Novel Pairings

Today Sara and Chelsey discuss Jane Austen’s silly, ridiculous, and absolutely delightful work of juvenilia: Love and Freindship. From fainting spells to the history of parody, this episode is full of nerdy information and fun Austen context. If you’re looking to lighten up your reading life with irreverent novels and humorous romance, today’s pairings are for you, regardless of whether you’ve picked up Love and Freindship.  Join our Patreon community at patreon.com/novelpairings. Follow Novel Pairings on Instagram or Twitter.  Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS to get an audiobook subscription and support independent bookstores. Books mentioned: Love and Freindship by Jane Austen Chelsey: The Princess Bride by William Goldman Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters by Mallory Ortburg When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare Miss Austen by Gill Hornby Sara: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbetson Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin

How did Sara and Chelsey meet? What goes into making a Novel Pairings episode? And how do they find time to read with busy, curious babies in their lives? Today’s episode holds all the answers to YOUR questions about classic literature, teaching English, baby bookworms, reading habits, and more. (Plus plenty of book recommendations. We can’t help it.) The show notes are full of links today, so be sure to scroll down in your app or visit novelpairings.com.   Some links are affiliate links. Every time you make a purchase through one of these links, it helps us keep the podcast running. Thank you!   Books Mentioned: Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Episode: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward Episode: The Crucible by Arthur Miller We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry Episode: The Odyssey by Homer The Martian by Andy Weir The Time Traveler’s Wife by Aubrey Niffenegger Episode: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro Episode: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann Circe by Madeline Miller Episode: Passing by Nella Larsen Episode: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Episode: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Episode: Beloved by Toni Morrison The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Houghton Let’s Look at Animals by Marion Deuchars LMNO Peas by Keith Baker A Unicorn Named Sparkle by Amy Young The Noisy Book by Soledad Bravi Episode: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery Episode: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery Episode: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead Episode: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Episode: Emma by Jane Austen Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare Love and Freindship by Jane Austen   Also Mentioned: @fictionmatters @chelseyreads He Read She Read Podcast The Novel Pairings Ultimate Spreadsheet Sandra Boynton: Frog Trouble Album Raising Readers with Anne Bogel The Sleepy Bookshelf Podcast @clumsy.words   Don’t forget to: Join our Patreon community at patreon.com/novelpairings. Follow Novel Pairings on Instagram or Twitter.  Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS to get an audiobook subscription and support independent bookstores.

Today Sara and Chelsey consider Middlemarch by George Eliot through a contemporary lens with paired books about marriage, community, and time-tested advice. You don’t need to read Middlemarch to put a book recommendation in your pocket today, so enjoy this unique collection of titles and a spoiler-free conversation.    We’re recording an Ask Us Anything episode! Submit your questions to novelpairingspod@gmail.com, DM us on Instagram, or stay tuned for a question box in our Instagram stories.  Need more Jane Austen in your life? Of course you do. Check out Live from Pemberley, from the creators and hosts of Hot & Bothered.  Join our Patreon community at patreon.com/novelpairings. Follow Novel Pairings on Instagram or Twitter.  Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS to get an audiobook subscription and support independent bookstores.   Books mentioned:Middlemarch by George Eliot (Penguin Classics Deluxe) Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips Good Company by Cynthia D’Aprix The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer Under the Rainbow by Celia Laskey A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell You Learn by Living by Eleanor Roosevelt Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka Wahala by Nikki May

Today Sara and Chelsey check in and discuss Middlemarch by George Eliot. What does this 800-page Victorian novel have in common with Love is Blind on Netflix? Tune in to hear literary analysis, pop culture connections, and personal reflections on reading this giant tome. Plus, Sara and Chelsey reveal plans for a new episode format, coming soon.  Join our Patreon community at patreon.com/novelpairings. Follow Novel Pairings on Instagram or Twitter.  Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS to get an audiobook subscription and support independent bookstores. Books mentioned:Middlemarch by George Eliot (Penguin Classics Deluxe)Emma by Jane Austen (The Annotated Version)Love and Friendship by Jane Austen Picks of the week: Chelsey: Love is Blind (Netflix) Sara: My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead  Also mentioned: “It Can Be Embarrassing to Love Dorothea” The Paris Review

