Hi, everyone. Welcome to Novel Hour Live Gossip Edition. Okay. We gather every other Monday. So not every Monday, every other Monday. And we kind of round up some of the things that are happening in the bookish world, in the bookish community. We'll also touch a bit on pop culture and whatever else is going on. So if you have something you'd like us to discuss, leave it in the live chat. If you're watching the replay of this replay crew, we'd love to hear from you as well. So please leave your comments with any thoughts feelings or topics you might have now It's the monday after the oscars. So let's just get into that first and foremost So last night we had the oscars and we had quite a few book adaptations That were set to receive, you know nominate a win possibly Because we had lots of book to screen adaptations nominated, however, comma, they just weren't really getting the win. So I'm just going to do a quick recap because I had covered some of the adaptations that were nominated. Now let's talk about the ones that won. Now, Amelia Perez had the most nominations of any book to screen adaptation. And I think quite honestly, of any Oscar film for this year, they had a total of 13 nominations. They only won two. However, so best supporting actress went to Zoe Saldana and best original song. They also won for best original song for El Mal. Now word on the curb is that one of the cast members was hella problematic and that probably contributed to. Them, not winning as much because I mean 13 nominations. You only went home with two. Okay Let's get to wicked real quick We'll share thoughts at the end wicked took home two academy awards one for best costume design and one for best production design They had 10 nominations conclave won best adapted screenplay now conclave had eight total nominations Then we had dune had Received I think maybe three or four, but they took home two wins for sure at the oscars It's claire of another film by the name of anora. I don't have that cover because again I was focusing on book to screen adaptations. They were the one who really you know had a big sweep in terms of Wins at the oscars last night. We'll get into like the performances and high points and things we liked But just as it relates To the nominations and the wins. Like, what are your thoughts? I mean, Francesca, how are you feeling about like the book to screen adaptations? I feel like it made sense that they didn't win as big. I think that there were also other bigger contenders. However I do have to say that I, I did like how the Amelia Press thing was addressed because there was a moment of call out. in the presentation. So I was happy to see and I was happy to see Zoe Zaldanya get an Oscar. So that I was happy with. Yeah, I was happy for her too. I mean, it's been a minute for her and I've been watching her for years. Yeah. Yes. Laura, what did you think? I have to say, first of all, Zoe Saldana's Best Performance Center Stage, I, God bless that movie from 25 years ago, it still lives up to its hype and you still have to watch it. So I love a Dominican winning an Oscar. Love it. And I love that everyone else was just Ignore. Right. Yeah. Conclave should have won all the awards because I love gossiping cardinals and I've been telling everyone to watch the movie. It is just delightful. I want a new, I know there's going to be a conclave happening soon. I wanted to treat it like a reality TV show. I want confessionals, I want the nuns the service worker, the cardinals. Tell me what's going on because this is like a reality TV show, like trying to figure out. Who's going to be the Pope? All twists and turns. I actually am grateful that Nora won in some ways because it's like dark romance girlies are like living it up. This like marriage in Vegas with some mafia involved, nipple baby. It's like, but it's It just brings a, the taste or difference. I know there was a big buzz about Demi Moore not winning the Oscar for The Substance, but she won the Golden Globe. It is okay. There's more time. So, but it's great. Yeah. Also, I actually really like the fact that a young woman won the Oscar. Like we, we need to start that to be a trend. Like it cannot always be the older, more established actors, they've had their chance. Yeah. So give it up to new people. I have to counter that because Demi has been nominated time and time again. Demi has done amazing performances. And I said to my husband last night, Obviously, I am a sucker for Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. So, obviously, I was pulling for Wicked, okay? I'll get more into something that they did, but I remember saying to him, I would hate if they split those two up. Meaning, Ariana won Best Supporting, but Cynthia didn't win Best. Or if Cynthia won Best, but Ariana didn't. So, with that in mind, a lot of people are saying, like, Demi was a favorite to win, because Demi has been waiting for her turn. So I'm just saying, I know you said, like, give it to the younger folks, but what happens when you don't get it when you're younger and you keep going and you keep going, and my husband's point of view was, yeah, they might give it to her, meaning Demi Moore, because she's paid her dues. But what happened to those women who are consistently overlooked? And I dare to bring it back to the Grammys and the fact that Beyonce just won album of the year after years. I'm just saying. Yeah. Yeah. It's true. So I actually, I think Wicked, they're waiting for the next movie. It's part two. They're not giving them the awards right now. They're like, we're gonna wait till so it doesn't sweep two years in a row. And that's probably because it's voted by the Academy. So They're probably thinking