Curious Readers

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 NewsClose to Home by Michael MageeSay Nothing by Patrick Radden KeefeCurrent readsA Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry Lost Souls Meet Under A Full Moon by Mizuki TsujimuraLonely Castle In The Mirror by Mizuki TsujimuraMemoirs I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdyIn The Dream House by Carmen Maria MachadoCrying In H Mart by Michelle ZaunerAftermath by Rachel CuskDying of Politeness by Geena DavisBossy Pants by Tina FeyHomesick: A Memoir by Jennifer Croft The Extinction Of Irena Rey by Jennifer CroftFlights by Olga TolkaczukThe Books Of Jacob by Olga TolkaczukInto The Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley KeoughThe Woman In Me by Britney SpearsDaisy Jones And The Six by Taylor Jenkins ReidThe Salt Path by Raynor WinnA Million Little Pieces by James FreyThe Museum Of Lost And Fragile Things by Suzanne JoinsonThe Sound Of Gravel by Ruth WarinerEducated by Tara WestoverStay True by Hua HsuFierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick Knife by Salman RushdieThe Best Minds by Jonathan RosenQuietly Hostile by Samantha IrbyThis Is The Place To Be by Lara PawsonWhat we’re reading nextThe Coin by Yasmin ZaherThe Echoes by Evie Wyld Days Of Light by Megan HunterTheory & Practice by Michelle de KretserOrlanda by Jacqueline HarpmanI Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline HarpmanAlso mentioned The Harrison Chambers Of DistinctionCool People Reading PodcastFollow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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 NewsThe Hypocrite by Jo HamyaWinter Animals by Ashani LewisRevolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood In Black Gay Britain by Jason OkundayeFood For The Dead by Charlotte Shevchenko KnightCurrent readsThe Coin by Yasmin ZaherThe Story Of A Heart by Dr. Rachel ClarkQueer literatureGiovanni’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 HallDeath 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 LordeLoving Her by Ann Shockley Detransition, Baby by Torrey PetersStag Dance by Torrey PetersTell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt Song Of Achilles by Madeline MillerA Little Life by Hanya YanagiharaWho’s Afraid Of Gender? by Judith ButlerGreta & Valdin by Rebecca K. ReillyA 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 FayeGirlhood / Abandon Me: Memoirs by Melissa FebosA Short History Of Trans Misogyny by Jules Gill-PetersonThe Best Of Me by David SedarisThis Book Is Gay by Juno DawsonNothing Ever Just Disappears: Seven Hidden Histories by Diarmuid HesterOur Pride picksThe Lost Past Of Billy McQueen by Neil AlexanderValencia by Michelle TeaOur Wives Under The Sea by Julia ArmfieldTiepolo Blue by James CahillAnd The Band Played On by Randy ShiltsNevada by Imogen BinnieWhat We’re Reading NextThe Wax Child by Olga RavnThe Employees by Olga RavnHelm by Sarah Hall Close To Home by Michael MageeThe Names by Florence Knapp Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodesCurious 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)

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 NewsThe Mars Room by Rachel KushnerQuestion 7 by Richard Flanagan Albion by Anna HopeFair Play by Louise HegartyPetals Of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong’o Current readsThe Husbands by Holly GramazioWild Boar by Hannah LutzBeach readsThe Bee Sting by Paul MurrayAriadne by Jennifer SaintElektra by Jennifer SaintStone Blind by Natalie HaynesCirce by Madeline MillerSong Of Achilles by Madeline MillerWhere The Crawdads Sing by Delia OwensThe Trio by Johanna Hedman The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller The Overstory by Richard PowersThe Guest by Emma ClineThe Girls by Emma Cline The Swimmer by John CheeverWalking On The Ceiling by Ayşegül Savaş Summer by Edith WhartonLast Resort by Andrew LipsteinMy Brilliant Friend by Elena FerranteBrutes by Dizz TateSpent by Alison Bechdel  Fun Home by Alison BechdelDykes to Watch Out For by Alison BechdelYou Killed Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi Sunset by Jessie Cave Girlfriends by Holly Bourne What we’re reading nextA Marriage At Sea by Sophie ElmhurstNecessary Fictions by Eloghosa OsundeLonely Crowds by Stephanie WambuguAlso mentioned@BeesBookShareThe Garden Gate Project MargateLouisiana Channel by the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek in DenmarkThe Hay PlayerHay FestivalsOpen Water by Chris KentisFollow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodesCurious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James at Fish Island Studio (@fishislandstudio)

