Tea or Books?

Tea or Books? #97: Spontaneous or Planned Reading, and Tension vs Thank Heaven Fasting

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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 vie against each other: Tension, recently reprinted in the British Library Women Writers series, and Thank Heaven Fasting.

Do get in touch if you have any suggestions for future episodes, or questions for the middle section – teaorbooks@gmail.com. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, your podcast app of choice etc, and can support the podcast at Patreon.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Consequences by E.M. Delafield
The Way Things Are by E.M. Delafield
The Solange stories by F Tennyson Jesse
Mrs Alfred Sidgwick
The Hills Sleep On by Joanna Cannan
A Lion, A Mouse, and a Motor-Car by Dorothea Townshend
The Glass Wall by E.M. Delafield
Love Has No Resurrection by E.M. Delafield
The Gap of Time of Jeanette Winterson
The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
Barbara Kingsolver
Miss Bunting by Angela Thirkell
Love at All Ages by Angela Thirkell
The Duke’s Daughter by Angela Thirkell
Festival at Farbridge by J.B. Priestley
The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart
P.D. James
The Shelf by Phyllis Rose
Sun City by Tove Jansson
Agatha Christie
Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh
Georges Simenon
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Where There’s Love, There’s Hate by Adolfo Bioy Casares and Silvina Ocampo
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Mary Webb
Faster! Faster! by E.M. Delafield
The War Workers by E.M. Delafield
The Crowded Street by Winifred Holtby
Brook Evans by Susan Glaspell

Tea or Books? #96: Should Offensive Books Be Republished? and two Barbara Pyms

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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, we pit two Barbara Pym novels against each other – Crampton Hodnet and A Glass of Blessings.

Sorry it’s been a while – we actually recorded this a couple of weeks ago but it’s been too hot for me to edit a podcast. I know that doesn’t make sense, but I’m sticking to it.

We’d love to hear from you – you can get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com. You can support the podcast on Patreon, find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your podcast app of choice. Do let us know if you have any questions for the middle section, or any topics you’d like us to cover.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne
Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
I Ordered a Table for Six by Noel Streatfeild
Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
Miss Linsey and Pa by Stella Gibbons
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym
Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
Philip Larkin
An Academic Question by Barbara Pym
A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym
Walter Pater
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
Emma by Jane Austen
Tension by E.M. Delafield
Thank Heaven Fasting by E.M. Delafield

Tea or Books? #95: Woolf vs Austen and The Foolish Gentlewoman vs The Half-Crown House

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , , , 5 Comments

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 Austen and Virginia Woolf, suggested by my friend Paul.

In the second half, we look at two post-war novels about houses – The Foolish Gentlewoman by Margery Sharp and The Half-Crown House by Helen Ashton.

Do get in touch with us if you have any suggestions or questions – teaorbooks[at]gmail.com. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, your podcast app of choice etc. You can also support the podcast at Patreon, from as little as a dollar a month.

 

The books and authors we mention in this episode are everything by Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf [!] and:

There is a Fortress by Winifred Peck
House-Bound by Winifred Peck
Bewildering Cares by Winifred Peck
Arrest the Bishop by Winifred Peck
Summer by Ali Smith
Winter by Ali Smith
The Knox Brothers by Penelope Fitzgerald
Charlotte Mew by Penelope Fitzgerald
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Mapp and Lucia by E.F. Benson
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
The Village by Marghanita Laski
Tadpole Hall by Helen Ashton
Joanna at Littlefold by Helen Ashton
Yeoman’s Hospital by Helen Ashton
The Captain Comes Home by Helen Ashton
Angela Thirkell
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym
A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym
The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym by Paula Byrne

Tea or Books? #94: Do We Care Where Authors Live? and Dusty Answer vs Frost in May

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 17 Comments

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 their houses – we talk through authors’ houses we’ve visited and those we’d like to visit.

In the second half, we compare two coming-of-age novels: Frost in May by Antonia White and Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann.

