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This week we learn more about each other and get into the books on our backlist, including our recommendations for non-fiction and fiction reads. We also take a look at the longlist of the Dublin Literary Award and talk about surprises, omissions and favourites that you might want to add to your own TBR.

Recent reads

Nothing Ever Just Disappears: Seven Hidden Histories by Diarmuid Hester 

Evenings and Weekends by Oisin McKenna

From the backlist/longlist 

Hold Still: A Memoir by Sally Mann 

The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen

King by Jonathan Eig

When the Clock Broke by John Ganz

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Safon

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks

Ducks by Kate Beaton

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

Audition by Pip Adam

Terrace Story by Hilary Leichter

Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood 

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor

Wild Houses by Colin Barrett

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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Join us for our very first episode in which we quiz each other on how we read, talk all things holiday reading and deliver some great recommendations for new, contemporary and classic books you might want to read next.

Books mentioned in this episode:

What we’ve read:

Prophet by Helen MacDonald and Sin Blanché

Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan

My Beloved Monster by Caleb Carr

The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş

She’s Always Hungry by Eliza Clark

Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village by Marit Kapla

What we’re looking forward to:

Playworld by Adam Ross

Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity and Finding Your Life's Purpose by Martha Beck

Love in Exile by Shon Faye

Also mentioned in this episode:

The Stand, Pet Semetary, 11.22.63 by Stephen King

The Storygraph

Harbour Books (@harbourbooks)

Silent BookClub Whitstable (@silentbookclubwhitstable)

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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This week, we have a chat about why reading is an act of resistance and delve into the books we turn to during a crisis–whether climactic, sociological or existential. We also discuss our favourite reads for a complete escape.

Recent reads

Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers 

The Long View by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen

Reading for resistance

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong

A Personal Matter by Kenzaburō Ōe

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

For a crisis

Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie

On Freedom by Maggie Nelson 

Eating Animals byJonathan Safran Foer

Surrender by Joanna Pocock

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

In the Distance by Hernan Diaz

Empireland and Empireworld by Sathnam Sanghera

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshanna Zubenoff

To escape

The Moomins and The Summer Book by Tove Janson

You Are Here by David Nicholls

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

Also mentioned in this episode:

NYRB Classics Challenge

Indigenous Reading Circle

The Galle Literary Festival

Faversham Literary Festival

Margate Bookie

The Margate Bookshop

Brick Lane Bookshop

Birchbark Books & Native Arts

Harbour Books (@harbourbooks)

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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This week, we deep dive into Liz Moore’s viral woodland thriller The God of the Woods - and we have opinions. We also talk about the new releases we’re looking forward to reading in March. 

Recent reads

The Future by Catherine Leroux (translated by Susan Ouriou)

Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue (translated by Natasha Wimmer)

March 2025 releases

The Horse by Willy Vlautin 

Show Don’t Tell and Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld 

Universality by Natasha Brown

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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Join either side of the Atlantic as we dive into our favourite London/New York novels. It’s an episode full of stiff upper lips, demonic possessions, sociopaths, bedsits, alcoholic dollmakers, sassy parrots, and white asparagus. Plus we talk about our must visit NY-LON bookshops and reading spots, and we look ahead to new releases set in and around the Big Smoke and the Big Apple we can’t wait to read. 

Recent reads

Universality by Natasha Brown

Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa (translated by Polly Barton)

Stories of Place:///zinc.level.blindfold edited by Niamh McAnally

Our Favourite NY-LON Novels

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon

The Vulnerables by Sigird Nunez

Look At Me by Anita Brookner

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

There Are More Things by Yara Rodrigues Fowler

NY-LON Books We're Excited to Read in 2025

Confessions by Catherine Airey

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay MacCleod Chapman

Lorne by Susan Morrison

Cursed Under London by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch

An Opinionated Guide to Literary London by John Clegg

Also mentioned

The Strand Bookstore

Books Are Magic

Codex

The London Library

Housmans Bookshop

John Sandoe Books

Judd Books 

Daunt Books

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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On this week’s episode we catch up on what we’ve been reading, share our thoughts on the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist, and talk about some of the April releases we’re looking forward to picking up soon. 

Recent reads

Carnality by Lina Wolf, tr. by Frank Perry

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor

The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas 

The Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist

Good Girl by Aria Aber

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Somewhere Else by Jenni Daiches

Amma by Saraid de Silva

Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings

All Fours by Miranda July

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell

A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike

Birding by Rose Ruane

The Artist by Lucy Steeds

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

Our Contenders

Colored Television by Danzy Senna

Orbital by Samantha Harvey 

There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak

Gliff by Ali Smith  

The Echoes by Evie Wylde

It Lasts Forever And Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken

Excited to Read in April

Room on the Sea by Andre Aciman

Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert

Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt

Also mentioned

The Stella Prize

The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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This week’s episode is one of deep dives, this time into Audition by Katie Kitamura, an ambiguous and destablising read that packs a lot into very few pages. We also share some recent book and literary prize news and talk about what’s on our TBRs.

