Jay completes his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language with A.S. Byatt’s Possession. The novel about academics and poets in parallel timelines engages the reader on many levels. Chaos Reader shares the next phase of the podcast.

A note on the sound: We apologize for the scratching noise listeners may hear in the podcast this week. We will make sure it doesn’t happen again!

This week we begin walking through the final list’s rankings, as Jay slowly built the ranked list of his 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language over two years of podcasting. In this episode, we talk about nos. 100 through 76, what’s lovable, whether Chaos Reader has or will read them and when each book's episode originally aired.

John Galsworthy’s chronicle of the “new money” Forsyte family is Jay’s pick this week for his list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language. The Forsyte Saga focuses on Soames Forsyte, a “man of property,” who seems to have succeeded at wealth but never seems to learn how to be happy. Chaos Reader starts a new novel in a famous tetralogy.

Jay’s pick this week is The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne, a book that could be maddening or it could be one of the 100 Most Lovable Books in the English Language if you approach it ready for the ride. Chaos Reader is very enthusiastic about a newly published mystery novel.

This week’s entry on Jay’s list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language is Irish Murdoch’s novel The Sea, The Sea. Jay discusses the allusion of the title and Murdoch’s philosophical themes, making the case for this worthy book. Chaos Reader checks in on her adventures with The Neapolitan Quartet.

Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is this week’s pick for Jay’s list of the 100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language. This British novel isn’t as well known in the United States, but it should be. Chaos Reader finishes another novel. Note: Jay occasionally misidentifies Winterson in the podcast, and for that he is deeply apologetic.

The Magus was John Fowles’ first novel, but his third to be published, and its postmodern, metafictional format focuses on a young British teacher on a Greek Island who falls in with an unreliable local mastermind, Conchis. Chaos Reader discusses an academic history book she and Jay are reading aloud.

Jay’s choice this week is Old Filth, a 2004 novel by British writer Jane Gardam. The book focuses on Sir Edward Feather’s quest to understand the life he has lived in the second half of the twentieth century. Chaos Reader FINALLY finishes a book.