Announcing the Next Book for the Bonus Episodes . . .

This painting is your first clue . . .

Okay, so last week I started this thread, which gave you an opportunity to help us decide which book we will read next on the subscriber-exclusive series of episodes. The options were Lonesome Dove, Kristin Lavransdatter, East of Eden, Little Drummer Girl, Moby Dick, Little Women, and Bleak House. Many cases were made—hundreds of them, in fact—and it’s time to announce that once we finish Anna Karenina in a few weeks we will be reading . . .

Actually, no, before I make the announcement, let me explain the reasoning a little bit.

First, I used a point system to identify which book got the most listener-support. The tally worked out like this: Little Drummer Girl got 2 points, Little Women got 12 points, Moby Dick got 28 points, Bleak House got 33 points, Kristin Lavransdatter got 57 points, Lonesome Dove got 65 points, and East of Eden got 78 points. So that was the first factor.

The second factor is this: I asked Bethany, my wife, who absolute loves both East of Eden and Kristin Lavransdatter, what she thinks.

Third, I talked to Heidi.

Fourth, I took into account the fact that we just finished Anna Karenina.

And all that added up to:

For those who wish we were doing either Kristin or Lonesome Dove, please know we will do them soon. There are many good reasons to do those book. We just feel like it’s time to do a bonafide American classic on the bonus shows, and East of Eden is a genuinely wonderful book, with some of the best writing in American lit, a book full of Biblical and classical allusions that suits what we do on the show really well. Plus, it is different enough for us not to get burned out on our end (especially, Heidi, who has been on almost every Anna episode), since many of the themes in it are similar to those found in both Anna and Tess. We are super excited about this series and hope you are, too. (We promise to do Kristin and Lonesome Dove soon!) I will post a reading schedule soon.

Bookshop.org is offering free shipping this weekend, so if you need to buy a copy, this is a good time. Here is the Penguin Orange edition. And here’s the Centennial Edition.

Thanks for reading, thanks for your input, and thanks for being such a great community.

Happy reading!