What books do you absolutely hate? What books have you pretended to have read? Which books are you ashamed of loving? This week, Stephanie, Michelle and Jimmy let the silly season go to their heads entirely and spill all their deepest, darkest secrets. Shh, don't tell anyone.

Christmas is a time for...escaping family by watching television and reading? This week, Stephanie, Michelle and Jimmy discuss their favourite Christmas books, films and tv shows, and Stephanie is mocked for liking Elf. Merry Christmas!
 
Show notes:
 
Goodreads Christmas book lists: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/christmas
 
Best Christmas books of all time: https://medium.com/the-mission/the-30-best-christmas-books-of-all-time-c492c468051b
 
Connie Willis, A Lot Like Christmas: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/556033/a-lot-like-christmas-by-connie-willis/9780399182341/
 
Rotten Tomatoes' Best Christmas films: https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-christmas-movies/
 
Christmas episodes of television shows: http://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/best-christmas-episodes-tv-netflix-hbo-amazon-1201898749/
 
Christmas sitcom episodes: http://www.vulture.com/2016/12/great-christmas-sitcom-episodes-to-stream.html
 
Twas The Night Before Christmas 1933 animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX700xhQsbc

Jane Austen's novels Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were published posthumously in December 1817. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of these novels that bookend Austen's career, Stephanie is joined by Dr Geoff Payne to discuss Anne Elliot, Catherine Morland, the novel, and the Navy.
 
Show notes:
 
Jane Austen's greatest novel turns 200: http://theconversation.com/persuasion-jane-austens-greatest-novel-turns-200-84174
 
Jocelyn Harris's book on Persuasion: https://library.udel.edu/udpress/titles/revolution/
 
Jane Austen's defence of the novel: http://www.pemberley.com/etext/NA/chapter5.htm
 
The Prince Regent: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/george_fourth_01.shtml
 
Background on the Napoleonic Wars: https://www.britannica.com/event/Napoleonic-Wars
 
Jane Austen biography: https://www.janeausten.org/jane-austen-biography.asp
 
Jane Austen Society of Australia: https://jasa.com.au/

Gladys Mitchell is one of the most entertaining of the Golden Age detective novelists. However, she's relatively little known today. This week, Stephanie and Jimmy discuss her first novel, Speedy Death, with Dr Lee O'Brien, and make the case that everybody should really be reading Gladys Mitchell. 
 
Show notes:
 
The Stone House: A Gladys Mitchell Tribute page https://www.gladysmitchell.com/
 
The Women of the Detection Club: http://margaretperry.org/the-women-of-the-london-detection-club-of-the-1930s-agatha-christie-dorothy-l-sayers-and-company/
 
Rediscovering Gladys Mitchell: http://www.bookslut.com/features/2012_01_018522.php

​Romance fiction is often unfairly maligned as silly and escapist, largely because of its association with a female readership, but in terms of popularity, nothing beats romance. This week, Stephanie and Jimmy discuss the phenomenal power of the romance novel with romance expert Associate Professor Hsu-Ming Teo. 
 
Show notes:
 
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/
 
Courtney Milan website: http://www.courtneymilan.com/
 
Sarah McLean website: http://www.sarahmaclean.net/
 
Eloise James website: http://www.eloisajames.com/
 
International Association for the Study of Popular Romance: http://iaspr.org/
 
Romance Writers of Australia: https://romanceaustralia.com/
 
Book Thingo: http://bookthingo.com.au/
 
Hsu-Ming's book Desert Passions: Orientalism and Romance Novels: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/teodes

Just for laughs: https://www.boredpanda.com/simple-people-recreate-romance-novel-covers/

Murder on the Orient Express is one of Agatha Christie's best-known mysteries, and a new film adaptation directed and starring Kenneth Branagh is in cinemas now. This week, Stephanie, Jimmy and Michelle discuss the novel, the film, and Jimmy's strange serial killer obsession.

Show notes:

Forbes review: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2017/11/10/review-murder-on-the-orient-express-derails-after-promising-start/#6a9f1029205f

New Yorker review: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/20/murder-on-the-orient-express-and-thelma

Slate review: https://slate.com/arts/2017/11/murder-on-the-orient-express-reviewed.html

Washington Post review: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/why-murder-on-the-orient-express-still-thrills--even-if-you-know-whodunit/2017/11/08/6bf5b3ae-c312-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html?utm_term=.84e204b19808

The Guardian article:  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/04/hercule-poirot-new-lease-of-life-agatha-christie-orient-express

Agatha Christie website: http://www.agathachristie.com/

New Yorker article about Agatha Christie: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/16/queen-of-crime

Since the podcast Serial was released in 2014 (#freeAdnan), the public appetite for true crime documentaries and podcasts seems unquenchable. This week, Stephanie and Jimmy are joined by Dr Alys Moody to discuss the appeal of true crime, the role of the police, Making a Murderer and citizen detectives.

Jean Rhys's lyrical, beautiful novel Wide Sargasso Sea is a prequel of sorts to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, focusing on the story of Mr. Rochester's first wife. This week, Stephanie and Michelle discuss Jamaica, Jane Eyre, and how Jean Rhys ruined Mr. Rochester for them both forever. ​

King Lear is one of Shakespeare's most beloved plays, but also one of his bleakest. This week, Stephanie and Michelle are joined by Shakespearean scholar and Renaissance man, Professor Tony Cousins to discuss Lear, Cordelia, lame eighteenth-century reworkings of the play, and why King Lear became the play de jour after WWII.

Buffy is the greatest television show of all time. At least, that's what Stephanie, Dr Kirstin Mills and Dr Lorin Schwarz think. This week, they discuss the enduring appeal of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the genius of Joss Whedon, and why they can't get enough of Spike.