 |
| Lori Carroll, Current Owner Jan's Books |
Well hello there. Nice to meet you. I’m Lori Carroll, current owner of Jan’s (a used and new bookstore in Beaverton, OR that turned 41 years old this year). Jan’s started as a paperback exchange in 1981 and has stayed mostly fiction focused paperback for 41 years. Mystery/Suspense is our number 1 seller at the store, with Romance being a very close second. Personally, I am a “only romance” reader, meaning that I don’t like anything that isn’t romance. Now that introductions are out of the way, here’s a little bit more about me!
 |
| Jan's, Beaverton, Oregon |
I ended up choosing Women’s Studies as my major, which doesn’t pair well with most romances as you can imagine. Prior to starting WS classes, I couldn’t pick a book up and not love it… Everything was gold. That came to a screeching halt once I got into my major classes. I started seeing all the problematic storylines in the older books I was reading. But, the really cool part was that I was able to see the progression of romance books from the 70’s to the 2000’s. I also found Maggie Osborne, who had some of the most feminist storylines I’ve ever found in a romance book. Too bad she retired almost as soon as I found her. Some of the things my brain had a hard time reading while I was studying the systemic oppression on women was Westerns where the cowboys tended to be a little too bossy and Fated Mates in paranormal, where choice was taken away.
 |
| So Many Romance Genres!!! |
After reviewing Regency romances exclusively for 2 years, I burnt out on historicals. It took several years before I would be able to read any more of them. And even now it’s pretty rare I just pick one up.
10 years into reading I found myself needing more emotional impact from my stories than I was getting from most romances. I got pointed in the direction of M/M romances and found a whole new world. At the time, gay relationships still had a lot of trauma surrounding them in real life, so the stories written had struggles to overcome that you didn’t see in mainstream books.
At about the same time, Young Adult was exploding on to the publishing scene and I found another area where you could explore topics that weren’t seen in most romances.
Along came Why Choose novels (aka Reverse Harem) and I found another world to dive into.
 |
| Jan's in Beaverton, Oregon |
Now here I sit, 22 years a romance reader, with a bookstore that provides an endless amount of choices coming in and I still find myself with nothing to read. I can’t wait to see what the romance community comes up with next for the new subgenre that gets us all excited!
8 comments:
Jan is a fabulous supporter of the romance writer community in the Portland area! It was great to learn more about you!
Thanks for your post, Lori. It's great to see your reading and career journey. I agree that happy endings are a must!
I drive past dozens of bookstores to get to Jan's Paperback in Beaverton, OR. Lori is so supportive of local romance authors as well as within the broader community. You can't go wrong stopping by Jan's to find your next fabulous read!
I haven't been to your store yet, Lori, but I have heard so many good things about it from Judith and the others on this blog that I plan to come down sometime. I am in Washington, close to Portland. Loved your post and can't wait to explore your store.
Jan's is my Jam! How hokey is that? Love, love, love this book store for SO many reasons. Bravely, they stayed open during the pandemic and figured out a way to get books into the hands of readers when they really needed them. An amazing supporter of local authors of all genres and really nice people to boot! I wish I still lived in Beaverton ~sigh~ Visit today... visit often!
Enjoyed learning about your journey in reading romance and all its subgenera. Good luck on sales!
I live in CA so probably won't be coming to your store. But many of. my friends in the Portland area do go to your store.
What you have done with Jan's is wonderful, Lori! The store is beautiful and well-organized, the selection outstanding, and our support for local authors is unrivaled.As soon as my husband recovers from surgery, we'll be stopping by. I enjoyed your post.
Love this, Lori. I live on the East Coast, but I have my Jan's mug prominently displayed at my house in Maine, sent to me by one of your loyal customers (Judith - see above.) Because I have been hearing about Jan's for years (and who knows if I'll ever get to visit,) I also follow you on Instagram. You and I have so much in common. I hated reading all the way through high school. And it wasn't until my kids were growing and I went back to college (in my 30s) that I "discovered" romance books. Now I read several books a week, have written many and published a few (#8 and #9 coming this fall.) But also, I too, majored in Women's Studies (mid-80s) at a school that had gone co-ed in the 70s. I had to fight tooth and nail (with the male dean) to design my own Woman's Studies major (which finally became a minor the year after I graduated, and is now a major) So, fun to finally "meet you" and hear your story. Someday, I might make it out to Oregon.
Post a Comment