Let’s face it, there is a lot of crappy science fiction out there, and unless I really devote myself to the genre, it’s hard to just go into the book store and pick up something that isn’t going to be terribly lame. You can weed out all the books with large-chested women who are falling out of their uniforms on the cover (unless it’s written by Heinlein), but that can still leave you with entire rooms full of books to wade through. The science fiction section at my favorite used book store is bigger than the entire fiction and literature section. The fact that most of it is not classified as fiction or literature should tell you something. Let’s just say that I have been burned by quite a few terrible science fiction purchases. And this was back in high school, when I was still devouring Harlequin serial romance novels without blinking.
-Jessa Crispin

My god, that’s me. Right down to the reading of romance novels in high school (well, junior high) phase of literary development. Wow.