A bi-weekly bookchat podcast by Joseph Dance and Amanda Moulson, two time-poor curious readers with eclectic TBRs. Every two weeks we meet to talk all things books and deliver some recommendations for new, classic, and contemporary titles you might want to read next. We cover everything from backlist to frontlist, prize winners to debuts, and we are generally spoiler free.
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderpodcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A bi-weekly bookchat podcast by Joseph Dance and Amanda Moulson, two time-poor curious readers with eclectic TBRs. Every two weeks we meet to talk all things books and deliver some recommendations for new, classic, and contemporary titles you might want to read next. We cover everything from backlist to frontlist, prize winners to debuts, and we are generally spoiler free.
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderpodcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Join Amanda and Joseph on this week’s episode as they discuss the Booker Prize 2025 shortlist and talk in depth about what worked and what didn’t work for them with each of the six nominated books. They also chat book news and have a look at some of the upcoming titles they’re looking forward to reading next.
(0:32) Book News
(1:12) Lone Wolf by Adam Weymouth
(4:50) Gresham College Lecture Series 2025-2026
(5:24) Booker Prize shortlist
(5:56) The Booker Prize 2025
(9:33) The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
(20:00) The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
(27:26) The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
(28:09) All Fours by Miranda July
(35:05) Endling by Maria Reva
(35:22) Amanda’s Sarah Jessica Parker impression
(36:25) Audition by Katie Kitamura
(42:20) Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga
(43:03) Flashlight by Susan Choi
(43:07) Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
(49:35) Flesh by David Szalay
(57:05) What We’re Reading Next
(57:15) 11.22.63 by Stephen King
(57:30) Antidote by Karen Russell
(58:40) Taipei by Tao Lin
(59:23) Heart the Lover by Lily King
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Creeps, chills, and carefully crafted dread - join Joseph and Amanda for this week’s episode as they recommend a stack of mood-heavy reads for spooky season. Plus, Team CR talks László Krasznahorkai - this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature - and as always they discuss what they’ve been reading lately and what they’re looking forward to picking up next.
(0:44) Book News
(0:51) Nobel Prize for Literature
(1:46) Louisiana Channel
(2:52) Sátántangó by Lászlo Krasznahorkai
(5:41) Rivals by Jilly Cooper
(7:00) Current Reads
(7:04) Objects of Desire by Neil Blackmore
(10:43) Fair Play by Louise Hegarty
(13:48) Spooky Season Reading
(15:06) Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
(17:55) Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfeld
(19:01) The Echoes by Evie Wyld
(19:28) Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
(19:51) Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
(20:27) Our Share of the Night by Mariana Enriquez
(21:36) Pet Sematary by Stephen King
(22:55) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
(24:04) Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
(25:04) The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston
(27:22) Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
(27:36) Beloved by Toni Morrison
(28:25) Ghost stories by MR James, Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allen Poe and HP Lovecraft
(29:44) Come Closer by Sara Gran (Joseph’s Pick #1)
(34:23) Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (Amanda’s Pick #1)
(39:04) The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Dávila, tr. by Audrey Harris and Matthew Gleeson (Joseph Pick #2)
(44:21) Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (Amanda’s Pick #2)
(46:24) Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
(49:32) Spooky Books Recommended to Amanda
(49:44) Sinead Hanna @sineadhannacraic
(50:14) The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
(50:29) Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker
(51:06) Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
(51:42) Spooky Books Recommended to Joseph
(51:52) A Game In Yellow by Hailey Piper
(52:42) Ashley @coffeeandcuentos
(52:59) Never Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, ed. Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
(52:32) Talking Scared Podcast with Neil McRobert
(53:47) Rekt by Alex Gonzalez
(54:33) What We’re Reading Next
(55:03) Greyhound by Joanna Pocock
(55:41) Big Kiss, Bye-Bye by Claire-Louise Bennett
(55:57) What A Time To Be Alive by Jenny Mustard
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Just in time for Banned Books Week, Joseph and Amanda talk about literary censorship and recommend the samizdat titles they think are worth exploring. Before that, though, they talk about Booker Prize and Baillie Gifford Prize shortlists, and as always, they have their eye on their next read.
