Welcome to our longest episode of the year, during which we discuss our favorite reading experiences of the year, share our individual top five books, and drop some news about HQ books for 2026. Happy new year from all of us at Close Reads!

You had questions, we had answers, so join us for the final conversation about Shakespeare?s classic comedy! We talk about Margaret?s culpability, Don Pedros rejections, Claudio?s turn, Dogberry?s wisdom, and much more! Happy listening!

For your errand-running, long drive, baking, cleaning, or lounging listening, we present a Christmas mailbag in which we answer your questions about traditions, books, characters in the Nativity story, and much more! Happy listening and Merry Christmas!

Image credit: 1953, Man Tangled Up in Christmas Decorations by Al Brule

Welcome back to our series on Much Abo About Nothing! This week we're discussing Hero's role in the story, which characters have a positive transformation, what makes Beatric and Benedick's relationship so delightful, and much, much more. As always, happy listening!

In this week?s conversation about Shakespeare classic comedy, we discuss the famous ?kill Claudio? demand from Beatrice: How it opens up the drama of the play and brings Benedick and Beatrice together. Plus, Benedick?s transformation, the true cost of love, Don Pedro the man of causes, and much more. Happy listening!

Welcome back to another conversation about Shakespeare?s delightful comedy. This week we discuss the differences between ?noting? and investigating, Dogberry the wise fool who sees but nonetheless can?t communicate clearly in contract with the characters who can communicate but don?t have vision, the question of who the play?s hero is, and much, much more. Happy listening!

Welcome back to another conversation about Shakespeare?s wonderful comedy. The best bit: this week we?re joined by the one-and-only Tim McIntosh! Topics of conversation include the famous ?gulling? scene, the difference between Benedick and Claudio, Don Pedro the schemer, and some more on ?noting.? As always, happy listening!

Welcome to a new series on one of Shakespeare?s most delightful and brilliant plays! In this episode, which is about act one, we discuss why it?s so beloved, the way Shakespeare?s unfurls the story while also offering complex layers of humor, whether you can tell when characters are being honest, Don Pedro?s scheming, and much more! Happy listening!

It?s Q&A time. You?ve got questions; we have answers. So join in as we conclude our conversation on Hemingway?s classic novel. Happy listening!

Is A Farewell to Arms pure tragedy? Is there any hope in the denouement? What should we do with Hemingway?s alternate endings? These and many other questions are the focus of this week?s episode. Happy listening!

Sean calls this the happy section of the book, so in this episode we discuss the book?s conception of happiness, engage in a close reading of the scene between Frederic and an old billiards player, and contemplate the question of cynicism in this book. Happy listening!

After an unfortunate delay, we?re back with further conversation about Hemingway?s twentieth century classic. This week we discuss the harrowing nature of this section, the bad moral luck of the characters, the rich spiritual contemplations at the heart of the novel, and much more. Happy listening!

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Hemingway?s classical novel. This week we discuss the turn the book takes in book two, the nature of Hemingway?s contemplation of love, and a couple of key scenes that reveal his genius as a storyteller. As always, happy listening!

Welcome to our new series on Ernest Hemingway?s modern classic. For this first episode we chatted about Heidi?s deep love of the book, the subtly of Hemingway?s prose, the role of faith and confession in the story. whether it?s melodramatic, and much, much more. Happy listening!

This week is one part Q&A about The Princess and the Goblin, one part ask-us-anything. That means we?re discussing George McDonald?s plot devices, Irene?s grandmother, and goblins but also cooking, Shakespeare, new book releases, and the Muppets. Happy listening!

This week we discuss the delightful conclusion to George McDonald?s classic children?s novel, how it compares to classic fairy tales, why books like this matter more than ever, and much more. Happy listening!

Over the next few weeks we?ll be discussing George Macdonald?s delightful nineteenth century children?s story, The Princess and the Goblin. In this episode we discuss its similarities to (and influence on) Lewis and Tolkien, why books like this matter more than ever, and where it?s most delightful. As always, thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

It?s that time of year! You?ve probably seen the posts revealing the books we?ll be discussing on the show in 2026 , but now you can tune into the process of making those determinations. Happy listening!

You had plenty of great questions; we did our best to answer them. So join in as we conclude our series on Emily Bronte?s classic novel. Happy listening!

