Long books as living projects

In this episode, Paul and Trevor check in on our 2025 reading goals—where we’ve succeeded, where we’ve faltered, and most importantly how our goals are impacting our reading experience. Are we setting ourselves up for success, or are we creating unnecessary pressure? We dive into the positives and potentials pitfalls of reading ambitions, exploring what’s working for us. Tune in for a reflective conversation on how to make reading goals meaningful.

Plus, we announce the winner of our May giveaway and reveal our June giveaway challenge with another silly performance!

We’ve got some fantastic author-focused episodes lined up for the foreseeable future, and we want to give you plenty of time to dive in if you’d like to read along with us. These episodes come around every ten episodes, and with our bi-weekly release schedule, you'll have a few months to get ready for each. Here’s what we have in store:

* Episode 115: Kazuo Ishiguro

* Episode 125: Flannery O’Connor

* Episode 135: William Faulkner

* Episode 145: Elizabeth Taylor

* Episode 155: Naguib Mahfouz

There’s no rush—take your time, and grab a book (or two, or three) so you’re prepared for these as they come!

Join the Mookse and the Gripes on Discord

Want to share your thoughts on these upcoming authors or anything else we’re discussing? Join us over on Discord! It’s the perfect place to dive deeper into the conversation—whether you’re reading along with our author-focused episodes or just want to chat about the books that are on your mind.

We’re also gearing up for our second novella book club, where we'll be reading Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin at the start of July. It’s a fantastic book, and we’d love to have you join the discussion. It’s a great space to engage with fellow listeners, share your insights, and discover new perspectives on the books you’re reading.

Shownotes

Books

* Is a River Alive?, by Robert Macfarlane

* The White Bear, by Henrik Pontoppidan, translated by Paul Larkin

* A Fortunate Man, by Henrik Pontoppidan, translated by Paul Larkin

* Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin

* Deathbed Confessions, by Mark Haber

* Middlemarch, by George Eliot

* Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, by Marguerite Young

* Lies and Sorcery, by Elsa Morante, translated by Jenny McPhee

* In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust

* The Sunlit Man, by Brandon Sanderson

* Suttree, by Cormac McCarthy

* Blood Meridian; or, The Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthy

* The Prime Minister, by Anthony Trollope

* The Duke’s Children, by Anthony Trollope

* The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope

* Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot

* Schattenfroh, by Michael Lentz, translated by Max Lawton

* Blinding, by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter

* Omensetter’s Luck, by William H. Gass

* Herscht 07769, by Lászlo Krasznahorkai, translated by Ottilie Mulzet

* Moby Dick, by Herman Melville

* Mr. Fox, by Barbara Comyns

* A Touch of Mistletoe, by Barbara Comyns

* Melvill, by Rodrigo Fresán, translated by Will Vanderhyden

* On the Calculation of Volume, I, by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland

* The Ice-Shirt, by William T. Vollmann

* The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann, translated by John E. Woods

* Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf

* To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf

* The Waves, by Virginia Woolf

* The Adventures of China Iron, by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre

* Rhine Journey, by Ann Schlee

* Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector’s Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend, by Rebecca Romney

* Evelina, by Frances Burney

* The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro

* Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

* The Unconsoled, by Kazuo Ishiguro

* The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro

* A Pale View of Hills, by Kazuo Ishiguro

* Your Absence Is Darkness, by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, translated by Philip Roughton

* The Summer Book, by Tove Jansson, translated by Thomas Teal

The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a bookish conversation hosted by Paul and Trevor. Every other week, we explore a bookish topic and celebrate our love of reading. We’re glad you’re here, and we hope you’ll continue to join us on this literary journey!

A huge thank you to those who help make this podcast possible! If you'd like to support us, you can do so via Substack or Patreon. Subscribers receive access to periodic bonus episodes and early access to all new episodes. Plus, each supporter gets their own dedicated feed, allowing them to download episodes a few days before they’re released to the public. We’d love for you to check it out!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mookse.substack.com/subscribe