This is Footnotes. In these episodes, we scan the reading world for recent stories, trends, and news to chat about. We pick timely topics for the three of us, and you, to discuss.

We have the honor of having bestselling author and lover of all things reading, Laura Tremaine, sit in with us for this chat while Erin is on leave.

Time Sensitive: Click this link to get two months free of being a Hardback on Patreon. LIMITED TO THE FIRST 100 FOLKS.

If you miss out on being in the first 100, use code LORDOFTHEFLIES on Patreon to save 90% on your first month.

In honor of back to school season, we're taking a look at traditional required reading in schools and deciding if those picks get a Pass or a Fail. 

The first in our series: Author Deep Dives. In this episode, we unpack the meteoric rise of young millennial romance book icon, Emily Henry. 

We answer all the questions: What are our own experiences with her writing? Where did she come from? What's the scouting report on her books? 

And then we enter into the debates: Is she a mirror or an engine? Could her books be written by someone else? Who's on her corner? What is her VORA Score in terms of craft, conversion, degree of difficulty, and personality? We wrap it up with how will we consider her in 2046.  

This is Footnotes. In these episodes, we scan the reading world for recent stories, trends, and news to chat about. We pick timely topics for the three of us, and you, to discuss.

Summer is summering and we're tackling all the new books coming out in July, August, and September of 2026. Get your TBRs in sweaty order.

We're snake drafting book characters who would most likely be MAGA. This is not fictional folks who would be Republicans. This is reserved for sloppy, ear-bandage-wearing, he-can-do-no-wrong MAGA supporters. And surprisingly, our books are full of them. 

It's time for a genre deep dive on Historical Fiction. We define it, discuss when it shines, when it gets it wrong, which time periods we need less of, and which timelines we want to visit more. Finally, we highlight the historical fiction novels we recommend everyone add to their TBR. 

We camp out with all our pet peeves when reading non-fiction books. This includes self-help, memoirs, religion, cookbooks, true crime, business, and more. We share ours and we share AND judge many of yours. 

We're taking it back to the characters we met in our youth who served as our literary spring awakening, those first tingles of romantic love. We share ours - YOU ARE NOT READY FOR KNOX'S - and we share many of yours. Which character got your motor running for the first time? Your heart race? Your blood boil (complimentary)?

In this episode series, Odd Reader Out, one or two of your Shelf Respect hosts will take a literary concept the other host or hosts are unfamiliar with and attempt to entice them into jumping on the bandwagon. In this installment, Knox is walking Erin and Jamie through one of his favorite reading experiences: short stories.

• Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates (text in full)