Claim Ownership
The Dabblers' Book Club
The Dabblers' Book ClubSubscribed: 6Played: 292
Subscribe
© 2021 Noisy Badger Ltd
Description
Non-stuffy book chat and funny one-star reviews. We’re a book podcast for people who like reading but don't always feel qualified to talk about it. Maybe you went to state school or haven’t read any of the greats but still want to talk about books in a normal way. Every fortnight, Curtis Nice and Hajar J. Woodland read a novel and discuss it with some moderate cursing and chuckling at one-star reviews. We've taken a tiny break because the world got busy, but catch up on books you haven't read and episodes you haven't listened to and we will be back BIGGER AND BETTER by November!
Read a book you want to talk about? Fill out our easy review form here: https://survey.typeform.com/to/e5LjyRzu
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
41 Episodes
Reverse
We're back!! Hajar finally read a book! We chat about Women's Prize-winning Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, and enjoy ourselves as we read the countless 'Emperor's New Clothes!!!' one-star reviews. Read the novel? Tweet us what you think... @dabblersbooksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hajar's still not in the reading swing of things and only managed half of Crome Yellow, so she and Curtis decided to get on with an episode for the hell of it, and talk a bit about the last few months - what they've read, what they haven't read, and why Crome Yellow was a no-go for both of them! This is an apology episode for being SO behind, but we promise we'll be back reading and chatting again!!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Haj dislocated her knee (update - she actually tore her ACL!) and Curtis has been reading all sorts of horrifying things. This episode is just a quick hello to say sorry for the delay and that we haven't forgotten about books altogether! Curtis talks a bit about Marquis de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom and we look at a couple of 1-star reviews. REMINDER: please leave your book reviews on the website - head to dabblersbookclub.com/submit-a-guest-post to submit your quick book review or guest post! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We were joined by the brilliant Vicki Kellaway to talk about this 2021 Women's Prize shortlisted novel. Vicki is a writer, editor, translator and university teacher amongst many, many things! She lives in Bogota, Colombia and you can find her brilliant books on Amazon. She makes a very strong case for this rather divisive novel that touches on online culture, Twitter conversations and grief. Enjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Join us for our overdue fourth episode where we talk about the utterly charming Japanese bestseller, 'Before the Coffee Gets Cold'. This is a short and sweet time-travel novel set in a Tokyo cafe, and while it didn't leave us with a huge amount to delve into, it did spark conversation about who we'd travel back in time for, and our position on spoilers. Haj describes this novel as an 'ice cream sundae' of books, so if you want a little light relief, it'll take you two hours to get through before you join us for this latest episode. Enjoy! Swear-warning - the C- and F-bombs come out quite quickly in this episode, so plug those earphones in if little ones are around, and don't offend yourself!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
When Haj's first introduction to Kafka was through the Bridget Jones movie where Bridget introduces 'Kafka's Motorbike' as one of the 'top thirty books of our time... at least', it's no surprise that she doesn't quite get on with The Trial. Curtis did a little better and seemed to have paid more attention to Kafka's words about Joseph K., the protagonist who's on trial for what, no one seems to know. Philosophical, absurdist, dystopian, whatever you call it this book is not an easy holiday read, but the one-star reviews were absolutely topnotch and well worth tuning in for!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hajar's mother joins us for this episode! A former teacher with a degree in English and American Literature, we remembered why Trudi Miles is 'quite good to talk about books with'.We discuss what we all agreed was the stunning 2003 debut from Khaled Hosseini and gave a little airtime to a few Amazon reviews. Expect Trudi and Hajar's memories of Iran, deep dives into morality and parenting, and Curtis barely saying two words without getting interrupted. If you haven't read this book yet, we definitely recommend you do. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Well this book really affected us! Douglas Stuart's Booker-winning debut about a young Shuggie Bain growing up in working-class Glasgow with an alcoholic mother is not the most uplifting of reads but it had a huge impact on us. We talk parents, council estates and Curtis's 55-day drinking bender. Expect more swearing than usual and some cracking one-star reviews from angry people. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We're saying goodbye to a miserable year and welcoming in what will probably be an even shitter one, but who cares? At least we still have books! At the end of our second series, we have a little chat about our reading highlights both on and off our book list, and make our New Year's Book Resolutions for 2021.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If you haven't watched the Netflix series yet, READ THE BOOK FIRST! Our final episode of the series, and the year, marks a whole year of The Dabblers' Book Club... and Haj is letting her stress show in this episode. She's triggered by a trigger warning. Listen to hear what we thought about the book that inspired the Netflix smash, and take everything Haj rants about with a pinch or two of salt. It's been a hard year.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Booker shortlisted Burnt Sugar is Avni Doshi's searing debut about living with the demons of parental cruelty as roles reverse. In our penultimate episode of the series, we end up giving the book the same score, despite very different overriding feelings towards it. A shortish novel, but nonetheless weighty in subject matter, we definitely think it's worth a read!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We sooooo wanted to like this book. Loved the concept, loved the writing but it all just fell a bit flat. Have a listen for our ranty takes on what didn't quite work for us about Ishiguro's 2005 Booker shortlisted dystopian sci-fi about human clones raised in a private school-like setting for organ harvesting. We realise we say 'test-tube babies' a lot in this pod. Clones. We mean clones.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The book that inspired Bukowski sees young writer Arturo Bandini trying to make it in LA. Of course he meets a girl. Of course he's arrogant and refers to himself in the third person, but will Haj hate Bandini as much as Chinaski? This is a quick read, so get through it and have a listen!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hajar and Curtis feel even more stupid than usual as they talk about classicist Madeline Miller's retelling of Circe - some sort of Greek goddess/witch, who Homer mentioned in The Odyssey. We don't think you need to know all about Greek gods and goddesses to appreciate this book, but we didn't half feel dumb. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Dabblers took it back to the 1930s with Curtis's recommendation to read one of his favourite novels (by probably his favourite author), Keep the Aspidistra Flying.Listen to find out how Curtis ended up in a Frankie Says Relax t-shirt and why this book sent Haj on a home-making frenzy. We hope you'll read along and join us for chat about working class creativity, and how Orwell really gets to the heart of that living-on-a-shoestring insecurity that can see you on a negative downward spiral.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode features our first ever guest! Our good friend, musician and keen reader Ricardo Bonito recommended Death at Intervals by the late Nobel Prize winning Portuguese author, José Saramago. Ricardo has read the book in Portuguese and English and gave us an education on this fascinating author and his works. Truly, one of our most enjoyable episodes to record - we hope you love it!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We talk about C Pam Zhang's stunning debut about two young orphans surviving in the twilight of the American Gold Rush. This book takes some reading and the podcast is mainly Hajar rambling her way through how she felt about it, but we highly recommend you get yourself a copy. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but it's an absolute work of art. We discuss the usual topics of identity and class with a healthy dose of swearing but unfortunately just one disappointingly flat one-star review. Great news for the author, not so good for us.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We almost managed to put Peep Show to one side for our chat about Robert Webb's debut novel, Come Again. Grieving Kate Marsden is struggling to see the point in anything following the death of her husband Luke. After a deep sleep she wakes up in her 18-year-old body at freshers' week at York Uni, where she realises she has a chance to save her future husband. We ramble a lot about Webb and read out a smattering of one-star reviews. If you want to get to the actual book chat rather than our thoughts on the author and general fandom, we recommend starting at about minute 7.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hajar and Curtis are back from their break to talk about modern classic, The Collector, by the late John Fowles. Expect tangents galore, the usual swearing, and a few one-star reviews. Make no mistake, we loved this book, so if you've not read it, run along and read it first before joining us for the latest pod!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In a surprising turn of events, Curtis and Hajar weren't too blown away by this Booker longlisted novel from Kevin Barry. And in fact, to save a long podcast bemoaning work we probably just didn't understand, we kept it a bit shorter this week. Still, listen for some beautiful excerpts and chat about why we couldn't quite connect with the characters. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-dabblers-book-club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States