Crack The Book: A Beginner's Guide to Reading the Great Books

Cheryl Drury
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Confused by Confucius? Daunted by Dante? Shook by Shakespeare? I get it! I'm Cheryl, a reader exploring the world's most influential books one episode at a time. I don't do lectures, and I can't do jargon. But we do have friendly conversations about why (and whether) these books still matter. Each episode, we tackle a great book or two—The Divine Comedy, The Canterbury Tales, The Odyssey, The Prince—unpacking the big ideas, memorable moments, and surprising ways these stories connect to life today. If you've ever thought "I should read that" but didn't know where to start, you're in the right place. Subscribe to Crack the Book. Let's find out what's inside.

  1. 5D AGO

    Born in the U.S.A. Week 39: A Handful of 19th Century American Writers

    Week 39 of Ted Gioia’s Immersive Humanities Course takes on nineteenth-century American literature—and to my surprise, it became one of the most enjoyable weeks so far. I went in dreading familiar names and old high-school resentments, but came out newly energized.  Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (chapters 1–6) was funny, humane, and immediately engaging. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and “The Raven” used ornate language to heighten unease, while Emily Dickinson’s poems felt weightless and startlingly modern. Henry David Thoreau’s Walden was quotable and provocative, if ultimately grating, and Herman Melville surprised me most of all: Bartleby, the Scrivener lingered with quiet power, and the opening of Moby-Dick left me eager for more.  This week revealed a real shift in voice and sensibility—and changed my mind about American literature. I’m looking forward to going back and reading more, but first we need to move on to Week 40 and Russian Literature!

    33 min

  2. 12/23/2025

    God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen. Bonus! Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol

    We take a little break from our reading list this week for some holiday cheer: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens! I thought I knew this one inside out, which was ridiculous because I had never actually read it. (When will I learn?!) This is a punchy little novel, and you can read it aloud over the course of less than a week with your kids. I hope with this episode to offer a little reassurance and inspiration: You can do this, and you'll be so glad you did. I end with a little discussion of some of the movie adaptations--there are so many! And we will be back next week with Week 39 and a ton of American lit. LINK Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!) My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link) CONNECT The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r To read more of my writing, visit my Substack -  https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com. Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/  LISTEN Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321  Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

    13 min

  3. 12/16/2025

    Two Logical Guys. Week 38: Charles Darwin's Origin of Species and John Stuart Mill's On Liberty

    Week 38 of Ted Gioia’s Immersive Humanities Course pairs two seemingly unrelated works: Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (chapters 1–4) and John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty. What initially felt random turned out to be an enlightening combination! Darwin’s early chapters focus not on sweeping conclusions but on careful observation—natural selection as a real, ongoing process, and the frustratingly blurry boundary between “species” and “variety.” His meticulous attention to detail is both humbling and persuasive, even if the book’s once-shocking claims now feel familiar. Mill’s On Liberty complements Darwin perfectly by arguing that truth itself depends on open discussion. A society, Mill insists, produces great individuals only when it protects freedom of thought and speech and resists dogma. Read together, these works reveal how revolutionary ideas require not just insight, but a culture willing to debate, question, and change. This week left a lasting impression—and a renewed appreciation for intellectual humility and openness. We have a special Christmas Episode next week--be sure to check in! LINK Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!) My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link) CONNECT The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r To read more of my writing, visit my Substack -  https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com. Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/  LISTEN Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321  Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

    24 min

  4. 12/09/2025

    You Can’t Hurry Love. Week 37: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

    Such a treat this week! My daughter Darcy is joining me to talk about one of her favorite novels, Pride and Prejudice. For me, after several weeks of dense reading, returning to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice felt like revisiting an old friend—but this time, the experience was unexpectedly conflicted. While I still admire the novel’s perfectly engineered rom-com plot and its web of misunderstandings and romances, I found my patience thinner for the Regency language and social codes. What once felt transporting now felt distant and even claustrophobic. The novel’s narrow social world, sparse physical description, and elastic sense of time made the setting feel oddly unreal to a modern reader. What was really fun, and unexpected, was how Darcy helped me reclaim my love of this book. I was just getting over my skis! While I struggled more with the characters than I remembered, Darcy loved Jane in particular. I found that Mrs. Bennet, often dismissed as ridiculous, now struck me as pragmatically rational in a world where marriage determines survival. And the tidy “happily ever after” ending left me missing the moral and emotional complexity I’ve grown used to elsewhere. But for Darcy, it felt like the way the book should end, especially for Jane and Bingley. I hope you enjoy this conversation half as much as I did! LINK Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!) My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link) The Lizzie Bennett Diaries CONNECT The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r To read more of my writing, visit my Substack -  https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com. Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/  LISTEN Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321  Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

    27 min

  5. 12/02/2025

    You Say You Want a Revolution? Week 36: The U.S. Constitution, The Communist Manifesto, and A Vindication of the Rights of Women

    This week on Crack the Book, we dive into a fascinating mix of political and philosophical texts from Ted Gioia’s Immersive Humanities List: the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Communist Manifesto, and Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women. I revisit the Declaration with fresh eyes—its sharp list of grievances and its insistence on mutual respect still sparkle with clarity. The Constitution, shorter than I expected, impressed me with how firmly it centers the individual while still designing a workable government. From there we move to Marx and Engels, whose Manifesto frames history as a struggle between classes and calls for radical redistribution of power. Finally, I explore Wollstonecraft’s early feminist argument for women’s education and its importance for society’s progress. Next week: a palate-cleansing turn to Jane Austen. Join me! LINK Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!) My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link) The Preamble, in case you need a refresher! CONNECT The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r To read more of my writing, visit my Substack -  https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com. Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/  LISTEN Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321  Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

