I love some good, juicy media talk. And I’m not talking hot takes over on the clock app. I mean a good hour+ long chat about books, TV, and/or film that really digs deep: the premise, the reception, the lore, the hot takes. All of this will probably sound like a setup given what I’m about to recommend to you, like I have to say it because I’m plugging a podcast that Book Riot produces. But with my hand on my first edition Agatha Christie, I swear to y’all: I am a huge fan of Book Riot’s Zero to Well-Read podcast.
If you aren’t hip to it yet, it’s a discussion about books that feels a little like English class, a little like book club, a little like a group chat with your bookish besties. It’s a deep dive into all kinds of reads: classics (cult, modern, and classics classics), buzzy contemporary reads, books you feel like you should have read (and maybe even lied about reading in college or high school), and more. It’s so much fun to listen to that I asked to do more work and get involved with the show. Here’s where I plug that I’m the writer of the companion newsletter, which you can access for free on Patreon.
Today I’m recommending a whole bunch of classics—some established entries in “the canon,” and some modern additions. And I could tell you what each of them is about, but 1) you might already know, because classics, and 2) if you don’t, the accompanying podcast episode is exactly what you need. And would you look at that: all of these books satisfy task #8 of the 2026 Read Harder Challenge: Read a classic from the Zero to Well-Read Podcast.
Happy reading, and listening!
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Rebecca and Jeff dive into Zora Neale Hurston’s masterpiece, a story about the search for love, freedom, and self-determination. They talk about what makes Hurston’s writing so transcendent, why the novel was nearly forgotten, and how it found its rightful place in the American canon.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Our dynamic duo explores the greatest tragedy and arguably the best-known work by the man, the myth, the legend: William Shakespeare. I listened to this episode while grocery shopping and bought more than I intended to; I was having such a good time listening, and no one asked me to say that!
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Did I pick this book so I could pair it with Hamlet? Sure did. Jeff and Rebecca get into Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling, critically-acclaimed, and now feature film, Hamnet. How does a book loosely based on the life of William Shakespeare not even use the name once? It’s a deft, moving, and complicated novel—and makes for terrific discussion.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin
Revisit James Baldwin’s searing coming-of-age novel about faith, family, shame, and generational inheritance. Rebecca and Jeff discuss Baldwin’s complicated relationship to the church, what it means to be “saved” in a world structured to deny freedom, and why the book’s questions about power, masculinity, and belief still feel urgent today.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Gather around the hearth for a discussion of this beloved novel about girlhood, family, ambition, and what it means to live a good life. Jeff and Rebecca talk about why Alcott was reluctant to write a “girls’ book,” Little Women’s unique combination of moral instruction and domestic realism, and how the March sisters each model a different way of being a woman in a world with narrow choices.
Catch up with all of Zero to Well-Read on Apple or Spotify, including recent episodes on Wuthering Heights, Project Hail Mary, and Much Ado About Nothing. For more guides to reading the classics, check out this guide to the classics that are actually worth the read, overrated classics (and what to read instead), and these collections of classics by women and authors of color.
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