Curious Readers

Where have the last six months gone? Join Amanda and Joseph as they check in on the reading goals they set themselves in January. Find out if they’ve stuck to their promises, or if they’ve bombed out on their reading resolutions. Plus, they talk about more prize news, and as always, what they’ve been reading recently and what they hope to pick up next.

Bookish News

Hay Festival
Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi (translated by Lin King)
John of John by Douglas Stuart @douglas_stuart
Ruth Ozeki @ozekiland
Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Canon by Lee Lai @_leelai
Hellions by Julia Elliott @jelliottic6
A Guardian and A Thief by Megha Majumdar @megha.maj
Women’s Prize
The Booker Prize

Recent Reads

Famesick by Lena Dunham @lenadunham
May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry @poorsasquatch
Stone Fruit by Rebecca Perry

Our Mid-Year Reading Goals

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan @patrickryanyc
The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine @wednesdaywerskin
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke @caroclaireburke
The Wreck by Lizzy Stewart @lizzy_stewart
Prairie Oyster by Sophoe Robinson @sophiepoetry
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe @praddenkeefe
Dominion by Addie E. Kitchens @addie_citchens
The Correspondent by Virgina Evans @virginia.l.evans
Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash @madelinecash
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Guardian’s ‘100 Best Novels of All Time’
The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
Ordinary People by Haldor Laxness
Death’s End by Cixin Liu
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert @sophiegilbertwrites
A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness by Michael Pollan @michael.pollan
You With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate @christinapplegate
Indignity by Leah Ypi
Winter In The Blood by James Welch
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones @stephengrahamjones
The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
The Oldest Bitch Alive by Morgan Day @yeah_okday
The Sleep Thief by Ibtisam Azem @ibitisam.azem
Charco Press 2026 Fiction Bundle @charcopress
Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz @arianaharwiczw
Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly
Angel Down by Daniel Kraus @kraus_author
Kin by Tayari Jones @tayari
Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn
On The Calculation of Volume series by Solvej Balle
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Practice by Rosalind Brown
Land by Maggie O’Farrell @maggieofarrellofficial
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout @lizstroutauthor
Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason
Exit Party by Emily St John Mandel @emilystjohnmandel

What We’re Reading Next
John of John by Douglas Stuart
The Left and the Lucky by Willy Vlautin

Also mentioned

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.

It seems everyone is talking about Yesteryear, and now Joseph and Amanda are too. Join them for their latest deep dive into the most hotly anticipated debut of the year, and hear about what they've been reading recently and which books they hope to pick up next.

Bookish News

The Hay Festival
Hayplayer

Recent Reads

Cannon by Lee Lai @_leelai
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans @virginia.l.evans
Dominion by Addie E Citchens @addie_citchens

Deep Dive

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin (adapted for screen by Bryan Forbes)
Trad Wife by Sarah Langan @sarahlangan
Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer @saratogaishere
The Trad Wife by Carrie Hughes @carriehughesbooks
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke @caroclaireburke
Diabolical Lies podcast
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn @thegillianflynn

What We’re Reading Next

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer @eleanorbshearer
Kingfisher by Rozie King
The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson @marxia1
Prairie Oyster by Sophie Robinson @sophiepoetry

Also mentioned

Ramsgate Literary Festival @ The Book Hotel, Ramsgate

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 this week’s episode as they delve into the best that nature writing has to offer. Plus, as always, they talk about their current reads and what they're looking forward to picking up next, as well as the latest from the Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist.

Bookish News

Women’s Prize shortlist

Recent Reads

Pearl Oyster by Sophie Robinson @sophiepoetry
London Falling, by Patrick Radden Keefe @praddenkeefe
Tilt by Emma Pattee

Nature Writing

Helm by Sarah Hall
Bewilderment by Richard Powers
The Overstory by Richard Powers
A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness by Michael Pollan @michael.pollan
Crow Planet by Lyanda Lynn Haupt @lyandahaupt
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald @emerillon
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton @chloedaltonuk
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer @robinwallkimmerer
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong
Soundings: Journeys In The Company of Whales by Doreen Cunningham @doreenwriting
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
Wintering by Katherine May @katherinemay_
Intertidal: A Coast And Marsh Diary by Yuvan Aves @a_naturalists_column
The Peregrine by J.A. Baker
The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd
Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane @robertmacfarlane
Dart by Alice Oswald

What We’re Reading Next

California Gold by Jodie Chapman @jodiechapman
The Italian Girl by Iris Murdoch
The Bell by Iris Murdoch
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch

Also mentioned

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 this week’s episode as they delve into the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, remember Agatha Christie and talk about their favourite mysteries. This time, they really try to be spoiler free!

Bookish News

International Booker Prize shortlist short flims
Helen DeWitt and Windham Campbell Literary Award

Recent Reads

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm (Sam Hughes)
The Wreck by Lizzy Stewart @lizzy_stewart
Alison by Lizzy Stewart

The Novels of Agatha Christie and Golden Age Detective Fiction

Snow Upon the Desert by Agatha Christie
Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Death On The Nile by Agatha Christie
Evil Under The Sun by Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Akroyd by Agatha Christie
A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie
A is for Arsenic by Kathryn Harkup
V is for Venom by Kathryn Harkup
The Knox Decalogue
S.S. Van Dine’s Commandments
Fair Play by Louise Hegarty

Our Favourite Mysteries

In the Woods (The Dublin Murder Squad series) by Tana French @tanafrenchwrites
The Trees by Percival Everett
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett @r.jackson.bennett
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett @janice.hallett
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The Whitstable Pearl by Julie Wassmer
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
‘Only Murders in the Building’
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg
The Girl in the Maze by R K Jackson @randal.jackson1
The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai @rebeccamakkai

What We’re Reading Next

Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag
The Oldest Bitch Alive by Morgan Day @yeah_okday
Prairie Oyster by Sophie Robinson @sophiepoetry

Also mentioned

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 Joseph and Amanda as they discuss the reads they are most looking forward to this Spring, plus a few more updates from prize season. We also introduce a new segment – DNF corner, where we talk about the books we couldn’t wait to put down.

Bookish News

Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction shortlist
International Booker Prize shortlist

Recent Reads

The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin
Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin
The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld
The Winner by Teddy Wayne
Companion Piece by Ali Smith
Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang

Top Ten Reads for Spring

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Land by Maggie O’Farrell
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Kin by Tayari Jones
The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett
American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Devotions by Lucy Caldwell
Openings by Lucy Caldwell
If We Cannot Go At The Speed Of Light by Kim Cho-yeop, translated by Anton Hur
Transcription by Ben Lerner
Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner
My Year In Paris With Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy
You With The Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate
Famesick by Lena Dunham
‘Too Much’ by Lena Dunham
‘Girls’ by Lena Dunham
Your Presence Is A Danger To Your Life by Samar Yazbek, translated by Leri Price
Second Hand Time by Svetlana Alexivich
London Falling: Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
Tell Noone by Patrick Radden Keefe
Ghost Stories: A Memoir by Siri Hustvedt
Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy
One Aladdin, Two Lamps by Jeanette Winterson

DNF Corner

My Friends by Frederick Backman
Britt-Marie Was Here by Frederick Backman
Workhorse by Caroline Palmer

Also mentioned

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.