Did The Reading

It's our Christmas Special!

Today Abby and Jess try to bring some festive cheer by discussing Charles Dickens' Christmas classic. Naturally, going via a discussion of 'why ghosts', poor politics, Mariah Carey, and which ghost are you?

We'd also like to take the opportunity to suggest some donations that are close to our hearts. If you are able to we'd love for you to make a one-off, or recurring, donation to any of these charities in our name if you've enjoyed the podcast this year.

Refuge

Trussell Trust

Shelter

Merry Christmas, we'll see you in the new year x

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Abby has finally done it, Jess has read a Twilight book.

Our resident YA fiction queen recalls her childhood of reading the Twilight books, and discusses the story written from Edward's perspective in terms of rewriting, target audience, and of course, brooding.

New episodes every Tuesday – join us next week for our Christmas special!

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One of the most famous modernist novels, Jess and Abby tackle Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway and, yes, even try to summarise the plot.

What do we think of Woolf's male characters? What even is a "social" novel? And how on earth does Abby manage to weave Twilight into the discussion? We all know there's only one way to answer these questions.

Instagram: @didthereadingpod

New episodes every Tuesday.

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Murder? Timeless.

For more out of context soundbites, look no further than this week's episode, where Jess and Abby discuss Shakespeare's Macbeth (after Jess takes some convincing that Macbeth and Richard III are, in fact, very different plays).

If you're here just for a summary? Abby's got that covered. If you want to know how Come Dine With Me and 'it's just like reading your horoscopes to a t' comes into things, you might need to listen to a bit more.

As always, we really appreciate you rating, reviewing, and subscribing to the podcast wherever you listen – it helps others find us.

New episodes every Tuesday.

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Shirley Jackson's short story, 'The Lottery' is the subject of this week's conversation between Jess and Abby.

You can read the story on the New Yorker website here.

A gothic story of family, community, obligation and tradition, Abby and Jess still naturally manage to discuss it in terms of horror movies, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Horrible Histories, and Midsommar's 'flower slug'.

As always, send us an email at [email protected] and drop us a message on our Instagram @didthereadingpod.

New episodes every Tuesday.

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You asked, you receive.

Ever wondered what Jess and Abby think Gatsby's Instagram profile would look like? You've come to the right place.

Via a conversation that swerves from Fitzgerald's female characters, to who is allowed to partake in consumerism, to the age-old question of what deserves to be called a classic, Jess and Abby finally get to relive their A Level analysis of The Great Gatsby.

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We're back!

To start series two we both talk through some of the books we read during lockdown, as we face another one. From fiction through to books we lent and borrowed (and we know how picky Jess is about who she lends books to) we try and fit it all into 40 mins.

We would like to encourage anyone looking to buy any of the books we mentioned to do so through the new bookshop.org. A new website and centre for independent bookshops — simply search up any book and be pointed in the direction of a local bookshop who stocks it.

Jess:

The Last Samurai - Helen Dewitt

Sweet Sorrow - David Nicholls

We Both Laughed in Pleasure - Lou Sullivan

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

Mostly Dead Things - Kristen Arnett

Right After the Weather - Carol Anshaw

Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race

The Good Immigrant - edited by Nikesh Shukla

Summer - Ali Smith

Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata

Carceral Capitalism - Jackie Wang

We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

Abby:

Insomniac City- Bill Hayes

Denying the Holocaust- Deborah Lipstadt

100 Artists' Manifestos: From the Futurists to the Stuckists- Alex Danchev

Catch and Kill- Ronan Farrow

No Visible Bruises- Rachel Louise Snyder

Night Film- Marissa Pessl

Lost at Sea- Jon Ronson

Convenience Store Women- Sayaka Murata

In the Miso Soup- Ryu Murakami

American Psycho- Brett Easton Ellis

We Both Laughed in Pleasure- Lou Sullivan

Trans, a Memoir- Juliet Jacques

Twilight- Stephenie Meyer

The Pisces- Melissa Broder

A Little Life- Hanya Yanagihara

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Abby and Jess discuss The Mule Bone via decolonising the curriculum, the politics of language, and the radical capacity for stage performance versus a text on the page.

As ever, if you want to suggest something for us to have a look at, drop us an email at [email protected]

Articles discussed:

1991 NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/10/theater/theater-why-the-mule-bone-debate-goes-on.html

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Ever wondered how much Abby and Jess can talk about a subject they don't know much about? Listen to this episode, which covers Beat Poetry, the obscenity trial, and structuring Howl.

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Jess and Abby discuss Sylvia Plath's short story via The Metal Bowl, The Bell Jar, and Hugh Grant makes an appearance.

Tune in for two 22-year olds' opinions on how to have a successful marriage, the impulse to biography in Plath criticism, how 'all of Shakespeare is just communication issues' and how bringing snacks to every social occasion is simply 'BEing prePAREd'.

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