After a few months off, we're back in your feeds today to discuss some of our favorite (and least favorite) books of 2021. We've organized this episode into bookish superlatives that let us share books you may not hear us talk about otherwise. We also offer a reflection on our reading year as a whole, including what it's been like to read with newborns around. It's great to be back at the mic talking all things books! For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk,  join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com. Connect with us  on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores. Links: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson Wintering by Katherine May Insurrecto by Gina Apostol Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark We’re All in This Together by Amy Jones Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts by Karen Kleiman Kid Gloves by Lucy Knisley Detransition, Baby by Torrie Peters The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro Seven Days in June by Tia Williams A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents.” So begins the book that launched a million little girls’ love affair with reading. While we here at Novel Pairings have pretty mixed feelings about Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, our discussion of this beloved childhood classic is one of our favorites.  Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without some discussion of Little Women, so whether you love them or loathe them, we hope you enjoy today’s rerelease as we deep dive into the world of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk,  join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com. Connect with us  on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores. Books Mentioned: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Amazon) Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (Amazon) Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Amy Boyd Rioux (Amazon) So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan (Amazon) March by Geraldine Brooks (Amazon) Also mentioned: Episode 40 with Annie B. Jones Skip to the pairings with this timestamp: [36:14]   Shop the pairings with our affiliate links below:   Chelsey’s Pairings:  More to the Story by Hena Khan (Amazon) Most Likely by Sarah Watson (Amazon) Writers & Lovers by Lily King (Amazon)   Sara’s Pairings: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez (Amazon) The Resurrection of Joan Ashby by Cherise Wolas (Amazon) The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams (Amazon) Picks of the week: Home Cooking Podcast Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories

Here at Novel Pairings, if there’s one thing we love almost as much as reading it’s supporting independent bookstores. Today, we’re re-airing an interview with one of our favorite indie bookstore insiders, Annie B. Jones, owner of The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia. Annie shares a little about her own reading life and tastes, and offers some sweet and moving book pairings for one of her favorite classics: Little Women.  Remember, you can support The Bookshelf or your favorite local indie bookstore and the Novel Pairings podcast by signing up or gifting a Libro.fm membership. Use our code NOVELPAIRINGS when you join, and help boost business at your favorite bookstore through another difficult holiday season. For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk,  join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com. Connect with us  on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores. Books mentioned: Our book list includes a mix of affiliate links and links to The Bookshelf inventory. If you want to own one of the books we talked about today, we hope you consider supporting The Bookshelf with your purchase.    East of Eden by John Steinbeck Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Little Women by Louisa May Alcott An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott The Baby-Sitters Club Box A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza The Mothers by Brit Bennett Franny & Zoey by J.D. Salinger From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konig Bloomability by Sharon Creech Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Amy Boyd Rioux Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel House Lessons by Erica Bauermeister Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid Ex Libris by Michiko Kakutani  HRH by Elizabeth Holmes Passing by Nella Larsen Emma by Jane Austen Also mentioned: “The Baby-Sitters Club Taught Me Everything I Needed to Know About Literary Fiction”

