Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2022 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 19: 5/6 - 5/12
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Mod
I guess I ..."
Yes! I often read books that are difficult to categorize. Sometimes they have clear elements from multiple genres, sometimes nothing is clear. Like, I just finished Four Aunties and a Wedding last night. It FEELS like a genre novel, but ... what genre? It's not a "romance," because Meddy & Nate are already a couple when the book starts. It was far too ridiculous to be called a "thriller." And there are some secrets to unravel, but I hesitate to call it a "mystery." It didn't feel like it followed the "chick lit" formula, either.
I would never call Romeo & Juliet a romance! It has elements of a love story, but it's a straight-up tragedy.
Almost to the finish line. Last 7 days of the school year can't wait. I haven't finished any books this week. I did start a new book though.
New book: Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert. Just got interested in the series because of "Get a Life, Chole Brown". I am about 80% done. I don't like Dani as a character as much as I liked Chole, but it is a good read.
Still working through: Parable of the Sower, Rush, and Ebony Encounters: A Trilogy of Erotic Tales.
I'm just not motivated to read these right now. I hope to get back to them after school is out.
Question of the Week:
Have you ever read a genre novel that felt as if you were reading general fiction?
I'm going to be honest, I am not really sure what this question means. What is considered "general" fiction? I generally take books as they are written. I don't go into them with anything more that expecting to get lost in the story.
Hey all! Look at me, posting on a Friday. I was off yesterday, too! I totally lost track of time. It's not my fault. I'm the victim of a surprise attack by a K-pop group who are now keeping me in the hold of their pirate ship. It's OK though, it's very nice here. Today was my first shift after orientation at the bookstore, and whoa am I having culture shock. It's so chill and everyone is very nice. Part of me is clearly waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I didn't finish anything!
Technically I am currently reading The Marlow Murder Club but I haven't picked it up in days. Because pirates.
I've not started a single thing for AAPI month, but I am learning a large number of very strange things about Korea lately, so... that's something. I'm sure transliterated song lyrics are in my near future.
QOTW:
I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I don't usually pay enough attention to genre to notice if a book was light on it.
Mod
I'm so glad to hear that your new job is even better than you expected!!
poshpenny wrote: "Hey all! Look at me, posting on a Friday. I was off yesterday, too! I totally lost track of time. It's not my fault. I'm the victim of a surprise attack by a K-pop group who are now keeping me in t..."I'm so happy for you! After all the difficulty with your previous job, it sounds like this one is a much better fit!
Nadine in NY wrote: "Yes! I often read books that are difficult to categorize. Sometimes they have clear elements from multiple genres, sometimes nothing is clear. Like, I just finished Four Aunties and a Wedding last night."Was Four Aunties and a Wedding good? I've been thinking about starting that series, but just haven't gotten around to it.
Hi Everyone!It's been a long time since I checked in. Probably 2 months? But life has just been crazy and when Thursday came around I forgot all about these weekly check-ins until a day or so after and didn't have it in me to pull out the laptop since I look at a computer all week long.
I want to say all kinds of exciting things have been happening since the last check in but not really!
My husband and I did go on a little trip to Utah to meet our new niece and she is a very adorable handful. Ever since, I've been working a lot of overtime at work to implement a new system and I've only cried over it a couple of times. I'm going to need a nice long vacation in June! I turn 31 this weekend and all I really want to do is relax, try not to stress, and have my husband BBQ me a burger while I drink wine... so that's probably what I'll do.
I have done some reading since the last check in...
Finished:One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Audiobook version and it was one that was difficult for me to get into. Prompt: A book with onomatopoeia in the title
The Devil Wears Black - I love everything LJ Shen writes. Prompt: A book with cutlery on the cover
The Speed of Light - Fantastic. Sometimes Amazon First Reads puts out some really good ones. Prompt: A book that takes place during favorite season (Winter)
My Evil Mother: A Short Story - I don't normally do short stories. I specifically did it for this prompt. Prompt: A book you can read in on sitting
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper - This was great! Very interesting book. Prompt: A book set in Victorian times
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone - I was a bit disappointed but it's still Outlander and I still love it. Prompt: A book featuring two languages
Currently Reading: The Storyteller's Secret
Phew! Longest weekly check-in I'll probably ever do.
I am now 29/40 for the 2022 PS challenge and 32/52 for my yearly goal.I had a GREAT week of reading. Books I couldn't stop thinking about.
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid- Reid is now my favorite author. I've read three books by her for this challenge and I've loved them all. I really enjoyed the style of this book. This was for the prompt about a band or musical group.
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn- I listened to this on audible. I couldn't wait to go for a run or get in my car so I could listen to this book. I'm currently watching the series on Netflix, which of course is so diffeent from the book. The love story was so sweet. Very typical YA or Hallmark movie, but there's something about the British accents and nobility lifestyle that just drew me in. This is for the classic romance prompt for the 2015 PS challenge. :)
The other book I read was for the "can read in one sitting" prompt. It was a fun graphic novel called Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova that I chose from my classroom bookshelf. Very cute book and fun read.
I got this idea a few weeks ago to watch all of the Marvel movies and series in chronological order (as determined by some really geeky people in some article I ran across). It might have been a big mistake because I'm obsessive enough that I have to watch every night, but I'm getting tired of watching people fight. I'm now basically playing computer games whenever a fight breaks out. I had no idea there were so many series. But since I'm not a quitter, I'll continue on even though it is really cutting into my reading time. Next up is The Black Widow, which I haven't seen before. It will be nice to focus on a female character for a change. Finished
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 5 stars; PS #9 (found family)
Wow, I loved this book so much that it even cut into some Marvel time. I'm starting to wish that I had paid attention in science classes - I was under some delusion that it was boring. This wasn't the type of "found family" book I meant to read, especially since he is alone for much of the book. Anyway, can't praise this book enough. I didn't think Weir would be able to write a book I loved more than The Martian, but he managed it.
Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup by Pamela Mayer - 4 stars
Picture book of a half Chinese, half Jewish girl whose two grandmothers make chicken soup. It's adorable and fit both AAPI and Jewish American Heritage months.
Goodreads: 33/100
Popsugar: 15/40, 4/10
QOTW:
I don't pay all that much attention to genre. I don't remember things being sorted so neatly when I was growing up and didn't think of books in those terms. Some books had love stories, some had mysteries, some were on a different planet, etc., but they were just Books. I pay more attention to genre now, especially since I've been doing Popsugar challenges, but I can't think of a time I read a book and felt like it didn't fit into whatever genre I thought it was.
Nadine in NY wrote: "omg thanks - I just spent way too much time reading about that game. Looks like I would buy it for my computer via Steam. My daughter already had a Steam account - should I just use her account or create my own? I'm guessing I should create my own? ..."If you create your own account you can link your libraries to share games. Most of what I play are my partner's games. And you can create as many cities as you like, I think different maps have different strategies. We have quite a few of the DLC now so I think some of that might be connected, but the base game has plenty!
Sheri wrote: "Fevered Star - I was a bit disappointed in this. It kind of had second book syndrome for me. Felt like it was a lot of just setting things up for the next book, and not a whole lot really HAPPENED besides a lot of political maneuvering..."I think this was why I took so long to read it, I don't mind the politics aspect but it doesn't keep me gripped. I enjoyed it overall but it was definitely a middle book.
Lynn wrote: "I have two veterinary appointments tomorrow for two sick kitties. And I’ve been helping a friend who is undergoing severe medical challenges with appointments, etc." Good luck with you're kitties! Hopefully it isn't very serious. And it seems like a though time for your friend. Good that you're there for her and I'm hoping that she will recover quickly with all the support.
Ellie wrote: "and then spending far too long making a sandbox zoo in Planet Zoo (which takes me about an hour to decorate one tiny area, but I love it)."
I also play Planet Zoo and this sounds very familiair :')
Nadine in NY wrote: "My 8 yo dog has had a mysterious ailment that has brought her to the vet multiple times. Suddenly, she'll be in pain, so much so that she can't lie down, she yipes and paces and trembles and pants all day long. After a few days, it goes away. He can't seem to figure out what's wrong, but he's given me some pain relievers for her. Her blood test showed no elevated WBC, so it's probably not an infection or cancer, so for now I'm just doing the "wait it out" approach."
