The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast

In this episode, Trevor and Paul are joined by Chris Via of Leaf by Leaf to celebrate the experience of reading big books. From the books that once intimidated us to the ones we now can't imagine our overburdened shelves without, we dive into what makes a book feel "big." Along the way, we share personal stories, favorite strategies for tackling doorstoppers, the books that stretched us as readers, and reflect on why some big books stay with us for life. Whether you're a lifelong lover of big books or someone who's still building up your wrist strength, this is an episode for you.We’d love to hear from you, too—what are your favorite big books? Which ones are still looming on your to-be-read pile, daring you to pick them up? Let us know!Join the Mookse and the Gripes on DiscordAn easy place to respond to our question above is over on Discord!We’re creating a welcoming space for thoughtful, engaging discussions about great novellas—and other books things. Whether you want to share insights, ask questions, or simply follow along, we’d love to have you.ShownotesBooks* War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Anthony Briggs* 2666, by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha Wimmer* The Guermantes Way, by Marcel Proust* FEM, by Magda Carneci, translated by Sean Cotter* Blinding, by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter* Solenoid, by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter* Novel Explosives, by Jim Gauer* Bookwork: Conversations with Michael Silverblatt* The Recognitions, by William Gaddis* The Dying Grass: A Novel of the New Perce War, by William T. Vollmann* Faust, Part One: A New Translation with Illustrations, by Johann Wolfgang van Goethe, translated by Zsuzsanna Ozsváth and Frederick Turner* Invidicum, by Michael Brodsky* The Ice-Shirt, by William T. Vollmann* The Aesthetics of Resistance, by Peter Weiss, translated by Joachim Neugroschel* Middlemarch, by George Eliot* Great Granny Webster, by Caroline Blackwood* Pilgrimage, by Dorothy Richardson* Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry* Moby Dick, by Herman Melville* Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson* Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz* Nausea, by Jean-Paul Sartre, translated by Richard Howard* Schattenfroh, by Micheal Lentz, translated by Max Lawton* The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks* The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Andrew R. MacAndrew* It, by Stephen King* The Stand, by Stephen King* Shogun, by James Clavell* Tom’s Crossing, by Mark Z. Danielewski* Women and Men, by Joseph McElroy* Swann’s Way, by Marcel Proust* Lies and Sorcery, by Elsa Morante, translated by Jenny McPhee* Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, by Marguerite Young* The Blue Room, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Deborah Dawkin* Against the Day, by Thomas Pynchon* Ulysses, by James Joyce* 4 3 2 1, by Paul Auster* Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison* Shadow Ticket, by Thomas Pynchon* The Tunnel, by William H. Gass* A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth* The Golden Gate, by Vikram Seth* The Story of a Life, by Konstantin Paustovsky, translated by Doug Smith* The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Royall Tylor* A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara* The People in the Trees, by Hanya Yanagihara* Stone Upon Stone, by Wiesław Myśliwski, translated by Bill Johnston* Needle’s Eye, by Wiesław Myśliwski, translated by Bill JohnstonOther* Leaf by Leaf* Episode 1: Bucket List Books* Episode 99: Books We Think About All the Time, with Elisa Gabbert* The Untranslated: Schattenfroh by Michael LentzThe 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

What happens when a writer turns silence, fear, grief—and love?—into novels that are barely a couple hundred pages but echo for days? Whether it’s love withheld, misplaced, or mourned, Ørstavik’s novels speak to each other through unspoken longing and the disorienting nature of grief—with a quiet, cumulative power that’s hard to shake. In this episode, we explore the devastating brilliance of Hanne Ørstavik, the Norwegian author whose emotionally precise novels—Love, The Pastor, Ti Amo, and Stay with Me (neither of us has read The Blue Room, but we have it on order)—have deeply moved and unsettled us.We dig into what makes Ørstavik’s emotional landscapes so haunting, and why these books, though spare on the surface, feel endlessly deep. From unspoken longing to the disorienting nature of grief, these novels speak to each other in unexpected and beautiful ways.We’d love to hear your thoughts: Have you read any of Ørstavik’s work? Which novel struck you most—or which are you most curious to read?Join the Mookse and the Gripes on DiscordAn easy place to respond to our question above is over on Discord!We’re creating a welcoming space for thoughtful, engaging discussions about great novellas—and other books things. Whether you want to share insights, ask questions, or simply follow along, we’d love to have you.ShownotesBooks* Love, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken* The Pastor, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken* Ti Amo, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken* Stay with Me, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken* The Ice-Shirt, by William T. Vollmann* The Bear, by Andrew Krivak* The Sojourn, by Andrew Krivak* The Road, by Cormac McCarthy* The Blue Room, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Deborah Dawkin* Lesser Ruins, by Mark Haber* First Love, by Ivan Turgenev* Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin* The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark* Within a Budding Grove, by Marcel ProustOther* Reading in Translation: Narrating and Translating Love and Grief in “TI AMO”: Norwegian Author Hanne Ørstavik and English Translator Martin Aitken in Conversation with Nataliya DelevaThe 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

