Tea or Books?: Recent Episodes
Simon and Rachel
Elizabeth Strout, Willa Cather, and women’s lives – welcome to episode 152!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/tea-or-books-152-1.mp3In the first half, Rachel and Simon discuss whether we prefer reading novels about women’s professional lives or their home lives. In the second half, we compare two novels about educators – Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House and Elizabeth Strout’s The Things We Never Say.
(Apologies for an earlier version of this episode that went out with only the first half. Hopefully this one works!)
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.
And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Ordinary Wonder Tales by Emily Urquhart
Jane Urquhart
Prairie Edge by Conor Kerr
When The Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Emma by Jane Austen (!)
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
The Lark by E. Nesbit
Economy Must Be Our Watchword by Joyce Dennys
The L-Shaped Room trilogy by Lynne Reid Banks
A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
The Friend in Need by Elizabeth Coxhead
Fresh From the Country by Miss Read
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Barbara Pym
Muriel Spark
A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay
Helen Ashton
One Pair of Hands by Monica Dickens
One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens
My Turn to Make the Tea by Monica Dickens
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge
Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Carol by Patricia Highsmith
Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
Agatha Christie
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather
Alexander’s Bridge by Willa Cather
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Alan Ayckbourn
When The Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén
Only About Love by Debbi Voisey
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/tea-or-books-151.mp3Thanks again for all your questions for our special Q&A episode of Tea or Books?
It took longer than planned, but here is part 2…
Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with suggestions and questions for future episodes!
Thank you so much for all your questions for episode 150 of ‘Tea or Books?’!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/tea-or-books-150.mp3Because we had so many questions, we’re doing it over two episodes – so today’s is the first half. Watch out for part 2, next month.
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given. More to come soon.
And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments – we still need questions for the middle sections of future episodes, of course!
Muriel Spark and campus novels – welcome to episode 149!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/tea-or-books-149.mp3In the first half of this episode, we answer Lisa’s question: do we like campus novels? In the second half, we compare two novels by Muriel Spark. Not necessarily the Muriel Spark novels I thought we would be reading… turns out, Rachel read The Comforters instead of The Bachelors, so we compare that with Symposium instead!
If you’d like to come and see Rachel’s play, full details are here. I’ll be there on the Saturday!
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given
And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Hilary Mantel
Honourable Estates by Vera Brittain
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
Yesterday in the Back Lane by Bernice Rubens
The Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
On the Calculation of Volume vol.2 by Solvej Balle
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Stoner by John Williams
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
The Small Room by May Sarton
Anthony Trollope
The British Museum is Falling Down by David Lodge
Nice Work by David Lodge
Possession by A.S. Byatt
The Masters by C.P. Snow
Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
The History Boys by Alan Bennett
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Seasoned Timber by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt
A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark
My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff
According to Mark by Penelope Lively
Stet by Diana Athill
A Bit of the Apple by Lennie Goodings
84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
The Only Problem by Muriel Spark
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Loitering With Intent by Muriel Spark
Ann Patchett, Tessa Hadley, and finding the right time to read a book – welcome to episode 149!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tea-or-books-148.mp3In the first half, we answer the question: is there a right time for each particular book? In the second half, we compare Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House and Tessa Hadley’s The Party.
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given
And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!
The books and authors we mentioned in this episode are:
Honourable Estates by Vera Brittain
Deviants by Santanu Bhattacharya
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
Richmal Crompton
E.V. Lucas
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal
The Pooh Perplex by Frederick Crews
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
Charles Dickens
Jane Austen
Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Douglas Bruton
The Bachelors by Muriel Spark
Symposium by Muriel Spark
Douglas Bruton, Carolyn Trant, and quality vs quantity – welcome to episode 147 or Tea or Books?!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/tea-or-books-147.mp3In the first half, we discuss quality vs quantity in our reading goals (inspired by this Guardian article). In the second half, we debate two books we picked from each others ‘Best reads of 2025’ lists – Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton and Voyaging Out: British Women Artists From Suffrage to the Sixties by Carolyn Trant.
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given. Sorry that I’m behind with posting those, but more are on their way…
And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The Spring House by Cynthia Asquith
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
The Party by Tessa Hadley
The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore [is the novel I was trying to remember!]
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Freida McFadden
If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino
The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial by Chloe Hooper, Helen Garner, and Sarah Krasnostein
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
‘Master and Man’ by Leo Tolstoy
A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair
Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Told in Winter by Jon Godden
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Winter in Thrush Green by Miss Read
Emma by Jane Austen
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Hope Never Knew Horizon by Douglas Bruton
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Our favourite reads of the year! Welcome to episode 146.
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/tea-or-books-146.mp3We turn the whole episode over to our run-down of our ten favourite books from a year in reading. As has become a tradition, we will then choose one book from each other’s list to read for the next episode.
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.
Rachel’s top 10 books are:
- The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
- Small Domb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans
- The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris
- Voyaging Out by Carolyn Trant
- Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
- Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
- Braided Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Simon’s top 10 books are:
- Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel by Mark Hussey
- Bookish by Lucy Mangan
- Love by Elizabeth von Arnim
- Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
- Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
- Treasure Hunt by Molly Keane
- The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
- The Equations of Love by Ethel Wilson
- Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton
- Follow Your Heart by Susanna Tamaro
The other books and authors we mention in this episode:
On the Calculation of Volume vol.1 by Solvej Balle
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Their Finest Hour by Lissa Evans
Anne Bronte
Lady Living Alone by Norah Lofts
A Curious Friendship by Anna Thomasson
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
Hetty Dorval by Ethel Wilson
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Ann Schlee! Lettice Cooper! Authors! Welcome to episode 145 of Tea or Books?
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/tea-or-books-145.mp3In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether we prefer younger authors or older authors (thank you Lindsey for the suggestion!) In the second half, we compare two recently reprinted novels about unmarried English women in Continental Europe – Rhine Journey by Ann Schlee and Fenny by Lettice Cooper.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Lanterns Across the Snow by Susan Hill
The Names by Florence Knapp
The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner
This House of Grief by Helen Garner
Yellowface by Rebecca Kuang
Ian McEwan
Sally Rooney
Mary Lawson
Penelope Fitzgerald
Pamela Frankau
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
Nancy Mitford
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
Casualties by Lynne Reid Banks
Desirable Residence by Lettice Cooper
Sanditon by Jane Austen
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
The New House by Lettice Cooper
Sylvia Plath, Janet Malcolm and our thoughts on writing style – welcome to episode 144!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/tea-or-books-144.mp3In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether we prefer writing style to be ornate or simple. In the second half, we compare Sylvia Plath’s most famous poetry collection Ariel with Janet Malcolm’s book about Plath biography, The Silent Woman.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
All The Little Live Things by Wallace Stegner
Lucy Carmichael by Margaret Kennedy
Tortoise By Candelight by Nina Bawden
The Cost of Living by Kathleen Farrell
Bookish by Lucy Mangan
Bookworm by Lucy Mangan
The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford
Henry James
Wilkie Collins
George Orwell
Yellow by Janni Visman
The Trouble With Sunbathers by Magnus Mills
The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner
Island In Moonlight by Kathleen Sully
The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
Barbara Comyns
Beryl Bainbridge
The Forensic Records Society by Magnus Mills
Elizabeth Strout
Anne Tyler
Carol Shields
Margaret Atwood
Virginia Woolf
James Joyce
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel by Mark Hussey
Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Bitter Fame by Anne Stevenson
Ted Hughes: the Unauthorised Life by Jonathan Bates
The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm
Two Lives by Janet Malcolm
Fenny by Lettice Cooper
Rhine Journey by Ann Schlee
Agatha Christie, Ethel Lina White, and sad books – welcome to episode 143!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tea-or-books-143.mp3In the first half, we use Geraldine’s suggestion – do we avoid books that will upset us? In the second half, we compare They Came To Baghdad by Agatha Christie and Fear Stalks The Village by Ethel Lina White.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.
