Save Me From My Shelf

While we will keep updating here for the foreseeable future, you can now find us at the other place (where we may be far more active).

Tune in on Wednesday to hear us explore the legacy of George Orwell in Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' (1985): pigs, men - I can't tell the difference!

It's time to guess the clue to our next text. Our March episode goes out to my girls: Hagar, Bilhah, and Zilpah! What are we reading?

Happy Valentine's Day! We're going to wrack and Rouen with Flaubert's Realist sex-downer, 'Madame Bovary' (1857). We try to spot what Flaubert called 'the Big F*ck' and marvel that he invented the D.E.N.N.I.S. system long before 'It's Always Sunny.' podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/epi…

A revolution in style. A biting satire of bourgeois manners. Who cares? - we're reading Gustave Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary' (1857) for the smut. Tune in on Wednesday for a book so saucy it would make even Auguste Escoffier blanche!

Fancy an all-expenses paid trip to the Amalfi coast? Well, John Webster's 'The Duchess of Malfi' (1613) *may* be set there. Or you could take a snail-sled to Moscow. Just one of the many absurd (when not ultra-violent) images in this freak of a play: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/epi…

We had one correct guess! Season 6--which focuses only on banned books--will premiere with a staple of GCSE/A-Level literature, John Webster's 'The Duchess of Malfi' (1614). Tune in on 15 January for a gore-tastic spectacle.

Time to guess the clue to our next episode! For Season 6, we're only doing controversial and banned texts and *won't* do a Shakespeare play. We will start S6, though, with a contemporary of Shakespeare, whose very dark work is frequently taught in the UK. What are we reading?

We forgot to promote our 'Little Women' episode when it landed on Christmas Day. Apologies! Our Bookends episode drops tomorrow (which has outtakes, analysis, and discussion about which Beatle each March sister would be), so give it a listen now! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/epi…

Our 'Little Women' featured the obligatory 'which March sister are you?' segment. We also covered which Beatle each sister was, which humour, which Nintendo character and a range of other 'canonical foursomes'. New Christmas parlour game? Tune in on the big day!

Several people guessed our next text correctly. Landing with you on Christmas Day is Louisa May Alcott's American Civil War bildungsroman and all-around joyous lark, 'Little Women' (1869). As Jo March says, 'Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without any Save Me From My Shelf'.

It's time to guess the clue to our next episode, which drops Christmas Day! When we did 'Ethan Frome', our clue was: it has a famous scene featuring a classic winter recreational activity (in that case, tragic sledding). The same can be said of our next text. What are we reading?

@JoolsBurke We are on Bluesky and Instagram!

@SMFMS_Podcast Saw this article at same time as I was listening: theguardian.com/world/2024/dec… Are you moving to a non-twitter platform by any chance? Thanks

What links Chinua Achebe, Danny Kaye, and Carlos the Jackal? Naturally, our coverage of Joseph Conrad's definitely anti-imperialist but still probably racist laugh riot: 'Heart of Darkness' (1899). Out Wednesday!

SMFMS Book Group What: Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust (1934) When: Tuesday 14 January, 7pm (UK time) Where: Teams (online only) Who: Patreon paid members We'll send out a calendar invite/Teams link shortly.

Today is Thanksgiving in America: a day for family, food, and hopefully absolutely nothing from our new episode on Joseph Conrad's imperial nightmare, 'Heart of Darkness' (1899). In this episode, we also introduce the newest member of the SMFMS family! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/epi…

No one guessed our clue and most glaring omission: probably our most referenced text across all 5 seasons! Join us 27 Nov when we look at the dark side of humanity with Conrad's imperial horror story, 'Heart of Darkness' (1899). Just in time for cheery Thanksgiving discussion!

@MelloHog No, but one of our hosts does have the skin of a killer. We'll leave it to you to determine which.

@SMFMS_Podcast Is it Twilight, at long last?

It's time to guess the clue to our next episode! We had a lot of summer-themed texts this season. Now that we're properly in autumn, it's time to embrace the dark. What are we reading?

A dark day for Abby and all other straight-up PMC libs - but for Daniel, life is a bed of roses (albeit an incredibly labourious, itchy one). Marginalia, dog-ears, bookcase management, bad sex, and much, much, more in this month's Bookends. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/smf…