The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast

In this episode, we take a look at the books we have on our nightstands and what they say about us! From the current reads, the aspirational tomes, the comfort books, the neglected books that somehow never leave the stack, and the ever-growing piles of good intentions, what makes a book a “nightstand book” instead of a shelf book? What do our bedside stacks reveal about our habits, ambitions, moods. And how often do our actual reading lives diverge from the readers we imagine ourselves to be?
Along the way, we talk about reading rituals, unfinished books, literary guilt, late-night attention spans, and the strange intimacy of the books we keep closest at hand.
2026 Novella Book Club
We have announced the four novellas we will be reading for The Mookse and Gripes Novella Book Club in 2026!
* January: Daisy Miller, by Henry James
* April: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira
* July: The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector
* September: Prelude, by Katherine Mansfield
Discussions will be hosted at The Mookse and the Gripes Discord (see below!).
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 135: William Faulkner
* Episode 145: Elizabeth Taylor
* Episode 155: Naguib Mahfouz
* Episode 165: Annie Ernaux
* Episode 175: Henry James
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 just about to read the second novella book club book of 2026: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews. 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
* Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi
* Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times, by Azar Nafisi
* Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old, by Mary Beard
* The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
* The Other Bennet Sister, by Janice Hadlow
* The Bachelors, by Muriel Spark
* Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark, by James Bailey
* Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, by Heather Clark
* The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark
Once we get to the general discussion I stopped copying the books we mentioned, but let me know if you have questions and I can find you anything!
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

This week, we’re joined by Nick During and Abigail Dunn from New York Review Books for a wide-ranging conversation about the world of NYRB. From Classics to Kids, Comics to Poets, we explore what gives these books their distinct spirit and why so many readers find themselves returning to those familiar spines again and again.
Along the way, we talk about recent releases, a few titles currently on our nightstands, and some of the surprises that come with bringing books back into print. It’s a conversation about discovery, rediscovery, and the quiet pleasure of finding the right book at the right time. Plus, they shed some light on some surprises on the horizon!
2026 Novella Book Club
We have announced the four novellas we will be reading for The Mookse and Gripes Novella Book Club in 2026!
* January: Daisy Miller, by Henry James
* April: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira
* July: The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector
* September: Prelude, by Katherine Mansfield
Discussions will be hosted at The Mookse and the Gripes Discord (see below!).
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 135: William Faulkner
* Episode 145: Elizabeth Taylor
* Episode 155: Naguib Mahfouz
* Episode 165: Annie Ernaux
* Episode 175: Henry James
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 just about to read the second novella book club book of 2026: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews. 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
* East of Dreams, by Nastassja Martin
* In the Eye of the Wild, by Nastassja Martin
* The Death of a Greek Lover, by David Plante
* Difficult Women: A Memoir of Three, by David Plante
* Too L.A.: Letters Never Sent (But Some Were), by Eve Babitz
* Jesus Christs, by A.J. Langguth
* Effingers, by Gabriele Tergit, translated by Sophie Duvernoy
* Käsebier Takes Berlin, by Gabriele Tergit, translated by Sophie Duvernoy
* Things in Nature Merely Grow, by Yiyun Li
* Crazy Genie, by Inès Cagnati, translated by Liesl Schillinger
* Light While There Is Light: An American History, by Keith Waldrop
* “The Old Forest,” by Peter Taylor
* The Netanyahus, by Joshua Cohen
* Onward and Upward in the Garden, by Katharine S. White
* Divorcing, by Susan Taubes
* Lament for Julia, by Susan Taubes
* Free Day, by Inès Cagnati, translated by Liesl Schillinger
* Family Lexicon, by Natalia Ginzburg, translated by Jenny McPhee
* Valentino & Sagittarius, by Natalia Ginzburg, translated by Avril Bardoni
* Lies and Sorcery, by Elsa Morante, translated by Jenny McPhee
* Pittsburgh, by Frank Santoro
* Proper Doctoring: A Book for Patients and Their Doctors, by David Mendel
* Shakespeare’s Montaigne: The Florio Translation
* Proensa: An Anthology of Troubadour Poetry, selected and translated by Paul Blackburn
* The Interior Landscape: Classical Tamil Love Poems, translated by A.K. Ramanujan
* After Lorca, by Jack Spicer
* A Woman of Thirty, by Honoré de Balzac, translated by Jeanine Herman
* Turtle Diary, by Russell Hoban
* The Marzipan Pig, by Russell Hoban
* Château Rouge, by Amit Chaudhuri
* First Love, by Gwendolyn Riley
* My Phantoms, by Gwendolyn Riley
* The Palm House, by Gwendolyn Riley
* Memories of the Future, by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, translated by Joanne Turnbull
* Smoke, by Ivan Turgenev, translated by Donald Rayfield
* Diary Without Vowels, by Aleksander Wat, translated by Alissa Valles
* The Lord, by Soraya Antonius
* Where the Djinn Consult, by Soraya Antonius
* Levitations, by Easton Smith
* Bristol, by Jean Echenoz, translated by Mark Polizzotti
* Command Performance, by Jean Echenoz, translated by Mark Polizzotti
* Bina: A Novel in Warnings, by Anakana Schofield
* Library of Brothel, by Anakana Schofield
* I Liked Rex, by Diane Williams
* The Kingdom of Agamemnon, by Vladimir Sharov, translated by Oliver Ready
* Borges, by Adolfo Bioy Casares, translated by Valerie Miles
* Morel’s Invention, by Adolfo Bioy Casares, translated by Margaret Jull Costa
* Zama, by Antonio Di Benedetto, translated by Esther Allen
* The Silentiary, by Antonio Di Benedetto, translated by Esther Allen
* The Suicides, by Antonio Di Benedetto, translated by Esther Allen
* Bomarzo, by Manuel Mujica Lainez, translated by Gregory Rabassa
* Life and Fate, by Vasily Grossman, translated by Robert Chandler
* Blood Dark, by Louis Guilloux, translated by Laura Marris
* An African in Greenland, by Tete-Michel Kpomassie, translated by James Kirkup
* A High Wind in Jamaica, by Richard Hughes
* Max Havelaar: Or, the Coffee Auctions of The Dutch Trading Company, by Multatuli, translated by Ina Rilke and David McKay
* The Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim
* Woman Running in the Mountains, by Yūko Tsushima, translated by Geraldine Harcourt
* The Culling Time, by Yūko Tsushima, translated by Dennis Washburn
* Loved and Missed, by Susie Boyt
* The Sweet Dove Died, by Barbara Pym
* Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, by François-Réne de Chateaubriand, translated by Alex Andriesse
* The Story of a Life, by Konstantin Paustovsky, translated by Douglas Smith
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

In this episode, we begin a three-part series on the movements of a novel, starting with the opening. Not just the first line or even the first chapter, but that early stretch where a book begins to take shape, sets the tone, introduces its concerns, and makes its promises to the reader.
What do we look for in an opening movement? What helps us trust a book? And how do great openings draw us in? We talk about some of our favorite examples and consider how novels teach us how to read them from the very start.
2026 Novella Book Club
We have announced the four novellas we will be reading for The Mookse and Gripes Novella Book Club in 2026!
* January: Daisy Miller, by Henry James
* April: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira
* July: The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector
* September: Prelude, by Katherine Mansfield
Discussions will be hosted at The Mookse and the Gripes Discord (see below!).
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 135: William Faulkner
* Episode 145: Elizabeth Taylor
* Episode 155: Naguib Mahfouz
* Episode 165: Annie Ernaux
* Episode 175: Henry James
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 just about to read the second novella book club book of 2026: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews. 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
What are we reading?
* Paul: My Friends, by Hisham Matar
* Trevor: The Witch, by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump
Other books mentioned:
* A Month in Sienna, by Hisham Matar
* Rosie Carp, by Marie NDiaye, translated by Tamsin Black
* All My Friends, by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump
* Self-Portrait in Green, by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump
* My Heart Hemmed In, by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump
* Ladivine, by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump
* The Cheffe: A Cook’s Novel, by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump
* Vengeance Is Mine, by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump
* Three Strong Women, by Marie NDiaye, translated by John Fletcher
* Finnegans Wake, by James Joyce
* Paradise Lost, by John Milton
* The Divine Comedy, by Dante
* If on a winter’s night a traveler . . ., by Italo Calvino, translated by William Weaver
* David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens
* Austerlitz, by W.G. Sebald, translated by Anthea Bell
* Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke
* Villette, by Charlotte Bronte
* The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James
* Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
* The Outsider, by Stephen King
* Pedro Páramo, by Juan Rulfo
* Don Quixote, by Miguel Cervantes
* The Unconsoled, by Kazuo Ishiguro
* The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann
* The Comforters, by Muriel Spark
* Memento Mori, by Muriel Spark
* The Ballad of Peckham Rye, by Muriel Spark
* An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
* The Literary Conference, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews
* The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri
* The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner
* Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, by Ed Catmull
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