The books and authors we mention in this episode:
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
Training School for Elephants by Sophy Roberts
Return to Cheltenham by Helen Ashton
King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild
The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Railway Station by E. Nesbit
The Unbearable Bassington by Saki
Their Finest Hour by Lissa Evans
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Diary of a Lone Twin by David Loftus
Let Not The Waves of the Sea by Simon Stephenson
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
The Five-Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
R.L. Stine
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Other People by Celia Dale
P.G. Wodehouse
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White
E.F. Benson
Some Must Watch by Ethel Lina White
The Silent Woman by Janet Malcolm
Ariel by Sylvia Plath
Celia Dale! Bernice Rubens! Stupidity! Welcome to episode 142 of Tea or Books?
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/tea-or-books-142.mp3In the first half of the episode, we ask if we can like characters in novels who make stupid decisions. In the second half, we compare Other People by Celia Dale and A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.
The books and authors we mention:
Literary Gardens by Sandra Lawrence (ill. by Lucille Clerc)
Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie
‘The Garden Party’ by Katherine Mansfield
Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton
Hope Never Knew Horizon by Douglas Bruton
The Truth About Blayds by A.A. Milne
The Dover Road by A.A. Milne
They Came To Baghdad by Agatha Christie
Honourable Estate by Vera Brittain
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Daisy’s Aunt by E.F. Benson
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins
P.G. Wodehouse
Margery Sharp
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
Oscar Wilde
A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
Autumn by Ali Smith
The Performance by Claire Thomas
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
William’s Wife by Gertrude Trevelyan
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
My Darling Villain by Lynne Reid Banks
Fear Stalks The Village by Ethel Lina White
Sally Carson, Katherine Dunning, and the weather – welcome to episode 141!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/tea-or-books-141.mp3In the first half, Rachel and I discuss significant weather scenes in novels, and whether knowing about the weather in novels makes a difference to us. In the second half, we compare two very different novels from 1934, both recently republished: Crooked Cross by Sally Carson (reissued by Persephone) and The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning (reissued by the British Library).
Here is the LitHub article about rain in novels: lithub.com/the-best-rain-in-literature
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
Tou can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
All The Little Live Things by Wallace Stegner
William Maxwell
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
August Blue by Deborah Levy
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Braided Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Position of Spoons by Deborah Levy
Autocorrect by Etgar Keret
Suddenly, A Knock On The Door by Etgar Keret
The Five Good Years by Etgar Keret
Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster
Emma by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Dark Like Under by Alice Chadwick
Heatwave by Penelope Lively
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Landscape in Sunlight by Elizabeth Fair
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Between The Acts by Virginia Woolf
The Years by Virginia Woolf
Funny Weather by Olivia Laing
The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
The Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
Other People by Celia Dale
It’s time for our favourite 10 books from 10 years of ‘Tea or Books?’!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/tea-or-books-140.mp3Rachel and I have looked through the books we read for the first ten years of the podcast and have each picked our ten favourites – thank you for everyone who suggested this fun idea. Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com if you’d like to suggest anything for further episodes. Find us above, on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts.
Here are our top tens, with the episodes in which they first appear, if you’d like to read more. Don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers!
RACHEL’S TOP TEN
- Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson (ep 137)
- Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton (ep 8)
- A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair (ep 36)
- The Lark by E. Nesbit (ep 56)
- Father by Elizabeth von Arnim (ep 91)
- A Compass Error by Sybille Bedford (ep 47)
- The Heir by Vita Sackville-West (ep 45)
- A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse (ep 34)
- Four Gardens by Margery Sharp (ep 102)
- One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes (ep 13)
SIMON’S TOP TEN
- Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee (ep 20)
- Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (ep 137)
- Enbury Heath by Stella Gibbons (ep 107)
- The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola (ep 130)
- Four Gardens by Margery Sharp (ep 102)
- The Semi-Detached House and The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden (ep 48)
- The Sweet and Twenties by Beverley Nichols (ep 52)
- The Diviners by Margaret Laurence (ep 103)
- My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (ep 20)
- Greengates by R.C. Sherriff (ep 31)
The other books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Giving Up The Ghost by Hilary Mantel
On Being Ill by Virginia Woolf
Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans
Dark Like Under by Alice Chadwick
Emma by Jane Austen
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
Mamma by Diana Tutton
The Young Ones by Diana Tutton
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Westwood by Stella Gibbons
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson
The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp
A Favourite of the Gods by Sybille Bedford
Messalina of the Suburbs by E.M. Delafield
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
Shirley Jackson, Elspeth Barker, and your emails – welcome to episode 139 of Tea or Books?!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/tea-or-books-139.mp3Can you believe we’ve been going for ten years? It’s wild to me! In the first half of the episode we compare two gothic-inspired novels – O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker and The Sundial by Shirley Jackson. In the second half, we share lots of lovely, lovely emails from you guys. We asked about the books and episodes that stand out from our first decade – and were so touched by everyone who got in touch. Apologies for the handful of people who messaged after we’d recorded. I’m afraid you aren’t in the episode, but we were grateful for the messages of course.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.
Because there are so many books and authors mentioned in this episode, I’m not going to do a full list – but if you’d like anything clarified, do ask in the comments.
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/10-year-bonus.mp3A super quick mini-episode – well, not really an episode – asking for your contributions to the next episode of ‘Tea or Books?’. It will be TEN YEARS since Rachel and I first put an episode out into the ether – I can’t believe it’s been a whole decade, and I’m so thankful to everyone who has listened, commented, emailed, reviewed etc over the time.
Will you help us celebrate? In the next episode, I’d love to share your contributions – are there books we’ve suggested that you’ve read and loved? Are there topics you particularly enjoyed? Anything that we can use to celebrate 10 years in style. Do send in your voicenotes or emails to teaorbooks@gmail.com, or put any highlights into the comment section on this blog post.
(Please do, otherwise it’ll be a very quiet first half of the episode!)
Elizabeth Jane Howard, Brian Moore, and authors’ personal lives – welcome to episode 138!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/tea-or-books-138.mp3In the first half of the episode, we do a question that Lindsey suggested: do we care about authors’ personal lives? It takes us to questions both of ethics and of privacy. In the second half, we pit The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore against The Beautiful Visit by Elizabeth Jane Howard.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Recommended! by Nicola Wilson
Hugh Walpole
J.B. Priestley
Sylvia Lynd
Clemence Dane
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
Stasiland by Anna Funder
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer
Virginia Woolf
Stella Gibbons
Enid Blyton
Neil Gaiman
Mary Lawson
The Other Elizabeth Taylor by Nicola Beauman
Jane Austen
Dorothy L. Sayers
Don’t Look Round by Violet Trefusis
Echo by Violet Trefusis
Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey
Elena Ferrante
Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
J.K. Rowling
Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson
Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater
John Keats
Percy Shelley
Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann
Invitiation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
R.C. Sherriff
The Doctor’s Wife by Brian Moore
The Great Victorian Collection by Brian Moore
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
Resolved endings, Pamela Hansford Johnson, Vincenzo Latronico – welcome to episode 137 of Tea or Books?!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/tea-or-books-137.mp3In the first half of the episode, we take a suggestion from Lindsey – do we prefer resolved or unresolved endings? In the second half, Rachel and I see how successful our suggestions for each other were (from the end of last episode) – Rachel asked me to read Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes, and I asked Rachel to read Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
Some Must Watch by Ethel Lina White aka The Spiral Staircase
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Immortality by Milan Kundera
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Elizabeth Goudge
The Honours Board by Pamela Hansford Johnson
An Error of Judgement by Pamela Hansford Johnson
The Unspeakable Skipton by Pamela Hansford Johnson
The Unbearable Bassington by Saki
An Impossible Marriage by Pamela Hansford Johnson
Christopher Isherwood
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
The Beautiful Visit by Elizabeth Jane Howard
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
Agatha Christie, Gwen Bristow, Bruce Manning and reading morality – welcome to episode 136 of Tea or Books?!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/tea-or-books-136.mp3In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether or not we take moral instruction from the books we read – does reading make us better people? In the second half, we compare two very similarly plotted books – And Then There Are None by Agatha Christie and The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning. Many thanks to Susan for suggesting this (and sorry for forgetting your name when we recorded!)
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.
FYI Hargreaves gets very noisy in this episode!
