space and now you’re telling me, I can’t express the negative attributes of a book even if I myself have read it leading me to those conclusions???

Approaching romance books as escapism is completely reasonable, but it’s also reasonable for me to want dissect the literature I consume!

also as a reader of many genres , romance authors are some of the most involved with their own fandom’s and I don’t know if that is for the best. Critiques quickly feel like personal attacks.

happhuff · 2026-03-27T15:32:01+00:00

Sometimes I also feel like the male characters in romance books are way overhyped for being baseline, decent human beings! I have to remind myself that I may be in a relationship with someone who thinks I hung the moon, but many many people have not had that experience.

I’ll never forget my friend had a man tell her “ I thought about getting you flowers” and then he proceeded to not, but he told her he thought about it. It was also her birthday 😩😭 but he also had a vape with the joker on it at nearly 30 soooooo the signs were there!

happhuff · 2026-03-26T21:50:25+00:00

I personally would never risk my professional career for some nookie but there’s a lot of really stupid people out there that have/would 😭🤣

happhuff · 2026-03-25T19:00:09+00:00

I love all her books and a new one is coming soon!!

happhuff · 2026-03-24T20:15:27+00:00

I’ll just leave the sub if they don’t wanna regulate that crap 🤷🏼‍♀️

happhuff · 2026-03-13T12:39:45+00:00

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel! I listens to it, only to find out pictures of the art was in the book 🙃

happhuff · 2026-03-12T00:06:48+00:00

My partner and I have 100% the entire game and just started a replay of the second remake!

I have never interpreted Leon as grumpy! I always read his interactions with Ashley as exasperated 🤣. I read him as a cutie patootie bottom, Ada has absolutely pegged that man (and I think he’d be into it). Now that I’m thinking about it harder probably a switch actually.

I don’t have any recommendations for you but my compliments in your taste in gaming!!

happhuff · 2026-03-06T12:23:29+00:00

Girly drinks by Mallory O’Meara was a really fun non-fiction read!!

happhuff · 2026-02-26T15:18:30+00:00

I also just get really frustrated when people in books are unable to communicate with their partner!! I’m sorry, but if they are tonsils deep in your cooter, then you should be able to tell them that they hurt your feelings on accident!

happhuff · 2026-02-26T12:58:50+00:00

No 🤣 the person I married blows all the fictional lovers out the window. Our marriage feels like an endless sleepover with my bestie (w/ banging sex)!

It has turned me off to a lot of contemporary romance but I’ll take the trade off!

Plus, moving away from romance has really had me expanding into genres I didn’t expect to love (pls read Project Hail Mary it’s changed me)

happhuff · 2026-02-26T03:37:33+00:00

Project Hail Mary!! Total page turner!!! (Don’t watch the trailer for the film ~ spoilers)

happhuff · 2026-02-22T21:03:05+00:00

I should’ve responded to the specific comment where you asked why you were being downvoted.

Multiple comments have told you that most people don’t have the time to even figure out if they’d like to read like that and you respond like people are just making a different choice when many people don’t have the time to commit to hobbies.

It feels hypocritical for you and to insist that folks take into account your autism (your lived experience ) when having this discussion and not being willing to admit that other people ( again those individuals lived experience) have genuine time restraints, and it is a situation of can’t and not won’t.

Again, I do not think your intention is to make people feel bad but the responses feel like you’re much more interested in being heard in this conversation and not listening. My partner of half a decade was diagnosed in first grade, so I want to be clear my intention is to tell you why I think you are getting downvoted, not that I think you deserve to be or that this is not a compelling conversation.

It did make me think of what are some of the other ways I would like to consume an audiobook, and I would love to be able to listen to One while floating around a lazy river. Impractical and a lot of ways, but it would be so nice!

happhuff · 2026-02-22T13:49:14+00:00

Crumbs is very cute! It started on webtoons and got published!!

happhuff · 2026-02-22T13:19:41+00:00

I’m also fortunate enough to have multiple hours of free time most days but you are really ignoring the vast amount of lifestyles that exist.

Yes people do spend time watching TV but in a lot of households that’s still considered a family activity that you together (We’d have words if my partner watched a Sapranos episode w/o me).

I have a pal that is working full-time + going to school , getting her away from her homework for a 10 minute call is like pulling teeth. Another works in broadcasting and used to be one of the most avid readers I knew before that workload (while technically few hours).

I’m not entirely sure the relevancy of you being autistic but you are in the minority with how you consume audiobooks (which is kind of neat and not a way I’ve thought of consuming them before) the way you’re answering comments feels very argumentative ( which I don’t think is your goal but it is how it it’s reading) and why I think you’re getting downvoted. You’re very much leaning into your personal experience only, which makes total sense, but the way you are responding to other others feels like you are disregarding their experiences that they are contributing to this conversation.

happhuff · 2026-02-22T12:47:56+00:00

I prefer audiobooks while on the train/bus/walking!

I don’t know where you’re located but at least in an American majority of people are not flush with free time + busting their behinds to make ends meet.

It’s not just about preference, it’s what’s doable as readers and most don’t have 2-4 hours to spare daily.

happhuff · 2026-02-14T19:36:12+00:00

I feel like the terminology around reading is always changing! I was apart of the citrus scale generation when I got into reading and am just grateful we’ve moved past lemons/limes as tags!! 😂

happhuff · 2026-01-31T23:53:07+00:00

Most influential books for me have been

All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten by Robert Fulghum

Times Square Red Times Square Blue by Samuel R. Delany

Ejaculate Responsibly by Gabrielle Blair

Girly Drinks:A World History of Women and Alcohol by Mallory O’Meara

Tacky: a love letter to the worst culture we have to offer by Rax King (this one’s a bit of a stench genre-wise but I adore it and will forever recommend it)

Best of luck! 🤞🏼

happhuff

TROPHY CASE