Tea or Books?

Virginia Woolf! Publishers! Welcome to episode 154.

In the first half, we compare independent publishers and the big-name publishers – and in the second half, we pit two Virginia Woolf novels against each other: Jacob’s Room and The Waves.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.

And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!

The books and authors we cover in this episode are:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
And The Crying Wind by Simon Dare
Mary Essex
Ursula Bloom
Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
Lady Into Fox by David Garnett
All I Could Never Be by Beverley Nichols
W. Somerset Maugham
Olga Tokarczuk
A Bite of the Apple by Lennie Goodings
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
Hugh Walpole
Rose Macaulay
Recommended! by Nicola Wilson
Twice Lost by Phyllis Paul
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott
Debbie Voisey
Douglas Bruton
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
Ian McEwan
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins
Daisy’s Aunt by E.F. Benson
The Rabbits by A.A. Milne
The Lark by E. Nesbit
The Good Companions by J.B. Priestley
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Waves (play adaptation) by Flora Wilson Brown
Gaining Ground by Joan Barfoot
The Book of Eve by Constance Beresford-Howe

Liars, Lisa Ridzen, and Debbi Voisey – welcome to episdoe 153!

In the first half, we talk about our expectations of truth in the non-fiction we read, inspired by the hoo-ha over The Salt Path. In the second half, we compare When The Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzen with Only About Love by Debbi Voisey.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.

And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Deborah by Esther Kreitman
Isaac Bashevis Singer
May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry
Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
The Odyssey by Homer
Unsayable by Michael Cunningham
David Sedaris
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Grief Is For People by Sloane Crosley
The Memory Illusion by Julia Shaw
Rose Macaulay by Constance Babington-Smith
Rose Macaulay: A Writer’s Life by Jane Emery
Rose Macaulay by Sarah LeFanu
Beverley Nichols
The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
All The Dogs of My Life by Elizabeth von Arnim
How The Heather Looks by Joan Bodger
The Crack in the Teacup by Joan Bodger
Curriculum Vitae by Muriel Spark
Letters to Gwen John by Celia Paul
Spare by Prince Harry
Marcel Proust
Temptation by János Székely (is the book Rachel couldn’t remember!)
The Book of Eve by Constance Beresford-Howe
Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf
The Waves by Virginia Woolf

Elizabeth Strout, Willa Cather, and women’s lives – welcome to episode 152!

In the first half, Rachel and Simon discuss whether we prefer reading novels about women’s professional lives or their home lives. In the second half, we compare two novels about educators – Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House and Elizabeth Strout’s The Things We Never Say.

(Apologies for an earlier version of this episode that went out with only the first half. Hopefully this one works!)

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.

And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Ordinary Wonder Tales by Emily Urquhart
Jane Urquhart
Prairie Edge by Conor Kerr
When The Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Emma by Jane Austen (!)
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
The Lark by E. Nesbit
Economy Must Be Our Watchword by Joyce Dennys
The L-Shaped Room trilogy by Lynne Reid Banks
A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
The Friend in Need by Elizabeth Coxhead
Fresh From the Country by Miss Read
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Barbara Pym
Muriel Spark
A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay
Helen Ashton
One Pair of Hands by Monica Dickens
One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens
My Turn to Make the Tea by Monica Dickens
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge
Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Carol by Patricia Highsmith
Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
Agatha Christie
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather
Alexander’s Bridge by Willa Cather
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Alan Ayckbourn
When The Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén
Only About Love by Debbi Voisey

Thanks again for all your questions for our special Q&A episode of Tea or Books?

It took longer than planned, but here is part 2…

Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with suggestions and questions for future episodes!

Thank you so much for all your questions for episode 150 of ‘Tea or Books?’!

Because we had so many questions, we’re doing it over two episodes – so today’s is the first half. Watch out for part 2, next month.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given. More to come soon.

And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments – we still need questions for the middle sections of future episodes, of course!

Muriel Spark and campus novels – welcome to episode 149!

In the first half of this episode, we answer Lisa’s question: do we like campus novels? In the second half, we compare two novels by Muriel Spark. Not necessarily the Muriel Spark novels I thought we would be reading… turns out, Rachel read The Comforters instead of The Bachelors, so we compare that with Symposium instead!

If you’d like to come and see Rachel’s play, full details are here. I’ll be there on the Saturday!

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given

And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Hilary Mantel
Honourable Estates by Vera Brittain
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
Yesterday in the Back Lane by Bernice Rubens
The Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
On the Calculation of Volume vol.2 by Solvej Balle
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Stoner by John Williams
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
The Small Room by May Sarton
Anthony Trollope
The British Museum is Falling Down by David Lodge
Nice Work by David Lodge
Possession by A.S. Byatt
The Masters by C.P. Snow
Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
The History Boys by Alan Bennett
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Seasoned Timber by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt
A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark
My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff
According to Mark by Penelope Lively
Stet by Diana Athill
A Bit of the Apple by Lennie Goodings
84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
The Only Problem by Muriel Spark
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Loitering With Intent by Muriel Spark

Ann Patchett, Tessa Hadley, and finding the right time to read a book – welcome to episode 149!

