Hannah’s Books
@hannahsbooks.bsky.social
Booktuber, critic (LARB, On the Seawall, Star Tribune, Harvard Review, Washington Independent Review), & editor (Open Letters Review)
Channel: https://youtube.com/@hannahsbooks?si=v-79sijX5BcdoJXn
Links to book reviews: https://hannahjoyner.com/blog
Channel: https://youtube.com/@hannahsbooks?si=v-79sijX5BcdoJXn
Links to book reviews: https://hannahjoyner.com/blog
Hester by Margaret Oliphant is the group read this year, so it would be the closest to a must-read (although it is absolutely not required to participate in the group read). There are a bunch of challenges, too--listed in the comments here. YouTube is the place to learn more!
September 10, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Hester by Margaret Oliphant is the group read this year, so it would be the closest to a must-read (although it is absolutely not required to participate in the group read). There are a bunch of challenges, too--listed in the comments here. YouTube is the place to learn more!
We'd love to have you join us!
September 2, 2025 at 11:10 PM
We'd love to have you join us!
6. that discusses education.
7. set in a different era.
8. with a cover the same color as what you get when you spin a colorwheel
9. of fantasy
10. with a connection to Jane Austen
7. set in a different era.
8. with a cover the same color as what you get when you spin a colorwheel
9. of fantasy
10. with a connection to Jane Austen
September 2, 2025 at 11:09 PM
6. that discusses education.
7. set in a different era.
8. with a cover the same color as what you get when you spin a colorwheel
9. of fantasy
10. with a connection to Jane Austen
7. set in a different era.
8. with a cover the same color as what you get when you spin a colorwheel
9. of fantasy
10. with a connection to Jane Austen
CHALLENGES:
Read a Victorian work...
1. where friendship is featured.
2. that is not a novel (play, short story, poem, nonfiction).
3. where a character experiences a change in social status
4. showing signs of the Empire
5. by an underrated Victorian woman writer
Read a Victorian work...
1. where friendship is featured.
2. that is not a novel (play, short story, poem, nonfiction).
3. where a character experiences a change in social status
4. showing signs of the Empire
5. by an underrated Victorian woman writer
September 2, 2025 at 11:09 PM
CHALLENGES:
Read a Victorian work...
1. where friendship is featured.
2. that is not a novel (play, short story, poem, nonfiction).
3. where a character experiences a change in social status
4. showing signs of the Empire
5. by an underrated Victorian woman writer
Read a Victorian work...
1. where friendship is featured.
2. that is not a novel (play, short story, poem, nonfiction).
3. where a character experiences a change in social status
4. showing signs of the Empire
5. by an underrated Victorian woman writer
GROUP READ:
Hester by Margaret Oliphant
October 1-22 (2 chapters a day with 3 on the final day)
Hester by Margaret Oliphant
October 1-22 (2 chapters a day with 3 on the final day)
September 2, 2025 at 11:01 PM
GROUP READ:
Hester by Margaret Oliphant
October 1-22 (2 chapters a day with 3 on the final day)
Hester by Margaret Oliphant
October 1-22 (2 chapters a day with 3 on the final day)
Is it the Omnibus edition? I would love to check this out.
August 20, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Is it the Omnibus edition? I would love to check this out.
These are phenomenal! I think I will have to print out the Emily Dickinson and stick it on my Dickinson shelf.
August 20, 2025 at 1:30 PM
These are phenomenal! I think I will have to print out the Emily Dickinson and stick it on my Dickinson shelf.
I didn't find it to be nearly as effective as some of her others, but it is certainly fascinating to see her write about slavery in the US south (the area where Cather was born).
May 25, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I didn't find it to be nearly as effective as some of her others, but it is certainly fascinating to see her write about slavery in the US south (the area where Cather was born).
On most days, my answer would be The Professor’s House—but I love O Pioneers and My Antonia, too. (The biggest surprise was Sapphira, which might have especially intrigued me since I’m a southern historian.)
May 22, 2025 at 6:49 PM
On most days, my answer would be The Professor’s House—but I love O Pioneers and My Antonia, too. (The biggest surprise was Sapphira, which might have especially intrigued me since I’m a southern historian.)
Given his love of irony, I can imagine that Percival Everett is now sketching out an outline for a book “set in a ‘near-future American West where artificially induced rain has become a luxury commodity.’”
May 21, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Given his love of irony, I can imagine that Percival Everett is now sketching out an outline for a book “set in a ‘near-future American West where artificially induced rain has become a luxury commodity.’”
I am so looking forward to this conversation! I fell in love with Jewett a couple of years ago and am still obsessed.
May 19, 2025 at 10:26 PM
I am so looking forward to this conversation! I fell in love with Jewett a couple of years ago and am still obsessed.
What an interesting episode! After a deep dive last winter, Cather became one of my favorites.
May 19, 2025 at 10:20 PM
What an interesting episode! After a deep dive last winter, Cather became one of my favorites.
Did you buy the flowers yourself, on this Dalloway Day?
May 15, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Did you buy the flowers yourself, on this Dalloway Day?
I’m definitely a Hardy lover! (My favorites are Tess and Return of the Native.)
May 7, 2025 at 3:17 AM
I’m definitely a Hardy lover! (My favorites are Tess and Return of the Native.)
This is just so heartbreaking.
April 25, 2025 at 9:03 PM
This is just so heartbreaking.
Add a couple of spoonfuls to your next batch of hummus!
April 7, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Add a couple of spoonfuls to your next batch of hummus!
(I always love Lee, but she really misses a big part of Cather’s story in this one.)
April 7, 2025 at 4:03 AM
(I always love Lee, but she really misses a big part of Cather’s story in this one.)
I do NOT recommend Taylor. Homestead and Hermione Lee together are good—and maybe Janis Stout. Really, though, her Selected Letters are a wonderful place to start. (Lindemann is wildly interesting analysis if you start going down a rabbit hole.)
April 7, 2025 at 4:01 AM
I do NOT recommend Taylor. Homestead and Hermione Lee together are good—and maybe Janis Stout. Really, though, her Selected Letters are a wonderful place to start. (Lindemann is wildly interesting analysis if you start going down a rabbit hole.)
Now I am wondering if the author said it accidentally or on purpose.
March 26, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Now I am wondering if the author said it accidentally or on purpose.