This is a an example of our premium content you can find on our Shelf Respect Patreon. *originaly published in October, 2025

We asked our Hardbacks to air their grievances about fiction and they answered. LOUDLY AND WITH FEELING. They shared the details, big and small, they despise in a novel. In this episode, we feature some of their complaints, as well as share a few of our own. And there's a kerfuffle about short stories.

Mentions:

• A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant

• Alchemised by Senlinyu

• Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

• The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain by Hannah Brown

• Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

• The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty

• The Bookshelf in Thomasville, GA

• The Compound by Aisling Rawe

• Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

• Annihilation movie streaming on Paramount+

• Inception movie streaming on HBO Max

• 50 Times Male Authors Proved They Know Next To Nothing About Women

• The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder

• Colton Gentry's Third Act by Jeff Zentner

• No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

• It by Stephen King

• Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

• The New York Times Bestseller list wiki

• Publishers Weekly Bestseller List

• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

• Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

• The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem

• Our Patreon: Shelf Respect
• Our Instagram: @readwithshelfrespect
• readwithshelfrespect.com
• Knox McCoy on Substack 
• Erin Moon on Substack
• Jamie B. Golden on Instagram