This week’s entry on the 100 Most Lovable Books in the English Language List is Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead… This beloved instant classic is popular for a reason. While it updates the eternally relevant Dickensian themes of David Copperfield, it also brings us something totally new and completely American. Chaos reader has also started a biography of a very American figure.

Jane Austen set out to write a novel with an anti-hero: “A heroine whom no one but myself will much like,” she wrote about her goals for the book, so why is Emma so lovable? Of course, we couldn’t discuss this enjoyable book without spending time on the equally lovable film adaptations. Chaos reader shouts out a podcast, because, well… chaos.

This week, Jay goes rogue and chooses a whole trilogy of books as the next entry on his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. He and Stacey discuss the theology behind what Pullman never meant to be young-adult literature, even if the main characters are young people. The page-turning fantasy novels are a very engaging delivery device for a iconoclastic consideration of religious belief. Chaos reader checks in with a new-to-her book of poetry.