Author: Chelsey

Chelsey and Sara share some stand-out titles they read over the winter season, including amazing audiobooks, short story collections, and page-turning romance. These quarterly wrap-ups include reflections on our winter season, previews of what’s coming up, and a bunch of book recommendations. We can’t wait to hear what you think of our favorites from the quarter.

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Books mentioned:

Chelsey:

Whiteout by Adriana Anders (Amazon)

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (Amazon)

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw (Amazon)

The Toni Morrison Book Club (Amazon)

Wintering by Katherine May (Amazon)

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (Amazon)

Sara:

My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland (Amazon)

On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee (Amazon)

Anna K by Jenny Lee (Amazon)

Four Hundred Souls by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha Blain (Amazon)

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Amazon)

Disability Visibility, edited by Alice Wong (Amazon)

Also mentioned:

The Head on HBO Max

Deesha Philyaw on The Stacks Podcast

Spring lineup:

March 9th & 23rd: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Amazon)

April 6th: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (Amazon)

April 20th: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (Amazon)

May 4th: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (Amazon)

May 18th: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (Amazon)

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. This collection of twisted, gothic fairytales is perfect for fans of Rebecca, Jane Eyre, or Edgar Allan Poe. We’re keeping this episode spoiler-free, though we do discuss specific aspects of several stories. We loved connecting this collection across literary movements, explaining the heroine’s journey, and (as always) recommending six contemporary books to pair with our classic, including short story and poetry collections.

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Books mentioned:

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (Amazon)

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier (Amazon)

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (Amazon)

Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories (Amazon)

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Amazon)

50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James (Amazon)

The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairytales by Sheldon Cashdan (Amazon)

Chelsey’s Pairings

Burning Girls and Other Stories by Victoria Schanoes (Amazon)

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (Amazon)

A Universe of Wishes, ed. by Dhonielle Clayton (Amazon)

Sara’s Pairings

Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link (Amazon)

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (Amazon)

The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy (Amazon)

Picks of the week:

Chelsey: Promising Young Woman (19.99 on Amazon Prime) & Wolfwalkers (Apple TV)

Sara: The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairytales & Singing Bones Podcast

Also mentioned:

Gail Carriger’s Heroine’s Journey 

Maureen Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey

More heroine’s journey resources

In Episode 48, Sara and Chelsey topple your TBR lists with fairytale retellings for every type of reader. They reminisce about the book that sparked their love of retellings and discuss why fairytales are still so appealing to adult readers.

Books mentioned:

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (Amazon)
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine (Amazon)
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine (Amazon)
The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine (Amazon)
Ogre Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (Amazon)
Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Amazon)
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (Amazon)
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (Amazon)
Austenland by Shannon Hale (Amazon)
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)  by Marissa Meyer (Amazon)
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust (Amazon)
Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (Amazon)
Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly (Amazon)
A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (Amazon)
Thorn by Intisar Khanani (Amazon)
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig (Amazon)
The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (Amazon)
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory McGuire (Amazon)
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (Amazon)
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi (Amazon)
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno Garcia (Amazon)
The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg (Amazon)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer  (Amazon)
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (Amazon)
The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare (Amazon)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (Amazon)
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (Amazon)

Also mentioned:

SSR Podcast Episode 12: Ella Enchanted
Gail Carriger’s Heroine’s Journey 
Maureen Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey
More heroine’s journey resources

Up next: The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

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Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing There is Confusion by Jessie Redmon Fauset. We loved this Austen-like Harlem Renaissance novel, and we kept this episode spoiler free in the hopes that it’ll encourage you to pick it up! Plus, as always, we’re recommending six contemporary books to pair with our classic, with a mix of historical fiction and satire.

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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]

Today Chelsey and Sara are discussing 84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff, the ultimate comfort read for bibliophiles. Chelsey can’t believe she hadn’t read it sooner, and Sara revels in her rereading experience. We cover everything from the epistolary form to Helene’s unique reading habits to the satisfaction of a bittersweet ending. Plus, as always, we’re recommending six contemporary books to pair with our classic, with a mix of charming memoir and plucky historical fiction.

Listen to the episode wherever you download your podcasts or right in your browser.

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Skip to the pairings with this timestamp: [30:05]

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Chelsey’s Pairings:

Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian’s Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life by Annie Spence (Amazon)

Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce (Amazon)

Dinner with Edward: An Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent (Amazon)

Sara’s Pairings:

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Amazon)

Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread by Michiko Kakutani (Amazon)

My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland (Amazon)

Picks of the week:

The Repair Shop (Netflix)

The Crown (Netflix)

Today in Short Story Club, Chelsey and Sara are discussing “The Hunter’s Wife”  by Anthony Doerr. This wintry, atmospheric story is absolutely absorbing and highly discussable. We talk about the beautiful writing, the unique structure, and some problematic aspects of the characters and plot. We do discuss spoilers in our Short Story Club episodes; you can find a copy of the story to read online from The Atlantic to join in and read before listening. Plus, as always, we’re recommending a few pairings that fit the atmosphere, themes, and setting of today’s short story.

To listen to this episode in your web browser: https://novelpairings.libsyn.com/44-short-story-club-the-hunters-wife-by-anthony-doerr-and-wintry-books-to-cozy-up-with-this-season

The short story: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/05/the-hunters-wife/302198/

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Books Mentioned:

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (Amazon)

How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams (Amazon)

The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne (Amazon)

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May (Amazon)

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Amazon)

Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr (Amazon)

My Antonia by Willa Cather (Amazon)

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich (Amazon)

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Chelsey’s Pairings:

• A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter (Amazon)
• Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing (Amazon)
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Amazon)

Sara’s Pairings:

• Devotions by Mary Oliver (Amazon)
• The Bear by Andrew Krivak (Amazon)
• The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich (Amazon)