Curious Readers

Curious Readers
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A bi-weekly bookchat podcast by Joseph Dance and Amanda Moulson, two time-poor curious readers with eclectic TBRs. Every two weeks we meet to talk all things books and deliver some recommendations for new, classic, and contemporary titles you might want to read next. We cover everything from backlist to frontlist, prize winners to debuts, and we are generally spoiler free.  Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 4 days ago

    Ep 37: Are Literary Prizes A Reading List? Inside the Nobel, Pulitzer, Booker & National Book Award

    In the height of Prize Season, Amanda and Joseph are back with a bumper episode asking what all the hullabaloo is about - how are prizes judged and awarded, and are the winners worth our time? Plus, they talk about Amanda’s recent trip to the Women’s Prize ceremony, and as always, what they’ve been reading recently and what they hope to pick up next.  Bookish News Hay Festival Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams @sarahww_ Women’s Prize Women’s Prize Live and other events Rivals on Disney+ Felicity Blunt @thebluntoffice Laura Wade Katherine Parkinson @parkinson.katherine Field Work as a Sex Object by Meena Kadasamy @k.a.n.d.a.s.a.m.y Rapture by Emily Maguire @emilymaguirewriter These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany @salmaelwardany The Finest Hotel in Kabul by Lyse Doucet @lyse.doucet The Correspondent by Virgina Evans @virginia.l.evans Dominion by Addie E. Kitchens @addie_citchens The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson @marxia1 Recent Reads Air by Christian Kracht Eurotrash by Christian Kracht Imperium by Christian Kracht You With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate @christinapplegate Prizes and Prize-Worthy Recommendations The Nobel Prize for Literature The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Booker Prize National Book Award  Milkman by Anna Burns ‘The Hemingway Veto’ and For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway The Riders In The Chariot by Patrick White The Tree of Man by Patrick White The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty Martyr by Kaveh Akbar @kavehakbar.kavehakbar Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively Trust by Hernan Diaz What We’re Reading Next The Beautiful Ones by Prince and Dan Piepenbring  The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout @lizstroutauthor Also mentioned Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1hr 15min

  2. 5 June

    Ep 36: We Have Opinions - Our 2026 Mid-Year Reading Check-In

    Where have the last six months gone? Join Amanda and Joseph as they check in on the reading goals they set themselves in January. Find out if they’ve stuck to their promises, or if they’ve bombed out on their reading resolutions. Plus, they talk about more prize news, and as always, what they’ve been reading recently and what they hope to pick up next.  Bookish News Hay Festival Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi (translated by Lin King) John of John by Douglas Stuart @douglas_stuart Ruth Ozeki @ozekiland Carol Shields Prize for Fiction Canon by Lee Lai @_leelai Hellions by Julia Elliott @jelliottic6 A Guardian and A Thief by Megha Majumdar @megha.maj Women’s Prize The Booker Prize Recent Reads Famesick by Lena Dunham @lenadunham May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry @poorsasquatch Stone Fruit by Rebecca Perry Our Mid-Year Reading Goals Buckeye by Patrick Ryan @patrickryanyc The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine @wednesdaywerskin Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke @caroclaireburke The Wreck by Lizzy Stewart @lizzy_stewart Prairie Oyster by Sophoe Robinson @sophiepoetry London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe @praddenkeefe Dominion by Addie E. Kitchens @addie_citchens The Correspondent by Virgina Evans @virginia.l.evans Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash @madelinecash Middlemarch by George Eliot The Guardian’s ‘100 Best Novels of All Time’ The Little Friend by Donna Tartt Ordinary People by Haldor Laxness Death’s End by Cixin Liu Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert @sophiegilbertwrites A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness by Michael Pollan @michael.pollan You With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate @christinapplegate Indignity by Leah Ypi Winter In The Blood by James Welch The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones @stephengrahamjones The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman The Oldest Bitch Alive by Morgan Day @yeah_okday The Sleep Thief by Ibtisam Azem @ibitisam.azem Charco Press 2026 Fiction Bundle @charcopress Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz @arianaharwiczw Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly  Angel Down by Daniel Kraus @kraus_author Kin by Tayari Jones @tayari Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn On The Calculation of Volume series by Solvej Balle Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Practice by Rosalind Brown Land by Maggie O’Farrell @maggieofarrellofficial The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout @lizstroutauthor Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason Exit Party by Emily St John Mandel @emilystjohnmandel What We’re Reading Next John of John by Douglas Stuart The Left and the Lucky by Willy Vlautin Also mentioned Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1hr 6min