we don't want to, it's going to be a boring show if you have it two years in a row. Yeah, I agree with that. I did say, look, if they gave it to Demi and just snubbed Wicked along the way with all the other nominations, then you know, they had another chance. I will say I was pulling for Demi because I'm like, it's been years. It's been years. But if you're just joining us welcome, this is on Monday, live news, gossip sesh, just everything happening in the bookish space and the real world and pop culture and all these things. We like to keep it light and cute over here because listen, the real world is wild out there. So if you're joining us say hello in the comments, like Nikki, hi Nikki saying hello. Yes, hey, so say hello to us in the comments let us know where you're watching from Also, let us know if you watch the Oscars if you were pulling through for anyone again The book to screen adaptations lots of nominations, but not as many wins I do want to get into the night though because I personally love the opening with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande so Ariana started With, what's the name of that song? Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Then they came in and they did their duet, Defying Gravity, which, again love, down. How did you feel about these two and their performance? I thought it was amazing. Yeah, what are the highlights of the show for sure? Yes, and the touch of the ruby red slipper behind Ariana's dress is like, homage to Wizard of Oz. So, yeah. Yeah, I love that. I just really enjoyed it. The only other graphic I pulled from the Oscars, because this is something I personally enjoyed, okay? I know this is going to sound very corny. Y'all don't come for me. However I am a Bond girly. Okay. I am a Bond girly through and through Ian Fleming through and they had a special tribute to James Bond and specifically the producers and people who have produced Bond over the years. So we had three performances. We had Lisa, Doja Cat and Ray perform like three big songs that are just very iconic with Bond. We had Live and Let Die that was done by Lisa. Doja Cat did Diamonds Are Forever, which by the way, I thought she was great. And then Ray did Skyfall. Now I have to be honest, when I realized they were doing like this rendition, I was like, they have to do Skyfall. Then I'm like, I wonder if they're gonna do Adele. Is Adele gonna pop up? And then I saw like someone come up, I'm like, is that Adele? By the way, I was watching in my bed, I was way back, I jumped up, and then I was like, oh shoot, it's not Adele. My husband was like, I should have recorded you because that was wild. Clearly I was disappointed. I wanted Adele to be there, but I enjoyed the performance. Did y'all catch that? Did y'all? Yeah, that was fun. Yeah. That was fun. One, one caveat though. I watched all of these like recaps and like snippets on TikTok because I don't watch the Oscars live. I got all of my goodies by watching like all the replays from all the TikTokers and influencers. And I'm like, I got it in like a half hour. Best way to do it. I felt that it was a little too long for me. And I was like, okay, just get into the show. It's a really long show. And it's like a frigging marathon and we're in the East coast. So it's really late. Even just start earlier this year, start seven o'clock. It's still like pretty late. Like, like I just want to get to the big awards. Like, I don't care about this. We don't have a James Bond movie going on right now. So why are we having this interlude for like seven minutes? Give me some awards, give me some tea, show me some celebrities. I get it. I get it. I appreciated their performance again. I know I said it at the top Okay, i'm a bond girly through and through Ian Fleming Forever loved it. My granny even has an Ian Fleming story. I'll tell you all that another day Maybe if I cover James Bond and Ian Fleming, but yeah, I appreciated it. I just wanted Adele That's what the girl was asking for But anyways, if you're just joining us again, welcome Let us know in the comments where you're joining us from drop a comment. Say hello Let us know if you watch the oscars or not. Were you pulling for any of the book to screen adaptations? We'd love to hear your thoughts. And Nikki's chatting with us today. So Nikki says I'm tuning in from Puerto Rico and I didn't tune in at all. LOL. I didn't watch any of the movies other than Wicked and I loved Cynthia and Ariana's performance. Yes, hands down these two. It was a great way to start the show. Okay. Great way to start the show. I was living for the two of them. I kind of love seeing their relationship to off, off, off the show, off the performance. I just, I love how, they have each other's back in a way and they're always lifting each other up. So yeah, I can appreciate it. That was a highlight for sure. But if you have any Oscar thoughts, let us know in the live chat replay crew, if you're watching the replay of this. We haven't forgotten about you. Let us know your thoughts in the comments. So I have a notepad with things that we're covering. Okay. Next up. You know what? Let's do the light thing. Although it's not really light. Cause we have two big things. Let's go to the Supreme court. Shall we have some light reading, nothing major, let's go to the Supreme court. So. I've covered this on the channel. We've all talked about this individually on our respective channels. Book banning is a thing, okay? It is very real and it's out here in these streets and it looks like it might be heading to the Supreme Court. So now our sourcing is from the SCOTUS blog and it's basically saying that it will get to the point where the Supreme