Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing My Antonia by Willa Cather with a special guest: Michelle Timmins, English literature student and Novel Pairings assistant extraordinaire. There’s plenty to discuss in this wintry classic, including stunning imagery, surprising connections to an American Girl Doll, and where Cather’s novel fits into the American literary canon. Plus, as always, we’re recommending six contemporary books to pair with our classic, including a Western, an arctic memoir, and a nonfiction book about grief.

Books Mentioned:

My Antonia by Willa Cather (Amazon)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (Amazon)

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (Amazon)

Also mentioned: Deconstruction Theory

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Michelle’s Pairings:

How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang (Amazon)
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (Amazon)

Sara’s Pairings:

How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa (Amazon)
Wintering by Katherine May (Amazon)

Chelsey’s Pairings:

A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter (Amazon)
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee (Amazon)

39. My Antonia by Willa Cather, plus books about community and survival to read this winter