In today’s episode, Chelsey and Sara discuss Part Two of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and share their contemporary pairings for romantic and insightful books that feature similar themes. We talk about the sweeping drama, swoony moments, and satisfying ending of the second half of Lizzie and Darcy’s love story, with plenty of nerdy asides. This episode covers Chapters 35-61 or Volume II, Chapter 12 – Volume III.
For more Austen nerdiness, including a class on Jane Austen and a bonus episode on Regency customs, join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com.
Chelsey and Sara pair brand new and upcoming spring book releases with backlist titles that share similar themes, plotlines, or settings. We haven’t read all of these new releases, so our pairings are based on speculation and best guesses.
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In today’s episode, Chelsey and Sara discuss Part One of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, including fond memories of reading the book and in-depth character analysis. (Plus plenty of gushing about Darcy and Elizabeth). We’d love for you to read along with us this month! Part One covers Chapters 1-34 or Volume I-Volume II, Chapter 11. You can listen to this episode before reading to guide you through Part One or after reading to feel like you’re in book club!
We’re sharing our top five tips for reading Jane Austen’s novels with you, whether you’re a frequent re-reader or new to her work. Our accompanying podcast episode is meant to help you get the most out of any Austen novel, but we hope you’ll read Pride and Prejudice with us this March 2021! To celebrate one year of podcasting and the launch of our new Patreon community, we’re enjoying all things Austen for the whole month with discussion episodes and a bunch of bonus content (available for our Classics Club members on Patreon). To sign up, go to patreon.com/novelpairings and listen in to hear about our plans for the Classics Club this month.
Listen to the episode in your browser (or download it in your favorite podcast app).
March 9th Episode: Part One (we’ll discuss Chapter 1-34 or Volume I-Volume II, Chapter Eleven).
March 23rd Episode: Part Two (we’ll discuss the rest of the book and share our pairings).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Readers, today’s episode is inspired by Helene Hanff’s love of books, nonfiction, and observation. We’re sharing a bunch of nonfiction books about books, reading, and readers. Some of these are longtime favorites and others are on our endless TBR lists. This episode is extra nerdy, a little nostalgic, and supremely bookish. We hope you find a title to add to your TBR today.
Hey readers! Welcome to our (very casual) Novel Pairings reading challenge. Neither of us is great at completing prescriptive reading challenges, but we do enjoy perusing them for inspiration when it comes to choosing our next reads. With that in mind, we created this bingo board filled with reading prompts so you can choose your own adventure! Want to go for blackout and read a book in every category? We love it! Shooting for a bingo? You’re awesome! Checking off the Austen box and calling it a day? Go for it! The goal of this reading challenge is to inspire readers (including ourselves) to pick up a wide range of books and to expand the boundaries of what we consider classics.
If you do participate in any way, please share your board on Instagram (see our story highlights for the template!) and tag us @novelpairingspod so we can see what you’re reading! We can’t wait to see what you pick up.
We’ve picked out a few categories to tackle ourselves this year (not necessarily for the podcast, but you never know!). We’ll share recommendations for every category on Instagram or here on the blog as the year continues. You’ll see from our selections that we’re interpreting the categories broadly. For example, Dust Tracks on a Road was published in 1942, after the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance, but it’s an autobiography from one of the most iconic Harlem Renaissance writers. We hope you find inspiration rather than limitation with our reading challenge and the following suggestions.
Novel Pairings 