Novel Pairings

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde. This collection of essays, speeches, and other writings is highly discussable and totally re-readable. We loved diving into this seminal Black Feminist text, though our conversation today barely scratches the surface of all there is to learn from Lorde's ideas, language, and poetry.  Plus, as always, we're recommending six conte...

Instead of the "best books of the year" or our "favorite reads from 2020," we're sharing 12 bookish superlatives to highlight some underrated gems, popular favorites, academic reads, and more. Whether you love dark and moody literary fiction or genre-bending contemporary stories, we hope you find a new title to add to your TBR list today.  Follow Novel Pairings on Instagram or Twitter .  Use our L...

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. We share what we admire about Alcott and her iconic children's classic, as well as the reasons why it doesn't hold a fond place in our readerly hearts. We know that many readers adore this sisterly, warm-hearted book, so we've backed up our opinions with extra-nerdy analysis.  Plus, as always, we're recommending six contempor...

Today, Chelsey and Sara talk about their favorite books from childhood, Little Women fashion, and family stories to read this winter with Annie B. Jones, owner of The Bookshelf in Thomasville and host of the bookish podcast From The Front Porch . There's lots of nostalgia, laughter, and book talk in this episode, plus tips for helping your favorite local bookstores thrive during trying times. Note...

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 recommen...

Have we mentioned how much we love audiobooks? We've both been avid listeners for a long time, but between pandemic life and Sara's Aspen Words reading,  this has been a banner year for audiobooks. Today, we're each sharing twelve of our favorite listening experiences. With a mix of literary fiction, romance, nonfiction, and YA, today's episode has an audiobook recommendation for every reader.  Fo...

Today, we reflect on our favorite reads from the last three months. These quarterly reflections might be our favorite episodes to record. It's lovely to take time to consider our favorite episodes, our favorite reads, and what we've learned over the course of the season. We're sharing a bunch of book recommendations in this episode; shop our recs here .  Visit our podcast pals Heaving Bosoms ! Fol...

Today, Traci Thomas of The Stacks podcast joins Chelsey and Sara to discuss The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm, X, as told by Alex Haley. We loved diving into this iconic nonfiction classic with our favorite nonfiction expert, and we're so excited to share this conversation with you.    Follow The Stacks on Instagram Join The Stacks Book Club on Patreon Shop The Stacks merch Shop Traci's bo...

It's holiday shopping season! Today we're pairing giftable books with fun items for readers with varied tastes. Build your holiday shopping list or your personal TBR with gift ideas for Austenites, fantasy readers, history buffs, and more.  Find every title and gift item we mentioned on our gift guide blog post.    

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. We're sipping some red wine while we talk about this classic locked-room mystery and pair it with some atmospheric, page-turning reads. We discuss Christie's legacy in the mystery world (and her impact on literature in general), what we look for in the mystery genre, and that wild ending.   Our discussion includes:...

Readers, today we have a special treat, a bonus episode! We watched the new Rebecca adaptation on Netflix, and we have OPINIONS. We're talking about how we feel about DuMaurier's original, what we loved about the movie, what we hated, which spooky and suspenseful movies we're excited to watch this Halloween weekend, and what we're currently reading. Did you watch the new movie? What did you think?...

Today we are thrilled to welcome Courtney Wallace, also known as The Incessant Bookworm on her blog, Youtube, and Instagram account where she shares what she's reading, tips for the reading life, and reading challenges. We're chatting with Courtney about her back to school reading challenge, how reading challenges influence her reading life, AND we're pairing our favorite fall activities with a bu...

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. We admit to some bad English major habits in this episode, and we get super nerdy with a discussion on Gothic novels and the Romantic literary movement, modern horror, and the history behind Mary Shelley's iconic monster. We also make some surprising modern connections across science, ethics, and social media. If you're in the moo...

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing " Horror Story " by Carmen Maria Machado for this season's installment of Short Story Club. Each quarter, we choose a short story that's widely available and discuss its genre, themes, and important moments before recommending books to pair with it. For spooky season, we decided to go with a fresh, new voice we both love. This super short "micro story" felt li...

Today Chelsey and Sara are kicking off the spooky season by discussing The Crucible by Arthur Miller—a play about the infamous Salem witch trials. We get pretty nerdy in this episode. Full of drama, history, and high school English class nostalgia, this play was so much fun to talk about! Chelsey shares details from her immersive high school reading experience, Sara shares memories of teaching the...

Today Chelsey and Sara are  toppling your TBRs with campus novels. We know this back to school season is weird for students, teachers, parents, and the rest of us as we navigate new seasons during a pandemic. So let's go back to school safely with books that take place at school, that revolve around learning or academia, and that give us the new school supplies, crisp fall leaves, sharpened pencil...

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich, which we selected for our back-to-school season as "a book we wish we read in high school." Love Medicine is a novel made up of  interconnected stories that span generations of two families: the Kashpaws and the Lamartines. The stories deal with small family dramas, and huge ones, depicting characters' past romances and relatio...

Today Chelsey and Sara are back to  topple your TBRs with highly anticipated fall releases and backlist books. We know hardback books are pricey and library waitlists for the hottest new releases are long, so we're going to be pairing the books we're most excited to read this fall with older books that are easier to get your hands on. There are about 60 titles mentioned in today's episode, so be s...

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. We both read this in high school, had mixed feelings, came back to the text later, and still have mixed feelings! Plus some pretty strong opinions about Gatsby himself, Fitzgerald's writing style, the prominence of this text in pop culture and in the classroom, and the narratives we repeat in American history class. We...

We love to take time to reflect here at Novel Pairings. Each season, we stop and consider our favorite episodes, our favorite reads, and what we've learned. Today we're sharing some personal updates, gushing about our favorite reads of the summer, and giving listeners a peek at what's to come in the fall.  Shop our Quarterly Favorites on Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/lists/quarterly-favorites-spr...

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. We're not shy about sharing our lack of experience with the fantasy genre. It's not the go-to genre for either of us, but we love to branch out and try new literary things. This book delighted us in some surprising ways and helped us figure out what exactly we love—or could do without—in fantasy novels.    Our disc...

Today Chelsey and Sara are sharing the lineup for Novel Pairings' fall season. We share our plans for an extra nerdy back-to-school-inspired season and which books we selected to feature. The books include a book seemingly everyone read in high school, a spooky listener's choice, and a classic mystery novel. All of the books were chosen to fit with different fall reading moods and learning opportu...

Today Chelsey and Sara are kicking off Women in Translation Month by discussing Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. This romantic, sensuous novel was so much fun to discuss, and our pairings include some of our absolute favorite books! We can't wait to hear what you think of these pairings.    Our discussion includes: Esquivel's stunning use of food as a conduit for emotion, passion, and t...

Today Chelsey and Sara are chatting with Jamise Harper of @spinesvines and @diversespines. Jamise is a champion for independent bookstores, for authors, and for the books she loves. We're delighted to have her on the podcast today to share more about her Literary Wine Down interviews on Instagram live, her favorite books, and the perfect wine pairings to match summertime reads. We had so much fun...

Today Chelsey and Sara are chatting about Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the perfect book to discuss on a sweltering summer day. Sara read and did not finish this classic in high school. We talk about where she stopped and why, and how we both have a greater appreciation for this work as adults. We gush about Hurston's writing, bond over our love of Janie the dreamer, and shar...