I really disagree with how lowbrow is being framed here! I think a lot of people are saying not just genre fiction but in particular novels targeted at women as lowbrow.

When I think of lowbrow I think of something that is poorly written, like a lifetime movie or hallmark channel movie or to cite a man version of this (because no one ever does!) like a jean claude van damn action movie. Something that really seems mostly slapped together to be a diversion and frequently the characters behave in ways that don't make sense and the dialogue is really mediocre.

I don't think of Liane Moriarty as lowbrow, What Alice Forgot is a great book. It touches on a deeply emotional aspect of being a woman! I certainly don't think of HP as lowbrow. Stephen King is DEFINITELY not lowbrow.

I think the Dan Brown/Jack Reacher world is a little more like that in the same way Ruth Ware I think is like that. And I just BLEW THROUGH ACOTAR but I would call that low brow too. Long rambling soliloquies, somewhat inconsistent character behavior, a long goal towards a happy ending without worrying TOO hard about anything but the destination etc. And yet even these lowbrow books certainly have value!

I think of lowbrow mostly when something becomes kind of a factory. So John Grisham I think is pretty interesting because some of his novels I think were great (The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Firm) but the he clearly got to a point where he was writing a version of the same story over and over again. So you don't pick up the latest John Grisham to get a great original story. You pick up the latest John Grisham to get a story about a young scrappy ethical lawyer who somewhat against his will encounters a large injustice that can be impacted by his legal skills and how he goes about helping those that have been trampled by someone more powerful and there is always a girl somewhere along the way. Like another poster said they want a story about a small town girl who falls in love with the city guy who's car stalls out when he's at his lowest and he walks into her diner. When someone becomes a vessel to just give you a known quantity story, that is lowbrow (which I don't mean as bad!).

Stephen King I think is actually notable because he has reached that extremely prolific status of just churning out books that you would think would end up in that kind of category but his stories are still actually very different and creative, they are NOT all the same. Not even a little bit. There are certainly some that are better than others, but he isn't a factory for a certain story told 100 ways.

For me, I do love me a post apocalyptic YA novel with a young female protagonist who is tough as nails!

johanna lindsey
laurell k hamilton

The Lady Sherlock series. But it’s also excellent and I’ve been using it as an example in book groups of well-written female gaze and neurodivergent main characters so…lowbrow with lots of sophistication

^^Sorry, Hilderbrand.

Ellin Hilldabrand—pretty settings and appealing characters who are decent people who resolve never insurmountable problems. All’s well that ends well. Listened to these during a stressful time. Like a trip to the beach.

Stephen King—hit or miss but 11/22/63 is great. Time travel, sweet love story. I listened to it while commuting one summer. Spins out like a yarn. Not horror. Great as a audiobook.

Historical romance novels- I like Regency era romance. I read so many of them in HS and college when I needed a break from real life- they're still comfort reads for me.

I think the use of lowbrow on this thread is unsavory. It’s not like we’re discussing watt pad or AOO.

Don’t let people tell you that books that center women and women’s pleasure are lowbrow or should be “guilty pleasures.”

Anonymous wrote:Is smut lowbrow or is that a separate category?

I went through a smut phase and now an on a regency romance phase apparently. I also read real books so I can talk about them in public.

I read a lot of smut too. I’m reluctant to post on these threads because while some things are clearly filthy, and others clearly wholesome, I’m not always sure I remember where the stuff in-between falls on the spectrum.