Actual romances are not like romance stereotypes when they are well-written.

But Sally Rooney is not a romance writer and people who read her books expecting them to be romances will be disappointed, it’s a much bleaker and cynical world view.

Last one was Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier, the end of the book is quite tense.

Older books in particular require people who want to study them to do supplementary reading on the references the writer is making to things (things we couldn’t know about just from leading our lives in 2023) and also so we have some historical context and some idea of the world the writer was operating in.

Looking at the list is interesting - it seems to mean books loved by Americans rather than works specifically by US authors. I didn’t know if it was going to be a list of the best American reads.