Jay shares with Stacey why he selected Dashiell Hammett’s classic detective novel The Maltese Falcon for his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language, and they continue their discussion from last week’s talk about the hardboiled detective novel and how Hammett helped create the genre. Chaos reader introduces Henry James to the chat.

This week, Stacey and Jay discuss the 50th book on Jay’s list of the Most Lovable Novels in the English Language, Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled detective novel The Big Sleep. Our culture’s dark and complicated detective trope comes from this brilliantly written crime story. Chaos Reader dips into a how-to book for a big life change.

Jay adds Lewis Carroll’s companion novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass to his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in English. He and Stacey talk about the delightful prose in the children’s book and some of the reasons it’s enchanting for adults, as well. Chaos Reader talks to Jay about his Substack, which is one of her newest reading pleasures.

This coming-of-age tale still ranks on Jay’s list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in English, because even as a retiree, the tale of “buccaneers and buried gold” still moves him with its imagination and insight. Chaos Reader shares one of her recent writing projects.

This week’s addition to the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language list is John Barth’s Sot-Weed Factor, which Jay loves and Stacey hasn’t read (you might not have either…but you may want to after listening). Chaos Reader shares a new anthology that she and Jay have stories in.

Jay Ruud and Stacey Margaret Jones discuss an OG novel, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, by Henry Fielding, a picaresque novel from the early days of the whole genre of novel writing. Why is it lovable? Find out with Stacey, who hasn’t read it, as Jay shares why he just loved reading it. Chaos reader gives an update on Sinead O’Connor’s memoirs.

This week Jay has chosen Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë for his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language, and he and Stacey discuss it along with last week’s entry, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. Chaos reader shares her experiences with Sinead O’Connor’s memoir Rememberings.

This week's entry on the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language is Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (listen to the pod to learn her pen name for initial publication), which Jay and Stacey discuss after having recently reread the novel aloud together and traveling to the Brontë family home in West Yorkshire, UK. Chaos reader shares a contemporary Irish novel they bought recently in Dublin.