Tea or Books?

By Simon and RachelArts

Tea or Books? episodes

April 17, 2023 Tea or Books? #115: Do We Like Books About Bookshops? and Quartet in Autumn vs Journal of a Solitude
Barbara Pym, May Sarton, and bookshops – welcome to episode 115!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/tea-or-books-115.mp3
In the first half of the episode, we take up Sally’s suggestion of topic – and discuss whether or not we like books set in bookshops and libraries. More suggestions for books in this category, please!
In the second half, we compare Barbara Pym’s Quartet in Autumn with May Sarton’s Journal of a Solitude and pick our favourite.
You can get in touch with suggestions etc at [email protected] – get the episodes a few days early, and other bonuses, at Patreon.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Quick Curtain by Alan Melville
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Bewildering Cares by Winifred Peck
House-Bound by Winifred Peck
Dorothy Whipple
E.M. Delafield
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin
Greenery Street by Denis Mackail
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
Business As Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford
Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
Peter and Alice by Peter Shaffer
Ivy Compton-Burnett
Virginia Woolf
Barbara Cartland
Stephenie Meyer
E.L. James
Agatha Christie
Beryl Bainbridge
Margery Sharp
Muriel Spark
Miss Read
The House By The Sea by May Sarton
Castle Skull by John Dickson Carr
1 hr 3 min
March 20, 2023 Tea or Books? #114: Linear vs Non-linear Narratives and Winter in the Air vs A World of Love
Sylvia Townsend Warner, Elizabeth Bowen, linear narratives – welcome to episode 114!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/tea-or-books-114.mp3
In the first half of this episode, we use a suggestion from listener Sarah – do we prefer linear or non-linear narratives? In the second half we look at two books from Rachel’s tbr pile that don’t, honestly, have much in common – though we do manage cobble together some thoughts, as per: A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen and the short story collection Winter in the Air by Sylvia Townsend Warner.
As usual, we’d love to hear from you at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with any questions, comments or suggestions – you can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please rate and review, it would mean a lot, and you can support us at Patreon too.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton
The Captain Comes Home by Helen Ashton
Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
Return to Cheltenham by Helen Ashton
Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett aka Noel Streatfeild
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Free Air by Sinclair Lewis
Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
Spiderweb by Penelope Lively
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Which Way? by Theodora Benson
The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett
Dangerous Corner by J.B. Priestley
Constellations by Nick Payne
The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
The Good Liar by Nicholas Searle
The Long View by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Wise Children by Angela Carter
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Time’s Arrow by Martin Amis
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins
O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Swans on an Autumn River by Sylvia Townsend Warner
To The North by Elizabeth Bowen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym
Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton
58 min
February 15, 2023 Tea or Books? #113: Do We Like Literary Retellings? and South Riding vs Ruth
Elizabeth Gaskell, Winifred Holtby, and more – welcome to episode 113!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/tea-or-books-113.mp3
In the first half of this episode, we look at literary retellings – by which we mean authors using fairy tales or Greek mythology or basically whatever we fancy including in this very loose definition. It feels like a topic we’ve done before, but apparently we haven’t?
In the second half, we compare two doorstoppers – South Riding by Winifred Holtby and Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Do get in touch at [email protected] – you can also support the podcast on Patreon, and listen to it above or wherever you listen to podcasts.
The books and authors we discuss in this episode:
Mad, Bad And Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors by Lisa Appignanesi
The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Ulysses by James Joyce
Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The True Heart by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Longbourn by Jo Baker
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Juniper Tree by Barbara Comyns
A Wild Swan and other stories by Michael Cunningham
Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Anthony Trollope
Lady Audley’s Secret by M.E. Braddon
Winter in the Air by Sylvia Townsend Warner
A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen
59 min
January 11, 2023 Tea or Books? #112: Best Books of 2022 and They Were Sisters vs The Three Sisters
Dorothy Whipple, May Sinclair, and favourite books of 2022 – welcome to episode 112!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/tea-or-books-112.mp3
Happy new year! Welcome to the first episode of Tea or Books? for 2023 – recorded on two different days, so hopefully it’s not too awkward. In the first half, we cover our favourite reads from 2022 (so won’t be a HUGE surprise if you read my blog) and in the second half we compare They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple and The Three Sisters by May Sinclair.
You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts – and you can support the podcast and get early episodes (and other bonus bits) on Patreon. Do get in touch with any questions, suggestions or comments at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com.
