Episode 363 || I'll Read What She's Reading
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie is talking all about romantic comedies with The Bookshelf’s resident rom-com expert (and our events and marketing coordinator) Mary Katherine.
To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our new website:
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
Waiting For Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord
In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer
Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
Just Another Love Song by Kerry Winfrey
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
From Hollywood with Love by Scott Meslow
From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.
A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.
Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
Thank you again to this week’s sponsor, The 101st annual Rose Show and Festival, here in Thomasville, Georgia. If you want to come for the weekend and experience the flowers, fun, food, and shopping in beautiful Thomasville GA, plan your visit at thomasvillega.com.
This week Annie is reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Mary Katherine is reading The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson.
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We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.
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Transcript:
Annie [00:00:01] Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South.
[00:00:25] Rom-coms are practically, by definition, a hopeful genre. They tell you that you should be yourself without apology or self-consciousness. Hang on to your dreams even when they don't make sense. And above all, hold out for true love because it always might be just around the corner. Scott Maslow, From Hollywood with Love.
[00:00:48] I'm Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia. And this week we're talking Nora Ephron and one true pairings, meet-cutes and happy endings. That's right, it's time to discuss and dissect the occasionally maligned but often adored romantic comedy. I'm joined today by The Bookshelf's resident rom-com expert and our events and marketing coordinator, Mary Katharine. Hi, Mary Katherine.
Mary Katherine [00:01:12] Hello.
Annie [00:01:13] I'm so glad you're joining us today. Welcome to the podcast!
Mary Katherine [00:01:16] Thank you. I'm very excited to be here.
Annie [00:01:19] So I wanted to talk with you about this. But, really, you wanted to talk to me about this. This was an idea you had, I think, last fall or before Christmas or something, and we're finally kind of watching it come to fruition. We at The Bookshelf staff know that rom-coms are your favorite genre or one of your preferred genres. So I'm curious about your history with romantic comedies, not just in literature, but in film too, because you and I think approach this similarly, but at the same time, differently. We're different ages. We came of age during different rom-com eras. So I'm curious, what's kind of your history with the romantic comedy?
Mary Katherine [00:01:57] Well, so just for reference, You've Got Mail came out in 1998, which is also the year I was born. So I'm 23, the same age as from the movie, You've Got Mail. So I think as you're listening to our conversation, that's just a helpful point of reference. But all these classic movies that I love, I never saw any of them in the movie theater. And I think you did. And so I think maybe our viewing experiences is a little bit different. So I watched all the classic rom-coms with my mom at home after they had come out much later. Movies like Hope Floats and You've Got Mail and While You Were Sleeping, all of her favorite, she just wanted to kind of show me and pass on to me. And so much like my history with books, my mom shared her favorites with me and I love them because of those memories that we have together.
Annie [00:02:45] So that's lovely. So it's kind of a mother-daughter bond like something you both share together.
Mary Katherine [00:02:51] Yes, I would say so. And then, also, I can remember growing up watching a lot of rom-coms at like friends, sleepovers or birthday parties or things like that. Movies like kind of the later early 2000s, like a Princess Diaries and a Cinderella Story and Legally Blond and 10 Things I Hate About You. Like, all those kind of early 2000s movies, I definitely watched at slumber parties and stuff.
Annie [00:03:15] Those are fun memories too. I also have slumber party memories of rom-coms and romantic comedies. I'm curious. So one of my friends, Marcy, posted about romantic comedies to her Instagram Stories the other day. And I really loved how she approached it because she really whittled it down to this one question that stopped me in my tracks because it really made me have to think. She said, "What would your top three romantic comedies be outside of the Nora Ephron Canon?" And so I think you and I are both big Nora Ephron fans. My favorite movie of all time is When Harry Met Sally. I adore, obviously, and for obvious reasons, You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, but even movies like Julie and Julia or something like that. I love Nora Ephron and I love her writing style, so I really have to think, like, outside of the Nora Ephron Canon? What are three that I really loved? So I'm curious. I'd love to hear your answer to that question.
Mary Katherine [00:04:10] Do you want me to go in reverse order and tell you three, two, one?
Annie [00:04:13] Yes, if you have a three, two, one. I don't know if mine are in three to one order, I couldn't quite decide. But, yes, you go.
Mary Katherine [00:04:20] Okay. So number three, I would say, is a Cinderella Story. I watched this movie, I think, for the first time at a friend's birthday party or something, and just I just loved it. I feel like it's so quotable, and there's so many quirky, fun side characters, and I love Sam, the main character, so that's a really fun one. And then number two is Sweet Home Alabama. Again, another movie that my mom loved, that I watched with her and, again, so quotable. So fun. And then number one, my favorite that's outside of the Nora Ephron Canon, and definitely has to be While You Were Sleeping.
Annie [00:04:56] While You Were Sleeping is in my top three as well. So my top three look a little different. But when I had to think about outside Nora Ephron, immediately While You Were Sleeping was the first one I thought of, so that would probably be my top one as well. And then I also really love the 2018 Netflix Set It Up. Like that is a completely different viewing experience. That's not a movie I've seen in the theaters. It is only available on streaming, but it is one that I rewatch all the time, and I'm pleasantly surprised that I liked a rom-com after the year 2002.