Oh, no, poor baby! :( Waiting it out must be so difficult for you... Maybe you could go to another vet who could have some more ideas?
~~~
Here I'm enjoying the warmer weather a lot. I spent a lot of time inside before we got our puppy, but now that we have our girl we're going on adventures everyday and I'm meeting so many new people. I also met a dog owner who takes care of someones horses in the neighborhood and she said that I could join her sometime. I'm really looking forward to that since I miss being around horses so much since my dear old horse died last year.
And our pupper is finally getting used to us and our lifestyle it seems. Before she would be a brat while we worked from home, especially if one of us was working at the office. She would grab everything in the house that she could get her teeth on in order for us to drop our work and give her attention. Over the past weeks she has been very chill. Still dissappointed if someone leaves, but then she just gets back to what she has been doing. She plays with her toys, instead of playing with everything but her toys, on her own now and just sleeps most of our work day. I'm so proud of her progress and it's such a relief to have a companion instead of a time-consuming wild animal :')
QOTW
As others said, I understand the question but there is not a specific book that comes to mind unfortunately. Good question, though!
Popsugar: 16/50 (only 1 book behind schedule, I'm finally catching up!)
Recently Finished
Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier ~⭐⭐⭐⭐ ~ #15. A book by a Pacific Islander author - really enjoyed this one, I definitely recommend it!
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo ~ [⭐⭐⭐⭐] ~ #37. A book about gender identity ~ I also liked this book, but then I read something awful about the author's personal life (alledged abuse) which muddled my feelings about the book. Still don't know whether I'll remove my rating for the book because the story could be helpful to people.
Currently reading
Revolutie met recht by Roger H.J. Cox ~ #42. A book that features two languages ~ I finally made some progress with this book! I made a planning because it's interesting but the information is hard to remember if I read to much. However, I have some more motivation to read more because the book ends with a -t. I discovered that not many English books on my TBR end with a -t and this is a Dutch one. It gives many opportunities for books on my TBR starting with 'The' for #20. A book whose title begins with the last letter of your previous read.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan ~ #22. A book with a character on the ace spectrum ~ listening to this as an audiobook and I'm enjoying it so far
Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry ~ #29. A different book by an author you read in 2021 ~ Love it so far, I'm a real greek mythology nerd and I loved Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold as well!
Planning
week 21 ~ #25. A book about a secret ~ The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
week 22 ~ #2. A book set on a plane, train, or cruise ship - Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
week 23 ~ #28. A book set during a holiday ~ Beach Read by Emily Henry ~ waiting for this for a while from the library but it's taking so long I'm considering buying it... But it's fine, I have other books to read so I should just be patient
week 23 ~ #31. A book featuring a man-made disaster ~ The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green ~ I already read a book for this prompt, but then I fit it to another prompt because I'm really interested in this book and it fits. This is also a library reservation, so hopefully this book will be available for me to read by then.
if the library books above are delayed, I'll read:
#43. A book with a palindromic title ~ Mem by Bethany C. Morrow
#10. An Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner ~ Beloved by Toni Morrison
Mod
I love action movies but find extended fight scenes incredibly boring. I fell asleep in the theater during the last (ridiculously long) fight scene in Infinity War. Just get it over with already! They're superheroes, no one ever really dies and everyone can overpower everyone else, so the display of brawn feels pointless. Just punch the other guy a few times and move to the next scene. It's the plans and twists and machinations and takedowns that I enjoy.
When my daughters were little they both were quite insistent that they did NOT like Marvel movies. I borrowed all the old movies from the library and we watched them all in order (this was back before Age of Ultron), and I finally won over my older daughter. She's now seen all the recent Marvel movies without me. It's thanks to her that I ended up watching the Wandavision, Winter Soldier, and Loki series (and I really enjoyed all three). (Oddly, she still doesn't want to watch Jessica Jones with me - I really like that show, but I tend to not watch TV when I'm alone, so we never finished season 1 - maybe she'll change her mind soon.)
