Joel Golby's Book Club

Joel speaks to Ben Ambridge about how stories define our existence and his book that outlines the eight masterplots behind human behaviour. Joel explains how he can always tell when someone has never been in their overdraft. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Romy Hall ends up in prison after killing her stalker. It's an excellent set-up to a novel, but does it deliver? The endorsements on the front cover certainly think so, but does Geordie Joel agree? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel is joined by writer and comedian Benedict Townsend who takes full control of the show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel speaks to stand up comedian and author of You'll Like It When You Get There, Rhys James, about his new book! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel creates a whole new format for the book club and pulls in writer Lucas Oakeley to build a character from scratch. Expect dice, coin flips and... long necks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel speaks to Róisín Lanigan about her latest , I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There, a ghost story set against the horror of the current housing crisis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel reviews a graphic novel called Below Ambition by Simon Hanselmann about Megg The Witch and Werewolf Jones who start a band called Horse Mania. He also digs through the finds of his latest book shop crawl. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What I'd Rather Not Think About is a novel about grieving a twin, captured in little vignettes over roughly 200 pages, but what does Joel and his new co-host Geordie Joel make of it? And is it time to stop writing 7 line chapters? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel reads Middlesex, a swirling multi-generational novel that sees a Greek family migrate to Detroit and struggle with their middle class status. The basis of pretty good novel - and it won the Pulitzer - but does Joel rate it? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel's broken two of his rules this time round by reading a book that is 1) a hardback, and 2) came out this year. It's Miranda July's All Fours, a book where the narrator is supposed to spend a load of money on a life-changing road trip, but ends up blowing all the cash on renovating a motel room just outside town to look like a Parisian hotel suite. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

What's the best writing snack? How important is it to plan your character arc? What do you make of The Hardest Geezer book announcement? Joel answers your questions! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Joel's picked out another book that everyone seemed to read before he did. Jenny's Offill's Weather came out in 2020 and is set around the inauguration of Donald Trump's presidency and it's a book that feels like it's set in 2016, but does it hold up in 2024? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel watched a great TV show based on Benjamin Myers' 'The Gallows Pole' only to find out that everyone had been reading Benjamin Myers for years. This week, he's reading the 2014 novel set in idillic Northern English countryside, Beastings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You asked for it, you got it. Joel's read a book that he hated and it's Jonathan Ames' collection of articles and short stories that have not dated well and probably weren't very good at the time either. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel's got really into heading down to his local pond and counting the different types of flowers and fish he can see after reading a mind-altering set of essays on exploration, faith and nature by Anne Dillard. Good for him! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel's got the answers to all your questions on reading, writing and books in general. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A self-confessed "Egg Head To The Bones", Joel has picked up A Hologram For The King for the first time in 11 years. But will he love it as much as he did the first time? Probably, yes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After last week's venture into 'Cherry', a masterclass in dialogue, Joel's been on the hunt for more conversation . As you'll hear on the episode, they've not all been the most captivating, but he did read Rachel Cusk's 'Outline' which is a novel (novella?) set over ten conversations with strangers. Is it better than the chat he had with a stranger in a post room? Let's hope so. Hosted on Acast. S...

We've look at books that have done 'alcohol' well, we've looked at books that has done 'sex' well, and now it's time to look at a book that does 'war' and 'drugs' really well. So let's get stuck in to Cherry by Nico Walker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special bonus episode, Joel speaks to Sheena Patel about her creative influences, the process of writing and crafting her incredible debut novel, 'I'm A Fan'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've looked at a few books on JGBC with themes desire as of late, and 2022's I'm A Fan took on a life of its own post-release for absolutely nailing the topic through a modern day lens. It's an astute, sharp and witty book that Joel has recommended "the arse out of" since it came out. So yeah! A good one this week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Joel's broken every rule in the book and reviewed his own book, which is a book of reviews. It's all very meta, but essentially, 'Four Stars', his new book comes out in a couple days and he's broken it down, told some anecdotes, shared some influences and given you the first taste of what's to come. Get 'Four Stars' now: https://www.waterstones.com/book/four-stars/joel-golby/97800...

In the tenth episode of Joel Golby's Book Club, we're exploring Desire, a memoir from Jonathan Dollimore; a book which explores theories of identity, mortality and, as the name might suggest, desire. It's also book filled with motorbikes (cool), dick sucking (cool) and falling in love with Latvian dudes you don't know the surnames of (cool). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...

This week, Joel dives into the oldest book so far. From 1976, it's Ann Beattie's 'Chilly Scenes Of Winter' - a book in which a pretty normal guy called Charles - deliberates over whether he's zipping up his coat too quickly. Is it good? Let's find out! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel's not messing around on this one and has pulled in one of his top ten books of all time (and he only discovered it last year). From 1992, Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson isn't quite a novel but it's also not quite a collection of shorts stories - more a collection of questionable memories from an incredibly unreliable narrator called 'Fuckhead'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...