Mary Katherine [00:05:30] Yeah.
Annie [00:05:31] It's just nice to know there was one I still like. So, actually, for me, Set It Up is is up there. And then my other favorite is My Best Friend's Wedding, which is a romantic comedy that kind of plays with the genre a little bit and doesn't maybe give you the traditional romantic comedy ending. But it is that is a movie I absolutely love, and I rewatched it fairly recently. I introduced my cousins to it and I think it really does hold up. So those are my three. While You're Sleeping. Set It Up, and My Best Friend's Wedding.
Mary Katherine [00:06:02] Is that the one with -- what's her name? Julia Roberts.
Annie [00:06:06] Yes. Yes. it's Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney and Rupert Everett and Cameron Diaz. It's fantastic. I love it. I'm not even a huge Cameron Diaz fan, but I love the role she plays in that movie. And, again, I just like how that movie kind of turns the genre upside down. So when we're thinking about romantic comedies, I'd be curious to know kind of what you consider to be the main elements or the crucial elements of a rom-com. So I recently read a book called From Hollywood With Love. This is a nonfiction, almost oral history of romantic comedies, particularly in Hollywood and in films, so less to do with literature, more to do with with movies. But I really, really, liked it. I highly recommend it, especially if you are obsessed with a lot of these movies like I am or have been. And he states that a romantic comedy is a romantic comedy. If you take the romance out of it and there wouldn't be a movie left.
[00:07:02] So he talks about how a movie like Crazy Stupid Love isn't really a romantic comedy, because even if you took the romance out of it, there would still be a movie there. There would be a movie about a marriage, or there'd be a movie about a family. I'm not even sure if Crazy Stupid Love is one of the examples he gets. I know one of the examples he gives is Miss Congeniality, because he says that's a great comedy. And, yes, there is a romantic element, but without the romantic parts, it is still a very funny movie about a woman who's trying to win a beauty pageant, who's trying to solve a crime. And so that was kind of his definition. Is it's a romantic comedy if when you take the romance out of it, the film ceases to exist. So I'm curious for you both in literature and in film, what do you consider to be like the must have things that make a romantic comedy a romantic comedy?
Mary Katherine [00:07:53] So I think that a romantic comedy has to have a happy ending, like, the couple has to be together at the end, things have to be resolved, and that doesn't necessarily mean the movie can't have sad elements. Because like in You've Got Mail, she loses her shop. The book store closes, and that is incredibly sad. And like in Sleepless in Seattle, Tom Hanks' wife doesn't come back to life. Like she's still [Inaudible] and that's still sad. So it doesn't necessarily mean there can't be sad things. But in the end, you should be left with a feeling of hope and a feeling of this turned out well, that kind of thing, because I think that's one of the main differences between a romance and a rom-com movie.
[00:08:36] Like all those Nicholas Sparks movies like The Notebook, The Fault in Our Stars, the book and the movie, like, those are love stories, but they don't end very well. Like in the Fault in Our Stars the guy dies. And that's incredibly sad. And so I think it's still a love story, but I wouldn't call it a rom-com. Even those movies may have funny moments, but the overall you're not left with a feeling of hope at the end, which I think is definitely a key element.
Annie [00:09:06] I'd agree with that. And I have thought in recent years, especially maybe even the recent months, I've been reevaluating my own appreciation of romance and rom-com literature. And I'm realizing that I myself probably am not actually a romance book fan, and I have so many fellow readers who are and who love that genre. And I've realized to reading some books in that genre that it is not for me, and it has nothing to do with the writing style or the storytelling, but it has to do with a comedic element or this feeling. Perhaps it is maybe a feeling of hope or a lightheartedness that some romance novels -- not all, but some romance novels are missing. And I really do need the comedic element. I need the com in rom-com. I appreciate a romance. And I think about , I will never forget, like staying with my in-laws. At the time they were not my in-laws, and my future sister in law and future mother in law we're like, we want to show you this movie. And we sat in the basement and we watched a movie, I believe, that is called the Painted Veil.
[00:10:13] And it is a movie they love. I know I remember very little about it. I think it stars Edward Norton. I'm not sure. Anyway, but I just remember sitting there and being like, this movie is sad. Like, this movie is traumatic, and they loved it because they loved the romance. But I could not get past this is a lot. Like, it was very romantic; whereas, I really love comedy with a sprinkling of romance and wit. For me, wit is a huge part of romantic comedies. I know you have referenced Gilmore Girls and so I know you, like me, appreciate witty banter, fast paced talking, rat-a-tat-tat conversation. And so that's one of the reasons I adore When Harry Met Sally. There aren't a ton of perhaps stereotypically romantic scenes in that movie, but there are a lot of moments of high chemistry, high wit, high banter. And that's what I'm also looking for in a romantic comedy. And I think it's why I prefer a rom-com to maybe a traditional romance like something like The Painted Veil.
