November reading starts today!

Hello readers,

If you’re a paid member of The Big Read, the reading for our November selections officially kicks off today!

Here’s an overview of the schedules:

In today’s newsletter I’m going to provide a brief bit of context for each book; next Sunday, you’ll see the first recaps for each of them (as separate emails).

I’ll be announcing December’s selections in just a few days, so stay tuned!

Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

Given the brevity of life (~4,000 weeks), it’s crucial to accept our limitations and embrace a more meaningful, purpose-driven approach to time. This is the primary narrative of Burkeman’s 2021 breakout hit Four Thousand Weeks. Instead of striving for endless productivity, we’re encouraged to focus on what truly matters, even if that means letting go of certain tasks or goals.

Meditations for Mortals, published last month, builds on that same theme, breaking the ideas into 28 highly readable, punchy “devotions” that are guaranteed to have you thinking deeply about your time and priorities. It’s a direct pushback against our productivity-obsessed culture.

“Most successful people are just a walking anxiety disorder harnessed for productivity.” —Andrew Wilkinson

My views on productivity, fulfillment, and what matters in life have been fundamentally changed by the personal reflections I’ve come to via Burkeman’s work.

Go as a River by Shelley Read

Shelley Read’s debut novel draws deeply on the author’s love for the landscapes and histories of rural Colorado, where she has lived and worked for much of her life. A longtime literature and environmental studies professor, Read crafted her story with a keen awareness of the complex relationship between humans and nature, as well as the resilience of individuals in the face of hardship and change.

Set in southern Colorado’s Gunnison River basin, the town of Iola features prominently in the story. In the 1960s, Iola was lost to the Blue Mesa Reservoir and now sits as a watery ghost town at the bottom of one of the state’s largest lakes.

Our state’s famous peaches also get a lot of page time; I’m confident in saying that they are, in fact, the best peaches I’ve sunk my teeth into. As a testament to that, our family went through 4-5 dozen Colorado peaches between August and October this year.

This story tugs on your heartstrings and makes you appreciate our natural landscapes all at once.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

One of Dickens’ most celebrated novels, Great Expectations tackles that most American theme of ambition. Written during a time of social upheaval and industrialization, the story follows the material and moral growth of Pip, as he moves from the rural marshes to the bustling city of London.

Dickens, who experienced poverty in his youth and worked his way into literary success, imbued the story with his deep and personal understanding of social inequality and the personal cost of unchecked aspirations. Above all, Great Expectations offers a poignant examination of human motivations, the quest for identity, and the notion that true wealth and happiness may lie beyond what we traditionally think of as “success.”

“But it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.”

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Looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts!

-Jeremy