Today we’re sharing five tips for “reading” your favorite (or least favorite) TV shows and movies. These close reading tricks will help you get more critical while you watch television, which we hope prompts more engaging discussions with your friends and family. We’re using The Buccaneers (Apple TV) as our main example in this episode, but you don’t need to watch the show in order to listen. In fact, if you like episodes in which we get a little sassy, well, this one’s for you. We also share questions to make you a more critical viewer, what we’re reading with a literary lens, and book recommendations to pair with The Buccaneers show. We’ve included a bunch of resources in our free weekly newsletter, so be sure to visit novelpairings.substack.com to supplement today’s listening. 

For more public scholarship and continued literary learning, sign up for our community at patreon.com/novelpairings. We would love to see you in our classes and book club meetings!

Books mentioned:

The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton

Anna K by Jenny Lee

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan

The Great White Bard by Farah Karim-Cooper

The Fifth Avenue Rebels series by Joanna Shupe 

Also mentioned:

• Close reading
• Fiction Matters Substack: Book Reviews with Traci Thomas
• Leave The World Behind
• The Culture Study Podcast
• The Atlantic review of The Buccaneers
• The Guardian review of The Buccaneers