It's a Charlie Thing

In which we complete the Mid-Year Book Freakout TagBooks Mentioned:The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl BainbridgeMarking Time by Elizabeth Jane HowardThe Bed and Breakfast Star by Jacqueline WilsonThe Things We Never Say by Elizabeth StroutAn Unlikely Visitor by Joanna CannonThe Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi IshiguroLeonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan HessionThe Two Towers by JRR TolkienThe Other Valley by Scott Alexander HowardWhite Spaces by Elvin James Mensah

In which we chat about all the books we've been reading recently.Books Mentioned:Isaac and the Egg by Bobby PalmerThe Things We Never Say by Elizabeth StroutThe Driver’s Seat by Muriel SparkStrange Houses by UketsuGraveyard Shift by ML RioPotato by Rebecca EarleWhite Spaces by Elvin James MensahThe Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey EugenidesThe Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge

In which we talk about our recent trip to London.

We react to more AITA posts.

In which one Charlie is frazzled after a weekend away, and the other has been reading recent popular books and sharing his unpopular opinions.Books Mentioned:The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan DoyleThe Things We Never Say by Elizabeth StroutThe Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi IshiguroMaurice by EM ForsterYesteryear by Caro Claire BurkeAn Unlikely Visitor by Joanna Cannon

In which the Charlies look back on their first book haul.Books Mentioned:An Elderly Lady is Up To No Good by Helene TurstenAn Elderly Lady Must Not be Crossed by Helen TurstenThe Cat Prince and Other Poems by Michael PedersenThe Angel of Redemption by Nikita Gill Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 17The Other Valley by Scott Alexander HowardThe Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor GrahamWe Were the Universe by Kimberly King ParsonsTo Hear the Trees Speak by Olivia SprinkelCursed Daughters by Oyinkan BraithwaiteEverything is Energy by Emma TalbotTranslating Feminisms by Intan ParamadithaThe Wood in Midwinter by Susanna ClarkeA Glass of Blessings by Barbara PymThe Driver's Seat by Muriel SparkCamp! by Paul BakerBarrowbeck by Andrew Michael HurleyThe Ladie Upstairs by Jessie EllandLong Island Compromise by Taffy Brodessen-AknerSecrets in the Snow & Other Christmas Crime Stories, ed. Matthew BoothTouch Not the Cat by Mary StewartLublin by Manya WilkinsonJesus Christ Kinski by Benjamin MyersFruit Fly by Josh SilverLeonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession11.22.63 by Stephen KingThe House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier

In which we have a very welcome visitor.Pre-order An Unlikely Visitor by Joanna Cannon here:Out 4th June:https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/An-Unlikely-Visitor-by-Joanna-Cannon/9780008255077Charlie’s video on Joanna’s books:https://youtu.be/W7_Fa-R-qEU?si=dj7EYjbKRgybs-8Nhttps://youtu.be/reEpKBSXyYY?si=yAh9NY-XYOYQLLFBhttps://youtu.be/OM4_o4WKsoM?si=DOimmJC3rU0Lj8obhttps://youtu.be/iwi5hHddqmg?si=hr56Y0p6W8wk6v7v

Today we're seeing if our favourite books from 2018 - the year we first discovered one another's existence - are still favourites today.Books Mentioned:Fool's Fate by Robin HobbThe Hoarder by Jess KiddThe Management Style of the Supreme Beings by Tom HoltAnansi Boys by Neil GaimanAnd After Many Days by Jowhor IleDriven by Dane CobainThe Music Shop by Rachel JoyceDon't Call Us Dead by Danez SmithDying in Other Words by Maggie GeeThe Museum of Innocence by Orhan PamukThe Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel BarberyEmma by Jane AustenA Christmas Carol by Charles DickensA Monster Calls by Patrick NessThe Hate U Give by Angie ThomasLove Simon by Becky AlbertalliThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann ShafferThe Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine ArdenEleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail HoneymanThe Terrible by Yrsa Daley WardThe Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood HargraveCall Me By Your Name by Andre AcimanPersepolis by Marjane Satrapi Wild Embers by Nikita GillThe Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart TurtonHomegoing by Yaa GyasiJane Eyre by Charlotte BronteFlames by Robbie Arnott Potato by Rebecca EarleAll the Names Given by Raymond AntrobusSigns, Music by Raymond AntrobusCursed Daughter by Oyinkan BraithwaiteThe Mercy Step by Marcia HutchinsonThe Book of Birds by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie MorrisThe Lord of the Rings: Return of the King by JRR TolkienKingfisher by Rozie KellyThe Lamplighters by Emma StonexThunder on the Right by Mary StewartFruit Fly by Josh Silver