In the first half, we answer the question: is there a right time for each particular book? In the second half, we compare Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House and Tessa Hadley’s The Party.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given

And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!

The books and authors we mentioned in this episode are:

Honourable Estates by Vera Brittain
Deviants by Santanu Bhattacharya
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
Richmal Crompton
E.V. Lucas
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal
The Pooh Perplex by Frederick Crews
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
Charles Dickens
Jane Austen
Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Douglas Bruton
The Bachelors by Muriel Spark
Symposium by Muriel Spark

Douglas Bruton, Carolyn Trant, and quality vs quantity – welcome to episode 147 or Tea or Books?!

In the first half, we discuss quality vs quantity in our reading goals (inspired by this Guardian article). In the second half, we debate two books we picked from each others ‘Best reads of 2025’ lists – Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton and Voyaging Out: British Women Artists From Suffrage to the Sixties by Carolyn Trant.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given. Sorry that I’m behind with posting those, but more are on their way…

And, of course, do get in touch at teaorbooks@gmail.com with any questions or comments!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

The Spring House by Cynthia Asquith
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
The Party by Tessa Hadley
The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore [is the novel I was trying to remember!]
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Freida McFadden
If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino
The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial by Chloe Hooper, Helen Garner, and Sarah Krasnostein
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
‘Master and Man’ by Leo Tolstoy
A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair
Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Told in Winter by Jon Godden
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Winter in Thrush Green by Miss Read
Emma by Jane Austen
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Hope Never Knew Horizon by Douglas Bruton
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Our favourite reads of the year! Welcome to episode 146.

We turn the whole episode over to our run-down of our ten favourite books from a year in reading. As has become a tradition, we will then choose one book from each other’s list to read for the next episode.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.

Rachel’s top 10 books are:

10. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
9. Small Domb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans
8. The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris
7. Voyaging Out by Carolyn Trant
6. Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
5. Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
4. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
3. Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
2. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
1. Braided Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Simon’s top 10 books are:

10. Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel by Mark Hussey
9. Bookish by Lucy Mangan
8. Love by Elizabeth von Arnim
7. Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson
6. Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
5. Treasure Hunt by Molly Keane
4. The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
3. The Equations of Love by Ethel Wilson
2. Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton
1. Follow Your Heart by Susanna Tamaro

The other books and authors we mention in this episode:

On the Calculation of Volume vol.1 by Solvej Balle
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Their Finest Hour by Lissa Evans
Anne Bronte
Lady Living Alone by Norah Lofts
A Curious Friendship by Anna Thomasson
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
Hetty Dorval by Ethel Wilson
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Ann Schlee! Lettice Cooper! Authors! Welcome to episode 145 of Tea or Books?

In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether we prefer younger authors or older authors (thank you Lindsey for the suggestion!) In the second half, we compare two recently reprinted novels about unmarried English women in Continental Europe – Rhine Journey by Ann Schlee and Fenny by Lettice Cooper.

You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Lanterns Across the Snow by Susan Hill
The Names by Florence Knapp
The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner
This House of Grief by Helen Garner
Yellowface by Rebecca Kuang
Ian McEwan
Sally Rooney
Mary Lawson
Penelope Fitzgerald
Pamela Frankau
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
Nancy Mitford
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
Casualties by Lynne Reid Banks
Desirable Residence by Lettice Cooper
Sanditon by Jane Austen
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
The New House by Lettice Cooper

Sylvia Plath, Janet Malcolm and our thoughts on writing style – welcome to episode 144!

In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether we prefer writing style to be ornate or simple. In the second half, we compare Sylvia Plath’s most famous poetry collection Ariel with Janet Malcolm’s book about Plath biography, The Silent Woman.

You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
All The Little Live Things by Wallace Stegner
Lucy Carmichael by Margaret Kennedy
Tortoise By Candelight by Nina Bawden
The Cost of Living by Kathleen Farrell
Bookish by Lucy Mangan
Bookworm by Lucy Mangan
The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford
Henry James
Wilkie Collins
George Orwell
Yellow by Janni Visman
The Trouble With Sunbathers by Magnus Mills
The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner
Island In Moonlight by Kathleen Sully
The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
Barbara Comyns
Beryl Bainbridge
The Forensic Records Society by Magnus Mills
Elizabeth Strout
Anne Tyler
Carol Shields
Margaret Atwood
Virginia Woolf
James Joyce
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel by Mark Hussey
Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Bitter Fame by Anne Stevenson
Ted Hughes: the Unauthorised Life by Jonathan Bates
The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm
Two Lives by Janet Malcolm
Fenny by Lettice Cooper
Rhine Journey by Ann Schlee

Agatha Christie, Ethel Lina White, and sad books – welcome to episode 143!