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Stasiland by Anna Funder
Mrs Dalloway: A Biography of the Novel by Mark Hussey
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson
Emma by Jane Austen
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Jack by Marilynne Robinson
The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
How To Know A Person by David Brooks
Ghosted by Nancy French
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Walkable City by Jeff Speck
Pioneer Girl by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Pamela Smith
Brink of Being by Julia Bueno
Shaun Bythell
A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
Isabella Hammad, Norah Lofts, comfort reads – welcome to episode 135!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tea-or-books-135.mp3In the first half, we discuss whether or not literary fiction can be comfort reads – thank you for the suggestion, Marcy! In the second half, we compare novels we chose from each other’s Best Books of 2024 – Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad vs Lady Living Alone by Norah Lofts.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. Among the bonus things you’ll find is our talk from the Marlborough Literary Festival!
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Julia by Sandra Newman
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Jane Gardam
Diaries by Virginia Woolf
Miss Read
Emma by Jane Austen
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
P.G. Wodehouse
Agatha Christie
Margery Sharp
Val McDermid
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Dorothy Whipple
A Writer’s Diary by Virginia Woolf
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary by Ruby Ferguson
For Every Favour by Ruby Ferguson
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Turn Again Home by Ruby Ferguson
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott
The Group by Mary McCarthy
The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe
Sally on the Rocks by Winifred Boggs
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning
Happy new year! In episode 134, Rachel and I share our favourite books reads in 2024 – counting down from ten to one. And we each pick one of the other’s top 10 to read for our next episode!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tea-or-books-134.mp3Thanks so much for everyone who listens to the podcast and gets in touch. It means such a lot to us.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are below – but if you want to avoid spoilers for our favourite books, then don’t read this list too carefully!
Letters to Gwen John by Celia Paul
The Years by Annie Ernaux
The Wife of Bath: A Biography by Marion Turner
The Inn at the Edge of the World by Alice Thomas Ellis
George Orwell
Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks
My Darling Villain by Lynne Reid Banks
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
The Farthest Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
The Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Weather by Jenny Offill
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Body Made of Glass by Caroline Crampton
Foster by Claire Keegan
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
Antarctica by Claire Keegan
Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Wifedom by Anna Funder
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Oracles by Margaret Kennedy
The Feast by Margaret Kennedy
The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola
Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett
Lady Living Alone by Norah Lofts
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Spring House by Cynthia Asquith
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
A Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell
Willa Cather and reading rules – welcome to episode 133 of ‘Tea or Books?’!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tea-or-books-133.mp3In the first half, we discuss reading rules – when we’re picking up a book, are there certain things that will definitely put us off? In the second half, we compare two novels by Willa Cather: Sapphira and the Slave Girl and A Lost Lady.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. Among the bonus things you’ll find is our talk from the Marlborough Literary Festival!
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Back by Henry Green
Living by Henry Green
Loving by Henry Green
A Woman’s Place by Ruth Adam
A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmondeley
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Waterfall by Margaret Drabble
Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Katherine Mansfield
Lucy Gayheart by Willa Cather
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather
My Antonia by Willa Cather
The Professor’s House by Willa Cather
Alexander’s Bridge by Willa Cather
Edward Carey joins us to discuss his latest novel, Edith Holler. Welcome to episode 132!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/tea-or-books-132-Edward-Carey.mp3Rachel and I both love Edward Carey’s novels, so it was a real joy to have the opportunity to interview him. We discuss how he first got published, what inspired Edith Holler and what his books might have in common. Among his books, we discuss Observatory Mansions, Alva and Irva, The Swallowed Man, and Little.
For Patreon subscribers – as a thank you for your support, you can listen to Rachel interview me about the British Library Women Writers at the Marlborough Literary Festival! (If you’re not a Patreon subscriber and would like to be, follow that link to find out more.)
Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with any questions or suggestions, and don’t forget you can listen to (and rate and review!) the podcast on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
A Horror Story by Olga Tokarczuk
The Haunted Wood by Sam Leith
Way Far Away by Evilio Rosero
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Weird Stone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
Diana Wynne Jones
Watership Down by Richard Adams
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Tin Drum by Günter Grass
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Elizabeth McCracken
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather
Angela Milne, Theodora Benson, and reading deeply – welcome to episode 131 of Tea or Books?!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/tea-or-books-131.mp3In the first half of the episode, we discuss a topic suggestion by Heidi – do we read deeply or shallowly? Do we like critical editions? Or do we just ‘switch off’ and enjoy? In the second half, we pit two British Library Women Writers titles against each other – Which Way? by Theodora Benson and One Year’s Time by Angela Milne.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
The Spring House by Cynthia Asquith
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
A.S. Byatt
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
How To Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas C. Foster
Mary Lawson
The Haunted Woman by David Lindsay
The Heir by Vita Sackville-West
The House by the Sea by May Sarton
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Beverley Nichols
Shirley Jackson
Buttercups and Daisies by Compton Mackenzie
Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House by Eric Hodgins
Concert Pitch by Theodora Benson
The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett
Emile Zola, Noel Streatfeild, and romantic books – welcome to Tea or Books? episode 130!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/tea-or-books-130.mp3In the first half of this episode, we do a topic suggested by Lindsey – do books need a romantic storyline? In the second half, we compare two novels set in department stores – The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola (both of us read the translation by Brian Nelson) and Babbcombe’s by Susan Scarlett aka Noel Streatfeild.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
Please come and see us talking about the British Library Women Writers series at the Marlborough Literary Festival on 29 September! And you can find out more about End Sexism in Schools at their website.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre
Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre
Timebends by Arthur Miller
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
Unless by Carol Shields
Larry’s Party by Carol Shields
Rereadings ed. by Anne Fadiman
Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Babbett by Stella Gibbons
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Love-Child by Edith Olivier
The Provincial Lady Goes Further by E.M. Delafield
The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen
The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay
Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski
To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski
Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Emma by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Anthony Trollope
Zadie Smith
Ian McEwan
Chimananda Ngozi Adichie
Sally Rooney
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Translations by Brian Friel
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Strangers by Taichi Yamada
One Year’s Time by Angela Milne
Which Way? by Theodora Benson
Virginia Woolf, Jane Cholmeley, and authors who wrote too much or not enough – welcome to episode 129!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/tea-or-books-129.mp3In the first half, we use a great topic suggestion by David – do we prefer authors who wrote too many books or those who didn’t write enough? And what do we mean by that? It was really fun trying to decide which authors fell into which category.
In the second half, two quite different works of non-fiction: A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf and A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley.