It’s time for another publisher-centric episode, and it’s another stunner—we’re heading to Latin America (via Scotland!) to talk about the brilliant Charco Press! We dive into what makes Charco Press such a standout: their dedication to bringing contemporary Latin American literature to English-language readers, their thoughtful support of authors and translators, and, yes, their absolutely gorgeous books.We each share three Charco titles we love and three more we can’t wait to get our hands on. There’s something for everyone—from the surreal to the political, the tender to the explosive. Plus, we announce the winner of our March giveaway and introduce an amazing new prize for April: a 2025 bundle of Charco Press books! You do not want to miss this one.Join the Mookse and the Gripes on DiscordWe’re creating a welcoming space for thoughtful, engaging discussions about great novellas, starting with First Love by Ivan Turgenev in April. Whether you want to share insights, ask questions, or simply follow along, we’d love to have you. The discussion will unfold gradually, so you can read at your own pace and jump in whenever you're ready. It’s a great way to connect with fellow readers, explore new works together, and deepen your appreciation for the novella form.For the first book, the schedule will be as follows:* April 6: Start of the book through Section 9* April 9: Section 10 through Section 16* April 13: Section 17 through the endShownotesBooks* On the Calculation of Volume I, by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara Haveland* The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher* Fated, by Benedict Jacka* Cursed, by Benedict Jacka* First Love, by Ivan Turgenev* The Wind That Lays Waste, by Selva Almada, translated by Chris Andrews* Dead Girls, by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott* Brickmakers, by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott* Not a River, by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott* Catching Fire: A Translation Diary, by Daniel Hahn* Never Did the Fire, by Diamela Eltit, translated by Daniel Hahn* Homesick, by Jennifer Croft* The Cemetery of Untold Stories, by Julia Alvarez* The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka* An Orphan World, by Giuseppe Caputo, translated by Sophie Hughes and Juana Adcock* Dislocations, by Sylvia Malloy, translated by Jennifer Croft* Elena Knows, by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle* A Little Luck, by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle* Fish Soup, by Margarita García Robayo, translated by Charlotte Coombe* The Distance Between Us, by Renato Cisneros, translated by Fionn Petch* Time of the Flies, by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle* Two Sherpas, by Sebastián Martinez Daniell, translated by Jennifer Croft* Trout, Belly Up, by Rodrigo Fuentes, translated by Ellen Jones* Fresh Dirt from the Grave, by Giovanna Rivero, translated by Isabel Adey* The Adventures of China Iron, by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre* A Perfect Cemetery, by Federico Falco, translated by Jennifer Croft* Cautery, by Lucía Litmaer, translated by Maureen Shaughnessy* The Delivery, by Margarita García Robayo, translated by Megan McDowell* The Forgery, by Ave Barrera, translated by Ellen Jones and Robin Myers* Restoration, by Ave Barrera, translated by Ellen Jones and Robin Myers* Die, My Love, by Ariana Harwicz, translated by Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff* Feebleminded, by Ariana Harwicz, translated by Annie McDermott and Carolina Orloff* Tender, by Ariana Harwicz, translated by Annie McDermott and Carolina OrloffOther* The Book Club Review Podcast* Charco Press Website* Episode 74: Canadian Literature, with Jerry Faust* Episode 88: Women in Translation, with Robin MyersThe 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

