It’s like a book club, but one where you don’t have to leave your house or have people over! Remember that apprentices only wear shirts.

You have to listen to some pre-show banter about genre fiction but if you have the patience I think that this is hands down the best poetry reading podcast running.

Please enjoy this long-form tribute to the work of famed French librarian Jean ReFriend

In the bonus episode for Ladyhawke, Cameron referred to Sean Astin as someone who is only for “carrying dudes into volcanos”. I have seen the Lord of the Rings movies dozens of times. I did not draw that connection upon hearing this. I saw him in my mind’s eye portraying Heihachi Mishima.

Where are we getting a Lucha Underground unit?

My husband got me into this pod when he mentioned there would be a Junji Ito unit, and now I’m hooked! Like a good spiral, I must take the pod home for further study. Love the lit critiques and the humor. Two thumbs up.

It’s a book podcast hosted by consummate professionals. 5-star production, and 5-star run times. I gave the show a try because I already listen to everything else Austin makes. These other two randos are great too though.

The hosts apply a critical lens to different book series. You do not need an academic background to understand what they're talking about. It's a *funny* show. I probably laugh physically out loud at least once an episode. If you like the show, try their patreon bonus episodes! They are even better than the main show!!! - A 1000 year old Dracula

*Assuming your life is already pretty decent and all you really need is a good podcast to listen to I never even knew what a Gene Park was before I started listening to this podcast. It's three smart folks talking about cool books. It's awesome. I never read along. It's funny, it's clever, it's insightful. Listen to this.

I can’t stop calling things “a real Tomei situation”. Genuinely, though, this is a great way to access literary critiques and discussion now that I no longer have access to lit classes. The hosts provide lots of useful frameworks through which to interpret the works, as well as further theorist reading options if you want to flesh out your own interpretation of the work. It’s also lighthearted and funny enough that you never feel bogged down in your Deleuze or Derrida. Accessible either with or without reading along - convinced me to finally read some Junji Ito and have enjoyed developing my own critiques and then comparing to theirs. Definitely check out Cameron and Michael’s other shows Just King Things or Homestuck Made This World for more lit critiques, or Game Study Study Buddies for video game theory, and Austin Walker’s actual play show Friends at the Table for further robust discussions of how narratives function.

You’ll get the most out of this if you approach it more like an actual play podcast than a lit crit / book club podcast. That is to say, you have to recognize the lit crit as a pretense for some guys to get together and bounce off one another; if you’re here any other reading, it’s bleak. I was told by friends that the Junji Ito discussion series was worth a listen, so I put on the first TOMIE episode. It begins with one of the hosts wondering about the unknown history of Japanese horror fiction, and another vaguely responding that they once heard about a guy named Rampo. That sort of limited engagement with context — no one’s done any secondary reading before starting? — isn’t necessarily a bad omen for a lit podcast, because some people can generate interesting discussion even out of cold reading. The hosts here don’t summon that kind of juice, unfortunately. When they’re too bored with a story’s plot summary to riff on its description for a few minutes, no one seems to know what to do or say. If a story catches their interest, they’ll lay out their theory and then… move on, without any give and take. They are comfortable discussing illustrations at length, but will just as often fall into grinding riffs on story logic, as though Ito were a realist writer, or continuity between stories, as though they‘ve never read short fiction before (which, tbf, they may not have). The hosts have a rapport, in the sense that they love to run with a bit, but they generate very little dialogue, even when they disagree. The throughline for the TOMIE episodes is a question of the stories’ politics; Walker’s ends up being the only take which does anything interesting — or anything at all — with the context of the writing, dragging the other hosts into discussion that doesn’t simply discard the work. I was curious if this was just the general vibe of the podcast, so I jumped back to sample the first episode; everyone seemed to have come to Gene Wolfe with deep established knowledge and ready grace for ugly elements of the work. Ito apparently doesn’t merit the same treatment. The way the hosts ascribe regressive politics onto Ito, from surface readings of his perspective characters’ thoughts and actions, is indicative of how disinterested these guys are in what they’re doing. How *Gene Wolfe apologists* get to that kind of analysis is a serious question. It’s a mockery of reading, and of Ito. If the effort of your literary analysis is directly proportional to how much you like the work in question, you shouldn’t be committing to cold reading in public. Or discussing literature in public at all, frankly. This is a reaction podcast pretending at thought. Ito deserves better, books deserve better, and listeners do too.

