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#149: Do We Like Campus Novels? and Two Books By Muriel Spark

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Muriel Spark and campus novels – welcome to episode 149!

In 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

#148: Is There A Right Time To Read A Book? and The Dutch House vs The Party

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Ann Patchett, Tessa Hadley, and finding the right time to read a book – welcome to episode 149!

In 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

#147: Quality vs Quantity and Two Books About Artists

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Douglas Bruton, Carolyn Trant, and quality vs quantity – welcome to episode 147 or Tea or Books?!

In 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!

tea or books logo

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

#146: Our Top 10 Books of 2025

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? 13 Comments

Our favourite reads of the year! Welcome to episode 146.

We 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.

tea or books logo

Rachel’s top 10 books are:

10. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
9. Small Domb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans
8. The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris
7. Voyaging Out by Carolyn Trant
6. Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
5. Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
4. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
3. Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
2. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
1. Braided Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Simon’s top 10 books are:

10. Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel by Mark Hussey
9. Bookish by Lucy Mangan
8. Love by Elizabeth von Arnim
7. Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
6. Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
5. Treasure Hunt by Molly Keane
4. The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
3. The Equations of Love by Ethel Wilson
2. Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton
1. 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

#145: Younger vs Older Authors and Rhine Journey vs Fenny

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Ann Schlee! Lettice Cooper! Authors! Welcome to episode 145 of Tea or Books?

In 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

#144: Simple vs Ornate Style, and Sylvia Plath vs Janet Malcolm

StuckinaBook All, Tea or Books? , , 4 Comments

Sylvia Plath, Janet Malcolm and our thoughts on writing style – welcome to episode 144!

In 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

#143 : Do We Avoid Books That Will Upset Us? and Agatha Christie vs Ethel Lina White

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 4 Comments

Agatha Christie, Ethel Lina White, and sad books – welcome to episode 143!

In 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

#142: Can We Like A Character Who Makes Stupid Decisions? and Other People vs A Five Year Sentence

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 8 Comments

Celia Dale! Bernice Rubens! Stupidity! Welcome to episode 142 of Tea or Books?

In 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

#141: Do We Care About Weather in Novels? and Crooked Cross vs The Spring Begins

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Sally Carson, Katherine Dunning, and the weather – welcome to episode 141!

tea or books logo

In 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

#140: Our 10 Favourite Books from 10 Years

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? 31 Comments

It’s time for our favourite 10 books from 10 years of ‘Tea or Books?’!

Rachel 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

10. Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson (ep 137)
9. Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton (ep 8)
8. A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair (ep 36)
7. The Lark by E. Nesbit (ep 56)
6. Father by Elizabeth von Arnim (ep 91)
5. A Compass Error by Sybille Bedford (ep 47)
4. The Heir by Vita Sackville-West (ep 45)
3. A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse (ep 34)
2. Four Gardens by Margery Sharp (ep 102)
1. One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes (ep 13)

SIMON’S TOP TEN

10. Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee (ep 20)
9. Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (ep 137)
8. Enbury Heath by Stella Gibbons (ep 107)
7. The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola (ep 130)
6. Four Gardens by Margery Sharp (ep 102)
5. The Semi-Detached House and The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden (ep 48)
4. The Sweet and Twenties by Beverley Nichols (ep 52)
3. The Diviners by Margaret Laurence (ep 103)
2. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (ep 20)
1. 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