If you’d like to find out more about our appearance at Marlborough Literary Festival – here’s their events info.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood
A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid
The Visitors by Mary McMinnies
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
P.G. Wodehouse
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
The Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Dorothy L. Sayers
Mapp and Lucia series by E.F. Benson
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Barbara Pym
Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
My Husband Simon by Mollie Panter-Downes
Storm Bird by Mollie Panter-Downes
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
Sanditon by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Dorothy Whipple
Virginia Woolf
Barbara Comyns
Muriel Spark
Mary Essex/Ursula Bloom
Paul Gallico
Ian McEwan
Michael Cunningham
Mary Lawson
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Sarah Waters
Adele and Co by Dornford Yates
Tove Jansson
The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett
Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett
The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen
To The North by Elizabeth Bowen
Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett (Noel Stratfeild)
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Polly Barton, Yoko Ogawa, and plays – welcome to episode 128!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/tea-or-books-128.mp3In the first half of today’s ‘Tea or Books?’ episode, Rachel and I revisit a topic from years ago – plays! Specifically, do we think that plays should be read on the page, as well as seen on the stage. In the second half, we compare two books with a Japanese theme: Polly Barton’s Fifty Sounds, a non-fiction about moving to Japan and learning the language, and Yoko Ogawa’s novel The Housekeeper and the Professor, translated by Stephen Snyder.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
A Body Made of Glass by Caroline Crampton
The Dept of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Weather by Jenny Offill
Conventional Wisdoms by Jocelyn Brooke
The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi
One Good Turn by Dorothy Whipple
Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple
They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
They Knew Mr Knight by Dorothy Whipple
The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
J.B. Priestley
Tennesse Williams
The Dover Road by A.A. Milne
The Second Mrs Tanqueray by Arthur Wing Pinero
Private Lives by Noel Coward
Hay Fever by Noel Coward
Still Life by Noel Coward
Dear Octopus by Dodie Smith
Caryl Churchill
Lungs by Duncan Macmillan
People, Places and Things by Duncan Macmillan
Infinite Life by Annie Baker
Paula Vogel
White Noise by Suzan-Lori Parks
Posh by Laura Wade
The Watsons by Laura Wade
Jane Austen
Miss Elizabeth Bennet by A.A. Milne
Mr Pim Passes By by A.A. Milne
A View From the Bridge by Arthur Miller
A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
George Orwell, E.H. Young, guilty pleasures – welcome to episode 127!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/tea-or-books-127.mp3In the first half of the episode, we ask: what is our guiltiest reading pleasure? Has that changed over time? Do we feel guilty about anything connected with reading? In the second half, we compare two similarly titled novels: The Vicar’s Daughter by E.H. Young and A Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love in a Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Wifedom by Anna Funder
Burmese Days by George Orwell
A Bullet in the Ballet by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon
I Would Be Private by Rose Macaulay
Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham
Miss Read
Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary by Ruby Ferguson
Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton
The Love-Child by Edith Olivier
The Plant Hunter by T.L. Mogford
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Jane Austen
Charles Dickens
He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope
The Rector’s Daughter by F.M. Mayor
Chatterton Square by E.H. Young
The Misses Mallett by E.H. Young
Miss Mole by E.H. Young
William by E.H. Young
Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
Banned books, Bonnie Garmus and A.J. Pearce – welcome to episode 126!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/tea-or-books-126.mp3In the first half of the episode, we discuss banned books – should books ever be banned? Does a book being banned make us want to read it more? In the second half, we pit two recent novels set in the mid-century: Dear Mrs Bird by A.J. Pearce and Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Strangers May Kiss by Ursula Parrott
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott
Spinsters in Jeopardy by Ngaio Marsh
Dear Octopus by Dodie Smith
How To Be Multiple by Helena de Bres
The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer
Barbara Pym
Day by Michael Cunningham
A Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell
The Vicar’s Daughter by E.H. Young
The Rector’s Daughter by F.M. Mayor
Celeb memoirs, Michael Cunningham, Elizabeth Fair – welcome to episode 125!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/tea-or-books-125.mp3In the first half, Rachel and I discuss celebrity memoirs – do we read them? What do we count as a celebrity memoir? In the second half, we each chose one of the other’s favourite 2023 reads – Day by Michael Cunningham (one of my favourite reads from last year) and Landscape in Sunlight by Elizabeth Fair.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Convenience Store Woman by Suyaka Murata
Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton
At the Pines by Mollie Panter-Downes
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Max Beerbohm
Storm Bird by Mollie Panter-Downes
Katie Price
Peter Kay
John Gielgud
No Leading Lady by R.C. Sherriff
Virginia Woolf
Delicacy by Katy Wix
Sidesplitter by Phil Wang
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
What’s That Lady Doing? by Lou Sanders
Glutton by Ed Gamble
Spare by Prince Harry
The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
Toxic by Sarah Ditum
Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton
Inferno by Catherine Cho
Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton
You’re a Brick, Angela! by Mary Cadogan
The Naughtiest Girl in the School by Enid Blyton
St Clare’s series by Enid Blyton
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham
Miss Read
Bramton Wick by Elizabeth Fair
Emma by Jane Austen
Barbara Pym
A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce
Our favourite books from 2023 – or reads, because of course we mostly read ‘backlisted’ titles. Always a fun one to record – this time with the added bonus that we were each going to choose one from the other’s list to read for the next episode.
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tea-or-books-124.mp3Some of our Patreon patrons also appear in this episode. You can join them, and get early access to episodes and other perks, at our Patreon. Do feel free to get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
The World Between Two Covers by Ann Morgan
Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco
A Flat Place by Noreen Masud
Noble Ambitions by Adrian Tinniswood
The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood
A Bird in the House by Margaret Laurence
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
Temples of Delight by Barbara Trapido
Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido
Noah’s Ark by Barbara Trapido
Barbara Comyns
Sex and Stravinsky by Barbara Trapido
The Travelling Hornplayer by Barbara Trapido
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum by Heinrich Böll
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Billiards at Half-Past Nine by Heinrich Böll
Never Said A Word by Heinrich Böll
The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge
Dr Serocold by Helen Ashton
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
Yeoman’s Hospital by Helen Ashton
Half-Crown House by Helen Ashton
The Self-Portrait of a Literary Biographer by Joan Givner
Katherine Anne Porter
This Little Art by Kate Briggs
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
Day by Michael Cunningham
Edith Holler by Edward Carey
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid
Road Ends by Mary Lawson
For Every Favour by Ruby Ferguson
Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary by Ruby Ferguson
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Jill’s Gymkhana by Ruby Ferguson
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale
Harriet Said… by Beryl Bainbridge
A Helping Hand by Celia Dale
The House By The Sea by May Sarton
Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton
The Education of Harriett Hatfield by May Sarton
Landscape in Sunlight by Elizabeth Fair
A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair
Barbara Pym
Jane Austen
Bramton Wick by Elizabeth Fair
The Native Heath by Elizabeth Fair
No Leading Lady by R.C. Sherriff
Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff
Old Filth by Jane Gardam
The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
Last Friends by Jane Gardam
Dorothy Whippl
Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming
To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield
The Pillars of the House by Charlotte M. Yonge
The Q by Beth Brower
Magnificent Rebels by Andrea Wulf
The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers
Possession by A.S. Byatt
The Matisse Stories by A.S. Byatt
All the Dogs of My Life by Elizabeth von Armin
Mrs. Appleyard’s Year by Louise Andrews Kent
Pleasures and Palaces by Juliet Wilbor Tompkins
Albert’s Christmas by Alison Jezard
The Stillmeadow Road by Gladys Taber
Buttered Toast by Marjorie Stewart
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
An Unequal Music by Vikram Seth
Beryl Bainbridge, Celia Dale, critical and charitable reading – welcome to episode 123!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/tea-or-books-123.mp3In the first half of the episode we use a suggestion from Susannah – do we read charitably or critically? In the second half we compare too rather dark novels – Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale and Harriet Said… by Beryl Bainbridge.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Mary Lawson
Stories for Winter and Nights by the Fire by various
Elizabeth Taylor
Angela Carter
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Temptation by János Székely
Family Album by Antonia Ridge
Miss Read
Grandma Went To Russia by Antonia Ridge
The Persimmon Tree by Marjorie Barnard
Katherine Mansfield
Ivy Litvinov
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Richmal Crompton
Stella Gibbons
Day by Michael Cunningham
Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham
A.A. Milne
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Dan Brown
Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge
Abigail’s Party by Mike Leigh
Another Part of the Woods by Beryl Bainbridge
Anita Brookner
Barbara Comyns
Mary Lawson joins us to talk about all her novels – welcome to episode 122!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tea-or-books-122-mary-lawson.mp3I can’t quite believe I’m writing this, but THE Mary Lawson – Canadian author of Crow Lake, The Other Side of the Bridge, Road Ends, and A Town Called Solace – joins us in this episode to talk through her work. We discuss how she approaches writing a novel, some of her creative decisions, and a little hint about her next book.
Do let us know any future episode suggestions, or any questions you have, at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com. Get episodes a little early, and some other bonus content, through Patreon. And get the podcast wherever you get podcasts! Your ratings and reviews really help too (except those people who give us one star, I guess).
The books and authors we mention in this episode:
Temptation by János Székely
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Skylark by Dezső Kosztolány
Embers by Sándor Márai
Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Father by Elizabeth von Arnim
Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Caravaners by Elizabeth von Arnim
Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert
Margaret Laurence
Ernest Hemingway
F. Scott Fitzgerald
‘For Esmeé—With Love and Squalor’ by J.D. Salinger
Alice Munro
Margaret Atwood
Mick Herron
Anne Enright
Sebastian Barry
Colm Tóibín
L.M. Montgomery
Thomas King
Michael Crummey
Michael Ondaatje
Brian Moore
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
Arthur Miller
Road Ends by Mary Lawson
Elizabeth Strout
Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale
Harriet Said by Beryl Bainbridge
Jane Gardam and messages in books – welcome to episode 121!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tea-or-books-121.mp3In the first half of the episode, Rachel and I discuss whether or not we think books should have a message. In the second half we pit two Jane Gardam novels against each other: Old Filth and the same story from another angle, The Man in the Wooden Hat.
For those looking for Rachel’s new blog, you can find it and subscribe at Substack.
Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with any suggestions for topics, or questions for the middle section. You can support the podcast at Patreon, and we also really appreciate your reviews and ratings.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
A Helping Hand by Celia Dale
Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale
Margaret Laurence
Road Ends by Mary Lawson
Brian Moore
As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Love and Salt Water by Ethel Wilson
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
An End to Running by Lynne Reid Banks
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
The Double Heart by Lettice Cooper
The New House by Lettice Cooper
National Provincial by Lettice Cooper
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Jodi Picoult
Passing Go by Libby Purves
Holy Deadlock by A.P. Herbert
Palliser series by Anthony Trollope
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Jane Austen
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
Ian McEwan
Middle England by Jonathan Coe
Lady Audley’s Secret by M.E. Braddon
Wilkie Collins
Agatha Christie
Dorothy L. Sayers
‘The Case of Miss Dorothy Sayers’ by Q.D. Leavis
Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Ethel M. Dell
Last Friends by Jane Gardam
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Barbara Pym
God on the Rocks by Jane Gardam
A Long Way From Verona by Jane Gardam
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
D.E. Stevenson, Eva Ibbotson, travel inspo – welcome to episode 120!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/tea-or-books-120.mp3We have our first returning guest – the wonderful Claire, who blogs at The Captive Reader. In the first half of this episode, we talk about inspiration from travel – do we get it from our fiction reading or non-fiction reading?
In the second half, we compare two novels Claire suggested – Eva Ibbotson’s The Morning Gift and D.E. Stevenson’s The English Air, two novels starting just before the Second World War.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The World-Ending Fire by Wendell Berry
The Princess of Siberia by Christine Sutherland
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber
So Big by Edna Ferber
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
Faith Fox by Jane Gardam
Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie
The Jasmine Farm by Elizabeth von Arnim
Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Benefactress by Elizabeth von Arnim
In the Mountains by Elizabeth von Arnim
Princess Priscilla’s Fortnight by Elizabeth von Arnim
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge
A.A. Milne
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
How The Heather Looks by Joan Bodger
The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen by Elizabeth von Arnim
Catch the Rabbit by Lana Bastašić
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Provincial Lady in America by E.M. Delafield
Louisa M. Alcott
Essie Summers
Marianne North
A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
A Visit to Don Otavio by Sybille Bedford
Oleander, Jacaranda by Penelope Lively
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Karel Čapek
George Mikes
The Silent Traveller in Oxford by Chiang Yee
Stephen Leacock
Mary Lawson
Obasan by Joy Kogawa
The Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson
Old Filth by Jane Gardam
The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam
Miriam Toews, Olga Tokarczuk and detective fiction – welcome to episode 119! In the first half of this episode, we discuss detective fiction – do we prefer the mystery-solver to be a professional or an amateur? And in the second
Julie Otsuka, Jamaica Kincard, adults’ and children’s books – welcome to episode 118! In the first half – a topic suggested by Aileen, where we discuss authors who wrote both children’s and adult’s books and whether we read both. In
Ursula Parrott, Winifred Boggs, unnamed characters – welcome to episode 117! We are so delighted to welcome Lucy Scholes as a guest for this episode. She’s is a reprint/old books superstar – you might know her Re-Covered column for the Paris
John Dickson Carr, Alan Melville, sports – welcome to episode 116!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/tea-or-books-116.mp3In the first half, we talk about sports in books – do we like them? Will we be able to think of any? Thank you to Lindsey for suggesting the topic! In the second half we compare two murder mysteries: It Walks By Night by John Dickson Carr and Quick Curtain by Alan Melville.
Get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – get early access etc through Patreon, and do rate and review wherever you get your podcasts!
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
This Census-Taker by China Miéville
The City and the City by China Miéville
The Portrait by Willem Jan Otten
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
Hornet’s Nest by Helen Ashton
Dr Serecold by Helen Ashton
Yeoman’s Hospital by Helen Ashton
People in Cages by Helen Ashton
The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman
How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup by J.L. Carr
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
A Season in Sinji by J.L. Carr
The Silence of Colonel Bramble by Andre Maurois
A.A. Milne
P.G. Wodehouse
Rudyard Kipling
Tom Brown’s School Days by Thomas Hughes
St Clare’s series by Enid Blyton
Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton
The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman
Double Fault by Lionel Shriver
Morse series by Colin Dexter
Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh
Cinderella Goes To The Morgue by Nancy Spain
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Death of Anton by Alan Melville
Weekend at Thrackley by Alan Melville
Sally on the Rocks by Winifred Boggs
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott
Barbara Pym, May Sarton, and bookshops – welcome to episode 115!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/tea-or-books-115.mp3In the first half of the episode, we take up Sally’s suggestion of topic – and discuss whether or not we like books set in bookshops and libraries. More suggestions for books in this category, please!
In the second half, we compare Barbara Pym’s Quartet in Autumn with May Sarton’s Journal of a Solitude and pick our favourite.
You can get in touch with suggestions etc at teaorbooks@gmail.com – get the episodes a few days early, and other bonuses, at Patreon.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Quick Curtain by Alan Melville
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Bewildering Cares by Winifred Peck
House-Bound by Winifred Peck
Dorothy Whipple
E.M. Delafield
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin
Greenery Street by Denis Mackail
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
Business As Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford
Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
Peter and Alice by Peter Shaffer
Ivy Compton-Burnett
Virginia Woolf
Barbara Cartland
Stephenie Meyer
E.L. James
Agatha Christie
Beryl Bainbridge
Margery Sharp
Muriel Spark
Miss Read
The House By The Sea by May Sarton
Castle Skull by John Dickson Carr
Sylvia Townsend Warner, Elizabeth Bowen, linear narratives – welcome to episode 114!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/tea-or-books-114.mp3In the first half of this episode, we use a suggestion from listener Sarah – do we prefer linear or non-linear narratives? In the second half we look at two books from Rachel’s tbr pile that don’t, honestly, have much in common – though we do manage cobble together some thoughts, as per: A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen and the short story collection Winter in the Air by Sylvia Townsend Warner.
As usual, we’d love to hear from you at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with any questions, comments or suggestions – you can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please rate and review, it would mean a lot, and you can support us at Patreon too.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
The Captain Comes Home by Helen Ashton
Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
Return to Cheltenham by Helen Ashton
Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett aka Noel Streatfeild
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Free Air by Sinclair Lewis
Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
Spiderweb by Penelope Lively
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Which Way? by Theodora Benson
The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett
Dangerous Corner by J.B. Priestley
Constellations by Nick Payne
The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
The Good Liar by Nicholas Searle
The Long View by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Wise Children by Angela Carter
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Time’s Arrow by Martin Amis
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins
O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Swans on an Autumn River by Sylvia Townsend Warner
To The North by Elizabeth Bowen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym
Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton
Elizabeth Gaskell, Winifred Holtby, and more – welcome to episode 113!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/tea-or-books-113.mp3In the first half of this episode, we look at literary retellings – by which we mean authors using fairy tales or Greek mythology or basically whatever we fancy including in this very loose definition. It feels like a topic we’ve done before, but apparently we haven’t?
In the second half, we compare two doorstoppers – South Riding by Winifred Holtby and Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com – you can also support the podcast on Patreon, and listen to it above or wherever you listen to podcasts.
The books and authors we discuss in this episode:
Mad, Bad And Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors by Lisa Appignanesi
The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Ulysses by James Joyce
Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The True Heart by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Longbourn by Jo Baker
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Juniper Tree by Barbara Comyns
A Wild Swan and other stories by Michael Cunningham
Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Anthony Trollope
Lady Audley’s Secret by M.E. Braddon
Winter in the Air by Sylvia Townsend Warner
A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen
Dorothy Whipple, May Sinclair, and favourite books of 2022 – welcome to episode 112!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/tea-or-books-112.mp3Happy new year! Welcome to the first episode of Tea or Books? for 2023 – recorded on two different days, so hopefully it’s not too awkward. In the first half, we cover our favourite reads from 2022 (so won’t be a HUGE surprise if you read my blog) and in the second half we compare They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple and The Three Sisters by May Sinclair.
You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts – and you can support the podcast and get early episodes (and other bonus bits) on Patreon. Do get in touch with any questions, suggestions or comments at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com.