Mary Katherine [00:11:18] Yes, I definitely agree. And I think another must have element for me is main characters with depth. I want there to be more than just like this boy loves this girl, and it's happily ever after. Like, I need a little more than that, I think. And I also really need to have fun side characters. So Peter's family in While You Were Sleeping or Frank and father of the bride. Like, those people are hilarious and I feel like they add so much to the movie. Or like Gilmore Girls that you were just talking about is a wonderful example because you have Kirk and miss Patty and all of these people who just add to the story and make it so much richer, I think, than if it was just the two main characters.
Annie [00:12:01] Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think that's one of the reasons. I mean, I love Bertie in You've Got Mail and I love the cast or characters at The Bookstore. But part of the reason I think still when Harry Met Sally tops it all is I just think that's a perfectly well-written movie. But it's also because of the friend characters who you really are rooting for just as much as you're rooting for Harry and Sally. I love the scene at the dinner party where they're thinking they're setting each other up on blind dates, but the blind date kind of goes awry. Or I love the moment when they're in bed and they're answering the phone from Harry and Sally, and they're talking about, oh, I'm so glad I never have to be out there again. Like Jordan. And I quote that to each other all the time. We think it's so fun and funny. And so I love these side characters.
[00:12:44] That's important to me too. Is the side character well developed and interesting, not just there to kind of play with or to interact with the main character. I do want some side characters with some depth. I'm curious. We've talked about some rom-coms we love, and before we kind of delve into romantic comedy, literature and books, which is, of course, why we're here on From the Front Porche is to talk books. But I am curious, what are some rom-coms that fall flat for you? I think this goes back to probably a little bit of our age difference. I'm so curious where we're each going to land here. But what are some romantic comedies that you just, for whatever reason, don't enjoy? And why don't you enjoy them?
Mary Katherine [00:13:26] Okay. You might not like me for saying this, but I actually did not love My Best Friend's Wedding. I didn't love it.
Annie [00:13:34] Well, that doesn't shock me at all, right? Because you said one of your crucial elements is that the couple lines up together. And I love a romantic comedy that can mess with the genre a little, and I think My Best Friend's Wedding does that. But I have no doubt that there are other listeners and readers and viewers like you who are like, wait a minute, that didn't end how we're conditioned to think it was supposed to end, right?
Mary Katherine [00:13:59] Right. So that one, I think, fell a little flat me. And then there's some that I think I've heard you talk about that I haven't even seen. You were talking about The Proposal the other day and I still have not seen that. And I think that's part of our age gap there, too, is that there's some that I just have not watched.
Annie [00:14:20] Yeah, I think you would probably really appreciate The Proposal. The Proposal would be up there on my top three lists. Like, if you were to remove Set It Up, I think The Proposal would fit right in. Or something like How To Lose a Guy in 10 days. Like, those are still really fun to me. I am pretty picky when it comes to my romantic comedies, so I don't like Sweet Home Alabama.
Mary Katherine [00:14:42] Really?
Annie [00:14:43] Yeah, I don't know if that's from living in Alabama for a period of time, and some of that movie is very realistic. And then some of it just feels very over-the-top. And over-the-top is not my favorite just in general. I like maybe subtle or witty, so Sweet Home Alabama definitely comes to mind, but I'll tell you my two least favorite rom-coms of all time. One is 50 First Dates, which is Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. And I know so many people love that movie and love them as a romantic comedy like duo. They've starred in a lot of movies together. But I just did not love that movie. I love the movie The Wedding Singer. The 50 First Dates is so repetitive, which is like one of my personal quirks, I think, is that I just don't handle like repeating storylines very well.
[00:15:29] And that's the trope. Is that like every day she wakes up and she can't remember. I just cannot. I cannot with that movie. To me, it is more Adam Sandler film than romantic comedy. And so 50 First Dates is one of my least favorite. And then I don't know if you will have seen this. I don't even remember what year it came out, but to me it came out after the glory days of the rom-com. Because, to me, the glory days are like 90s, early 2000s and then it's like we went through this little slump or at least maybe a changing of the genre, to be honest, like kind of a changing in tone. But it's the movie 27 Dresses. Have you ever seen that?
Mary Katherine [00:16:05] I haven't seen that either, no.
Annie [00:16:05] So I don't know. Maybe you might like it. Other people really do talk about it and talk about loving it; although, sometimes I think they just love one scene from it. Like, there's a pretty memorable karaoke kind of scene, like, singing scene, and I feel like those stand out in movies anyway. But I remember watching that with Jordan. We watched it together. We didn't watch a ton of rom-coms together. That's something I always associate with, like you, your mom or my mom or my girlfriends or whatever. This is not something I often shared with Jordan, but we've watched 27 Dresses together, and I remember pausing and looking at him and going, "This is not representative of this genre that I love. I just wanted him to know, like, when I tell you I like romantic comedy, this is not what I'm talking about.
