Tea or Books? #73: One Chance or Many Chances, and Two Margery Sharp Novels

How many chances will we give an author? And Margery Sharp!


 

In the first half of the episode, we ask whether we’re one-strike-you’re-out people or if we’re willing to give an author several chances – and which authors we’ve learned to love after a few books. In the second half, we compare Cluny Brown and The Gipsy in the Parlour by Margery Sharp.

Do get in touch to let us know which you’d choose, and any other Sharp novels you’d recommend. You can see the podcast at iTunes, support us at Patreon, and do rate and review us at your podcast app of choice, please! Get in touch also if you have any ideas for future episodes – we’re pretty open to suggestions, especially for the first half of the episodes. Apologies for some dodgy sound quality in Rachel’s recording – and for her washing machine, of course. And the discussion of the novels is a bit shorter than intended because I cut a bit where we gave away too many spoilers!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Progress of Julius by Daphne du Maurier
Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark
Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
A Room With A View by E.M. Forster
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
Howards End by E.M. Forster
Charles Dickens
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Melmoth by Sarah Perry
Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
Our Spoons Came From Woolworths by Barbara Comyns
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen
To The North by Elizabeth Bowen
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Jose Saramago
Dan Brown
William Shakespeare
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
The Sandcastle by Irish Murdoch
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Black Dogs by Ian McEwan
Atonement by Ian McEwan
E.M. Delafield
The Foolish Gentlewoman by Margery Sharp
P.G. Wodehouse
The Eye of Love by Margery Sharp
Britannia Mews by Margery Sharp
Lise Lillywhite by Margery Sharp
The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
The Triumphant Footman by Edith Olivier
Miss Mole by E.H. Young
Chatterton Square by E.H. Young
The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp
Stoner by John Williams
The Easter Parade by Richard Yates

Peas in a Podcast #6

If you love hearing me and my twin brother talk about statistics exams, famous people called Simon and Colin, and the plus and minus points of views – then episode 6 of ‘Peas in a Podcast’ is for you! Listen below, or subscribe via the podcast app of your choice. (If you search for it, it’s worth adding ‘Simon’ in too, because turns out a lot of people had the same idea for this podcast title.)

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Tea or Books? #72: Reading at Home vs Reading Elsewhere and The Hours vs Mrs Woolf and the Servants

Where do we like to read? And books inspired by Virginia Woolf. It’s a very ‘us’ episode.


 
In the first half of this episode, we’re adopting a question suggested by Teddy – reading at home vs reading elsewhere – and discuss our favourite places to read (alongside some wonderful suggestions from some Patreon patrons. Check out our Patreon page!) In the second half, we look at two books inspired by Virginia Woolf – one is Mrs Woolf and the Servants by Alison Light (non-fiction), and the other is The Hours by Michael Cunningham. It was a really fun discussion!

We also talk more about tea than usual, just to even things out.

Check us out on iTunes, rate/review us through your podcast app etc (even if you think I laugh too much ;) ), and don’t forget you can find us on Spotify too. Do get in touch if you have any ideas for future episodes – we always love hearing from you.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
Stoner by John Williams
The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark
The Carlyles at Home by Thea Holme
At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie
The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham
By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
Land’s End by Michael Cunningham
Forever England by Alison Light
Common People by Alison Light
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
The Gipsy in the Parlour by Margery Sharp

Tea or Books? #71: Multi-Narrative vs Single Narrative, and Period Piece vs A London Child of the 1870s

Lots of perspectives or a single narrative, and two 19th-century childhood memoirs – here we go!

In the first half of this episode, we discuss multi-narrative novels and whether or not we prefer them to single narrative novels. In the second half, we turn to memoirs of 19th-century childhood – Molly Hughes’ novel A London Child of the 1870s vs Gwen Raverat’s Period Piece.

You can rate and review the podcast wherever you download your podcasts (and we love it when you do!) You can also visit our Patreon page and explore the various options there, and see our iTunes page. I never quite know what the link does, but when I missed it out people noticed!