Do get in touch if you have suggestions for topics, or questions for the central section – teaorbooks@gmail.com. You can listen above, through Spotify, through your podcast app of choice, or Apple Podcasts. You can support the podcast, and get mini bonus episodes, from as little as one dollar a month at Patreon.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

The Last of Summer by Kate O’Brien
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
No Place Like Home by Beverley Nichols
Jane Austen
Bronte sisters
The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell
Stephen Leacock
Virginia Woolf
William Wordsworth
This Golden Fleece by Esther Rutter
Robert Burns
Beatrix Potter
Dante
Emily Dickinson
Louisa M. Alcott
The Provincial Lady in America by E.M. Delafield
Rudyard Kipling
Thomas Hardy
Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie
A.A. Milne
E.M. Delafield
Barbara Comyns
Marilynne Robinson
They Knew Mr Knight by Dorothy Whipple
As For Me and My House by Sinclair
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
A Very Great Profession by Nicola Beauman
Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
Thrown to the Woolfs by John Lehmann
The Sincerest Form by E.M. Delafield
Olivia by Olivia
The Half Crown House by Helen Ashton
The Foolish Gentlewoman by Margery Sharp

Tea or Books? #93 Do We Care What Characters Are Called? and Two Tove Jansson Novels

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , 11 Comments

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 novel – or is it – The Summer Book and short story selection A Winter Book.

As ever, we would love to hear your questions and suggestions to teaorbooks@gmail.com. You can listen to the podcast above, through a podcast app, on Apple Podcasts, or on Spotify. You can support the podcast on Patreon, and many thanks to those who do

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Camilla by Frances Burney
Pamela by Samuel Richardson
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Tristam Shandy by Laurence Sterne
Evelina by Frances Burney
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
The Half Crown House by Helen Ashton
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
The Foolish Gentlewoman by Margery Sharp
P.G. Wodehouse
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
The Gipsy in the Parlour by Margery Sharp
The Reading Group by Elizabeth [not Barbara!] Noble
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Ballad and the Source by Rosamond Lehmann
Patience by John Coates
Charles Dickens
Anthony Trollope
A Name to Conjure With by G.B. Stern
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Weather by Jenny Offill
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Chemistry by Weike Wang
Sarah Crossan
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden
A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham
The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham
Sex Education by Janni Visman
Yellow by Janni Visman
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter
Lanny by Max Porter
Vanessa and Her Sisters by Priya Parmar
Lettice Delmer by Susan Miles
Hello Friend We Missed You by Richard Owain Roberts
Tomas Tranströmer
Fair Play by Tove Jansson
Sun City by Tove Jansson
The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann
Frost in May by Anthonia White

Tea or Books? #92: Do We Care What Characters Wear? and Girl, Woman, Other vs Life After Life

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 11 Comments

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 Moira’s excellent Clothes in Books blog for lots of this sort of thing.

In the second half, we are unusually modern – comparing Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo.

Do get in touch with us if you have any suggestions or questions – teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – and you can support the podcast at Patreon. Many thanks to those who do!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

The Flick by Annie Baker
John by Annie Baker
A Winter Book by Tove Jansson
A Name to Conjure With by G.B. Stern
For All We Know by G.B. Stern
Alan Ayckbourn
Harvey by Mary Chase
Speaking of Jane Austen by Sheila Kaye-Smith and G.B. Stern
More Talk of Jane Austen by Sheila Kaye-Smith and G.B. Stern
Flowers for Mrs Harris by Paul Gallico
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
‘Miss Brill’ by Katherine Mansfield
The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Letter From New York by Helene Hanff
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins
Emma by Jane Austen
Daisy’s Aunt by E.F. Benson
Mapp and Lucia by E.F. Benson
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
Ashcombe by Cecil Beaton
Edith Olivier
Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor
A Winter Book by Tove Jansson
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

Tea or Books? #91: Familiar or Unfamiliar Settings? and Two Elizabeth von Arnim novels

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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 compare two recently reprinted novels by Elizabeth von Arnim – Father and Expiation.

You can listen above, on Spotify, via Apple Podcasts, or any podcast app. You can support the podcast at Patreon, or get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com.

