A Novel Review Podcast

Achilles and Odysseus: The choice of a lifetime - Book Review & Literary Analysis | A Novel Review

Two men. Achilles and Odysseus. Two central themes across two books. The Iliad and the Odyssey. War and Home. One lives a life of inscincere happiness. The other a life of authentic grief, but is one better than the other? Painting: Today a photo I took while in Israel studying archaeology. It is an elderly couple walking hand in hand through a ruinous city. It is entitled, 'Until the End of Time. Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include: Bibliography: Albacini, F. (c.1825) Wounded Achilles. Marble sculpture. Chatsworth House, Derbyshire. The Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth. Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees. Homer (2003) The Iliad. Translated by E.V. Rieu. Revised and updated by P. Jones. London: Penguin Classics. Homer (2003) The Odyssey. Translated by E.V. Rieu. Revised by D.C.H. Rieu and updated by P. Jones. London: Penguin Classics. Mengi, M. (ed.) (2004) Odysseus and Calypso. Red figure vase, clay. Paris: Louvre Museum. Sartre, J.-P. (1946) Existentialism is a humanism. Available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/complexity/people/students/dtc/students2011/maitland/philosophy/sartre-eih.pdf (Accessed: March 2025) Woolven, S. (2020) Until the End of Time. Photo. Additional segments throughout the podcast include: • Mantle Piece Moments • What are you reading? • On that Quote Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5 Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/ -------- #ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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Two boys and a kite with nothing but life ahead of them. A turn of events sees the world come down faster than a cut kite and suddenly the world and future of the boys’ lives is uncertain. Set against the backdrop of the Coup of the Taliban and spanning as far as the United States we learn that you can take the boy out of Afghanistan, but does this physical distance equate to an emotional separation and freedom?
 
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a powerful novel about friendship, betrayal, and redemption. Set in Afghanistan and later the United States, it follows Amir, who struggles with guilt after betraying his loyal friend Hassan.
 
Painting: Today I painted a boy flying a kite
 
Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:
 
“The Patience Stone” by Atiq Rahimi
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
“Blood Meridian” by Cormack McCarthy
“The Colour Purple” by Alice Walker
 
Additional segments throughout the podcast include:
 
Mantle Piece Moments
What are you reading?
On that Quote
 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5
Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod
Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com
 IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/
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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

The Sword of the Lictor, Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun

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In the Sword of the Lictor, the duty and honour bound Severian continues to wrestle with the moral responsibility he can’t quite escape. The novel passes like an ethereal dreamscape as Severian continues to pass through this world and our pages, and with each turning page, another piece of what Severian holds dear is taken from him, shredding his identity down until he is left with nothing but himself.
Painting: Today I painted an ethereal city how I envisioned Dr Talos and Baldanders were occupying
 
Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:
 
“The Sword of the Lictor” by Gene Wolfe
“Pefection” by Vincenzo Latronico
 
Additional segments throughout the podcast include:
 
Mantle Piece Moments
What are you reading?
On that Quote
 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5
Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod
Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com
 IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/
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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi - Book 113

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The Book World Tour has taken flight and landed in Afghanistan. In the Patience Stone, Atiq Rahimi gives a voice to women living through circumstances that see them constantly beleaguered by society. A woman nurses her husband who is in a coma in a room surrounded by the ongoing violence of war. But, as the story evolves, we learn that even in the most austere circumstance, women an find their voice, and in their voice, their freedom.
 
Painting: Today I painted city devoid of life
 
Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:
 
“The Patience Stone” by Atiq Rahimi
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
 
Additional segments throughout the podcast include:
 
Mantle Piece Moments
What are you reading?
On that Quote
 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5
Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod
Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com
 IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/
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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

