Why I Really Like This Book

Welcome to Why I Really Like This Book, a podcast series about books that ought not to be forgotten. The podcasts were written, recorded and edited by me, Kate Macdonald, from 2011 to 2014 in a house in Brussels. I'm an English lecturer and an lifelong rummager in second-hand bookshops, and I write a lot about books, so podcasts was an enjoyable way to talk about what I was reading.

The intro music is by The Tribe Band, and the illustration is by Harriet Marsh.

In 2014 I stopped recording podcasts and moved to katemacdonald.net. That's my personal site where I post information about my books and articles, the research I do, and where I post book reviews twice a week. Many of the reviews are the scripts for the podcasts, so I keep this excellent Libsyn site going so anyone passing by can listen to three or more years of podcasts. One day I may start recording again.

Lindsey Davis and Falco

Comment(s)

Jun 26, 2014

Visit Ancient Rome and the nastier outposts of the Roman Empire in the company of Marcus Didius Falco, private detective and lovable put-upon family man, in the excellent novels by Lindsey Davis. For a bonus weekend break, try The Course of Honour for her terrific novel of a secretary's view of Caligula's rule, while...

Rose Macaulay and Mystery at Geneva - Novels of 1922

Comment(s)

Nov 22, 2013

Secrets and politics and multiple kidnappings at the League of Nations, and some pointed messages about early feminism. Rose Macaulay's Mystery at Geneva is a fine satirical novel in the mystery mode. (NB this version replaces the inadvertently gigantic version...

E C Bentley and Trent's Last Case - Novels of 1913

Comment(s)

Jun 20, 2013

Trent's Last Case is a very modern Edwardian detective novel, with a Bohemian setting, the police in a cosy relationship with the media, and a cracking good mystery to solve ahead of the artist-journalist-detective hero.

John Buchan and The Three Hostages - Five Thrillers for Gentlemen

Comment(s)

Nov 16, 2012

Come to London clubland in 1923, and follow Richard Hannay on the trail of a riddling rhyme and secret plots to overthrow civilisation as we know it. In John Buchan's The Three Hostages, human evil battles with the manners of the gentleman's club, and north London is revealed as a den of criminality and sin. For those...

Margery Allingham and Coroner's Pidgin - Five Classic Detective Novels

Comment(s)

Mar 9, 2012

In the middle of the Second World War, Lady Carados found a dead woman in her son's bed, so she decided to move it somewhere else, which is why Albert Campion got involved because the body ended up in his bed instead. In Margery Allingham's Coroner's Pidgin, Campion is struggling with sleep deprivation, the blackout,...