This week we're discussing the successful debut from Rachel Joyce, "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry." A charming, sad, and poignant novel that surprised and pleased us greatly. We had a great time discussing this novel...spoilers ahead!

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This week we are discussing the much taught and discussed 1927 novel by Hermann Hesse, "Steppenwolf." Going in we didn't quite know what to expect but we both agreed we were pleasantly surprised by this enlightening, thought provoking, and surreal novel.

We discuss our favorite quotes and passages. Also, what we each took away from the book. Finally, we answer the question, "is this book only for young people?"

Episode note- Peter here. Sorry for my coughing during the episode I did my best to mute myself but didn't get every cough. We powered through in the name of podcasting and books. Cheers. (Should have brought more cough drops to the attic)

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We are back from a nice fall break. Peter went to the big apple and Matt stayed around, working on his sourdough starter. While we were away we both have been reading books on the side, and we begin this episode discussing some of our fall reading highlights.

And finally we end by picking an October book to read. Will we continue to pick a horror book or will we go another direction?

Thank you for listening and happy reading!

Books Recommended:

Mina's Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa

The Bookshop by Evan Friss

Gambler by Billy Walters

The Fellowship by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski

Books Added:

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood

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We begin by discussing Matt's recent reads, courtesy of his losing sports teams. Then we dive into another installment of nominating and selecting new books to add to our TBR. Lots of serious literary choices this time around. Also discussed; Sally Rooney, NYC bookstores, and twitter feuds. Thanks for listening. Enjoy!

TBR Additions

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

The Spectre of Alexander Wolf by Gaito Gazdanov

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This week we are discussing the much praised, and beloved novel, "My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante. We delve into Ferrante's mysterious identity and discuss criticism in the modern age. But mostly we discuss this brilliant, personal, and captivating novel. One of the great things about this novel is the many layers it contains and we geek out on how Ferrante uses all the tools in a writers toolbox to create a memorable novel. Finally, we discuss our sports teams and how they're disappointments often lead us to serious books. And we're using that scenario to create a reading plan for some of our longer books on our TBR. As always thanks for listening and enjoy!

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Widely hailed as one of the best books of 2023, David Grann's latest, "The Wager" is a remarkable true story that amazes at every turn. We discuss Grann's gift as a story teller and the various fascinating layers to this best selling book.

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As you can tell from the title, we are discussing the much beloved and somewhat feared author, Thomas Pynchon. I use the word feared because Pynchon can be difficult to read and thus, readers are often left wondering, where do I start with one of the most important authors of the last 60 years?

We certainly felt this way, and so we invited back on the show, Aldous Asterion, host of the podcast "The Forest of Symbols." As Matt's dad says, Aldous is a really smart guy. And so we are using his smarts and Pynchon knowledge to pick our starting pointing. Do we go with the shortest work? Or maybe we go for the most famous? Or from the debut? Listen to find out which book we chose.

Thanks to Aldous for coming on the podcast. You can listen to his podcast on all major platforms and you can support him further by checking out his patreon.

Aldous' Patreon https://www.patreon.com/symbolpod

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This week we start by discussing "Black Spider" by Jeremias Gotthelf. This little known book, reprinted by the fabulous people over at NYRB, packs quite a punch in little over 100 pages. Gotthelf writes a tale with a little bit of everything, from idyllic country sides, to a menacing black spider, all within a Christian allegory that makes for a rewarding reading experience.

And finally, we end by discussing the New York Times list of the best books of the 21st century. We go over books we've read on the list and offer up titles and authors we wished had made the list. In the end, we decided we'll have to come up with our own list!

As always, thanks for listening and supporting.

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Are you a fan of serious books or fun books? Both? Well this week we are adding two books to the TBR, a "fun" book and a "serious" book? We discuss a large pile of books from the well known to the obscure and end up adding over 1,000 pages of fun and serious fiction to the ever growing TBR.

But I've buried the lede, also in this episode Matt reads from his reading journal from over 20 years ago. Thanks for listening, and enjoy!

Additions:

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

No Angel by Penny Vincenzi

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We're back this week discussing the famous Truman Capote novella, "Breakfast at Tiffany's." We discuss the book, and the 1961 movie adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn. And finally we riff on the idea of author as a celebrity. Have we lost that? If so, who was the last celebrity author? Fun episode with a few hot takes but mostly just two friends discussing books. As always, thanks for listening. Enjoy!

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