Just like we infer the existence of a black hole by the behavior of matter around it, so I learned of the existence of Marie Kondo’s Netflix series based on a sudden flurry of posts on social media about how many books a person should own. Apparently, Kondo’s Tidying Up includes scenes of tidying up …

Continue reading Reasons to Own a Lot of Books that Don’t Spark Any Joy

Longbourn, Jo Baker’s 2013 semi-retelling of Pride and Prejudice, may well be the best-written Austen-adjacent text that I’ve read, in terms of prose style. And I have read… a lot. I use the term “semi-retelling” because the book is about the Longbourn servants, focalized through Sarah the housemaid, and doesn’t really concern the events of …

Continue reading Below the Bennets’ Stairs: Jo Baker’s Longbourn (book review)

Drawing again on that list of diverse Austen-adjacent texts that tipped me off about Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged, I also decided to check out The Woman of Colour: A Tale, an anonymous epistolary novel published in 1808. It's about the daughter of a female slave and a white Jamaican plantation owner, who is raised …

Continue reading Race, Christianity, and High Drama in The Woman of Colour (1808 book review)

What a puzzle this book is! As I mentioned last time, I've spend the summer preparing to teach a course on Jane Austen (with a popular culture twist), which meant I was forced (oh no!) to read and watch what I'm calling “Austen-adjacent” texts. In addition to sequels, adaptations, and modernizations, this category also includes books …

Continue reading Books Like Books Like Books: Sofia Khan is Not Obliged (review)