Trevor Berrett
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mookse.bsky.social
Trevor Berrett
@mookse.bsky.social
2.2K followers 770 following 1K posts
Books and Film | The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast with @bibliopaul.bsky.social | 2017 Best Translated Book Award Judge
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Reposted by Trevor Berrett
grantrintoul.bsky.social
This is something I did a few years ago -a fantastic experience. Here are my favourites:
1streading.wordpress.com/2021/09/14/t...
The Best of Muriel Spark
In 2018, on the 100th anniversary of Muriel Spark’s birth, I decided to spend the year reading her 22 novels in order. With rather less efficiency than Spark herself, who wrote a novel a year betwe…
1streading.wordpress.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:00 AM
mookse.bsky.social
I finally figured out the perfect way to start a Monday!
Beautiful sunrise over the sea
February 9, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
peutetre.bsky.social
Part 4 of our podcast series on the early films of Abbas Kiarostami just published! In this episode, @mookse.bsky.social and I discussed six "school films" to conclude our coverage of 17 titles in this collection. criterioncast.com/podcast/ecli...
The Eclipse Viewer - Episode 67 - Abbas Kiarostami: Early Shorts and Features [Part 4]
David and Trevor wrap up their coverage with a conversation about six “school films” shot between 1975 and 1989.
criterioncast.com
February 7, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
bibliopaul.bsky.social
This week, @mookse.bsky.social and I dive into the strange, funny, violent, and unsettling world of Flannery O’Connor. We talk about what surprised us most in her stories and novels, and why her work provokes such strong reactions. And I was able to visit her childhood home this week in Savannah!
February 5, 2026 at 7:05 PM
mookse.bsky.social
Over the past season @bibliopaul.bsky.social and I have been happily preparing for this episode dedicated to Flannery O’Connor! We hope you enjoy and share what you think of her work! mookse.substack.com/p/episode-12...
Stack of Flanner O’Connor’s books
February 5, 2026 at 4:59 PM
mookse.bsky.social
I haven’t read Faulkner in decades, but in June @bibliopaul.bsky.social and I will be talking all about his work for the podcast. I am only one chapter into Light in August, but I love the feeling when you know a book has you from the start.
Vintage paperback of William Faulkner’s Light in August.
February 1, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
onebrightbook.bsky.social
Trollope heads--and not-yet-Trollope heads--put this on your calendar! It's a good one!
ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social Rebecca Hussey @ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social · 14d
I had so much fun discussing this book! Episode coming later this week.
nonsuchbook.bsky.social Frances Evangelista @nonsuchbook.bsky.social · 14d
Logging on now to chat with @ds228.bsky.social and @ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social about some Trollope.
February 1, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
savidgereads.bsky.social
Soooo many brilliant #books coming out in 2026 youtu.be/JmtBR1lbalk
26 Most Anticipated Books of 2026
YouTube video by SavidgeReads
youtu.be
January 25, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
guygavrielkay.bsky.social
Never underestimate the capacity of evil people to lie.

If you *accept* the lie, you endorse the evil.
acyn.bsky.social Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 21d
Noem: This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.
January 25, 2026 at 2:03 PM
mookse.bsky.social
Have you read Muriel Spark’s debut The Comforters? I figured it would be a curiosity, but I loved it! I will be reading her second book, Robinson, in February. mookseandgripes.com/reviews/2026...
Muriel Spark: The Comforters - The Mookse and the Gripes
I'm starting a project to read all of Muriel Spark's novels in chronological order. First up is her debut: The Comforters.
mookseandgripes.com
January 23, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
levistahl.bsky.social
It’s as if the snow is antisound, as if it casts an additional layer of silence over everything, the sound level drops below zero.