In the first half, we use Geraldine’s suggestion – do we avoid books that will upset us? In the second half, we compare They Came To Baghdad by Agatha Christie and Fear Stalks The Village by Ethel Lina White.

You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.

The books and authors we mention in this episode:

Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
Training School for Elephants by Sophy Roberts
Return to Cheltenham by Helen Ashton
King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild
The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Railway Station by E. Nesbit
The Unbearable Bassington by Saki
Their Finest Hour by Lissa Evans
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Diary of a Lone Twin by David Loftus
Let Not The Waves of the Sea by Simon Stephenson
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
The Five-Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
R.L. Stine
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Other People by Celia Dale
P.G. Wodehouse
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White
E.F. Benson
Some Must Watch by Ethel Lina White
The Silent Woman by Janet Malcolm
Ariel by Sylvia Plath

Celia Dale! Bernice Rubens! Stupidity! Welcome to episode 142 of Tea or Books?

In the first half of the episode, we ask if we can like characters in novels who make stupid decisions. In the second half, we compare Other People by Celia Dale and A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens.

You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.

You can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.

The books and authors we mention:

Literary Gardens by Sandra Lawrence (ill. by Lucille Clerc)
Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie
‘The Garden Party’ by Katherine Mansfield
Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton
Hope Never Knew Horizon by Douglas Bruton
The Truth About Blayds by A.A. Milne
The Dover Road by A.A. Milne
They Came To Baghdad by Agatha Christie
Honourable Estate by Vera Brittain
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Daisy’s Aunt by E.F. Benson
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins
P.G. Wodehouse
Margery Sharp
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
Oscar Wilde
A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
Autumn by Ali Smith
The Performance by Claire Thomas
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
William’s Wife by Gertrude Trevelyan
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
My Darling Villain by Lynne Reid Banks
Fear Stalks The Village by Ethel Lina White

Sally Carson, Katherine Dunning, and the weather – welcome to episode 141!

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In the first half, Rachel and I discuss significant weather scenes in novels, and whether knowing about the weather in novels makes a difference to us. In the second half, we compare two very different novels from 1934, both recently republished: Crooked Cross by Sally Carson (reissued by Persephone) and The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning (reissued by the British Library).

Here is the LitHub article about rain in novels: https://lithub.com/the-best-rain-in-literature/

You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us.

Tou can support the podcast at Patreon – where you’ll also get access to the exclusive new series ‘5 Books’, where I ask different people about the last book they finished, the book they’re currently reading, the next book they want to read, the last book they bought and the last book they were given.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
All The Little Live Things by Wallace Stegner
William Maxwell
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
August Blue by Deborah Levy
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Braided Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Position of Spoons by Deborah Levy
Autocorrect by Etgar Keret
Suddenly, A Knock On The Door by Etgar Keret
The Five Good Years by Etgar Keret
Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster
Emma by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Dark Like Under by Alice Chadwick
Heatwave by Penelope Lively
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Landscape in Sunlight by Elizabeth Fair
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Between The Acts by Virginia Woolf
The Years by Virginia Woolf
Funny Weather by Olivia Laing
The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
The Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
Other People by Celia Dale

It’s time for our favourite 10 books from 10 years of ‘Tea or Books?’!

Rachel and I have looked through the books we read for the first ten years of the podcast and have each picked our ten favourites – thank you for everyone who suggested this fun idea. Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com if you’d like to suggest anything for further episodes. Find us above, on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts.

Here are our top tens, with the episodes in which they first appear, if you’d like to read more. Don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers!

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RACHEL’S TOP TEN

10. Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson (ep 137)
9. Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton (ep 8)
8. A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair (ep 36)
7. The Lark by E. Nesbit (ep 56)
6. Father by Elizabeth von Arnim (ep 91)
5. A Compass Error by Sybille Bedford (ep 47)
4. The Heir by Vita Sackville-West (ep 45)
3. A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse (ep 34)
2. Four Gardens by Margery Sharp (ep 102)
1. One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes (ep 13)

SIMON’S TOP TEN

10. Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee (ep 20)
9. Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (ep 137)
8. Enbury Heath by Stella Gibbons (ep 107)
7. The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola (ep 130)
6. Four Gardens by Margery Sharp (ep 102)
5. The Semi-Detached House and The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden (ep 48)
4. The Sweet and Twenties by Beverley Nichols (ep 52)
3. The Diviners by Margaret Laurence (ep 103)
2. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (ep 20)
1. Greengates by R.C. Sherriff (ep 31)

The other books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Giving Up The Ghost by Hilary Mantel
On Being Ill by Virginia Woolf
Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans
Dark Like Under by Alice Chadwick
Emma by Jane Austen
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
Mamma by Diana Tutton
The Young Ones by Diana Tutton
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Westwood by Stella Gibbons
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson
The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp
A Favourite of the Gods by Sybille Bedford
Messalina of the Suburbs by E.M. Delafield
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson

Shirley Jackson, Elspeth Barker, and your emails – welcome to episode 139 of Tea or Books?!

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Can you believe we’ve been going for ten years? It’s wild to me! In the first half of the episode we compare two gothic-inspired novels – O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker and The Sundial by Shirley Jackson. In the second half, we share lots of lovely, lovely emails from you guys. We asked about the books and episodes that stand out from our first decade – and were so touched by everyone who got in touch. Apologies for the handful of people who messaged after we’d recorded. I’m afraid you aren’t in the episode, but we were grateful for the messages of course.

You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.

Because there are so many books and authors mentioned in this episode, I’m not going to do a full list – but if you’d like anything clarified, do ask in the comments.

A super quick mini-episode – well, not really an episode – asking for your contributions to the next episode of ‘Tea or Books?’. It will be TEN YEARS since Rachel and I first put an episode out into the ether – I can’t believe it’s been a whole decade, and I’m so thankful to everyone who has listened, commented, emailed, reviewed etc over the time.

Will you help us celebrate? In the next episode, I’d love to share your contributions – are there books we’ve suggested that you’ve read and loved? Are there topics you particularly enjoyed? Anything that we can use to celebrate 10 years in style. Do send in your voicenotes or emails to teaorbooks@gmail.com, or put any highlights into the comment section on this blog post.

(Please do, otherwise it’ll be a very quiet first half of the episode!)

Elizabeth Jane Howard, Brian Moore, and authors’ personal lives – welcome to episode 138!

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In the first half of the episode, we do a question that Lindsey suggested: do we care about authors’ personal lives? It takes us to questions both of ethics and of privacy. In the second half, we pit The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore against The Beautiful Visit by Elizabeth Jane Howard.

You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Recommended! by Nicola Wilson
Hugh Walpole
J.B. Priestley
Sylvia Lynd
Clemence Dane
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
Stasiland by Anna Funder
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer
Virginia Woolf
Stella Gibbons
Enid Blyton
Neil Gaiman
Mary Lawson
The Other Elizabeth Taylor by Nicola Beauman
Jane Austen
Dorothy L. Sayers
Don’t Look Round by Violet Trefusis
Echo by Violet Trefusis
Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey
Elena Ferrante
Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
J.K. Rowling
Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson
Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater
John Keats
Percy Shelley
Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann
Invitiation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
R.C. Sherriff
The Doctor’s Wife by Brian Moore
The Great Victorian Collection by Brian Moore
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson

Resolved endings, Pamela Hansford Johnson, Vincenzo Latronico – welcome to episode 137 of Tea or Books?!

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In the first half of the episode, we take a suggestion from Lindsey – do we prefer resolved or unresolved endings? In the second half, Rachel and I see how successful our suggestions for each other were (from the end of last episode) – Rachel asked me to read Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes, and I asked Rachel to read Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson.

You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
Some Must Watch by Ethel Lina White aka The Spiral Staircase
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Immortality by Milan Kundera
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Elizabeth Goudge
The Honours Board by Pamela Hansford Johnson
An Error of Judgement by Pamela Hansford Johnson
The Unspeakable Skipton by Pamela Hansford Johnson
The Unbearable Bassington by Saki
An Impossible Marriage by Pamela Hansford Johnson
Christopher Isherwood
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
The Beautiful Visit by Elizabeth Jane Howard
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore

Agatha Christie, Gwen Bristow, Bruce Manning and reading morality – welcome to episode 136 of Tea or Books?!

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In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether or not we take moral instruction from the books we read – does reading make us better people? In the second half, we compare two very similarly plotted books – And Then There Are None by Agatha Christie and The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning. Many thanks to Susan for suggesting this (and sorry for forgetting your name when we recorded!)

You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc (please do!) at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you, even if I’m quite bad at replying quickly. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re able to, we’d really appreciate any reviews and ratings you can leave us. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.

FYI Hargreaves gets very noisy in this episode!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Stasiland by Anna Funder
Mrs Dalloway: A Biography of the Novel by Mark Hussey
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson
Emma by Jane Austen
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Jack by Marilynne Robinson
The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
How To Know A Person by David Brooks
Ghosted by Nancy French
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Walkable City by Jeff Speck
Pioneer Girl by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Pamela Smith
Brink of Being by Julia Bueno
Shaun Bythell
A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
Catherine Carter by Pamela Hansford Johnson