[00:16:53] And I rewatched it. We rewatched it recently to see if, you know, maybe 20 year old Annie was wrong or whatever. But, no, I really don't like that movie. For me, it is not the pinnacle of the genre. I do not enjoy it. So those are my kind of a few that I just -- for whatever reason, maybe it's that the main character falls a little flat and doesn't have enough depth, or there's not enough chemistry. That's also very important to me. I think what's so lovely about My Best Friend's Wedding is there's chemistry with the love interest with Dermot Mulroney, but there's also chemistry with her best friend, and this changing definition of who her best friend is. And so I really do need there to be some believable chemistry, and I think sometimes that was hard in 27 Dresses because I couldn't like feel that chemistry. So, anyway, those are some of my least favorite.
[00:17:42] I'm curious. When we began living life in a pandemic, we had a few readers who really requested and customers who requested romantic comedies. They wanted to feel something lighter. They wanted literature as escape. They wanted to read something fun and hopeful like you were talking about. And then we had some readers who were like, I thought I wanted to read romantic comedies right now. But it turns out they're too late to contrast with what I'm living through. So we heard from both kinds of readers, these kinds that kind of gravitated toward romance and rom-coms. And then this other group of readers who thought that's what they needed. And then when they started reading it, they were like, oh, this is too late for what my brain is currently enduring in the world and at large. So I'm curious what your rom-com reading life has looked like. Like, you talk about watching these movies with your mom and being introduced to these movies. For you, when did the love of romantic comedies in literature start, and has the pandemic affected that in any way?
Mary Katherine [00:18:48] I definitely think the pandemic has affected that for sure. Especially, I've noticed that with customers in the store too. That was when I first started talking to you about recording this podcast and talking about rom-coms on From the Front Porch. Because it was, I think, maybe it was Sidewalk Sale Day back in September, but I had two different customers when I asked them if I could help them find anything. They both said, "I just need something light and fluffy. Everything is terrible and I need to not think about it." So I, of course, handed them some Kerry Winfrey, and they left the store very happy and excited to start reading those. And then also back in the fall, I was watching season two of Ted Lasso. When he gives that speech to all the soccer players and he stands up and he goes, "I believe in communism". And then [Inaudible] is like, oh boy.
[00:19:38] And then he goes, "Rom communism," and he starts talking about, he's like, "If all these people who is really creative jobs and really cool apartments can go through some bad stuff and turn out okay, like, we can too." And it's after they just lost this big match. The team wasn't doing so good, and that's how he chooses to raise their spirits is by talking about Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and all these people who their lives aren't perfect but it turned out okay for them in the end. I just love that scene because I felt like it articulated really well why I love the genre and why I love rom-coms. And I think sometimes it's okay if you need to escape and just pick up a fun rom-com and not deal with things going on in the world. And there is a time when it's good to pay attention and be engaged with events in the world, and there can also be a time for checking out a little bit and giving yourself a brain break.
[00:20:36] And so, for me, I've definitely read more lighthearted fiction and rom-coms during the. pandemic, just because if all day what's on my mind is, you know, where can I go get my booster shot and do I need to wear a mask? Or should I go to this event or should I not? Like the last thing I want to do at the end of a day full of decisions about the pandemic and things like that is pick up a book that's going to make me feel happy and sad again. You know what I mean? Like, sometimes you kind of need something light at the end of every day. And so I've noticed that in myself in other customers. And then as far as literature romcoms, I would say I feel like the first book that I can remember thinking like, this is a rom-com book is probably Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey.
[00:21:31] And I picked that up, I think, at the reader retreat in 2019 and just absolutely loved it. And then after reading that, I thought, I want more books like this. This was just the most delightful and fun experience. And so I want to read more things like that. And I also feel like after I read that, I started noticing more books kind of in that genre being published, which I think is reflective too of the pandemic and what people are wanting to read. Like people are wanting to read more light things and more authors are writing more in that way, and publishers are putting out more books like that.
Annie [00:22:07] Yeah, I absolutely think that publishers have caught on to that trend. And I think the Kerry Winfrey book is a great example. But there was a time it felt like where romance books or rom-coms looked a certain way. And I think publishers started to change the way romantic comedy books looked and how they were packaged. And I think the goal was to make them more commercially appealing. Like, obviously, you have romance bookstores or you have books that sell in grocery stores or things like that. But I think the goal was to try to show that romantic comedies or romances can appeal to a wide range of people. And so I do think publishers and now those rom-com covers are like, we know them all. We know what they look like. They have cartoon characters and ones facing one way and one's facing the other. Like, we can picture all of these romantic comedies or romances look a certain way.
[00:23:03] And sometimes I struggle with that a little bit because I almost think that dilutes the genre because they are original works, and sometimes I think the cover art can can detract from that. But I do think publishers kind of caught on to what the public wanted and needed. And that was pre-pandemic. But I think you're right, absolutely, post-pandemic. I mean, I just did buying for summer. Just an adult book buying for summer season. And, I mean, the number of romantic comedies or romances in these catalogs, I struggled to figure out. Like, which one should I pick? Like which one should we stock for the store. If you can't stack them all, which ones do you stack? And so I have found that it feels like the genre is growing. Which I think is great and fine because the more the genre grows, the more that the genre can have nuance and can have books that appeal to a certain kind of romance reader or a certain kind of romantic comedy reader.