Books:

Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq (translated by Deepa Bhasthi)  

The Book Of Sand by Geetanjali Shree

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Small Boat by Vicent Delacroix (translated by Helen Stevenson)

Clear by Carys Davies (Winner of the Ondaatje Prize 2025)

The Adversary by Michael Crummey (Winner of the Dublin Literary Award 2025)

Red Milk by Sjón

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Audition / Gone To The Forest / The Longshot / A Separation / Intimacies by Katie Kitamura 

My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe 

Also mentioned: 

Teatime Book Club, @Teatime.pictures

Rosemary’s Baby by Roman Polanski

Suspiria by Dario Agento (with a 2013 remake by Luca Guadagnino)

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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This week’s episode is all about our favourite reads by Korean and Korean-American authors, including books about sulky giant octopuses, sinkhole tourism, empathy bypasses, diasporic depression, simulated marriages, and tearful encounters with gochujang. And as always, we discuss recent reads and what’s next on our TBRs.

Recent reads

In Search Of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (tr. Terence Kilmartin)

Sweat by Emma Healy

The Meteorites: Encounters With Outer Space And Deep Time by Helen Gordon

Korean books and authors 

Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Sea Change by Gina Chung

The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun (tr. Lizze Buehler)

Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home by Eric Kim

The Hive And The Honey by Paul Yoon 

The Trunk by Kim Ryeo-Ryeong (tr. The KoLab)

Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn (tr. Sandy Joosun Lee)

Black Girl From Pyongyang: In Search Of My Identity by Monica Macias

Up next

The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid

My Friends by Frederik Backman

Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami

Endling by Maria Reva

Also mentioned 

@angelazbao

Snow Piercer, Parasite by Bong Joon Ho

Libro FM

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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This week’s episode is a BIG one. Or at least, one in which we talk about big things, namely big books and why – or why not – we find them intimidating. And as always, we discuss recent reads and what’s next on our TBRs.

Recent reads

On The Calculation Of Volume (Volume I) by Solvej Balle 

Confessions by Catherine Airey

Big Book Fear 

The Book of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk 

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 

Middlemarch by George Eliot – narrated by Juliet Stevenson

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

Lost Illusions and Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

In Search Of Lost Time by Marcel Proust 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvilli

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany

Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain In A Digital World by Maryanne Wolf

11.22.63 by Stephen King

Angle Of Repose by Wallace Stegner

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Secondhand Time: The Last Of The Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich 

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

The Goldfinch / The Secret History / The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

Cherry by Nico Walker

The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Future Reads

Days Of Light by Megan Hunter

The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins

Wild Ground by Emily Usher

Also mentioned 

The Ondaatje Prize 2025 shortlist 

Chatsworth House

The Storygraph 

The Book Club Review Podcast Patreon

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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This week’s episode is a brief encounter with short contemporary classics and the lilliputian tomes under 200 pages we recommend if you’re looking for something to get you out of a reading slump. We also talk book news, what we’ve been reading recently, and the titles we’re looking forward to picking up in May. 

Recent reads

Ministry Of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Playworld by Adam Ross

Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott

Short classics

Fair Play by Tove Jansson

The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson

Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing 

Ben, In The World by Doris Lessing

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver 

The Tenth Man by Graham Greene

What we’re reading next

Soft Core by Brittany Newell

Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley

The Emperor Of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

Let Me Tell You by Paul Griffiths

Let Me Go On by Paul Griffiths

Also mentioned 

@LadiesLitSquad

Disney+ Dying for Sex

Dolly Alderton and Netflix’s Adaptation of Pride & Prejudice

Can You Ever Forgive Me 

Dune

A Complete Unknown

Wellness by Nathan Hill

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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On this week’s episode we dive deep into Rejection – not the emotion – the novel in stories by Tony Tulathimutte. We also discuss things we’ve read and want to read in April and revisit the Women’s Prize nominations now that they have been shortlisted.

Our deep dive

Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

Private Citizens by Tony Tulathimutte

Recent reads

The Iliad by Homer and translated by Emily Wilson

The Odyssey by Homer

Hype Machine: Inside the Cult of Crypto by Joshua Oliver

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

Green Dot by Madeline Gray 

Women’s prize shortlist

Good Girl by Aria Aber

All Fours by Miranda July

The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

What we’re looking forward to in April 

Twist by Column McCann

Tilt by Emma Pattee

The Colony by Annika Norlin

Audition by Katie Kitamura

Notes to John by Joan Didion

Also mentioned

The Coach and Horses Pub Quiz, Whitstable

The Book Lovers’ Pub Quiz

The BookClub Review Podcast

Adolescence on Netflix

Let the Great World Spin by Column McCann

Apeirogon by Column McCann

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

Blue Nights by Joan Didion

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This week’s episode is about the perennial conundrum that faces every reader at this time of year - what to read at the beach? We talk about which genres are best suited for reading al fresco and give you our favourite holiday read recommendations. Of course, we also share our latest book news, current reads and what we plan to read next.

