Clare asks, via Booking Through Thursday:
Do you ever listen to book-related podcasts? If so, which ones and why? (Include the URLs for people who aren’t familiar with them.) Or, of course, there’s the flip side … did you even know that such a thing existed?
This question reminded me of summers with my paternal grandparents. Their TV never seemed to be switched on. Instead, as grandmother baked her famous graham rolls or lacy oat biscuits in the sunny kitchen or grandfather fashioned candlesticks, toys, and furniture for the family in his carpentry workshop in the basement, they would listen to radio programmes. On Saturday mornings, grandparents, children, and grandchildren would throng around the greyish-blue-painted kitchen table for a sturdy breakfast and discuss bird sounds, gardening tips, and scientific discoveries as the week's favourite nature programme aired.
And that is how I use podcasts: as pleasant and instructive background to a non-demanding manual task. Via my laptop I have happily enjoyed reviews, author interviews, and other book-related selections while painting walls, sewing in buttons, or eating lunch. I don't have an iPod. And for the actual contents of a book I want to hold the bound version in my hands, turning paper pages while curled up in a comfortable chair, a fragrant cup of Lady Londonderry tea at my side.
Here are a few romance-related podcasts I have enjoyed recently:
- At the Fancy Dress Albert Public House, romance author and costume historian Kalen Hughes talks with Jana Oliver about women’s wear in the western world through the last few centuries.
- Among Harlequin’s behind the scenes spotlights, an interview with Deanna Raybourn and Jane Porter.
- Romance Writers of America’s Librarians Day podcasts include Barbara Samuels, Jayne Anne Krentz, and Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
- Better World Books' chat with Juliet Gael about her novel, Romancing Miss Brontë.
- For those who like listening to audiobooks, Librivox offers thousands of free podcasts in different languages. You will find various readings of Jane Austen’s works, for example.
Feel free to post the link to your own Booking Through Thursday thoughts!
