What's the best writing snack? How important is it to plan your character arc? What do you make of The Hardest Geezer book announcement? Joel answers your questions!

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In this episode, Joel's picked out another book that everyone seemed to read before he did. Jenny's Offill's Weather came out in 2020 and is set around the inauguration of Donald Trump's presidency and it's a book that feels like it's set in 2016, but does it hold up in 2024?

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Joel watched a great TV show based on Benjamin Myers' 'The Gallows Pole' only to find out that everyone had been reading Benjamin Myers for years. This week, he's reading the 2014 novel set in idillic Northern English countryside, Beastings.

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You asked for it, you got it. Joel's read a book that he hated and it's Jonathan Ames' collection of articles and short stories that have not dated well and probably weren't very good at the time either.

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Joel's got really into heading down to his local pond and counting the different types of flowers and fish he can see after reading a mind-altering set of essays on exploration, faith and nature by Anne Dillard. Good for him!

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Joel's got the answers to all your questions on reading, writing and books in general.

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A self-confessed "Egg Head To The Bones", Joel has picked up A Hologram For The King for the first time in 11 years. But will he love it as much as he did the first time? Probably, yes.

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After last week's venture into 'Cherry', a masterclass in dialogue, Joel's been on the hunt for more conversation. As you'll hear on the episode, they've not all been the most captivating, but he did read Rachel Cusk's 'Outline' which is a novel (novella?) set over ten conversations with strangers. Is it better than the chat he had with a stranger in a post room? Let's hope so.

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We've look at books that have done 'alcohol' well, we've looked at books that has done 'sex' well, and now it's time to look at a book that does 'war' and 'drugs' really well. So let's get stuck in to Cherry by Nico Walker.

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In this special bonus episode, Joel speaks to Sheena Patel about her creative influences, the process of writing and crafting her incredible debut novel, 'I'm A Fan'.

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