[00:23:58] So the more books there are, perhaps the more then we can have books that attract a different kind of rom-com reader. For me, I remember, like you, Waiting for Tom Hanks being a big -- which I bought that book for the store solely because of the title, because I thought, oh, that's so cute. Like, what a cute name. What a good idea. And then I read it and loved it. And so that may have been my kind of gateway drag into some romantic comedies or romances. I do have a lot of like former staffers who they loved romance novels, but I'm not sure I ever really picked one up that would be classified as that until maybe Waiting for Tom Hanks. And since then, I've read a wide range across the genre. And during the pandemic, I kind of had a love -- not hate relationship, but like I would love reading romantic comedies, and then I would hit a point where I was like, oh, there are other things happening in the world, and I do need something a little heavier. And I read heavier by nature.
[00:25:01] So I think, for me, reading romantic comedies is a nice -- not even palate cleanser, but like a nice book to read in the middle of a few works of literary fiction or a work of nonfiction that's taken me a little while to get through. Like, I can count on a romantic comedy, particularly a well-written romantic comedy, to pull me out of reading slump or to maybe give me some space between two heavier books. And I also think, you know, you talk about reading as escape, but I also think reading books like this allows us to better comprehend the world around us. Like, because it gives us permission to maybe take a breather from this heavy world events. But then it also allows us to turn our attention back to them.
[00:25:49] Like if we're bombarded by that, I think we almost drown in it. Whereas if we kind of take a romantic comedy as a buoy or a lifesaver, then we can take a breather, like stop, take a breath and then go back to heavier global events. So that is also kind of the role romantic comedies play in my own reading life. I wanted us to talk about three different areas of romantic comedies. I wanted us to talk about backlist titles, so books that have been published a few years ago, and new release titles, books that have just come out, and then books that people could preorder. So books that are kind of on our radar on our TBR list, books that are coming out a little later this year. So why don't we talk about backless titles. You referenced Waiting for Tom Hanks, why don't you talk about it a little bit? Tell us why you love it. Tell us what you like about it.
Mary Katherine [00:26:41] Yes. Waiting for Tom Hanks is my backlist recommendation. I love this book because the main character, her name is Annie, has also grown up watching the classic Nora Ephron movies with her mom. And her mom in the book is no longer living, but she has all these sweet memories of these movies with her mom, and she kind of is waiting for Tom Hanks. She's not married. She's not dating anyone. And she kind of has this idea of this perfect man that she wants to, like, come and sweep off her feet and live happily ever after. And all of that and her dream is to be a screenwriter for movies. But she's living in her hometown, and she graduated college five or eight years ago and doesn't really feel like her life has a lot of direction. And she lives at home with her uncle, who's also a really funny character. But she feels kind of stuck in her life a little bit.
[00:27:36] And then a movie is filmed in her hometown and she gets a job on the set and she meets the main actor who's in the movie. And they hate each other and have this like enemies to lovers kind of thing going on. And so many times throughout the movie, through the main character, he's kind of critical of rom coms a little bit at the beginning, and it's like, why do you like these movies? I don't understand. And she she really loves them. And for a lot of the reasons that we've talked about, she loves them because they bring hope and the characters in these movies, their life's not perfect, but in the end it turns out okay or that kind of thing. And she kind of helps them understand why she loves the genre. And I think it's a really fun book because it's kind of self-aware, a little bit. Like it references a ton of romcom movies and like, there's all these things that happen in the main character.
[00:28:35] And she'd say, like, oh, this is like my montage of my tragic backstory. And so it's kind of aware of all of these little tropes and plays into them and also offers something new. So it's just a fun, a really, really, fun book. And I read it in the summer of 2019, when it first kind of came out for the first time. And then I actually picked it back up in January of this year because I had recently moved into my very own apartment and I don't have a roommate. So I was living by myself for the first time ever in my life, and I was having a really hard time sleeping and was just super anxious. Like, I kept thinking that someone was going to bust into my apartment and murder me, which sounds ridiculous. But I was just having a really hard time adjusting, and I called my mom and all upset and she was like, just go pick a book that you've read before, like Ann of Green Gables or like some kind of comfort read and just read the first couple chapters and maybe it'll calm you down.
[00:29:39] And so I picked up Waiting for Tom Hanks and read the first couple of chapters and went to sleep that night. And then the next night I was like, I had almost forgotten how delightful the book was. And so then I just reread the whole thing because I needed a little bit of levity, a little bit of comfort. I needed to be reminded of, I don't know, a book that I loved or I just needed something fun. So I picked that up and reread it in January and loved it even more the second time
Annie [00:30:10] I've thought often about picking that one up again for all the reasons you mentioned. And you know, that's one of the things about romantic comedies as a genre that I find really lovely. I am not a huge re-reader, but I am a huge re-watcher. But a movie really has to be one that I love in order for me to rewatch it. And I find some of these movies so comforting, and some of them I watch seasonally because they remind me of a certain time of the year. Some of them I watch because I need something comforting or I need something really warm and wholesome and inviting. Like, those are the best words I can kind of think of. I need something that's silly and funny and smart. But I don't often re-read. I have wondered about the re-readability of something like Waiting for Tom Hanks, where I could read it fairly quickly and I could kind of re-involve myself in that world and with these characters. And so that sounds delightful.
