It's a Charlie Thing

Charlie Chat with Joanna Cannon

Mon, 25 May 2026 23:00:00 GMT

In which we have a very welcome visitor.

Pre-order An Unlikely Visitor by Joanna Cannon here:

Out 4th June:

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/An-Unlikely-Visitor-by-Joanna-Cannon/9780008255077

Charlie’s video on Joanna’s books:

https://youtu.be/W7_Fa-R-qEU?si=dj7EYjbKRgybs-8N

https://youtu.be/reEpKBSXyYY?si=yAh9NY-XYOYQLLFB

https://youtu.be/OM4_o4WKsoM?si=DOimmJC3rU0Lj8ob

https://youtu.be/iwi5hHddqmg?si=hr56Y0p6W8wk6v7v

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Will Send Noods for Books

Mon, 18 May 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Today we're seeing if our favourite books from 2018 - the year we first discovered one another's existence - are still favourites today.

Books Mentioned:

Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb

The Hoarder by Jess Kidd

The Management Style of the Supreme Beings by Tom Holt

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile

Driven by Dane Cobain

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce

Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

Dying in Other Words by Maggie Gee

The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Emma by Jane Austen

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Love Simon by Becky Albertalli

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

The Terrible by Yrsa Daley Ward

The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Wild Embers by Nikita Gill

The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Flames by Robbie Arnott

Potato by Rebecca Earle

All the Names Given by Raymond Antrobus

Signs, Music by Raymond Antrobus

Cursed Daughter by Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson

The Book of Birds by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King by JRR Tolkien

Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart

Fruit Fly by Josh Silver

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Super Massive Ultra Book Haul Storytime Extravaganza

Mon, 11 May 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Charlie and Charlie catch up with each other and chat about the books they've hauled. Hear about all the celebrations for Mrs Heathcote's birthday, and how Charlie B saved a bird at a car boot sale.

Books Mentioned:

Like a Cat Loves a Bird by James Bailey

The Gabriel Hounds by Mary Stewart

The Echoing Grove by Rosamund Lehmann

Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio

No Future by Paul Cornell

The English Way of Death by Gareth Roberts

I'll Never be Young Again by Daphne du Maurier

Mary-Anne by Daphne du Maurier

Fruit Fly by Josh Silver

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy

Glyph by Ali Smith

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

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We React to AITA Posts

Mon, 04 May 2026 23:00:00 GMT

The Charlies react to AITA posts all about books.

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Can You Read With All The Colours of a Charlie?

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 23:00:00 GMT

This week, the Charlies tested themselves to see what colour readers they are. However, they might not have agreed with the findings.

Books Mentioned:

My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

Long Island by Colm Toibin

The Whisperwicks: The Vanished Key by Jordan Lees

To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason

The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien

The Guardian and the Thief by Megha Majumdar

Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly

Green Dot by Madeleine Gray

Chosen Family by Madeleine Gray

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Charlie Fiddles with Technology

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 23:00:00 GMT

In which we talk about expectations in books, and how blurbs can be deceptive.

Books Mentioned:

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor

We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown

A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett

Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli

Limberlost by Robbie Arnott

The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson

The Whisperwicks: The Vanished Key by Jordan Lees

Lublin by Manya Wilkinson

The House on the Strand by Daphne DuMaurier

A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This House of Burning Bones by Stuart MacBride

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Bring me the Speculum!

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:00:00 GMT

In which we give recommendations of the poetical kind.

Books Mentioned:

Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds

The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

Stolen Rowan Berries by Joy Winkler

The Orange by Wendy Cope

Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney

Postcolonial Banter by Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan

The Half-God of Rainfall by Inua Ellams

The Perserverance by Raymond Antrobus

The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

Everything is Energy by Emma Talbot

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Whisperwicks: The Vanished Key by Jordan Lees

Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson

War of the Daleks by John Peel

The Bed and Breakfast Star by Jacqueline Wilson

Pity by Andrew McMillan

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CHARLIE HATES THIS BOOK AND WANTS TO BURN IT

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 23:00:00 GMT

In which Charlie really doesn't like a book.

Books Mentioned:

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

Dominion by Addie E. Citchens

Artists Siblings Visionaries by Judith Mackrell

To Be Young, Gifted and Black by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason

Foreign Fruit by Katie Goh

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Throwing Books Out the Window

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Our quarterly check-in.

Books Mentioned:

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman

Loss by Donna Ashworth

A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor

The Mare by Angharad Hampshire

Murder in a Mill Town by Helen Cox

The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

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Hot Cross Charlies

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Charlie has an interesting rant about baked goods. We also recommend five Irish novels and share a couple we want to try.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsacharliethingig/

Discord: https://discord.gg/jAuYvvxw

Books Mentioned:

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor

The works of Molly Keane

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

Small Things Like These by Clare Keegan

Family Matters by Clare Lynch

The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

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Racing Alpacas in the Rain

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In which we highlight some of our favourite female authors, and both of us are quite stressed.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsacharliethingig/

Discord: https://discord.gg/jAuYvvxw

Books Mentioned:

Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel

Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart

The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark

Playing Games by Huma Qureshi

The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

Maame by Jessica George

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

A Body by the Lighthouse by Helen Cox

Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead

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Charlie Chat with Eric Karl Anderson

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In which we talk book awards with Eric. However, the bigger question remains: will we ever give him chance to drink his brew?

https://lonesomereader.com/

Books Mentioned:

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine

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We're Reading All of the Books!

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We have new releases and some very hefty currently reading.

Books Mentioned:

Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami

Hooked by Asako Yuzuki

A Far Flung Life by ML Stedman

Strange Pictures by Uketsu

To Exist as I am by Grace Spence Green

A Hymn to Life by Gisèle Pelicot

Finding Albion by Zakia Sewell

Doctor Who: Genocide by Paul Leonard

The Examiner by Janice Hallett

Death Awaits in Durham by Helen Cox

A Witch Hunt in Whitby by Helen Cox

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We Disagreed About a Book

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In which we chat about all we've been reading and doing over the last week.

Books mentioned:

Murder by the Minster by Helen Cox

A Body in the Bookshop by Helen Cox

Murder on the Moorland by Helen Cox

Death Awaits in Durham by Helen Cox

A Witch Hunt in Whitby by Helen Cox

A Body by the Lighthouse by Helen Cox

Murder in a Mill Town by Helen Cox

A Body in the Borderlands by Helen Cox

A Body at the Christmas Book Fair by Helen Cox

Doctor Who: Genocide by Paul Leonard

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Agent Zo by Clare Mulley

The Spy Who Loved by Clare Mulley

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Charlie Chat with Clare Mulley

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We invited Clare Mulley, author of Agent Zo, who was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction in 2025 to come and talk to us about her work, researching the life of Elzbieta Zawacka and her initial thoughts on this year's prize.

Clare's Books:

The Woman Who Saved the Children

The Spy Who Loved

The Women Who Flew for Hitler

Agent Zo

Clare's author photo is used with permission.

Photo credit: JP Masclet

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There's a New Season of Bridgerton, Let's Recommend Some Books

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

This week, the Charlies are talking book to screen adaptations, recommending Cinderella retellings and books on class because of the new season of Bridgerton, and one Charlie might just be reaching a new stage of grumpiness.

Books Mentioned:

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst by Katie Lumsden

Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym

How to be Champion by Sarah Millican

Lyra’s Oxford by Philip Pullman

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

Agent Zo by Clare Mulley

MaudMartha by Gwendolyn Brooks

Wellness by Nathan Hill

Murder by the Minster by Helen Cox

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

Booktubers Mentioned: @katiejlumsden

Katie reads the first chapter of The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeSRPQ2t4RE

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Charlie is Crocheting a Biscuit Cardigan

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In which we are rather rushed but somehow manage to talk about crocheting family members into blankets, new reading initiatives and David Bowie.

Books Mentioned:

Crux by Gabriel Tallent

Holy Boy by Lee Heejoo

Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash

Jean by Madeleine Dunnigan

Floodlines by Saleem Haddad

Strange Buildings by Uketsu

Women and Power by Mary Beard

Citizen by Claudia Rankine

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin

Crocheted Squares by Kate Eastwood

Made with Love by Tom Daley

Booktubers Mentioned:

Paul Magrs: https://www.youtube.com/@paulmagrs-g8n

The Goblin King and Me: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002pfh8

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Charlie's Adventures in Wellbeing

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In this episode, we interview the Booktuber Keri Books about all things self-care. She has some brilliant book recommendations and great insight.

Books Mentioned:

(video version available on YouTube)

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Dungeons and WIPs

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Today we're chatting how to combat the January blues and sharing the comfort reads that help us through.

Books Mentioned:

10 Poems About Happiness

Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Instagram: itsacharliethingig

Discord: https://discord.gg/z9Cesauc

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Goals! What are they Good For?!

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In this episode, we're discussing reading goals. One Charlie is making goals they will never achieve, and the other is in complete denial. There's also chat about forthcoming book to movie adaptations, and the general Charlie chat we've come to expect.

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New Year, New Books

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In which the Charlies share some bookish news, haul books and reminisce about the festive season.

Instagram: / itsacharliethingig

Discord: / discord

Books Mentioned:

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

High Rising by Angela Thirkell

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

A Case of the Claws

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

The Book of Dust Vol. 3: The Rose Field by Philip Pullman

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Strange Pictures by Uketzi

Bibliomaniac by Robin Ince

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola

Unschooled by Caro Giles

Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith

The Starlight Barking by Dodie Smith

The Ruby’s Curse by Alex Kingston

1001 Nights in Time and Space by Steve Cole and Paul Magrs

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