As transplant from the two hosts music review podcast about things possessed by a monarch (still not sure what those things are yet), imagine my surprise that instead of Bob Dylan I heard an elegant voice for a more civilized age! I was more surprised then that while I was listening to the hosts talking about things multiplying and getting into you head (if not bored into your brain) that warhammer miniature painting was casually brought up, right while I was cutting little plastic pieces of the sprue to assemble a warhammer miniature! Had something multiplied and take refuge in my head? Then they started talking about how things spiraled out of control and people just shrugged their shoulders, just like how the society I’m living in is seeming spiraling into chaos and I’m just sitting here shrugging my shoulders and assembling my 40K miniatures. Huh? Excuse me? What is going on? At least now I know never ever to buy a spiral tub. 5/5 star but how I think the review of this podcast should work is that it comes with 5 stars as default, and when you try to change it to less than 5 you end up with two 5 stars reviews. And if you keep trying eventually all the 5 stars will twist together into spirally snake thing and slither off into the internet ocean.

That’s right! None of it! Book of the New Sun? No way. Earthsea? Never been there. Junji Ito? I don’t even know what a spiral looks like. I just don’t have the time. You know what I do have time for? Shelved By Genre. Hours of it, every single week. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Five Stars.

This is probably the closest we’ll get to a perfect podcast until Ranged Touch releases a Metal Gear Solid show. I appreciate that the hosts throw in 2 minutes of MGS talk into every episode to let us microdose in the meantime.

“Who’re you taking to the prom, Dragonlord? Or are you… maidenless?”

“Fly, Dragonlord, Fly” is an amazing tale of the power of football and the love of fantasy fiction to transcend the racial barriers that high schoolers errect between themselves. Humorous, heartfelt, you’ll be rooting for these characters even if you don’t know a quarterback from a tight end or a draconian from a dragonlord. Anyways, this amazing movie is bookended in something called the “Le Guin Unit”? Which itself is a deep dive into Le Guin’s Earthsea novels? And is merely a part of a podcast called “Shelved by Genre”, which combines literary and political analysis with humor to make sense of the worlds created by 20th century sci-fi and fantasy authors? Maybe. I don’t remember. I just know that I want that Dragonlord jersey.

That really was a Book of the new sun!

Three friends who are much smarter than I am unpacking books I don’t have the attention span to read, yet am fascinated by.

I’ve tried many sci-fi and fantasy podcasts through the years, but I’ve given up on all of them until now. This show is exactly what I’ve been wanting.

great place to be introduced to some classic fantasy and sci-fi

Since listening to SBG every time I see my dog I exclaim “A BABY BABY”

Loving the Le Guin content.

Somehow this podcast started to come out as I was halfway through my read of “shadow of the torturer”. The crews range of knowledge helped me understand the book in ways I would never have thought and made the whole journey of reading those books so much better

I can’t wait to read/play/watch Dragonlord and the sequel, Wings of the Dragonlord. 5/5 literature podcast, 10/10 pitch document.

Coincidently came across this podcast after just starting a read of the Ursula K Le Guin Books of Earthsea “Unit” after it was recently recommended to me by a friend. Thoroughly enjoying exploring these books and following along with these guys!

Sharp and fun analysis of very interesting books (and movies if you're a patron) - it's the only show where, even though they did NOT do this, I half expected them to segue into a discussion of 1990's Northern Exposure after they mentioned Ged from Earthsea's wizard residency. Come for the literary analysis, stay for the Metal Gear Solid improv and Stephen King crossover fanfic.

I loved Homestuck Made This World, and started reading Book of the New Sun simply because I saw this podcast was analyzing it. 10/10, would recommend (both the podcast and the book!) P.S. - Please consider doing a read through of the Amber series by Roger Zelazny, or the Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer!