Court may decide whether a group of Maryland parents can opt to have their children exempted from LGBTQ themed storybooks. This Oh, I don't see the date. But anyway, the justices mentioned that they had granted Mahmood v. Taylor, in which a coalition of parents from Montgomery County in Maryland contend that requiring their children to participate in this kind of instruction violates their religious beliefs, violates the First Amendment and rights. To freely exercise their religion. If you all have heard about this, I mean, what are your thoughts Francesca, how are you feeling about just the fact that, again, a different form of book banning, but you know, the case, going to the Supreme court, what are your thoughts? I'm concerned going to the Supreme Court because can't be trusted, but I just find that it's so we are. We were just talking this morning about how usually they want to refer to things not being in schools and it's. technically always revolving around like porn. Oh, well, I don't want porn. And the fact that if that's the driving, usually force behind what they want to put out. And now they're really going and targeting LGBT stories where they're not at all anything to do with sexuality. It's just people just living their lives. So, yeah, I just, what do you think, Laura? I think it's important to know that Montgomery County is the county surrounding DMV area, the DC Washington DCV. It's actually where Bethesda, Silver Springs, Potomac, Real Housewives of Potomac. It's a pretty, it's a high end, like it's a wealthier county. So there's, but it, think about it. So close to the federal government. So it is not the, like, it's not in the middle of America. We're talking about, we're talking about Maryland, which is mostly a blue state. And we have this scene, like it's now seeing this thing. And it's about story hour. Like, it's like, what's the next thing that can happen? Like, children's book and story hours about LGBTQ issues is like, what are else we're preventing. I'm going to be contrarian, okay, because I love a balanced conversation. I get that certain things don't align with certain religious beliefs, especially as a person who went to church school and everything for me growing up revolved around church. And I do think as individuals, we do have the right to decide the kinds of education, we want our children to have. I think the problem is when it comes to what is enacted in public schools. Me, I'm a church school girlie through and through. I love a church school. So, with that, I know a certain instruction is provided there, but with public schools, it's like slightly different and I don't think you can necessarily dictate because it's like you go to school with people of different faiths in public school. So what might not work for you might not work for someone else I do think you should have the option to elect it's like sex education parents have to sign off on Whether their children participate in certain things if you don't want your child to participate don't participate. But again, don't deny other people From having access to something that you necessarily don't agree with. It's like saying I don't want my child to have pizza Okay, are we gonna go ban pizza from the entire cafeteria? No, we teach our child. Listen pizza ain't good Don't order no pizza. We don't eat pizza in this household But if other kids want to eat the pizza, let them eat the pizza. You just don't, you pay for something else or you provide your child with lunch. Okay. I think it's interesting because we're getting into the nitty gritty because peanut is banned because there's allergy issues. Like they're going to say like, well, it's just same thing. Like you're banning something that just because one kid doesn't work, it doesn't bend for everyone. Yeah. But again, there's a reason I chose it's a personal. Yeah, my friends, I could say the same thing for chicken. I could say the same thing for fish Life and death is separate an analogy life and death. That is how I view it anyway So if you have an allergy you can possibly get seriously ill you can possibly die where that is concerned There is no if but nor maybe yeah, you cannot have that but pizza as far as I'm concerned Look people can be allergic to cheese People might be allergic to chicken or something. I'm just saying When it comes to something universally accepted something mashed potatoes on the menu Just because I don't want you eating mashed potatoes, I'm not eating rice from this household. We can't, yeah. Eliminate it from the cafeteria. You just don't order, I went to school with vegetarians. I sat down, I'm eating my meat. You're eating your veggies over there and we are fine. We can have a community, and we are cool. I respect you, you respect me. I grew up with a whole bunch of Muslims, okay? In my neighborhood, specifically. Because I went to church school, so everybody there was Christian. But, you have respect! I respect that. I believe what I believe. You believe what you believe. We are cool. And that is it. So that's how I feel. Just don't sign up your child for it. It's wild. We'll see. We'll see what the Supreme Court will tell us. What are you going to do? Stay tuned. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. If you're just joining us, we were just wrapping up our conversation about a case in Maryland, where it's possibly going to go to the Supreme Court, where parents want to opt their children out, but essentially it's. It's coming across as banning storytime with books that have LGBTQ characters in them. Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Again, we don't have to all agree. See, I was quite the contrarian to this conversation. You don't have to agree with us, but share your thoughts in the comments. The only thing I ask is that you be respectful because we do not moderate adults here. Okay, we don't moderate adults. No, we don't do that. Just be respectful. Okay, going into more problematic things, because listen, that is just the world that we live in right now. Okay, we are going to get into a particular publisher who is publishing works by two particular authors. Both of which happen to be super problematic right now. So the first one I'm going to get into is author Sophie Lark. Now this book cover that I have up on screen is for the Sparrow and Vine. It was supposed to be the first book in a series. The information that was available online before it was removed is that Sparrow and Vine series. This is the first in a brand new arranged marriage series about a woman who has to marry a man from a rival family in order for them to secure their portion of an inheritance. Now, full disclosure, you cannot find this book on Amazon anymore. You cannot find it on any, Goodreads, Netgalley, anywhere, anything. This was pulled before the author and the publisher and everybody involved pulled everything down about this book. Now you might be wondering, well, hey, what is wrong with said book? Well, let's get into it. So we're going to credit the well read nurse on Threads. This is from Threads, right? Yes. Who did a little highlight from a section in the book. And I quote, it says, highlight yellow location 839, and I quote, but shouldn't there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for hot? Okay, that is one line of a larger, more problematic thing. Clearly, this author is alluding to immigrants who Are not here legally. They should be the people picking off things. I mean, we live in a very fraught time where, you know. Things like this is extra, super, super sensitive. So clearly there would be a lot of backlash surrounding that. The author then goes on to put out a statement. I'm going to read the statement for you all, especially if you are listening or you just can't read the text on screen. So author Sophie Lark in a statement from Instagram says, I want to start by saying how much I appreciate this community. Your passion, support and willingness to engage in meaningful conversations have always meant the world to me. That's why it's so important for me to address something I got wrong. It has been brought to my attention that certain lines in Sparrow and Vine were hurtful. Reading your messages and hearing your perspective over the past 24 hours has been humbling, and I want to acknowledge the pain my words have caused. I'm truly sorry. My intention was to craft and demonstrate a flawed main character. But instead I wrote dialogue that read as attacking to a community I care about very much During the editing process bloom and now i'm going off course bloom is the publisher if you're not familiar guys Bloom recommended removing these lines and I made the wrong choice in keeping them I now understand the impact I now understand that impact matters more than intent And I regret that my words caused harm. Please don't blame bloom for my mistakes. I wrote this back in the summer of 2024 and a lot has changed in the world since then, particularly in regards to the fate of immigrants worldwide and certain public figures. Some things I would write differently now. So that's exactly what I'm going to do. Words mean nothing without action. So I'm pausing this book. And this series for some rewrites to ensure that my work doesn't contribute to harm I will also be listening more closely to our sensitivity readers and taking additional steps to educate myself On responsible storytelling and to those who took the time to share their feedback. Thank you to those I have heard I am very sorry. I hope I can earn your trust again in the future I know that was a lengthy statement, but that was from the author sophie lark. It can be found on instagram That was just basically screenshots what are your thoughts on this statement? I'm just going to say real quick, because I want to hear what you all have to say. The fact that she said the world changed from 2024 when she originally wrote now we're in two months in 2020, not much has changed this. No, go off. No, just people came out of the woodwork and just said that quite loud, quite a thing out loud. So yes, it was, the issue was always there. The issue, the statement was. always hurting the people that you're actually serving. It's not just doesn't matter your immigrant status. It's just like we're in a place where there's high sensitivity and this rhetoric was going on last year in the committee trail. So this is not brand new. The fact that she blamed that she's trying to spare bloom from all hurt. It's still bloom still put the on that galley for readers to read it. So they probably there's, they still have responsibility. If they chose not to bloom could choose, like, this is not ready to go. And basically says we're not posting this until some serious re editing would take place. So yeah, no, I think both parties are to blame. I think it's not just one or the other. I think both are incredibly problematic. And I think. It's platforming someone who has established brand of morally gray. And so this is a way to be morally gray. It's a cop out. What are your thoughts, Fran? Yeah. Well, besides the things that we just talked about, which, I mean, facts, but also the fact that she wrote that she was trying to write this flawed main character. And there are certain things that a character cannot come back from. So like that cannot be a cop out for. You know how she wants to write her story that the summer of 2024 