Program

Not sure how to serve the romance readers in your library? Beth , a voracious long-time romance reader and the editor at the Hip Librarian's Book Blog, will facilitate a romance novel book discussion. This program can be run in one of several formats: Single book discussion: Everyone is assigned the same romance novel to read. Facilitator leads a directed discussion and provides a readalikes. Requires 2 months lead time. Round Robin: Everyone brings a romance they have recently read. Participants each spend 3-5 minutes sharing the plot and what they liked about the book. Facilitator introduces subgenres, tropes, microtropes and literary terms as they come up, and will focus the discussion on readalikes for each book. The group may choose a book to read together and discuss in a future program to create a discussion series. Variation: Bring a romance novel you hated! Subgenre focus: Everyone brings a romance in a subgenre agreed upon ahead of time (e.g. sports romance, holiday romance, romantasy, queer romance, victorian romance, fairy tale retellings, etc.). Participants each spend 5 minutes sharing the plot and what they liked about the book. Facilitator introduces subgenres, tropes, microtropes and literary terms as they come up, and will focus the discussion on readalikes for each book. The group may choose a book to read together and discuss in a future program to create a discussion series. Trope focus: Everyone brings a romance from a specific trope (e.g. best friend's brother, fake-dating, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, second-chance romance, forced proximity, etc). Participants each spend 3-5 minutes sharing the plot and what they liked about it. Facilitator introduces subgenres, tropes, microtropes and literary terms as they come up, and will focus the discussion on readalikes for each book. The group may choose a book to read together and discuss in a future program to create a discussion series. Not a Romance Book Discussion: Everyone brings a book about a relationship that does not end happily after after. Participants each spend 3-5 minutes sharing the plot and what they liked about the book. Facilitator introduces subgenres, tropes, microtropes and literary terms as they come up, and will focus the discussion on readalikes for each book. The group may choose a book to read together and discuss in a future program to create a discussion series. Romance Resources: Beth will provide an overview of the history of the romance novel, subgenres, tropes, microtropes and literary terms, benchmark books and authors, and ways to find what to read next. Includes an overview of NoveList for readalikes.