    31 min

  6. 11/25/2025

    When Poetry is the New Sensation. Week 35: Shelley, Byron, Coleridge, and the Romantic Poets

    This week is all poetry—our first all-poetry week of the Immersive Humanities project! After struggling through young Werther, I decided I needed to step back and understand Romanticism as a movement. I offer a brief review of the history leading up to Romanticism; after all, most movements are reactions against what precedes them. The printing press and Protestant Reformation blew open European thought, leading to centuries of philosophical upheaval. Empiricists like Bacon and Hume insisted that knowledge must be tested; rationalists like Descartes and Spinoza trusted pure reason. Kant eventually tried to unite both. Their world gave rise to the Enlightenment—and then came the Romantics, pushing back with emotion, imagination, and nature. That’s the world our poets wrote in. This week I used Pocket Book of Romantic Poetry and read Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats (skipping Novalis and Hölderlin). I loved some poems, disliked others. Blake’s mystical, anti-Christian tone left me cold. Wordsworth’s childhood wonder won me over. Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner shocked me--it’s gripping, almost epic. Byron was brilliant, scandalous, and endlessly readable. His Prisoner of Chillon might have been my favorite poem of the week. Shelley felt dreamlike and visionary, while Keats, to me, seemed talented but young. What did the world lose when he died? Reading these poets in their historical context changed everything. They’re passionate, experimental, and surprisingly radical—not quaint! We are missing out when we resort to tired anthologies to get to know these poets--something that I didn't expect to feel so strongly about! Paired with Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Chopin’s preludes, this week was a revelation. LINK Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!) My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link) That cool Medieval Science Book The Genesis of Science by James Hannam CONNECT The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r To read more of my writing, visit my Substack -  https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com. Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/  LISTEN Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd Apple Podcasts - a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

    33 min

  7. 11/18/2025

    Bizarre Love Triangle. Week 34: Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther

    This week we leave the Middle Ages far behind and land squarely in the emotional whirlwind of Romanticism with Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther. Written in 1774 when Goethe was just twenty-five, the novel became what might be the first true worldwide bestseller—so influential that young men across Europe dressed like Werther, and suicides even spiked in imitation of his tragic end. Werther himself is…a lot. His passion for Charlotte—who is engaged, then married, to another man—spirals into obsession. When he realizes life without her is unbearable, he stages an elaborate, melodramatic exit: visiting friends for final goodbyes, embracing Charlotte while they read Ossian together (a scene straight out of Inferno’s Francesca and Paolo), and then borrowing her husband’s pistols to kill himself. The ending is bleak, as it should be. Goethe’s writing is wonderfully accessible, but Werther’s self-indulgent emotionalism reveals the contradictions of early Romanticism: exalting nature and feeling while refusing the grounding work of actual life. Still, this novel opens a door into the powerful reaction against Enlightenment rationalism—a door we’ll walk through next week with the Romantic poets. Things are about to accelerate. LINK Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!) My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link) CONNECT The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r To read more of my writing, visit my Substack -  https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com. Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/  LISTEN Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321  Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

    24 min

  8. 11/11/2025

    Under Pressure. Week 33: Descartes' Discourse on the Method, Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Spinoza's Ethics.

    Ted Gioia warned this would be a tough week—and he wasn’t kidding. Week 33 of the Immersive Humanities Project had me wrestling with three giants of philosophy: Descartes, Kant, and Spinoza. I started with Descartes’ Discourse on the Method, where his famous “I think, therefore I am” felt surprisingly direct and human. His four rules for reasoning—question, divide, simplify, and review—made him seem less like an abstract philosopher and more like a kind, curious friend. Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals was another story. Dense and demanding, it centers on the “Categorical Imperative”: act only according to principles you’d accept as universal law. It’s a moral system built purely on duty, not emotion. Then came Spinoza’s Ethics, written like a geometry proof. His radical idea—that God and Nature are one—left little room for the supernatural or free will. When reading failed, I turned to the 1987 Great Philosophers series with Brian Magee, which unlocked everything. These thinkers—Continental Rationalists all—believed reason alone could uncover truth, unlike the British Empiricists who demanded evidence. It was a mentally exhausting but fascinating stretch, and next week I’m relieved to return to fiction with Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther. LINK Ted Gioia/The Honest Broker’s 12-Month Immersive Humanities Course (paywalled!) My Amazon Book List (NOT an affiliate link) CONNECT The complete list of Crack the Book Episodes: https://cheryldrury.substack.com/p/crack-the-book-start-here?r=u3t2r To read more of my writing, visit my Substack -  https://www.cheryldrury.substack.com. Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cldrury/  LISTEN Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpySInw1e8IqNQvXow7Lv?si=9ebd5508daa245bd Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crack-the-book/id1749793321  Captivate - https://crackthebook.captivate.fm

    31 min
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Confused by Confucius? Daunted by Dante? Shook by Shakespeare? I get it! I'm Cheryl, a reader exploring the world's most influential books one episode at a time. I don't do lectures, and I can't do jargon. But we do have friendly conversations about why (and whether) these books still matter. Each episode, we tackle a great book or two—The Divine Comedy, The Canterbury Tales, The Odyssey, The Prince—unpacking the big ideas, memorable moments, and surprising ways these stories connect to life today. If you've ever thought "I should read that" but didn't know where to start, you're in the right place. Subscribe to Crack the Book. Let's find out what's inside.

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