We love revisiting our favorite books for episodes of Novel Pairings, but there’s also something truly special about finding a new-to-us classic that becomes a forever favorite. There is Confusion by Jessie Redmon Fauset was a book neither of us had read or even knew much about before deciding to cover it on the podcast.  What we found was a beautiful and nuanced novel of manners that both echoed many of our favorite works while offering something wholly original. We keep this episode spoiler-free to encourage more readers to give this novel a chance. We hope you’ll listen and then pick up this too long neglected Harlem Renaissance classic. For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk,  join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com. Connect with us  on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores. Skip to the pairings with this timestamp: [33:15]   Shop the pairings with our affiliate links below:   Books mentioned: There is Confusion by Jessie Redmon Fauset (Amazon) Passing by Nella Larsen (Amazon) [30:39]   Chelsey’s Pairings   Pride by Ibi Zoboi (Amazon) [36:06] This Lovely City by Louise Hare (Amazon) [42:23] Becoming by Michelle Obama (Amazon) [49:18]   Sara’s Pairings   On Beauty by Zadie Smith (Amazon) [33:33] No One is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts (Amazon) [39:35] Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour (Amazon) [45:52] Picks of the week: Chelsey: How WWI Sparked and Artistic Movement that Transformed Black America [53:30] Sara: New Yorker article on Fauset (by Morgan Jerkins) [52:09] and Women of the Harlem Renaissance by Cheryl A. Wall [52:40]

Our penchant for pairings goes far beyond books and in today’s gift guide rerelease we’re offering a variety of suggestions for what to give the literary minded loved ones in your life. Each book and gift pairing is put together with a particular type of reader in mind to help you find the perfect holiday gift no matter who you’re shopping for this season.  Our Gift Guide: https://novelpairings.com/2020/11/10/35-a-2020-gift-guide-for-every-literary-taste/ For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk,  join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com. Connect with us  on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores. Books mentioned: Luster by Raven Leilani (9/1) Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney Normal People by Sally Rooney Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (9/1) The Mothers by Brit Bennett Daddy by Emma Cline (9/1) The Girls by Emma Cline Florida by Lauren Groff Sabrina & Corina by Kali Farjado-Anstine Lot by Bryan Washington Recommended for You by Laura Silverman (9/1) Tweet Cute by Emma Lord By the Book by Amanda Sellet Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (9/1) The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 13th on Netflix The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander When They See Us on Netflix Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds Pride by Ibi Zoboi His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie (9/1) Queenie by Candace Carty-Williams Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivers (9/1) Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie Episode 18 The Odyssey When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole (9/1) The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin Jack by Marilynne Robinson (9/15) Lila by Marilynne Robinson Gilead by Marilynne Robinson New Gilead covers The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson (9/15) Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (9/29) How to Stop Time by Matt Haig Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo (9/29) The Best Worst Man by Mia Sosa Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman (10/6) Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem by Stacy Schiff The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab (10/6) A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Dolly Parton’s America She Come by It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh (10/13) Natural Acts: Gender, Race, and Rusticity in Country Music by Pamela Fox Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth (10/20) Dare Me by Megan Abbott Jane in Love by Rachel Givney (10/27) The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn Austenland by Shannon Hale Cobble Hill by Cecily Von Ziegesar (10/20) Gossip Girl by Cecily Von Ziegesar The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger  I Wanna Be Where the Normal People Are by Rachel Bloom (11/17) Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby

When we first released our episode on Passing by Nella Larsen in June of 2020, we were already professing our excitement for the new movie starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Nega. This month, the film is finally releasing on Netflix.  We can’t wait to watch and see how the palpable tension and twisty tone translate to the screen. This episode contains spoilers, but we give you ample warning so feel free to listen before or after watching. Our discussion includes:  Gatsby connections galore, and an argument for replacing Gatsby with Passing [16:35]  Intersectionality and Irene’s struggle with loyalty across race, gender, and class lines [27:56]  Who should pick this up? [32:15] Plus, as always, we’re recommending six contemporary books to pair with our classic,  including a literary thriller and one of this summer’s buzziest books. For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk,  join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com. Connect with us  on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores.   Show Notes: Emily Bernard’s intro Excerpt from Vanishing Half @reggiereads review Chelsey’s Pairings: My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite [40:48] Black is the Body by Emily Bernard [47:05] The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert [53:17]   Sara’s Pairings: Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson [37:50] Born a Crime by Trevor Noah [43:14] The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett [50:00]   Pick of the Week: You Must Remember This podcast “Passing for White, Merle Oberon” 13th the Ava DuVerny documentary