Episode #42: The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Dorian, Rebecca, and Frances as they discuss THE WAY WE LIVE NOW by Anthony Trollope and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will discuss ORLANDO by Virginia Woolf, the "joyful romp," the "escapade" that might have you thinking of the author in a new way. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you around the end of February. Want to support the show? Visit us at or click on the links below and buy some books! Books mentioned: by Anthony Trollope by Fanny Trollope...
info_outline
Episode #41: In Conversation with Sam Sacks About Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Dorian, Rebecca, and Frances as they discuss their most anticipated books of 2026 with Sam Sacks, prominent book critic for The Wall Street Journal, writing the weekly "Fiction Chronicle," and a founding editor of Open Letters Monthly. For our next episode, we will discuss The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in late January. Want to support the show? Visit us at or click on the links below and buy some books! Books mentioned: by...
info_outline
Episode #40: I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Rebecca, Frances, and Dorian as they discuss I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman, translated from the French by Ros Schwartz, and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will be joined by book critic Sam Sacks for our fourth (!!!) annual most anticipated books episode. We will each come to the table with three books that we are excited to see published in 2026. Will we duplicate each other's choices? Will each of have enough choices in reserve to pivot if necessary? Will someone cheat and present more than three...
info_outline
Bonus Episode #4: Dorian Stuber and Rohan Maitzen Discuss Vanity Fair
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Rebecca and Frances move out of the picture for this bonus episode where Dorian gets a chance to finally discuss VANITY FAIR by William Makepeace Thackeray with his one time professor and always friend, Rohan Maitzen. A rare and special opportunity to revisit the book from the syllabus that he blew off reading. "You can never entirely escape your sins!" Ready for some time well-spent in the 19th century? Want to support the show? Visit us at or click on the links below and buy some books! Books Mentioned: by William Makepeace Thackeray by Charles Dickens ...
info_outline
Episode #39: The Stone Door, by Leonora Carrington
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Frances, Dorian, and Rebecca as they discuss THE STONE DOOR by Leonora Carrington, and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will discuss I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman, translated from the French by Ros Schwartz, with an afterword by Sophie Mackintosh. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you sometime this fall. Yes, that time frame is vague but we like to be truthful. Want to support the show? Visit us at or click on the links below and buy some books!...
info_outline
Episode #38: Miaow, by Benito Pérez Galdós
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Dorian, Rebecca, and Frances as they discuss MIAOW by , translated from the Spanish by , and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will discuss The Stone Door by Leonora Carrington. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you sometime in late September. Want to support the show? Visit us at or click on the links below and buy some books! Books mentioned: by Benito Pérez Galdós, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa by Frederic Jameson ...
info_outline
Episode #37: There's Always This Year, by Hanif Abdurraqib
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Rebecca, Frances, and Dorian as they discuss THERE'S ALWAYS THIS YEAR: ON BASKETBALL AND ASCENSION by Hanif Abdurraqib, and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will discuss MIAOW by Benito Pérez Galdós, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you sometime in August. Maybe. It's summer, people! Want to support the show? Visit us at or click on the links below and buy some books! Books Mentioned: by Hanif Abdurraqib ...
info_outline
Episode #36: The Country of the Pointed Firs, by Sarah Orne Jewett
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Frances, Dorian, and Rebecca as they discuss THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS by Sarah Orne Jewett, and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will discuss There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in early July. Want to support the show? Visit us at or click on the links below and buy some books! Books mentioned: by Sarah Orne Jewett by Sarah Orne Jewett by Sherwood Anderson by Willa...
info_outline
Episode #35: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Dorian, Frances, and Rebecca as they discuss O PIONEERS! by Willa Cather, and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will discuss The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in early June. Want to support the show? Visit us at or click on the links below and buy some books! Books mentioned: • by Willa Cather • by Willa Cather • by Willa Cather • by Willa Cather • by Walt Whitman • by Uzma...
info_outline
Episode #34: The Trees, by Percival Everett
One Bright Book
Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Rebecca, Dorian, and Frances as they discuss THE TREES by Percival Everett, and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will discuss O PIONEERS! by Willa Cather. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in late April. Books mentioned: by Percival Everett by Percival Everett by Percival Everett by Percival Everett by Percival Everett by Paul Beatty by Lauren Elkin by Solvej Balle, translated from the Dutch by Barbara J. Haveland by Mircea Cărtărescu,...
info_outlineWelcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Rebecca, Frances and Dorian as they discuss LA BÊTE HUMAINE by Émile Zola and chat about their current reading.
For our next episode, we will discuss THE WEDDING by Dorothy West. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in late June.
Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books!
Books mentioned:
- La Bête Humaine by Émile Zola, translated with introduction and notes by Roger Pearson
- L’Assommoir by Émile Zola, translated by Brian Nelson and edited by Robert Lethbridge
- Germinal by Émile Zola, translated by Peter Collier and With an Introduction by Robert Lethbridge
- The Masterpiece by Émile Zola, translated by Thomas Walton and translation revised and introduced by Roger Pearson
- Nana by Émile Zola, translated by Helen Constantine and Edited by Brian Nelson
- Pot Luck by Émile Zola, Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Brian Nelson
- Doctor Pascal by Émile Zola, translated by Julie Rose, edited by Brian Nelson
- The Octopus by Frank Norris
- Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Wool, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Rosamond Lehmann by Harriet Baker
- Henry, Henry by Allen Bratton
- The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard
- The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgaard
- It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken
- The Wedding by Dorothy West
You might also be interested in:
- “Is It Even Good? Brandon Taylor Reads Zola” - https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n07/brandon-taylor/is-it-even-good
- Further pursuing your knowledge of literary zombie novels
Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com.
Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org.
Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail
Find us on Twitter at @pod_bright
Frances: @nonsuchbook
Dorian: @ds228
Rebecca: @ofbooksandbikes
Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/
Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/
Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.