67. Sweeping family sagas for classic and contemporary reading tastes

06/29/21 • 46 min

Today, Sara and Chelsey share their favorite classic and contemporary sweeping family sagas. We recommend intergenerational stories that take place over decades or centuries—or across multiple continents. We also define and discuss this sub genre and speculate about why it’s become such a popular phrase in publishing. Do you have a favorite novel that fits on our list?

For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk, join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com.

Connect with us on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info.

Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores.

Books mentioned:

Thank you for supporting the show by shopping our affiliate links!

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (Amazon)

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (Amazon)

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich (Amazon)

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Amazon)

East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Amazon)

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (Amazon)

Middlemarch by George Eliot (Amazon)

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Amazon)

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (Amazon)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Amazon)

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (Amazon)

Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley (Amazon)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley (Amazon)

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Amazon)

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Amazon)

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza (Amazon)

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (Amazon)

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (Amazon)

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (Amazon)

For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk, join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com.

Connect with us on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info.

Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores.

Books mentioned:

Thank you for supporting the show by shopping our affiliate links!

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (Amazon)

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (Amazon)

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich (Amazon)

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Amazon)

East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Amazon)

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (Amazon)

Middlemarch by George Eliot (Amazon)

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Amazon)

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (Amazon)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Amazon)

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (Amazon)

Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley (Amazon)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley (Amazon)

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Amazon)

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Amazon)

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza (Amazon)

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (Amazon)

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (Amazon)

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (Amazon)

Previous Episode

66. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende Part Two

Today Chelsey and Sara discuss the second half of The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, Chapters 7 through 14. In this episode, we cover new characters, prominent themes, and final thoughts on spending so much time with the Trueba family, plus our contemporary pairings! We’ve paired Allende’s masterpiece with novels of magical realism from all over the world, and we can’t wait to hear your recommendations for further reading.

For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk, join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com.

Connect with us on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info.

Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores.

Skip to this timestamp for our pairings: [41:55]

Books mentioned:

Thank you for shopping our affiliate links!

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (Amazon)

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (Amazon)

The Poetry of Pablo Neruda (Amazon)

Chelsey

Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup (Amazon)
Eartheater by Dolores Reyes, translated by Julia Sanchez (Amazon)
The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind by Meg Medina (Amazon)

Sara

The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia (Amazon)
Infinite Country by Patricia Engel (Amazon)
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn (Amazon)

Pick of the week:

Chelsey: “Everyone called me crazy for getting divorced in my 70s”

Sara: Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir on PBS

Next Episode

68. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson and contemplative books for moody summer reading

Today, Chelsey and Sara discuss The Summer Book by Tove Jansson*, a contemplative and vivid book in translation about a young girl, her grandmother, and the little island they inhabit. We discuss our favorite vignettes, the endearing characters, and our recommendations for contemporary pairings—including memoir, literary fiction, and poetry.

*This episode is spoiler-free.

For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk, join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com.

Connect with us on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info.

Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores.

Listen to our pairings: [31:50]

Books mentioned:

Thank you for supporting us by shopping our affiliate links!

Moomin books by Tove Jansson (Amazon)

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (Amazon)

Chelsey:

Castle of Water by Dane Hucklebridge (Amazon)

A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver (Amazon)