Joel Golby's Book Club

E31: Ben Ambridge's The Stories Of Your Life

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 08:02:24 GMT

Joel speaks to Ben Ambridge about how stories define our existence and his book that outlines the eight masterplots behind human behaviour. Joel explains how he can always tell when someone has never been in their overdraft.

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E30: Rachel Kushner's The Mars Room

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Romy Hall ends up in prison after killing her stalker. It's an excellent set-up to a novel, but does it deliver? The endorsements on the front cover certainly think so, but does Geordie Joel agree?

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E29: Benedict Townsend's Book Club?

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Joel is joined by writer and comedian Benedict Townsend who takes full control of the show.

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E28: Rhys James' You'll Like It When You Get There

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Joel speaks to stand up comedian and author of You'll Like It When You Get There, Rhys James, about his new book!

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E27: Joel and Lucas Oakeley Create A Character

Tue, 20 May 2025 23:01:00 GMT

Joel creates a whole new format for the book club and pulls in writer Lucas Oakeley to build a character from scratch. Expect dice, coin flips and... long necks.

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E26: Róisín Lanigan's I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 23:01:00 GMT

Joel speaks to Róisín Lanigan about her latest, I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There, a ghost story set against the horror of the current housing crisis.

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E25: Joel's Experimental Episode

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 00:00:24 GMT

Joel reviews a graphic novel called Below Ambition by Simon Hanselmann about Megg The Witch and Werewolf Jones who start a band called Horse Mania. He also digs through the finds of his latest book shop crawl.

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E24: Jente Postuma's What I'd Rather Not Think About

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:04:27 GMT

What I'd Rather Not Think About is a novel about grieving a twin, captured in little vignettes over roughly 200 pages, but what does Joel and his new co-host Geordie Joel make of it? And is it time to stop writing 7 line chapters?

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E23: Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 23:00:28 GMT

Joel reads Middlesex, a swirling multi-generational novel that sees a Greek family migrate to Detroit and struggle with their middle class status. The basis of pretty good novel - and it won the Pulitzer - but does Joel rate it?

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E22: Miranda July's All Fours

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 23:00:12 GMT

Joel's broken two of his rules this time round by reading a book that is 1) a hardback, and 2) came out this year. It's Miranda July's All Fours, a book where the narrator is supposed to spend a load of money on a life-changing road trip, but ends up blowing all the cash on renovating a motel room just outside town to look like a Parisian hotel suite.

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E21: Joel Answers Your Questions

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 23:00:21 GMT

What's the best writing snack? How important is it to plan your character arc? What do you make of The Hardest Geezer book announcement? Joel answers your questions!

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E20: Jenny Offill's Weather

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 07:55:10 GMT

In this episode, Joel's picked out another book that everyone seemed to read before he did. Jenny's Offill's Weather came out in 2020 and is set around the inauguration of Donald Trump's presidency and it's a book that feels like it's set in 2016, but does it hold up in 2024?

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E19: Benjamin Myers' Beastings

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 23:01:58 GMT

Joel watched a great TV show based on Benjamin Myers' 'The Gallows Pole' only to find out that everyone had been reading Benjamin Myers for years. This week, he's reading the 2014 novel set in idillic Northern English countryside, Beastings.

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E18: Jonathan Ames' The Double Life Is Twice As Good

Wed, 29 May 2024 22:13:41 GMT

You asked for it, you got it. Joel's read a book that he hated and it's Jonathan Ames' collection of articles and short stories that have not dated well and probably weren't very good at the time either.

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E17: Anne Dillard's Teaching A Stone To Talk

Mon, 20 May 2024 23:01:10 GMT

Joel's got really into heading down to his local pond and counting the different types of flowers and fish he can see after reading a mind-altering set of essays on exploration, faith and nature by Anne Dillard. Good for him!

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E16: Joel Answers Your Questions

Tue, 14 May 2024 15:19:25 GMT

Joel's got the answers to all your questions on reading, writing and books in general.

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E15: Dave Eggers' A Hologram For The King

Mon, 06 May 2024 23:01:43 GMT

A self-confessed "Egg Head To The Bones", Joel has picked up A Hologram For The King for the first time in 11 years. But will he love it as much as he did the first time? Probably, yes.

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E14: Rachel Cusk's Outline

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 23:01:00 GMT

After last week's venture into 'Cherry', a masterclass in dialogue, Joel's been on the hunt for more conversation. As you'll hear on the episode, they've not all been the most captivating, but he did read Rachel Cusk's 'Outline' which is a novel (novella?) set over ten conversations with strangers. Is it better than the chat he had with a stranger in a post room? Let's hope so.

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E13: Nico Walker's Cherry

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 22:59:00 GMT

We've look at books that have done 'alcohol' well, we've looked at books that has done 'sex' well, and now it's time to look at a book that does 'war' and 'drugs' really well. So let's get stuck in to Cherry by Nico Walker.

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INTERVIEW: SHEENA PATEL

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 23:00:21 GMT

In this special bonus episode, Joel speaks to Sheena Patel about her creative influences, the process of writing and crafting her incredible debut novel, 'I'm A Fan'.

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E12: Sheena Patel's I'm A Fan

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 23:00:16 GMT

We've looked at a few books on JGBC with themes desire as of late, and 2022's I'm A Fan took on a life of its own post-release for absolutely nailing the topic through a modern day lens. It's an astute, sharp and witty book that Joel has recommended "the arse out of" since it came out. So yeah! A good one this week!

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E11: Joel Golby's Four Stars

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 20:00:00 GMT

In this episode, Joel's broken every rule in the book and reviewed his own book, which is a book of reviews. It's all very meta, but essentially, 'Four Stars', his new book comes out in a couple days and he's broken it down, told some anecdotes, shared some influences and given you the first taste of what's to come.

Get 'Four Stars' now: https://www.waterstones.com/book/four-stars/joel-golby/9780008284091

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E10: Jonathan Dollimore's Desire

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 22:59:00 GMT

In the tenth episode of Joel Golby's Book Club, we're exploring Desire, a memoir from Jonathan Dollimore; a book which explores theories of identity, mortality and, as the name might suggest, desire. It's also book filled with motorbikes (cool), dick sucking (cool) and falling in love with Latvian dudes you don't know the surnames of (cool).

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E9: Ann Beattie's Chilly Scenes Of Winter

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 23:59:00 GMT

This week, Joel dives into the oldest book so far. From 1976, it's Ann Beattie's 'Chilly Scenes Of Winter' - a book in which a pretty normal guy called Charles - deliberates over whether he's zipping up his coat too quickly. Is it good? Let's find out!

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E8: Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Joel's not messing around on this one and has pulled in one of his top ten books of all time (and he only discovered it last year). From 1992, Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson isn't quite a novel but it's also not quite a collection of shorts stories - more a collection of questionable memories from an incredibly unreliable narrator called 'Fuckhead'.

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E7: Chris Kraus' I Love Dick

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 01:21:41 GMT

This week, Joel's launching into a book that's been described as one of the most important pieces of 20th Century feminist literature, but it's also a book with "I LOVE DICK" in massive letters on the cover so, you know, highs and lows innit.

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E6: Brett Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 23:59:00 GMT

Grab your Raybans, stick on MTV and read a quick, stylish novel by a freakishly young author: it's time for Joel to break down the 80s rollercoaster that is Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero.

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E5: Jackie Ess' Darryl

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Okay, Joel wanted a change from the "woo woo little prayer book" that he read last week (Eat, Pray, Love) so he's picked a book about a guy exploring the world of cucking. So... yeah. Enjoy!

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E4: Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Keen listeners will have noticed that pretty much every book mentioned on the podcast so far has been scored pretty favourably. So, this week Joel's picked something slightly outside his usual wheelhouse: the 2006 best seller from Elizabeth Gilbert, 'Eat, Pray, Love'. Will he enjoy the memoir of someone eating, praying and loving their way across the globe? I mean, yeah? Why not!

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E3: Wells Tower's Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 22:09:26 GMT

Joel's picked another collection of short stories to get you through your reading funk (you are in a reading funk) and surprise, surprise, it's another banger.

You can now get in touch with the show too, by emailing joel@tinypodcasts.co.uk and if you don't already own the book, pick it up from Awesome Books with the code 'OUCHIEWAHWAH' for 10% off!

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E2: Patrick DeWitt's Ablutions

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 06:47:29 GMT

For the second episode of Joel Golby's Book Club, Joel has aptly chosen to read a book in the second person. It wasn't planned and he's only just realised whilst reading this synopsis of the episode. Either way: it's Patrick DeWitt's 'Ablutions' and it slaps. Pick it up from Awesome Books with the code 'OUCHIEWAHWAH' for 10% of

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E1: Annie Proulx's Close Range

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 23:06:27 GMT

In the first episode of Joel Golby's Book Club, Joel cracks open one of his favourite short story collections: Close Range by Annie Proulx. Grab the book from Awesome Books with the code 'OUCHIEWAHWAH' for 10% off.

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Joel Golby's Book Club (launches Jan 30th)

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:00:31 GMT

Joel Golby's Book Club, a brand new show by tiny podcasts, launches on 30th January 2024 with Annie Proulx's Close Range.

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