The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast

In this episode, Trevor and Paul talk about some of our favorite books about books. These books never fail to inspire us to read and to enjoy it. While there are many great novels and stories about books, real or fictional, in this episode we focus on nonfiction books. We'll return to this subject and talk about favorite fictional books about books some day. If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse and @bibliopaul. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com. 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

In this episode, Trevor and Paul talk about books with great openings. We are not talking about best first lines, though many of these have those. We are talking about openings where we know we are in good hands and we can't wait for all that's to come. Also, we announce the winner of our first giveaway! If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse and @bibliopaul. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com. 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

In this episode Trevor and Paul welcome their first guest, their long-time online book friend, Frances Evangelista. We reminisce a little before Frances shares three favorite books. Thanks for joining us, Frances! If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse and @bibliopaul. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com. 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

Happy Fall, everyone! It's always so wonderful to snuggle up with a book as the days get colder. To celebrate the new season, Trevor and Paul talk about some of their favorite fall books and talk about a few they hope to read this year to really take advantage of the season! If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse and @bibliopaul. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com. 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

Trevor and Paul both grew up reading fantasy in the 1980s and 1990s, and both stopped around the same time. But we still look back on that time fondly and talk about our memories, our complaints about tropes and fantasy bloat, and maybe some hope for the future. Spoiler: Trevor has been enjoying some great fantasy books again. We touch on the days when you could go to the mall and spend an hour in a bookstore. We talk about Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, which we both started but never finished. And we talk about Brandon Sanderson, who not only finished Robert Jordan's series after Jordan died but is also key to why Trevor is getting back to his roots. Also, we talk about Susanna Clarke's wonderful Piranesi, which recently won the 2021 Women's Prize (though we recorded this some time before that happened). If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse and @bibliopaul. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com. 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

In this episode Trevor and Paul discuss the work of Cormac McCarthy. Cormac McCarthy has published ten novels, starting with The Orchard Keeper in 1965. The last novel he published, 2006's The Road, won the Pulitzer Prize. While a new novel, The Passenger, has been announced, several years have passed with no new news. Each of us have read eight of his novels, but between the two of us, we have read all of his work. We don't pretend to be experts, but we are fans who had fun talking about one of our favorite authors. We hope you enjoy it. If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com. 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

In this episode Trevor and Paul discuss nature writing and each list some of their favorite books where nature plays a big role. If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com. 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

In this bonus episode, which is an old episode from an old iteration of the podcast, Trevor gets over his performance anxiety and reads one of his favorite short stories for you. Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky’s story “Quadraturin,” translated from the Russian by Joanne Turnbull, is presented here in its entirety with permission from NYRB Classics. You can find this and many more of his stories in their editions. If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com. 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

In this episode Trevor and Paul discuss the short story and each list three favorites. If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com.   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

In this debut episode Trevor and Paul get to know each other through the books they haven't read . . . but want to. Here they each list five "bucket list" books, or books they've been wanting to read for a long time and hope to get to sooner than later. If you'd like to support the show, visit The Mookse and the Gripes Patreon. Visit our blog at http://mookseandgripes.com/reviews. Follow us on Twitter @mookse. Email mookseandgripes@gmail.com.   Intro Track: Sunlight Cascading Through the Clouds — Artificial.Music [Audio Library Release] Music provided by Audio Library Plus Watch: https://youtu.be/mtONh3v8-mw Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/sunlight-cascading  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