Tea Or Books?

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.