I’m pretty sure that most of the events of A Wizard of Earthsea could have been avoided if there was a tenth master wizard on Roke, the Master Therapist. While most coming of age tales do not feature the protagonist reflecting on their selfhood and internal thoughts without great struggle and experience, Ged probably could have been saved a great deal of physical and mental torture by undergoing regular sessions with a licensed practitioner of mental and spiritual healing. The institution of Higher Education failed Ged, is what I’m trying to say. Very happy that you’re covering this series, which I have loved dearly since I was a child, yet never fully appreciated until now as an adult. Five Stars.

Hop in at a book (or occasional movie) you’re interested in and I’m confident it’ll enhance your enjoyment of that thing.

Where else are you going to get literature insights such as “A train is a kind of book.” ?

You will not find a better crew than Cameron, Michael, and Austin. Join for the mind-blowingly good books, stay for the insightful and hilarious conversation. After you listen to one episode, you won’t be able to return to a life without Shelved By Genre.

I can’t say that I really understood everything that happened with Book of the New Sun, but I had a great time with that, the bonus episode about the old animated lord of the rings that slaps, and of course the pinnacle of shelved by genre pods: next stop, christmas! It’s great fun listening to this trio dive deep into the subject matter. My only criticism is that I think it would be great if they had a woman or women on the pod especially when some of the analysis of the treatment of women characters really was missing that perspective. But overall I always enjoy the episodes and look forward to more Earthsea!

Here to say this is definitely A Unit, Never a Season, sometimes a Stephen!

five! star! pod! cast! 5! star! run! time!

I can’t wait for 10 years from now when they read “the chronicles of xanth” and ask “is it fantasy Florida?”

I hate books, but I loooooove media critics haunted by the church

I love the book of the new sun and I’ve loved listening to all 3 of the hosts for years. One of those moments where you can’t believe a thing really exists. Also I met Austin Walker once and he was super chill.

Just like the Claw of the Conciliators, this show changed me by bringing me back to the past… of genre lit. Thank you!

And I cannot tell you to listen to this podcast, only ask that if you could, would you? It may or may not be important for the future.

This podcast is just far better than anything written by Dr. Talos. This podcast will bring forth the new sun.

The first time I read the title I thought “shelved” was roughly synonymous with floored. For example: “Did you read that part where Severian beheaded that guy while riding an elephant? It absolutely shelved me, bro.” I thought we the readers were the ones shelved by genre. Anyway, this podcast is fantastic, and I can’t get enough of listening to these guys talk about books!

I wish my college classes had covered genres more comprehensively and now I can remedy the deficiency by listening to folks far funnier than my professors. No downsides! Shadow and Claw was really fun to read along with, too.

Thought i didn’t like these books. Turns out, years later, that i didn’t have even the slightest idea what was going on in them until I listened to this podcast

Amazing show! They say things, I laugh! They say other things, I nod thoughtfully! Good! Great! Keep it up!

I listen to this show, and all the Ranged Touch content, more than I watch Netflix. No question.

I listen to these Ranged Touch folks talk about books a lot. Mostly because they read books I don’t have time or interest in, but are interesting to me in some other way. However, after listening through the first few pods covering The Shadow of the Torturer, I stopped listening because I finally wanted to read along and dang I am glad I did!

I tried my hand at reading Shadow of the Torturer a few years ago, and I absolutely hated it. It seemed like another dumb 80’s fantasy book with a cruel, unlikable protagonist. The protagonist is still unlikable and cruel, but I was so very wrong about the “dumb” part. The great and funny insights from these hosts helped me see that. Thanks guys! I came here from Just King Things and Homestuck Made This World, and I’m excited to keep reading along in the future. And that’s the real Shadow of the Torturer.

This podcast is so delightful and insightful. Before listening I completely missed that the real “shadow of the torturer” was the weird friends we made along the way!

A teenaged Kazuo Ishiguro cosplayer on Tiktok told me, "no offense, but Shelved by Genre is the worst podcast I've ever heard", so if you are or have ever been into genre literature, that's all you need to know about whether you'd like it or not.

Really enjoyed Austin, Michael, and Cameron's analysis on all things genre fiction. I'm looking forward to future episodes, where I'm sure we will finally discover what the shadow of the torturer truly is.