Love Is in the Air for Santa Barbara Reads

Late-night sketch comedy shows are in the air right now. Director Jason Reitman (whose family has long ties to Santa Barbara) has an excellent new film out called Saturday Night, based on the 90 minutes leading up the first episode of Saturday Night Live. And this year’s Santa Barbara Reads selection — Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld — is set in, you got it, a Saturday Night Live–esque fictional show called The Night Owls. 

I read Sittenfeld’s book almost immediately when it came out in 2023, having been a fan of her novels since 2005’s Prep, a sharp and funny coming-of-age story set in a wealthy East Coast boarding school. Eligible (a 2016 riff on Pride and Prejudice) was another rather-obvious-for-me Sittenfeld favorite, but she’s (Curtis is a “she”) taken on all sorts of subjects in her fiction, including American Wife, loosely based on the life of Laura Bush, and Rodham, less loosely based on the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

Needless to say, I was excited when the Santa Barbara Public Library announced Romantic Comedy as the 2024 S.B. Reads pick (see David Starkey’s review at bit.ly/4eZpNlE). For those unfamiliar with the annual program, S.B. Reads, which is funded primarily by the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation (SBPL), distributes free copies of the selected title with the idea that the whole community will read the same book at around the same time and then connect with each other through shared discussions and programming. 

Romantic Comedy is not only an entertaining read with pretty broad appeal, but it’s also packed with great angles to explore, including: romantic relationships, the balance of power and how money and attractiveness affect them, the ups and downs of fame, and humor, what makes something funny, and the relationship between comedy and political correctness (a theme that’s also interestingly observed in Reitman’s film). 

Taking place between mid-October and mid-November, the S.B. Reads fun kicks off on Thursday, October 17, at Satellite (1117 State St.), 6-8 p.m., where you can pick up a free copy of Romantic Comedy and a Romance Novel Bingo card, use vintage typewriters to type one-of-a-kind love notes, and register for upcoming S.B. Reads book discussions and special events.

Print copies of Romantic Comedy will be available in English and Spanish (first come, first served) while supplies last at all SBPL locations. E-books and digital audiobooks are available in English as well. Romantic Comedy isn’t the only novel in the S.B. Reads spotlight, as SBPL is celebrating the romance genre with a variety of book discussions, including titles like Funny Story by Emily Henry and We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian.

In addition to the kickoff on October 17, additional S.B. Reads highlights include a special “Art of Love: A Romance Novel Cover Retrospective” at the Faulkner Gallery in Central Library (opening Nov. 7) and a Romance Author Panel at the Central Library on November 8. There are also book discussions of Romantic Comedy (Oct. 29, Nov. 14), Funny Story by Emily Henry (Oct. 22), Caught in a Bad Fauxmance by Elle Gonzalez Rose (Nov. 2), We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian (Nov. 6), El Color de Las Cosas Invisibles by Andrea Longarela (Nov. 8), Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver (Nov. 12), and How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang (Nov. 13), as well many other events for all ages. All events are free and open to the public. For a complete list, see bit.ly/4f0xOH6. 

Spoiler Alert: Some people like to know as little as possible about a book before reading it, but for those who want to know more about Romantic Comedy, here’s the description from SBPL: Sally Milz, a sharp-witted sketch writer for The Night Owls, has given up on love, opting instead for a fulfilling career and the occasional fling. But when her friend Danny starts dating a stunning actress, Sally pens a cheeky sketch mocking how “average” men often land beautiful women — while the reverse never seems to happen. Enter Noah Brewster, a charismatic pop star set to host this week’s show. Sparks fly as Sally and Noah connect creatively, but Sally can’t shake the feeling that life isn’t a rom-com, and someone like him would never date someone like her … or would he? Discover the unexpected in this story where love just might surprise you.