Do get in touch with ideas for future topics – and the books and authors we mentioned in this episode are:

Lonely City by Olivia Laing
To The River by Olivia Laing
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
Mr Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood
On the Other Side by Mathilde Wolff-Monckeburg
Walter Scott
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
Pax by Sara Pennypacker
Speaking of Love by Angela Young
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
How To Be Both by Ali Smith
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Girl on the Train by Paul Hawkins
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell
Barbara Comyns
Blue Remembered Hills by Rosemary Sutcliff
Vanessa Bell by Francis Spalding
A London Girl of the 1880s by Molly Hughes
A London Family Between the Wars by Molly Hughes
A London Home in the 1890s by Molly Hughes
The Runaway by Elizabeth Anna Hart
Mrs Woolf and the Servants by Alison Light
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Tea or Books? #70: Simon Takes a Tour of Rachel’s Bookshelves

Simon visited Rachel – so naturally took a look around the shelves. Come for the tour!

In a change from scheduled programming, we do a slightly different episode. I was staying with Rachel in her beautiful flat while I was at a conference – and we thought it would be fun for me to take a tour of her shelves, discussing the books that caught our eye as we went around. We’ll be back to normal service next time – and hopefully I’ll be able to return the favour with my shelves at some point.

We don’t usually record quite this haphazardly, so fingers crossed the audio is OK. And, don’t forget, you can support the podcast at Patreon, see us at iTunes, and please do rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. And do get in touch if you have any ideas for future episodes – particularly for the first halves.

We’re gonna mention a LOT of books and authors in this podcast, so ready yourself for a super long list:

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood
Mr Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood
Mrs Christopher by Elizabeth Myers
Littleton Powys
A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys
Wolf Solvent by John Cowper Powys
A Baker’s Dozen by Llewellyn Powys
Mr Weston’s Good Wine by T.F. Powys
The Letters of Elizabeth Myers
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
Greengates by R.C. Sherriff
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Loved and Envied by Enid Bagnold
The Squire by Enid Bagnold
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Henrietta’s War by Joyce Dennys
Alva & Irva by Edward Carey
Little by Edward Carey
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
Crossriggs by Jane and Mary Findlater
The Green Road by Anne Enright
The Boat by L.P. Hartley
Seasoned Timber by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
A Perfect Woman by L.P. Hartley
News of the World by Paulette Giles
Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
Four Hedges by Claire Leighton
Rosamund Lehmann
Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden
The Green Leaves of Summer by Oriel Malet
Marjory Fleming by Oriel Malet
Letters from Menabilly by Daphne du Maurier
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Four Days’ Wonder by A.A. Milne
Nancy Mitford
The Happy Tree by Rosalind Murray
Marilynne Robinson
Dorothy L Sayers
The Gipsy in the Parlour by Margery Sharp
Britannia Mews by Margery Sharp
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Tomorrow Will Be Better by Betty Smith
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
Elizabeth Taylor
A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark
Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray
The Country Child by Alice Uttley
Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton
Lisette’s List by Susan Vreeland
Sarah Waters
Evelyn Waugh
The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
Stoner by John Williams
Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
The Easter Parade by Richard Yates
Edith Wharton
Dorothy Whipple
All the Days and Nights by William Maxwell
A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Noel Streatfeild
Finn Family Moonmintroll by Tove Jansson
E.M. Delafield
Jane Austen
Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton
St Clare’s series by Enid Blyton
Miss Read
Little House on the Prarie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Provincial Lady Goes Further by E.M. Delafield
Mazo de la Roche
How Like an Angel by A.G. Macdonnell
England, Their England by A.G. Macdonnell
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Goodnight, Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian
Teaching Grammar Through Literature by Rachel Fenn (!!) and Anna McGlynn
Happily Ever After by Susannah Fullerton
The Child That Books Built by Francis Spufford
The Road to Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead
Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
Virginia Woolf by Alexandra Harris
Mrs Woolf and the Servants by Alison Light
Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill
The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne
The Path Through The Trees by Christopher Milne
The Other Day by Dorothy Whipple
Random Commentary by Dorothy Whipple
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
A Very Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Bluestockings by Jane Robinson
Knole and the Sackvilles by Vita Sackville-West
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood
The Long Weekend by Robert Graves and Alan Hodge
The Houses of the National Trust
The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970
by Martin Salisbury
Station to Station 

Britain’s Lost Railways
A whole bunch of railway books that I couldn’t find the titles for. I just can’t.
Period Piece by Gwen Raverat
A London Child of the 1870s by Molly Hughes

Tea or Books? #69: Small World vs Wide World and Blue Remembered Hills vs Seasoned Timber

Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Rosemary Sutcliff, and the scope of the books we love. Happy February!