Book News
(1:22) The Booker Prize
(7:16) The Baillie Gifford Prize
Current Reads
(11:16) I Am Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol
(15:44) Ask Me How It Works by Deepa Paul
(16:19) Authority: Essays On Being Right by Andrea Long Chu
Banned Books
(21:08) Banned Books Week, 5-11 October 2025
(22:57) PEN America
(27:28) Index on Censorship: 100 Banned Novels
(27:44) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
(29:07) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
(29:16) Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
(31:37) The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (Amanda’s Pick #1)
(35:17) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Joseph’s Pick #1)
(39:16) Deenie by Judy Blume (Amanda’s Pick #2)
(42:17) Judy Blume Forever
(45:35) July’s People by Nadine Gordimer (Joseph’s Pick #2)
(49:50) This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson (Amanda’s Pick #3)
(54:42) A Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Joseph’s Pick #3)
What We’re Reading Next
(58:01) The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
(58:03) The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
(58:09) Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth
(58:40) Transcription by Ben Lerner
(59:19) The Renovation by Kenan Orhan
Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the latest episode Joseph and Amanda launch into Atmosphere with an in-depth discussion of the queer-coded astronaut love story by Taylor Jenkins Reid. They also take a look at the recently announced fiction and non-fiction longlists from the National Book Award, plus share what they’ve been reading lately and the titles they’re looking forward to picking up next.
Book News
Current Reads
Farewell Fountain Street by Selçuk Altun, translated by Mel Kenne and Nilgün Dungan
Maggie; or, a Man and A Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee
Dying for Sex, HBO
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
Deep Dive
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid
After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
One True Love by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
What We’re Reading Next
Priest Daddy by Patricia Lockwood
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood
Nightcrawler by Leila Mottley
The Girls That Grew Big by Leila Mottley
Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the latest episode Joseph and Amanda step into the world of sci-fi and speculative fiction and chart a course through some of their favourite fictional forays into evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, deep space exploration, and the perils of the Oort Cloud. They also discuss the latest news from the Hugo Awards, talk about what they’ve been reading recently, and as always, run through the titles they’re looking forward to picking up next.
Book News
(2:18) The Hugo Awards
(3:32) The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Best Novel 2025)
(4:20) The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler (Best Novella 2025)
(5:30) Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right by Jordan S. Carroll (Best Related Work 2025)
Current Reads
(6:56) The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny by Laura Bates
(9:50) Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
(10:02) Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates
(12:04) Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
(12:19) Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
(14:02) The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
Speculative Fiction & Sci-Fi Recommendations
(19:14) Amanda’s Sci-Fi story
(21:25) Sexism in Sci-Fi
(21:51) The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
(23:56) Steering The Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. Le Guin
(24:53) Speculative vs Science Fiction
(25:48) In Other Worlds: Science Fiction and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood
(25:59) The Handmaid’s Tale / The MaddAddam Triology by Margaret Atwood
(26:25) The Water Cure / Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh
(27:23) In Ascension by Martin MacInnes (Amanda’s Pick #1)
(30:33) Voyager Golden Record
(30:40) Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
(31:14) Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
(31:45) Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler (Joseph’s Pick #1)
(34:26) The Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley by Robert Sheckley (Joseph’s Pick #1)
(35:48) Ten Planets by Yuri Herrera (Joseph’s Pick #1)
(37:02) The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (Amanda’s Pick #2)
(41:20) To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (Joseph’s Pick #2)
(44:10) Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Amanda’s Pick #3)
(47:56) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Joseph’s Pick #3)
What We’re Reading Next
(51:34) Fair Play by Louise Hegarty
(51:51) Bone Horn by Prudence Bussey-Chamberlain
(52:04) Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
(52:19) House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk
Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week’s episode, we respond to our listeners with all our deepest, darkest DNF secrets: why we do it, when we do it, and how we feel when it happens. We also talk about the books we’ve read recently as well as new releases and backlist titles we hope to explore in the coming weeks.
Book News
(2:31) The Sealey Challenge
(4:25) The Wild Iris by Louise Glück
(4:48) Midden Witch by Fiona Benson
(5:16) Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems by William Carlos Williams
(6:02) That Broke Into Shining Crystals by Richard Scott / What The Earth Seemed To Say by Marie Howe / Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith
(6:44) So I Got To Thinking podcast
Current Reads
(11:11) Child Of My Heart by Alice McDermot
(14:19) The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
(18:15) Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry
DNFs
(23:43) Middlemarch by George Eliot
(26:43) Let The Great World Spin by Column McCann
(27:17) Apeirogon by Column McCann
(27:48) Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
(30:28) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
(30:58) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
(35:39) Twist by Colum McCann
(39:23) Neuromancer by William Gibson
(40:06) Butter by Asako Yuzuki
(43:25) Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart
(44:48) The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
(46:38) A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
(54:06) This Other Eden by Paul Hardy
(55:02) Rouge / All’s Well / Bunny by Mona Awad
(56:17) The Ishiguro Effect
(59:06) Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
(59:28) I Gave You Eyes And You Looked Towards Darkness by Irène Sola
What We’re Reading Next
(1:01:03) We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad
(1:01:37) Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan
(1:02:11) Maggie; Or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar: A Novel by Katie Yees
Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On this week’s bumper episode we cover the Booker Prize longlist before exploring some of our favourite fiction and non-fiction about art. We ask why books featuring artists seem to be so perennially popular and what is it about the artist’s life that keeps us coming back for more.
Book News
Love Forms by Claire Adam
The South by Tash Aw
Universality by Natasha Brown
One Boat by Jonathan Buckley
Flashlight by Susan Choi
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
Audition by Katie Kitamura
The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
Endling by Maria Reva
Flesh by David Szalay
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Current Reads
Margo’s Got Money Trouble by Rufi Thorpe
The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin
Books About Art
The Original by Nell Stevens
The Artist by Lucy Steeds
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
Blue Ruin by Hari Kunzru
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey
A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar
My Friends by Hisham Matar
The Return by Hisham Matar
Alison by Lizzy Stewart
Daybook: The Journal of an Artist by Anne Truitt
Turn by Anne Truitt
Prospect by Anne Truitt
Wet Paint by Chloe Ashby
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier
The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro
My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård
Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art by Mary Gaskill
‘Olympia’ and ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’ by Edouard Manet
The Whitney Museum of American Art
The Courtauld Institute of Art
What We’re Reading Next
The Compound by Aisling Rawle
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Moderation by Elaine Castillo
America Is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Book News
Galle Literary Festival, 22-25 January 2026
Edinburgh International Book Festival, 9-24 August 2025
Current reads
Free Play: Improvisation in Life & Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch
On Elizabeth Bishop by Colm Tóibin
The Names by Florence Knapp
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins-Reid
Deep Dive into Kristin Hannah
Firefly Lane
The Nightingale
The Winter Garden
The Four Winds
The Women
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
What We’re Reading Next
The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Join us this week as we delve into our favourite memoirs and recommend some bizarre stories of fame, feuds, cults, and figure skating. Of course, we also share the latest book news, current reads and what we plan to read next.
Book News
Close to Home by Michael Magee
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
Current reads
A Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry
Lost Souls Meet Under A Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura
Lonely Castle In The Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
Memoirs
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy
In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Aftermath by Rachel Cusk
Dying of Politeness by Geena Davis
Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
Homesick: A Memoir by Jennifer Croft
The Extinction Of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft
Flights by Olga Tolkaczuk
The Books Of Jacob by Olga Tolkaczuk
Into The Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough
The Woman In Me by Britney Spears
Daisy Jones And The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
The Museum Of Lost And Fragile Things by Suzanne Joinson
The Sound Of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
Educated by Tara Westover
Stay True by Hua Hsu
Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick
Knife by Salman Rushdie
The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen
Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby
This Is The Place To Be by Lara Pawson
What we’re reading next
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
The Echoes by Evie Wyld
Days Of Light by Megan Hunter
Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser
Orlanda by Jacqueline Harpman
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Also mentioned
The Harrison Chambers Of Distinction
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Who says queer lit is just for June? In our latest episode we talk about some queer titles and authors that we'd recommend reading all year round. Plus, we walk through some queer literary milestones and of course chat about what we've been reading recently and what we're looking forward to picking up next.
Book News
The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya
Winter Animals by Ashani Lewis
Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood In Black Gay Britain by Jason Okundaye
Food For The Dead by Charlotte Shevchenko Knight
Current reads
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
The Story Of A Heart by Dr. Rachel Clark
Queer literature
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Joseph And His Friend by Bayard Taylor
The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
The Well Of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
Death In Venice by Thomas Mann
The City And The Pillar by Gore Vidal
The Price Of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
‘Carol’ by Todd Haynes
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Loving Her by Ann Shockley
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters
Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt
Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Who’s Afraid Of Gender? by Judith Butler
Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly
A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White
Love Me Tender / PlayBoy by Constance Debré
The End Of Eddy by Edouard Louis
Love In Exile by Shon Faye
Girlhood / Abandon Me: Memoirs by Melissa Febos
A Short History Of Trans Misogyny by Jules Gill-Peterson
The Best Of Me by David Sedaris
This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
Nothing Ever Just Disappears: Seven Hidden Histories by Diarmuid Hester
Our Pride picks
The Lost Past Of Billy McQueen by Neil Alexander
Valencia by Michelle Tea
Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
Tiepolo Blue by James Cahill
And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts
Nevada by Imogen Binnie
What We’re Reading Next
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn
The Employees by Olga Ravn
Helm by Sarah Hall
Close To Home by Michael Magee
The Names by Florence Knapp
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James at Fish Island Studio (@fishislandstudio)
Register as an organ donor at organdonation.nhs.uk (UK) and donatelife.net (US)
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This week’s episode is about the perennial conundrum that faces every reader at this time of year - what to read at the beach? We talk about which genres are best suited for reading al fresco and give you our favourite holiday read recommendations. Of course, we also share our latest book news, current reads and what we plan to read next.
