podcast

 
Villains or virtuous folk? No, not describing your hosts Rachel (Book Snob) and me, but enquiring into our favourite types of characters. In the second half, we look at two books by Mollie Panter-Downes: One Fine Day and London War Notes, comparing novel and non-fiction (and ultimately, of course, loving both).

I think I left the window open again. Oops… sorry if the sound quality is affected once again. Let’s face it, if you were after stark professionalism then you’d have given up on us ages ago. Anyway, check us out via your podcast downloader of choice, or via our iTunes page.

Here are the books and authors we discuss…

London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins
The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton
Journeying Wave by Richmal Crompton
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Celia by E.H. Young
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Pollyanna by Eleanor H Porter
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Pamela by Samuel Richardson
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Atticus Finch)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Joe Gargery)
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Emma by Jane Austen (Mr Knightley)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Jane Bennet)
Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Agatha Christie
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
101 Dalmations by Stella Gibbons (Cruella de Vil)
Othello by William Shakespeare
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes
The Provincial Lady in Wartime by E.M. Delafield
Postscripts by J.B Priestley
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Thanks for listening!

 

Happy endings? Sad endings? And a couple of Elizabeth von Arnim novels – we have a fun, albeit somewhat sickly episode. It makes me think of my favourite, my-missed sitcom Happy Endings, but we’re actually talking about whether we prefer books to be cheerful or miserable at the end (or, indeed, something in between). Spoilers alert, unsurprisingly – and thanks, Faith, for your suggestion. In the second half of the podcast, we talk about one of our favourite writers, Elizabeth von Arnim, and stage a battle between her two most famous novels, Elizabeth and Her German Garden and The Enchanted April.

I had to cut out a lot of coughing, so apologies if things are a bit disjointed. I left a few coughs in for effect.

Do head over to our iTunes page (why not leave us a review?!) or download through a podcast app, or listen in the player above. We love hearing from you – so do let us know your thoughts, or your suggestions. And here are the books we mention…

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay
The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngoza Adichie
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
Elizabeth Taylor
Barbara Pym
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Guard Your Daughters by Diane Tutton
Paul Gallico
The Chateau by William Maxwell
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
A Talent to Deceive: an Appreciation of Agatha Christie by Robert Barnard
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
Christopher and Columbus by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Caravanners by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Enchanted August by Brenda Bowen
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Father by Elizabeth von Arnim
Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim
Mr Skeffington by Elizabeth von Arnim
Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim

Ebooks! Books! Nancy Mitford! Evelyn Waugh! We’ve got it all for you in episode 11, as we turn our attention to the well-worn path of ebooks vs paper books/tree books/real books (whatever you want to call them) and to Nancy Mitford vs Evelyn Waugh. We’d love to hear your views on these topics, particularly suggestions for Miford or Waugh books to read. Download through your podcast app of choice, or via our iTunes page.

Suggestions for future topics couldn’t be more welcome – particularly if they come in an X vs Y format, as sometimes it is quite hard to work ideas into our Tea vs Books pattern of doing things. Apologies for any popping on the microphone. Apparently using a mug as a mic stand doesn’t work as well as one might think.

Here are the books and authors we mention in episode 11…

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Death on the Riviera by John Bude
The Eye of Love by Margery Sharp
Barbara Pym
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Christine by ‘Alice Cholmondeley’ (Elizabeth von Arnim)
The Lark by E. Nesbit
Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton
The Other Day by Dorothy Whipple
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The 100 Best Novels by Robert McCrum
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Wigs on the Green by Nancy Mitford
Pigeon Pie by Nancy Mitford
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford
E.F Benson
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford
The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters ed. Charlotte Moseley

 

 
‘Tea or Books?’ is back for the new year – and it starts pretty shambolically, as we can’t remember the episode number. Once that is sorted out, we discuss whether or not we set New Year’s Reading Resolutions, and then debate the relative merits of beloved authors Barbara Pym and Elizabeth Taylor. It’s definitely one of those times that I’m delighted that I can keep both authors on my shelves, but it’s fun to challenge ourselves with the prospect of having to lose one of them.

As always, we’re very keen to hear what you think – and any topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes. We’re so thrilled to be back for our second year (more or less)! Here, as usual, are the books we discuss in this episode… Download via your podcast app of choice, or at our iTunes page.

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Curiosity by Alberto Manguel
A Reader on Reading by Alberto Manguel
The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann
The Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon
Colette
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay
The Other Elizabeth Taylor by Nicola Beauman
A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor
At Mrs Lippincote’s by Elizabeth Taylor
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym
Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor
A Very Private Eye by Barbara Pym
An Academic Question by Barbara Pym

 

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