The books and authors we mention in this episode:
Village Diary by Miss Read
Storm in the Village by Miss Read
In Chancery by John Galsworthy
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Four Gardens by Margery Sharp
Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson
Britannia Mews by Margery Sharp
E.M. Delafield
Remainders of the Day by Shaun Bythell
Three Things You Should Know About Rockets by Jessica A. Fox
Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell
Things I Don’t Want To Know by Deborah Levy
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy
Real Estate by Deborah Levy
War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott
Lucy By The Sea by Elizabeth Strout
My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Oh, William by Elizabeth Strout
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning
The Home by Penelope Mortimer
The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer
Daddy’s Gone A-Hunting by Penelope Mortimer
The New House by Lettice Cooper
National Provincial by Lettice Cooper
Black Bethlehem by Lettice Cooper
Desirable Residence by Lettice Cooper
On Color by David Scott Kastan and Stephen Farthing
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
Anne Tyler
Barbara Kingsolver
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
The Good Companions by J.B. Priestley
Paying Guests by E.F. Benson
Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village by Marit Kapla
Suddenly, A Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
The Tree of Heaven by May Sinclair
Life and Death of Harriett Frean by May Sinclair
The Brontes
Virginia Woolf
Anne Severn and the Fieldings by May Sinclair
Mr Waddington of Wyck by May Sinclair
Young Anne by Dorothy Whipple
Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Molly Keane, M.J. Farrell, and characters’ appearances – welcome to episode 111!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/tea-or-books-111.mp3In the first half, Rachel and I discuss what characters look like – do we care, do we notice if it’s mentioned, etc. In the second half, we look at two novels by Molly Keane – one under her pseudonym of M.J. Farrell – Good Behaviour and Full House.
You can get in touch with suggestions at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com, find us on Spotify or your podcast app of choice, and support the podcast (and get the episodes early) at Patreon.
Shakespeare’s Restless World by Neil MacGregor
Shakespeare in a Divided America by James Shapiro
Contested Will by James Shapiro
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
The Benefactress by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim
Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Jane Austen
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Twits by Roald Dahl
Speedy Death by Gladys Mitchell
Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers
Richmal Crompton
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
At Mrs Lippincote’s by Elizabeth Taylor
A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor
Dorothy Whipple
Young Entry by M.J. Farrell
Rising Tide by M.J. Farrell
Two Days in Aragon by M.J. Farrell
They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
Three Sisters by May Sinclair
Tove Jansson, Celia Dale, jobs in books! Welcome to episode 110 A bit of a longer break than usual because I lost my voice. But we’re back, asking – in the first half of the episode – whether we care
Penelope Lively, Helen Hull, boarding houses and isolation – welcome to episode 109! In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I compare boarding houses novels and novels where people live alone – up to and including complete isolation.
Bite, E.M. Delafield, Elizabeth Taylor – welcome to episode 108! In the first half of this episode, we discuss a topic suggested by Gina – do we prefer books with bite or without bite? All will be explained in due
Books in books and Stella Gibbons – welcome to episode 107! In the first half, we continue our ‘do we care…’ series with ‘do we care what characters read?’ By which we mean we’re looking at the books that characters
Margaret Kennedy, Vita Sackville-West, and film adaptations – welcome to episode 106! In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I discuss whether you should read the book before you watch the film. In the second half, we pit
George Orwell and families – welcome to episode 105! Rachel is busy this month, so I put a shout-out on our Patreon page to see if anybody would be willing to step in and take her place. I was delighted
Olivia Manning, Cicely Hamilton and dreams – welcome to episode 104 of ‘Tea or Books?’! In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I discuss whether or not we like dreams in books, and how different authors use them.
Penelope Lively, Margaret Laurence, thinking and feeling – welcome to episode 103! Apologies for the unexpected delay in recording. Blame Rachel! But we are here and raring to go. In the first half, we follow a topic suggested by Mairad
D.E. Stevenson, Margery Sharp – and a special guest! In this episode, we have a special guest in the form of Claire – you’ll know her blog The Captive Reader. We were delighted to have her as a guest, especially
Rachel takes a look at Simon’s bookshelves – will she take any books away with her?? Way back in episode 70, I was in Rachel’s flat in London and took a look around her bookcases. We planned a return visit…
For our special hundredth episode, Rachel and I are doing a question and answer. Thanks so much to everybody who sent in questions – we didn’t get to all of them, but hopefully we answered at least one of yours.
Winifred Holtby, Susan Glaspell, and essays – welcome to episode 99! Sorry for an unintended long break, but we’re back and Rachel even has a new mic – hopefully has helped with the sound issues, though there may be some
Nature writing and some favourite novels by prizewinning women – welcome to episode 98! As mentioned in the podcast – we’d love to hear your questions as we gear up for our hundredth episode. Just email teaorbooks@gmail.com, or put your
How do we choose our reading, and E.M. Delafield – welcome to episode 97! In the first half of the episode, we debate whether to read spontaneously or plan our reading. In the second half, two E.M. Delafield novels
In this episode, we ask whether or not offensive books should be republished – you might remember the same conversation happening here on StuckinaBook a while ago, and it was interesting to visit it with Rachel. In the second half,
Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Margery Sharp, Helen Ashton – welcome to episode 95. In the first half, we take a detour from our usual practice and pit two authors against each other. And it’s two very big hitters – Jane
Rosamond Lehmann, Antonia White, and authors’ houses – welcome to episode 94! In the first half of this episode, we do a topic suggested by Gillian – do we care where authors live? That is, do we want to visit
Summer, Winter, names – welcome to episode 93. In the first half, we ask: ‘Do we care what characters are called?’, looking at the strange and ordinary names that characters are given. In the second half, we compare Tove Jansson’s
Bernadine Evaristo, Kate Atkinson, and clothes – welcome to episode 92. In the first half of the episode, Rachel and I discuss clothes in books – do we care what characters wear? I forgot to mention, but do check out
Elizabeth von Arnim and settings of novels – welcome to episode 91! In the first half of the novel, we look at the settings of novels, and ask whether we prefer familiar or unfamiliar settings. In the second half, we
Betty Smith, Dorothy Evelyn Smith, and a review of our reading years… In the first half, we look back over a very unusual year and ask – was it a good reading year or a bad reading year? We’ve not
Marilynne Robinson and gardens – welcome to episode 89! We are scraping the barrel a little in our first half, and arguably repeating ourselves, but please enjoy our musings on gardens. In the second half, after answering a question from
Blurbs and Kazuo Ishiguro – welcome to episode 88! In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I talk about whether we want blurbs – i.e. do we do research on what we’re reading before we pick it up.
Jane Austen, Jane and Mary Findlater, and – it’s episode 87! We recorded this episode a little while ago and I have been lazy at editing – but here we are. Hope you like our lovely new logo, courtesy
Marilynne Robinson, Francis Spufford, empathy and sympathy! Welcome to episode 86, in which we talk about characters we feel empathetic towards and those we feel sympathetic towards. And if you aren’t sure of the distinction, don’t worry, we’ve got that
Houses, Miss Read, Beverley Nichols! In the first half of today’s episode, we look at whether we prefer novels that stay in one house or those that go all over the place. In the second half, we explore two novels
Dorothy Canfield [Fisher], Patrick Dennis, sea, and mountains – episode 84! In the first half of this episode, we talk about novels set in the mountains vs those set by the sea. The classic dichotomy. In the second half,
Comfort zones, comfort novels, and two novels by Willa Cather – welcome to episode 83! In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I talk about whether or not we have comfort zones when it comes to reading –
Australia, New Zealand, and Adrian Bell – welcome to episode 82! In the first half, we do a topic suggested by Lindsay – books by Australians and books by people from New Zealand. And my GOODNESS we don’t know anywhere
Henry Green, style over substance, and some listener questions – here’s episode 81! In the first half of this episode, we discuss style vs substance – or, to put it another way, writing style vs the plot of the novel.
