Send us a Text Message. Just to confuse you all we have another Sarah on the pod this week! Sarah from the BookTube channel Your True Shelf joins Jenny to chat recent 5 star reads. We also discuss the influence of social media on our reading. We couldn't sound more millenial if we tried. From our memoir choices to our references to dial up, you can…

Send us a Text Message. You've got Jenny, Chris and Sarah chatting three short stories today. We'd love you to join in the conversation and can read all these stories online. The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu Recitatif by Toni Morrison A Temporary Matter by Jhumpa Lahiri Get in touch Instagram | TikTok | Voice message | Substack | Patreon | Ko-fi Book…

Send us a Text Message. This week Sarah and Chris discuss the novels of one of their favourite authors, Hannah Kent. Hannah Kent is an Australian writer who has published three novels to date: Burial Rites, The Good People, and Devotion. Is there an author you'd like to hear us review? Let us know! Get in touch Instagram | TikTok | Voice message | …

Send us a Text Message. This week we welcome back author and friend of the pod Abigail Mann. Jenny and Abi chat 'unlikeable female characters' as well as sharing their current reads. Who is your favourite unlikeable female character in literature? Get in touch Instagram | TikTok | Voice message | Substack | Patreon | Ko-fi Books mentioned The Bee S…

Send us a Text Message. Chris and Jenny chat about Daniel Mason's The North Woods. A book that proves hard to summarise but we both loved. A short story collection of sorts that spans decades and shares the history of a little house, its strange and wonderful inhabitants, in woodland in New England. If you've read it, join in with our discussion in…

Send us a Text Message. We're finally back! It's been a long 4 months, but here it is, episode 1 season 1! Jenny, Chris and Sarah dust off their mics and discuss how their reading is going, goals for the year ahead and what's coming up in the coming season. We've missed you! Get in touch Instagram | TikTok | Voice message | Substack | Patreon | Ko-…

Send us a Text Message. It's a chatty one today. Sarah and Jenny chat recent reads, reading plans and some 'big news'. We're excited about the changes we've got planned and hope you will be too. We'll share some more info and insights in our Substack soon. But for now, have a good one and we'll see you in 2024. Get in touch Instagram | TikTok | Voi…

Send us a Text Message. This is Halloween! Jenny, Chris, and Sarah get together to discuss The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs. Get in touch Instagram | TikTok | Voice message | Substack | Patreon | Ko-fi Other stuff mentioned Grief episode (#87 Books about Grief and Death) Support The Bookcast Club…

Send us a Text Message. 'I smell snow!' It's the perfect time of year to hunker down and chat Gilmore Girls. Chris and Jenny welcome Kristine from the Gilmore Book Club to the pod to tell us all about the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, chat Gilmore Girls and have a book club. We chose The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides off Rory's list. We ho…

Send us a Text Message. It's officially spooky season so Jenny is joined by Holly from the That's What We Read podcast to chat all things haunted houses. If you would like the uncut spooky ghost story version, sign up for a free trial of our Patreon today. Get in touch Instagram | TikTok | Voice message | Substack | Patreon | Ko-fi Books mentioned …

Send us a Text Message. It's our 100th episode! Chris, Sarah, and Jen get together to chat about what they've recently been reading, and discuss Yaa Gyasi's debut novel, Homegoing. They have also all read her second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, so they also discuss how those two books compare. No spoilers for either book! Get in touch Instagram | T…

Send us a Text Message. Chris and Jenny chat upcoming book to movie/tv adaptations in today's episode as well as the usual current and recent reads. Join our Patreon for an extended version of the episode (all Oppenheimer chat). Get in touch Instagram | TikTok | Voice message | Substack | Patreon | Ko-fi Books mentioned Western Lane by Chetna Maroo…

Send us a Text Message. Sarah and Chris discuss this year's Booker Longlist and their progress with it at this early stage. They also discuss what they've been reading recently and what they've read in the past year fantasy-wise. PS: Unbelievably, what Sarah was saying was true - in 1977, the chair of judges, Philip Larkin, threatened to jump out o…

Send us a Text Message. Shawn is back on the pod today to chat short stories with Sarah and Jenny. We each chose a short story and chat through them through. Like three mini book clubs. All available to read online for free. We also share our recent and current reads. Pilgrims by Julie Orringer The Swim Team by Miranda July The Ones Who Walk Away F…

Send us a Text Message. We are rounding off this series of episodes today with a bang: Jenny and Sarah read Chris' favourite books! They discuss Wicked by Gregory Maguire and Self-Portrait with Boy by Rachel Lyon. Get in touch Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website | Voice message Books mentioned Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn Birds of America by …

Send us a Text Message. Always our most popular episode of the year, our mid-year favourite books! Jenny, Chris and Sarah get together to share their top reads of the year so far. Books mentioned Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens The Perfect Golden Circle by Ben Myers Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris…

Send us a Text Message. Alice is back, so we're going classic Bookcast Club with a chatty catch up episode. Alice and Jenny chat marathons, engagements, 'A Little Life' play, what we've been reading, TBRs, and books for cleansing the palette. Enjoy! Books mentioned The No Show by Beth O'Leary The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman The Flat Share b…

Send us a Text Message. It's Women's Prize for Fiction day! But who was our winner? Chris and Jenny discuss the six shortlised books, share their predictions and their own personal winner. Get in touch Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website | Voice message Support The Bookcast Club You can support the podcast on Patreon. Our tiers start at £2 a mon…

Send us a Text Message. We welcome back Belle to the podcast today! She and Sarah get together to discuss the Stella shortlist in all of its glory. Contact The Bookcast Club Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website | Voice message Stuff mentioned Bookcast Club episode on the Stella Prize [#88 All the Longlists: Stella Prize, Women's Prize, and the Ca…

Send us a Text Message. We welcome the delightful Lauren from Lauren and the Books to the podcast today. She and Sarah chat about what they're currently reading, and chat about a different type of book: cookbooks! High-quality, vegetarian-friendly cookbooks can be hard to find, so they talk through some of the ones that they have returned to again …

Send us a Text Message. It's a book club episode! Sarah and Chris are discussing their thoughts on Pod by Laline Paull, one of the books longlisted for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction. Have you read Pod, or is there a book you'd like us to read and discuss? Let us know! Get in touch Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website | Voice message Support …

Send us a Text Message. We are in your ears today recommending memoirs! Chris and Sarah welcome Belle to the podcast, a friend of Sarah's and a patreon of the pod. They chat what they think a memoir is, why they like to read them, and make some recommendations. Chris also reveals his real and controversial opinions about UK currency. Hope you enjoy…

Send us a Text Message. It is well and truly prize season, with three literary prizes for women and non-binary writers dropping their longlists this week. We welcome back Shawn Mooney (aka Shawn the Book Maniac) to talk with Sarah and Jenny about the longlists for the Stella Prize (Aus), the Women's Prize (UK), and the new North American prize for …

Send us a Text Message. This episode was a special request from a listener. Sarah and Jenny discuss their experiences with grief and recommend some reads, we promise it's not completely depressing! That being said we do discuss cancer, miscarriage, suicide, sudden death and more, so if you find these topics upsetting then please do give this episod…

Send us a Text Message. We are delighted to welcome Russell from Ink and Paper Blog to the podcast today! He chats to Chris about his love for historical fiction, and they make some recommendations of some of their favourites. Enjoy the episode! Want more Russell? Russell's YouTube channel [@inkandpaperblog] Instagram: @inkandpaperblog Twitter: @in…

Send us a Text Message. Jenny and Chris share which books they're eagerly awaiting in 2023. Get in touch Twitter | Instagram | Website | Voice message Books mentioned Her Majesty's Royal Coven By Juno Dawson Legends and lattes by Travis Baldry The Devil House by John Darniell The North Water by Ian Maguire Now She is Witch by Kirsty Logan Birnam Wo…

Send us a Text Message. We're back! Chris, Jenny, and Sarah are coming at you today to discuss their favourite reads of 2022. Get in touch Twitter | Instagram | Website | Voice message Books mentioned The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller Into the Woods by Tana French All the Acorns on the Forest Floor by Kim Hooper The Ocean at the End of the …

Send us a Text Message. Chris, Alice and Jenny chat about Jenny's favourite books We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson and Tiny, Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. This is our last episode of the year! We'll be back in 2023 so please do send us over any episode ideas you may have. Have a great festive season, we hope it involves l…

Send us a Text Message. In our penultimate episode of the year, Chris and Alice talk through their reading plans for autumn and winter this year, and reflect on how the year has gone for them reading-wise. As mentioned at the end of the episode, we are going to be planning our 2023 episodes soon, so if you have any episode ideas or requests, let us…

Send us a Text Message. Chris and Jenny share some spooky reads for your Halloween weekend. Get in touch Twitter | Instagram | Website | Voice message Stuff we mentioned Horror Special with Jordaline Reads episode Storygraph Recommends episode Books mentioned Support The Bookcast Club You can support the podcast on Patreon. Our tiers start at £2 a …

Send us a Text Message. We are delighted to welcome back podcast favourites Kieran (KD Books) and Sarah (Freshly Read Books) to review the Booker shortlist. They discuss their thoughts on each of the shortlisted books with Sarah, and the three of them try to predict what the winner will be. Buckle up and hope you enjoy! Reviews of tangentially-rela…

Send us a Text Message. For the first time ever, all four of us get together to record an episode! This is a special Q&A episode, where we answer questions sent in by the listeners over social media from the past few weeks. We really liked doing this episode, so if you would like us to make it a regular thing, please let us know! The questions we a…

Send us a Text Message. It's a book club episode! Sarah, Chris, and Alice get together to discuss Hanya Yanagihara's controversial novel, A Little Life. Chris and Alice have both read this before and loved it, and Sarah has read it for the first time. Will she agree with their thoughts on the book? The majority of this episode is spoiler-free, but …

Send us a Text Message. Sarah and Chris go back to one of their favourite topics, fantasy novels! They discuss what they've been reading in the past year since their last fantasy episode, and make some more recommendations, as your TBR is no doubt lacking in recommendations at this point. They also discuss some books about Mormonism and Jehovah's W…

Send us a Text Message. Sarah and Alice discuss their love for books with a strong sense of place and make some recommendations. They also talk about Sarah's progress in the Booker longlist, and Sarah tries to convince Alice to read The Little Friend. As mentioned in the end of the episode, we are planning to record a Q&A episode in September! If y…

Send us a Text Message. Today we are delighted to welcome Kate from The Book Club Review podcast to the Bookcast Club. She and Sarah both run book clubs, and they talk through what book clubs mean to them, what makes a good book club book, and make some recommendations for your book club. Links to Book Club Review podcast, and all the books and oth…

Send us a Text Message. Always one of our favourite episodes to record, Jenny, Alice and Chris share their mid-year favourites! From vampires to courgettes, which books have we enjoyed the most in the first half of 2022? Books mentioned Love Marriage by Monica Ali The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller The Year of Miracles: Recipes About Love + …

Send us a Text Message. Today's episode features a wonderful special guest, Sarah Freshly from the Youtube channel Freshly Read Books. She talks to Sarah (continuing the tradition on this podcast of having as many people called Sarah as possible) about the books in her life that have meant the most to her. A big thank you to Sarah for coming on the…

Send us a Text Message. It's a book club episode! We asked you to pick a Women's Prize shortlisted book for us and you chose The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. You'll be pleased to hear we have differing opinions and we agreed it made for a great book club read. We also share our current and recent reads. Books mentioned The Sentence by Louise Erdrich…

Send us a Text Message. Today we welcome author Abigail Mann to the pod, to discuss the romance genre. Abi shares her honest thoughts on 1 star reviews and how not fitting into a specific genre makes those 1 star reviews unavoidable. Jenny and Abi discuss romantic tropes and then share our favourite books that break them. Books mentioned The Lonely…

Send us a Text Message. In today's episode we're talking Booker! Two previous, wonderful guests to the podcast, Kieran from KD Books and Christine from Storycraft are back to discuss all things International Booker. We discuss our feelings on the longlist and shortlist, and discuss all the shortlisted books (except for Cursed Bunny). Links to Chris…

Send us a Text Message. Jen and Sarah read two of Alice's favourite books (not all-time faves; more on that in the episode!), The Time Traveller's Wife and The Poisonwood Bible. They share their thoughts on that and discuss the issues brought up in the two novels, as well as what they've each currently been reading. There are no major plot spoilers…

Send us a Text Message. Today we welcome Mercedes of Mercy's Bookish Musings to the pod to chat all things non-fiction. Sarah, Jenny and Mercedes share why they love non-fiction, where they get their recommendations from and talk through some of their favourites. And, as always, we share our recent and current reads. Books mentioned The Jasmine Thr…

Send us a Text Message. Today, Chris and Sarah talk about some of their favourite short stories and short story collections and what they think makes a good short story. They also discuss what they're currently reading. including discussions of death row and missing Russian mountaineers. Do you read short stories? Love or loathe? Books/stories ment…

Send us a Text Message. Today, Jen and Sarah chat about what they're currently reading and some of the longlists for various book prizes that are out and about at the moment. They discuss which ones they would like to read, how they each get swept up in the excitement of prize season, and their vegetable-growing plans for 2022. Books mentioned Tast…

Send us a Text Message. In support of Ukraine we would like to point you in the direction of Book Aid for Ukraine, an amazing bookish auction with a whole host of items from signed books, agent 1:1s, book shopping trips with authors, workshops and lots more. Friend of the pod Abigail Mann is auctioning her amazing Write Funny Workshop, which Jenny …

Send us a Text Message. Today, Sarah welcomes Shawn Mooney on for an episode of My Life in Books. Shawn is a Canadian Booktuber and book reviewer who is based Japan, and loves to enthuse about underrated or forgotten pieces of literature. We hope you enjoy the episode! If there is someone you would like us to interview for My Life in Books, please …

Send us a Text Message. Today it's Alice, Jenny and Chris's (who we're pleased to say will be a regular guest on the pod!) turn to share their reflections on last year's reading. We share a few favourites, chat the dire reading year that was 2021 and set some resolutions for 2022. Books mentioned Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi Homegoing by Yaa G…

Send us a Text Message. Today we welcome Akinyi from the Semi Scribbled Podcast to talk her 'life in books.' Akinyi chats to Sarah and shares the books that have had a lasting effect on her life. Semi Scribbled Podcast discusses inspirational books written by black authors. We're always in awe that Akinyi hosts this podcast solo, yet manages to be …

Send us a Text Message. Happy new year friends! In this episode, the Sarahs discuss their favourite reads of the second half of the year and reflect on how 2021 was for them. Sarah T also shares some sad news with us. Stuff mentioned Women's Prize episode Books mentioned How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones Conversations on Lov…