[00:31:11] I wanted to recommend the backlist title that I'm sure you have also read called Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum. This is a young adult pick. But I will say that when it comes to romantic comedies in literature, my favorite ones are often or can be young adults. I think some exceptions to this might be Emily Henry. I really like Emily Henry's writing, and I really like Emily Henry books. But young adults, generally, the romance is closed door. Generally, there are tropes involved. And so although when it comes to romantic comedies, I think teen romantic comedies deserve their own genre. I actually think young adult romantic comedies in literature really deserve their place in the canon, and Tell Me Three Things is one of those.
[00:31:58] So if you like You've Got Mail and this kind of who's writing these emails, like this kind of mystery element to the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan love story, then I think you would really appreciate Tell Me Three Things. And I think if you like closed door romances, meaning romances where the romantic scenes take place off screen or off page, I think you would really like this one. And I really like Julie Buxbaum in general. Like, that's not my only book by her that I really love. I really just like her a lot. One of my friends introduced me to her, and I'm so glad she did because I've really fallen in love with her writing. So Tell Me Three Things is a young adult romantic comedy that I highly recommend.
Mary Katherine [00:32:38] Yes, I feel like why a rom-coms tend to kind of be my sweet spot because I also prefer a closed door rom-com, and I'm just I'm not really interested in super detailed sex scenes. I just don't really want that. So YA tends to be like a safe bet for me if? Because sometimes based on the covers, like you were saying earlier, if all the covers look so similar, it can be hard to tell is this like a super steamy romance? Is this a rom-com? Is this young adult? And sometimes even a young adult rom-com cover can look very similar to an adult rom-com book cover. And, Olivia, actually yesterday was just talking to us about checking before you shelf a book because they look so similar and it can be hard to tell what genre that falls into. But I really enjoy YA as well.
Annie [00:33:32] I think that's a -- I'm not going to say a publisher problem. I don't want to pick a fight with publishers, but I do think there is this assumption that all romantic comedies are created equal and they are not. And neither are romance novels. And so the fact that kind of these covers are all getting the same treatment regardless of whether they're a romance or they're a rom-com or their young adult, like, the fact that they're all getting the same treatment is really fascinating, and I'm sure it has all sorts of things to do with sales and money. But, for me, it makes it difficult to tell. And look, the same is true in film as well. There are not many Netflix romantic comedies that I actually like. Like the Holidate is not the same as the Kissing Booth, is not the same as Set It Up. Like, I have serious issues with a lot of rom-coms that have found themselves on Netflix.
[00:34:26] But I think there is this assumption that like if you like one romantic comedy, you're going to like them all. If you like one romance novel, you're going to like them all, and that's just not true. So I wanted to talk a little bit about my new release favorite, which this I'm not sure would fully qualify as a romantic comedy because of the definitions we were talking about earlier. So if you took the romance out of this story, I think you'd still have a very full fulfilling story. But it is hopeful. It's got a great romantic lead. It's got a really wonderful protagonist who's complicated and nuanced, and that is Yinka Where is Your Husband? I love this book. I think it is so well written and fun. It's by Lizzy Damilola Blackburn and came out earlier this year, so it's it's pretty new. And it's about a young woman, Yinka, who attends, you know, a baby shower or something as a woman of a certain age as want to do. And her mother and her mother's friends, all of her aunties kind of gather around and pray for her to find an husband.
[00:35:31] And the story that unfolds is really funny because Yinka decides -- it feels very romantic comedy in it's based elements. Yinka decides to kind of approach this scientifically and so she makes a chart of all the way she's going to get a date to her cousin's or sister's wedding. And so she kind of makes a chart and kind of approaches this really scientifically or in a data driven way. And then, you know, everything goes wrong. All the high jinks ensue. And it's got really great minor characters like you were talking about. Her family is a really important part of the book, and the setting is a really important part of the book. We didn't talk about this, but I love a romantic comedy set in a really familiar setting.
[00:36:13] So I love a New York City rom-com. I love a Chicago rom- com. And so this one is set in and around London, and I just felt like I was there. I really loved the setting of this book, and I loved the people in this book. And so whether or not it's a full fledged romantic comedy, I can't be 100 percent sure. But I do think if you're looking for a rom-com that is perhaps outside the paperback original cartoon characters on the front, although there is nothing wrong with those, as we have talked about at length. But if you're looking for something perhaps maybe slightly more literary fiction, I think you might enjoy Yinka Where is Your Husband? By Lizzie Damilola Blackburn?