Book News
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
Albion by Anna Hope
Fair Play by Louise Hegarty
Petals Of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Current reads
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
Wild Boar by Hannah Lutz
Beach reads
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
Circe by Madeline Miller
Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Trio by Johanna Hedman
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
The Overstory by Richard Powers
The Guest by Emma Cline
The Girls by Emma Cline
The Swimmer by John Cheever
Walking On The Ceiling by Ayşegül Savaş
Summer by Edith Wharton
Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Brutes by Dizz Tate
Spent by Alison Bechdel
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
You Killed Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
Sunset by Jessie Cave
Girlfriends by Holly Bourne
What we’re reading next
A Marriage At Sea by Sophie Elmhurst
Necessary Fictions by Eloghosa Osunde
Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu
Also mentioned
@BeesBookShare
The Garden Gate Project Margate
Louisiana Channel by the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek in Denmark
Open Water by Chris Kentis
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James at Fish Island Studio (@fishislandstudio)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week’s episode is one of deep dives, this time into Audition by Katie Kitamura, an ambiguous and destablising read that packs a lot into very few pages. We also share some recent book and literary prize news and talk about what’s on our TBRs.
Books:
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq (translated by Deepa Bhasthi)
The Book Of Sand by Geetanjali Shree
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Small Boat by Vicent Delacroix (translated by Helen Stevenson)
Clear by Carys Davies (Winner of the Ondaatje Prize 2025)
The Adversary by Michael Crummey (Winner of the Dublin Literary Award 2025)
Red Milk by Sjón
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Audition / Gone To The Forest / The Longshot / A Separation / Intimacies by Katie Kitamura
My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
Also mentioned:
Teatime Book Club, @Teatime.pictures
Rosemary’s Baby by Roman Polanski
Suspiria by Dario Agento (with a 2013 remake by Luca Guadagnino)
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week’s episode is all about our favourite reads by Korean and Korean-American authors, including books about sulky giant octopuses, sinkhole tourism, empathy bypasses, diasporic depression, simulated marriages, and tearful encounters with gochujang. And as always, we discuss recent reads and what’s next on our TBRs.
Recent reads
In Search Of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (tr. Terence Kilmartin)
Sweat by Emma Healy
The Meteorites: Encounters With Outer Space And Deep Time by Helen Gordon
Korean books and authors
Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Sea Change by Gina Chung
The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun (tr. Lizze Buehler)
Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home by Eric Kim
The Hive And The Honey by Paul Yoon
The Trunk by Kim Ryeo-Ryeong (tr. The KoLab)
Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn (tr. Sandy Joosun Lee)
Black Girl From Pyongyang: In Search Of My Identity by Monica Macias
Up next
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My Friends by Frederik Backman
Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami
Endling by Maria Reva
Also mentioned
@angelazbao
Snow Piercer, Parasite by Bong Joon Ho
Libro FM
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
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This week’s episode is a BIG one. Or at least, one in which we talk about big things, namely big books and why – or why not – we find them intimidating. And as always, we discuss recent reads and what’s next on our TBRs.
Recent reads
On The Calculation Of Volume (Volume I) by Solvej Balle
Confessions by Catherine Airey
Big Book Fear
The Book of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Middlemarch by George Eliot – narrated by Juliet Stevenson
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Lost Illusions and Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac
2666 by Roberto Bolaño
In Search Of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvilli
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain In A Digital World by Maryanne Wolf
11.22.63 by Stephen King
Angle Of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Secondhand Time: The Last Of The Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
The Goldfinch / The Secret History / The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
Cherry by Nico Walker
The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Future Reads
Days Of Light by Megan Hunter
The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins
Wild Ground by Emily Usher
Also mentioned
The Ondaatje Prize 2025 shortlist
The Book Club Review Podcast Patreon
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
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This week’s episode is a brief encounter with short contemporary classics and the lilliputian tomes under 200 pages we recommend if you’re looking for something to get you out of a reading slump. We also talk book news, what we’ve been reading recently, and the titles we’re looking forward to picking up in May.
