A Novel without a Hero? Vanity Fair!
This week’s entry on Jay’s list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language is William Makepeace Thackeray’s VANITY FAIR, often considered the Victorian domestic novel that kicked off this ...
30 Dec 202546min
A Wacky-Sounding Book Can Be Great in the Hands of the Right Writer
Jay chose Anthony Doerr’s CLOUD CUCKOO LAND for this episode’s lovable novel. While the plot sounded a bit wackadoodle to Stacey, Doerr’s deft ability to link the book’s different narratives to a com...
23 Dec 202548min
Exploring Gulliver’s Travels
Jonathan Swift’s 1726 novel GULLIVER’S TRAVELS is Jay’s pick this week for his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language, and Stacey admits she had a very narrow view of what the boo...
16 Dec 202552min
Ivanhoe Walked so Frodo Could Run
Walter Scott’s IVANHOE: A ROMANCE is Jay’s choice for his 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language list this week. A 19th century example of medievalism, the book takes readers back to England ...
9 Dec 202544min
Kick off the Christmas Season with some Little Women
Jay chose Louisa May Alcott’s LITTLE WOMEN for this week’s lovable novel (which is also a lovely Christmas read) and surprises Stacey with the backstory of how it got written and how some savvy young ...
2 Dec 202557min
The Call of London’s The Call of the Wild
This week Jay enters Jack London’s 1903 naturalist fiction novel The Call of the Wild, which Stacey was surprised to learn is not a children’s or young-adult novel. London’s dog hero Buck and his stru...
25 Nov 202550min
Go Read Go Tell It on the Mountain!
Jay convinces Stacey to read James Baldwin’s 1953 semi-autobiographical novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, a coming-of-age novel that grapples with race and religion in mid-twentieth century America. C...
18 Nov 202547min
The Rich, Rewarding, Historical World of Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman
This week, Jay puts Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman on his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language. Stacey wants to know how he chose from Erdrich’s extensive list of works, be...
11 Nov 202548min
