Preparing to have a Brilliant Year
A schedule for the first quarter of our year-long readalong of the Neapolitan Novels
Reading The Neapolitan Novels in 2026
Here’s what you need to know in order to have a Brilliant Year with me!
There are four Neapolitan Novels. My Brilliant Friend is first, followed by The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child. Across all four books, the chapters are pretty short, about 5 pages on average. I haven’t actually done the math but if you have, feel free to comment!
Obviously, there are not exactly 365 chapters, but the schedule works out pretty well if we do two chapters a day for Book One, one chapter a day for Books Two and Three, and two chapters a day for Book Four. This system also has us reading a little bit more per day during the two periods when we will have the most rabid enthusiasm for this project: the beginning and the home stretch.
To get the most out of My Brilliant Year, you should acquire the books by the following dates:
My Brilliant Friend by January 1
The Story of a New Name by February 11
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by June 13
The Story of a New Name by October 11
I saw that all four books were released as one volume recently. Maybe just pop that on your holiday wish list and call it a day?
And now, the schedule for Book One: My Brilliant Friend
Expect an inaugural newsletter and chat on Thursday, January 1. Subsequent newsletters (covering the content we read in the previous week) arrive in your inbox on Wednesday mornings, along with new prompts in the chat!
Week One
Jan 1: Prologue
Jan 2: Childhood: 1 & 2
Jan 3: Childhood: 3 & 4
Jan 4: Childhood: 5 & 6
Jan 5: Childhood: 7 & 8
Jan 6: Childhood: 9 & 10
Week Two
Jan 7: Childhood: 11 & 12
Jan 8: Childhood: 13 & 14
Jan 9: Childhood: 15 & 16
Jan 10 (it’s my birthday, tell a friend about MBY!): Childhood: 17 & 18
Jan 11: Adolescence: 1 & 2
Jan 12: Adolescence: 3 & 4
Jan 13: Adolescence: 5 & 6
Week Three
Jan 14: Adolescence: 7 & 8
Jan 15: Adolescence: 9 & 10
Jan 16: Adolescence: 11 & 12
Jan 17: Adolescence: 13 & 14
Jan 18: Adolescence: 15 & 16
Jan 19: Adolescence: 17 & 18
Jan 20: Adolescence: 19 & 20
Week Four
Jan 21: Adolescence: 21 & 22
Jan 22: Adolescence: 23 & 24
Jan 23: Adolescence: 25 & 26
Jan 24: Adolescence: 27 & 28
Jan 25: Adolescence: 29 & 30
Jan 26: Adolescence: 31 & 32
Jan 27: Adolescence: 33 & 34
***Reminder to pick up a copy of The Story of a New Name sometime in the next two weeks!***
Week Five
Jan 28: Adolescence: 35 & 36
Jan 29: Adolescence: 37 & 38
Jan 30: Adolescence: 39 & 40
Jan 31: Adolescence: 41 & 42
Feb 1: Adolescence: 43 & 44
Feb 2 (Groundhog Day! I pray these are good chapters for the sake of those of you caught in a time loop): Adolescence: 45 & 46
Feb 3: Adolescence: 47 & 48
Week Six
Feb 4: Adolescence: 49 & 50
Feb 5: Adolescence: 51 & 52
Feb 6: Adolescence: 53 & 54
Feb 7: Adolescence: 55 & 56
Feb 8: Adolescence: 57 & 58
Feb 9: Adolescence: 59 & 60
Feb 10: Adolescence: 61 & 62
I’m watching the HBO series now. I usually like to read then watch, but I didn’t this time. Then I discovered this Substack, so looking forward to this!!
So excited!