I’ve been trying out book podcasts over the last year - always on the hunt for that new great read and they are good to listen to when I'm on a walk or right before bed with the light out. And I love listening to people talk about books.
I look for podcasts with discussions of books by readers. I do not like author interviews all that much. I have little to no interest in hearing an author flogging her latest book. If I like the author I have some interest in hearing an interview when they are not on book tour where they talk about their writing in general. But mostly I'm looking for reviews/opinions about books.
So, for instance, I subscribe to NPR's Book of the Day podcast but I never listen to it because it's all author interviews. I subscribe just so I can see names of new books.
Here's a list of some I've been listening to in the last six months:
- The Currently Reading Podcast. This is a weekly favorite of mine. Usually this is hosted by the same two women - Meredith and Katie. But there are also Mindy, Mary and Roxanna who fill in from time to time. So you get a wide variety of views. I like the format of this. As they say "light on the chit chat, heavy on the book talk". They usually start out by talking about that week's "bookish moment" in their lives and then move on to talk about what they have lately read (3 books each). They don't always like the books, which is refreshing. Then they have a "deep dive" into a book topic. I like the podcast even though mostly my taste doesn't always align with theirs (although it aligns with Mindy's so I like when she is on).
- Backlisted. This is a British podcast that I never miss. It shows up every other week (although it is now on hiatus). The two regular hosts, John and Andy, have different guests each episode and they talk about older books. I've found some great backlist reads through these discussions.
- The Book Club Review Podcast. This is a monthly podcast with two hosts - Kate and Laura. I listen to it but not always. They sometimes talk about the books their book clubs are reading, sometimes they talk about other books. Sometimes they have interviews (I seldom listen to those). I don't always agree with them but they do talk about interesting books.
- Books and Authors (BBC Radio 4 Podcast). I think this is actually a BBC Radio 4 show that also shows up as a podcast. There are two types of shows on this. One is a pretty normal show about books, with some interviews and some reviews etc. The other part is "A Good Read" with Harriet Gilbert where she and two guests all read the same three books and discuss them for 1/2 hour. That's my favorite part. I subscribe to this and always listen to A Good Read but sometimes skip the others depending on the topic.
- Slightly Foxed: The Real Readers Quarterly. This is a new one I've been listening to. They talk about books that "are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal". It supposedly comes out monthly but sometimes they skip months. I haven't completely made up my mind on this one yet.
- The SSR Podcast. Host Alli Hoff Kosik and a different guest each week talk about old-school kids books. I don't listen to all the episodes (I'm too old to have read some of the books they talk about) but I enjoy listening to discussions of the real oldies.
- Novel Pairings. I very much regularly disagree with the two hosts of this one (whose names I can't remember). I've thought about stopping but they are moving into a series over the next few months on classic children's literature that intrigues me.
- One Bright Book. I found this through some people I follow on Twitter who decided to start their own podcast to discuss the books they liked. There are three panelists (two women and one man) and they pick ... interesting ... books. It comes out monthly and I subscribe. Some of the books are newer and some are older. Half the time I've never heard of the book they've picked to discuss that month but that's ok.
- Poetry Unbound. This is a little different. It's "an immersive reading of one poem" that comes out weekly. The poem is read. Then the host, Padraig O Tuama analyses it. Then he reads it through one more time. It is short and I find it very relaxing.
