George Orwell, E.H. Young, guilty pleasures – welcome to episode 127!

In 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!

In 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!

In 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.

Some 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!

In 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!

I 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!

In 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!

We 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 half we compare two fairly recent novels – Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, and Women Talking by Miriam Toews.

Do get in touch if you have any questions or suggestions for the podcast – at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – and you can listen wherever you listen to podcasts! You can support the podcast at Patreon, should you so wish, with various available rewards.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Mrs Hart’s Marriage Bureau by Sheena Wilkinson
Day by Michael Cunningham
No Leading Lady by R.C. Sherriff
Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff
Marghanita Laski
The Dark Fantastic by Margaret Echard
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Love-Child by Edith Olivier
The Venetian Glass Nephew by Elinor Wylie
Sherlock Holmes novels by Arthur Conan Doyle
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple novels by Agatha Christie
Lord Peter Wimsey novels by Dorothy L. Sayers
Jackson Brodie novels by Kate Atkinson
The Thursday Club Murders by Richard Osman
Murder Before Evensong by Richard Coles
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Sergeant Cluff series by Gil North
Mrs Bradley series by Gladys Mitchell
Quick Curtain by Alan Melville
Maigret series by Georges Simenon
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge
A Favourite of the Gods by Sybille Bedford
A Compass Error by Sybille Bedford
Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene
Balkan Trilogy and Levant Trilogy by Olivia Manning
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
William Blake
The Book of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
The English Air by D.E. Stevenson
The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson

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 the second half, we compare two novellas about immigrant experiences – Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid and The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka.

As ever, you can support the podcast at Patreon, get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!

Listen to the podcast wherever you get podcasts (including Spotify) and we’d love it if you could read and review.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Picnic in the Shade by Rosemary Edisford
Noble Ambitions by Adrian Tinniswood
The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood
Letty Landon by Helen Ashton
William series by Richmal Crompton
Family Roundabout by Richmal Crompton
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
Frost at Morning by Richmal Crompton
Matty and the Dearingroydes by Richmal Crompton
I Ordered A Table For Six by Noel Streatfeild
Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Edith Wharton
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
The Lark by E. Nesbit
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden
John Boyne
Sarah Crossan
The Rescuers by Margery Sharp
Barbara Euphan Todd
Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Penelope Lively
C.S. Lewis
Chloe Marr by A.A. Milne
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
‘Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth
Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Women Talking by Miriam Toews

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 Review, her work as Senior Editor of McNally Editions, or her editing of A Different Sound: Stories of Mid-Century Women Writers. Or any number of other things. What excitement to have her on the episode!

In the first half, we discuss unnamed narrators and other characters – are we fans? In the second half we pit Sally on the Rocks by Winifred Boggs against Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott, both recently reprinted novels that are quite ahead of their time.

You can listen above or on Spotify or your podcast app of choice. You can support the podcast at Patreon or get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie
West With The Night by Beryl Markham
English Journey by Beryl Bainbridge
J.B. Priestley
Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge
Gerald: A Portrait by Daphne du Maurier
A Flat Place by Noreen Masud
Sagittarius by Natalia Ginzburg
My Face For The World To See by Alfred Hayes
Foster by Claire Keegan
Making Love by Jean-Philippe Toussaint
The Forensic Records Society by Magnus Mills
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Milkman by Anna Burns
Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas
Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe
Mrs S by K Patrick
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
Intimacies by Katie Kitamura
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Rebecca Watson
The Love Child by Edith Olivier
Elizabeth Bowen
They by Kay Dick
The Ice Age by Margaret Drabble
The Indignant Spinsters by Winifred Boggs
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen