Sarah, Belle, and Jenny gather today to bring you the second of a two-part episode discussion the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist. Today, they discuss their thoughts on Fundamentally by Nassaibah Younis, The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji, and The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden.

Are you reading the Women's Prize shortlist this year?

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Sarah, Belle, and Jenny gather today to bring you the first of a two-part episode disucssing the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist. Today, they discuss their thoughts on Good Girl by Aria Aber and All Fours by Amanda July, with a sort of half-discussion about Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout.

Are you reading the Women's Prize shortlist this year?

Get in touch

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Support The Bookcast Club

• You can support the podcast on Patreon. Our tiers start at £2 a month. Rewards include early access to the podcast, 'close friends' feed on Instagram, monthly bonus episodes, tailored book recommendations and books in the post. You can now try our Patreon FREE for 7 days.
• If you would like to make a one-off donation you can do so on Ko-fi.
• A free way to show your support is to mention us on social media, rate us on Spotify or review us on Apple Podcasts.

Newsletter

Sign up to our monthly newsletter on Substack for more book recommendations, reviews, new releases, podcast recommendations and the latest podcast news. Come and chat to us in the comments.

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We welcome back the delightful Shawn Mooney from the Youtube channel Shawn Breathes Books. He and Sarah discuss Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea, which was published in 1966 as a response to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. They chat about the book's origins, its role and relationship with the canon, and how they feel about it in isolation plus as a conversational piece with Jane Eyre.

Things mentioned:

• Sarah on Shawn's channel: Zooming In: Sarah and Shawn on so-called 'unlikeable' female characters in literature
• Shawn on the Bookcast Club: Episode 64 (My Life in Books) and Episode 97 (Three Short Stories)

Get in touch

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Support The Bookcast Club

• You can support the podcast on Patreon. Our tiers start at £2 a month. Rewards include early access to the podcast, 'close friends' feed on Instagram, monthly bonus episodes, tailored book recommendations and books in the post. You can now try our Patreon FREE for 7 days.
• If you would like to make a one-off donation you can do so on Ko-fi.
• A free way to show your support is to mention us on social media, rate us on Spotify or review us on Apple Podcasts.

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Belle and Sarah chat through the wonderful back catalogue of Irish writer Claire Keegan, a Bookcast Club fave. If you have any suggestions for future author spotlights please let us know by contacting us on Instagram or email.

Books mentioned:

• Antarctica
• Foster
• Small Things Like These
• So Late in the Day
• Walk the Blue Fields

Get in touch

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Support The Bookcast Club

• You can support the podcast on Patreon. Our tiers start at £2 a month. Rewards include early access to the podcast, 'close friends' feed on Instagram, monthly bonus episodes, tailored book recommendations and books in the post. You can now try our Patreon FREE for 7 days.
• If you would like to make a one-off donation you can do so on Ko-fi.
• A free way to show your support is to mention us on social media, rate us on Spotify or review us on Apple Podcasts.

Newsletter

Sign up to our monthly newsletter on Substack for more book recommendations, reviews, new releases, podcast recommendations and the latest podcast news. Come and chat to us in the comments.

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Sarah catches up with former cohost of the Bookcast Club, the fabulous Chris. They chat all things Women's Prize, grief memoirs, and other stuff they've been reading. Will Sarah ever read ACOTAR, or will she just continue to mention it?

Also mentioned: Episode #87 - Books about Grief and Death

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Support The Bookcast Club

• You can support the podcast on Patreon. Our tiers start at £2 a month. Rewards include early access to the podcast, 'close friends' feed on Instagram, monthly bonus episodes, tailored book recommendations and books in the post. You can now try our Patreon FREE for 7 days.
• If you would like to make a one-off donation you can do so on Ko-fi.
• A free way to show your support is to mention us on social media, rate us on Spotify or review us on Apple Podcasts.

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Cannot think of a better title! Big thank you to Patreon supporter Millie for coming on the pod with Jenny to share some recommendations. Jenny's choice was Grady Hendrix's My Best Friend's Exorcism and Millie's choice was Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stephens - but what were our bookish pairings? We also did some recommendations for listeners based on Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers and What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. Let us know what you would have recommended based on these titles.

P.S. If you can think of a catchier title, please help!

Books mentioned:

• The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
• My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh
• Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth
• Chocolat by Joanne Harris
• Vianne by Joanne Harris
• I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell
• Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
• A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
• Watching Women & GIrls by Danielle Pender
• What She's Having: Stories of Women & Food by Dear Damsels
• Let the Bad Times Roll by Alice Slater
• French Braid by Anne Tyler
• Back When We Were Grown Ups by Anne Tyler
• Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
• A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler
• Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson
• Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford

Get in touch

Instagram | TikTok | Voice message | Substack | Patreon | Ko-fi

Support The Bookcast Club

• You can support the podcast on Patreon. Our tiers start at £2 a month. Rewards include early access to the podcast, 'close friends' feed on Instagram, monthly bonus episodes, tailored book recommendations and books in the post. You can now try our Patreon FREE for 7 days.
• If you would like to make a one-off donation you can do so on Ko-fi.
• A free way to show your support is to mention us on social media, rate us on Spotify or review us on Apple Podcasts.

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In this episode, Sarah welcomes Cobby back to the podcast! They dive into The Talented Mr. Ripley, comparing Patricia Highsmith’s chilling 1955 novel with Anthony Minghella’s 1999 film adaptation. How does the psychological tension of the book translate to the screen? What changes in character, tone, and setting shift our understanding of Tom Ripley?

We hope you enjoy the episode!

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Support The Bookcast Club

• You can support the podcast on Patreon. Our tiers start at £2 a month. Rewards include early access to the podcast, 'close friends' feed on Instagram, monthly bonus episodes, tailored book recommendations and books in the post. You can now try our Patreon FREE for 7 days.
• If you would like to make a one-off donation you can do so on Ko-fi.
• A free way to show your support is to mention us on social media, rate us on Spotify or review us on Apple Podcasts.

Newsletter

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It's a non-fiction special! Sarah and Jenny dive into non-fiction, we chat The Women's Prize for Non Fiction and share some of our recent fave reads.

Books mentioned:

• Autocracy Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum
• Code Dependant: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia
• The Wager by David Grann
• See What You Made Me Do by Jess Hill
• From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough

Get in touch

Instagram | TikTok | Voice message | Substack | Patreon | Ko-fi

Support The Bookcast Club

• You can support the podcast on Patreon. Our tiers start at £2 a month. Rewards include early access to the podcast, 'close friends' feed on Instagram, monthly bonus episodes, tailored book recommendations and books in the post. You can now try our Patreon FREE for 7 days.
• If you would like to make a one-off donation you can do so on Ko-fi.
• A free way to show your support is to mention us on social media, rate us on Spotify or review us on Apple Podcasts.

Newsletter

Sign up to our monthly newsletter on Substack for more book recommendations, reviews, new releases, podcast recommendations and the latest podcast news. Come and chat to us in the comments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.