At a time in which digital information is increasingly uncertain it feels more essential than ever to engage with books that tell us about the world, diversify our perspectives and propose solutions for change. Yet with the best will in the world these ‘serious’ books aren’t always what we feel like reading. We have the […]

It’s a new year and a new episode. Join Kate and Laura as they consider reading intentions for the year ahead, and try to set some realistic goals. Will 2025 be the year Kate gets into poetry? Will it be the year Laura weans herself off romance novels? And as always, they’re thinking of book […]

Curious about the Booker Prize 2024? Wondering if the shortlisted novels live up to the hype? In our latest episode Kate and Laura are joined by returning guests Phil, Sarah and Martin to dive deep into this year’s shortlist bringing you their usual frank, honest opinions in true book-club style. This isn’t your typical review […]

In this special episode, originally released for our Patreon subscribers, Kate celebrates the joys of the perfect notebook with fellow enthusiast and stationery shop owner David Frostick (Lift, Southwold). From the importance of flat-lay paper to the perfect pen we’ve got it all covered just in time for back-to-school season. And then we turn to […]

We love a list, and we love an excuse for a conversation about books, and so we couldn’t have been more delighted when the New York Times released their list of the best books of the 21st century, so far. From 503 top tens submitted by authors and other literary world folk, plus a bit […]

Inspired by the folk at the New York Times article ‘22 of the funniest novels since Catch 22’, join me (Kate), Phil and Laura as we consider the books that make us laugh. Listen in as we explore the NYT suggestions and add in a few of our own. Find out the author we can’t […]

Listen in to our non-fiction book recommendations as we explore literary worlds outside of the fiction shelves. Join Kate as she heads to South London to visit Backstory, a distinctive indie bookstore founded by former journalist Tom Rowley. Rowley shares his journey from journalism to opening a bookshop, the challenges and joys of running a […]

We’ve put our 2023 reading lists behind us, and now it’s time to look ahead to 2024. Who better to guide us through all the new titles coming our way than Chrissy Ryan, owner of North London’s buzziest bookshop and social space, Bookbar. New books by favourite authors, a non-fiction page-turner that will have you […]

What were the best books of 2023? Listen in to our review of the year to find out our absolute favourites. Join me (Kate), Laura and Phil as we look back over a year of reading – over 300 books between us, from new releases to backlist gems. Find out our overall book of the […]

The Booker Prize 2023: We read all six shortlisted books. Join us as we evaluate them and try to second-guess the Booker judges, before finding out the winner, and so keep listening for our hot take. ‘A novel is a mirror carried along a high road’ says Chair of the Booker judges Esi Edyugan, quoting […]

Is there any point in doing a nice thing if you can’t flaunt it on social media? Can we ever know what it’s like to be a bat? If we know Cinderella isn’t real, why do we care about whether or not she marries the prince? In this episode Kate is joined by Jonny Thomson, […]

Late summer reading – the best kind of reading? Whether you’re after fly-through-them page-turners or immersive long-reads, or perhaps you’re after a challenge, or the perfect discussion book, we’ve got the list for you. Find out our expert picks from indie-bookshop Bookbar’s Chrissy Ryan, a woman at the centre of a hub of reading recommendations […]

Join Kate in the historic market town of St. Albans, home to a cathedral, some impressive Roman ruins and one of Kate’s favourite independent bookshops. Books on the Hill is owned and run by a mother and daughter duo who launched it just before the pandemic. Listen in and find out what makes it so […]

Join us as professional book-recommender and Bibliotherapy queen Ella Berthoud helps us figure out how to overcome life’s essential problems (if you’re a reader, that is), namely how to cope with all the books there are in the world, what to do when you feel stuck in a reading rut, and the ultimate question, if […]

The Women’s Prize 2023, one of our favourite episodes to read for and discuss. We’re joined by old friend Sarah Oliver and new to the pod Nina Davies: listen in as we share our thoughts this year’s list. As ever, you’ll hear our frank opinions about the books, but we won’t spoil the plots for […]

When in Vancouver, run to the coolest bookstore you can find and interview the owner. Such is the busman’s holiday I’ve recently been enjoying on a visit to Laura’s hometown. It also fits nicely into a new series we’ve been cooking up where we get to indulge our love of independent bookshops. First up is […]

Future reads! It’s always good to have things to look forward to in life, and the books we can see coming up on the horizon are no exception. In this episode we’ll be finding out the books that Chrissy Ryan and her team at Bookbar are excited about. Whether it’s new books from authors we […]

The Thursday Murder Club: When a book sells upwards of five and a half million copies and film rights are snapped up by none other than Steven Spielberg it seems to us a special episode is in order. And so join us as we dive into, and attempt to make sense of, the publishing phenomenon […]

The nights are drawing in, the leaves are on the ground, summer reading seems but a distant memory, it must be time for The Booker Prize 2022. Our most demanding, but possibly also our favourite episode of the year as we’re joined by bookshop owner Chrissy Ryan of Bookbar, and journalist and pod regular Phil Chaffee to […]

Step back in time with us as Kate visits Charleston home of Vanessa Bell and important gathering place for the members of the Bloomsbury Group, that collection of writers and artists including Virginia Woolf that coalesced around Gordon Square in London. Undaunted by the ghosts of her relatives Nino Strachey, author of a new book, Young […]

“How any woman with a family ever put pen to paper I cannot fathom.’ Virginia Woolf wrote, ‘Always the bell rings and the baker calls.’ It did indeed prove almost impossible to get four women into the same room to discuss all six books on the 2022 Women’s Prize shortlist, but after much postponement and […]

Whether you’re soaking up Nutcrackers on Rockaway beach like Kate’s book-reviewing heroine Molly Young, throwing down a picnic rug in your garden or the local park, fighting your way through airport chaos with the promise of a trip abroad or cosying up with a warm blanket in the Southern Hemisphere, we’ve got the Summer Reading […]

It’s Mother’s Day here in the UK and as there’s nothing Kate loves more than a special episode we’ve put together a show on the theme of motherhood. We’re joined by Claire Lynch, author of Small: On Motherhoods, her literary memoir of her own unusual journey into motherhood. Elizabeth Morris of Crib Notes book club […]