thing is just wild to me that you would even write that and the other thing about trying to spare bloom is the fact that you're actually telling us that you rolled over them and like they just said, Yeah, whatever. We'll just do anything you want. Like that's not making them look good. either because that means that they're just going to put out anything just because a big name author tells them this is how I want it. So like that doesn't make them look good either in the sense of how she was trying to like save them. So I don't know. And also I should point out that Bloom has not. made a public statement. They just shared Sophie's statement, but they haven't actually made a statement themselves, which I think is also very bad. I can agree with y'all more. I mean, I think it's very bad. I'm, my brain is mentally stuck at You were writing this in 2024. Yeah, if you told me you wrote this in 2019, even then I'd still be looking at you But I could be like grace because a lot of people learned a lot of things during the panorama. However comma All right. I'm gonna I think I love a balanced conversation. So I'm gonna take a Opposite view for a quick second. Listen people. I don't agree with any of this Purposes of bands because I do believe in balance. I don't like echo chambers I really don't all right for the purposes of balance How should an author, and this is in all seriousness, how should an author approach what she was saying she was trying to do? She was trying to create a flawed character because here's the thing. I've been here in my lovely little office space, AKA library, AKA guest overflow room in one of the, at some point when my house is full. When I step out the door, I step outside to the real world and in the real world You do have problematic people you have people with good intentions who might say the wrong thing You have people who are just downright problematic and you're like stay far away with that in mind, how do we approach that in literature because Again, we can't have books where everyone is doing the right thing and saying the right thing all the time, you know How can we write flawed characters maybe someone who is racist maybe someone Who is what is that word for people who doesn't like gay people? You know what? I mean doesn't like anyone really from a different faith like how can we approach this? In a responsible way, because I also think it's irresponsible to not include, depending on the book you're writing, but problematic people in real life are a real thing. So I think authors should be able to write that in literature. Absolutely. I actually believe that too. I don't think that everything should be perfect. There should be some problematic things in what we're reading anyway, because like we got to learn from something. If we're just seeing everything perfect, there's nothing to learn from. So I would say a couple of things. First of all, the genre matters. So when we're talking about romance, and even in romance, what is the role of that character, I think that matters. So, there are certain things, and I mean, I do read some questionable, morally gray heroes, that may kill people. Fine. But Unalive ers, I'm like, all about the Unalive ers, the Luigi Mangione kind of Yes, I mean Those are my jam. That's why I think there's also something to be said for the fact that everybody has different lines that cannot be crossed. So that also goes back to a very personal thing from the reader's perspective. For me, there are certain things that you cannot. justify and make that like the main character. If you want to put that in the story and put that as a side character, that's fine. And there might be some other kind of subjects where you have to make that character realize or learn from what they've done, maybe at the beginning of the book or through at some point. And then there's gotta be, somebody's gotta call that out and there's gotta be a learning experience from it. At least if you want to maintain them as. But again, what that is, like, Is it killing somebody? Is it racism? Like, to me, that's probably a very gray area because everybody will have different lines. Like, where is your particular line? Like, what's the thing where you're like, well, I can engage with that. And yeah, I mean, I think that there's gotta be, it also depends on marketing. It depends on so many things. Like you cannot go out here putting this here or there, which, I mean, people did mention the fact that nobody called this. Like, it's not something that the hero's learning from, it's just, this is just how he is. And it maintains throughout the whole book. I can't say for sure because I haven't read the book, I did not I don't really read Sophie Lark. But, I think if you're gonna make the hero of a romance story, there's gotta be some redemption. To some tougher subjects, because even the killers there's always a little redemption moment or like something that makes them more like human, right, I think there should be a purpose behind, like, everything should have a purpose of like, why are you saying this way? And I like whether and there's a counteract, like, there's like a little antidote to it is not just for the sake of doing this, like, it's just going to show you morally flawed. Okay, but what is the How are you going to learn from it? What's going to, what's going to be What's the character arc? How are you going to grow from this issue? It's just the problem with romance, and this is something we have to be mindful, RWA for a long time was a really racist organization, which is the Obama Dean Board for Romance Writers of America, and for multiple years, as recent as 2020 2019 Books About White Supremacy won awards. And so this is just another, like, it's just another place where it's like, okay, we have to do better. What we know now, is there a purpose to have this kind of rhetoric in our romance reader? Like, is this something that's gonna, like, with no conflict or no one actually calling out of it? Or can we actually, we're in 2025, we have an opportunity to have more critical voices to explain why this is not acceptable anymore. But then again, we're in 2025 where people are coming out of the woodwork and coming out being overtly racist. Listen, I always will forever say this. I rather know who you are than guessing who you are. You know what I'm saying? So, hello. But anyways, if you're just joining us welcome. Let us know in the chat where you're joining us from. We are talking about Sophie Lark. An author who had the book Sparrow and Vine set to be released It's now been pulled from everywhere. So the listing for it for on sale on amazon is no longer there it's not on any netgalley goodreads. Just any platform where readers are reading, early advanced copies. It has been pulled Sophie also put out a statement apologizing to readers specifically about some of her very problematic lines like this one, which I have a screen grab from the well read nurse on threads. So thank you, the well read nurse for flagging that and, having the receipts because again, like I said, there's no trace of the book available online. I do want to note that the author did say it's being pulled. They're going to be re she's going to rewrite certain parts and then I'm sure the book will see the light of day at that point. The author is also saying the publisher told her these things were problematic, but she chose to go along with it. So those are just high level, some of the points. But if you're just joining us in the chat just, go back, hit rewind and catch up. Replay crew, we'd love to hear from you as well. So if you're watching the replay of this after the live, share your thoughts in the comments. We have one more author Who's kind of in the same train from the same publisher. So see now when I see something like this I'm wondering like is there a trend what is going on? So, this book in question So the author is b celeste and the book in question is past the broken bridge Now, someone left a comment. Let me see. Well, first of all, we had this thread of comments from Mel C Bell on a score author. Why is this being marketed as a romance? Arthur B. Celeste said, that's what the publisher markets it. Markets it as Mel C Bell author came back saying, but you know, it isn't a romance. I mean, you are not a new author. Now, all of this is coming in reference to, we have another screen grab as well. This one is from Arthur B. Celeste kind of. Highlighting some of the lighter things to note. First, of course, the release date, because we have books to sell. It's the Neighbors to Lovers romance, as well as a forced proximity romance. It's based in Louisiana, in brackets, there's LSU. And it has a lot of funny, cute, quirky moments. And, she goes into some other stuff as well. I know Francesca, you for sure have some thoughts on this one. I mean, what is going on with these authors? I mean, this is like tale as old as time. There's authors that write a women's fiction story. I have not read B. Celeste ever, so I cannot say that like she writes good stories or not, but let's just, let's just say she writes good stories, but you wrote a women's fiction novel. Just own that. It's a valid genre. You can probably do well selling a women's fiction novel and just market it as such. I don't understand why this continues to happen, where authors want to pass a women's fiction novel as a romance. It just, does not work. There are rules to a romance, and we're always questioning these rules, and I don't understand why we have to question these rules. It's like every genre. There are rules to every genre. Why are we here? So, to spoil, this romance is not a romance. It's a love story of some sort. It does have an ending that you may not like if you have read romance as a reader. Romance are supposed to end in a happy ending or happy for now. Couple should be together, should be alive. All the different rules that regulations that romance actually has. It's the general rules. It's what we're looking for. This book does not have a happy ending or happy for now. Therefore, it is not a romance. Right. But just like the Mark and Nicholas Sparks romance, it is not. Perfect example, shade. If you know what, if you read Nicholas Sparks, this is the kind of It's like that, it's like that, but it's just the same thing. Okay. So me being contrarian again for a balanced conversation here. We have noticed this trend where there are women's fiction books being marketed as romance. Specifically contemporary romance, to be specific. So contemporary romance books that are really women's fiction. I mean, some of the faves out there, I think their books fit more women's fiction. Because, you have all these other little Things which in my opinion makes a character dynamic, but at the end of the day, it's women's fiction. It's not romance Does a romance have problems along the road to the happily ever after or the happy for now? Sure, but these things are really deep I feel and get into more relationships How do you correlate between? Those romance books which do end in a happily ever after so forget this one for a minute But the ones who end in happily ever after or happily ever after for now But they do feel more women's fictiony like how do you differentiate? I know Francesca you spend a lot of time on tropes and you know getting to the nitty gritty of a genre what is your take on those kinds