—Solvej Balle, On the Calculation of Volume
January 23, 2026 at 3:53 AM
mookse.bsky.social
We have a new episode out today! This week @bibliopaul.bsky.social and I talk about Books We Wish We Could Read for the First Time Again! We thought it would be an easy subject, what is magical about that sense of discovery? open.substack.com/pub/mookse/p...
Episode 124: Books We Wish We Could Read for the First Time Again
We’ve all said it: “I wish I could read that again for the first time.” But what do we really mean when we say it?
open.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 3:17 AM
mookse.bsky.social
A perfect film adaptation. John Huston’s The Dead has a new home video release from @criterion.bsky.social today. I had the pleasure of rewatching it and checking out all of the supplements. It’s only January but this is a contender for my top release of the year. mookseandgripes.com/reviews/2026...
John Huston: The Dead - The Mookse and the Gripes
Today The Criterion Collection has released a new home video edition of John Huston's final film, The Dead (1987), giving me a welcome opportunity to return to James Joyce’s story and this magnificent...
mookseandgripes.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:06 AM
mookse.bsky.social
I adore Mark Haber’s writing: frantic, obsessive, raging narrators carried along by rhythmic, unrelenting, propulsive prose that always feels on the verge of tipping over. Thrilled to have an ARC of Ada, out in July from @coffeehousepress.bsky.social

Completely taken with that pink cover!
All five of Mark Haber’s books set out in a grid. The first page of Ada: A STORM HAD GATHERED OVER THE WATZMANN and I paced before the fire awaiting the arrival of Ehrhart and Ada, whom I worried might be waylaid by the storm threatening the Watz-mann and consequently all of Berchtesgaden. Hans was at the Guardhouse, had been ordered by me to remain at the Guardhouse until the first sighting of Ehrhart and Ada because the citadel and belfry, though of higher elevation, offered inferior views of the Watzmann, from which direction Ehrhart and Ada would shortly arrive; indeed, this was the only direction from which to enter Berchtesgaden, and though Hans was loyal he was likewise dense, lazy, and incredibly stupid. In my more reflective moments I had to admit he was the worst butler I'd ever had, and I kept him on, didn't kill Hans or torture his crippled wife and ugly children because of this loyalty. Twice Hans had interrupted my pacing in the Great Room, the first time to inform me he had seen neither head nor hide of Ehrhart or Ada arriving from the foothills of the Watzmann, and I couldn't refrain from smacking Hans, reminding him that my instructions
January 21, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
fuzzynick.bsky.social
Reserved at the library after reading this post, arrived today, just in time for the weekend. My first Brookner.

#AnitaBrookner #amreading #booksky 📚💙
mookse.bsky.social Trevor Berrett @mookse.bsky.social · Dec 26
I’ve been the only one up for a while on this quiet morning after Christmas. Brief Lives by Anita Brookner is keeping me company. Just finished Chapter 3, so it’s still early days, but already that unmistakable Brookner precision. She’s so, so good!
Anita Brookner’s Brief Lives
January 16, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
bibliopaul.bsky.social
In this episode, we talk about upcoming releases we’re excited for, and then share some longer reading plans for the year ahead, including big novels, rereads, and ongoing projects we’re hoping to live with slowly. We talk about why reading, conversation and community matter.
@mookse.bsky.social
January 8, 2026 at 10:55 PM
mookse.bsky.social
Happy Thursday! For our new episode, @bibliopaul.bsky.social and I talk about our reading hopes for 2026 and look at a few upcoming releases that have us excited. Have a listen and let us know your 2026 reading intentions! open.substack.com/pub/mookse/p...
Episode 123: Our 2026 No-Pressure Reading Plans
In this episode, we look ahead to 2026, not with resolutions or reading quotas, but with curiosity about what we’re drawn to next.
open.substack.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:02 PM
mookse.bsky.social
Lovely to be reminded of one of my favorite writers!
thiccceywicket.bsky.social Chunkin’ Deuces✌️ @thiccceywicket.bsky.social · Jan 8
No. 2 - The Return of Munchausen by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, tr. from Russian by Joanne Turnbull @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social

Turnbull’s intro & explanatory notes were indispensable

Excerpts below from @mookse.bsky.social review (mookseandgripes.com/reviews/2017...)