  3. 24 May

    Ep 35: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (Deep Dive)

    It seems everyone is talking about Yesteryear, and now Joseph and Amanda are too. Join them for their latest deep dive into the most hotly anticipated debut of the year, and hear about what they've been reading recently and which books they hope to pick up next. Bookish News The Hay Festival Hayplayer Recent Reads Cannon by Lee Lai @_leelai The Correspondent by Virginia Evans @virginia.l.evans Dominion by Addie E Citchens @addie_citchens Deep Dive The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin (adapted for screen by Bryan Forbes) Trad Wife by Sarah Langan @sarahlangan Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer @saratogaishere The Trad Wife by Carrie Hughes @carriehughesbooks Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke @caroclaireburke Diabolical Lies podcast Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn @thegillianflynn What We’re Reading Next River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer @eleanorbshearer Kingfisher by Rozie King The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson @marxia1 Prairie Oyster by Sophie Robinson @sophiepoetry Also mentioned Ramsgate Literary Festival @ The Book Hotel, Ramsgate Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1hr 6min

  4. 9 May

    Ep 34: Beyond the Countryside - How Nature Writing Asks Us to Pay Attention

    Join Amanda and Joseph for this week’s episode as they delve into the best that nature writing has to offer. Plus, as always, they talk about their current reads and what they're looking forward to picking up next, as well as the latest from the Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist. Bookish News Women’s Prize shortlist Recent Reads Pearl Oyster by Sophie Robinson @sophiepoetry  London Falling, by Patrick Radden Keefe @praddenkeefe Tilt by Emma Pattee   Nature Writing Helm by Sarah Hall Bewilderment by Richard Powers The Overstory by Richard Powers A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness by Michael Pollan @michael.pollan Crow Planet by Lyanda Lynn Haupt @lyandahaupt Walden by Henry David Thoreau  Silent Spring by Rachel Carson The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald @emerillon Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton @chloedaltonuk Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer @robinwallkimmerer An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong Soundings: Journeys In The Company of Whales by Doreen Cunningham @doreenwriting My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell Wintering by Katherine May @katherinemay_ Intertidal: A Coast And Marsh Diary by Yuvan Aves @a_naturalists_column The Peregrine by J.A. Baker  The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd  Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane @robertmacfarlane Dart by Alice Oswald What We’re Reading Next  California Gold by Jodie Chapman @jodiechapman The Italian Girl by Iris Murdoch The Bell by Iris Murdoch The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch   Also mentioned Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    57 min

  5. 25 Apr

    Ep 33: Crime Fiction After Agatha - Whodunit Got A Whole Lot Weirder

    Join Amanda and Joseph for this week’s episode as they delve into the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, remember Agatha Christie and talk about their favourite mysteries. This time, they really try to be spoiler free!   Bookish News International Booker Prize shortlist short flims  Helen DeWitt and Windham Campbell Literary Award Recent Reads There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm (Sam Hughes) The Wreck by Lizzy Stewart @lizzy_stewart Alison by Lizzy Stewart   The Novels of Agatha Christie and Golden Age Detective Fiction Snow Upon the Desert by Agatha Christie Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie Death On The Nile by Agatha Christie Evil Under The Sun by Agatha Christie And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie The Murder of Roger Akroyd by Agatha Christie A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie A is for Arsenic by Kathryn Harkup V is for Venom by Kathryn Harkup The Knox Decalogue S.S. Van Dine’s Commandments Fair Play by Louise Hegarty Our Favourite Mysteries In the Woods (The Dublin Murder Squad series) by Tana French @tanafrenchwrites The Trees by Percival Everett The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett @r.jackson.bennett The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett @janice.hallett The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman The Whitstable Pearl by Julie Wassmer The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith ‘Only Murders in the Building’ The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg The Girl in the Maze by R K Jackson @randal.jackson1 The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai @rebeccamakkai What We’re Reading Next  Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag The Oldest Bitch Alive by Morgan Day @yeah_okday Prairie Oyster by Sophie Robinson @sophiepoetry   Also mentioned Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1hr 9min