of books? So for me, I've always considered those books as women's fiction because like you said, when I pick up a, it's all about readers expectations. Like for me, genre definitions and where you market a book has to be about the expectation for us as a reader to pick up a book. So if I'm picking up a romance, it's because I want a certain structure to the story and obviously a guaranteed kind of ending because that's the definition and with the ones that are very popular right now. And they are really women's fiction. If I want to pick that up, it's because I'm in the mood for going on that journey with the character. And if I'm a romance reader and I want something else, that's not what I would be expecting. So I think genres matter and how we market them matters because of the expectations. However, I have less of a problem with those going into women, into. romance instead of women's fiction because the ending at least is there. So even though you're meandering around in all these different relationships, maybe friendships, maybe family, maybe some personal struggle, but at the end of the day, you're still getting that satisfactory resolution at the end for the main couple. So I, it bothers me less. But it's I mean, it still bothers me because I am a stickler for just put it where it needs to go so that I know what to pick up. And when I'm in the mood for that, I will pick one of those books up. I think it's just a matter of like, what's the forefront storyline? Is it character growth? Is it growth for the heroine to grow and to find herself and find yourself? Or is the love story central, the central plot line? Is it the relationship that she has with the hero, heroine, whatever it is? They have and they have a together is a relationship or is it not just character growth and It depends on the mood of the feeling I personally like women's fiction I enjoy the character growth because I'm not a romantic relationship So I like to have other opportunities to understand all the relationship like friendships characters like family relationships and all the different things but when I'm looking for a romance I expect both characters to be alive and to be together at some point. And even if they're not together at some point, I expect them to be alive because, and please do not kill them off in the last chapter, because I as a reader need to grieve. The loss of the character, I need to feel the grief and I need to understand how the other characters experience that grief with me. So I have issues when they kill off characters and they have to be killed, not in the last chapter. I have issues with that. Yeah, it's just, it's a wild ride for sure. And I think to, to the author's point as well, that's what the publisher, that's the direction of the publisher. But then she posted that it's a friends to lovers and quirky romance. I'm like, Girl, this is not it! When I have to grieve, when I have to feel sadness, when I have to have tears, it is not a quirky, funny romance! No! The Muffy Muffin! Also, on your point about killing off a character at the very end of the book, to me that is such a It's a cop out of like really developing your story because it's like, Ooh, I want to add some shock value and I want to make people cry and I'm just going to kill them. Let's write a better story then because like that is just an easy way to say, I'm going to make, I'm going to make this a sad story. I'm going to kill him at the end. No, girl. No. I'm, there's certain books that I'm still mad or the way they know, even just like I kill it the way you kill the character. Says something about you. Yeah. Don't make them freeze to death. And there's some terrorists. Like, do not do that. Oh my gosh. I still have Strong Opinion on that book. I am not. It's I'll put it on the show notes. It's, I think it's Laura something, Eleanor something. I don't remember the name because I just went with it. But she basically puts the character freeze to death in New York terrorist. Oh my God. The end. Inspiration for Titanic. Too much. Too much. But if you're just joining us, welcome, okay? We are talking about a series of authors who've had quite a few snafus in the publishing industry. They do have something related though, the same publisher. So definitely hit the rewind. We talk about Sophie Larks Sparrow and Vine. And then we got into B. Celeste Past the Broken Bridges. So. Definitely hit rewind and check that out. Let us know in the chat. What are you reading? What are you doing? What is happening in your life? We'd love to hear from you replay crew. We'd love to hear from you as well Again, if you're just joining us we covered quite a few things I mean we talked about book to screen adaptations at the oscars, you know The ones that they won there were quite a few that was snubbed quite honestly. That was definitely a whole thing We also talked about a Maryland case possibly heading to the Supreme Court, tied to book bans again, just hit the replay button to catch up on that. And like I said, the Sophie Lark situation has statements. And of course, Arthur B. Celeste, we're going to hop over here. Hop off of here and hop on to Substack. So if you haven't joined us on Substack, please do so now. There is a link in the video's description. If you find one of our Substacks, you'll find us all. Or if you're already on Substack, just go straight to Substack. Find under the covers book blog what to read next. And I'm at Biblio lifestyle, and we look forward to chatting with you over on Substack. We're going to be sharing. What we have been watching and what we are reading lately. So again, we'd love to hear from you and we hope to see you over on Substack. Bye everyone.