In this episode of The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast, we’re joined by Rohan Maitzen to explore the multifaceted world of historical fiction. Rohan guides us through the genre, unpacking its many layers and surprising complexities. From timeless classics to unexpected gems, we share some of our favorite examples from the genre and discuss how historical fiction challenges our perceptions of the past and sparks conversations about the present, all while whisking us away to another time. Whether you're drawn to sweeping epics or intimate character studies, tune in for a thought-provoking discussion that will enhance the way you think about historical fiction!Join the Mookse and the Gripes on DiscordWe’re creating a welcoming space for thoughtful, engaging discussions about great novellas, starting with First Love by Ivan Turgenev in April. Whether you want to share insights, ask questions, or simply follow along, we’d love to have you. The discussion will unfold gradually, so you can read at your own pace and jump in whenever you're ready. It’s a great way to connect with fellow readers, explore new works together, and deepen your appreciation for the novella form.For the first book, the schedule will be as follows:* April 6: Start of the book through Section 9* April 9: Section 10 through Section 16* April 13: Section 17 through the endShownotesBooks* Widening the Skirts of Light: Essays on George Eliot, by Rohan Maitzen* Middlemarch for Book Clubs, by Rohan Maitzen* Middlemarch, by George Eliot* Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot* Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen* The Lymond Chronicles, by Dorothy Dunnett* My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand* Stone Yard Devotional, Charlotte Wood* All Fours, by Miranda July* Mrs. Death Misses Death, by Salena Godden* Telephone, by Percival Everett* 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* Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen* The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe* The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey* Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry* Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since, by Walter Scott* Adam Bede, by George Eliot* Romola, by George Eliot* The Cater Street Hangman, by Anne Perry* The Whitechapel Conspiracy, by Anne Perry* Kindred, by Octavia Butler* An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, by P.D. James* The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas* Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent* The Young Mary Queen of Scots, by Jean Plaidy* Murder Most Royal, by Jean Plaidy* Lives of the Queens of England, by Agnes and Elizabeth Strickland* Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks* Siege of Krishnapur, by J.G. Farrell* Troubles, by J.G. Farrell* The Singapore Grip, by J.G. Farrell* Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell* A Long Long Way, by Sebastian Barry* Tree of Smoke, by Denis Johnson* Birdsong, by Sebastian Faulks* The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara* Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson* My Lady Of Cleves, by Margaret Campbell Barnes* Child of the Morning, by Pauline Gedge* The Eagle and the Raven, by Pauline GedgeOther* Episode 64: Victorian LiteratureThe 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

Introducing the Mookse and Gripes Novella Reading Group! Through this year, we’re reading three novellas about love, longing, and leadership gone slightly off the rails. In this episode, we kick things off with some bookish banter before unveiling our new novella reading group on Discord. We have a short intermission for a special new game with a giveaway and then share the three novellas we’ll be reading in 2025, diving into why we chose these books.Join us as we celebrate the art of the novella. We hope you’ll read along!Join the Mookse and the Gripes on DiscordWe’re creating a welcoming space for thoughtful, engaging discussions about great novellas, starting with First Love by Ivan Turgenev in April. Whether you want to share insights, ask questions, or simply follow along, we’d love to have you. The discussion will unfold gradually, so you can read at your own pace and jump in whenever you're ready. It’s a great way to connect with fellow readers, explore new works together, and deepen your appreciation for the novella form.For the first book, the schedule will be as follows:* April 6: Start of the book through Section 9* April 9: Section 10 through Section 16* April 13: Section 17 through the endShownotesBooks* Lesser Ruins, by Mark Haber* Melvill, by Rodrigo Fresán, translated by Will Vanderhyden* Like a Sky Inside, by Jakuta Alikavazovic, translated by Daniel Levin Becker* The Case of Cem, by Vera Mutafchieva, translated by Angela Rodel* Your Absence Is Darkness, by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, translated by Philip Roughton* Small Rain, by Garth Greenwell* Command Performance, by Jean Echenoz, translated * Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf* To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf* The Waves, by Virginia Woolf* The Voyage Out, by Virginia Woolf* Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel, by Mark Hussey* Trafik, by Rikki Ducornet* We’re Safe When We’re Alone, by Nghiem Tran* Cecilia, by K-Ming Chang* Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan* Chess Story, by Stefan Zweig, translated by Joel Rotenberg* The Guest Cat, by Takashi Hiraide, translated by Eric Selland* The Stepdaughter, by Caroline Blackwood* Great Granny Webster, by Caroline Blackwood* So Long, See You Tomorrow, by William Maxwell* Fever Dream, by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell* Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson* The Body, by Stephen King* The Long Walk, by Stephen King* First Love, by Ivan Turgenev, translated by Isaiah Berlin* Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin* The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark* The Turn of the Screw, by Henry JamesOther* Episode 27: Short Books, Fiction* “Ten haunting, atmospheric novellas I highly recommend”: JacquiWine’s JournalThe 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