Book News

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan 

Albion by Anna Hope

Fair Play by Louise Hegarty

Petals Of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong’o 

Current reads

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

Wild Boar by Hannah Lutz

Beach reads

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

Circe by Madeline Miller

Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

The Trio by Johanna Hedman 

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller 

The Overstory by Richard Powers

The Guest by Emma Cline

The Girls by Emma Cline 

The Swimmer by John Cheever

Walking On The Ceiling by Ayşegül Savaş 

Summer by Edith Wharton

Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Brutes by Dizz Tate

Spent by Alison Bechdel  

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

You Killed Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi 

Sunset by Jessie Cave 

Girlfriends by Holly Bourne 

What we’re reading next

A Marriage At Sea by Sophie Elmhurst

Necessary Fictions by Eloghosa Osunde

Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu

Also mentioned

@BeesBookShare

The Garden Gate Project Margate

Louisiana Channel by the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek in Denmark

The Hay Player

Hay Festivals

Open Water by Chris Kentis

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James at Fish Island Studio (@fishislandstudio)

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Who says queer lit is just for June? In our latest episode we talk about some queer titles and authors that we'd recommend reading all year round. Plus, we walk through some queer literary milestones and of course chat about what we've been reading recently and what we're looking forward to picking up next.

Book News

The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya

Winter Animals by Ashani Lewis

Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood In Black Gay Britain by Jason Okundaye

Food For The Dead by Charlotte Shevchenko Knight

Current reads

The Coin by Yasmin Zaher

The Story Of A Heart by Dr. Rachel Clark

Queer literature

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin 

Joseph And His Friend by Bayard Taylor 

The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde 

The Well Of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

Death In Venice by Thomas Mann 

The City And The Pillar by Gore Vidal 

The Price Of Salt by Patricia Highsmith 

‘Carol’ by Todd Haynes 

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

Loving Her by Ann Shockley 

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt 

Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Who’s Afraid Of Gender? by Judith Butler

Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly

A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White 

Love Me Tender / PlayBoy by Constance Debré 

The End Of Eddy by Edouard Louis 

Love In Exile by Shon Faye

Girlhood / Abandon Me: Memoirs by Melissa Febos

A Short History Of Trans Misogyny by Jules Gill-Peterson

The Best Of Me by David Sedaris

This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson

Nothing Ever Just Disappears: Seven Hidden Histories by Diarmuid Hester

Our Pride picks

The Lost Past Of Billy McQueen by Neil Alexander

Valencia by Michelle Tea

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

Tiepolo Blue by James Cahill

And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

What We’re Reading Next

The Wax Child by Olga Ravn

The Employees by Olga Ravn

Helm by Sarah Hall 

Close To Home by Michael Magee

The Names by Florence Knapp 

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James at Fish Island Studio (@fishislandstudio)

Register as an organ donor at organdonation.nhs.uk (UK) and donatelife.net (US)

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On this week’s bumper episode we cover the Booker Prize longlist before exploring some of our favourite fiction and non-fiction about art. We ask why books featuring artists seem to be so perennially popular and what is it about the artist’s life that keeps us coming back for more.

Book News

The Booker Prize Long List 

Love Forms by Claire Adam 

The South by Tash Aw

Universality by Natasha Brown

One Boat by Jonathan Buckley

Flashlight by Susan Choi

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

Audition by Katie Kitamura

The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller

Endling by Maria Reva

Flesh by David Szalay

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood

Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Current Reads

Margo’s Got Money Trouble by Rufi Thorpe

The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin

Books About Art 

The Original by Nell Stevens

The Artist by Lucy Steeds 

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt

Blue Ruin by Hari Kunzru

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar

My Friends by Hisham Matar

The Return by Hisham Matar

Alison by Lizzy Stewart

Daybook: The Journal of an Artist by Anne Truitt

Turn by Anne Truitt

Prospect by Anne Truitt

Wet Paint by Chloe Ashby

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier

The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro

My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård

Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux

Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art by Mary Gaskill

‘Olympia’ and ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’ by Edouard Manet

annetruitt.org

The Whitney Museum of American Art

The Courtauld Institute of Art 

Jon Harvey, artist 

What We’re Reading Next

The Compound by Aisling Rawle

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Moderation by Elaine Castillo

America Is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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Book News

The Hugo Awards

Galle Literary Festival, 22-25 January 2026

Edinburgh International Book Festival, 9-24 August 2025 

Current reads

Free Play: Improvisation in Life & Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch

On Elizabeth Bishop by Colm Tóibin

The Names by Florence Knapp

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins-Reid

Deep Dive into Kristin Hannah 

Firefly Lane 

The Nightingale

The Winter Garden

The Four Winds

The Women 

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

What We’re Reading Next

The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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Join us this week as we delve into our favourite memoirs and recommend some bizarre stories of fame, feuds, cults, and figure skating. Of course, we also share the latest book news, current reads and what we plan to read next.

Book News

Close to Home by Michael Magee

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

Current reads

A Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry 

Lost Souls Meet Under A Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura

Lonely Castle In The Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

Memoirs 

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Aftermath by Rachel Cusk

Dying of Politeness by Geena Davis

Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

Homesick: A Memoir by Jennifer Croft 

The Extinction Of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft

Flights by Olga Tolkaczuk

The Books Of Jacob by Olga Tolkaczuk

Into The Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough

The Woman In Me by Britney Spears

Daisy Jones And The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

The Museum Of Lost And Fragile Things by Suzanne Joinson

The Sound Of Gravel by Ruth Wariner

Educated by Tara Westover

Stay True by Hua Hsu

Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick 

Knife by Salman Rushdie

The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen

Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

This Is The Place To Be by Lara Pawson

What we’re reading next

The Coin by Yasmin Zaher

The Echoes by Evie Wyld 

Days Of Light by Megan Hunter

Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser

Orlanda by Jacqueline Harpman

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

Also mentioned 

The Harrison Chambers Of Distinction

Cool People Reading Podcast

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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In the latest episode Joseph and Amanda step into the world of sci-fi and speculative fiction and chart a course through some of their favourite fictional forays into evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, deep space exploration, and the perils of the Oort Cloud. They also discuss the latest news from the Hugo Awards, talk about what they’ve been reading recently, and as always, run through the titles they’re looking forward to picking up next. 

Book News

(2:18) The Hugo Awards

(3:32) The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Best Novel 2025)

(4:20) The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler (Best Novella 2025)

(5:30) Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right by Jordan S. Carroll (Best Related Work 2025)

Current Reads

(6:56) The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny by Laura Bates

(9:50) Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen

(10:02) Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates

(12:04) Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

(12:19) Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab

(14:02) The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

Speculative Fiction & Sci-Fi Recommendations

(19:14) Amanda’s Sci-Fi story

(21:25) Sexism in Sci-Fi

(21:51) The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

(23:56) Steering The Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. Le Guin

(24:53) Speculative vs Science Fiction

(25:48) In Other Worlds: Science Fiction and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood

(25:59) The Handmaid’s Tale / The MaddAddam Triology by Margaret Atwood

(26:25) The Water Cure / Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh

(27:23) In Ascension by Martin MacInnes (Amanda’s Pick #1)

(30:33) Voyager Golden Record

(30:40) Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

(31:14) Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

(31:45) Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(34:26) The Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley by Robert Sheckley (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(35:48) Ten Planets by Yuri Herrera (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(37:02) The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (Amanda’s Pick #2)

(41:20) To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (Joseph’s Pick #2)

(44:10) Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Amanda’s Pick #3)

(47:56) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Joseph’s Pick #3)

What We’re Reading Next

(51:34) Fair Play by Louise Hegarty

(51:51) Bone Horn by Prudence Bussey-Chamberlain

(52:04) Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller

(52:19) House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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In this week’s episode, we respond to our listeners with all our deepest, darkest DNF secrets: why we do it, when we do it, and how we feel when it happens. We also talk about the books we’ve read recently as well as the backlist titles and new releases we hope to explore in the coming weeks. 

Book News

(2:31) The Sealey Challenge

(4:25) The Wild Iris by Louise Glück

(4:48) Midden Witch by Fiona Benson

(5:16) Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems by William Carlos Williams

(6:02) That Broke Into Shining Crystals by Richard Scott / What The Earth Seemed To Say by Marie Howe / Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

(6:44) So I Got To Thinking podcast

Current Reads

(11:11) Child Of My Heart by Alice McDermot

(14:19) The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

(18:15) Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry

DNFs 

(23:43) Middlemarch by George Eliot

(26:43) Let The Great World Spin by Column McCann

(27:17) Apeirogon by Column McCann

(27:48) Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar

(30:28) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

(30:58) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

(35:39) Twist by Colum McCann

(39:23) Neuromancer by William Gibson

(40:06) Butter by Asako Yuzuki

(43:25) Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart

(44:48) The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

(46:38) A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

(54:06) This Other Eden by Paul Hardy

(55:02) Rouge / All’s Well / Bunny by Mona Awad

(56:17) The Ishiguro Effect

(59:06) Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

(59:28) I Gave You Eyes And You Looked Towards Darkness by Irène Sola 

What We’re Reading Next

(1:01:03) We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad

(1:01:37) Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan 

(1:02:11) Maggie; Or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar: A Novel by Katie Yees

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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In the latest episode Joseph and Amanda launch into Atmosphere with an in-depth discussion of the queer-coded astronaut love story by Taylor Jenkins Reid. They also take a look at the recently announced fiction and non-fiction longlists from the National Book Award, plus share what they’ve been reading lately and the titles they’re looking forward to picking up next.  

Book News

The Book Club Review podcast

A Pair Of Bookends podcast 

National Book Awards

Margate Bookie

Cheltenham Literary Festival

Current Reads

Farewell Fountain Street by Selçuk Altun, translated by Mel Kenne and Nilgün Dungan

Maggie; or, a Man and A Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee

Dying for Sex, HBO

Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst

Deep Dive 

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

One True Love by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

What We’re Reading Next

Priest Daddy by Patricia Lockwood

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood

Nightcrawler by Leila Mottley

The Girls That Grew Big by Leila Mottley 

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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Just in time for Banned Books Week (5-11 October), Joseph and Amanda talk about literary censorship and recommend the samizdat titles they think are worth exploring. They also chat about this year's Booker Prize Shortlist which was announced on 23 September and run through their picks from the Baillie Gifford Prize shortlist, one of the UK's biggest literary prizes for non-fiction. Plus, as always, they talk about what they've been reading recently and what they're excited to pick up next. 

Book News

(1:22) The Booker Prize

(7:16) The Baillie Gifford Prize

Current Reads

(11:16) I Am Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol

(15:44) Ask Me How It Works by Deepa Paul

(16:19) Authority: Essays On Being Right by Andrea Long Chu

Banned Books

(21:08) Banned Books Week, 5-11 October 2025

(22:57) PEN America

(27:28) Index on Censorship: 100 Banned Novels

(27:44) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 

(29:07) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 

(29:16) Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell 

(31:37) The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (Amanda’s Pick #1)

(35:17) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(39:16) Deenie by Judy Blume (Amanda’s Pick #2)

(42:17) Judy Blume Forever

(45:35) July’s People by Nadine Gordimer (Joseph’s Pick #2)

(49:50) This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson (Amanda’s Pick #3)

(54:42) A Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Joseph’s Pick #3)

What We’re Reading Next

(58:01) The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

(58:03) The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

(58:09) Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth

(58:40) Transcription by Ben Lerner

(59:19) The Renovation by Kenan Orhan

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Creeps, chills, and carefully crafted dread - join Joseph and Amanda for this week’s episode as they recommend a stack of mood-heavy reads for spooky season. Plus, Team CR talks László Krasznahorkai - this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature - and as always they discuss what they’ve been reading lately and what they’re looking forward to picking up next. 

(0:44) Book News

(0:51) Nobel Prize for Literature 

(1:46) Louisiana Channel

(2:52) Sátántangó by Lászlo Krasznahorkai

(5:41) Rivals by Jilly Cooper

(7:00) Current Reads

(7:04) Objects of Desire by Neil Blackmore

(10:43) Fair Play by Louise Hegarty 

(13:48)  Spooky Season Reading

(15:06)  Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

(17:55) Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfeld

(19:01) The Echoes by Evie Wyld

(19:28) Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

(19:51) Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

(20:27) Our Share of the Night by Mariana Enriquez 

(21:36) Pet Sematary by Stephen King

(22:55) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

(24:04) Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn

(25:04) The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston

(27:22) Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

(27:36) Beloved by Toni Morrison

(28:25)  Ghost stories by MR James, Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allen Poe and HP Lovecraft

(29:44) Come Closer by Sara Gran (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(34:23) Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (Amanda’s Pick #1)

(39:04) The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Dávila, tr. by Audrey Harris and Matthew Gleeson (Joseph Pick #2)

(44:21) Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (Amanda’s Pick #2)

(46:24) Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

(49:32) Spooky Books Recommended to Amanda

(49:44) Sinead Hanna @sineadhannacraic

(50:14)  The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

(50:29) Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker 

(51:06) Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

(51:42) Spooky Books Recommended to Joseph

(51:52) A Game In Yellow by Hailey Piper

(52:42) Ashley @coffeeandcuentos

(52:59) Never Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, ed. Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

(52:32) Talking Scared Podcast with Neil McRobert

(53:47) Rekt by Alex Gonzalez

(54:33) What We’re Reading Next 

(55:03) Greyhound by Joanna Pocock

(55:41) Big Kiss, Bye-Bye by Claire-Louise Bennett

(55:57) What A Time To Be Alive by Jenny Mustard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Amanda and Joseph on this week’s episode as they discuss the Booker Prize 2025 shortlist and talk in depth about what worked and what didn’t work for them with each of the six nominated books. They also chat book news and have a look at some of the upcoming titles they’re looking forward to reading next. 

