September 19
I was thrilled to find an electronic copy of All the King’s Men on Hoopla. It’s the only ebook edition of any of the 6 books I’ve been able to find on either Hoopla or Libby. There’s plenty of audio books of all of them, but very few ebooks. I’m working on reading that monster this weekend, then I should be able to finish the 6th book, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by the 24th. Then I’ll be all set to listen to the podcast episodes. Yay!
The prep reading has been a process. I feel a little bit like I’m back in college…
BTW, the actual order of the episodes with guest is: Gilead (Tom Hanks), The Fire Next Time (Ta-Nehisi Coates), All the King’s Men (Jill Lepore), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Ben Rhodes), Song of Solomon (Percival Everett), and All the Pretty Horses (Lauren Groff).
September 17
I finished Gilead, and I actually could read another book by Marilynne Robinson, I guess. I do find I’m curious about Jack’s life, and Lily’s life. We shall see. One thing I will say about Robinson is she knows theology. Quite impressively, actually.
I’m annoyed now with the publicist for the podcast. I’ve been reading the books in the order that most lists of the episodes have given, which is ALPHABETICAL. Absolutely nothing to do with the actual order of the episodes. I’m just starting the monster of them all, All the King’s Men, an almost 700 page book, triple the size of the other selections, and it’s the 3rd episode! Oy vey.
I’ve had some trouble finding the books. They are simply not readily accessible in libraries any more. The ONLY one I found in my library was Gilead. I’ve gotten the rest through Interlibrary Loans, but there is confusion, mostly user confusion, though not entirely 🙄, around the actual books and all the myriad “Cliff” notes. And then there’s a newly edited version of Warren’s book that is most prevalent, but that I don’t really want to read. I want to read the original published edition.
Ah, well. I am looking forward to the 1st episode, which drops next week. And I must say it’s been an extremely productive journey. Not always enjoyable, but productive. Which is my aim in life mostly anyway. I am extremely proud of myself for having read 4 of the 6 books so far. LOL.
The last “great” book I read was Don Quixote. In Spanish. The summer before I went to IU. For the sole purpose of testing out of the foreign language requirement for my degree. Which I did.
Before that, it was War and Peace, which I labored through one summer in Jr. HS. I hated it. But I finished it.
I no doubt read some others in the required literature class for a Business Degree, but none stand out in my mind. I’m such a Philistine.
September 14
I’m forcing myself to read 50 pages a day of Gilead. It’s just not my cup of tea. I thought at first I wasn’t going to be able to read it at all. The first couple pages were rough. But I made myself continue, and now I’m kinda getting used to it. The turning point was the story about his mother reading a popular book on psychology that advocated “not using your brain for an hour after you eat…the tedium was considerable.” I laughed and laughed, and I have laughed a few times since. Like…baptizing kittens? 😆
Sigh. I think there’s something wrong with me. I started down this path because I recognized I needed to broaden my horizons in the area of literature. I’ve never enjoyed the classic “great books” and these are no different. 🤔
September 14
Wow, I read that in less than 2 days. I may even read the other 2 books in the trilogy, after I’ve read the other 3 on the Prez’s list. There was a lot of darkness in the book, but it never completely obscured the basic human decency of John Grady Cole, who never let hope die.
No flying off a cliff for him, just a journey where he tries to set everything right. He doesn’t always succeed, but he never gives up. It’s a journey that might continue in the final book of the trilogy, again, no guarantees of success. I’ll have to see how I feel after the podcast is done.
September 13
Now I’ve started reading the 3rd Great Book, All the Pretty Horses. I’m enjoying this one muchly. I was never one for westerns, but I’ve traveled to Texas enough to appreciate the genre. And it’s a good story. Maybe there’s a chance I’ll get through all the books before the 24th. Or at least enough of them for the first couple episodes to be meaningful. 🙄
I expect to have trouble with Gilead, but I’m sure I’ll get through All the King’s Men and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy quickly.
September 12
**Spoiler alert**I finished Song of Solomon on a road trip today, and I’ll be doing a blog post on it. For right now, I’ll only say that I thought it was terrible book. No redeeming value whatsoever. So much dysfunction, and I do not think it is typical of the Black American experience at all. At least I hope not. But what do I know, I’m a white girl. I suppose I’ll find out shortly, when I hear why the Prez liked it so much…
Let’s all just succumb to our despair, and go fly off a building. Or a cliff. 🙄
August 29, 2026
Now I remember why I prefer escape fiction. I’ve read the first chapter of Song of Solomon. I.hate.it. Is there anything at all redeeming in the book? Is this normal behavior for any humans? Good golly. I sorta think this is not the best way to portray Black people. Or any people. Dear God…and the Black author a Nobel Prize winner. What am I missing?
I’ll be lucky to finish it. Haven’t given up yet, but it’s a near thing.
August 21, 2026
I’ll be using this page to record my thoughts periodically, as I work my way through the selections, and, eventually, listen to the podcasts. Feel free to comment below.
Here’s the link to the Audible podcast. Unfortunately, it’s not free. There’s a 30-day free trial that comes with 2 free titles, although you’ll need to cancel before it ends to avoid getting charged for the 2nd month. If you are really interested and committed, and have a real financial need, send me an email and I’ll help out.
August 29, 2026
I finished the first selection, James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. I cannot WAIT to hear that first episode, to hear what the Prez and his guest(s) have to say about this. (I was HORRIFIED to find out this book is on several lists of banned books. 😩)
For now, I’ll just note some things that stood out to me.
Baldwin seems to be embracing MLK,Jr.’s philosophy of non-violence, as opposed to The Nation of Islam/Malcolm X calls to action by whatever means necessary, violence if required. His reasoning is that anything that hurts others, hurts oneself.
The corollary is that White oppression of Blacks actually oppresses Whites too. Baldwin says, “…what they (Whites) believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority, but to their inhumanity and fear…We cannot be free until they are free.” Yikes. There is truth to this.
And finally, I figured out the meaning of the title. The Fire Next Time refers to eternal hellfire and damnation, from an African American spiritual, God gave Noah the rainbow sign / No more water, the fire next time. Which is completely Biblical, actually. “…by the Word of God…the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His Word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2 Peter 3:5-7)
Baldwin appears to be saying that without repentance and societal change towards Black Americans, he will rely on “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the LORD.” (Romans 12:19) 😳
Kyrie Eleison. As I said, I’m really looking forward to what others say about this selection.
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