In this special centenary episode of The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast, we're shaking things up with an Ask Us Anything celebration! Join us as we answer listeners’ questions covering everything from our favorite books and authors to the behind-the-scenes moments of the podcasting process. We’re answering it all, sharing some fun stories, and offering a glimpse into what’s next for the show—more books!Whether you’ve been with us since episode one or are a recent listener, this milestone episode is for you. Tune in for the answers to your burning questions and to celebrate 100 episodes of literary adventures with us!The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a book chat podcast. Every other week Paul and Trevor get together to talk about some bookish topic or another. We hope you’ll continue to join us!Many thanks to those who helped make this possible! If you’d like to donate as well, you can do so on Substack or on our Patreon page. These subscribers get bonus episode and early access to all episodes! Every supporter has their own feed that he or she can use in their podcast app of choice to download our episodes a few days early. Please go 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

We’re joined by the amazing poet and essayist Elisa Gabbert to discuss some of the books that we think about all the time. We each share three books that are always on our minds and discuss the many reasons some works become such and important part of who we are.Which ones would you pick?ShownotesBooks* Any Person Is the Only Self, by Elisa Gabbert* The Unreality of Memory, by Elisa Gabbert* The Word Pretty, by Elisa Gabbert* The Hurting Kind, by Ada Limón* 77 Dream Songs, by John Berryman* The Price of Salt, by Patricia Highsmith* A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster* Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks* Strangers on a Train, by Patricia Highsmith* Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, by Marguerite Young* Lies and Sorcery, by Elsa Morante, translated by Jenny McPhee* Middlemarch, by George Eliot* Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, by Cal Newport* An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, by George Perec, translated by Marc Lowenthal* A Month in Sienna, by Hisham Matar* How to Cook a Wolf, by M.F.K. Fisher* A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction, by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein* Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson* Ducks, Newburyport, by Lucy Ellmann* The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky* Notes from Underground, by Fyodor Dostoevsky* Too Serious Ladies, by Jane Bowles* Sabrina, by Nick Drnaso* Emma, by Jane Austen* The Wild Iris, by Louise Glück* Survey Says, by Nathan Austin* The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman* So Long, See You Tomorrow, by William Maxwell* Atonement, by Ian McEwan* The Invention of Morel, by Adolfo Bioy Casares, translated by Ruth L.C. SimmsOther* Elisa Gabbert’s Poetry Column in The New York Times* Every book I read in 2024, with commentary, by Elisa Gabbert* Lost Highway, d. David Lynch* Mulholland Dr., d. David Lynch* Episode 36: Epic Books* Backlisted Podcast on Notes from Underground* Episode 25: Jane AustenThe Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a book chat podcast. Every other week Paul and Trevor get together to talk about some bookish topic or another. We hope you’ll continue to join us!Many thanks to those who helped make this possible! If you’d like to donate as well, you can do so on Substack or on our Patreon page. These subscribers get periodic bonus episode and early access to all episodes! Every supporter has their own feed that he or she can use in their podcast app of choice to download our episodes a few days early. Please go 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

From glistening skyscrapers and bustling downtowns to dark alleys and creeping urban decay, cities are endlessly complicated and diverse. And so are the books that take place in urban settings. This week, we share some of our favorite city books and chat about what makes these environments so fascinating. What are your favorites?ShownotesBooks* Pink Slime, by Fernanda Trías, translated by Heather Cleary* Middlemarch, by George Eliot* Lies and Sorcery, by Elsa Morante, translated by Jenny McPhee* Swann’s Way, by Marcel Proust* Wind and Truth, by Brandon Sanderson* The Suicides, by Antonio Di Benedetto, translated by Esther Allen* Zama, by Antonio Di Benedetto, translated by Esther Allen* The Silentiary, by Antonio Di Benedetto, translated by Esther Allen* Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino, translated by William Weaver* A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith* The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros* A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole* The Passenger, by Cormac McCarthy* The City and the City, by China Miéville* Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, by Katherine Boo* The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, by Ursula K. Le Guin* My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante, translated by Anne Goldstein* Lush Life, by Richard Price* Solenoid, by