Curious Readers

Join Amanda and Joseph for an end-of-year bibliofest as they talk about their top 10 books of the year, plus they dish the dirt on the titles that sadly didn’t live up to their expectations over the last twelve months. 

(1:20) Bookish News

(1:24) The Warwick Prize For Women In Translation 

(1:44) And The Walls Became The World All Around by Johanna Ekström and Sigrid Rausing, translated by Sigrid Rausing

(3:33) The New Yorker at 100 (Netflix)

(5:22) Our Top 10 Books of 2025 (#10 to #6)

(6:55) New York Times Best Books of 2025

(8:32) The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

(8:55) Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

(9:52) Angel Down by Daniel Kraus

(10:41) The Director by Andrew Kehlmann

(11:15) You Should Have Left by Andrew Kehlmann

(11:53) The Sisters by Jonas Hassan Khemiri 

(12:55) Wild Thing: A Life Of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux

(13:01) A Marriage At Sea / Maurice & Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst

(15:34) We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt's Lessons in Love and Disobedience by Lyndsey Stonebridge

(18:16) The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell by Lucia Osborne-Crowley

(20:06) Objects Of Desire by Neil Blackmore (#10)

(21:47) Playworld by Adam Ross (#9)

(23:08) A Person Is A Prayer by Ammar Kalia (#8)

(24:58) Good Girl by Aria Aber @aria.arber (#7)

(27:16) Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno translated by Natasha Lehrer (#6)

(31:13) Christmas Cracker Questions Speed Round

(32:11) The Story of a Heart by Dr Rachel Clarke

(34:10) Nevada by Imogen Binnie

(36:21) A Big Storm Knocked it Over by Laurie Colwin

(38:37) Margo’s Got Money Trouble by Rufi Thorpe

(39:17) The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe

(41:15) I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol

(41:42) Close to Home by Michael Magee

(42:31) Heart the Lover by Lily King

(42:37) The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

(43:25) Flashlight by Susan Choi

(44:38) Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

(44:55) The Names by Florence Knapp

(48:29) In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

(48:51) A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell

(49:26) On the Calculation of Volume, volumes I, II and III by Solvej Balle

(49:54) A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah K Maas

(50:26) Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

(50:51) Our Top 10 Books of 2025 (#5 to #1)

(51:02)The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai (#5)

(53:24) The Coin by Yasmin Zaher (#4)

(56:26) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (#3)

(1:02:16) My Clavicle and Other Major Misalignments by Marta Sanz and translated from the Spanish by Katie King (#2)

(1:02:44) Unwell Woman by Elinor Cleghorn

(1:04:48) One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (#1)

(1:07:37) Spent by Alison Bechdel (#1)

(1:10:24) All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert

(1:11:56) Twist by Column McCann

(1:12:32) Moderation by Elaine Castillo

(1:14:11) What We’re Reading Next

(1:14:28) Angel Down by Daniel Kraus 

(1:14:40) Whale Fall by Daniel Kraus

(1:16:24) A Dance to the Music of Time by Antony Powell

Also mentioned

Gordon Burn Prize For New Writing

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes

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Join Amanda and Joseph as they get graphic – about the best graphic novels they’ve read and the ones they are keen to add to their TBRs. Along the way, they talk about their recent reads and discuss the books they hope will close out their reading year. 

(0:47) Bookish News

(5:41) National Book Award

(6:00) The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine

(6:45) One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

(7:46) The Intentions of Thunder by Patricia Smith

(8:25) The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri

(8:48) We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

(9:52) Recent Reads

(9:56) 11.22.63 by Stephen King

(15:20) Ultraluminous by Katherine Faw

(21:12) Graphic Novels

(25:35) Alison by Lizzy Stewart

(26:19) Ducks by Kate Beaton

(30:11) Sabrina by Nick Drnaso

(30:17) Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls

(30:57) The Sad Ghost Club by Lize Meddings

(36:59) Goodnight Pun Pun by Inio Asano

(37:22) Sheets by Brenna Thummler

(38:02) Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson

(38:13) Blankets by Craig Thompson

(45:05) Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez

(49:15) Walk Me To the Corner by Anneli Furmark

(53:34) Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast

(54:13) Florrie: A Football Love Story by Anna Trench

(54:46) Cats of the Louvre by Taiyo Matsumoto

(55:53) Firefly by Robert Macfarlane and Luke Adam Hawker

(56:34) Walking Distance by Lizzy Stewart

(57:12) The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco

(58:02) This Beautiful, Ridiculous City by Kay Sohini

(59:04) What We’re Reading Next

(59:29) On The Calculation of Volume: Volumes II and III by Solvej Balle

(1:00:28) The Silver Book by Olivia Laing

(1:00:43) Books: A Manifesto, Or, How To Build A Library by Ian Patterson

(1:01:11) The Riders in the Chariot by Patrick White

Also mentioned

The Liverpool Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum

@harbourbooks

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Amanda and Joseph for another deep dive, this time into Heart the Lover, Lily King’s tale of first loves and lost opportunities. Plus, as always, they talk about their recent reads and discuss the titles they’re keen to pick up next. 

(1:23) Book News

(1:23) The Booker Prize 2025

(1:34) Flesh by David Szalay

(2:09) The Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction

(2:12) How to End a Story: Collected Diaries by Helen Garner 

(2:45) The Goldsmith’s Prize

(3:26) We Live Here Now by CD Rose

(4:11) What We’re Reading Next 

(4:16) Big Kiss, Bye Bye by Claire Louise Bennett

(7:46) Checkout 19 by Claire Lousie Bennett

(8:28) Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley

(14:26)  Deep Dive into Heart the Lover 

(15:44) The Pleasing Hour

(15:49) The English Teacher

(15:53) Father of the Rain

(15:57) Euphoria 

(16:30) Writers & Lovers 

(18:04) Heart The Lover synopsis

(25:17) Book Reporter Talks to: Lily King, Heart the Lover

(29:07) The Aeneid by Virgil 

(29:12) “Some day we will remember even these our hardships” (Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit)

(31:34) Ulysses by James Joyce

(31:41) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

(32:14) Literary references in Heart The Lover

(32:47) ‘The Dead’ by James Joyce

(1:06:41) We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

(1:07:21) What we’re reading next

(1:07:45) Independent People by Halldor Laxness

(1:08:05) Ambrose Through The Tall Grass by Nathan Korn

(1:09:01) The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez

(1:09:43) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast and Bluesky @curiousreaderspod.bsky.social for more recommendations in between episodes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Amanda and Joseph on this week’s episode as they discuss the Booker Prize 2025 shortlist and talk in depth about what worked and what didn’t work for them with each of the six nominated books. They also chat book news and have a look at some of the upcoming titles they’re looking forward to reading next. 

(0:32) Book News

(1:12) Lone Wolf by Adam Weymouth

(4:50) Gresham College Lecture Series 2025-2026

(5:24) Booker Prize shortlist 

(5:56) The Booker Prize 2025

(9:33) The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller

(20:00) The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

(27:26) The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

(28:09) All Fours by Miranda July

(35:05) Endling by Maria Reva

(35:22) Amanda’s Sarah Jessica Parker impression

(36:25) Audition by Katie Kitamura

(42:20) Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga

(43:03) Flashlight by Susan Choi

(43:07) Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

(49:35) Flesh by David Szalay

(57:05) What We’re Reading Next 

(57:15) 11.22.63 by Stephen King

(57:30) Antidote by Karen Russell

(58:40) Taipei by Tao Lin

(59:23) Heart the Lover by Lily King

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Creeps, chills, and carefully crafted dread - join Joseph and Amanda for this week’s episode as they recommend a stack of mood-heavy reads for spooky season. Plus, Team CR talks László Krasznahorkai - this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature - and as always they discuss what they’ve been reading lately and what they’re looking forward to picking up next. 

