Tea or Books?

Afleveringen

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  #152: Novels about women’s home life vs work life, and The Professor’s House by Willa Cather vs The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout 28.07.2026

  Elizabeth Strout, Willa Cather, and women’s lives – welcome to episode 152! In the first half, Rachel and Simon discuss whether we prefer reading novels about women’s professional lives or their home lives. In the second half, we compare two
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  #151: A Q&A special! (part 2) 02.07.2026

  Thanks again for all your questions for our special Q&A episode of Tea or Books? It took longer than planned, but here is part 2… Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with suggestions and questions for future episodes!
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  #150: A Q&A special! (part 1) 25.05.2026

  Thank you so much for all your questions for episode 150 of ‘Tea or Books?’! Because we had so many questions, we’re doing it over two episodes – so today’s is the first half. Watch out for part 2, next
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  #149: Do We Like Campus Novels? and Two Books By Muriel Spark 16.04.2026

  Muriel Spark and campus novels – welcome to episode 149! In the first half of this episode, we answer Lisa’s question: do we like campus novels? In the second half, we compare two novels by Muriel Spark. Not necessarily the
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  #148: Is There A Right Time To Read A Book? and The Dutch House vs The Party 30.03.2026

  Ann Patchett, Tessa Hadley, and finding the right time to read a book – welcome to episode 149! In the first half, we answer the question: is there a right time for each particular book? In the second half, we
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  #147: Quality vs Quantity and Two Books About Artists 28.02.2026

  Douglas Bruton, Carolyn Trant, and quality vs quantity – welcome to episode 147 or Tea or Books?! In the first half, we discuss quality vs quantity in our reading goals (inspired by this Guardian article). In the second half, we
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  #146: Our Top 10 Books of 2025 17.01.2026

  Our favourite reads of the year! Welcome to episode 146. We turn the whole episode over to our run-down of our ten favourite books from a year in reading. As has become a tradition, we will then choose one book
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  #145: Younger vs Older Authors and Rhine Journey vs Fenny 16.12.2025

  Ann Schlee! Lettice Cooper! Authors! Welcome to episode 145 of Tea or Books? In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether we prefer younger authors or older authors (thank you Lindsey for the suggestion!) In the second half,
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  #144: Simple vs Ornate Style, and Sylvia Plath vs Janet Malcolm 25.11.2025

  Sylvia Plath, Janet Malcolm and our thoughts on writing style – welcome to episode 144! In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether we prefer writing style to be ornate or simple. In the second half, we compare
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  #143 : Do We Avoid Books That Will Upset Us? and Agatha Christie vs Ethel Lina White 31.10.2025

  Agatha Christie, Ethel Lina White, and sad books – welcome to episode 143! In the first half, we use Geraldine’s suggestion – do we avoid books that will upset us? In the second half, we compare They Came To Baghdad by Agatha
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  #142: Can We Like A Character Who Makes Stupid Decisions? and Other People vs A Five Year Sentence 27.09.2025

  Celia Dale! Bernice Rubens! Stupidity! Welcome to episode 142 of Tea or Books? In the first half of the episode, we ask if we can like characters in novels who make stupid decisions. In the second half, we compare Other People
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  #141: Do We Care About Weather in Novels? and Crooked Cross vs The Spring Begins 20.08.2025

  Sally Carson, Katherine Dunning, and the weather – welcome to episode 141! In the first half, Rachel and I discuss significant weather scenes in novels, and whether knowing about the weather in novels makes a difference to us. In the
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  #140: Our 10 Favourite Books from 10 Years 21.07.2025

  It’s time for our favourite 10 books from 10 years of ‘Tea or Books?’! Rachel and I have looked through the books we read for the first ten years of the podcast and have each picked our ten favourites –
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  #139: 10th anniversary special! O Caledonia vs The Sundial, and celebrating 10 years 28.06.2025

  Shirley Jackson, Elspeth Barker, and your emails – welcome to episode 139 of Tea or Books?! Can you believe we’ve been going for ten years? It’s wild to me! In the first half of the episode we compare two gothic-inspired
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  Help us celebrate 10 years of Tea or Books?! 26.05.2025

  A super quick mini-episode – well, not really an episode – asking for your contributions to the next episode of ‘Tea or Books?’. It will be TEN YEARS since Rachel and I first put an episode out into the ether
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  #138: Do We Care About Authors’ Personal Lives? and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne vs The Beautiful Visit 11.05.2025

  Elizabeth Jane Howard, Brian Moore, and authors’ personal lives – welcome to episode 138! In the first half of the episode, we do a question that Lindsey suggested: do we care about authors’ personal lives? It takes us to questions
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  #137: Resolved or Unresolved Endings? and Perfection vs Catherine Carter 04.04.2025

  Resolved endings, Pamela Hansford Johnson, Vincenzo Latronico – welcome to episode 137 of Tea or Books?! In the first half of the episode, we take a suggestion from Lindsey – do we prefer resolved or unresolved endings? In the second half,
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  #136: Does Reading Make Us Better People? and And Then There Were None vs The Invisible Host 11.03.2025

  Agatha Christie, Gwen Bristow, Bruce Manning and reading morality – welcome to episode 136 of Tea or Books?! In the first half of this episode, we discuss whether or not we take moral instruction from the books we read –
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  #135: Can Literary Fiction Be A Comfort Read? and Enter Ghost vs Lady Living Alone 06.02.2025

  Isabella Hammad, Norah Lofts, comfort reads – welcome to episode 135!   In the first half, we discuss whether or not literary fiction can be comfort reads – thank you for the suggestion, Marcy! In the second half, we compare
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  #134: Our Top 10 Books of 2024 01.01.2025

  Happy new year! In episode 134, Rachel and I share our favourite books reads in 2024 – counting down from ten to one. And we each pick one of the other’s top 10 to read for our next episode! Thanks