Younger daughter is holding firm: Does Not Like Marvel. She seems to be a DC gal, she likes WonderWoman and Catwoman. I always liked Batman best, myself, so I get it.
Mod
Yay! it seems to take forever when you're in the middle of it, but finally they settle into your family :-)
I also liked this book, but then I read something awful about the author's personal life (alledged abuse) which muddled my feelings about the book.
I've heard the book is great, but this is why I can't bring myself to read it.
Teri wrote: "I got this idea a few weeks ago to watch all of the Marvel movies and series in chronological order (as determined by some really geeky people in some article I ran across). It might have been a bi..."I started my own full MCU rewatch* several months ago. I think the last one I watched was Iron Man 3, which I liked better than the first time I'd seen it, but I need to get back to it bc it's been awhile now. I keep getting distracted with other movies and series.
*Films only, although I do need to catch up on Falcon/Winter Soldier and Loki. And What If, I suppose. There's so muchhhh
Mod
It is good, but you have to be prepared for it to be completely ridiculous.
Have you read any of Janet Evanovich's numbers mysteries? It's like you take that, set it in California instead of New Jersey, make the protagonist Indo-Chinese American instead of Hungarian-American, make her sidekicks her Indo-Chinese mother and aunts, have all of them run a wedding planning company instead of bounty hunters, start off with your heroine thinking she's murdered a guy, and ... go. MASSIVE highjinks. Do NOT attempt to take it seriously.
Read them in order, because the second book gives away a lot of the plot from the first book.
Nadine in NY wrote: "It is good, but you have to be prepared for it to be completely ridiculous.Have you read any of Janet Evanovich's numbers mysteries? It's like you take that, set it in California instead of New Jersey, make the protagonist Indo-Chinese American instead of Hungarian-American, ..."
That sounds like a fun time to me! I will definitely be checking those out as soon as I have a chance.
Nadine in NY wrote: "But I see Heller is listed as writing "men's adventure fiction" and that gives me pause. Is this going to be one of those books where the only women characters are merely decorative? Only one way to find "I call those, along with Tom Clancy typebooks, 'Male Bodice Rippers'. I even have a shelf named that. I confess to a fondness when i need a yrash wallowof a read.
While catching up on reading pists...I am behind ... I suddenly thought about 2 more books for QOTW:The Christmas Spirit by Elisabeth Fairchild and Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah. Both are marketed heavily as Christmas romances, shelved as romances, but while thereis a romance...that is notthe main plot. These are fantasy, ghost story, full of magic, one isset in regency era the other the 2000s. There are otherworldly vibes in the stories an writing.
They are beautifully written and crafted.
Hello hello!I know, it is Sat and I am late but, after being all prepared for this on Wed I ended up now being late instead. LOL.
I’ve been on a mission to clear out my Currently Reading this week and to fulfill as many prompts as possible. Most of the books I am CR and have waiting for me to read will fill something. Hopefully I can keep this going ‘cause I am almost done. I also realized that I only had two months left to finish my personal 50 States challenge from 2021, and that I still had almost 20 books left, with a month and a half to do it in! I really wanted to finish Popsugar this month but, we are already halfway thru! So, I’ll try and shoot for finishing the challenge(s) by June 30th. We’ll see since the kid gets off school in two weeks (EEK!!!) then has a two week break before summer school starts. (Random thought: Do you all in the southern hemisphere call it winter school?) I think what will make it harder is that it gets to the point where it is all those prompts that are either hard to fill or you have been avoiding and now you have to find books that work and sometimes you just don’t really like them that much but, you force yourself to finish it so that you don’t have to find another book you may not like either.
2022 Challenges:
Popsugar: 37/50
ATY: 37/52
A to Z: 22/26
50 States:
2021.....33/50 (Have until end of June)
2022.....12/50
Read Harder: 12/24
Goodreads: 79/100
Finished:
5 finished this week, 1 for Popsugar
Leaves of Grass
No Challenge
Well after “reading” this for three years I decided to push thru it after finding the audiobook so, now I can FINALLY say I am done with it. There really was only a few poems that I liked. So much of it is just written in such an old style that it can make it hard to understand, this is the kind of poetry that can make people not like poetry.
