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.

Nancy Mitford and Wigs on the Green - History Podcasters collage

Comment(s)

May 15, 2014

The History Podcasters got together recently to record a collage edition on the theme of Terrible Leaders. You can hear all three collage programmes (each 30 minutes long) on www.historypodcasters.com. This is the segment from Why I Really Like This Book, on Nancy Mitford's outrageous and suppressed novel Wigs on the...

P G Wodehouse and The Adventures of Sally - Novels of 1922

Comment(s)

Jan 3, 2014

The Adventures of Sally is set in 1920s New York, London, the stage and the French Riviera, after she inherits a fortune. Also starring several besotted young men, a lousy boxer, two devious leading ladies, and a pompous brother. A little-known gem by P G Wodehouse. For dog-lovers and clever young ladies.

E F Benson and Miss Mapp - Novels of 1922

Comment(s)

Dec 20, 2013

Social tyranny in a small town, in E F Benson's novel of low cunning and outrageous scheming, Miss Mapp. For readers who play bridge for blood.

E F Benson and Dodo's Daughter - Novels of 1913

Comment(s)

Sep 26, 2013

Hang out with the frivolous young things of 1913 in a novel that's half Victorian epigram and half modernist stream of consciousness. Dodo's day is not yet over, as she's about to begin her third marriage, while her discontented daughter Nadine is making a mess of even beginning her first. Why does she have to get...

Saki and When William Came - Novels of 1913

Comment(s)

Jul 18, 2013

When the German Empire invaded the British Empire's homeland, the British either scuttled off to Delhi, to live out their tragic, dispossessed lives in tea plantations where they could salute the Union Jack in safety, or stayed at home, supine under the Geman yoke. Saki's When William Came is brilliant pre-First World...