Shelf Love: Taking Romance Novels Srsly since 2019

Hi friends! I'm starting a Substack: that's the best place to find updates, musings, conversation, yada yada from Shelf Love. I want to focus on developing all of the ideas that have come out of 3+ years of the podcast w/ less mindless scrolling. Join me! shelflovepodcast.substack.com/?utm_source=tw…

Thank you to all who mad our first big event such a special one.💘 We had a packed theater, a swoon-worthy photo booth, & incredible conversations with @ahoffmanwriter. ✨ Thank you to @shelflovepod's Andrea Martucci for moderating!

👀 💕👀 If you study popular romance (novels, movies & more!), this call for proposals is for you: The 2025 IASPR conference theme is "Romantic Regions," exploring evolving relationships between romance, place, and space. Hybrid Conference: Mexico City iaspr.org/conferences/ro…

Thanks for sharing!

Spicy Books: you know what I mean? When “spicy book” starts to stand in for all romance novels, the descriptor of “spicy” becomes meaningless and creates a massive misunderstanding about what a “romance novel” is, for readers and non-readers alike. open.substack.com/pub/shelflovep…

If you were wondering why Fourth Wing is so popular, tomorrow’s episode of Shelf Love is for you. The episode is especially for people who resist popular things. Sarah Skilton is my guest.

@emmkick It all makes sense now..

@ShelfLovePod it’s for tailgating!

we’re starting sleeves

Are romance novels Camp according to Susan Sontag? I make a passionate case... open.substack.com/pub/shelflovep…

@carter_sherman Congrats!

It’s the 2nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned, so I may as well announce a project that’s been in the works since then: I’m writing a book! About sex, especially post-Roe! (Yes, this news is from 2023, but I’ve been busy and I deleted social media to, ya know, write.)

@FumlovesHEAS This is amazing. Sounds like you have a great therapist and also you’ve done the work to get to this place. ❤️

We discuss: 📕🎥student reactions to the book's adaptation ❤️‍🔥responses to romance novel stereotypes 👩‍🏫the challenges of teaching romance in a very short period of time to students without much background in the genre Transcript: shelflovepodcast.com/episodes/seaso…

Is teaching a romance adaptation the same as teaching a romance novel? How do non-lit students engage with popular fiction in the classroom? @DianaFilarski is back to discuss teaching "The Hating Game" by Sally Thorne. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rom… open.spotify.com/episode/0EVD27…

@rhondawithabook In fiction, where it’s easily avoided, it’s definitely a choice. 😂

@ShelfLovePod The average human has over 1000 4th cousins, and also shares an average of 0.2% of their DNA with their 4th cousins. With a random stranger it’s an average of 0.1% so biologically it’s not that weird. Socially and psychologically, yes it’s weird

Help! I’m watching a Harlequin movie from the 1990s and the hero and heroine just discovered they’re 4th cousins! They are unbothered!

@shipper_xphi The heroine was a genealogist so I suppose she has an ongoing interest in getting to know family trees.

Well anyway, they kiss like they’re 4th cousins. 2/5 don’t recommend Broken Lullaby (1994).

Also hero discovered a bomb under their car and leaves her standing next to it to run after the bad guy. And she just stands there. People shoot at them in a balcony and they go out on the balcony the next morning. This is based on a Harlequin Intrigue. 🙄

@shipper_xphi I mean, I think we can hope they wouldn’t be having or doing things with each other. ..

@kariebookish Ok well you’re not too far off. He’s potentially a Russian/Hungarian Baron. Or something.

Bridgerton is all noise, no signal. Always has been. I want to enjoy it, I really do - I just feels like it’s all form no function. It’s performing romance and sex, but I don’t FEEL it.

It feels like they’re being hot separate from each other. The camera shots where you can only see one of them breathing heavily in the direction of the other off-screen doesn’t help. I feel like I’m watching Alicia Florrick and Kalinda drinking together at a bar in season 6.

Controversial yet brave Bridgerton opinion: I think Nicola and what’s his face are very attractive people, but I feel like I’m being gaslit about their chemistry. All of the supposed hot chemistry on this show has the impact of water mixing with oil (to me! It’s my opinion!)