Podcast review: Book Shambles S07E01

By
I have recently come across the Book Shambles podcast while listening to Podcast Radio Hour on BBC Radio 4.

 In the words of Josie Long, it is a podcast where the presenters get to "meet mainly authors and poets but also just people we are interested in and people we like and we just ask them about books that they love and about what got them into reading, what they are reading now...".

 I was hooked before she could even finish the sentence and this morning I listened to one of their episodes. 

 I would normally start from either the very first or the very last episode and work my way up or down from there. This year, however, I would like to be less structured (not that there is anything wrong with structure!) and I purely picked an episode based on something that caught my interest.

 The episode in question if the first of the 7th season (gosh, I have a lot to catch up on!) and has Jeff Garlin as guest. In the introduction, books about trees are mentioned... and that's what made me listen to it. Now, I am not a tree expert but I do find them fascinating. Dame Judi Dench's documentary My passion for trees was on television recently and it was rather magnificent. But I digress!

 To listen to the podcast, all you have to do is click on the link below, which also very usefully lists all books mentioned during the episode:

I particularly enjoyed the way that the conversation has books as a starting point but it takes a life of its own and goes off on tangents only to then being brought back to where it all began... to books. It doesn't feel forced... it's exactly like listening to friends talking.

 I also loved the passion you can hear in Garlin's voice when he talks about books - and I hope very much that his children will learn to appreciate reading more as they grow up. I don't have children yet and I can't imagine how I would take a rejection of books from their part. It would be heartbreaking! Have you been in that situation? What is your advice?

 ***

 Added to my wish list:

 The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger - I know, it's a classic! Please don't judge!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Booknet: a new platform for authors and readers

By
Image
‘Ooooh, what is Booknet ?’ I hear you ask… Booknet is a popular literary social media network, self-publishing platform, and Bookscription eBook sales model, all of which is being introduced to the UK following rapid growth in Latin America and Eastern Europe since 2015. How does it work? Booknet is both a successful literary self-publishing platform and a social network, founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs in 2015. Booknet has gained significant traction in countries such as Ukraine, Russia (the Russian division was sold in the spring of 2022 because of the war between Ukraine and Russia), as well as Latin America. The company is now actively investing resources into the development of its English-language version. Authors can either publish their books with free access by readers, or sell them after obtaining commercial status through the platform. Booknet provides free advertising for eBooks sold by their authors on the platform. Booknet’s distinctive features (apart from being a pop...
Read more

Book review: She’s Never Coming Back

By
Image
By Hans Koppel Translated by Kari Dickson Published by Sphere It is safe to say that my choice of reading material is not usually truculent. That’s why I surprised myself when I decided to read a novel whose front cover prominently displays a quote describing it as a ‘terrifying crime novel’. I started to read expecting the worse and - it being impossible to put the book down - a few hours later I was trying to understand what had hit me. Let’s be clear: I loved this book and I’m grateful to Sphere for publishing this Swedish novel by author Karl Petter Lidbeck who, being a children’s literature author, decided to have it published under the pen name of Hans Koppel. I can see why he doesn’t want to have the two genres mixing on the bookshelves! The plot is simple enough: one day after work, Ylva does not return home. When she hasn’t returned 24 hours later, her husband Mike starts to worry and calls the police. Ylva seems to have disappeared without a trace and, month after month, Mike...
Read more

“Italy in books” - reading challenge 2011

By
Image
Why this challenge? This year I’ve decided to host a reading challenge because I think that they are a brilliant idea. They help to make reading a more collective experience and are a great way to find out more about any particular author / genre / topic and get to know about books you might never have come across. I chose this topic because - as an Italian who has been living abroad for many years now - I feel the need to learn more about my home country and I’m curious to see the difference between the way it is portrayed by native Italians and others. The details of the challenge The challenge will run from January, 1st 2011 to December, 31st 2011 . The aim of the challenge is to read at least 12 books that are set in Italy. Whether written by Italian authors or not, it doesn’t matter. They don’t have to be set exclusively in Italy but this country needs to play a significant role in the book. The challenge can include non-fiction books about Italy. You can also review Italian lea...
Read more