For our special hundredth episode, Rachel and I are doing a question and answer. Thanks so much to everybody who sent in questions – we didn’t get to all of them, but hopefully we answered at least one of yours.
Do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com if you’d like to ask anything for future episodes. Reviews and ratings very gratefully received, especially if they’re nice!
You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, podcast apps, and Patreon if you’d like to support the pod and get various bonuses and benefits.
The books and authors we mention in this are:
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
The Willow Cabin by Pamela Frankau
A Wreath for the Enemy by Pamela Frankau
Marriage of Harlequin by Pamela Frankau
The Semi-Detached House by Emily Eden
The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden
Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton
Provincial Lady series by E.M. Delafield
Tension by E.M. Delafield
Thank Heaven Fasting by E.M. Delafield
Consequences by E.M. Delafield
Another Country by James Baldwin
Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Homecoming by Yaa Gyasi
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
Mr Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
Pieces by Helen Oyeyemi
Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers
Whose Body by Dorothy L Sayers
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers
Jazz by Toni Morrison
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
A.A. Milne
Modern Humour
The Feminine Middlebrow Novel by Nicola Humble
A Very Great Profession by Nicola Humble
Mindy Kaling
Issa Rae
Anna Kendrick
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
Donna Tartt
Milan Kundera
Leo Tolstoy
Margery Sharp
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
Louisa M. Alcott
The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Mr Pim Passes By by A.A. Milne
Richmal Crompton
Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
Wurzel Gummidge by Barbara Euphan Todd
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
Emma by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Thrush Green series by Miss Read
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
National Provincial by Lettice Cooper
Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes
Greengates by R.C. Sherriff
The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff
Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple
Into the Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
Muriel Spark
Speaking of Love by Angela Young
Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford
Told in Winter by Jon Godden
Rumer Godden
Dan Brown
The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Zadie Smith
Mary Webb
O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
The Tree of Heaven by May Sinclair
Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay
Mamma by Diana Tutton
Tea Is So Intoxicating by Mary Essex
Father by Elizabeth von Arnim
A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
Messalina of the Suburbs by E.M. Delafield
Mapp and Lucia series by E.F. Benson
A Visit to Don Otavio by Sybille Bedford
Pleasures and Landscapes by Sybille Bedford
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf
The Years by Virginia Woolf
Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Nemo’s Almanac
Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
Miss Plum and Miss Penny by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Marilynne Robinson
Happy 100th! What a fun and enjoyable listen … although Rachel is making me VERY nervous! Nobody should be teased about clearing out books. Having a large amount of books is not hoarding – it’s just a collection and as long as they make Simon happy there’s no problem about being stuck-in-books. I definitely think it’s much more appealing to live in a space overflowing with books as opposed to living in a roomy space with only books on a couple of walls. Simon, you’re an inspiration for cozy, bookish, small-space interior living – seriously. The fact that Rachel feels most comfortable in a more minimalist living space does not mean that everyone else shares the same feelings about (or has a horrible problem with) alternative ways of figuring out when/if it’s the right time to get rid of books.
Thank you Wym! I wouldn’t have it any other way. I think she’ll like it when she sees it :D
Thanks so much for putting the entire piece of music at the end ! I loved it 😁
Oh I’m glad, thanks Linda!
Thank you for this fun episode, and for your recommendations.
I must say I am disappointed that Rachel doesn’t like cats! To me they are perfect, the most perfect animal there is in fact. But I suppose it makes a nice balance with your love of them Simon.
Yay for cats! Totally agree >^.^<
Amen!!
Maybe she will feel differently when she meets Hargs!
Happy 100th edition – lovely listening! :D
Thanks Karen!
Thank you both for an interesting podcast. I have only listened to a few so I did feel I ought to make an effort for your 100th!
Thanks for listening!
Really enjoyed listening to this – the breadth of questions was wonderful.
You mentioned Mary Webb and I got the impression you are not a fan but you didn’t say why. I have Gone to Earth on my shelves but having read the first page I don’t think I’ll bother. The language is florid to say the least……
oh I loathed what I read her – wildly overwritten and as though she’d never met anyone from the countryside. Though I only got 1.5 pages into it before giving up!
Congrats on the One Hundred!