Tea or Books‪?‬ Simon and Rachel

Summer, Winter, names – welcome to episode 93. In the first half, we ask: ‘Do we care what characters are called?’, looking at the strange and ordinary names that characters are given. In the second half, we compare Tove Jansson’s

Bernadine Evaristo, Kate Atkinson, and clothes – welcome to episode 92. In the first half of the episode, Rachel and I discuss clothes in books – do we care what characters wear? I forgot to mention, but do check out

Elizabeth von Arnim and settings of novels – welcome to episode 91! In the first half of the novel, we look at the settings of novels, and ask whether we prefer familiar or unfamiliar settings. In the second half, we

Betty Smith, Dorothy Evelyn Smith, and a review of our reading years… In the first half, we look back over a very unusual year and ask – was it a good reading year or a bad reading year? We’ve not

Marilynne Robinson and gardens – welcome to episode 89! We are scraping the barrel a little in our first half, and arguably repeating ourselves, but please enjoy our musings on gardens. In the second half, after answering a question from

Blurbs and Kazuo Ishiguro – welcome to episode 88! In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I talk about whether we want blurbs – i.e. do we do research on what we’re reading before we pick it up.