Folks on Instagram are sharing their "lore," aka the media that shaped their taste growing up. I love nostalgia-bait memes like this and seized the chance to reminisce about the books that taught me to love reading. According to my mom, I would ask to go to the "raybray," baby Ella speak for library. I demolished all of the Amelia's Notebook paperbacks, which inspired me to scribble in my own composition notebooks. The American Girl books and Dear America books fostered my love of historical fiction. Looking back, it's not a surprise that I'm a devoted diarist and I love to read historical romance.

At the romance read-in that I hosted with Katherine Grant in honor of Banned Books Week, a friend of mine mentioned her love of Ready or Not by Meg Cabot. That YA novel, as well as Cabot's better-known Princess Diaries series, is widely banned across the United States for its depiction of teenage sexuality. Most of the books I loved as a teenager explored desire, consent, and the decision of whether or not to have sex. These novels centered the agency of their heroines: their ability to know themselves, what they wanted, and what they needed. I am lucky I read so many books that respected girls and young women, and encouraged me to respect myself... regardless of what I did or didn't do with my body.

In my 20s I discovered adult romances. I found trade paperback historicals at a free lending library in my hometown and read them even as I judged myself for enjoying them. When romance became more mainstream as a genre with the success of contemporary authors like Sally Thorne and Emily Henry, I came to terms with my deep love of the books I once disowned. They brought me comfort during the pandemic and a turbulent, controlling relationship. Most importantly, they inspired me to grow beyond the erotic short fiction I'd written for years and finish a full-length novel: But How Are You, Really. That book would not exist without Beach Read, The Day of the Duchess, and What a Wallflower Wants.

Now I am lucky enough to read every day for personal enjoyment and professional research. As an author, a podcaster, and hopefully soon a publisher, I have met incredible authors all across the romance genre. Despite its formulaic reputation, romance constantly surprises me because each author takes its central promise of the happily-ever-after and does something unique to their voice and their experience.

What books are central to your lore? What books made you a romance reader? I would love to know in the comments.