  6. 10 Apr

    Ep 32: Spring Preview - 10 Upcoming Books We Want To Read Next

    Join Joseph and Amanda as they discuss the reads they are most looking forward to this Spring, plus a few more updates from prize season. We also introduce a new segment – DNF corner, where we talk about the books we couldn’t wait to put down.  Bookish News Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction shortlist International Booker Prize shortlist Recent Reads The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld The Winner by Teddy Wayne Companion Piece by Ali Smith  Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang Top Ten Reads for Spring Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Land by Maggie O’Farrell Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell Kin by Tayari Jones The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett American Marriage by Tayari Jones Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones Devotions by Lucy Caldwell Openings by Lucy Caldwell If We Cannot Go At The Speed Of Light by Kim Cho-yeop, translated by Anton Hur Transcription by Ben Lerner Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner My Year In Paris With Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy You With The Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate Famesick by Lena Dunham ‘Too Much’ by Lena Dunham ‘Girls’ by Lena Dunham Your Presence Is A Danger To Your Life by Samar Yazbek, translated by Leri Price Second Hand Time by Svetlana Alexivich London Falling: Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe Tell Noone by Patrick Radden Keefe  Ghost Stories: A Memoir by Siri Hustvedt Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy One Aladdin, Two Lamps by Jeanette Winterson DNF Corner  My Friends by Frederick Backman Britt-Marie Was Here by Frederick Backman Workhorse by Caroline Palmer   Also mentioned Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    56 min

  7. 27 Mar

    Ep 31: The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine (Deep Dive) & the Carol Shields Prize Longlist

    Join Amanda and Joseph for their next deep dive into Wendy Erskine’s debut novel, The Benefactors, a polyphonic story about a sexual assault and the lengths that three mothers will go to to keep their sons from being held accountable. Along the way, they discuss the latest prize news, with the Carol Shields Prize longlist topping the episode. Bookish News Carol Shields Prize for Fiction longlist Recent Reads The Brittle Age by Donatella Di Pietrantonio The books of Elena Ferrante The Only Story by Julian Barnes Deep Dive The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine Sweet Home by Wendy Erskine Dance Move by Wendy Erskine Close to Home by Michael Magee Magnolia, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson The Bee Sting by Paul Murray  What We’re Reading Next Waiting For The Fear by Oguz Atay The Door by Magda Szabo Indignity by Lea Ypi   Also mentioned Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    56 min

  8. 13 Mar

    Ep 30: The Books That Made Us & International Booker Prize Longlist

    This week, join Amanda and Joseph for one of their most personally revealing episodes yet, as they discuss the books that made them: the teenage obsessions, the gateway reads, and the unforgettable titles, passages and writers that made us the readers they are today. (1:20) Bookish News   (1:40) The Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist (2:49) Gloria Don't Speak by Lucy Apps @lucy.emma13 (3:10) The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson @marxia1 (4:32) The International Booker Prize Longlist (5:36) The Nights Are QuietIn Iran by Shida Bazyar (5:59) Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur (6:28) Taiwan Travelogue Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (8:08) Recent Reads   (8:17) Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert @sophiegilbertwrites (12:52) The Missing Ink by Philip Hensher @philiphensher (17:43) The Books That Made Us (23:16) The Odyssey by Homer (various translations including Robert Fagles and Emily Wilson) (24:27) O’ Brother, Where Art Thou directed by Joel and Ethan Cohen (24:54) 'Penelope' by Carol Ann Duffy (28:43) The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (32:48) Elidor by Alan Garner (32:53) His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman  (34:58) The Odyssey directed by Christopher Nolan (36:56) The Continuous Life: Poems by Mark Strand (40:16) The Colour Purple by Alice Walker (41:25) The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter (46:34) Gilead by Marilyn Robinson (49:38) A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam (53:55) In the Distance by Hernan Diaz (54:36) What We’re Reading Next (55:00) No Friend of This House by Natalie Haynes @nataliehaynesauthor (55:12) One Aladdin, Two Lamps by Jeanette Winterson (56:07) Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (56:43) EveryDay Is For The Thief by Teju Cole @_tejucole   Also mentioned Tate Modern, Nigerian Modernism (on until 16 April 2026) Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    58 min
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About

A bi-weekly bookchat podcast by Joseph Dance and Amanda Moulson, two time-poor curious readers with eclectic TBRs. Every two weeks we meet to talk all things books and deliver some recommendations for new, classic, and contemporary titles you might want to read next. We cover everything from backlist to frontlist, prize winners to debuts, and we are generally spoiler free.  Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Curious Readers
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Joseph Dance
  • Show Website
    Curious Readers

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