Mircea Cǎrtǎrescu, translated by Sean Cotter* Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolfe* Ask the Dust, by John Fante* One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Máquez, translated by Gregory Rabassa* Anniversaries, by Uwe Johnson, translated by Damion Searls* Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck* Ulysses, by James Joyce* New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster* Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke* It, by Stephen King* The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides* Open City, by Teju Cole* Bleak House, by Charles Dickens* The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larsen* Midaq Alley, by Naguib Mahfouz, translated by Trevor Le Gassick* The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon* Berlin Alexanderplatz, by Alfred Döblin, translated by Michael Hoffman* Down and Out in London, by George Orwell* City of Saints and Madmen, by Jeff Vandermeer* Cairo Trilogy, by Naguib Mahfouz, translated by William Maynard Hutchins, Olive E. Kenny, Lorne M. Kenny, and Angele Botros Samaan* The Alexandria Quartet, by Lawrence Durrell* London, by Edward Rutherford* Dublin, by Edward Rutherford* New York, by Edward Rutherford* Paris, by Edward RutherfordThe Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a book chat podcast. Every other week Paul and Trevor get together to talk about some bookish topic or another. We hope you’ll continue to join us!Many thanks to those who helped make this possible! If you’d like to donate as well, you can do so on Substack or on our Patreon page. These subscribers get periodic bonus episode and early access to all episodes! Every supporter has their own feed that he or she can use in their podcast app of choice to download our episodes a few days early. Please go 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

To kick off the new year, we discuss some of he 2025 new releases we’re most excited about. We also share our personal 5 in ‘25—five books (new or old) that we can’t wait to read this year.What are yours?ShownotesBooks* Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, by Marguerite Young* Middlemarch, by George Eliot* Lies and Sorcery, by Elsa Morante, translated by Jenny McPhee* On the Evolution of All Political Parties, by Simone Weil, translated by Simon Leys* Wind and Truth, by Brandon Sanderson* The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story, by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones* The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman* Swann’s Way, by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff & Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright* Attila, by Aliocha Coll, translated by Katie Wittemore* Attila, by Javier Serena, translated by Katie Wittemore* Death Takes Me, by Cristina Rivera Garza, translated by Robin Myers and Sarah Booker* Time of the Flies, by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle* Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice, by Cristina Rivera Garza, translated by * The Taiga Syndrome, by Cristina Rivera Garza, translated by Suzanne Jill Levine and Aviva Kana* Is a River Alive, by Robert Macfarlane* Underland: A Deep Time Journey, by Robert Macfarlane* The Hour of the Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks, by Terry Tempest Williams* A Life on Paper, by George-Olivier Châteaureynard, translated by Edward Gauvin* The Messengers, by George-Olivier Châteaureynard, translated by Edward Gauvin* stay with me, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken* Love, by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken* The Unworthy, by Augustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses* The White Bear, by Henrik Pontoppidan, translated by Paul Larkin* A Fortunate Man, by Henrik Pontoppidan, translated by Paul Larkin* Hellions, by Julia Elliott* The Deserters, by Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell* Compass, by Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell* Zone, by Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell* Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants, by Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell* Street of Thieves, by Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell* The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild, by Mathias Énard, translated by Frank Wynne* Universality, by Natasha Brown* The Death of Virgil, by Hermann Broch, translated by Jean Starr Untermeyer* The Sleepwalkers, by Hermann Broch, translated by Willa and Edwin Muir* A Month in the Country, by J.C. Carr* The Adventures of China Iron, by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre* Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D.H. Lawrence* The Rainbow, by D.H. Lawrence* The Dying Grass, by William T. Vollmann* The Ice-Shirt, by William T. Vollmann* Inferno, by Dante, translated by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander* Purgatorio, by Dante, translated by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander* Paradiso, by Dante, translated by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander* Purgatorio, by Dante, translated by D.M. Black* Paradiso, by Dante, translated by D.M. Black* The Divine Comedy, by Dante, translated by Allen Mandelbaum* The Iliad, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson* The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson* Too