Bookylicious

In this episode Paul and Gwyn are joined by new co-presenter Iwan Berry to talk about all things Star Wars and the vast empire of spin off fan fiction it has given rise to. Of course the conversation diverges into The Odyssey, Brother Cadfael and the Hero's Journey amongst many other things.

In the episode we chat about the BBC dramatisations of the Brother Cadfael novels and the Welsh actor Paul couldn't remeber was Glyn Houston. Glyn being short for Glyndwr, you can't get much more Welsh than that!

If you are inspired to follow up on the forthcoming S$C production of Star Wars here's a linkhttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/04/star-wars-dubbed-welsh-s4c

And finally here is a bookshelf of some of the books we mention in this episode:

https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookylicious-series-5-episode-9-in-a-galaxy-far-far-away-jedi-monks-and-other-heros?&new-list-page=true&bkshp-astro=t

In this episode Gwyn and Paul are joined by Sarah to talk about Shirley Jackson and her masterwork 'The Haunting of Hill House'. The conversation leads to discussion of Shirley Jackson and her deliciously creepy other works and to so much more as this bookshelf of some of the books mentioned shows

https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookylicious-series-5-episode-8-shirley-jackson-and-the-haunting-of-hill-house?&new-list-page=true&bkshp-astro=t

Here is a link to the stage version at Theatr Clwyd in Mold in October in case you feel like a trip to North Wales https://www.theatrclwyd.com/event/the-haunting-of-hill-house

The Haunting of Hill House has been filmed twice as 'The Haunting' in 1963 and again in 1999. There is also a new Netflix series which is perhaps slightly less faithful to the novel.

In this episode Paul and Gwyn start by exploring some recent booklists:

The Guardian 100 Best Novels of All Time https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/12/the-100-best-novels-of-all-time

The New York Times https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/2242661799/2578911479

Hay Pleasure List https://www.hayfestival.com/the-pleasure-list/

This leads to a 'rabbit hole' leading to libraries, AI and Japan. This and much more.

Also mentioned in this episode:

The London Library https://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/

Michael Portillo's Great Japanese Railway Journeys https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002v45l/great-japanese-railway-journeys

Gwen John: Strange Beauties https://museum.wales/cardiff/whatson/12640/Gwen-John-Strange-Beauties/

And as always here is a list of some of the books mentioned:

https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookylicious-series-5-episode-7-lists-librarians-and-ai?&new-list-page=true

In this episode Paul and Gwyn chat about things created 150 years ago in 1876 including the publication of the Dewey Decimal Classification system; Daniel Deronda by George Eliot and The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll. Gwyn also steps through the wardrobe into the land of Narnia.

In the episode we mention Mike Batt's musical version of the Hunting of the Snark which you can find here https://open.spotify.com/album/0OmmGKeU2rnPx45RXRBOEd?si=8V-Qg3K6RGWaVQ1O2nG7aQ

We also mention The Book Club episode on Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights which you can listen to here https://open.spotify.com/episode/4vlzvFxlb1QnqsrIrwH4k7?si=f56a7c8408534468

And here is our bookshelf of some of the books we mention in this episode

https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookylicious-series-5-episode-6-dewey-deronda-and-narnia?&new-list-page=true

This is a re-edited version of our original Series 1 Episode 6

The team discuss the Western and discover some surprising things.

Paul interviews Anna North https://www.annanorth.net/ about her novel Outlawed which takes a new and exciting approach to the Western genre.

In this episode Paul and Gwyn reflect of some of theirrecent reading and what they turn to if they are not sure what to read next. Asalways the conversation is diverse from Margaret Thatcher and the IRA tomonsters and dystopian fiction via the Third Reich!

Here is a nookshelf of some of the books we mention

https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookylicious-series-5-episode-5-dystopia-and-monsters-of-many-kinds?&new-list-page=truethe

Gwyn also mentions the Chichester Centre for Fairy Tales, Fantasyand Speculative Fiction which you can find here https://www.chi.ac.uk/research/centres/the-chichester-centre-for-fairy-tales-fantasy-and-speculative-fiction/

In this especially celebration of the festive season Paul, Gwyn, Lara and Holly explore the dark side of Christmastide. The thumbnail for this episode shows the Jólaköttur, a giant Icelandic Jule Cat that Gwyn mentions. Our festive reading leads to a chat about the feminine in fantasy literature. We also share some of our favourite reads of the year and of course briefly celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday.

Here is a link to the BBC adaptation of the Dark is Rising BBC Sounds - The Dark Is Rising - Available Episodes

Here is a link to some of the books we discuss Bookylicious Series 5 Episode 4 - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - Bookshop.org

In this episode Adrienne asks Paul probing questions about crime fiction, why is it so popular and what keeps us coming back for more?

Theses are the books and authors we mention https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookylicious-series-5-episode-3?&new-list-page=true

You can find the Shedunnit podcast is here https://www.shedunnitshow.com/

And details of next year's Agatha Christie Exhibition at the British Library are here https://events.bl.uk/exhibitions/agathachristie

In this episode Paul, Gwyn and Lara catch up with what has been inspiring them recently everything from dragons to hobbits via annihilation and exorcists.

Here is a bookshelf of the books we mention along the way: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookylicious-series-5-episode-2?&new-list-page=true

These are the links for the exhibtions we mentioned:

The Word for World: the maps of Ursula K. Le Guin at the Architectural Association in Bedford Square, London https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/publicprogramme/whatson/the-word-for-world

Agatha Christie a major exhibition of the woman behind the books at the British Library in London from October 2026 https://events.bl.uk/exhibitions/agathachristie

Lewis Carroll at Exploring Surrey's Past https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/people/writers/lewis_carroll/

It is great to be back after an unintended extended break.In the first episode of the new series Paul chats with Professor Allan Howellsabout the 2024 Booker Prize winning novel ‘Orbital’ by Samantha Harvey. Thisleads to a conversation on of everything space exploration and beyond, withlots of book recommendations along the way.

We mention the 2016 exhibition at the Science Museum ‘Cosmanauts:the birth of the space age’. Sadly the book that accompanied the exhibition ishard to get hold of now but if you are interested in finding out more about ithere is a useful link https://artsandculture.google.com/story/wQXhbpPvWOZ3JQ

We also mention ‘Bringing Columbia Home’ which I was unableto find on Bookshop.org but is available here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bringing-Columbia-Home-Untold-Shuttle/dp/1948924617/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.eyGsiegTJWVPSDum2CyREsKaWO_aw9J-DNhEB0kdUlfrxJGE8SND7Gxc3kgvDAjrmLC-mZJrbSVrPCKB65bdCw.wosPogPwjcem-OFn635ZceSdubiku3Roan67WIEnl3c&qid=1755526557&sr=8-1

As always here is a bookshelf with all the other books wementioned https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/bookylicious-series-5-episode-1