(0:44) Book News

(0:51) Nobel Prize for Literature 

(1:46) Louisiana Channel

(2:52) Sátántangó by Lászlo Krasznahorkai

(5:41) Rivals by Jilly Cooper

(7:00) Current Reads

(7:04) Objects of Desire by Neil Blackmore

(10:43) Fair Play by Louise Hegarty 

(13:48)  Spooky Season Reading

(15:06)  Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

(17:55) Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfeld

(19:01) The Echoes by Evie Wyld

(19:28) Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

(19:51) Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

(20:27) Our Share of the Night by Mariana Enriquez 

(21:36) Pet Sematary by Stephen King

(22:55) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

(24:04) Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn

(25:04) The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston

(27:22) Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

(27:36) Beloved by Toni Morrison

(28:25)  Ghost stories by MR James, Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allen Poe and HP Lovecraft

(29:44) Come Closer by Sara Gran (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(34:23) Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (Amanda’s Pick #1)

(39:04) The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Dávila, tr. by Audrey Harris and Matthew Gleeson (Joseph Pick #2)

(44:21) Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (Amanda’s Pick #2)

(46:24) Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

(49:32) Spooky Books Recommended to Amanda

(49:44) Sinead Hanna @sineadhannacraic

(50:14)  The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

(50:29) Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker 

(51:06) Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

(51:42) Spooky Books Recommended to Joseph

(51:52) A Game In Yellow by Hailey Piper

(52:42) Ashley @coffeeandcuentos

(52:59) Never Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, ed. Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

(52:32) Talking Scared Podcast with Neil McRobert

(53:47) Rekt by Alex Gonzalez

(54:33) What We’re Reading Next 

(55:03) Greyhound by Joanna Pocock

(55:41) Big Kiss, Bye-Bye by Claire-Louise Bennett

(55:57) What A Time To Be Alive by Jenny Mustard

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Just in time for Banned Books Week (5-11 October), Joseph and Amanda talk about literary censorship and recommend the samizdat titles they think are worth exploring. They also chat about this year's Booker Prize Shortlist which was announced on 23 September and run through their picks from the Baillie Gifford Prize shortlist, one of the UK's biggest literary prizes for non-fiction. Plus, as always, they talk about what they've been reading recently and what they're excited to pick up next. 

Book News

(1:22) The Booker Prize

(7:16) The Baillie Gifford Prize

Current Reads

(11:16) I Am Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol

(15:44) Ask Me How It Works by Deepa Paul

(16:19) Authority: Essays On Being Right by Andrea Long Chu

Banned Books

(21:08) Banned Books Week, 5-11 October 2025

(22:57) PEN America

(27:28) Index on Censorship: 100 Banned Novels

(27:44) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 

(29:07) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 

(29:16) Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell 

(31:37) The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (Amanda’s Pick #1)

(35:17) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(39:16) Deenie by Judy Blume (Amanda’s Pick #2)

(42:17) Judy Blume Forever

(45:35) July’s People by Nadine Gordimer (Joseph’s Pick #2)

(49:50) This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson (Amanda’s Pick #3)

(54:42) A Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Joseph’s Pick #3)

What We’re Reading Next

(58:01) The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

(58:03) The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

(58:09) Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth

(58:40) Transcription by Ben Lerner

(59:19) The Renovation by Kenan Orhan

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode Joseph and Amanda launch into Atmosphere with an in-depth discussion of the queer-coded astronaut love story by Taylor Jenkins Reid. They also take a look at the recently announced fiction and non-fiction longlists from the National Book Award, plus share what they’ve been reading lately and the titles they’re looking forward to picking up next.  

Book News

The Book Club Review podcast

A Pair Of Bookends podcast 

National Book Awards

Margate Bookie

Cheltenham Literary Festival

Current Reads

Farewell Fountain Street by Selçuk Altun, translated by Mel Kenne and Nilgün Dungan

Maggie; or, a Man and A Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee

Dying for Sex, HBO

Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst

Deep Dive 

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

One True Love by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

What We’re Reading Next

Priest Daddy by Patricia Lockwood

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood

Nightcrawler by Leila Mottley

The Girls That Grew Big by Leila Mottley 

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode Joseph and Amanda step into the world of sci-fi and speculative fiction and chart a course through some of their favourite fictional forays into evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, deep space exploration, and the perils of the Oort Cloud. They also discuss the latest news from the Hugo Awards, talk about what they’ve been reading recently, and as always, run through the titles they’re looking forward to picking up next. 

