Teaching My Cat To Read: The “very serious” Book Review Podcast

This week, we discuss Out Of The Silent Planet, the first of C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy. We talk about Gnosticism, the absolutely atrocious aerodynamics of a spherical spaceship, and the time-honoured literary tradition of writing caricatures of your best friends into your fiction. Content Warnings na Support the show Recommend us a Book! If there’s a book you want to recommend to us to read, just...

In this episode we’re discussing what makes a good adaptation! We discuss adaptations of books we have read before such as Pride and Prejudice, to books we haven’t read on the podcast such as The Lord of The Rings! Join us as we wander through the forest of adaptations, what we like, what we don’t like, and picking out those we think our cat would read.  Content Warnings NA Support the show Recomm...

This week, we’re talking about Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson! Join us as we discuss magic systems, talking swords, and the power of character growth.  Warbreaker is a stand-alone novel set in the Cosmere Universe, set on Nathlis, the shard world of Endowment. The magic is called Awakening, and is similar to the magic system which we discussed in The Emperor's Soul, and is based on the magic...

This week, we gush about Becky Chambers’ first novel, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet . Join us as we talk about humanism when not all the characters are human, why we actually wouldn’t punch any of the characters, and how much this book is just a big warm hug in word form. This episode also includes an excellent recommendation of British desserts if you ever are travelling in the future Warn...

This week, we’re talking about Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen’s commentary and parody on the Gothic novel genre. Join us for a discussion of dramatic fainting, odious love interests, and leaping to false conclusions. Content Warnings NA Support the show Recommend us a Book! If there’s a book you want to recommend to us to read, just send us a message/email and we’ll pop it on our long list (but ple...

Welcome to this week’s episode, where we take a rolllicking tour through Horace Walpole’s ‘The Castle of Otranto’, widely considered the first ever Gothic Horror novel. We discuss unmitigated chaos, the incredible diversity of character motivations, and - of course - whether the cat would approve. Content Warnings na Support the show Recommend us a Book! If there’s a book you want to recommend to...

This week, we discuss Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Join as we talk about magical metaphors, the power of human connection, and - of course - what the cat’s opinions might be.  Content Warnings Discussion of attempted sexual assault, murder, fantasy violence. Support the show Recommend us a Book! If there’s a book you want to recommend to us to read, just send us a message/email and we’ll pop it on our...

In this episode, we discuss Sense & Sensibility by the master herself, Jane Austen. Join us as we chat about unsettling age differences, where this book stands in conversation with the Gothic literature genre, and the frankly extraordinary blandness of almost every male character in this book. Content Warnings Discussion of large age gap relationship, in the context of 18th century England.  S...

In this bonus episode of Teaching my Cat to Read, Lotti is joined by two friends of the podcast to discuss episodes 6,7 and 8 of THE WHEEL OF TIME on Amazon prime. In the episode we discuss all the events of the show, plus our favourite book reader nods and subtle references which we picked up on re-watches! Spoiler warning Spoilers for episodes 6,7,8 of The Wheel of Time.  Spoilers for the books...

Join us for a festive chat about Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, another installation in his incredible Discworld series. We talk about belief, the horror of childrens’ imaginations, and - of course - what the cat would think of everything. Happy Hogswatch, all! Content Warnings na Support the show Recommend us a Book! If there’s a book you want to recommend to us to read, just send us a message/ema...

In this bonus episode of Teaching my Cat to Read, Lotti is joined by two friends of the podcast to discuss episodes 4-5 of THE WHEEL OF TIME on Amazon prime. In the episode we discuss all the events of the show, plus our favourite book reader nods and subtle references which we picked up on re-watches! SPOILERS  Spoilers for episodes 4-5 of The Wheel of Time.   Spoilers for the books THE EYE OF TH...

Join us for a discussion/dragging of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Beloved by English teachers across the world, this book deals with themes of generational trauma and abuse, set in the evocative Yorkshire moors. We talk about racism, haunted houses and - of course - what the cat would think of it all. Spoilers start around the 3 min mark.  Content Warnings Discussions of emotional and physic...

Join us for the first episode of season 2, in which we discuss Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett! We talk about free will, compulsory heterosexuality, and the *chef’s kiss* perfect humour of the prose in this book. We also discuss who would be the single human in a Muppet adaptation, and what the cat would think of everything. Spoilers start around the 17 min mark.  Content Warnings Di...

In this bonus episode of Teaching my Cat to Read, Lotti is joined by two friends of the podcast to discuss the first THREE episodes of THE WHEEL OF TIME on Amazon prime. Featuring questions such as what did we like in the adaptation, what we hope for in future episodes, and why Nynaeve is the MVP.  Spoilers for episodes 1-3 of The Wheel of Time. Spoilers for the books THE EYE OF THE WORLD, NEW SPR...

For our final episode of series 1, we answer questions from you, our listeners! Find out what our favourite genres are, which author we would want to meet (and why), and which of the books we have read for series 1 we enjoyed reading the most! We also discuss the first few books which we are going to read for series 2! Make sure to stick around for the whole episode to find out which we will be re...

For our final book of season one we read ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ the first book in Ursula K le Guin’s Earthsea series. Ged makes a mistake at the beginning, and then makes some more mistakes, potters around the world of Earthsea and does magic and other things. During his adventures, he acquired an Otak, which is very much like a cat, so you know we have feelings about this book. What else do we th...

Join us for a robust discussion of Beowulf, one of the most well-known Old English poems. We talk about the monstrous feminine, the political landscape of 7th-10th century Britain, and wanting to fight Seamus Heaney. The cat has actually read this one, sort of. Content Warnings War, battles, Beowulf rips someone’s arm off.   Support the show Recommend us a Book! If there’s a book you want to recom...

Join us for a discussion of Lirael, Garth Nix’s sequel to Sabriel and the second in the Abhorsen trilogy. We talk about bloodlines, loneliness, and our shared burning desire to become Assistant Librarians in the Great Library of the Clayr. Content Warnings Suicidal ideation, mild gore / zombies,  Support the show Recommend us a Book! If there’s a book you want to recommend to us to read, just send...

Join us as we discuss Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, first published in 1818. Featuring: the ethics of marrying your surrogate sister; just, like, a lot of hubris; rating your professors by the odiousness of their physiognomy; and parental abandonment. Spoiler alert: we make fun of Victor, a lot. Content Warnings Grave robbing, sort-of incest, discussions of violence and colonialism, child death Sup...

This episode we read ‘The Final Empire’, the first book in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series. Listen to us yell about using crime to solve all your problems, doing shots shots shots of magic metal in order to overthrow the government and the fantasy genre’s ongoing problem with magical bioessentialism. Content Warnings Racism, slavery, bioessentialism and rape mentioned.  Support the show Recomm...

Show notes In today’s episode, we read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë, and discuss a lot of the heavy themes it covers (see the content warnings below). We recommend you check out a plot summary before listening to our rantings about the failings of the institution of marriage, poor parenting techniques, and which few of the characters in this book we WOULDN’T fight. Content Warnings D...

We read a short children's story “My Friend Mr Leakey” written by J. B. S. Haldane, who can only be described as a mad scientist. Join us for a discussion of transmutative justice, English versus Brazilian magic, and post-war fantasy literature. Content Warnings 1930’s-era British racism, eugenics, colonialism Support the show Recommend us a Book! If there’s a book you want to recommend to us...

In this episode, we discuss our myriad issues with the Peter Jackson adaptations, the wider Middle-Earth legendarium, and the possibility of the Arkenstone being a Silmaril. Join us as we wish for the movies to lower our coffins into our graves when we die, so that they can let us down one last time. Content Warnings Discussions of antisemitism, racism, race essentialism, mention of Nazism Support...

In this episode, we discuss the Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved book which originated as a bedtime story for his son. Join us for discussion of medievalist tropes, elven culture, and Bilbo’s failed stealth checks. We had a little issue with M's audio this time, so despite our best editing efforts there is still a bit of crackling, which we apologise for.  Content Warnings na Support the show...

We read “Temeraire: His Majesty's Dragon” by Naomi Novik, the first book in a series of alternative history novels where the Napoleonic Wars are fought with Dragons. The second of a two-parter (we recommend first listening to the previous episode if you haven’t done so already!) [Note: At around 16 minutes we briefly mix up Captain Catherine Harcourt and Captain Jane Roland. Lawrence meets Ha...