The books and authors we mention in this episode:
Village Diary by Miss Read
Storm in the Village by Miss Read
In Chancery by John Galsworthy
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Four Gardens by Margery Sharp
Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson
Britannia Mews by Margery Sharp
E.M. Delafield
Remainders of the Day by Shaun Bythell
Three Things You Should Know About Rockets by Jessica A. Fox
Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell
Things I Don’t Want To Know by Deborah Levy
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy
Real Estate by Deborah Levy
War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott
Lucy By The Sea by Elizabeth Strout
My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Oh, William by Elizabeth Strout
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning
The Home by Penelope Mortimer
The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer
Daddy’s Gone A-Hunting by Penelope Mortimer
The New House by Lettice Cooper
National Provincial by Lettice Cooper
Black Bethlehem by Lettice Cooper
Desirable Residence by Lettice Cooper
On Color by David Scott Kastan and Stephen Farthing
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
Anne Tyler
Barbara Kingsolver
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
The Good Companions by J.B. Priestley
Paying Guests by E.F. Benson
Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village by Marit Kapla
Suddenly, A Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
The Tree of Heaven by May Sinclair
Life and Death of Harriett Frean by May Sinclair
The Brontes
Virginia Woolf
Anne Severn and the Fieldings by May Sinclair
Mr Waddington of Wyck by May Sinclair
Young Anne by Dorothy Whipple
Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
1 hr 14 min
December 08, 2022 Tea or Books? #111: Do We Care What Characters Look Like? And Good Behaviour vs Full House
Molly Keane, M.J. Farrell, and characters’ appearances – welcome to episode 111!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/tea-or-books-111.mp3
In the first half, Rachel and I discuss what characters look like – do we care, do we notice if it’s mentioned, etc. In the second half, we look at two novels by Molly Keane – one under her pseudonym of M.J. Farrell – Good Behaviour and Full House.
You can get in touch with suggestions at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com, find us on Spotify or your podcast app of choice, and support the podcast (and get the episodes early) at Patreon.

Shakespeare’s Restless World by Neil MacGregor
Shakespeare in a Divided America by James Shapiro
Contested Will by James Shapiro
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
The Benefactress by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim
Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Jane Austen
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Twits by Roald Dahl
Speedy Death by Gladys Mitchell
Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers
Richmal Crompton
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
At Mrs Lippincote’s by Elizabeth Taylor
A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor
Dorothy Whipple
Young Entry by M.J. Farrell
Rising Tide by M.J. Farrell
Two Days in Aragon by M.J. Farrell
They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
Three Sisters by May Sinclair
1 hr 1 min
November 06, 2022 Tea or Books? #110: Do We Care Where Characters Work? and A Helping Hand vs The True Deceiver
Tove Jansson, Celia Dale, jobs in books! Welcome to episode 110
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/tea-or-books-110.mp3
A bit of a longer break than usual because I lost my voice. But we’re back, asking – in the first half of the episode – whether we care where characters work? Are we drawn to books about workplaces?
In the second half, we compare two very good novels – Tove Jansson’s The True Deceiver and Celia Dale’s A Helping Hand.
You can get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com, support on Patreon, find us on Spotify, and all those good things.
The books and authors we mention in this episode:
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Oleander, Jacaranda by Penelope Lively
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver
How We Love by Clementine Ford
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Business As Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford
Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett
A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay
The Doctor’s Children by Josephine Elder
The Citadel by A.J. Cronin
Thrush Green series by Miss Read
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Fresh From The Country by Miss Read
Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey
Little by Edward Carey
The Swallowed Man by Edward Carey
The Maintenance of Headway by Magnus Mills
The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills
Three To See The King by Magnus Mills
The Good Companions by J.B. Priestley
Wise Children by Angela Carter
Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico
War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott
Nice Work by David Lodge
The British Museum is Falling Down by David Lodge
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
A Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood
A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood
Sarra Manning
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Full House by M.J. Farrell
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
52 min
October 03, 2022 Tea or Books? #109: Boarding House Novels vs Living Alone and Heat Wave vs Heat Lightning
Penelope Lively, Helen Hull, boarding houses and isolation – welcome to episode 109!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tea-or-books-109.mp3
In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I compare boarding houses novels and novels where people live alone – up to and including complete isolation. The blog post by Jacqui that I mentioned is on her blog.
In the second half, we pit two novels set during heatwaves against each other – Heat Wave by Penelope Lively and Heat Lightning by Helen Hull. It was hot when I read them, even though it definitely isn’t now.
Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with suggestions or questions. You can listen above, on Spotify, wherever you get podcasts. And you can support the podcast and get bonus content (and the podcast a couple of days early) through Patreon.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The Flowering Thorn by Margery Sharp
Four Gardens by Margery Sharp
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
Hilary Mantel
Speedy Death by Gladys Mitchell
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
Barbara Pym
Paying Guests by E.F. Benson
The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton
Of Love and Hunger by Julian McLaren-Ross
House of Dolls by Barbara Comyns
School for Love by Olivia Manning
The Boarding House by William Trevor
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
The Magnificent Spinster by May Sarton
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Gentleman Overboard by Herbert Clyde Lewis
The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
Begin Again by Ursula Orange
Living Alone by Stella Benson
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay
Yellow by Janni Visman
Summer by Ali Smith
Late and Soon by E.M. Delafield
A Helping Hand by Celia Dale
The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
1 hr 7 min
August 27, 2022 Tea or Books? #108: Books with Bite or No Bite; Late and Soon vs A Game of Hide and Seek
Bite, E.M. Delafield, Elizabeth Taylor – welcome to episode 108!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/tea-or-books-108.mp3
In the first half of this episode, we discuss a topic suggested by Gina – do we prefer books with bite or without bite? All will be explained in due course… In the second half we pit two books with similar plots against each other: Late and Soon by E.M. Delafield and A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor.
Do get in touch – with voice notes, questions, suggestions – to teaorbooks[at]gmail.com. You can find us at Patreon, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, your podcast app of choice.
The books and authors mentioned in this episode are:
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
The Goshawk by T.H. White
T.H. White by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Real and the Romantic by Francis Spalding
Osebol by Marit Kapla
Rose Macaulay
Margery Sharp
Miss Read
O. Douglas
Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple
Because of the Lockwoods by Dorothy Whipple
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Saul Bellow
Elizabeth Fair
Ursula Orange
O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Britannia Mews by Margery Sharp
The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp
Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Other Elizabeth Taylor by Nicola Beauman
Frost at Morning by Richmal Crompton
Heat Wave by Penelope Lively
Heat Lightning by Helen Hull
1 hr 2 min
August 04, 2022 Tea or Books? #107: Do We Care What Characters Read? and Two Stella Gibbons Novels
Books in books and Stella Gibbons – welcome to episode 107!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/tea-or-books-107.mp3
In the first half, we continue our ‘do we care…’ series with ‘do we care what characters read?’ By which we mean we’re looking at the books that characters read, and what that tells us about them. In the second half, we compare two novels by Stella Gibbons – The Bachelor and Enbury Heath.
Do get in touch at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com with questions, comments etc. You can find us on Spotify (hopefully!), Apple Podcasts, by playing above, etc. etc. And you can support the podcast at Patreon – or by rating and reviewing where you listen, which is so much appreciated.
The books and authors we mention in this episode:
The Good Companions by J.B. Priestley
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim
A Wreath of Roses by Elizabeth Taylor
Heat Wave by Penelope Lively
Instructions for a Heat Wave by Maggie O’Farrell
Heat Lightning by Helen Hull
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Provincial Lady series by E.M. Delafield
The Priory by Dorothy Whipple
William Shakespeare
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson
Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
Harriet Hume by Rebecca West
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Baedeker Guides
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
Michael Arlen
William Burroughs
Warwick Deeping
E.M. Dell
Gilbert Frankau
Pamela Frankau
John Galsworthy
Philip Gibbs
J.B. Priestley
Sapper
Hugh Walpole
F.R. and Q.D. Leavis
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radclyffe
Horace Walpole
Lover’s Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald
A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood
A Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood
Agatha Christie
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Penelope Lively
Penelope Mortimer
Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham
Walt Whitman
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Ivy Compton-Burnett
Virginia Woolf in Manhattan by Maggie Gee
A House in the Country by Ruth Adam
Bassett by Stella Gibbons
Westwood by Stella Gibbons
Tea Is So Intoxicating by Mary Essex
Late and Soon by E.M. Delafield
A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor
55 min
July 11, 2022 Tea or Books? #106: Book or Movie First, and The Feast vs Grand Canyon
Margaret Kennedy, Vita Sackville-West, and film adaptations – welcome to episode 106!
https://www.stuckinabook.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/tea-or-books-106.mp3
In the first half of this episode, Rachel and I discuss whether you should read the book before you watch the film. In the second half, we pit two novels about hotels against each other: The Feast by Margaret Kennedy and Grand Canyon by Vita Sackville-West.
You can find the episode at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or via the play button above. Get even more content and bonus things at Patreon! We really appreciate it when people rate and review the podcast, and we also love hearing from you at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
Suddenly a Knock at the Door by Etgar Keret
The Optimist by E.M. Delafield
The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning
Enbury Heath by Stella Gibbons
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Along For the Ride by Sarah Dessen
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Dorothy Whipple
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Emma by Jane Austen
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Trial by Franz Kafka
George Bernard Shaw
Monica Dickens
Together and Apart by Margaret Kennedy
The Forgotten Smile by Margaret Kennedy
Lucy Carmichael by Margaret Kennedy
Lucy Gayheart by Margaret Kennedy
Agatha Christie
The Heir by Vita Sackville-West
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy
51 min