Tea or Books?

 

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 Christmas books. The second part was sort of suggested by Samantha or A Musical Feast (in that I intended to do a blog post about Christmas reading, and accidentally did this instead.) We would love to know more of your Christmas book recommendations – please do put them in the comment section.

Rachel and I are very grateful for your support for ‘Tea or Books?’ in 2015, and we’ll be back in 2016 with more – and, as always, would love your suggestions for topics to cover.

Below are the books we chat about (or at least mention) in this episode. Happy Christmas!

Queen Camilla by Sue Townsend
The Queen and I by Sue Townsend
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamund Lehmann
The Weather in the Streets by Rosamund Lehmann
Dusty Answer by Rosamund Lehmann
The Echoing Grove by Rosamund Lehmann
The Ballad and the Source by Rosamund Lehmann
Agatha Christie
The Phantoms on the Bookshelf by Jacques Bonnet
The Making Of by Brecht Evens
Ian and Felicity by Denis Mackail
The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell
Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Nutcracker
The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon
The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder
A Proper Family Christmas by Jane Gordon-Cumming
Ten Days of Christmas by G.B. Stern
Just William’s Christmas by Richmal Crompton
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Selected Ghost Stories by M.R. James
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
The Santa Klaus Mystery by Mavis Doriel Hay
Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay
Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay
Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford
‘The First Miracle’ by Jeffrey Archer

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 few not-so-faves. And then things get Woolfian – To The Lighthouse vs A Room of One’s Own, where we try to decide whether we prefer Virginia Woolf’s fiction or non-fiction. Things get heated, y’all. (And my mic is a little fuzzy and wibbly. I need to work on that.)

This took ages to post because I’ve been so busy, so references to books to read for The 1924 Club are sadly no longer apt. Nor are my protestations of being in my 20s…

As usual, here are a list of the books we discuss. It was a LOT this week. You can listen to the podcast up above, or via iTunes, or through whichever podcast app you use (I love Podcast Addict, btw).

Mark Only by T.F. Powys
The Chateau by William Maxwell
The Element of Lavishness by William Maxwell and Sylvia Townsend Warner
What There Is To Say We Have Said by William Maxwell and Eudora Welty
The Folded Leaf by William Maxwell
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
My Career Goes Bung by Miles Franklin
The Squire by Enid Bagnold
The Loved and Envied by Enid Bagnold
The Happy Foreigner by Enid Bagnold
Young Entry by Molly Keane
Tea and Tranquilisers by Diane Harpwood
It’s Hard to be Hip Over Thirty by Judith Viorst
The Rector’s Daughter by F.M. Mayor
The Home-maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Brimming Cup by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Vicar’s Daughter by E.H. Young
The Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Love-Child by Edith Olivier
Elizabeth von Arnim
Elizabeth Taylor
Barbara Pym
Christopher and Columbus by Elizabeth von Arnim
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
No Surrender by Constance Maud
London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes
Family Roundabout by Richmal Crompton
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
Consequences by E.M. Delafield
Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple
Fidelity by Susan Glaspell
The Runaway by Elizabeth Anna Hart
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
William: an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf and the Servants by Alison Light
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Sylvia Plath
Bloomsbury’s Outsider by Sarah Knights
Enid Blyton
Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton

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 of thoughts and a lot of books to suggest – but we would obviously love to hear your thoughts too. Jump in the comments if you have strong feelings on either of the topics we discuss – or if you have ideas for future discussions.

You can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes here.

The books we mention in the podcast (and there are a lot this time!) are:

The Middle Window by Elizabeth Goudge
The Thirteen Guests by J. Jefferson Farjeon
The Lake District Murders by John Bude
Quick Curtain by Alan Melville
Death of Anton by Alan Melville
The Majestic Mystery by Denis Mackail
When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne
Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
The Runaways by Elizabeth Goudge
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Harry Potter series
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Famous Five series
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson
M for Mother by Marjorie Riddell
Please Don’t Eat the Daisies by Jean Kerr
Man and Boy by Tony Parsons
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton
Daddy’s Gone A-Hunting by Penelope Mortimer
The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Vet’s Daughter by Barbara Comyns
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Alas, Poor Lady by Rachel Ferguson
Thank Heaven Fasting by E.M. Delafield
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Virginia Woolf by Winifred Holtby
The Crowded Street by Winifred Holtby
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

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 also address the all-important question we’ve thus far ignored: tea or books?

