Welcome back to our ongoing series on Niall Williams’ lovely novel. This week we discuss what this book has to say about happiness, the themes of hope and cynicism, Christy the romantic, coming of age, and our favorite passages in these chapters. Hope you enjoy and thanks for listening!

To learn about The Tapestry, the new curriculum from the CiRCE Institute click here! It’s available to pre-order now.

Welcome to the start of a new series! Over the next several weeks we’ll be digging into Irish writer, Niall Williams pastoral novel, This Is Happiness. This week we’re discussing the proverbial nature of the narrator, the memory novel framing of the story, the way the place comes alive throughout the book, and much, much more. As always, happy listening!

To learn about The Tapestry, the new curriculum from the CiRCE Institute click here! It’s available to pre-order now.

As always, we conclude our series on Edith Wharton’s classic novel by answering your questions. There were a lot of good ones and we did our best to answer as many as we could. Sometimes, of course, you just have to look at it. Happy listening!

To learn about The Tapestry, the new curriculum from the CiRCE Institute click here! It’s available to pre-order now.

Welcome back to our series on Edith Wharton’s very complex (and wonderful) novel. This week, in discussing the ending, we find ourselves at, well, a loss for words. Nevertheless, we persist. We attempt to reckon with the complicated nature of May’s character, Newland’s fatalism and paralyzed life of the mind, the question of whether he’s a tragic character, how we may or may not re-think the countess in light of the ending, and much more! As always, happy listening!

To learn about The Tapestry curriculum from the CiRCE Institute click here!

Welcome back to our ongoing series about The Age of Innocence! This week we’re discussing when a thought becomes a sin in this book, whether there’s enough substance in Newland for a woman like Ellen to fall in love with him, Newland’s obsession with fate (even if he has manufacture some), Ellen as representative of European culture for Newland, and much, much more. Happy listening!

Welcome back to our series on Edith Wharton’s excellent novel. This week we talk about the way the two main female characters have emerged, how we respond to Newland’s dilemma, the moral conditions of the novel’s world, and much more. Happy listening!

To learn about The Tapestry curriculum from the CiRCE Institute click here!

Welcome to our first series of the new year, as we jump into Edith Wharton’s novel of the Gilded Age, The Age of Innocence. This we discuss the way Wharton uses Newland Archer’s unique point-of-view, the nature of the Countess’ role in the story (and in Newland’s life), the book’s contemplation of the changing society, and much much more. As always, happy listening!

Welcome to our longest episode of the year, during which we discuss our favorite reading experiences of the year, share our individual top five books, and drop some news about HQ books for 2026. Happy new year from all of us at Close Reads!

You had questions, we had answers, so join us for the final conversation about Shakespeare’s classic comedy! We talk about Margaret’s culpability, Don Pedros rejections, Claudio’s turn, Dogberry’s wisdom, and much more! Happy listening!

For your errand-running, long drive, baking, cleaning, or lounging listening, we present a Christmas mailbag in which we answer your questions about traditions, books, characters in the Nativity story, and much more! Happy listening and Merry Christmas!

Image credit: 1953, Man Tangled Up in Christmas Decorations by Al Brule