A Pivot: Going Back to The Big Read's Roots

Six months ago, I introduced a Big Read experiment of reading multiple books at the same time with tracks for both fiction and non-fiction. Each month would bring a new selection of books, offering more entry points for interested readers. I was newly laid off and had plenty of time on my hands for that kind of test.

After half a year, it’s time to go back to the roots of what made The Big Read so appealing and slowly tackle just one big, classic book at a time. There are a few reasons why, which are briefly worth explaining:

• The pace feels too fast. In making reading schedules for the last six months, I’ve amped up the pace to accommodate for all the new books. The target has generally been 75 pages per week. For some books, this is just fine, but when it comes to classics it feels a bit rushed. I’d rather take things slower (perhaps just 40-50 pages a week) and be able to absorb instead of blasting through just for the sake of the schedule.

• The vibrancy of discussion threads has somewhat declined. There’s no denying the fact that the overall quality of the discussion threads has declined since the multi-book experiment was introduced. My hunch is that ya’ll feel a bit overwhelmed and that your attention is split — and I get it, because I feel the same way.

• There’s something about big, classic books that I find irresistible. The 2025 schedule was going to feature a couple of bigger books, but mostly leaned into shorter reads that were digestible in the span of one month. Personally, though, I’m really drawn to doorstoppers — there’s a great sense of satisfaction in immersing your in a long and winding book. It also feels like giving the middle finger to the social media platforms that have hijacked our attention span and ability to focus, which I rather appreciate.

I’m aware that I’ve already announced the slate of books for the year. My apologies if you’ve already purchased some of those, but I promise you won’t regret reading them. In the future, rather than plan out an entire year’s worth of reading, I’m just going to announce each new book a couple of weeks ahead of time.

What’s Next

We’ll start in on Mark Twain’s seminal The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in mid-April. I know it’s not a doorstopper but Ron Chernow’s new Mark Twain biography, which I plan on reading at the same time, certainly is. We’ll spend 5 or 6 weeks with it (I’ll make the schedule by the end of next week) and then move into a book that is often rightly considered the Great American Novel: Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick.

Thanks so much for your understanding and your support throughout the years. I’m excited to get back to reading one book at a time that we can all fully immerse ourselves in for a few months at a time.

More info on Huck Finn will be coming your way next week. I hope you’ll join us.

-Jeremy