E23: Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex

Joel speaks to Ben Ambridge about how stories define our existence and his book that outlines the eight masterplots behind human behaviour. Joel explains how he can always tell when someone has never been in their overdraft. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Romy Hall ends up in prison after killing her stalker. It's an excellent set-up to a novel, but does it deliver? The endorsements on the front cover certainly think so, but does Geordie Joel agree? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel is joined by writer and comedian Benedict Townsend who takes full control of the show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel speaks to stand up comedian and author of You'll Like It When You Get There, Rhys James, about his new book! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel creates a whole new format for the book club and pulls in writer Lucas Oakeley to build a character from scratch. Expect dice, coin flips and... long necks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel speaks to Róisín Lanigan about her latest, I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There, a ghost story set against the horror of the current housing crisis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel reviews a graphic novel called Below Ambition by Simon Hanselmann about Megg The Witch and Werewolf Jones who start a band called Horse Mania. He also digs through the finds of his latest book shop crawl. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What I'd Rather Not Think About is a novel about grieving a twin, captured in little vignettes over roughly 200 pages, but what does Joel and his new co-host Geordie Joel make of it? And is it time to stop writing 7 line chapters? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel reads Middlesex, a swirling multi-generational novel that sees a Greek family migrate to Detroit and struggle with their middle class status. The basis of pretty good novel - and it won the Pulitzer - but does Joel rate it? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel's broken two of his rules this time round by reading a book that is 1) a hardback, and 2) came out this year. It's Miranda July's All Fours, a book where the narrator is supposed to spend a load of money on a life-changing road trip, but ends up blowing all the cash on renovating a motel room just outside town to look like a Parisian hotel suite. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.