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 ShreeKairos by Jenny ErpenbeckThe Vegetarian by Han KangSmall 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 SjónCareless People by Sarah Wynn-WilliamsAudition / Gone To The Forest / The Longshot / A Separation / Intimacies by Katie Kitamura My Tender Matador by Pedro LemebelThe Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe Also mentioned: Teatime Book Club, @Teatime.picturesRosemary’s Baby by Roman PolanskiSuspiria by Dario Agento (with a 2013 remake by Luca Guadagnino)Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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 readsIn Search Of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (tr. Terence Kilmartin)Sweat by Emma HealyThe Meteorites: Encounters With Outer Space And Deep Time by Helen GordonKorean books and authors Crying In H Mart by Michelle ZaunerSea Change by Gina ChungThe Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun (tr. Lizze Buehler)Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home by Eric KimThe 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 MaciasUp nextThe Women by Kristin HannahThe Husbands by Holly GramazioAtmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins ReidMy Friends by Frederik BackmanKakigori Summer by Emily ItamiEndling by Maria RevaAlso mentioned @angelazbaoSnow Piercer, Parasite by Bong Joon HoLibro FMFollow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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 readsOn The Calculation Of Volume (Volume I) by Solvej Balle Confessions by Catherine AireyBig Book Fear The Book of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk The Bee Sting by Paul Murray Middlemarch by George Eliot – narrated by Juliet StevensonThe Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor DostoevskyA Suitable Boy by Vikram SethLost Illusions and Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac2666 by Roberto BolañoIn Search Of Lost Time by Marcel Proust Pachinko by Min Jin LeeThe Eighth Life by Nino HaratischvilliDhalgren by Samuel R. DelanyReader, Come Home: The Reading Brain In A Digital World by Maryanne Wolf11.22.63 by Stephen KingAngle Of Repose by Wallace StegnerLonesome Dove by Larry McMurtrySecondhand Time: The Last Of The Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich Shantaram by Gregory David RobertsThe Luminaries by Eleanor CattonA Little Life by Hanya YanagiharaThe Goldfinch / The Secret History / The Little Friend by Donna TarttCherry by Nico WalkerThe Name Of The Wind by Patrick RothfussFuture ReadsDays Of Light by Megan HunterThe Silence Factory by Bridget CollinsWild Ground by Emily UsherAlso mentioned The Ondaatje Prize 2025 shortlist Chatsworth HouseThe Storygraph The Book Club Review Podcast PatreonFollow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes 

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 readsMinistry Of Time by Kaliane BradleyPlayworld by Adam RossEx-Wife by Ursula ParrottShort classicsFair Play by Tove JanssonThe True Deceiver by Tove JanssonLucy by Jamaica KincaidSuch A Fun Age by Kiley ReidThe Fifth Child by Doris Lessing Ben, In The World by Doris LessingWe Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver The Tenth Man by Graham GreeneWhat we’re reading nextSoft Core by Brittany NewellDeep Cuts by Holly BrickleyThe Emperor Of Gladness by Ocean VuongLet Me Tell You by Paul GriffithsLet Me Go On by Paul GriffithsAlso mentioned @LadiesLitSquadDisney+ Dying for SexDolly Alderton and Netflix’s Adaptation of Pride & PrejudiceCan You Ever Forgive Me DuneA Complete UnknownWellness by Nathan HillLong Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-AknerFollow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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 TulathimuttePrivate Citizens by Tony TulathimutteRecent readsThe Iliad by Homer and translated by Emily WilsonThe Odyssey by HomerHype Machine: Inside the Cult of Crypto by Joshua OliverI Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline HarpmanGreen Dot by Madeline Gray  Women’s prize shortlist Good Girl by Aria AberAll Fours by Miranda JulyThe Persians by Sanam MahloudjiTell Me Everything by Elizabeth StroutThe Safekeep by Yael Van Der WoudenFundamentally by Nussaibah Younis What we’re looking forward to in April  Twist by Column McCannTilt by Emma PatteeThe Colony by Annika NorlinAudition by Katie KitamuraNotes to John by Joan Didion Also mentioned The Coach and Horses Pub Quiz, WhitstableThe Book Lovers’ Pub QuizThe BookClub Review PodcastAdolescence on NetflixLet the Great World Spin by Column McCannApeirogon by Column McCannIntimacies by Katie KitamuraBlue Nights by Joan Didion