The world is waiting for the publishing industry to die. At the same time that the publishing industry is in decline, the romance book industry appears to be thriving and actually grew by almost 8% in 2009. Romance genres seem to be getting stranger and stranger by the day and include more sub-genres than ever before.

For the last few years, all romance novels have had to have a catch. It’s not enough for a girl to date an ordinary guy from her math class; she has to date a werewolf or a vampire. An ordinary husband is not enough; he has to be a time traveler or possess magical powers. Today’s women and teenaged girls appear to want more interesting partners in their romance novels, which might make it harder for the ordinary guy to live up to in real life.

It’s not only paranormal romance fiction that’s on the rise. In what might not be the most elegant of similes, Spencer Morgan of Businessweek wrote that, “The most popular microtrends of the moment are Amish- and Mennonite-themed romances, which covered the best-seller lists last fall like a giant head scarf.”

While I’m not exactly sure what the Businessweek writer was referring with the whole giant, head scarf reference, I’m definitely intrigued by the idea of an Amish romance. The Amish books described by the writer include an Amish romance novel about a woman “whose parents died in a buggy accident” and another Amish romance novel about a woman whose Amish faith is tested (maybe by her lustful feelings for a swollen member—the writer didn’t specify and I’m dying to see why). The Wall Street Journal has even more on this strange genre.

Crafters will be happy to note that they are no longer left out of the romance novel genre; there are several romance novels centered on the sexy craft of knitting at the moment. Again, I haven’t yet read any knitting romance novels, so am left to my imagination as to how exactly the wool and knitting needles fit into the romances—a knitting needle just might give an ordinary romance novel sex scene that extra sizzle it needs. I don’t even want to begin to imagine what wool could add to a sex scene.

Paranormal romances, Amish romances, and romances about knitting are just the beginning of what the world of romance has to offer. According to a reputable colleague, there is even a genre of romance novels—actually erotica—that is written for women by women about sex between men. Again, there are more sub-genres to the romance genre than almost any other genre.