Gayle and Nicole endeavor to recommend the best big books to read over the upcoming holiday season and get stopped up by the philosophical considerations they take when considering a big book. Why read? Pleasure of accomplishment? They want the ones that are thoroughly engrossing and hard to put down, but find psychological blocks in committing to starting a long book. Gayle discusses her yearly reading goal and the opportunity cost of reading big books, and they both agree that it's super easy to prioritize the shorter books before settling down with a tome. Plus, what they're reading and Gayle's rundown of Curtis Sittenfeld's novels-which ones to read, and which ones to skip.

The Philosophy Of Reading A Long Book

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Secret History by Donna
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
A Place For Us by Fatima Farhan Mirza

What We're Reading (And Finished Reading)

One Day In Decemberby Josie Silver
The Light We Lost byJill Santopolo
One Day by David Nicholls
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Vox by Christina Dalcher
Cloud in The Shape of A Girl by Jean Thompson
The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and The Art of Living by Ryan Holiday
The Farm by Joanne Ramos
Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders

All The Big Long Books

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton
Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Narrated by Kristoffer Tabori)
Free Food For Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Jane Eyreby Charlotte Bronte
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit therestperpective.substack.com