The books and authors we mention in this episode:

O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz
Emma by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Passing On by Penelope Lively
According to Mark by Penelope Lively
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
Dorothy L Sayers
E. M. Delafield
Charles Dickens
Winifred Holtby
Vera Brittain
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge
Maria Edgeworth
Brensham Village by John Moore
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers
The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Bowen
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Westwood by Stella Gibbons
The Matchmaker by Stella Gibbons
Bassett by Stella Gibbons
Here Be Dragons by Stella Gibbons
Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons
Barbara Pym
Alas, Poor Lady by Rachel Ferguson
Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay
Keeping Up Appearances by Rose Macaulay
Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay
Potterism by Rose Macaulay
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Tea or Books? #90: Good or Bad Reading Year? and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn vs O, The Brave Music

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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 talked much about the pandemic this year, because we want this to be one of the places people can escape from all that, but in this episode we’ve talked about how it affects our reading.

In the second half, in a slight change to the advertised pairing, we compare O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Both are coming-of-age novels set in the 1910s and published in the 1940s, though in very different environments.

We’ll see you in the new year – in the meantime, you can listen to this podcast on Spotify, via your podcast app, or at Apple podcasts. You can get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com and/or support the podcast at Patreon.

Thanks to Arpita of Bag Full of Books for her wonderful contribution to our Dorothy Evelyn Smith conversation!

Have a lovely Christmas and a happy new year – here’s hoping 2021 is better than 2020.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Three Kings by Stephen Beresford
Present Laughter by Noel Coward
Have His Carcass by Dorothy L Sayers
The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Willa Cather
Emily Eden
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Ali Smith
Square Haunting by Francesca Wade
Virginia Woolf
Business As Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford
John Buchan
A House in the Country by Ruth Adam
A Woman’s Place by Ruth Adam
Jack by Marilynne Robinson
The Swallowed Man by Edward Carey
Alva and Irva by Edward Carey
Little by Edward Carey
The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami
Leila Slimani
Jeeves and Wooster series by P.G. Wodehouse
The Girl on the Boat by P.G. Wodehouse
Miss Plum and Miss Penny by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Beyond the Gates by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Proud Citadel by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
The Lovely Day by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton
Miss Read
Tomorrow Will Be Better by Betty Smith
Expiation by Elizabeth von Arnim
Father by Elizabeth von Arnim

Tea or Books? #89: Do we care about gardens?, and Gilead vs Home

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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 Jen, we talk about Marilynne Robinson’s novels Gilead and Home. Finally, after talking about it for years!

You can listen above, at Spotify, at Apple Podcast, or via any podcast app you use. Reviews and ratings very welcome – they apparently help people find us. If you have any questions or suggestions, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com. And you can support the podcast at Patreon. What a lot of options!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Random Commentary by Dorothy Whipple
The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins
O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Expiation by Elizabeth von Arnim
Father by Elizabeth von Arnim
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham
Flesh and Blood by Michael Cunningham
Letters of Tove Jansson
Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce
A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz
Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink
On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
Faces of Justice by Sybille Bedford
Not at Home by Doris Langley Moore
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Down the Garden Path by Beverley Nichols
Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols
Dear Friend and Gardener by Beth Chatto and Christopher Lloyd
A.A. Milne
A Thatched Roof by Beverley Nichols
Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Virginia Woolf’s Garden by Caroline Zoob
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkley
Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay
Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay
A Scream in Soho by John Brandon
The Lake District Murder by John Bude
Agatha Christie
Quick Curtain by Alan Melville
Death of Anton by Alan Melville
The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton
Mystery in White by J Jefferson Farjeon
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Home by Marilynne Robinson
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Jack by Marilynne Robinson
O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Miss Plum and Miss Penny by Dorothy Evelyn Smith

Tea or Books? #88: Blurbs or No Blurbs, and The Remains of the Day vs Never Let Me Go

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? 2 Comments

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. In the second half, we look at two novels by Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go.

Do let us know if you have any questions for the central bit of the podcast – or any topic suggestions; we always love to hear them. You can find us in your podcast app of choice, via Apple podcasts, or on Spotify. And you can support the podcast on Patreon, should you so wish!

Incidentally, apologies for Hargreaves miaowing for his tea throughout… which, indeed, he had already eaten.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Jack by Marilynne Robinson
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Home by Marilynne Robinson
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Talk of the Devil by Frank Baker
Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
Letters of Virginia Woolf
Essays by Gloria Steinem
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Mrs Parkington by Louis Bromfield
Gelett Burgess
The Strange Case of Miss Annie Spragg by Louis Bromfield
Barbara Pym
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Asleep in the Sun by Adolfo Bioy Casares
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro