Tea or Books?

Detective fiction, crime fiction, and Beverley Nichols – what fun!   Rachel has had to take a quick break from the podcast, but I was delighted to have a special guest in the form of Karen, from Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings,

Literary families, and the reveal on our recommendations for each other – we’re back after a seasonal break. We’ve missed you!   In the first half of our 51st episode, we look at families where more than one generation has

To celebrate episode 50, we are doing a question and answer episode!   I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas – I’m editing this a few days before Christmas, but I’m going to assume that a wonderful time was

Wilkie Collins, A.S. Byatt, and the death of the author (sort of) – episode 49 is quite the mixed bag. nbsp; I found it quite hard to describe the first half of this episode – though hopefully it will become

Emily Eden and the openings of books – we muddle our way through episode 48!   First – do send any questions you have for episode 50 to simonthomasoxford[at]gmail.com. We’re quite excited about finding out what you’ll ask – about

Sybille Bedford and sequels by the original author vs sequels by a different author… we need to come up with snappier titles for these things.   In episode 47, we start with a topic suggested by Karen via email –

Elizabeth Strout is our author this episode – and we also dip a toe in the worlds of Canadian and Irish literature. Spoilers: we know a lot less than we should. Suggestions welcomed, please!   I’m off to Canada shortly,

A heated conversation about literary prizes AND Vita Sackville-West. Roll up, roll up for episode 45!   In the first half of this fortnight’s episode, we try to determine whether or not literary prizes affect our reading – which wanders

After a bit of a hiatus, we’re back with an episode about Marghanita Laski and whether we read one book at a time or many books at once. And because that’s a bit of a mouthful, I’m calling it monogamous

Scientists! Vicars! H.E. Bates! Helen Thomas!   We’re popping in between holidays to record an episode about clergymen and scientists in novels – doubtless missing plenty of them, but thank you for everyone who tweeted in with your suggestions. We’d

Trains! Boats! Anita Brookner! Ann Bridge! This episode has it all. Books set on trains vs books set on boats – Rachel didn’t want us to do it but it happened. And… it was a roaring success? Right? Well, I had

John Galsworthy! Elizabeth Jane Howard! Circadian novels! Find out what that means, and much more, in episode 41.   Guys, it was SUPER hot when we were recording this podcast. It’s rather cooler now that I’m editing, but I rather

Alphabetical or thematic shelving? Miss Mole vs Chatterton Square? Episode 40 of ‘Tea or Books?’ continues answering the important questions that others don’t dare to.   In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I address the pressing issue of how books

Special guest Jenny joins us for episode 39 – discussing children’s classics and spoilers!   I was SO excited that Jenny agreed to join me and Rachel on ‘Tea or Books?’ while she was visiting England – her podcast, Reading

Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Bailey, and a bit of a debate about male and female characters. Here’s episode 38 – which is unusually short, but hopefully fun nonetheless. I’ve left in an amusing moment of drama…   Many thanks to Kaisha

Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, and schooldays – we’ve got it all in episode 37 (depending on your definition of ‘all’).   In the first half of this episode, we meander around the topic of whether or not studying a book

Ursula Orange, Elizabeth Fair, and audiobooks – it’s fair to say that people probably won’t know that much about the authors today, but they are both among the Furrowed Middlebrow reprint series published by Dean Street Press. Any fan of

May Sarton and F.M. Mayor go up against each other, and we chat about whether or not we want to meet our favourite authors (living or dead!)   Our episodes are getting a little more sporadic as we’re doing more

E M Delafield, F Tennyson Jesse, and novels about real people – that’s what’s on the menu for episode 34.   It’s very nice to have Rachel back (hi Rachel!) and we’ve both been doing homework for this episode –

C.S. Lewis, Meryl Streep, and Alfred Hitchcock! What do they have in common? They all appear in this special crossover episode – where Tea or Books? meets my brother’s podcast The C of Z of Movies.   That’s right –

Ian McEwan helps us get dangerously modern in our latest ‘Tea or Books?’ episode, as we chat about Atonement and On Chesil Beach (along with a whole bunch of his other books) – while, in the first half, we discuss whether or

Happy new year! Rachel and I are back from a bit of a podcast break, and raring to go for the New Year.   In this episode, we look at two novels by R.C. Sherriff, both published by Persephone, and

Muriel Spark, artists, and musicians in our final episode of 2016 – it was a fun one to record.   We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year, and fingers crossed for a wonderful 2017

Two more Persephones in this episode – Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton and Princes in the Land by Joanna Cannan – along with a discussion of short stories: which writers we like and don’t like, and whether or not we’d race

Two Persephone titles will help solace us in these bizarre post-election days.   We’ve been away for a while because I lost my voice – sorry! – but Rachel (Book Snob) and I are back, talking about The Victorian Chaise-Longue by