10 BEST BOOKS of the 20th century

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The 30 best book of the 20th century. A curated list presented over three episodes all comes down to this final piece of the puzzle. The top 10 best books (in my opinion) of the 20th century. A conclusion to a list that will take many shapes throughout my life.. and at the moment, this is what it looks like.
Painting: Today I painted a book opening up to reveal the magic inside
Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:
“Sula” by Toni Morrison
“Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier
“Giovani’s Room” by James Baldwin
“A Moveable Feast” by Ernest Hemmingway
“To the Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf
“The Haunting of Hill-House” by Shirley Jackson
“The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie
“Blood Meridian” by Cormack McCarthy
“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R Tolkien
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
“Book of the New Sun” by Gene Wolfe
“Gormenghast Trilogy” by Mervyn Peake
“The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge” by Rainer Maria Rilke
“The Tree of Man” by Patrick White
 
 
Additional segments throughout the podcast include:
 
Mantle Piece Moments
What are you reading?
On that Quote
 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5
Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod
Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com
 IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/
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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ - Book 111.

 To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com
Expectation lingers at the peripherals of this tale as the pressure builds with every page. Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’s novel ‘Stay With Me’ explores the pressures of a society and culture that rest upon the foundation of expectation. The expectation to get married and have kids to further the family name. A pressure that bubbles within the characters until they break not with a bang, but with a whimper as the cultural milieu sweeps anything real under the rug in a tidy, well-kept home.
 
Painting: Today I painted a sunrise within a woman
 
Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:
 
“Stay With Me” by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ 
“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe
“The Patience Stone” by Atiq Rahimi
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
 
Additional segments throughout the podcast include:
 
Mantle Piece Moments
What are you reading?
On that Quote
 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5
Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod
Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com
 IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/
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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

"The Claw of the Conciliator" Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun - Book 110

To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com
The Claw of the Conciliator sends the reader deeper into the labyrinth of Gene Wolfe’s imaginative science fantasy novel. Weaving the tale, there is only one way in and one way out. Severian the torturer, tortures us as the reader with a story that raises so many questions in the chaos of the narrative and yet offers us only glimpses into the truth of it all. And above it all is the question, what is really going on?
Painting: Today I painted the distant city of Thrax
Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:
“The Claw of the Conciliator” by Gene Wolfe
“The Sword of the Lictor” by Gene Wolfe
Additional segments throughout the podcast include:
Mantle Piece Moments
What are you reading?
On that Quote
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5
Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod
Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com
 IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/
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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - Book 109.

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Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart flips the colonial script. Okonkwo, fierce as a misplaced proverb, fights change to a fault. But when tradition clashes with colonialism, even the strongest warrior can’t wrestle fate. Achebe doesn't just tell a story - he reclaims one, reminding us that when things fall apart, it’s the silence that screams loudest.
 
Painting: Today I painted a noose against a red background
 
Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:
 
“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe
 
Additional segments throughout the podcast include:
 
Mantle Piece Moments
What are you reading?
On that Quote
 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5
Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod
Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com
 IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/
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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

Forgotten Women of Literature: Marghanita Laski - Book 108.

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Throughout literary history, many remarkable women writers have been overlooked or forgotten, their voices buried beneath more celebrated names. Among them is Marghanita Laski, a prolific mid-20th-century author and critic whose sharp insights and evocative storytelling deserve renewed attention. Laski's works, rich with psychological depth and social critique, exemplify the enduring value of these often-sidelined literary contributions.
Painting: Today I painted a chaise lounge
Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:
“The Victorian Chaise Lounge” by Marghanita Laski
“Little Boy Lost” by Marghanita Laski
“The Dictionary of Lost Words” by Pip Williams
Additional segments throughout the podcast include:
Mantle Piece Moments
What are you reading?
On that Quote
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5
Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod
Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com
 IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/
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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

30 Best books of the 20th Century: Books 20 - 11

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Creating a list of the 30 best books of the 21st century with some rules is difficult enough but what makes it harder is just trying to remember all the books you have read in the first place. Join Seamus as he starts his list, counting down the 30 best books across 3 episodes!
Painting: Today I painted a lamp emanating a green light. I will let you try figure out the connection…
Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:
“The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis
“The Plague” by Albert Camus
“Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh
“Hound of the Baskerville” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“A Year in Provence” by Peter Mayle
“1984” by George Orwell or “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin
“Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
“Perfume” by Patrick Suskind
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Additional segments throughout the podcast include:
Mantle Piece Moments
What are you reading?
On that Quote
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5
Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod
Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com
 IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/
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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast