Ep 517: Seeking contemporary novels to complement Jane Austen classics

From What Should I Read Next? by Anne Bogel

March 10, 2026 · 53 min

About this episode

Tzipi Turner discusses her journey to become a Jane Austen completist and seeks contemporary novels to pair with Austen's classics.

It's no secret that we are fans of Jane Austen, completist author aspirations, and reading projects of all stripes. So when Tzipi Turner's guest submission landed in our What Should I Read Next? inbox, we could not wait to invite her on and talk about her project to become a Jane Austen completist herself. Tzipi lives in Phoenix, Arizona, where she works as the director of special education for a local school district and is a new grandmother. Tzipi decided to mark Jane Austen's recent 250th birthday by finally making progress towards, or maybe even actually reaching, her goal to complete all of Austen's works. But Tzipi's identified her tendency to get distracted by shiny new releases, which has inspired her to consider a book-flight kind of approach to help her kindle some enthusiasm for reading the remaining Austen titles on her list. Tzipi imagines pairing each Austen classic with a contemporary book, but what should those modern picks be? Tzipi isn't sure about that, but she and Anne will talk about it today. Find the list of titles discussed and leave your recommendations for Tzipi on our show notes page at whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/517. This week we are also…

People in this episode

Host: Anne

Guest: Tzipi Turner

Topics covered

Jane Austen
contemporary novels
reading projects

Keywords

reading recommendations
book pairing
literature

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Don't Overthink It

Books & works: What Should I Read Next, Don't Overthink It

Places: Phoenix, Arizona