 

In the first half of this episode, we discuss small world vs wide world in novels – do we like small communities or novels where characters move around a lot? In the second half, we find out what the other thought of our recommendations. I thought Rachel would love Blue Remembered Hills by Rosemary Sutcliff; she thought I’d love Seasoned Timber by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. Did we get it right?

You can support the podcast on Patreon, find us on iTunes, and rate/review us in your podcast app. We love it when people do – many thanks, sloutro, for your recent review! Do let us know any topic ideas you’d like us to discuss. And here is my LibraryThing catalogue, as mentioned!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

The Crimson and the White by Michel Faber
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier
The Book of William by Paul Collins
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
Contested Will by James Shapiro
Emma by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Shirley Jackson
Barbara Pym
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Charles Dickens
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Everything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Larchfield by Polly Clark
Bleaker House by Nell Stevens
Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Four Days’ Wonder by A.A. Milne
The 39 Steps by John Buchan
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
The Great Western Beach by Emma Smith
The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Brimming Cup by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Her Son’s Wife by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Cinderella Goes to the Morgue by Nancy Spain
Look Back With Love by Dodie Smith
Period Piece by Gwen Raverat
A London Child of the 1870s by Molly Hughes

Peas in a Podcast #4

For the niche audience who enjoy listening to me and my brother Colin witter on about nothing, here’s the much-delayed (because editing is boring) fourth episode of ‘Peas in a Podcast’! Now also available through podcast apps etc, though you might have to search ‘peas in a podcast Simon Colin’, or something, because lots of other people had the same idea as us…

Enjoy!

Tea or Books? #68: Tact vs Attack, and North and South vs Pride and Prejudice

The books we hate (and should we tell you?) and Elizabeth Gaskell vs Jane Austen.
 

 

In the first half of this episode, we talk about the books we’ve hated – prepare for things to get contentious! – and then, perhaps belatedly, debate whether or not we should keep those opinions to ourselves. In the second half (thanks to a recommendation by Rebekah), we compare two nineteenth-century classics: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

You can support the podcast at Patreon (with a bunch of reward levels, including getting a book sent to you each month), visit our iTunes page, rate and review wherever you get podcasts, or just listen to the episode. Let us know which books you hate, and any suggestions you have for the podcast.

Apologies for some Skype issues we had while recording this, but hopefully you can work out what’s going on! We had to stop and start a few times in places.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
The Boat by L.P. Hartley
Alice by Elizabeth Eliot
Rachel Ferguson
Barbara Comyns
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Baltasar and Blimunda by Jose Saramago
Henry James
NW by Zadie Smith
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Howards End by E.M. Forster
The Masters by C.P. Snow
Pamela Hansford Johnson
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Agatha Raisin series by M.C. Beaton
Agatha Christie
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Margaret Drabble
Lee Child
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
Ivanhoe by Walter Scott
The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce
Gone to Earth by Mary Webb
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
George Eliot
Charles Dickens
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
Blue Remembered Hills by Rosemary Sutcliff
Seasoned Timber by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Tea or Books? #67: Books as Gifts: Yes or No, and Little vs Alva & Irva

Edward Carey and books as gifts – happy new year; we’re back!

 

We had a bit of a longer break over Christmas, but we’re back and raring to go with a post-Christmas discussion about whether or not we like giving books as gifts and receiving books as gifts. Which transforms into giving vs receiving at some point. We’re nothing if not flexible.

In the second half, we’re uncharacteristically modern – with two novels from the 21st century! Edward Carey’s Alva & Irva and Little go head to head.

You can support the podcast on Patreon, view our iTunes page, and subscribe to the podcast via your usual podcast provider. We’re always keen to hear ideas from people, so do get in touch.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Stoner by John Williams
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Iris Murdoch
Baltasar and Blimunda by Jose Saramago (who is Portuguese, not Brazilian!)
Blindness by Jose Saramago
Milan Kundera
Old Baggage by Lissa Evans
Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans
The Sweet and Twenties by Beverley Nichols
Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
Young Man With Horn by Dorothy Baker
The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne
Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson
I’d Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Out of the Red, into the Blue by Barbara Comyns
The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson
Robert Galbraith
Greengates by R.C. Sherriff
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Familiar Studies of Men and Books by R.L. Stevenson
Christine Orr
Inside Black Mirror by Charlie Brooker
Terms and Conditions by Ysenda Maxtone Graham
In the Dark Room by Brian Dillon
Yellow by Janni Visman
Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey
Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell