PODCAST: BT060. All about romance lists

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Guests: Gabby & Rudi | Host: Kat Mayo | Audio producer: Rudi Bremer | Recorded: 9/06/2018 Sydney

When the AAR Top 100 Romances List came out this year, we had to interrupt our podcasting schedule to talk about the results. A quick count of the books by authors of colour paints a dismal picture: 16 books in total by 6 women of colour. Of the 6 women of colour, there was 1 black author (Alyssa Cole), and only 1 was not from the US (Nalini Singh).

There was a lot of conversation about the list in my Twitter timeline, and Rudi, Gabby and I definitely had some opinions about some of the titles that made it, and some that didn’t. Gabby also has very strong opinions on AAR’s decision not to rank the top 100 this year. And a quick correction: in Lord of Scoundrels, the hero has an illegitimate son, not a stepson.

But as with all podcasts featuring the Book Thingo bloggers, we meander through many other topics that may or may not be related to books. We briefly talk about the My Way killings (link below for context), and I just want to clarify that I don’t actually fear for my life in karaoke bars in the Philippines. (But I also don’t actually go to karaoke bars in the Philippines. Because, like, you can just sing karaoke in the backyard! Also, I don’t do karaoke. That part is true.) And if you’re new to the podcast, we have a running joke about my mispronunciation of words, and my inability to distinguish between Lisa Kleypas and Loretta Chase.

A final note: in a timely coincidence, author and academic Jennifer Hallock published her IASPR paper on fabricated chronotopes in historical romance, which explains (in a way that is easy for non-academics like me to follow) the additional work that authors have to do to portray unfamiliar settings and time periods in history, and the double standard they face from readers who criticise elements that they wouldn’t question in a more familiar (though not necessarily more accurate) historical setting. Her paper basically explain what Gabby, Rudi and I attempt to describe when we discuss An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole, a book that Hallock also uses as an example in her paper.

Guests

Gabby — Book Thingo blogger and writer of An open letter to the Sydney Writers’ Festival: @penneclearwater

Rudi Bremer — Book Thingo blogger and audio producer extraordinaire: @rudi_bee

Books

BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Beard Science by Penny Reid
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Devil In Spring by Lisa Kleypas
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — The Hating Game by Sally Thorne [ review ]
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — A Seditious Affair by K.J. Charles
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Unveiled by Courtney Milan
BD | BT | Amz — Let It Shine by Alyssa Cole [ review ]
BD | BT | Amz — Iris After the Incident by Mina V. Esguerra [ GR review ]
BD | BT | Amz — Fit series by Rebekah Weatherspoon [ review ]
BD | BT | Amz — A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Captive Prince series by C.S. Pacat
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas [ review ]
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Moon Craving by Lucy Monroe
BD | BT | Amz | Aud — Moon Awakening by Lucy Monroe

People

Georgette Heyer, Beverly Jenkins, Brenda Jackson, Nalini Singh, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, J.R. Ward, Sylvia Day, E.L. James, Joanna Bourne, Jennifer Crusie, Meka/@mektastic

Links

Missed a previous episode? You can find a list of all the Book Thingo podcast episodes here and catch up. You can also email your feedback and suggestions to podcast@bookthingo.com.au.