A couple of Queens of Crime and an important question about what writers should be allowed to write… In the first half of episode 80, we ask if writers should only write what they know – whether that means
Shaun Bythell, George Orwell, and a whole host of politicians – it’s episode 79! We have a special guest for this episode – my very good friend Lorna, who was meeting Rachel for the first time. We recorded in person
Sanditon, The Watsons, and a whistle-stop tour of the centuries – we’re back! In the first half of this episode, we take a suggestion from Elizabeth – do we prefer the nineteenth or twentieth century for literature? That’s an
World War Two fiction and the difference between fantasy and fantastic fiction – welcome to episode 77! In the first half of this episode, I dive back into the topic of my DPhil and we talk about fantastic and fantasy
Miss Hargreaves! Finally! But also illustrations and a novel by Rachel Malik. In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether or not we want illustrations in our books – taking a little venture to graphic novels on the
Tove Jansson, Ted Hughes, and fictional morality – welcome to episode 75! We’re back after a bit of a break – and we’re doing poetry for the first time ever. In the first half of the episode, we discuss
Young Adult fiction – are we fans? And Richard Yates vs John Williams. In the first half of this episode, we venture into potentially controversial territory as we discuss young adult (YA) fiction, and whether or not we think
How many chances will we give an author? And Margery Sharp! In the first half of the episode, we ask whether we’re one-strike-you’re-out people or if we’re willing to give an author several chances – and which authors we’ve
Where do we like to read? And books inspired by Virginia Woolf. It’s a very ‘us’ episode. In the first half of this episode, we’re adopting a question suggested by Teddy – reading at home vs reading elsewhere –
Lots of perspectives or a single narrative, and two 19th-century childhood memoirs – here we go! In the first half of this episode, we discuss multi-narrative novels and whether or not we prefer them to single narrative novels. In the
Simon visited Rachel – so naturally took a look around the shelves. Come for the tour! In a change from scheduled programming, we do a slightly different episode. I was staying with Rachel in her beautiful flat while I was
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Rosemary Sutcliff, and the scope of the books we love. Happy February! In the first half of this episode, we discuss small world vs wide world in novels – do we like small communities or novels
The books we hate (and should we tell you?) and Elizabeth Gaskell vs Jane Austen. In the first half of this episode, we talk about the books we’ve hated – prepare for things to get contentious! – and
Edward Carey and books as gifts – happy new year; we’re back! We had a bit of a longer break over Christmas, but we’re back and raring to go with a post-Christmas discussion about whether or not we like
Elizabeth Bowen, Elizabeth Taylor, and venturing into the worldly… In the first half of this episode, we look at… domestic books vs worldly books? Or something like that? We never quite worked out what we meant, but we
We are finally back! Apologies for the lengthy break – all is explained in this episode. We’re not back as soon as intended, because we recorded an episode a few days ago that… didn’t record. The podcasters’ nightmare! Nothing
Paul Gallico and two World Wars – quite a mix! In the first half of this episode, we look at the books of the World Wars – whether written at the time or later – and decide which we
Women opening bookshops, and how we feel about the physical book. In the first half of this episode, we look at first edition vs worst edition – in a fairly sprawling discussion about whether we care about first editions,
Two novels by A.A. Milne and we get deep about Amazon. In the first half, we talk buying books in bookshops vs buying books online – taking our cue from a suggestion by Karen – and then we wander
John Fowles, Tracy Chevalier, and eating in books – Lyme and limes, if you will! Sorry for a bit of a delay (because I had to read two quite long books) – and advance apologies for the delay before
This episode is all about married and unmarried people – in general, and two ‘spinsters’ in particular. Buckle up! (Apologies if the podcast in your app overlaps the intro music with the intro chat… this one doesn’t, but I
Shirley Jackson and holiday reading – welcome to episode 59! In the first half of this episode, we look at holiday reading – chiefly whether we prefer easy or difficult books when we go off on holiday, but we
Rebecca West, Rosamond Lehmann, and book groups – welcome to episode 58! I can hardly believe that we’ve not done an episode on book groups before – but here we are! In the first half, Rachel and I talk
Murder mysteries and binge-reading – enjoy episode 57! In this episode, we compare an uncharacteristically modern novel – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, published in 2018 – with Agatha Christie’s classic Poirot novel The Murder of Roger
We’ve finally done the reviewers vs recommendations episode! Also: E Nesbit and Dorothy Whipple. Every now and then, the critics vs bloggers debate rears its head. In the first half of the episode, we take a slightly different look
Dorothy Whipple, Winifred Peck, and authors who hop genres – welcome to episode 55! In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I discuss a topic suggested by my friend Paul (thanks Paul!) – versatility vs dependability. Well,
A children’s books special today, featuring Frances Hodgson Burnett and Philippa Pearce. Not in person, you understand. In the first half of the episode, we discuss whether it’s better to read children’s books as children or as adults (especially
It’s the battle of the Penelopes – and which books we’re most likely to read first (top or bottom of the pile?) Rachel is back (hurray!) – many thanks to Karen for taking her seat last time. And in
Detective fiction, crime fiction, and Beverley Nichols – what fun! Rachel has had to take a quick break from the podcast, but I was delighted to have a special guest in the form of Karen, from Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings,
Literary families, and the reveal on our recommendations for each other – we’re back after a seasonal break. We’ve missed you! In the first half of our 51st episode, we look at families where more than one generation has
To celebrate episode 50, we are doing a question and answer episode! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas – I’m editing this a few days before Christmas, but I’m going to assume that a wonderful time was
Wilkie Collins, A.S. Byatt, and the death of the author (sort of) – episode 49 is quite the mixed bag. nbsp; I found it quite hard to describe the first half of this episode – though hopefully it will become
Emily Eden and the openings of books – we muddle our way through episode 48! First – do send any questions you have for episode 50 to simonthomasoxford[at]gmail.com. We’re quite excited about finding out what you’ll ask – about
Sybille Bedford and sequels by the original author vs sequels by a different author… we need to come up with snappier titles for these things. In episode 47, we start with a topic suggested by Karen via email –
Elizabeth Strout is our author this episode – and we also dip a toe in the worlds of Canadian and Irish literature. Spoilers: we know a lot less than we should. Suggestions welcomed, please! I’m off to Canada shortly,
A heated conversation about literary prizes AND Vita Sackville-West. Roll up, roll up for episode 45! In the first half of this fortnight’s episode, we try to determine whether or not literary prizes affect our reading – which wanders
After a bit of a hiatus, we’re back with an episode about Marghanita Laski and whether we read one book at a time or many books at once. And because that’s a bit of a mouthful, I’m calling it monogamous
Scientists! Vicars! H.E. Bates! Helen Thomas! We’re popping in between holidays to record an episode about clergymen and scientists in novels – doubtless missing plenty of them, but thank you for everyone who tweeted in with your suggestions. We’d
Trains! Boats! Anita Brookner! Ann Bridge! This episode has it all. Books set on trains vs books set on boats – Rachel didn’t want us to do it but it happened. And… it was a roaring success? Right? Well, I had
John Galsworthy! Elizabeth Jane Howard! Circadian novels! Find out what that means, and much more, in episode 41. Guys, it was SUPER hot when we were recording this podcast. It’s rather cooler now that I’m editing, but I rather
Alphabetical or thematic shelving? Miss Mole vs Chatterton Square? Episode 40 of ‘Tea or Books?’ continues answering the important questions that others don’t dare to. In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I address the pressing issue of how books
Special guest Jenny joins us for episode 39 – discussing children’s classics and spoilers! I was SO excited that Jenny agreed to join me and Rachel on ‘Tea or Books?’ while she was visiting England – her podcast, Reading
Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Bailey, and a bit of a debate about male and female characters. Here’s episode 38 – which is unusually short, but hopefully fun nonetheless. I’ve left in an amusing moment of drama… Many thanks to Kaisha
Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, and schooldays – we’ve got it all in episode 37 (depending on your definition of ‘all’). In the first half of this episode, we meander around the topic of whether or not studying a book
Ursula Orange, Elizabeth Fair, and audiobooks – it’s fair to say that people probably won’t know that much about the authors today, but they are both among the Furrowed Middlebrow reprint series published by Dean Street Press. Any fan of
May Sarton and F.M. Mayor go up against each other, and we chat about whether or not we want to meet our favourite authors (living or dead!) Our episodes are getting a little more sporadic as we’re doing more
E M Delafield, F Tennyson Jesse, and novels about real people – that’s what’s on the menu for episode 34. It’s very nice to have Rachel back (hi Rachel!) and we’ve both been doing homework for this episode –
C.S. Lewis, Meryl Streep, and Alfred Hitchcock! What do they have in common? They all appear in this special crossover episode – where Tea or Books? meets my brother’s podcast The C of Z of Movies. That’s right –
Ian McEwan helps us get dangerously modern in our latest ‘Tea or Books?’ episode, as we chat about Atonement and On Chesil Beach (along with a whole bunch of his other books) – while, in the first half, we discuss whether or
Happy new year! Rachel and I are back from a bit of a podcast break, and raring to go for the New Year. In this episode, we look at two novels by R.C. Sherriff, both published by Persephone, and
Muriel Spark, artists, and musicians in our final episode of 2016 – it was a fun one to record. We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year, and fingers crossed for a wonderful 2017
Two more Persephones in this episode – Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton and Princes in the Land by Joanna Cannan – along with a discussion of short stories: which writers we like and don’t like, and whether or not we’d race
Two Persephone titles will help solace us in these bizarre post-election days. We’ve been away for a while because I lost my voice – sorry! – but Rachel (Book Snob) and I are back, talking about The Victorian Chaise-Longue by
Cats! Dogs! Noel Coward! A.A. Milne! I always start off these descriptions with exclamation marks, but seldom has it been more justified… In this episode, we pit literary cats against literary dogs, and almost instantly regret it (while also
Roald Dahl, Michelle Magorian, and whether or not to give up on books – I’m back from holiday, and Rachel and I have a lovely new (…long) episode of Tea or Books? In our first half, we discuss whether
Elizabeth Bowen and novels adapted into films – though not in conjunction… In the first half of this podcast, we discuss novels adapted into films – and whether or not we would like our favourite novels to be adapted
I have forced two topics on Rachel – firstly, are you careful with books, or do you manhandle them? (It will all make sense in context.) And then two books that were lynch pins of my doctoral thesis – The
Two William Maxwell novels go up against each other in this episode – but not before we’ve got to the heart of the emotional issue of whether to keep books or cull books. (Obviously we don’t want to cull
Historical fiction and books-about-books are the themes for episode 22 of Tea or Books? – and we have a LOT to say on these topics. And we hope you do too! Let us know your thoughts for each category. And
Shakespeare! That’s right, we’re getting very classy and/or GCSE English in our discussion of his comedies and tragedies – following a fairly haphazard chat about child narrators vs adult narrators. This is what happens when Rachel only tells me
Happy birthday us! We actually passed our birthday by a couple of weeks, but this is the first podcast after the big day. Can you believe it’s been a whole year? And it might be our longest episode yet.
