The Ripped Bodice is a brand new bookstore in Culver City, and in case you can’t tell by the name, it specializes in Romance novels. It’s the first all-Romance bookstore I’ve heard of, and it cleverly sorts the books into all the sub-genres, such as Historical Romance, Erotica, and Paranormal Romance, which is sorted by creature! You want vampires, werewolves or shape-shifters? They got ’em all. There are also several that were new to me (but I’m only a Romance-dabbler), such as Sports Romance or “I Love Rock n’ Roll”.
The owners have a nice, broad view of what constitutes Romance, including plenty of books that aren’t strictly of the genre, and there is a section with books that tackle the stigma attached to it. There is even a section of Children’s Classics, which includes Cozy Classics, a series of baby-book versions of “Jane Eyre” and “Pride and Prejudice”, etc (but also Star Wars), that feature adorable characters made of felt.
I highly recommend stopping by, because it’s charmingly laid out and a pleasure to stroll through. I managed to catch a book signing by Historical Fiction author Donna Thorland, so there was a nice gathering, with cookies and drinks available.
(More pictures after the jump)
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- Books on the perception of the Romance genre
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- Those bad rock n’ roll boys…
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- Cozy Classics and other children’s classics
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- Donna Thorland signs “The Dutch Girl”
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- “Smart Girls Read Romance”
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- Witches & Magic
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- Starter packs!