Much of Life: The Complete Crônicas, by Clarice Lispector, translated by Margaret Jull Costa* The Birds, by Tarjei Vesaas, translated by Michael Barnes and Torbjørn Støverud* The Ice Palace, by Tarjei Vesaas, translated by Elizabeth Rokkan* The Bridges, by Tarjei Vesaas, translated by Elizabeth Rokkan* The Seed, by Tarjei Vesaas, translated by Kenneth G. Chapman* The Hills Reply, by Tarjei Vesaas, translated by Elizabeth Rokkan* The Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin, translated by David Hawkes* The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann, translated by John E. Woods* The Mountain Lion, by Jean Stafford* Wolf Hall, by Hilary MantelThe Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a book chat podcast. Every other week Paul and Trevor get together to talk about some bookish topic or another. We hope you’ll continue to join us!Many thanks to those who helped make this possible! If you’d like to donate as well, you can do so on Substack or on our Patreon page. These subscribers get periodic bonus episode and early access to all episodes! Every supporter has their own feed that he or she can use in their podcast app of choice to download our episodes a few days early. Please go 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

For our final episode of 2024, we finish our annual best of the year extravaganza! Here we are joined by more friends sharing their favorite reads of the year as we go through our top five.Happy New Year! We will see you in 2025!ShownotesBooks* The Overstory, by Richard Powers* Septology, by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls* A Shining, by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls* Boathouse, by Jon Fosse, translated by May-Brit Akerholt* Scenes from a Childhood, by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls* Trilogy, by Jon Fosse, translated by May-Brit Akerholt* Aliss at the Fire, by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls* Morning and Evening, by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls* We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver* Big Brother, by Lionel Shriver* The Stripping of the Altars, by Eamon Duffy * Scenes from Clerical Life, by George Eliot* Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot* Possession, by A.S. Byatt* Parade’s End, by Ford Madox Ford* David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens* Frog, by Stephen Dixon* I., by Stephen Dixon* The MANIAC, by Benjamín Labatut* When We Cease to Understand the World, by Benjamín Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West* A Game of Hide and Seek, by Elizabeth Taylor* Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, by Elizabeth Taylor* Angel, by Elizabeth Taylor* It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over, by Anne de Marcken* The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, by Beth Brower* A Touch of Mistletoe, by Barbara Comyns* Mr. Fox, by Barbara Comyns* Cold Nights of Childhood, by Tezer Özlü, translated by Maureen Freely* Your Little Matter: My Mother, a News Item, by Maria Grazia Calandrone, translated by Antonella Lettieri* My Favorite, by Sarah Jollien-Fardel, translated by Holly James* Götz and Meyer, by David Albahari, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac* Escape from Berlin, by Catherine Klein* February 1933: The Winter of Literature, by Use Wittstock, translated by Daniel Bowles* Pilgrimage, by Dorothy Richardson* War and Peace, by Leo Tolstory* The Tunnel, by William H. Gass* A Cage Went in Search of a Bird: Ten Kafkaesque Stories* All That Glitters, by Orlando Whitfield* Lesser Ruins, by Mark Haber* Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino, translated by William Weaver* If on a winter’s night a traveller . . . , by Italo Calvino, translated by William Weaver* The Baron in the Trees, by Italo Calvino, translated by Ann Goldstein* Doctor Thorne, by Anthony Trollope* The Warden, by Anthony Trollope* Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trollope* The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope* Grief Is the Thing With Feathers, by Max Porter* The Call of the Wild, by Jack London* “To Build a Fire,” by Jack London* Opacities: On Writing and the Writing Life, by Sofia Samatar* Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner & Rosamond Lehmann, by Harriet Baker* Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, by Naomi Klein* A Body Made of Glass: A Cultural History of Hypochondria, by Caroline Crampton* A Month in the Country, by J.L. Baker* The Passenger, by Cormac McCarthy* Stella Maris, by Cormac McCarthy* Suttree, by Cormac McCarthy* Blood Meridian; or, The Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthyThe Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a book chat podcast. Every other week Paul and Trevor get together to talk about some bookish topic or another. We hope you’ll continue to join us!Many thanks to those who helped make this possible! If you’d like to donate as well, you can do so on Substack or on our Patreon page. These subscribers get periodic bonus episode and early access to all episodes! Every supporter has their own feed that he or she can use in their podcast app of choice to download our episodes a few days early. Please go 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