Mary Katherine [00:36:55] That is very high on my TBR list right now because you read it and told me you thought I would love it and I can't wait to read it. I love that family plays a big role in that story because family's very important to me. I'm very close with my family as you've probably gathered. But I'm excited to read that one. I'm looking forward to it. My new release title is very similar to yours in that I think it's a rom-com, but it also maybe could not be. My new title is When You Get The Chance by Emma Lord. This is a young adult and it is so delightful. So it is about a teenage girl named Millie, who is a theater kid and she has never met her birth mom. And she, much like Mamma Mia, she finds her dad's blog from when he was in college, and he's writing about these three women that he was kind of seeing. And so her best friend is really into geo caching and so he can really track people down. So her best friend helps her kind of find these three women. And they all live in New York City, where Molly lives. And so she kind of spends the summer trying to get to know them and figure out which one might be her mom.
[00:38:08] And so it's about family. But then she also has an internship, and her rival from her high school theater class is also having the same internship. They're kind of competing for the position. So same kind of like enemies to lovers trope. But I guess the New York City setting was so much fun. The main character was so confident, and she had all these big feelings that she just didn't know what to do with. And I loved her relationship with her aunt was really sweet. And her relationship to her best friend was really sweet. Like, it was just really fun and lighthearted. And I think also it was a little bit of a page turner because you were trying to figure out who is her mom and how they're going to pull a Mama Mia where you actually never find out who her mom is, I'm not sure. So it was delightful. I highly recommend When You Get The Chance by Emma Lord.
Annie [00:39:10] I loved that book so much. It's such a testament to New York and to the theater and to father- daughter relationships. I just thought it was really lovely.
Mary Katherine [00:39:18] Yes, the father-daughter relationship. And that book is very sweet.
Annie [00:39:21] It's very good. And that's my favorite. I've read a couple of Emma Lord's, but I think that's my favorite of hers by far. Like, I almost wonder if that was like the book she was meant to write because she has a passion for theater, like when you read her author bio. And so I was like, I think this was the book she was meant to write. It's so good. Okay, my preorder title is when you don't have to wait very long for it because we're recording this on a certain date. But I think by the time this episode releases, you will have very long to wait. So if you preorder today, you will get it very soon. And that book is In a New York Minute. This is by Kate Spencer. It's out on March 15th. I adored this book because, again, not all rom-coms are created equal, and I'm looking for wit, snark, fun, chemistry, like I'm looking for specific things.
[00:40:09] And this book by Kate Spencer, who I was not familiar with, but I believe she is like the host of maybe the Forever Thirty Five podcast or something like that. She has written this really loving and lovely tribute to New York and to the romantic comedy. So you talked about one of the things you liked about Waiting for Tom Hanks was kind of its self-awareness. I definitely think this is an author like Harry Winfrey. Kate Spencer appears to be an author who loves the romantic comedy and who is really striving to write something that does the genre justice. And so I really appreciated that. I felt like it was very clever and at the same time really romantic. So the main character is Franny. She's having a terrible day. She's been laid off from her job. The whole time I was reading this book, I definitely could visualize it as a movie. Which rom-coms in film form is my first love. And so I love when a book will kind of play like a movie in my head.
[00:41:01] So Franny has this awful, horrible, no good, very bad day. She gets on the subway to go home, you know, with her box of stuff from her job that has just let her go. And, I believe, her dress rips or something like that. You know, like this horrible, embarrassing moment and she has nothing to cover herself up with. And a man on the subway offers her his suit jacket, as one does. And so they get this kind of stereotypical meet cute, but nothing really happens except they go viral. So it's a very modern kind of love story and meet-cute where they go viral on the internet and people are like, oh, this couple needs to get together. This is the perfect meet-cute.
[00:41:40] And so Franny and then the male protagonist name is Hayes, Franny and Hayes kind of embark on this -- and you're right, there is kind of a enemies to lovers trope here where they don't really hit it off. They don't have a ton in common, but there is this unspoken and natural chemistry. So I really, really, liked this book a lot. Again, I felt like it was smart. I felt like it was fun, and I just read it and thought, this is what a romantic comedy should be like. This is what I'm missing in movies lately. This is what I'm missing on screen. But at least I'm getting to experience it on the page. So it is In a New York Minute. Great New York setting. By Kate Spencer out on March 15th.
Mary Katherine [00:42:21] Hayes is a very good main character name.
Annie [00:42:24] It is.
Mary Katherine [00:42:25] That's a great name. I picture like Hayes sounds like he'd be a very blandly handsome man.
Annie [00:42:30] I think you're absolutely right. I believe his name was like Hayes Montgomery III. Like that's all you need to know about him is his name, but that's great.
Mary Katherine [00:42:42] Yeah. The pre order title I wanted to talk about is Flying Solo by With Linda Holmes, and it comes out on June 14th. Linda Holmes wrote Evvie Drake Starts Over, which I absolutely loved. Another book that you recommended to me at Reader Retreat. So Evvie Drake Starts Over, if you haven't read that, I recommend that one as well. But Flying Solo is about this woman who she's in her 40s and I believe she's just gotten divorced and she goes back home to her small Maine Little Island town. And she's kind of sorting through what her life might be like, and I believe she reconnects with an old either first love or old lover, some guy from her hometown. I know we were only supposed to have one, but I wrote two because I would have missed an opportunity if I did not mention that Kerry Winfrey also has a new book coming out this summer, I believe in August, and it's called Just Another Love Song.