We?ve come to the end of Emily Bronte?s novel and so we?re here to discuss, well, how it ends. Up first: Sean?s opinion. Then we discuss the impact of the late-stage POV-shift, whether this is a ghost story, the fun-to-discuss questions at the core of the book, and much more. Happy listening!

Welcome back to our ongoing conversation about Emily Bronte?s novel! This week we discuss whether it?s too melodramatic, Heathcliff?s malevolence, Cathy?s kindness to pathetic Linton, and much more. Happy listening!

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Emily Bronte?s novel! This week we?re discussing the degree to which the book is a love story, the strange circumstances of a particular character?s death and another character?s birth, the inevitability of the narrative (and it?s structure), and much more! Happy listening!

Ten years ago, on the first ever episode of Close Reads, we discussed ?A Good Man Is Hard To Find,? the famous story by Flannery O?Connor. Last weekend, at our tenth anniversary party, we revisited it and we?re excited to share that discussion with you now. So whether you?ve been listening all along or whether it?s first time, thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped shape the show for so long, from co-hosts and guest hosts to listeners from all over the world?and, of course, Logan! We couldn?t do it without you. Cheers!

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Emily Bronte?s classic novel. This week we discuss the roots of the characters? various issues, Cathy?s and Heathcliff?s sense of connection to one another, the profound sense that there is nothing solid upon which the characters can stand, Nelly?s seeming disdain for Cathy, and much more! Happy listening?

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Emily Bronte?s classic novel. This week we?re discussing whether the book includes either a protagonist or an antagonist, how we should interpret the narration of Nelly, who we most sympathize with, and much more. Happy listening!

Welcome to a new series! As we kick off our conversations on Emily Bronte?s Wuthering Heights, we discuss the genius of the Bronte sisters, the somewhat disorienting nature of the book?s framing device, the way Bronte creates atmosphere, and much more. Happy listening!

As always, you had plenty of great questions about our current book and on this episode we did our best to answer a bunch of them. Thanks for tuning in to and participating in this series. Happy listening!

It?s a bit late, but better late than never, right? Apologies for the delay! The upload speeds weren?t great in the English countryside. All the same, we?ve come to the end of The Great Gatsby, which means it?s time to talk about some of the most memorable passages in American literature. Join us as we dig in. Happy listening!

Welcome back to our series on F. Scott Fitzgerald?s novel, in which we discuss his best novelistic skills, including his ability to deal in subtext while also creating mood. Plus: the way the book explores the dissonance between desire and reality, whether any of these characters have any interest in (or capacity to see) higher things, and much more. Happy listening!

Welcome to a new series of episodes on another wonderful book. It?s our first re-read here on Close Reads and it?s timely, too, since The Great Gatsby just turned 100 years old! So join in as we discuss what?s made F. Scott Fitzgerald?s novel last a century, what makes Nick Carraway a compelling narrator, the tragic longing at the nostalgic core of the story, and much more. Happy listening!

We?re in between books so we answered as many of your questions as we could?which is to say, this is one of those wide-ranging episodes on a variety of topics. Snack foods, book organization, novels we wish we wrote, protecting the canon, Lewis or Tolkien, and much more. Hope you enjoy! Until next time, happy reading.

Up next: Chapters 1-3 of The Great Gatsby.

You had questions; we did our best to answer them. It?s the Piranesi Q&A episode. Happy listening!

Up next: An ask-us-anything mailbag episode, then we?ll be kicking off a new series on The Great Gatsby.

We?ve come to the end of Susannah Clarke?s novel, which means it?s time to discuss whether the somewhat controversial ending is ultimately satisfying, different ways of interpreting the book, the way it presents it?s myriad philosophical contemplations, and much more. Happy listening!

Wikipedia rabbit holes. Peacefulness or lack thereof in the world of Piranesi. The source of human goodness and morality. Sudafed fever dreams. These and many other topics are discussed on this week?s discussion of Susannah Clarke?s novel. Happy listening!

Welcome back to our ongoing conversation on Susanna Clarke?s Piranesi. This week we?re discussing the book?s genre-bending nature, Clarke?s extremely allusive approach (from Coleridge to Lewis and others in between), whether the house of a dark place or a peaceful place, and much more. Happy listening!

Welcome to a new series! It?s time to dig into Susanna Clarke?s Piranesi, a book that?s been requested many times since its release in 2020. In this episode, we?re previewing things and thinking about how to read it before discussing part 1. Happy listening!

You had questions; we did our best to answer them. It?s the final episode on O Pioneers!, and we?re sad to see it go. Happy listening!

This week, Sean describes how he wasn?t prepared for the ending of this book and we discuss the precision of the writing in some of the key scenes. Plus: Is it more tragic or comic (in the literary sense), what does the book have to say about justice, and much more. Happy listening!

What do we make of Carl?s choices (and semi-pursuit) of Alexandra? Does he have anything to offer her? What makes Marie such a compelling character? Plus, how Marie and Emil are counterpoints to Carl and Alexandra. This and much more are topics of discussion on this week?s discussion of Willa Cather?s modern classic. Happy listening!

Welcome to a new series on another great novel, Willa Cather?s O Pioneers!. This week we?re discussing Cather?s instinctive yet precise writing, the book?s contemplation of imagination and vocation, the relationship between the characterization and the land, and much more. Plus we discuss our 2025 literary bracket. Happy listening!

You had questions; we did our best to answer them. It?s another Q&A and it?s all yours now . . . or as soon as you hit the play button. Happy listening!

Note: no video for this one.

Welcome to the Jane Austen heist draft, in which each of us will build a six-member crew of Jane Austen characters to perpetrate a heist, Oceans 11 style. In this case, we?re stealing back a long lost Turner painting from Captain Rushworth, who has (wrongly) claimed it as his own. Who has the best crew? That?s up to you. Happy listening!

Note: The Q&A for A Tale of Two Cities will run next Monday.

And so we come to the end of Charles Dicken?s A Tale of Two Cities! In this episode, we discuss the sometimes complicated nature of reading and writing historical fiction, the way Dickens ratchets up the drama in the section, the wonderful confrontation between Miss Pross and Madame Defarge, and much more! As always, thanks for listening and happy reading!

Want to ask a quesiton for next week?s Q&A? You can do so here.

In this very special episode we go behind-the-scenes with Heidi on her forthcoming book! What?s the origin story? Why is the topic so important to her? What was it like to write? How?s she feeling now? Plus Tim?s here! What a momentous day. Happy listening!

Want to pre-order your copy? Click here.

Welcome back to our ongoing series on Charles Dickens? A Tale of Two Cities! This week we?re chatting about scenes that make this section exciting, the political context of the story, what Dickens? worldview seems to be based on some of the metaphors he uses in the book, and much more. Happy listening!

Click here to support Bandersnatch Book?s book of poetry for children!

Welcome back! It?s French Revolution time (i.e., Dickens does history). Also, Lucy and Darnay discuss Sidney?s sadness, Lucy and Darnay have children, and ultimately Darnay leaves. We discuss. Happy listening!

It?s the episode in which we dig into the ways Dickens uses different tones of voice in various sections, the way his writing creates a tableau-like effect, how the serialization of the story should impact our reading, and question on morality that the book?s introduction of the French Revolution raises. In other words, it?s another conversation on A Tale of Two Cities! Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

NOTE: VIDEO COMING LATER

Welcome back to our ongoing conversation about Charles Dickens? classic novel! In this episode, we discuss what the book is revealing itself to be about, the question of villainy in the story, the importance of the historical context, the differences in the various men who love Lucie, Dickens use of symblism, and much more. Happy listening!

We?re back with another conversation on Charles Dickens? classical novel, and this time we discuss the introduction of Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay?and the way Dickens employs doubling to develop them as characters alongside the key themes of the book. Plus: a great Dickens-ism, a few wonderful scenes, chat on Dickens and dialogue, questions about how Dickens writes women, and much more. Happy listening!

Over the years, many of you have asked us to discuss a Dickens novel and it?s finally time! Over the next several episodes we are going to dig into A Tale of Two Cities. But fair warning: as we get into the book we do spend some time explaining why we?re not necessarily Dickens enthusiasts, before getting into what really works well. (Don?t worry, we won?t dwell further on the things we don?t love, but it would be strange to not address it given our collective reputation on this count). Happy listening!