In light of recent discussions about romance lacking a literary canon and being a difficult genre for new readers to get started in, we’re attempting to compile a list of resources for readers fairly new to the genre. These are not necessarily endorsements. This is an ongoing project and obviously an incomplete sampling. If you think of a blog or a site that should be required reading before one writes that essay for Salon, let us know and we’ll add it.
Canon Fodder
Olivia Waite’s Intersectional Feminism A to Z series
Little Miss Crabby Pants Fires The Canon
Boom Goes The Canon: romance, the canon problem, and iconic works
Best of Lists
2013 RONA Awards (PDF)
All About Romance’s Yearly Reader Awards
Library Journal’s Best of 2013
Emma Award winners (Black romance)
Top 10 Indian Novels that Redefined Romance
“Must Read” Science Fiction Romance
Academic Papers and Blogs
Sandra Schwab on Blindness (PDF)
Ria Cheyne on Disability (PDF)
Emily Baldys on Disability (PDF)
Journal of Popular Romance Studies
Review Blogs
Sistahs on the Shelf – Black lesbian fiction
Romance Novels in Color – Romance featuring people of color
Romance in Color – African-American romance
The Lesbrary – Lesbian fiction
Bisexual Books – Bisexual fiction
Interracial Romance Book Reviews – Self-explanatory
Aren’t I A Heroine? – African-American Historical Romance
Book Geeks – Indian romance
Indian Book Reviews – Self-explanatory
Loving Venus – Loving Mars – f/f and f/f/m erotic/romantic fiction
Sapphic Pages – LGBTQIA Fiction
The Galaxy Express – Science fiction romance (more SFR sites here.)
Fiction Vixen Book Reviews – Varied selection of romance
Smexy Books – Varied selection of romance
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books – Varied selection of romance
Dear Author – Varied selection of romance
The Misadventures Of Super Librarian – Varied selection of romance
Discussion Blogs
Vacuous Minx – Sunita/@sunita_p
Read React Review – Jessica/@RRRJessica
Something More – Liz McCausland/@Liz_Mc2
Badass Romance – Pamela/@badass_romance
Romance Novels for Feminists – Jackie Horne/@RNFF65
All About Romance – Group-run discussion blog
Industry Blogs
Ridley
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Ridley
My name shows on the post, but this was a group effort, with Meoskop doing a lot of the work.
Also, if you’re looking for multicultural romance, you should check out our partial list of multicultural romance.
Merrian
I love and appreciate what you are all doing with this blog. It is a wonderful gift to romancelandia and I’m always so impressed by the knowledge and thought you share with your readers
Ridley
@Merrian: <3
Fiona McGier
Even though I’ve never won an EPIC award, (used to be called the eppies), I’ve been a member of the Electronically Published Internet Coalition for the past 5 years…as long as I’ve been published. Their contest has been going on for at least 12 years…as long as eBooks have been available. They are another great resource. They don’t ONLY judge romance books, but romance is such a huge category of eBooks that most of the categories involve romance. Find out more at: http://www.epicorg.com/
Laura Vivanco
Here’s some more canon fodder you might want to add to the list: http://momentummoonlight.com/blog/boom-goes-the-canon/ It’s by Jodie McAlister.