Books & Chat: Short Book Reviews & Literary Discussions

Christina Young - Books and Chat | Short Book Reviews & Literary Discussions
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Thoughtful chats for readers who love good stories. Books & Chat from Gloucester Book Club brings you 10‑minute reviews and personal reflections, plus 30‑minute book club conversations with members and local authors. Follow on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and never miss a chapter.

  1. May 15

    Bitesize episode - Broken Country - Clare Leslie Hall

    Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth's brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn't realise that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives.

    13 min

  2. Mar 25

    Bitesize episode - Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

    Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and snoozed in your house for hours on end and gave birth to leverets in your study. This happened to me.' When lockdown led busy professional Chloe to leave the city and return to the countryside of her childhood, she never expected to find herself custodian of a newly born hare. Yet when she finds the creature, abandoned, alone and no bigger than her palm, she is compelled to give it a chance at survival. Raising Hare chronicles their journey together and the challenges of caring for the leveret and preparing for its return to the wild. We witness first-hand an extraordinary relationship between human and animal, reconnecting with our childhood enthusiasm for wildlife. This improbable bond of trust serves to remind us that the most beautiful experiences, inspiring the most hope, arise when we least expect them.

    12 min

  3. Feb 21

    The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller

    Christina and her guest Angela discuss Andrew Miller's The Land in Winter, shortlisted for the Booker Prize - a spare, wintry novel about endurance, loyalty, and the quiet moral choices people make when the world narrows. A calm, thoughtful conversation about a book that lingers.

    27 min
  4. Bitesize: Top 3 Books of 2025

    Jan 25

    Bitesize: Top 3 Books of 2025

    A concise Books and Chat Bitesize episode exploring the Gloucester Book Club’s Top Three Books of 2025. A reflective look at the stories, themes, and authors that shaped our reading year. About the : Books & Chat is a cosy Gloucester Book Club podcast with short reviews and thoughtful conversations for readers who love good stories.

    8 min
  5. Women’s Prize for Fiction Winner Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

    12/27/2025

    Women’s Prize for Fiction Winner Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

    Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet has stayed with me ever since I first read it — a story so tender, so exquisitely imagined, it felt like it settled into my bones. With the new film adaptation about to arrive, it felt like the right moment to bring back this episode I recorded five years ago, when the book had just swept through my life and my book club. In this short revisit, we talk about the beauty of O’Farrell’s writing, the quiet power of Agnes, and the way love and loss echo through a family. If you’re returning to the story ahead of the film, or discovering it for the first time, I hope this episode offers a gentle way back into that world.

    29 min
  6. Bitesize episode - A Review of Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

    12/07/2025

    Bitesize episode - A Review of Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

    A reflective exploration of Intermezzo and Kairos - the pause that gives the meaning and the moment that matters. In this solo episode, Christina shares insights on how timing and intervals shape our experiences.

    11 min
  7. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

    10/30/2025

    Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

    Christina sit downs with Ang for a candid conversation about what it means to live on the margins - socially, physically, and politically. From the realities of housing insecurity to the quiet resilience of those navigating systems not build for them, this dialogue blands lived experience with sharp insight and gentle wit.

    28 min
  8. Bitesize Episode: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

    09/09/2025

    Bitesize Episode: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

    The non~negotiable superpower! This book, the first of its kind written by a scientific expert, Professor Matthew Walker explores twenty years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters. Looking at creatures from across the animal kingdom as well as major human studies, Why We Sleep delves in to everything from what really happens during REM sleep to how caffeine and alcohol affect sleep and why our sleep patterns change across a lifetime, transforming our appreciation of the extraordinary phenomenon that safeguards our existence.

    10 min
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About

Thoughtful chats for readers who love good stories. Books & Chat from Gloucester Book Club brings you 10‑minute reviews and personal reflections, plus 30‑minute book club conversations with members and local authors. Follow on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and never miss a chapter.

Information

  • Creator
    Christina Young - Books and Chat | Short Book Reviews & Literary Discussions
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    78
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Christina Young - Books and Chat | Short Book Reviews & Literary Discussions
  • Show Website
    Books & Chat: Short Book Reviews & Literary Discussions

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