A Month in the Country Reading Schedule

(With an update to the permanent schedule + an introduction)

NYRB’s cover for one of my favorite books.

Hello friends,

At the moment I am sitting on the screened porch of an AirBnb in Wilmington, NC, a few minutes from the Atlantic. It’s humid, but not terribly so, an unobtrusive blanket of summery cheer. It’s only in the 80’s, which helps.

This morning we surprised the kids with a few days away. They thought they were headed to their grandparents for a sleepover and when we told them what was really happening they were so (pleasantly) surprised that one of the boys managed to smack his brother in the face (and I mean square in the nose—we laughed so hard . . .) and another faux fainted without breaking his fall. So that was fun. We’re here for a few days to get tan and play in the ocean. And tonight, now that the exhausted kids are snug in bed, I’ve got one of my favorite books beside me. It’s our next book on the show: J.L. Carr’s sublime little novel, A Month in the Country.

This is truly one of the great summer books. It’s beautifully written, you can read it in a weekend, and it’s melancholy without being heavy or dark.

I can’t wait discuss it with you. For most of our audience, it seems to be a first read and I’m a tad nervous that you won’t love it the way I do. But I think you will. I can’t wait to find out.

So here’s what we’re going to do, schedule-wise:

• Episode 1: pages 1-68

• Episode 2: to the end

• Episode 3: Q&A

Truly: happy reading . . .

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A Scheduling Change

While we’re here I want to let you know about one change we’re going to make for the rest of the summer (and maybe beyond; we shall see). For quite a while now, we have been publishing episodes on Fridays, but for at least the rest of summer, starting with this new series, we’re going to be publishing the episodes here at CRHQ and to the various podcasting apps on Mondays. So please be aware that the next episode will go up on Monday, July 4. That schedule will take us into September at which point we will revisit.

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The Newest Close Reader

If you’re a member of the Close Reads Facebook group you might already have heard that our post production wizard, Logan, and his wife, Caroline, have a new baby! Welcome to the world, Logan Moses Green! He was born June 23 and was 6 lb 13 oz. Happy reading little man!

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Two Alternate Covers

This isn’t a book that has has many editions, but there are two notable alternate covers I wanted to share. This one from Penguin:

And this one from the Australian edition:

Which of the three covers do you find most compelling?

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Well back to the porch reading for me. Maybe I’ll squeeze in a card game with Bethany and her parents, too. Have a wonderful Independence Day holiday and, as always, happy reading . . .

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