💙📚 #BookSky #TranslatedLit
It’s important to note that Krzhizhanovsky’s subversion was not just a figment of the Soviet censors’ imaginations. His works — always beautifully written and brilliantly translated by Joanne Turnbull, always highly imaginative and playful, and always concerned with the individual’s psyche, whether expanding with the power of the imagination or shrinking under some other oppressive force — are more often than not screeds against the Soviet system, as one of those oppressive forces. For example, the protagonist in his short story “Quadraturin,” found in Memories of the Future, finds himself with a rare possession in Soviet Moscow: a room. It’s tiny and a bit miserable, but it’s valuable. To make it even more valuable, a salesman comes along with a cream that will “biggerize” the room on the inside while keeping it looking all the same on the outside. Ah, the space! Things do not end well, though, and our man finds himself in an endless abyss where he feels more like the one who has shrunk, an apt metaphor for Krzhizhanovsky’s view of the shrinking consciousness under the Soviet system. Krzhizhanovsky often writes about the “I,” which to him is a vast property with endless imagination and potential, and about institutions or philosophies that minimize it. How fitting, as I said above, for Krzhizhanovsky to bring back Munchausen and send him back to a Russia so different from the land Munchausen found in the eighteenth century. The world has transformed into a place Krzhizhanovsky felt battered the imagination and, therefore, the “I,” the soul. Munchausen is a worthy advocate: “We Munchausens have always faithfully served fiction,” the Baron says early in Krzhizhanovsky’s book. Cover of NYRB’s edition of The Return of Munchausen
January 8, 2026 at 6:25 AM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
stuckinabook.bsky.social
How many books did I read? Male/female authors? Best, worst, and most confusing title? Strange things that happened in the books I read?

You'll find it all in my 2025 reading stats! www.stuckinabook.com/2025-some-re...
2025: Some Reading Stats
It’s time for some reading stats! Always such a fun post to put together, and I love reading other people’s – do pop a link in the comments if you’ve done something similar.…
www.stuckinabook.com
January 3, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
rohanmaitzen.bsky.social
2025 was an uneven reading year, but its highlights were very high indeed. Thank you to everyone who read, commented, or chatted with me here about books, and to all the other bloggers who keep on posting. ❤️ 📚
Novel Readings 2025
2025 was a less chaotic year for me—literally and psychologically—than 2024. I wish I could say that this meant I read more and better, but instead both my memory and my records show that it was a …
rohanmaitzen.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
neglectedbooks.com
Published today by the University of Nebraska Press.

Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts

My first book.

Why should anyone read a book by an unknown writer about an unknown woman?

This video attempts to answer that question.
January 1, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
shawnthebookmaniac.bsky.social
Shawn’s Most-Anticipated Releases: Winter 2026

youtu.be/6zOrFSO3MHo

[Image Description: a graphic featuring a photo of Shawn, and the words Shawn’s Most-Anticipated Releases: Winter 2026]
[Image Description: a graphic featuring a photo of Shawn, and the words Shawn’s Most-Anticipated Releases: Winter 2026]
January 1, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
peutetre.bsky.social
Three friends, each very knowledgeable about the Criterion Collection, share their thoughts about their favorite releases by that label from the past year.

criterioncast.com/podcast/crit...
Criterion Cast - Episode 218 - Criterion Collection Favorites of 2025
David Blakeslee, Aaron West, and Brad McDermott got together to keep our annual “favorites of the year” podcast tradition going for Year 16!
criterioncast.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:20 AM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
faceyouhate.bsky.social
And my Favorite First-Time Watches of 2025:
December 31, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Trevor Berrett
criterioncast.com
Criterion Cast – Episode 218 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2025 criterioncast.com/podcast/crit...
Criterion Cast - Episode 218 - Criterion Collection Favorites of 2025
David Blakeslee, Aaron West, and Brad McDermott got together to keep our annual “favorites of the year” podcast tradition going for Year 16!
criterioncast.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:46 PM