Book Chat

We bring two books both published in 1970 to the table. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by “the poet laureate of puberty” Judy Blume, and The Bluest Eye, by the legendary Toni Morrison. You can get in touch bookchatpod@gmail.com Books/articles mentioned:Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Forever and Deenie by Judy BlumeThe Bluest Eye, Beloved, Tar Baby and Paradise by Toni MorrisonMona of the Manor by Armistead MaupinFirst Love and My Phantoms by Gwendoline RileyFever Dream by Samanta SchweblinEmpire of Pain by Patrick Radden KeefeThe Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hilary MantelDemon Copperhead by Barbara KingsolverBooks for episode 10:Stoner by John WilliamsThe Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan KunderaSound by Joel Grove and production by Pandora SykesHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After last month’s crowd-pleasers, Bobby and Pandora sink their teeth into two very different, equally meaty books. In Augustown by Kei Miller, a “dismal little valley” in Jamaica becomes a boiling pot of tension when a young boy’s dreadlocks are cut off. And in Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin, the boiling pots are a little more literal – and Pandora shares an all-timer of a kitchen horror story.You can get in touch bookchatpod@gmail.com Books/articles mentioned:Augustown by Kei MillerHome Cooking by Laurie ColwinThe Pisces and Milk Fed by Melissa BroderWhen I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene SolàGood Material and Everything I Know About Love by Dolly AldertonWhen We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd BanwoBig Fish by Daniel WallaceLife of Pi by Yann MartelTrespasses by Louise KennedyHome Fire by Kamila ShamsieThe Bread The Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-AgostiniHeartburn by Nora EphronMidnight Chicken by Ella RisbridgerTakeaway by Angela HuiPRE-ORDER SMALL HOURS by Bobby PalmerAugustown by Kei Miller Review by Natasha Tripney for The Observer“Augustown”: A Novel of the Sacred and the Profane in Jamaica by Laura Miller for The New YorkerScalding oil, racist prank calls and endless ‘lid duty’: growing up in a Chinese restaurant by Angela Hui for The GuardianFind out more about the ShelterBox Book ClubBooks for episode 10:The Bluest Eye by Toni MorrisonAre You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. by Judy BlumeSound by Joel Grove and production by Pandora SykesHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a bumper episode 8, with Pandora and Bobby tackling two million-copy-bestselling, much-loved-movie-inspiring titans of the nineties. In Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding, Pandora finds a surprisingly feminist heroine who’s no less funny 25 years on. And in Nick Hornby’s beloved High Fidelity, Bobby meets his match in a perpetually depressed man-boy who needs to love himself before anyone else can love him back.Books/articles mentioned:Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen FieldingHigh Fidelity, Fever Pitch and About a Boy by Nick HornbyOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia MarquezThe Master and Margarita by Mikhail BulgakovA Life Of One’s Own by Joanna BiggsShark Heart by Emily HabeckMen Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John GrayQueenie by Candice Carty-WilliamsMe Before You by Jojo MoyesOne Day and Us by David NichollsLess by Andrew Sean GreerHeartburn by Nora EphronTales of the City by Armistead MaupinMating in Captivity by Esther PerelBooks for episode 9:Augustown by Kei MillerHome Cooking by Laurie Colwin

Book Chat is back, and episode 7 pits a Pulitzer-winning author against a Nobel-winning author. But not really: in the battle of the Annies whose name ends in ‘X’, both Bobby and Pandora are winners. Discussing Close Range by Annie Proulx, Bobby feels the need to make apologies for the unapologetic bleakness of rural Wyoming – while Pandora is transported back to the excruciating experience of Catholic boarding school girlhood in Annie Ernaux’s A Girl’s Story.You can get in touch bookchatpod@gmail.comSound by Joel Grove and production by Pandora SykesBooks/articles mentioned:Close Range and The Shipping News by Annie ProulxA Girl’s Story, The Years, A Man’s Place, A Woman’s Story, Happening, Getting Lost and Simple Passion by Annie ErnauxThe Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle ZevinOrdinary Human Failings and Acts of Desperation by Megan NolanDifferent Seasons by Stephen KingStoner and Butcher’s Crossing by John WilliamsThe Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

Episode 6 takes on one little known book and one very, very well-known book. Pandora finally reads A Visit from the Goon Squad and falls in love with Jennifer Egan's entire canon, while Bobby has mixed feelings about one of Pandora's absolute favourite books of recent times, When I Hit You, about a woman's violent marriage to a communist professor in South India.You can get in touch bookchatpod@gmail.comSound by Joel Grove and production by Pandora SykesBooks/articles mentioned:When I Hit You, The Gypsy Goddess and Exquisite Cadavers by Meena KandasamyA Visit from the Goon Squad, Emerald City, Look At Me and The Candy House by Jennifer EganBirnam Wood by Eleanor CattonBurning Questions by Margaret AtwoodGirlfriend on Mars by Deborah WillisOpen Throat by Henry HokeOn Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean VuongDiary of a Bad Year by J.M. CoetzeeJennifer Egan on Radio 4 Book ClubStephanie Sy-Quia reviews Meena Kandasamy for LARB Books for episode 7:Close Range by Annie ProulxA Girl’s Story by Annie ErnauxPlease note, we will be taking a seasonal break for June, and will be back on July 1st.

Welcome to episode 5! On the menu today is Memorial by Byran Washington, which just slips over our '2 years old' threshold - the hype is arguably still hyping - and The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, which was written 30 years ago and yet still, the hype hypes (StudioCanal just released a sparkly new version of the film.)We discuss Memorial's literary take on the 'meet the parents' romcom, the 'traumedy' genre, and why Mitsuko is one of the best characters ever written; and why The Virgin Suicides' big themes - adolescent mental health, the male gaze, the American Dream - still feel as prescient today.You can get in touch bookchatpod@gmail.comSound by Joel Grove and production by Pandora SykesBooks/articles mentioned:Memorial by Bryan WashingtonThe Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey EugenidesBewilderment by Richard PowersRomantic Comedy by Curtis SittenfeldSuch A Fun Age by Kiley ReidWhite Noise by Don DeLilloMemorial review by Maria Marchinkoski for The Harvard ReviewMemorial review by Tash Aw for The TLSMemorial review by Ron Charles for The Washington PostJeffrey Eugenides interview at The Strand bookstoreDoes The Virgin Suicides still hold up 25 years later? By Emily Temple for LitHub Pre-order Isaac and the Egg in paperbackBooks for episode 6:When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan