Tea or Books?

Tea or Books? #45: Do Literary Prizes Affect Our Reading and The Heir vs All Passion Spent

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , 17 Comments

A heated conversation about literary prizes AND Vita Sackville-West. Roll up, roll up for episode 45!


 

Tea or Books logoIn the first half of this fortnight’s episode, we try to determine whether or not literary prizes affect our reading – which wanders off into a broader discussion of what we’re looking for from book prizes. It might get a bit controversial. And in the second half, we’re comparing two novels we love by Vita Sackville-West – The Heir and All Passion Spent.

Do let us know how you’d vote in each half, and rate/review if you would like to. Our iTunes page is over here, and we’ll back in about a fortnight with a couple of novels by Elizabeth Strout.

Here are the books and authors we mention in this episode:

Where Poppies Blow by John Lewis-Stempel
The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden
The Semi-Detached House by Emily Eden
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Americanah by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie
Purple Hibiscus by Chimanada Ngozi Adichie
That Thing Around Your Neck by Chimanada Ngozi Adichie
Autumn by Ali Smith
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Elmet by Fiona Mozley
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
Elizabeth Taylor
The Hothouse by the East River by Muriel Spark
The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Hilary Mantel
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Harvest by Jim Crace
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Lady Into Fox by David Garnett
Arnold Bennett
D.H. Lawrence
Radclyffe Hall
J.B. Priestley
Siegfried Sassoon
Miss Mole by E.H. Young
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Aldous Huxley
L.P. Hartley
The Far Cry by Emma Smith
Margaret Kennedy
Ivy Compton-Burnett
Rose Macaulay
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride
Eva Trout by Elizabeth Bowen
The Heir by Vita Sackville-West
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
No Signposts in the Sea by Vita Sackville-West
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Greengates by R.C. Sherriff
Samson Agonistes by John Milton
Knole and the Sackvilles by Vita Sackville-West
The Easter Party by Vita Sackville-West
Grand Canyon by Vita Sackville-West
Dragon in Shallow Waters by Vita Sackville-West
Heritage by Vita Sackville-West
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

Tea or Books? #44: Monogamous vs Polygamous, and The Village vs To Bed With Grand Music

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , 17 Comments

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 vs polygamous. Sorry if you’ve come to this podcast hoping for something else – but stay! We have books.


 

Tea or Books logoWe’ve really missed doing the podcast, so it’s great to be back! Do get in touch to let us know which you’d pick in each category, and any topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes. Our iTunes page is here, and we love reviews from those willing to go through the hoops required to leave them!

Here are the books and authors we mention in this episode (fewer than usual, which either means I forgot to write them down while editing the podcast, or we’ve lost our touch!):

Reading the Rocks by Brenda Maddox
Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley
Contested Will by James Shapiro
The Village by Marghanita Laski
The Osbornes by E.F. Benson
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Henry James
The Road to Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
Three Fevers by Leo Walmsley
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
The Boat by L.P. Hartley
Marching With April by Hugh Charteris
And Even Now by Max Beerbohm
Secrets of a Woman’s Heart: Later Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett by Hilary Spurling
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards
Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray
To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski
The Village by Marghanita Laski
The Provincial Lady in Wartime by E.M. Delafield
Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh
The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski
Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski
Love on the Supertax by Marghanita Laski
Richmal Crompton
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
Dorothy Whipple
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
The Heir by Vita Sackville-West
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West

Tea or Books? #43: scientists vs clergymen, and As It Was vs Fair Stood the Wind for France

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 17 Comments

Scientists! Vicars! H.E. Bates! Helen Thomas!


 
Tea or Books logoWe’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 love to hear more!

In the second half, we discuss Helen Thomas’s memoir As It Was (1926) and H.E. Bates’ novel Fair Stood the Wind for France (1944) – which turn out to have more in common than we feared (and less than we initially thought). It’s quite the rollercoaster, guys.

