iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Every book has two stories: the one it tells, and the one it hides. The #SecretLifeOfBooks is a weekly podcast that uncovers the hidden stories behind the books you thought you knew. Hosted by Sophie Gee and Jonty Claypole. Listen now: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/s...

podcasts.apple.com

Secret Life of Books

Books Podcast · Updated Weekly · Every book has two stories: the one it tells, and the one it hides.The Secret Life of Books is a fascinating, addictive, often shocking, occasionally hilarious weekly ...

021

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

@theguardian.com just announced the ‘100 Best Novels of All Time.’ So now it's official. The greatest book of all time (in English anyway) is ... Middlemarch, by George Eliot! Here on SLOB of course we already suspected as much, which is why we picked Middlemarch as our first Book Club read.

131

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

📖✒️ Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice paints Mary Bennet as a comic character — we’re supposed to find her ridiculous and it’s clear Austen has little sympathy for her. In The Other Bennet Sister (2020), Janice Hadlow asks: What does it look like to have sympathy for Mary? #BookSky

160

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

🥀 We think of Jane Austen as an author of love stories. And, certainly, they are. But they're also about a journey of self-knowledge — all of her heroines must change in order to "find themselves" (and a man). But what about the characters that don't change? What happens to them? #BookSky

140

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

NEW EPISODE: Anyone familiar with Pride & Prejudice will know Lizzy Bennet has an unappealing younger sister called Mary, who - with Austen’s characteristic talent for cruelty - is portrayed as a plain-looking prig, with sub-par musical talent. podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t... #TOBS #BookSky

podcasts.apple.com

The Other Bennet Sister with author Janice Hadlow

Podcast Episode · Secret Life of Books · 5 May · 54min

150

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

This week on the Secret Life of Books podcast, Sophie and Jonty chat with the wonderful Janice Hadlow, author of The Other Bennet Sister, which has recently adapted as a new BBC series! #BookSky #JaneAusten

150

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Who else is reading Janice Hadlow's The Other Bennet Sister? #TOBS #BookSky

031

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

NEW EPISODE: Welcome to the ultra-elite world of East Coast preppy culture, where Laura Ashley dresses, goldfish crackers, and pink shorts, reign supreme. This week, we round out our series on high school novels with @csittenfeld.bsky.social’s Prep (2005). #BookSky podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b...

podcasts.apple.com

Back to School 4: Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Podcast Episode · Secret Life of Books · 28 April · 1hr 12min

030

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

🧶👕 Who wore it better? We're rounding out our series on high school novels by jumping across the pond (aka the Atlantic Ocean) and skipping several decades to find ourselves in early 1990s Massachusetts. Welcome to the world of East Coast preppy culture Out now: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b...

000

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Welcome to the world of East Coast preppy culture 💸🛍️✨, where Laura Ashley dresses, goldfish crackers and pink shorts reign supreme. These are the details that make up the ultra-elite 1990s boarding school of Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel PREP. Out now: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b... #BookSky

130

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

🚽🧻✨ Here on SLOB, we love a toilet. So, how could we not love the (scarily accurate) description of school toilets in Barry Hines' 1968 masterpiece, A Kestrel for a Knave — it's a real time capsule. 🎧 Out now, wherever you listen to podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/s... #ClassicBooks #Kes

100

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Corporal punishment, the use of physical force to correct a child's behavior, was legal when Sophie and Jonty were at school in Australia and the UK respectively. Sophie even suffered the cane! ...why are we chatting corporal punishment, you ask? Find out tomorrow on the Secret Life of Books pod 🎧

020

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Before writing fiction, Muriel Spark was a very successful literary biographer — and she played a huge role in re-shaping what biography, as a form, should do. Spark believed that the life of a writer was inseparable from their work. Learn more: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b... #BookSky #History

020

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

The character of Miss Brodie isn’t the only thing memorable in Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The prose is - as you would expect from a writer called Spark - electric. That is to say, both poetic and incredibly funny. 🎧 Out now, wherever you get podcasts! #ClassicBooks #BookSky

140

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

We made it! This week, we discuss the final rousing chapters of George Eliot's magnificent novel, Middlemarch. We feel so lucky to have re-read Middlemarch with our much-loved SLOB community. Thank you for reading and listening along with us. We can't wait to start our next book club soon!

110

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

George Eliot was not a radical... When we talk about George Eliot, we talk about her as a conservative radical. Eliot believed the world could not be made up of radicals, because this would lead to anarchy. Learn more in the finale of our subscribers-only Middlemarch book club. Out now!

110

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Thomas Hughes’ #TomBrownsSchoolDays (1857) wasn’t the first school fiction book – Sarah Fielding published The Governess over 100 years earlier. As always, the man takes credit. SLOB uncovers how Hughes’ inspired a genre for years to come, even Harry Potter 🎧⬇️ podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b...