Book News

(2:18) The Hugo Awards

(3:32) The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Best Novel 2025)

(4:20) The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler (Best Novella 2025)

(5:30) Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right by Jordan S. Carroll (Best Related Work 2025)

Current Reads

(6:56) The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny by Laura Bates

(9:50) Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen

(10:02) Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates

(12:04) Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

(12:19) Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab

(14:02) The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

Speculative Fiction & Sci-Fi Recommendations

(19:14) Amanda’s Sci-Fi story

(21:25) Sexism in Sci-Fi

(21:51) The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

(23:56) Steering The Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. Le Guin

(24:53) Speculative vs Science Fiction

(25:48) In Other Worlds: Science Fiction and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood

(25:59) The Handmaid’s Tale / The MaddAddam Triology by Margaret Atwood

(26:25) The Water Cure / Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh

(27:23) In Ascension by Martin MacInnes (Amanda’s Pick #1)

(30:33) Voyager Golden Record

(30:40) Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

(31:14) Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

(31:45) Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(34:26) The Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley by Robert Sheckley (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(35:48) Ten Planets by Yuri Herrera (Joseph’s Pick #1)

(37:02) The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (Amanda’s Pick #2)

(41:20) To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (Joseph’s Pick #2)

(44:10) Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Amanda’s Pick #3)

(47:56) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Joseph’s Pick #3)

What We’re Reading Next

(51:34) Fair Play by Louise Hegarty

(51:51) Bone Horn by Prudence Bussey-Chamberlain

(52:04) Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller

(52:19) House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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In this week’s episode, we respond to our listeners with all our deepest, darkest DNF secrets: why we do it, when we do it, and how we feel when it happens. We also talk about the books we’ve read recently as well as the backlist titles and new releases we hope to explore in the coming weeks. 

Book News

(2:31) The Sealey Challenge

(4:25) The Wild Iris by Louise Glück

(4:48) Midden Witch by Fiona Benson

(5:16) Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems by William Carlos Williams

(6:02) That Broke Into Shining Crystals by Richard Scott / What The Earth Seemed To Say by Marie Howe / Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

(6:44) So I Got To Thinking podcast

Current Reads

(11:11) Child Of My Heart by Alice McDermot

(14:19) The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

(18:15) Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry

DNFs 

(23:43) Middlemarch by George Eliot

(26:43) Let The Great World Spin by Column McCann

(27:17) Apeirogon by Column McCann

(27:48) Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar

(30:28) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

(30:58) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

(35:39) Twist by Colum McCann

(39:23) Neuromancer by William Gibson

(40:06) Butter by Asako Yuzuki

(43:25) Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart

(44:48) The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

(46:38) A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

(54:06) This Other Eden by Paul Hardy

(55:02) Rouge / All’s Well / Bunny by Mona Awad

(56:17) The Ishiguro Effect

(59:06) Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

(59:28) I Gave You Eyes And You Looked Towards Darkness by Irène Sola 

What We’re Reading Next

(1:01:03) We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad

(1:01:37) Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan 

(1:02:11) Maggie; Or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar: A Novel by Katie Yees

Curious Readers is mixed by the incredibly talented James Whiting @fishislandstudio

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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On this week’s bumper episode we cover the Booker Prize longlist before exploring some of our favourite fiction and non-fiction about art. We ask why books featuring artists seem to be so perennially popular and what is it about the artist’s life that keeps us coming back for more.

Book News

The Booker Prize Long List 

Love Forms by Claire Adam 

The South by Tash Aw

Universality by Natasha Brown

One Boat by Jonathan Buckley

Flashlight by Susan Choi

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

Audition by Katie Kitamura

The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller

Endling by Maria Reva

Flesh by David Szalay

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood

Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Current Reads

Margo’s Got Money Trouble by Rufi Thorpe

The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin

Books About Art 

The Original by Nell Stevens

The Artist by Lucy Steeds 

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt

Blue Ruin by Hari Kunzru

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar

My Friends by Hisham Matar

The Return by Hisham Matar

Alison by Lizzy Stewart

Daybook: The Journal of an Artist by Anne Truitt

Turn by Anne Truitt

Prospect by Anne Truitt

Wet Paint by Chloe Ashby

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier

The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro

My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård

Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux

Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art by Mary Gaskill

‘Olympia’ and ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’ by Edouard Manet

annetruitt.org

The Whitney Museum of American Art

The Courtauld Institute of Art 

Jon Harvey, artist 

What We’re Reading Next

The Compound by Aisling Rawle

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Moderation by Elaine Castillo

America Is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo

Follow us on Instagram @curiousreaderspodcast for more recommendations in between episodes

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