(0:32) Book News

(1:12) Lone Wolf by Adam Weymouth

(4:50) Gresham College Lecture Series 2025-2026

(5:24) Booker Prize shortlist 

(5:56) The Booker Prize 2025

(9:33) The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller

(20:00) The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

(27:26) The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

(28:09) All Fours by Miranda July

(35:05) Endling by Maria Reva

(35:22) Amanda’s Sarah Jessica Parker impression

(36:25) Audition by Katie Kitamura

(42:20) Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga

(43:03) Flashlight by Susan Choi

(43:07) Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

(49:35) Flesh by David Szalay

(57:05) What We’re Reading Next 

(57:15) 11.22.63 by Stephen King

(57:30) Antidote by Karen Russell

(58:40) Taipei by Tao Lin

(59:23) Heart the Lover by Lily King

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Join Amanda and Joseph for another deep dive, this time into Heart the Lover, Lily King’s tale of first loves and lost opportunities. Plus, as always, they talk about their recent reads and discuss the titles they’re keen to pick up next. 

(1:23) Book News

(1:23) The Booker Prize 2025

(1:34) Flesh by David Szalay

(2:09) The Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction

(2:12) How to End a Story: Collected Diaries by Helen Garner 

(2:45) The Goldsmith’s Prize

(3:26) We Live Here Now by CD Rose

(4:11) What We’re Reading Next 

(4:16) Big Kiss, Bye Bye by Claire Louise Bennett

(7:46) Checkout 19 by Claire Lousie Bennett

(8:28) Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley

(14:26)  Deep Dive into Heart the Lover 

(15:44) The Pleasing Hour

(15:49) The English Teacher

(15:53) Father of the Rain

(15:57) Euphoria 

(16:30) Writers & Lovers 

(18:04) Heart The Lover synopsis

(25:17) Book Reporter Talks to: Lily King, Heart the Lover

(29:07) The Aeneid by Virgil 

(29:12) “Some day we will remember even these our hardships” (Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit)

(31:34) Ulysses by James Joyce

(31:41) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

(32:14) Literary references in Heart The Lover

(32:47) ‘The Dead’ by James Joyce

(1:06:41) We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

(1:07:21) What we’re reading next

(1:07:45) Independent People by Halldor Laxness

(1:08:05) Ambrose Through The Tall Grass by Nathan Korn

(1:09:01) The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez

(1:09:43) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

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.

Join Amanda and Joseph for an end-of-year bibliofest as they talk about their top 10 books of the year, plus they dish the dirt on the titles that sadly didn’t live up to their expectations over the last twelve months. 

(1:20) Bookish News

(1:24) The Warwick Prize For Women In Translation 

(1:44) And The Walls Became The World All Around by Johanna Ekström and Sigrid Rausing, translated by Sigrid Rausing

(3:33) The New Yorker at 100 (Netflix)

(5:22) Our Top 10 Books of 2025 (#10 to #6)

(6:55) New York Times Best Books of 2025

(8:32) The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

(8:55) Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

(9:52) Angel Down by Daniel Kraus

(10:41) The Director by Andrew Kehlmann

(11:15) You Should Have Left by Andrew Kehlmann

(11:53) The Sisters by Jonas Hassan Khemiri 

(12:55) Wild Thing: A Life Of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux

(13:01) A Marriage At Sea / Maurice & Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst

(15:34) We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt's Lessons in Love and Disobedience by Lyndsey Stonebridge

(18:16) The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell by Lucia Osborne-Crowley

(20:06) Objects Of Desire by Neil Blackmore (#10)

(21:47) Playworld by Adam Ross (#9)

(23:08) A Person Is A Prayer by Ammar Kalia (#8)

(24:58) Good Girl by Aria Aber @aria.arber (#7)

(27:16) Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno translated by Natasha Lehrer (#6)

(31:13) Christmas Cracker Questions Speed Round

(32:11) The Story of a Heart by Dr Rachel Clarke

(34:10) Nevada by Imogen Binnie

(36:21) A Big Storm Knocked it Over by Laurie Colwin

(38:37) Margo’s Got Money Trouble by Rufi Thorpe

(39:17) The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe

(41:15) I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol

(41:42) Close to Home by Michael Magee

(42:31) Heart the Lover by Lily King

(42:37) The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

(43:25) Flashlight by Susan Choi

(44:38) Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

(44:55) The Names by Florence Knapp

(48:29) In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

(48:51) A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell

(49:26) On the Calculation of Volume, volumes I, II and III by Solvej Balle

(49:54) A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah K Maas

(50:26) Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

(50:51) Our Top 10 Books of 2025 (#5 to #1)

(51:02)The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai (#5)

(53:24) The Coin by Yasmin Zaher (#4)

(56:26) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (#3)

(1:02:16) My Clavicle and Other Major Misalignments by Marta Sanz and translated from the Spanish by Katie King (#2)

(1:02:44) Unwell Woman by Elinor Cleghorn

(1:04:48) One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (#1)

(1:07:37) Spent by Alison Bechdel (#1)

(1:10:24) All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert

(1:11:56) Twist by Column McCann

(1:12:32) Moderation by Elaine Castillo

(1:14:11) What We’re Reading Next

(1:14:28) Angel Down by Daniel Kraus 

(1:14:40) Whale Fall by Daniel Kraus

(1:16:24) A Dance to the Music of Time by Antony Powell

Also mentioned

Gordon Burn Prize For New Writing

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

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Join Amanda and Joseph as they get graphic – about the best graphic novels they’ve read and the ones they are keen to add to their TBRs. Along the way, they talk about their recent reads and discuss the books they hope will close out their reading year. 

(0:47) Bookish News

(5:41) National Book Award

(6:00) The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine

(6:45) One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

(7:46) The Intentions of Thunder by Patricia Smith

(8:25) The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri

(8:48) We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

(9:52) Recent Reads

(9:56) 11.22.63 by Stephen King

(15:20) Ultraluminous by Katherine Faw

(21:12) Graphic Novels

(25:35) Alison by Lizzy Stewart

(26:19) Ducks by Kate Beaton

(30:11) Sabrina by Nick Drnaso

(30:17) Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls

(30:57) The Sad Ghost Club by Lize Meddings

(36:59) Goodnight Pun Pun by Inio Asano

(37:22) Sheets by Brenna Thummler

(38:02) Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson

(38:13) Blankets by Craig Thompson

(45:05) Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez

(49:15) Walk Me To the Corner by Anneli Furmark

(53:34) Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast

(54:13) Florrie: A Football Love Story by Anna Trench

(54:46) Cats of the Louvre by Taiyo Matsumoto

(55:53) Firefly by Robert Macfarlane and Luke Adam Hawker

(56:34) Walking Distance by Lizzy Stewart

(57:12) The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco

(58:02) This Beautiful, Ridiculous City by Kay Sohini

(59:04) What We’re Reading Next

(59:29) On The Calculation of Volume: Volumes II and III by Solvej Balle

(1:00:28) The Silver Book by Olivia Laing

(1:00:43) Books: A Manifesto, Or, How To Build A Library by Ian Patterson

(1:01:11) The Riders in the Chariot by Patrick White

Also mentioned

The Liverpool Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum

@harbourbooks

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.

This week, Joseph and Amanda talk about some of their favourite short story collections - ranging from canonical gems to new voices - plus, as always, they talk about what they’ve been reading recently and discuss what they’re excited to read next. 

(1:24) Bookish news

(2:20) Birchbark Books

(2:27) Inkwell Books

(2:40) Red Balloon Books

(2:56) Excelsior Bay Books / Milkweed Books / Black Garnet Books

(3:08) Shop Minneapolis bookshops from anywhere at Bookstore.org and libro.fm

(4:31) Standwithminnesota.com

(5:36) The TS Eliot Prize

(6:03) Wellwater by Karen Solie 

(7:17) Recent Reads 

(7:27) Buckeye by Patrick Ryan @patrickryanyc

(12:40) A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell

(17:14) Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

(18:17) Short Story Collections

(18:26) Joseph's Short Story Quiz

(25:38) Games and Rituals by Katherine Heiny @katherineheiny

(30:59) Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

(34:32) Mslexia

(34:45) Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer @zzpacker56

(40:42) In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway

(46:37) The Latehomecomer: Essential Stories by Mavis Gallant

(51:18) Furies: Stories of the Wicked, Wild and Untamed by Margaret Atwood and others @therealmargaretatwood

(52:21) Stories of Place:///zinc.level.blindfold edited by Niamh McAnally @niamh_mcanally

(53:00) The Woman Dies by Aoko Matsuda @matsudaoko

(56:40) You Glow in the Dark by Liliana Colanzi @lilianacolanzi, translated by Chris Andrews 

(58:06) Selected stories by Nikolai Gogol

(59:19) Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn

(59:59) What We’re Reading Next 

(1:00:13) I’m Glad My Mother Died by Jennette McCurdy @jennettemccurdy

(1:00:50) Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

(1:01:19) Palaver by Bryan Washington @bry.washing

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes

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This week, Amanda and Joseph go into the trenches with Daniel Kraus’s repulsively propulsive Angel Down. They also discuss what they’ve been reading recently, including the new Ian McEwan novel and a slew of non-fiction, as well as what they’re looking forward to picking up next. 

(2:40) Bookish news

(2:44) Storygraph (@josephjdance and @itsmoleyreads)

(3:47) Faversham Literary Festival, 20 February to 1 March, 2026

(4:44) Chocolat and Vianne by Joanne Harris 

(5:41) Recent reads 

(6:00) Books, A Manifesto: Or, How To Build A Library by Ian Patterson

(7:19) Trees In Winter by Richard Shimell (richardshimell.co.uk)

(8:21) Hiroshima by John Hersey 

(10:33) What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

(14:05) Deep Dive - Angel Down

(14:45) The Shape of Water by Daniel Kraus

(14:53) Trollhunters by Daniel Kraus

(15:04) The Monster Variations by Daniel Kraus

(15:27) Rotters and Scowler by Daniel Kraus

(15:46) The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch by Daniel Kraus

(15:57) Whale Fall by Daniel Kraus

(19:13) Angel Down by Daniel Kraus @krausauthor

(23:49) Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman

(24:04) Zone by Mathias Enard 

(24:18) Septology by Jon Fosse

(38:56) 1917, directed by Sam Mendes

(38:59) All’s Quiet on the Western Front (2022), directed by Edward Berger

(41:39) In Memoriam by Alice Winn

(57:33) Final thoughts

(59:38) What We’re Reading Next

(59:44) A High Wind In Jamaica. Or The Innocent Voyage by Richard Hughes

(1:00:59) The Woman Dies by Aoko Matsuda

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

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Happy New Year! Start the year with Amanda and Joseph as they talk about their reading intentions for 2026. 

(2:09) Bookish News

(2:36) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (directed by Emerald Fennell)

(2:46) Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (directed by Chloe Zhao)

(2:59) Die My Love by Ariana Harwicz (directed by Lynne Ramsey)

(3:34) Train Dreams by Dennis Johnson (directed by Clint Bentley)

(3:51) A Pair of Bookends podcast 

(7:15) What We’ve Been Reading 

(7:19) Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

(8:22) The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

(13:51) Reading Resolutions

(23:28) The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

(24:39) Independent People by Halldór Laxness

(25:05) Death’s End by Cixin Liu

(26:29) Farewell Fountain Street by Selçuk Altun

(26:42) Cold Nights of Childhood by Tezer Özlü

(26:54) Journey To The Edge of Life by Tezer Özlü

(27:00) Snow by Orhan Pamuk 

(28:17) My Clavicle and Other Major Misalignments by Marta Sanz

(31:12) Steering the Craft by Ursula K Le Guinn

(31:21) On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

(31:45) Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk

(33:51) Katabasis by RF Kuang

(34:06) The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

(34:14) The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

(35:14) On The Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle

(37:05) Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

(45:17) Rougon-Macquart Cycle by Emile Zola

(46:26) The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji

(50:31) What We’re Reading Next

(50:44) Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy

(52:27) Money by Emile Zola

(53:20) Angel Down by Daniel Kraus 

Also Mentioned

Whitstable Silent Book Club @silentbookclubwhitstable

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

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This week, Joseph and Amanda tackle romance. But this is romance with a twist, no tropes or formulas, just good writing that even the most hard-hearted cynic can enjoy. And before that, as Prize season is upon us, they dish the latest on prestigious longlists, and top and tail the episode with current and future reads. 

(0:52) Bookish news

(1:03) The Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction

(2:52) Indignity: A Life Reimagined by Lea Ypi 

(4:03) Ask Me How It Works: Love in an Open Marriage by Deepa Paul @storiesbydeepa

(4:29) The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan by Lyse Doucet @lyse.doucet

(6:04) Mother Mary Comes to Me a memoir by Arundhati Roy @arundatiroyauthor

(6:17) International Booker Prize

(6:45) The National Book Critics Circle Awards (NBCC)

(7:16) Dublin Literary Award

(7:56) What I Know About You by Eric Chacour @ericchacour

(8:09) The Creation of Half-Broken People by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu 

(8:37) Live Fast by Brigitte Giroud

(9:13) Recent Reads 

(9:21) Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn

(14:19) Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash @madelinecash

(17:45) Romance for Cynics

(19:15) Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

(19:29) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

(24:09) Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid @rachelreidwrites

(25:38) Emma & Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

(26:30) Persuasion by Jane Austen

(26:56) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

(27:09) Villette by Charlotte Bronte

(29:03) The books of Lily King @lilykingbooks

(29:23) Minor Black Figures & The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor @brandonlgtaylor

(29:23) Memorial: A Novel by Bryan Washington

(30:05) Normal People by Sally Rooney @sallyrooneyofficial

(30:37) You Are Here by David Nicholls @davidnichollswriter

(31:17) Happy All The Time by Laurie Colwin

(35:46) Reasons To Be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe @ninastibbe 

(39:17) Crush by Ada Calhoun @adacalhoun

(42:58) Good Material by Dolly Alderton @dollyalderton

(47:13) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller @madeline.e.miller

(47:47) The Disenchantment by Celia Bell 

(48:22) The Lovers by Paolo Cognetti 

(49:24) Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason @meg_mason_writer

(50:26) Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey @monicaheisey

(51:50) You, Again by Kate Goldbeck @kategoldbeck

(52:25) Heartburn by Nora Ephron

(53:15) What We’re Reading Next 

(53:26) Midnight Is Not In Everyone’s Reach by António Lobo Antunes @antonio.lobo.antunes

(54:16) White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector by Nicholas Royle @nicholasroyle

(55:15) Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones @tayari

(55:21) Kin by Tayari Jones

(55:47) My Friends by Frederik Backman @frederickbackman

(56:00) The Winner by Teddy Wayne

The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine @wednesdaywerskin

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes

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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

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.