Do check out our iTunes page, and you should be able to rate and review through iTunes apps and maybe podcast apps and one day I’ll work out how this happens. Below are the books and authors we mention in this episode:

Poldark series by Winston Graham
The Brother Gardeners by Andrea Wulf
The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys
The Chateau by William Maxwell
The Boat by L.P. Hartley
The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
A Perfect Woman by L.P. Hartley
Instead of a Letter by Diana Athill
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Emma by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
Frost at Morning by Richmal Crompton
The Rector’s Daughter by F.M. Mayor
The Vicar’s Daughter by E.H. Young
The Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
Under the Rainbow by Susan Scarlett
Clothes-pegs by Susan Scarlett
A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
The Pastor’s Wife by Elizabeth von Arnim
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
To The River by Olivia Laing
Appius and Virginia by G.E. Trevelyan
Hackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid Brophy
Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay
Agatha Christie
Oliver Sacks
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
The Island of Dr Moreau by H.G. Wells
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Margaret Atwood
Famous Five series by Enid Blyton
As It Was by Helen Thomas
Fair Stood The Wind for France by H.E. Bates
Edward Thomas
World Without End by Helen Thomas
The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates
Love for Lydia by H.E. Bates
Under Storm’s Wing by Helen Thomas
To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski
The Village by Marghanita Laski

Tea or Books? #42: trains vs boats, and Illyrian Spring vs Hotel du Lac

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 11 Comments

Trains! Boats! Anita Brookner! Ann Bridge! This episode has it all.

Tea or Books logoBooks 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 fun. We’re back on more stable ground with Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge vs Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner. And it’s only now that I’ve realised that both of those authors have the initials AB. Coincidence? Maybe, I don’t remember.

I’d love to hear more thoughts about trains and boats, and perhaps some defence from Anita Brookner aficionados… either way, give us a review on iTunes through your apps or whatnot, see our page on iTunes, and grab copies of As It Was by Helen Thomas and Fair Stood the Wind For France by H.E. Bates if you’d like to read ahead for the next episode.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are…

The Masters by C.P. Snow
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
Resurrection Year by Sheridan Voysey
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
The Girl on the Train by Paul Hawkins
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Famous Five series by Enid Blyton
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Gill
The Pleasure Cruise Mystery by Robin Forsythe
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
Mystery in White by Joseph Jefferson Farjeon
The Girl on the Boat by P.G. Wodehouse
Mrs Harris Goes To New York by Paul Gallico
The Provincial Lady in America by E.M. Delafield
All Quiet on the Orient Express by Magnus Mills
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The Train in the Meadow by Robert Nathan
Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan
The Enchanted Voyage by Robert Nathan
Mr Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood
No Signposts in the Sea by Vita Sackville-West
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Three Men on a Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome
253 by Geoff Ryman
The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
Andrew Martin
The English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor
Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
Peking Picnic by Ann Bridge
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Family and Friends by Anita Brookner
Barbara Pym
As It Was by Helen Thomas
Fair Stood The Wind for France by H.E. Bates

Tea or Books? #41: novels set in one day vs many years, and The Forsyte Saga vs The Cazalet Chronicles

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 6 Comments

John Galsworthy! Elizabeth Jane Howard! Circadian novels! Find out what that means, and much more, in episode 41.


 
Tea or Books logoGuys, it was SUPER hot when we were recording this podcast. It’s rather cooler now that I’m editing, but I rather worry that I wasn’t making much sense in this episode… forgive any heat-induced nonsense. And potentially wavering audible quality. So hot. I have cunningly edited out the bits where I went to get more cold water.

(Blame that for me saying ‘Alan Bennett’ when I mean ‘Arnold Bennett’.)

In the first half, we look at the length we like books to cover – from books where all the action takes place in one day to those where it’s over many years. And, for the second half, we’ve read more than ever this time – two chunksters, albeit only the first books in their respective series. We’re comparing A Man of Property by John Galsworthy and The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard – the openers to the Forsyte Saga and the Cazalet Chronicles.

Thanks for the new reviews, by the way! Feel free to add them through iTunes app, or you can explore our iTunes page. Let us know which you’d choose, and any recommendations!

The books and authors we mention in this episode are, as always, below:

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Another Time, Another Place by Jessie Kesson
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
One Day by David Nicholls
London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Can Jane Eyre Be Happy? by John Sutherland
Ulysses by James Joyce
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Seize the Day by Saul Bellow
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey
Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day by Winifred Watson
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Jodi Picoult
The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Weatherley Parade by Richmal Crompton
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Life and Death of Harriett Frean by May Sinclair
Alas, Poor Lady by Rachel Ferguson
Us by David Nicholls
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Agatha Christie
Marcel Proust
The Year of Reading Proust by Phyllis Rose
Shakespeare
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Catherine Cookson
The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard
A Man of Property by John Galsworthy
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
A Pin To See The Peepshow by F Tennyson Jesse
The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett
H.G. Wells
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner

Tea or Books? #40: how do we arrange our bookshelves, and two E.H. Young novels

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , 3 Comments

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.


 

Tea or Books logoIn the first half of this episode, Rachel and I address the pressing issue of how books are ordered on our shelves – alphabetical order, arranged thematically, or something else completely? We have fun with this one (thanks for the suggestion, Imogen!) and would love to know what any of you do with your shelves.

In the second half, we turn to the novelist E.H. Young and pit Miss Mole (1930) against Chatterton Square (1947), and I use the word ‘obfuscatory’. Buckle in. And suggestions for other Young novels to try would be very welcome!

Visit our iTunes page, leave us a review through iTunes if you’d like, and below are the books and authors we discussed in the episode. Fewer than usual!

Letters to Max Beerbohm and a few replies by Siegfried Sasson
Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man by Siegfried Sassoon
A Curious Friendship by Anna Thomasson
M.J. Farrell
Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon
Hackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid Brophy
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill
Phantoms on the Bookshelves by Jacques Bonnet
A Wreath of Roses by Elizabeth Taylor
A.A. Milne
Elizabeth von Arnim
Miss Mole by E.H. Young
Chatterton Square by E.H. Young
Ivy Compton-Burnett
E.M. Delafield
Matty and the Dearingroydes by Richmal Crompton
Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day by Winifred Watson
William by E.H. Young
The Misses Mallett by E.H. Young
The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard
A Man of Property by John Galsworthy

Tea or Books? #39: spoilers or no spoilers, and Anne of Green Gables vs Daddy Long-Legs

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 7 Comments

Special guest Jenny joins us for episode 39 – discussing children’s classics and spoilers!
 

Tea or Books logoI was SO excited that Jenny agreed to join me and Rachel on ‘Tea or Books?’ while she was visiting England – her podcast, Reading the End, was one of the two book podcasts that inspired me to start my own, so it seems like a perfect circle that she joins us as we’re nearing our second anniversary.

In this episode, inspired by her blog and podcast name, Jenny asked if we discuss whether or not we like hearing spoilers – and, in the second half, we debate Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery and Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster. Guys, this podcast was SO FUN to record.

We were crowded around one mic – the first time Rachel and I have ever recorded a podcast in person – so forgive any issues with the sound quality or variability.

Here’s our iTunes page, and here are the books and authors we mention in this episode:

The Pelicans by E.M. Delafield
Country Notes by Vita Sackville-West
Friends and Relations by Elizabeth Bowen
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
Miss Mole by E.H. Young
Chatterton Square by E.H. Young
Once a Week by A.A. Milne
The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne
23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang
Long Live Great Bardfield by Tirzah Garwood
Not So Quiet by Helen Zenna Smith
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Sunlight on the Lawn by Beverley Nichols
Threads: the Delicate Life of John Craske by Julia Blackburn
Sylvia Townsend Warner
A Footman for the Peacock by Rachel Ferguson
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Muriel Spark
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Enid Blyton
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Dear Enemy by Jean Webster
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham

Tea or Books? #38: male characters by women vs female characters by men, and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont vs At The Jerusalem

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 8 Comments

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…


 

Tea or Books logoMany thanks to Kaisha for suggesting men written by women vs women written by me – we had fun discussing it, and very much welcome everybody’s feedback. For the second half, we debate two books about old people’s homes – Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor and At The Jerusalem by Paul Bailey, which have a sort-of connection that readers of Virago Modern Classics introductions might have cottoned on to.

