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Rachel and Leah discuss romance subgenres ranging from modern and period to paranormal, sweet, and more scandalous or erotic options. Leah introduces the BookTok-driven “spice scale,” explaining its subjective nature and how it can set reader expectations. The episode closes with personal reading history and classic recommendations from well-known romance authors, plus notes on related tastes like fanfiction.","Not Your Mother’s Library Transcript  \nEpisode 31: The Spice Scale  \n(Brief intro music)  \nRachel: Hello, and welcome to Not Your Mother’s Library, a readers’ advisory podcast from the Oak Creek Public Library. I’m Rachel  \nLeah: And I’m Leah.  \nRachel: It’s nice to be back after our holiday hiatus. We have a slew of new ideas for 2022, starting off with this episode! Because it’s February, everyone knows that Valentine’s Day is coming up quick. It’s that time of year for cards, candy hearts, and other signs of affection, so we will take this as the perfect opportunity it is to recommend some romance novels. Romance as a genre encompasses all sorts of books. There is contemporary, or ‘modern’ romance, as opposed to ‘period’ romance that goes hand in hand with historical fiction. If you prefer fantasy, you can take your pick from the paranormal romance subgenre. And, of course, you might prefer your trysts slightly more scandalous, or maybe even erotic. Situated polar opposite to that is sweet romance, which is known for being heartwarming instead of saucy. If you’re struggling to find something of interest even after listening to today’s episode of the podcast, Oak Creek Public Library does offer a variety of booklists. You can find them all on our website [at oakcreeklibrary.org/booklists. I will](at oakcreeklibrary.org/booklists. I will) also add a link to the show notes. And, if you have ever tried one of these subgenres and disliked it, I’d say it is worth giving romance as a whole another a shot. The writing itself can be incredibly varied. To help you make a better decision, Leah came up with a pretty good idea.  \nLeah: Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say I in particular came up with the idea. Um, I realize I might be outing myself on which side of TikTok I belong on, but I’m sure it comes as no surprise that your local librarian might have fallen onto the BookTok side. Booktok is filled with all sorts of fun recommendations from readers, reenactments by folks who love books, and even spoilers and teasers from authors themselves. I have a few favorite BookTok authors that I follow, with the first being Stacey McEwan. Now, she’s a forthcoming author so I have her debut fantasy  \nnovel pre-purchased for my Kindle already. She’s just so funny, and you can find her under the username “stacebookspace” on TikTok. Another of my favorite authors to follow—though I haven’t picked up any of her books yet—is K. D. Robichaux. She really makes relatable, funny content, and if you’d like to follow her on TikTok her username is “authorkdrobichaux.” Before, however, you check out her content, I’d like to give you a heads up that her content and writing falls pretty close to a five chilis on the spice scale. Oh, you haven’t heard about the spice scale? Well, typically books where the spiciest part is holding hands would rank a one on that scale. Five chilis or above would indicate a prettttty spicy book. Frankly, either relatively graphic in how particular scenes might be written, or for how…’adventurous’ it might be?  \nRachel: Eyebrow raise.  \nLeah: The scale is pretty arbitrary, based solely on the reader’s interpretation of the book, but I think it can still give most audiences a decent idea of what to expect. For instance, if you’re hoping for some serious hand holding and coquettish glances, I’d recommend staying to the lower end of that spice scale. There are books for each and every reader, though, so don’t be shy to ask a librarian for some help in finding new books or new authors—or, heck, new genres to try. Anyway, I’ll hop off my soapbox now and get into some actual recommendations for books and authors. Now, I’ve been a romance reader for…a long time. I’ve always loved the‘happy ever after’ and knowing that things are going to turn out okay in that little piece of escapism that I picked up. A fun fact: I got started reading romance because at the Waukesha Public Library, which was my library growing up, the paperback romance nov","cbCaib6Omp0POIUp","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaib6Omp0POIUp","pdf",92105,11,"English","en",105,"# Not Your Mother’s Library Podcast\n## Valentine’s Day romance recommendations\n## Romance subgenres overview\n## Leah’s BookTok picks and the spice scale\n## Classic romance authors and genre history","[{\"question\":\"What is the “spice scale” Leah describes in Episode 31?\",\"answer\":\"It’s an informal, reader-expectation guide estimating how explicit or “spicy” a romance novel may be, based on individual interpretation rather than a fixed standard.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the episode suggest choosing romance books for different comfort levels?\",\"answer\":\"Listeners are encouraged to match their preferences to the lower or higher end of the spice scale and ask librarians for guidance when unsure.\"},{\"question\":\"Which kinds of romance subgenres does the podcast mention?\",\"answer\":\"The episode covers contemporary/modern romance, period romance, paranormal romance, sweet romance, and more scandalous or erotic romance options.\"}]","Not Your Mother’s Library Transcript - 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