This week, we’re joined by Luis Panini to talk about reading projects. What are they? Why do we take them on? What happens when we do? From reading an author’s work in careful chronological order to following looser themes and curiosities, we explore the ways readers give shape to their reading lives. Along the way, we consider the appeal of structure, the pull of serendipity, and the tension between encountering a book on its own terms and seeing it as part of a larger pattern.
As always, we’re less interested in prescribing a “right” way to read than in exploring the possibilities. Whether you’re a devoted project reader or someone who prefers to follow whatever book calls out next, we hope this conversation offers something to enjoy.
Find Luis on Instagram here.
2026 Novella Book Club
We have announced the four novellas we will be reading for The Mookse and Gripes Novella Book Club in 2026!
* January: Daisy Miller, by Henry James
* April: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira
* July: The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector
* September: Prelude, by Katherine Mansfield
Discussions will be hosted at The Mookse and the Gripes Discord (see below!).
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 135: William Faulkner
* Episode 145: Elizabeth Taylor
* Episode 155: Naguib Mahfouz
* Episode 165: Annie Ernaux
* Episode 175: Henry James
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 just about to read the second novella book club book of 2026: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews. 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.
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

What books would you want if you were stranded on a desert island?
In this episode, Trevor and Paul each choose three books to take with them into literary isolation: one book they could reread forever, one that would help them maintain their humanity, and one that would give them something to wrestle with for the rest of their lives. Along the way they talk about what kinds of stories might sustain us when the world gets very quiet. Whether you’re imagining your own desert island library or just looking for a few great books to add to your list, join us for a conversation about the books we’d never want to be without.
2026 Novella Book Club
We have announced the four novellas we will be reading for The Mookse and Gripes Novella Book Club in 2026!
* January: Daisy Miller, by Henry James
* April: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira
* July: The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector
* September: Prelude, by Katherine Mansfield
Discussions will be hosted at The Mookse and the Gripes Discord (see below!).
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 135: William Faulkner
* Episode 145: Elizabeth Taylor
* Episode 155: Naguib Mahfouz
* Episode 165: Annie Ernaux
* Episode 175: Henry James
There’s no rush—take your time, and grab a book (or two, or three) so you’re prepared for these as they come!
Shownotes
What are you reading?
* Paul: Woman Running in the Mountains, by Yuko Tsushima, translated by Geraldine Harcourt
* Trevor: Memento Mori, by Muriel Spark
Works mentinoed
* Territory of Light, by Yuko Tsushima, translated by Geraldine Harcourt
* The Comforters, by Muriel Spark
* Robinson, by Muriel Spark
* The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark
* The Driver’s Seat, by Muriel Spark
* Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark, by James Bailey
* Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
* Moby-Dick: or, The Whale, by Herman Melville
* Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
* David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens
* To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf
* The Poems of Emily Dickinson
* Middlemarch, by George Eliot
* Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
* Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov
* Paradise Lost, by John Milton
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 just about to read the second novella book club book of 2026: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews. 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.
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