Do let us know any topics you’d like us to discuss – and which you’d pick from each category. Check out our iTunes page over here – ratings and reviews through iTunes or podcast apps always much appreciated. And hopefully we’ll back with a special guest next time…

Books and authors we mention in this episode are as follows…

The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells
Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Don’t Tell Alfred by Nancy Mitford
Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Pamela by Samuel Richardson
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
Ian McEwan
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Mrs Harris series by Paul Gallico
Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Provincial Lady series by E.M. Delafield
Ian and Felicity by Denis Mackail
Charles Dickens
Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
The Warden by Anthony Trollope
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli
Adam Bede by George Eliot
The Professor by Charlotte Bronte
Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
Elizabeth Gaskell
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
V.S. Naipaul
The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
At The Jerusalem by Paul Bailey
Ivy Compton-Burnett
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster

Tea or Books? #37: does studying books ruin them? and A View From the Bridge vs Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 5 Comments

Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, and schooldays – we’ve got it all in episode 37 (depending on your definition of ‘all’).


 
Tea or Books logoIn the first half of this episode, we meander around the topic of whether or not studying a book at school ruins them for us. The topic was suggested by Karen (thanks Karen!) and it was really fun to discuss from the perspective of student and teacher. We got a bit preoccupied by Shakespeare, but that’s true of all the best of people.

Rachel and I went to see an amazing production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Harold Pinter theatre – tickets here! – and it inspired us to compare it with Arthur Miller’s play from around the same time, A View From the Bridge.

Check out our iTunes page, listen above or via your podcast app of choice, rate and review if you so wish, and send us any suggestions you have for future episodes! Thanks for those who tweeted their responses to our school question.

The books and authors we mention in this episode are:

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
Richard Yates
Wallace Stegner
William Maxwell
Alice Munro
Gossip From Thrush Green by Miss Read
Dorothy Whipple
Fairacres series by Miss Read
Richmal Crompton
Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols
E.F. Benson
A Case of Human Bondage by Beverley Nichols
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
The Three Sisters by May Sinclair
Pink Sugar by O. Douglas
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong
Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Molière
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
Noel Coward
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
At The Jerusalem by Paul Bailey

Tea or Books? #36: audiobooks (yes or no?) and two Furrowed Middlebrow novels

StuckinaBook Tea or Books? , , 35 Comments

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 middlebrow novels should certainly hunt out this series.

 

Tea or Books logoFor the first half of the episode, we’re talking audiobooks – in a fairly uninformed way, it turns out, so do let us know if you have any suggestions for narrators or audiobooks that we should try. And suggestions for future topics, of course – we’ve had a few come in, and that’s exciting, and I keep meaning to write them all down in one place…

Head over to our iTunes page, should you so wish – we love the reviews we’ve been getting in (thanks!), which you can do through podcast apps or whatnot.

The books and authors we mention this episode (mostly in passing, as usual) are:

Arthur and Sherlock by Michael Sims
The Story of Charlotte’s Web by Michael Sims
Letters From England by Mollie Panter-Downes
London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes
The Pleasures of Reading: A Booklover’s Alphabet by Catherine Sheldrick Ross
Lives For Sale ed. by Mark Bostridge
Hillary Spurling
Ivy Compton-Burnett
Hermione Lee
Claire Tomalin
Ann Thwaite
School For Love by Olivia Manning
The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning
Elizabeth Jane Howard
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Cogheart by Peter Bunzl
John Green
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Agatha Christie
The Return of Alfred by Herbert Jenkins
The Provincial Lady Goes Further by E.M. Delafield
The Egg and I by Betty Macdonald
Chelbury Abbey by Denis Mackail
The Majestic Mystery by Denis Mackail
Tom Tiddler’s Ground by Ursula Orange
A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair
Miss Read
Richmal Crompton
Barbara Pym
Angela Thirkell
To The North by Elizabeth Bowen
Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh
Dorothy Whipple
A Wreath For the Enemy by Pamela Frankau
Mr Fortune’s Maggot by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Lark by E. Nesbit
Rachel Ferguson
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee