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In our final episode of 2025, we talk about what our reading lives were like this year, and discuss our stand-out reads through superlatives. Listen in to hear the best page-turners, best characters, and most unexpected reads we encountered this year, to name a few!
Books Mentioned
The Margot Affair by Sanae Lemoine
Diary of a Void by Emi Yogi
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
Friends of the Museum by Heather McGowan
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
The Oppermans Lion Feuchtwanger
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
Universality by Natasha Brown
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Audition by Katie Kitamura
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Water Moon by Samantha Soto Yambao
The Old Man by the Sea by Domenico Starnone
Emma by Jane Austen
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
Bunny by Mona Awad
The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
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Get your TBR lists ready, because in this wrap up episode we talk all about the books we read in Season 6, and then welcome David and Melissa of Strong Sense of Place for a special guest segment! They tell us about their favorite travels, settings they've loved, and unique books that have transported them. We also get into our issues with short stories, and discuss ways to get into reading them.
Books Discussed:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver
The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel
The Works: Anatomy of a City by Kate Ascher
The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller
Elephant Complex: Travels in Sri Lanka by John Gimlette
Stoner by John Williams
The Prague Sonata by Bradford Morrow
The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre
Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Table for Two by Amor Towles
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders
Passing by Nella Larson
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsberg
The Cricket in Time Square by Garth Williams
The Original by Nell Stevens
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tay
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highswmith
The Remembered Solider by Anjet Daanje
My Family and other Rockstars by Tiffany Murphy
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This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
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In this episode Neha and Shruti discuss The Museum of Innocence, by Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk, through themes of narcissism and honor. We discuss the idea of legacy, cultural norms and the patriarchy, and the way that the book's framing affects the way we interpret the story. Plus, we talk through the book's intriguing ending and reach new insights about what the book is trying to do, and its effect on readers.
Shelf Discovery:
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
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In this episode, Shruti and Neha travel to Mumbai in Rohinton Mistry's Booker shortlisted novel Such a Long Journey, through themes of forgiveness, miracles, and misfortunes. We discuss the novel's loveable and sometimes frustrating characters, the symbolism of animals, and the looming specter of death in daily life.
Books Mentioned & Shelf Discovery
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
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Neha and Shruti discuss the speculative novel The City We Became, a story about New York City's five avatars who must band together to defend the city from a looming enemy. We discuss our thoughts on the book's premise and structure, get into H.P Lovecraft's legacy of horror and racism, and more!
Books Mentioned & Shelf Discovery:
The Call of Cthulu by H.P. Lovecraft
Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer
Lone Women by Victor LaValle
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
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This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
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In this episode, Neha and Shruti discuss Zadie Smith's debut novel, White Teeth. We talk about themes of religion, inheritance, class, history, and the need for control; we explore what those 'white teeth' in the title might mean; and finally we get into our issues with the book, and discuss the genre of Hysterical Realism.
Links:
Human, All Too Inhuman by James Wood
How White Teeth transcends its many flaws
Shelf Discovery:
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh
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Virginia Woolf's incredible novel Mrs. Dalloway turns 100 this year! Shruti and Neha talk about this book and its themes of perception, inadequacy, memory, illness, and death. They discuss the effect of the past on the characters, the book's imperialist and pro-colonialism project, and the disappearance of the narrator.
Books Mentioned & Shelf Discovery:
On Being Ill by Virginia Woolf
Culture and Imperialism by Edward Said
The Annotated Mrs. Dalloway edited by Merve Emre
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
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Neha and Shruti discuss Brooklyn, a historical novel about a young woman who immigrates from Ireland to America in the 1950s, through the themes of family and duty. We discuss the character of Eilis Lacey and her passivity, Tóibín's spare writing style, and the various forces pulling at the characters in this book. We also draw comparisons to Henry James, and share a few thoughts on the movie adaption.
Links:
The Coldest Place on Earth [London Review of Books]
Books Mentioned & Shelf Discovery
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Washington Square by Henry James
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Another Country by James Baldwin
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
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In this episode we discuss Bangkok Wakes to Rain, a novel of interconnected stories set in Krung Thep (Bangkok) over several decades. We discuss how the idea of time is explored through the story, and how each character encounters displacement in their own way. We then get into a conversation about aging, beauty trends, and the afterlife, before our final Filter the Chai and Shelf Discovery segments.
Sea of Tranquility: wilderness and loneliness - Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Shelf Discovery:
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Human Acts by Han Kang
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
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Welcome to a new season! Today we’re talking all about cities in literature – what cities represent, what ‘setting as character’ really means, and books we’ve read that really capture the magic of cities. We then share the seven books we’ll be reading this season, along with context and background, and the themes and elements we’ll be paying attention to as we read.
Books Mentioned:
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Bangkok Wakes to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
The City We Became by NK Jemison
Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry
The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk
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This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
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In this episode we zoom out and talk about all the books we covered over the past few months, discussing favorites and least favorites, as well as highlighting some themes that emerged, including strong settings and ‘the madwoman’ in literature. We then get into adaptation theory – some background on adaptations, and what we think makes a good adaptation (with a few tangents into the upcoming Harry Potter series and Greta Gerwig’s Narnia).
Links:
On the Art of Adaptation by Linda Hutcheon [Jstor]
Context in Film Adaptations [Jstor]
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In this episode we talk all about All's Well, a novel that is in part a retelling, in part an homage to theater, and a completely wild ride of a book. We discuss the way perception plays into the story, and how repetition functions to serve the narrative - and of course, we explore All's Well That Ends Well and MacBeth, the two plays at the heart of this novel.
Shelf Discovery:
Bunny by Mona Awad
Woo Woo by Ella Baxter
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton
My Death by Lisa Tuttle
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Neha and Shruti discuss Home Fire, a retelling of Antigone set in the present day that explores questions of family, loyalty, beliefs, and legacy. We share some background about Sophocles' Antigone to help ground the discussion, discuss the parts of the novel that we loved, and share some of our issues with its construction. And as always, we share book recommendations in our Shelf Discovery segment for readers who liked different aspects of Home Fire.
Shelf Discovery:
The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
Circe by Madeline Miller
Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
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In this special bonus episode, we are so excited to be joined by Izzy of What the Austen? as we talk all things relating to Austen adaptations! We discuss what makes a good adaptation, and that special quality to Austen's prose and which movies and TV shows succeed at capturing her magic. And, of course, we talk about our favorite (and least favorite) screen adaptations!
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In this episode we discuss the many adaptations of Jane Austen’s Emma: Emma (1996 with Gwyneth Paltrow), Emma (1996 with Kate Beckinsale), Emma (2020 with Anya Taylor Joy), Clueless (1995 with Alicia Silverstone). We talk all about what each version gets right, and what it gets wrong, and decide on a favorite Emma, a favorite Knightely, and favorite overall!
We also reference a few other Emma adaptations, including Aisha (2010 with Sonam Kapoor), Emma Approved (Youtube Miniseries), and Emma of 83rd Street by Aubrey Bellezza and Emily Harding.
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In this episode, we discuss, laugh about, and delight Jane Austen's Emma. We talk about the novel’s themes of autonomy and companionship and how these are at odds; we also delve into what we think the book is saying about love, marriage, friendship, and class. We of course giggle and marvel over the book’s wonderful characters, and we also get a bit nerdy as we make comparisons to Shakespeare’s comedies.
Links:
The Powers of the Instrument: Or, Jane, Frank, and the Pianoforte [JASNA]
Books Mentioned & Shelf Discovery
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
As You Like It by William Shakespeare
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
The Luck of the Bodkins by PG Wodehouse
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto
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Shruti and Neha discuss Amor Towle's beloved tale of confinement, A Gentleman in Moscow, through the themes of balance and imagination. We provide some historical context for the events of the novel, share what we loved, and provide some critiques (including our thoughts on the ending). We also talk about the Paramount TV adaptation and compare its themes and mission to those of the book.
Books Mentioned & Shelf Discovery:
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer
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In this episode Neha and Shruti discuss the two movie adaptations of Rebecca: the 1940 masterpiece directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and the 2020... something piece directed by Ben Wheatley. We pay attention to characterization, setting, music, and costume, and of course, discuss the MAJOR changes made to the ending in both these movies!
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In this episode, Shruti and Neha discuss the Gothic masterpiece Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier. We talk about the main characters and what they might represent, and the way the book plays with ideas of identity and relationships. We also discuss the themes of memory, innocence and maturity, gender roles and sexuality, the symbolism of flowers, and so much more!
*This episode contains serious spoilers!
Links:
The Secret History by Donna Tartt: aesthetics and paranoia (Spotify | Apple Podcasts)
The Secret History, Dark Academia, and Academic Elitism [The Novel Tea Newsletter]
Books Mentioned & Shelf Discovery
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
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In this episode Neha and Shruti discuss Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys through the themes of liminality and bias. We talk about the book as its own work, then we compare it to Jane Eyre, its source text. We also discuss several screen adaptations of Jane Eyre, including the 1997 and 2011 films, and the 1983 and 2006 television adaptations.
Shelf Discovery
Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
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This episode description contains links to Bookshop.org, a website that supports independent bookstores. If you use these links we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
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