000

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Somehow we keep coming back to one of our favourite topics, or at least Sophie's favourite: the Reformation. While Jonty does not have the Reformation spirit, it's always bubbling under the surface in Thomas Hughes’ 1857 novel Tom Brown’s School Days. #BackToSchool #History #BookSky

110

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

📚 Were you a teacher's pet or rebel at the back of the class? Maybe you were more like Sophie — somewhere in the middle. This week, the Secret Life of Books goes back to school with a deep dive into Thomas Hughes’ School Days. Out now, wherever you get podcasts 🎧️ podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b...

210

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

The WORST honeymoon in classic fiction? Being placed in a grave by your sleepwalking husband -not ideal. But it happened to Tess of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d'Urbervilles. This week, we take a romp through the least romantic holidays in literary history. What do you think makes the list? #BookSky

160

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

There’s one kind of honeymoon in literature, and it's disastrous! Join Sophie & Jonty for a romp through some of the least romantic holidays in history. We don’t just cover fictional honeymoons – there are some classic off-page bloopers too. Not least, SLOBs own 🎧: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...

020

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

NEW EPISODE: There’s only one kind of honeymoon in classic literature, and it's disastrous. From Frankenstein's murderous honeymoon to and Heathcliff’s revenge honeymoon with Isabella Linton in Wuthering Heights, they all seem to end the same - badly. podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t... #BookSky

podcasts.apple.com

The Secret Life of (Literary) Honeymoons

Podcast Episode · Secret Life of Books · 31 March · 1hr 8min

060

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

The worst honeymoon of all time?John Ruskin and the infamous pubic hair story, of course. This week, we uncover the secret life of (literary) honeymoons! Spoiler alert: honeymoons don't bode well in classic literature. Out now 🎧 podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...

010

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Book 7 of George Eliot's Middlemarch is subtitled "Two Temptations" — but what, exactly, tempts people of Middlemarch? Gambling (with a side of opioids) and... manslaughter? As always with Eliot, there's more to it than that. Feeling tempted yourself? Join our book club to read along with us!

100

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

⚔️🛡️ 'Although he was a brave and noble warrior, he did not often slay his own friends while drunk'. 🥴🍻 Sophie & Jonty dive deep into the manosphere - aka Anglo-Saxon England - to look at one of foundational stones of English literature: Beowulf! 🎧 podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b... #BookSky #History

040

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

J.R.R Tolkien was hugely inspired by Beowulf. And, while The Hobbit is not a direct adaptation, Tolkien uses a lot of what he's leaned from this epic poem -- from Middle-Earth to Gollum. 🎧👇️ podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b... #History #Podcast #LordOfTheRings #LOTR #BookSky

063

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Hwæt ‼️ Did we get your attention? You might know more Anglo-Saxon than you think. Hwæt has been translated many times, from the more traditional "Listen!" to Maria Dahvana Headley's recent and alredy legendary "Bro!" 👇️ Comment your own translation! #History #Beowulf

110

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

This week, we talked with Namwali Serpell about why Toni Morrison's novels became instant classics, why you should reread them, how we can address the reading crisis around the world, and how (as ever) classic literature especially offers us crucial ways forward. #BookSky #SecretLifeOfBooks

1101

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

To close out our popular series on the great American novelist Toni Morrison, we sit down with Namwali Serpell, a @harvard.edu literature Professor and author of the highly acclaimed book of essays "On Morrison." 🎧 Out now, wherever you listen to podcasts. @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social #BookSky

0101

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

👻 You can read #ToniMorrison's Beloved as a supernatural ghost story or a psychological thriller — both make sense, and Morrison lets both coexist. Learn more by tuning into the latest episode in our Toni Morrison series! 🎧 Out now.: apple.co/slob #BookSky #BlakHistoryMonth

041

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

📚 Beloved was #ToniMorrison's fifth novel, and she wrote it in the years after leaving her job at Random House. Learn more about how Morrison came to write this landmark of #AmericanLiterature by tuning into our Toni Morrison series. 🎧 Out now! #History #HistoryFacts #BookSky

171

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

NEW EPISODE: Toni Morrison’s 5th novel, Beloved, instantly became a landmark of American literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Our Morrison series continues, uncovering what makes Beloved so original, and what, really, is the ‘ghost’? podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t... #BookSky

podcasts.apple.com

Toni Morrison 3: Beloved

Podcast Episode · Secret Life of Books · 17 March · 1h 13m

091

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

📚 Toni Morrison’s Beloved is not an easy read… maybe that’s the point. It's formally inventive, non-linear, often fragmentary & at times appears to cascade down the page like a poem. Here Morrison finds a literary form that is true, perhaps, to the experience of trauma. #BookSky #BlackHistoryMonth

020

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

🏆🎙️And the #NYCPodcastAward goes to… We cannot believe it. The Secret Life of Books has won the Audience Choice Award for Best Indie Podcast! We’re so grateful for this community. We can’t say thank you enough 🧡 @silver-nyc.com

072

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

🏆 It's the Oscars! 🏆 #LiteraryClassics are big, with Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet up for multiple nominations. Need a refresher? We've got you covered. And we're going in deep (...more in depth than pictured here, promise). 🎧➡️ podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/s...

