Table of Contents

The Novel Tea newsletter is a companion to The Novel Tea Podcast. In this newsletter, you’ll find not only book reviews, but also analytic discussions, connections to other media such as television and movies, and in-depth research on themes that emerge.

There are many newsletters and blogs out there that provide book summaries and book lists, but very few that deeply engage with individual texts and connect the themes found in literature to our everyday lives. The Novel Tea Newsletter does exactly that.

Below you’ll find our published material, organized by topic. If you’d rather browse by book, check out our index.

Podcast Announcements

• Season 4 of The Novel Tea: Beyond Borders
  Our book list, interesting links, and upcoming episodes

• Books Beyond Borders
  Our Season 4 theme announcement, and books we've loved that fit the theme

• Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Other Worlds
  Exploring speculative fiction, our book list for Season 3, and diversity in genre fiction

The Way We Read

• The Best Books of the 21st Century and a Special Announcement
  Thoughts on the NYT list, our own version, and announcing paid subscriptions

• Actually, I Love Goodreads
  A rebuttal

• The Hero’s Journey, the Heroine’s Journey
  Thinking about narrative structures and different frameworks to analyze stories

• What Makes a Book a ‘Classic’?
  A quick look at literary criticism. Plus: classics and literary fiction from India, and a book that may already be one of my favorite reads of 2024

• Thinking About the New Year
  Book awards, thoughts on reading goals, and upcoming releases we can't wait to read

Comparative Analyses & Literary Exploration

• Shapeshifting Spirits: the Evolution of Ghosts in Literature
  Who are they, and what do they represent?

• The Liminality of Piranesi
  Where we talk about The House in Piranesi and how liminal spaces work in literature

• What Do We Want From Pandemic Novels?
  A survey of books over the years

• The Birds and the Books
  Tracking symbolism through Jane Eyre, The Illness Lesson, Taylor Swift, and more

• Literary Explorations of Mental Illness
  The Midnight Library, The Bell Jar, and the mind-body problem

Book Recommendations by Theme

• Autumn Harvest: Podcasts, Books, and Essays
  Spooky seasonal recommendations

• 15 Autumnal Short Stories for Fall
  It's sweater weather

• Partition Novels: Books about the Division of India and Pakistan
  20th century literature, contemporary novels, works in translation, diaspora reads, and classics

• 4 Books That Will Make You Think About Borders
  A deeper dive into our season 4 theme for The Novel Tea

• The Summer Reads you Should Add to Your TBR (and the ones you shouldn't)
  We're feeling spicy today

• Books on Books on Books
  Do you love reading so much that you want to read books about reading books?

Gothic, Horror, and Dark Academia

• Mary Shelley: Mother of Speculative Fiction
  It's not just Frankenstein

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame: An Urban Gothic Masterpiece
  In which I try to convince you to read this classic, and share some history

• Beauty is Terror: Gothic Literature and Film
  American gothic fiction, an analysis of The Sixth Sense, and more

• The Secret History, Dark Academia, and Academic Elitism
  Where did Dark Academia start? Is the 'Campus Novel' only for straight white kids? Plus: Damocles, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and even more about The Secret History

Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Dystopian Works

• Being Borne by

  haley larsen, phd
  
  Speculating on Fiction #4

• His Dark Materials: Curiosity and the Quest for Truth
  Speculating on Fiction #3

• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld: Beauty and Evolution
  Speculating on Fiction #2

• The Multiverse of Emily St. John Mandel
  Speculating on Fiction #1

• Piranesi and its Layers
  Literary analysis and allusions galore

• It’s About Time!
  Where we discuss time, time travel, and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

• Science Fiction and the Legacy of Colonialism
  It’s still alive and well

• Art, Aliens, and Anthropology
  What inspired Ursula K. Le Guin to write The Left Hand of Darkness? Plus: illustrations from a special edition of the novel

• American Gods (Gaiman’s Version)
  How many versions of American Gods are there? What happens when you don't like the main character of a book? And what's up with all the merry-go-rounds?

Mythology, Epics, and Retellings

• The Matrix of Mythology
  Differentiating conspiracies and myths, and highlighting some mythology retellings we think are important

• The Hero’s Journey, the Heroine’s Journey
  Thinking about narrative structures and different frameworks to analyze stories

• The Handmaids and the Hanged Maids
  Power and oppression in Margaret Atwood’s novels, historical perspectives, and the multifarious nature of life itself

• Margaret Atwood’s Mythologies
  The Penelopiad, Helen of Troy, and The Handmaid’s Tale

World Literature

• Partition Novels: Books about the Division of India and Pakistan
  20th century literature, contemporary novels, works in translation, diaspora reads, and classics

• Books from Around the World, Disability, and Trauma Narratives
  S2E14 | Global Reads: Wrapping up Season 2

Film, Art, & Other Media

• Book Pairings for Modern Art, Part 1
  An afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City

• The Sympathizer - Was the TV Series Better?
  Where we discuss The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen and compare the book with the HBO TV series

• Is House of The Dragon Going Down the Same Path as Game Of Thrones?
  Speculating on Fiction #5

• Amnesia as a Plot Device: When is it Too Much?
  Amnesia, memory loss, and data wipes in literature and media

• The Alien Truth About Lying
  Are humans the only beings that lie? Why do we imagine aliens the way we do?

• Beauty is Terror: Gothic Literature and Film
  American gothic fiction, an analysis of The Sixth Sense, and more

• Women on Women: Female Friendships in Literature and Media
  Re-reading Jane Eyre, the Mean Girls remake, and our Season 3 theme announcement