This episode dives into The Lamb, a quiet but unsettling novel that blends grief, folklore, and the uncanny. I explore how its sparse prose builds tension, what it’s really saying about motherhood and isolation, and why its final chapters stay lodged in the mind long after you close the book.

In Episode 7, Denise delves into Spellbound’s bold reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, a chapter where the familiar fairy tale fractures into something far darker and more intimate. As the curse at the centre of the story intensifies, she traces how the novel transforms the classic “sleep” into a living force not a passive enchantment, but a predatory magic that chooses its moment and its victim with unsettling precision.

Denise examines the way Spellbound strips the tale of its romantic gloss, revealing the violence and agency buried beneath the original myth. She explores how the heroine’s fate is no longer sealed by a spindle’s prick but by a curse that understands her fears, her desires, and the legacy she never asked to inherit.

This episode captures Denise following the thread between folklore and modern storytelling, showing how Spellbound turns Sleeping Beauty into a story of awakening rather than rescue a reckoning with the past, the curse, and the power that comes from refusing to stay asleep.

In this episode of Confessions of a Book Hoarder, Denise dives into the rich symbolism of food in literature and its feminist dimensions. Talking about Asako Yuzuki’s Butter she explores how appetite, cooking, and meals become metaphors for women’s agency, rebellion, and identity.

Listeners will discover how food in novels is never just about sustenance — it’s about power, memory, and desire. Denise reflects on Rika Machida’s journey in Butter, contrasts it with Manako Kajii’s unapologetic indulgence, and situates both within a wider feminist tradition that includes Like Water for Chocolate, The Joy Luck Club and more

This episode is a warm, witty, and thought-provoking exploration of how literature uses food to challenge gender norms and celebrate women’s voices.

This Halloween, we open the creaking cover of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—a novel born from grief, lightning, and genius.

In this episode of Confessions of a Book Hoarder, I delve into the life of the teenage author who changed literary history, the haunting themes of abandonment and ambition, and the misunderstood creature who longs not for vengeance, but for love. We’ll trace the legacy of monsters in literature, from myth to modern tragedy, and reflect on what Frankenstein reveals about the human condition.

Is the monster truly the one with stitched skin… or the one who turns away?

Join me by candlelight as we confess, reflect, and resurrect the story that still echoes through the dark.

In this cosy and chaotic episode, Denise dives into Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood—a spellbinding debut about burnout, late blooming, and the quiet magic of reclaiming your power. Join her as she unpacks Belle Blackthorn’s trials, Rune’s brooding charm, and the everyday enchantments that feel tailor-made for 90s fans of witch fiction. Expect literary confessions, witchy wisdom, and a gentle reminder: your magic is never too late.

Episode 3 – Dissecting Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

In this episode of Confessions of a Book Hoarder, we dive headfirst into the chaotic, magnetic world of Boy Parts by Eliza Clark—a cult debut that flips the male gaze, dismantles likability, and lets its protagonist spiral with unapologetic ferocity.

We unpack Irina’s descent into obsession, art, and identity collapse, exploring themes of power, performance, and the grotesque feminine. From internet culture to creative control, this novel doesn’t ask to be liked—it demands to be witnessed.

We also trace the feminist lineage behind Clark’s work, honouring the women who wrote in secret, published under pseudonyms, and risked everything to speak. Plus, a look at Boy Parts’s adaptation into a one-woman play and why its voice belongs on stage as much as on the page.

In this episode of Confessions of a Book Hoarder, Denise uncorks the emotional mayhem of Alice Slater’s Let the Bad Times Roll—a novel that’s equal parts biting, bleak, and bizarrely comforting. Through the lens of literary obsession and gentle rebellion, she explores how Slater’s characters stumble through grief, identity, and the allure of self-destruction with a glass of wine in one hand and a questionable decision in the other.

Expect cozy chaos, existential musings, and a few confessions of Denise’s own as she unpacks why this book feels like a mirror for anyone who’s ever hoarded heartbreak alongside hardcovers. It’s a review, a reflection, and a reminder that sometimes the worst times make the best stories.

🎧 Episode 1: Welcome to the Confessions of a Book Hoarder Podcast.

Welcome to the first-ever episode of Confessions of a Book Hoarder. I’m Denise—a lifelong collector of paperbacks, emotions, and existential dread—and today, I’m diving into Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This book cracked something open in me. It’s the kind of story that clings to your ribs, not because it’s loud, but because it’s honest.

In this episode, I unpack the layers of longing, silence, and soft rebellion threaded through Reid’s storytelling. I talk about the parts that made me feel seen, the ones that made me squirm, and how even fictional heartbreak has the power to reorder your molecules.

📚 To connect with me, share your bookish confessions, or chat about being featured on the podcast, follow me on Instagram @denise.lawlor or email me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.