Recent reads
Ministry Of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Playworld by Adam Ross
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott
Short classics
Fair Play by Tove Jansson
The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid
Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
Ben, In The World by Doris Lessing
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
The Tenth Man by Graham Greene
What we’re reading next
Soft Core by Brittany Newell
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
The Emperor Of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
Let Me Tell You by Paul Griffiths
Let Me Go On by Paul Griffiths
Also mentioned
@LadiesLitSquad
Disney+ Dying for Sex
Dolly Alderton and Netflix’s Adaptation of Pride & Prejudice
Can You Ever Forgive Me
Dune
A Complete Unknown
Wellness by Nathan Hill
Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
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On this week’s episode we dive deep into Rejection – not the emotion – the novel in stories by Tony Tulathimutte. We also discuss things we’ve read and want to read in April and revisit the Women’s Prize nominations now that they have been shortlisted.
Our deep dive
Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
Private Citizens by Tony Tulathimutte
Recent reads
The Iliad by Homer and translated by Emily Wilson
The Odyssey by Homer
Hype Machine: Inside the Cult of Crypto by Joshua Oliver
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Green Dot by Madeline Gray
Women’s prize shortlist
Good Girl by Aria Aber
All Fours by Miranda July
The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
What we’re looking forward to in April
Twist by Column McCann
Tilt by Emma Pattee
The Colony by Annika Norlin
Audition by Katie Kitamura
Notes to John by Joan Didion
Also mentioned
The Coach and Horses Pub Quiz, Whitstable
Adolescence on Netflix
Let the Great World Spin by Column McCann
Apeirogon by Column McCann
Intimacies by Katie Kitamura
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
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On this week’s episode we catch up on what we’ve been reading, share our thoughts on the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist, and talk about some of the April releases we’re looking forward to picking up soon.
Recent reads
Carnality by Lina Wolf, tr. by Frank Perry
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas
The Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist
Good Girl by Aria Aber
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Somewhere Else by Jenni Daiches
Amma by Saraid de Silva
Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings
All Fours by Miranda July
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell
A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike
Birding by Rose Ruane
The Artist by Lucy Steeds
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
Our Contenders
Colored Television by Danzy Senna
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak
Gliff by Ali Smith
The Echoes by Evie Wylde
It Lasts Forever And Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken
Excited to Read in April
Room on the Sea by Andre Aciman
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert
Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt
Also mentioned
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
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Join either side of the Atlantic as we dive into our favourite London/New York novels. It’s an episode full of stiff upper lips, demonic possessions, sociopaths, bedsits, alcoholic dollmakers, sassy parrots, and white asparagus. Plus we talk about our must visit NY-LON bookshops and reading spots, and we look ahead to new releases set in and around the Big Smoke and the Big Apple we can’t wait to read.
Recent reads
Universality by Natasha Brown
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa (translated by Polly Barton)
Stories of Place:///zinc.level.blindfold edited by Niamh McAnally
Our Favourite NY-LON Novels
Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
The Vulnerables by Sigird Nunez
Look At Me by Anita Brookner
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
There Are More Things by Yara Rodrigues Fowler
NY-LON Books We're Excited to Read in 2025
Confessions by Catherine Airey
Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay MacCleod Chapman
Lorne by Susan Morrison
Cursed Under London by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch
An Opinionated Guide to Literary London by John Clegg
Also mentioned
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
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This week, we deep dive into Liz Moore’s viral woodland thriller The God of the Woods - and we have opinions. We also talk about the new releases we’re looking forward to reading in March.
Recent reads
The Future by Catherine Leroux (translated by Susan Ouriou)
Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue (translated by Natasha Wimmer)
March 2025 releases
The Horse by Willy Vlautin
Show Don’t Tell and Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Universality by Natasha Brown
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
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This week, we have a chat about why reading is an act of resistance and delve into the books we turn to during a crisis–whether climactic, sociological or existential. We also discuss our favourite reads for a complete escape.
Recent reads
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
The Long View by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
Reading for resistance
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong
A Personal Matter by Kenzaburō Ōe
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
For a crisis
Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie
On Freedom by Maggie Nelson
Eating Animals byJonathan Safran Foer
Surrender by Joanna Pocock
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
In the Distance by Hernan Diaz
Empireland and Empireworld by Sathnam Sanghera
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshanna Zubenoff
To escape
The Moomins and The Summer Book by Tove Janson
You Are Here by David Nicholls
Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
Also mentioned in this episode:
NYRB Classics Challenge
Harbour Books (@harbourbooks)
Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes
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