000

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

🏆 It’s Oscars week & literary classics are big, again. @realgdt.bsky.social #Frankenstein and #ChloeZhao’s #Hamnet received multiple nominations. SLOB reviews these adaptations to see if #LiteraryClassics are the winners or losers this Oscars season! 🎧 Out now 🔗 podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/s...

010

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

🏆🎬 It’s #Oscars season and we’re NOT taking things lightly! With nominations for #Frankenstein and #Hamnet, we knew we had a responsibility as serious lit #podcasters. We've dutifully re-watched the book-to-film adaptations nominated for an Oscar to bring you our unfiltered takes. Out today!

020

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

🏆🎬 It’s #Oscars Week & literary classics are big (yet again)! #GuillermoDelToro's #Frankenstein and #ChloeZhao’s #Hamnet received multiple nominations, but what do we really think of these adaptations? 🚨 Spoiler alert: not a fan of THAT Byron quote at the end of Frankenstein.

130

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

@amariewomack, one of the world’s leading #ToniMorrison scholars, was not a natural born reader. Yet the first time she read Morrison in high school, she devoured it. This week we’re lucky enough to chat with Autumn on the #SecretLifeOfBooks podcast 🔗 podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/s...

010

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

As part of our #ToniMorrison series we’re lucky enough to chat with one of the world’s leading Morrison scholars, prof. Autumn Womack. Autumn has spent more time with the Morrison Papers at @princeton.edu than pretty much anyone else – except (maybe) Morrison herself 🎧 Out now.

100

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

This week we're joined in conversation with Autumn Womack, one of the most important #ToniMorrison scholars, to chat about writing the biography of Morrison’s novels and making a landmark exhibition from Toni Morrison’s archives at @princeton.edu! Out today 🔗 podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/s...

130

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

📣 We want to hear from you 📣 If we were to make a list of the #bestbooks since the mid-90s, what books would be on that list? Let us know in the comments below! #ToniMorrison #SecretLifeOfBooks #BestBooks #BookList #BookSky

3110

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

In #SongOfSolomon (1977), #ToniMorrison chose a male protagonist to retell a deep history of African cultural magic, to create a story that refuses to do anything that readers of American retellings of biblical epics were expecting. 🔗 podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t... #BlackHistoryMonth #BookSky

050

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

The Secret Life of Books has officially been nominated for best #IndiePodcast at the 2026 NYC Podcast Awards! We’re so thrilled to be nominated, thank you @silver-nyc.com 🧡. Head to the #NYCPodcastAwards website to check out the nominees! 🔗 www.silver-nyc.com/nycpodcastaw...

061

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

In the second episode in our series on the great Nobel Laureate #ToniMorrison, we continue the story of how she disrupted virtually all existing expectations of how a Black woman novelist would sound and explore the book that propelled her into mainstream fame. podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

Toni Morrison 2: Song of Solomon

Podcast Episode · Secret Life of Books · 3 March · 1h 2m

010

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

In Toni Morrison's third novel #SongOfSolomon, names are highly important. They're also a point of humour -- "Not Doctor Street," for one. Learn more by tuning into the new episode in our #ToniMorrison mini-series on #SecretLifeOfBooks podcast. Out tomorrow! #BlackHistoryMonth #BookSky

120

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

#GeorgeEliot had the confidence to call Book 5 of Middlemarch "The Dead Hand" – audacious, given that every book would have been sold separately. But The Dead Hand it is, and readers brave enough to buy the volume were rewarded with many of the best scenes in the novel. #BookSky

160

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

We're all about the underdog.. That's why we cannot move on from Emily Bronte's #WutheringHeights without talking about her younger sister Anne, author of the remarkable The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. While Anne is now the least celebrated of the Bronte trio, Tenant was considered the most shocking!

000

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

NEW EPISODE: With all the fuss around #WutheringHeights, we’re worried Emily Bronte is getting all the attention. So we're shifting the SLOB-light to her younger sister Anne, author of the remarkable and (at the time) highly-shocking The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

The Other Bronte Girl: Anne Bronte's Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Podcast Episode · Secret Life of Books · 24 February · 1h 7m

030

Secret Life of Books Podcast @slobpodcast.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

With all the fuss and fanfare around #WutheringHeights, we’re worried Emily Bronte is getting more than her fair share of attention. So today we shift the SLOB-light to her younger sister Anne, author of the remarkable The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. 🔗 podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t... #BookSky

010