Ep 30: The Books That Made Us & International Booker Prize Longlist

This week, join Amanda and Joseph for one of their most personally revealing episodes yet, as they discuss the books that made them: the teenage obsessions, the gateway reads, and the unforgettable titles, passages and writers that made us the readers they are today. (1:20) Bookish News (1:40) The Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist (2:49) Gloria Don't Speak by Lucy Apps @lucy.emma13 (3:10) The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson @marxia1 (4:32) The International Booker Prize Longlist (5:36) The Nights Are QuietIn Iran by Shida Bazyar (5:59) Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur (6:28) Taiwan Travelogue Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (8:08) Recent Reads (8:17) Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert @sophiegilbertwrites (12:52) The Missing Ink by Philip Hensher @philiphensher (17:43) The Books That Made Us (23:16) The Odyssey by Homer (various translations including Robert Fagles and Emily Wilson) (24:27) O’ Brother, Where Art Thou directed by Joel and Ethan Cohen (24:54) 'Penelope' by Carol Ann Duffy (28:43) The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (32:48) Elidor by Alan Garner (32:53) His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (34:58) The Odyssey directed by Christopher Nolan (36:56) The Continuous Life: Poems by Mark Strand (40:16) The Colour Purple by Alice Walker (41:25) The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter (46:34) Gilead by Marilyn Robinson (49:38) A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam (53:55) In the Distance by Hernan Diaz (54:36) What We’re Reading Next (55:00) No Friend of This House by Natalie Haynes @nataliehaynesauthor (55:12) One Aladdin, Two Lamps by Jeanette Winterson (56:07) Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (56:43) EveryDay Is For The Thief by Teju Cole @_tejucole Also mentioned Tate Modern, Nigerian Modernism (on until 16 April 2026) 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.