[00:43:39] And she included like the first chapter in the back of her newest book, Very Sincerely Yours. And so I read the first chapter and then was very upset that I was going to have to wait a really long time to find out what was going to happen. But it's about this woman who lives in her hometown and when she was in high school she dated this guy, and then after they graduated he went on to become a famous country music singer. And he was kind of like the one who got away. Like she maybe is still in love with him or still has feelings for him. And all I know is in the first chapter, they run into each other at the grocery store. So I'm thinking this might be like a second chance romance if that's a trope that interests you, but I'll read and purchase anything that Kerry Winfrey writes. I really like her a lot.
Annie [00:44:31] That's so fun. But you broke the rules, so now I'm going to break them too. I do have another preorder that I want such good things to happen for this book. Like, I want everybody to buy it. I want somebody somewhere to buy the film rights. I don't know why this is so hard. Like, I don't understand. In fact, I think I was talking to Jamie Goldin from the podcast. Like, I don't understand why Netflix isn't just buying up the film rights to all of these rom-coms that you and I have talked about. Like, why is this so hard? They could just be churning these out, and they'd be hopefully high quality romantic comedies. This one I believe is a debut. I hope I'm not speaking out of [Inaudible]. I believe it's a debut out on June 7th. It is called Nora Goes Off Script. This is by Annabel Monahan.
[00:45:17] And the reason I thought of it is while you were talking about the new Linda Holmes book and Linda Holmes is another author who I think loves and appreciates a romantic comedy, so she writes really well about it. But it sounded like her protagonist was kind of in her mid 40s. And what I loved about Nora goes off script is the protagonist is 40, and her marriage has ended, and she has always written hallmark movies. Like, they're not called hallmark movies, but she's been a screenwriter for these very kind of feel good movies. And all of a sudden, after her divorce, wrote this really beautiful, wonderful screenplay. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's like a really beautiful, perhaps award winning screenplay. And so the film is going to be filmed at her house like a few of the scenes are going to be filmed at her home.
[00:46:12] And so Annabelle has two very fun kids who play a beautiful role in this book. And of course, a movie star comes and films, you know, at her house and sparks fly. And I could not help but picturing Chris Evans and Rachel McAdams. I did the casting work for you. Like they're both 40. I think it'd be great. And so, anyway, kind of sparks fly between these two characters. But what I really loved about this, the romance is really sweet and fun, but I just really thought it was a well-written book about coming into your own in middle age. Like, I just felt like the word I kept coming back to is dignity. I felt like all of these characters were treated with such dignity and respect. I loved this book so much. It is called Nora Goes Off Script, and it is out on June 7th.
Mary Katherine [00:46:59] That one sounds very good too. I saw you read the ARC and it looks lovely. Someone actually this weekend at Reader Retreat was asking me for romance or rom coms where the main character is either 40 or older because I think they were doing some sort of reading bingo challenge kind of thing. But I mentioned Evvie Drake Starts Over to them. And I think I also mentioned the switch because the grandmother character falls in love in that book. But there tends to be less rom-coms with older characters. But I like when there is one that you enjoy because, you know, they deserve to have a happy ending too.
Annie [00:47:41] Absolutely. This has been delightful. I love talking about romantic comedies. I love evaluating romantic comedies, love evaluating in general, and so this has been a real delight. Thank you, Mary Katherine for joining us today.
Mary Katherine [00:47:51] Thank you. This has been so much fun.
Annie [00:47:55] This week, what I'm reading is brought to you by the 101st Annual Rose Show and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. Come join us in celebrating over 100 years of roses as the city of Thomasville presents the hundred and first annual Rose Show and Festival, April 22nd and 23rd. You don't want to miss all the amazing fun and beauty to be found at The Rose Show. Bring the family and enjoy the artisan market, live entertainment, flower shows, parade, car and truck shows and so much more. Come for the weekend and experience the flowers, fun, food and shopping in beautiful Thomasville, Georgia. Plan your visit at Thomasvillega.com.
[00:48:36] This week, I'm reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Mary Katharine, what are you reading?
Mary Katherine [00:48:42] I am reading The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson, and I think it was as Suzzie pick. Did Susan this book?
Annie [00:48:49] Yeah, she liked it a lot. Thank you again to our sponsor, the 101st Annual Roadshow and Festival here in Thomasville, Georgia. If you want to come for the weekend and experience the flowers, fun, food and shopping in beautiful Thomasville, Georgia, plan your visit now at Thomasvillega.com.
[00:49:11] From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram @ Bookshelftville. And all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website: Bookshelfthomasville.com.
[00:49:31] A full transcript of today's episode can be found at fromthefrontporchpodcast.com.
[00:49:38] Special thanks to Studio D Podcast Production for production of From the Front Porch and for our theme music which that's the perfect, warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.
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