Friday Mood Recs: Three underrated classics to add to your reading list
For when you finish Middlemarch...
Paid subscribers, I’m sorry to pop into your inbox twice today. I’m still figuring out how to work podcasts into my publishing calendar and ended up doubling up today. Also, if you missed it, you can find your This Month in Books episode here.
Everyone on Substack is reading Middlemarch right now, and I am here for it. Not here for it enough to drop everything and do a reread (though I’m tempted!) but like
, I am celebrating the fact that an algorithmic social media platform has brought so many people to George Eliot. Reading in community is beautiful, and it feels particularly apt for a community novel like Middlemarch to be taken up by an entire community of readers. and I covered Middlemarch on our podcast Novel Pairings a few years ago, so I’ll leave these episodes here as companions if you’re joining in Eliot-mania.Last week I rounded up a handful of bucket list books I think are worth reading. I think of a bucket list book as one that many readers believe they “should” read or have a desire to read at some point in their lives. Often we have that feeling for good reason. These books have shaped culture and delighted readers for decades, or even centuries.
But, of course, the books that first spring to mind as the classics aren’t the only classics worth reading. Today, I’m sharing three slightly under-the-radar classics that should have a place on your TBR and inviting you to tell me about the underrated classics you love, because I’m always looking for more myself.