Recs if you like Sex, Lies and Sensibility...

Books that adapt, retell, and pull inspiration from Jane Austen's works.

Every year we pick 10 books that we think rise above the rest. These are the 70 we've picked since 2019.

Updated to include our Best of 2025 picks.

Why do we rewatch the 1995 and 2005 adaptations of Pride and Prejudice over and over again? Because it's a timeless story of love! So iconic are Austen's six novels that you can plop the characters and plot shapes in different times, countries, and planets, and you'll still feel the original at its core. This list is book adaptations (published fanfiction) of all six of Austen's novels. The character names don't have to match exactly, but we should know which book it's riffing off from.

My favourite books or from my TBR by BIPOC authors in a range of different genres (though I primarily read fantasy and romance) (only first book for a series added, unless not directly linked)

Black love in all its glory

These Diverse Baseline Challenge was created by @bookish.millennial & @themargherita.s (on instagram). In 2025, the goal is to read 1 book by a racialized author each month. This challenge is meant to encourage readers to try genres they historically don’t reach for, find new-to-them racialized authors, and to encourage reflection on our reading habits.

This is a mix of recommendations by the challenge organizers and myself.

modern retellings, familiar stories

Diverse and/or unique Austen retellings

All my infinity star romance reads <3