Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I'm Mike - this is Riff Raff's Reading Renaissance. Welcome!
This month took me from the brutal American frontier to the psychological horrors of Nazi Europe, from Joseph Conrad's Congo to the future of artificial intelligence.
In this reading wrap-up I discuss:
đź“š Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
đź“š Shane by Jack Schaefer
đź“š Chess by Stefan Zweig
đź“š Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Along the way I compare the classical Western with the revisionist Western, explore why Lonesome Dove deserves its legendary reputation, examine Stefan Zweig's haunting final novella, and reflect on Conrad's enduring critique of imperialism.
I also share several new additions to my library, including books on AI, economics, and Russian literature, together with the thinking behind my long-term reading project.
Chapters / Timestamps
00:00 Intro – what a month !
01:48 June On The Range – a brief history of the Western
04:36 Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove
14:25 Shane – birth of a legend
17:22 Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
23:53 Wodehouse on Wodehouse
25:23 Historathon - Gaius Caligula
26:03 Stephan Zweig’s Chess
28:50 AI! AI! AI! The literature of an evolving technology
34:57 Announcing The Riff Raff’s Reading Renaissance Canon
37:10 New Arrivals – Global History (Apocalypse, War & Spies)
39:43 Wyrd Fiction & Earthly Powers
40:37 Music Books – Dylan & Cat, Body & Soul
44:34 The Russians are coming!
47:10 Economics reads – Piketty & Africa
49:40 Two Histories of Belief
51:20 Ethics and Essays (Aristotle, Coetzee & Vidal)
53:55 Two surprises – Burton wrote a book, & Business Poems
56:45 I go to Ally’s Poetry Party 2
1:02:03 3 new words and a birthday present
1:04:09 July reading plans – PI’s & The Dispossessed
1:07:42 Summing up an amazing month
If you enjoy literary criticism, classic literature, BookTube, reading projects, or discussions of the great novels, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Books Mentioned (with authors)
Literature:
Chess — Stefan Zweig
Beware of Pity — Stefan Zweig
Anna Karenina — Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace — Leo Tolstoy
Wyrd Sisters — Terry Pratchett
Earthly Powers — Anthony Burgess
Body and Soul — Frank Conroy
Music / Biography:
Understanding Bob Dylan: Making Sense of the Songs That Changed Modern Music — David Stark (author not stated in transcript)
Dylan's Visions of Sin — Christopher Ricks
On the Road to Find Out — Yusuf / Cat Stevens
Rambling Man: My Life on the Road — Billy Connolly
AI / Technology:
Our Final Invention — James Barrat
AI 2041 — Kai-Fu Lee & Chen Qiufan
The Coming Wave — Mustafa Suleman
The Thinking Machine — Stephen Witt
Taking the Anxiety Out of AI — Sameer Rawjee
History / Politics:
The End Is Always Near — Dan Carlin
The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History — Odd Arne Westad
1945: The World We Fought For — Robert Kee
Hitler's Spies: Secret Agents and the Intelligence War in South Africa — Everett Kleynhans
Where To from Here — Tara Roos
BookTubers Mentioned (and all recommended)
Aaron - @AaronReadABook
Katie - @katiejlumsden
Ally - @genteelblackhole
Caden - @CadenConley27
Steve Donoghue - @saintdonoghue
David Novak @davidnovakreadspoetry
Gareth - @bookssongsandothermagic
Michael k Vaughan - @michaelk.vaughan8617
Tony - @Lifeonbooks
Here's the link to Ally's Poetry Party 2 - youtube.com/watch?v=CVBuwBSkKjA&t=1328s
And for the almighty algiorithm - #BookTube #LonesomeDove #ClassicLiterature #ReadingWrapUp #LiteraryAnalysis #WesternLiterature #JosephConrad #StefanZweig
I'm Mike - this is Riff Raff's Reading Renaissance. Welcome!
This month took me from the brutal American frontier to the psychological horrors of Nazi Europe, from Joseph Conrad's Congo to the future of artificial intelligence.
In this reading wrap-up I discuss:
đź“š Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
đź“š Shane by Jack Schaefer
đź“š Chess by Stefan Zweig
đź“š Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Along the way I compare the classical Western with the revisionist Western, explore why Lonesome Dove deserves its legendary reputation, examine Stefan Zweig's haunting final novella, and reflect on Conrad's enduring critique of imperialism.
I also share several new additions to my library, including books on AI, economics, and Russian literature, together with the thinking behind my long-term reading project.
Chapters / Timestamps
00:00 Intro – what a month !
01:48 June On The Range – a brief history of the Western
04:36 Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove
14:25 Shane – birth of a legend
17:22 Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
23:53 Wodehouse on Wodehouse
25:23 Historathon - Gaius Caligula
26:03 Stephan Zweig’s Chess
28:50 AI! AI! AI! The literature of an evolving technology
34:57 Announcing The Riff Raff’s Reading Renaissance Canon
37:10 New Arrivals – Global History (Apocalypse, War & Spies)
39:43 Wyrd Fiction & Earthly Powers
40:37 Music Books – Dylan & Cat, Body & Soul
44:34 The Russians are coming!
47:10 Economics reads – Piketty & Africa
49:40 Two Histories of Belief
51:20 Ethics and Essays (Aristotle, Coetzee & Vidal)
53:55 Two surprises – Burton wrote a book, & Business Poems
56:45 I go to Ally’s Poetry Party 2
1:02:03 3 new words and a birthday present
1:04:09 July reading plans – PI’s & The Dispossessed
1:07:42 Summing up an amazing month
If you enjoy literary criticism, classic literature, BookTube, reading projects, or discussions of the great novels, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Books Mentioned (with authors)
Literature:
Chess — Stefan Zweig
Beware of Pity — Stefan Zweig
Anna Karenina — Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace — Leo Tolstoy
Wyrd Sisters — Terry Pratchett
Earthly Powers — Anthony Burgess
Body and Soul — Frank Conroy
Music / Biography:
Understanding Bob Dylan: Making Sense of the Songs That Changed Modern Music — David Stark (author not stated in transcript)
Dylan's Visions of Sin — Christopher Ricks
On the Road to Find Out — Yusuf / Cat Stevens
Rambling Man: My Life on the Road — Billy Connolly
AI / Technology:
Our Final Invention — James Barrat
AI 2041 — Kai-Fu Lee & Chen Qiufan
The Coming Wave — Mustafa Suleman
The Thinking Machine — Stephen Witt
Taking the Anxiety Out of AI — Sameer Rawjee
History / Politics:
The End Is Always Near — Dan Carlin
The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History — Odd Arne Westad
1945: The World We Fought For — Robert Kee
Hitler's Spies: Secret Agents and the Intelligence War in South Africa — Everett Kleynhans
Where To from Here — Tara Roos
BookTubers Mentioned (and all recommended)
Aaron - @AaronReadABook
Katie - @katiejlumsden
Ally - @genteelblackhole
Caden - @CadenConley27
Steve Donoghue - @saintdonoghue
David Novak @davidnovakreadspoetry
Gareth - @bookssongsandothermagic
Michael k Vaughan - @michaelk.vaughan8617
Tony - @Lifeonbooks
Here's the link to Ally's Poetry Party 2 - youtube.com/watch?v=CVBuwBSkKjA&t=1328s
And for the almighty algiorithm - #BookTube #LonesomeDove #ClassicLiterature #ReadingWrapUp #LiteraryAnalysis #WesternLiterature #JosephConrad #StefanZweig