SO sorry we’ve been away for ages, but we’ll be back regularly now. I know Rachel’s missed it as much as I have, and we’re very excited to get back in the swing of things. Do let us know if you have any comments on the podcast, or recommendations for future podcast topics.

(Apologies for the sounds of aeroplanes at intervals…)

Here are the books we mention along the way (including the authors’ names we missed out!):

Armadale by Wilkie Collins
Let Me Tell You by Shirley Jackson
‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
Westwood by Stella Gibbons
Night and Day by Virginia Woolf
The Years by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
Emma by Jane Austen
Ferney by James Long
The Midnight Bell by Patrick Hamilton
Corduroy by Adrian Bell
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
Elizabeth Gaskell
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Fanny Burney
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

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

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

Welcome to the second episode of our podcast! In this episode, Rachel and I are discussing long books vs. short books and The Catcher in the Rye vs. The Go-Between. Buckle up; it’s a long episode. We certainly loved having our chat. AND I got a new mic, and… well, the editing time was certainly cut down drastically. We’re getting there!

You can listen by clicking on the audio above, or (hopefully!) on iTunes. I don’t know how this RSS feed thing works, but the episode should appear if you search for Tea or Books? on iTunes, or here. (It’s not there just after I published, but I assume these things take a while to register.) (UPDATE: it worked!)

The books we mention in this episode, in case you’re listening and want to nab one of recommendations, are…

Gillespie and I – Jane Harris
Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel
Bloomsbury’s Outsider – Sarah Knights
Wartime: Britain 1939-1945 – Juliet Gardiner
The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
The Luminaries – Eleanor Catton
The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters
On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan
Black Dogs – Ian McEwan
Being Dead – Jim Crace
The Love-Child – Edith Olivier
Lady Into Fox – David Garnett
Love of Seven Dolls – Paul Gallico
Flowers for Mrs Harris – Paul Gallico
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Letters of the Mitford Sisters
A Curious Friendship – Anna Thomasson
Germany: Memories of a Nation – Neil MacGregor
Virginia Woolf – Hermione Lee
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
The Warden – Anthony Trollope
Barchester Towers – Anthony Trollope
Can You Forgive Her? – Anthony Trollope
Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens
The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Go-Between – L.P. Hartley
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The History Boys – Alan Bennett
My Salinger Year – Joanna Rakoff
I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith
Guard Your Daughters – Diana Tutton
The Death of the Heart – Elizabeth Bowen
A House in Paris – Elizabeth Bowen
Virginia – Jens Christian Grøndhal

An exciting announcement, everybody! I have entered the world of podcasting – with no less than the wonderful Rachel from Book Snob.

Tea or Books? is the name of the podcast – in which we debate the difficult decisions of literature and reading. The title came to me because the idea of choosing between tea and books was such a difficult prospect (and luckily a decision I don’t need to make). The idea of pitting books, authors, and reading habits against each other seemed like a productive vein, and we’ve already had great fun debating.

The first person I thought of, when wondering whom to co-podcast with, was Rachel. I’ve been following her blog ever since it began, back in its Blogger incarnation, and we’ve met quite a few times in person – I thought she’d be perfect, given her taste in books and her hilarious humour, so I was absolutely thrilled when she agreed to co-host. Thanks Rachel!

In episode 1, we’re discussing books in translation vs. books in English set in other countries, and Emily vs. Charlotte Brontë. We’d welcome suggestions for future topics!

A couple other things…

• this will be available via iTunes soon, I hope, but the instructions how to get it there have rather confused me. I’ll work on it! And will update when it is. (ADDITION: David says “Those unable to wait for the podcast to be available via ITunes should be able to subscribe via any podcast player or feed reader using this link: https://www.stuckinabook.com/category/podcast/feed“)
• I’m aware that the sound quality definitely isn’t the best, so forgive us for that (I’ve already bought a new microphone) – hopefully our charm will carry us through episode 1… (helpful editing tips welcomed) N.B. reuploaded from the first try! A bit better now.
• Rachel’s having difficulty uploading to her blog, which might be the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org… any tips??