A Black Women's History of the United States
No Challenge
I liked that this book covered different areas of black women’s history… art, history, science, politics, etc. I also liked that it started from back in the 1800’s (possibly earlier), and was written chronologically, which made it easier to follow. While it is a history book it is also the story of black women’s history so it is not written like a boring old history book you might have had to read in school. They make the facts understandable by not listing them as facts so much as stories, filled with as much background and context that they could find during their research.
A Molecule Away from Madness: Tales of the Hijacked Brain
ATY #7
A good book. It’s about mutations in DNA and how some of them were discovered. Also about how the lack of things, like vitamins, can cause harm or death to the body as well. It’s a short book (about 280pgs) and an easy read too.
Simmer Down
ATY #41, ’21 50 States
A tiny dose of local (Hawaii) culture, mixed with feuding food trucks turned romantic entanglements, added with a dash of friendly competition make this a quick and enjoyable read set in a fabulous location. I did find it kind of sad that none of the characters were actually from Hawaii and were transplants instead.
Clap When You Land
PS# 7, ATY #23
This was good. I kinda wish that the girls had met sooner and that there was more to their getting to know each other.
Currently Reading
At First Light
Burning the Breeze: Three Generations of Women in the American West
(I’ve put these two above aside for now b/c I have too many library books to read that are due in the next 2 weeks.)
Fourth of July Creek
Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous
QOTW:
Have you ever read a genre novel that felt as if you were reading general fiction?
I was kind of confused by this question but, after reading other's responses I think the best I could say is that I don't really think of it that much, especially as I am reading. Only for challenges do I specifically pay attention to a books genre. I base my reading choices on the blurb of the book and whether it sounds interesting or not. Although there are genres I tend to shy away from.
Mod
I have two veterinary appointments tomorrow for two sick kitties. And I’ve been ..."
Almost sounds neurological? I don't know. I hate it when the furbabies are seriously ill... Our Mini has an eye infection and Sissy has an upper respiratory infection, so now I'm corraling (wrapping up in a towel like a burrito) each of them twice daily to administer medicine. Such joy! NOT! But at least easily diagnosed and treated. Sure wish I could help your furbaby! 🙁
Mod
I have two veterinary appointments tomorrow for two sick ki..."
Oh geez. I bet they run away when they see you pick up a towel now! LOL! Good luck corralling them! The "nice" thing about infections is they clear up right away when you give them their medicine.
One of my old dogs would have seizures, and Molly's behavior is similar, but not quite, so I'm pretty sure it's not a seizure, it's just her being a weird little dog. I don't know what causes the pain (and she doesn't seem to know either!) but I'm hopeful it will mostly stay away.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Oh geez. I bet they run away when they see you pick up a towel now! LOL! Good luck corralling them! The "nice" thing about infections is they clear up right away when you give them their medicine."Gack. I'm still impressed my largest (21lb) cat allowed me to administer his meds for an early UTI last week without too much fuss or the necessity of being a burrito.
Nadine in NY wrote: "I love action movies but find extended fight scenes incredibly boring. I fell asleep in the theater during the last (ridiculously long) fight scene in Infinity War. Just get it over with already! They're superheroes, no one ever really dies and everyone can overpower everyone else, so the display of brawn feels pointless. Just punch the other guy a few times and move to the next scene. It's the plans and twists and machinations and takedowns that I enjoy."I haven't minded the fight scenes when I saw a movie only every few months or so, but every night has been too much. I decided to give up on most of the series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, etc.) because I'm starting to hate them all. I've seen at least one season of each, which probably gives me all I need. Because of that, I recognized Matt Murdock (Daredevil) in his cameo appearance in the latest Dr Strange movie that I saw on Saturday. Wasn't worth the time spent on the series.
I'm guessing it would have helped to have watched Wanda Vision before this latest Dr Strange movie as I couldn't understand what her motivations were. So I'll watch that and Loki when I get that far.
The Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness movie is strange and definitely full of madness. It's nice when you are warned by the title. Probably my least favorite Marvel movie ever.
Ashley Marie wrote: "I started my own full MCU rewatch* several months ago. I think the last one I watched was Iron Man 3, which I liked better than the first time I'd seen it, but I need to get back to it bc it's been awhile now. I keep getting distracted with other movies and series."You were wise to stick with the movies and the later series. And wise to spread it out a bit.
I'm actually proud of myself that I let something go. Usually if I'm following a list of something, I am compelled to do everything on it. It's ridiculous.
Mod
I don't mind the fight scenes in Daredevil or Jessica Jones, because they don't last too long - that's the nice thing about TV I guess, each episode is only 40 minutes so the fight can't be more than a few minutes.
Wandavision and Loki are very enjoyable, because there is a mystery to unravel, each episode gives you more clues. And there is not a lot of fisticuffs.
My memory is a little foggy and I wished I had re-watched The Avengers & Endgame before watching Loki. The show does a pretty good job of reminding you of what's what, though, but it would have been better if I remembered on my own.
Wandavision picks up at the end of Endgame, too.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Michelle wrote: "And our pupper is finally getting used to us and our lifestyle it seems. Before she would be a brat while we worked from home..."Yay! it seems to take forever when you're in the..."
Exactly, our patience was wearing thin even though she is just a baby and can't help it herself. I prepared myself that raising a puppy would be difficult and I experienced puppy behaviour before at my mom's house, but it's a whole different experience when you're doing it with your own pup. We still have lots of work to do, e.g. leaving her alone entirely and working on her focus during walks (I'd love to have her off leash one day, but she has really strong hunting instincts so it will take lots of practice in completely safe environments at first). But she's improving so much already and I'm really proud!
And I definitely understand that you can't bring yourself to read it, I wouldn't have if I had known before reading it.
Currently reading Burying the Honeysuckle Girls. Enjoying so far.
Don't mind me - I'm just reorganizing weekly lists.
Mod
LOL they'll just get all messed up again when someone comments on an old post! Like I did just now :-)
You can change the way posts are sorted - the default is by last activity, but if you click on "topics" it will sort by the topic header, and since each header has a number (week 1, week 2, etc), that will put them back in order. You will have to click twice to get it to sort from largest number to smallest number. Of course it will probably change back to the default again next time ...
Dammit I just tried that and it does not work because the sort function thinks 20 is smaller than 9, so it sorts 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-20-2-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-1 That's a dumb sort function!!!
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Leaves of Grass (other topics)A Molecule Away from Madness: Tales of the Hijacked Brain (other topics)
Clap When You Land (other topics)
Simmer Down (other topics)
A Black Women's History of the United States (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Kristin Hannah (other topics)Elisabeth Fairchild (other topics)
Roger H.J. Cox (other topics)
Meredith Russo (other topics)
Makiia Lucier (other topics)
More...
I guess I didn't mention it before, but I do actually agree with the writers as well. When you think of romance as a genre, rather than a story element, it makes sense that a happy ending is essential for a book to be considered a romance. I do think, however, that ambiguity can be introduced when writers of other genres include romance-heavy plots in their books. It kind of blurs the lines between genres and makes individual books more difficult to categorize.
In fact, now that I think about it, that may account for some of the "tragic romances" that I have read...
Nadine in NY wrote: "I don't know when exactly. I think in the 18th & 19th centuries, genres were not recognized and defined the way they are now. I'm not sure what books you're referring to. Perhaps what you're describing was a "sensation" novel or a gothic novel. Like The Woman in White: there's a romance in there, for sure, but it's a sensation novel, not a romance novel. Wuthering Heights contains a love story, but it's no romance, it's a gothic novel; calling it a "romance" does a disservice to the book, because people new to it read it expecting a happy romance storyline, and that's not what you're getting at all, Catherine and Heathcliff are absolutely destroyed by their love."
Many of the books I was thinking of do fall into the "gothic romance" subgenre of gothic literature, but I was also thinking of titles such as Romeo and Juliet and Me Before You. I've always considered these to be romances, but maybe this is a case of genre ambiguity...and they're really best described as romance-heavy tragedies.
I think it's a really interesting conversation though...especially since you mentioned that the topic does come up frequently on Twitter. It really is too bad that I got rid of my Twitter account. :)