Sarah Waters and the seasons – how better to celebrate the sunny weather we’ve been having recently? In episode 19 we look at summer and winter in books (and get tangled in what that could mean) and then talk
Agatha Christie and curious titles come together in perhaps my favourite episode of the podcast yet. And also the first one where we’re both in our 30s, guys. And also one of our most bizarre. In the first half, we look at
Letters! Diaries! Oscar Wilde! We’ve got it all – well, those three things – in episode 17 of Tea or Books?, which has taken a bit of time to arrive, for which I apologise. But we are as rambling
Winnie-the-Pooh vs Wind in the Willows is perhaps the most animal-strewn debate we’ve had so far, as well as being more or less inevitable that we’d get to this one eventually – especially given my tendencies to shoe-horn A.A.
Plays or poetry? We go broad with the first half of our 15th episode, and (inevitably) barely scratch the surface. You wouldn’t have it any other way, right? In the second half, we pit two much-loved novels by Daphne
Reprints or original editions? That’s the first question we ask ourselves, courtesy of Michelle of Book Musings, and have a lot of fun discussing it. In the second half of the episode we get uncharacteristically modern – pitting two
Villains or virtuous folk? No, not describing your hosts Rachel (Book Snob) and me, but enquiring into our favourite types of characters. In the second half, we look at two books by Mollie Panter-Downes: One Fine Day and London War Notes,
Happy endings? Sad endings? And a couple of Elizabeth von Arnim novels – we have a fun, albeit somewhat sickly episode. It makes me think of my favourite, my-missed sitcom Happy Endings, but we’re actually talking about whether we prefer
Ebooks! Books! Nancy Mitford! Evelyn Waugh! We’ve got it all for you in episode 11, as we turn our attention to the well-worn path of ebooks vs paper books/tree books/real books (whatever you want to call them) and to
‘Tea or Books?’ is back for the new year – and it starts pretty shambolically, as we can’t remember the episode number. Once that is sorted out, we discuss whether or not we set New Year’s Reading Resolutions,
Welcome to a festive edition of ‘Tea or Books?’ (and another one where I forgot to close my bedroom window when recording) – Rachel (Book Snob) and I discuss buying vs borrowing and whether or not we read specifically
In this episode Dodie Smith’s much-loved I Capture the Castle goes up against Diana Tutton’s lesser-known Guard Your Daughters, and we debate the merits of biographies and autobiographies. Somewhat to my surprise, we didn’t actually end up talking about all that
Rachel and I are pitting our favourite publishers against each other in this (belated!) episode – Persephone vs Virago Modern Classics. We definitely want to keep both of them, of course, but had fun talking about our faves and a
Fictional mothers vs fictional fathers and Dickens on the page vs Dickens on screen in this episode of Tea or Books? – and I think Rachel and I are at our most rambling. What can I say, we had a lot
It’s been an enormous delay, because of internet issues, but – we’re back! In this episode, Rachel (Book Snob) and I debate rural vs urban settings in novels, then have a Jane Austen battle between Pride and Prejudice against Sense and Sensibility. We
http://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Tea-or-Books-episode-4.mp3 In this week’s episode, Rachel (Book Snob) and I get waaay out of our depth talking about American classics and British classics, then back onto more secure ground in debating Enid Blyton vs. E. Nesbit. (I stupidly forgot to close my window when recording, and that’s played merry havoc with the sound quality on my end, picking up passing cars on so forth. Sorrrry! I’ll remember for next time.)
But, we hope you enjoy it – do let us know what you think, and which you’d pick from each pair.
The books we mention are…
Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Ulysses by James Joyce
Henry James
Edith Wharton
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Jane Austen
Charles Dickens
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Shirley Jackson
St Clare’s series by Enid Blyton
Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton
The Naughtiest Girl in the School by Enid Blyton
Famous Five series by Enid Blyton
Magic Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
The Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
Enid Blyton: The Biography by Barbara Stoney
The Lark by E. Nesbit
Random Commentary by Dorothy Whipple
http://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Tea-or-Books-episode-3.mp3 A little later than we planned (which is probably a good indication of how unreliable we’re going to be… but I hope not!) here is episode 3 of Tea or Books? with lovely Rachel of Book Snob.
In this episode, we discuss re-reading vs. reading books that we’ve not read before (which I’ve described, more pithily, as ‘new books’ – but, knowing me and Rachel, they’re unlikely actually to be new) and then we pit D.E. Stevenson against Dorothy Whipple. That bit might get us into trouble, but we are ready and willing to get suggestions…
Listen above, or download/subscribe through iTunes (here, or search in iTunes store), and let us know what you think. You can even add ratings and reviews on iTunes, donchaknow.
The books we mention are:
Put Out More Flags – Evelyn Waugh
Emma – Jane Austen
Miss Hargreaves – Frank Baker
Provincial Lady series – E.M. Delafield
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
Cheerful Weather for the Weather – Julia Strachey
One Fine Day – Mollie Panter-Downes
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
Sweet Valley High
The Baby-sitters Club
The L-Shaped Room – Lynne Reid Banks
The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
Villette – Charlotte Bronte
Gilead – Marilynne Robinson
Between the Acts – Virginia Woolf
The Franchise Affair – Josephine Tey
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
Miss Buncle’s Book – D.E. Stevenson
Mrs Tim of the Regiment – D.E. Stevenson
Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
Someone at a Distance – Dorothy Whipple
They Knew Mr Knight – Dorothy Whipple
Greenbanks – Dorothy Whipple
High Wages – Dorothy Whipple
The Closed Door – Dorothy Whipple
Every Good Deed – Dorothy Whipple
They Were Sisters – Dorothy Whipple The Priory – Dorothy Whipple
Because of the Lockwoods – Dorothy Whipple
Random Commentary – Dorothy Whipple
The Other Day – Dorothy Whipple
Young Anne – Dorothy Whipple