I used to listen to loads of audio books when I was a kid. Falling asleep for me was tricky, as was reading written words, so I used to satisfying my story cravings through spoken word.
Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, Ballet Shoes, Sabriel, The Wind Singer, The Chrestomanci series, The Shellseakers – I listened to them all on tape. (Yes, tape. Not CD!) But since becoming an adult I’ve stopped listening to audio books. I prefer sitting down with a book in the evening – it makes me relax and I engage with the story more in comparison to listening to it while doing something else.
But there are times when I need some noise in the background – something short and sharp that I can absorb when I’m cleaning, or cooking, or gardening. And podcasts have filled that hole in my life.
So here are a few recommendations.
Storytelling
Lore
Creepy and at times horrifying, Aaron Mahnke has made quite the name for himself with this podcast. And the hype is so worth it. About a year and a half ago I became obsessed with this podcast – I binged the first 100 episodes in about 2 weeks. Lore delves into the stories behind ancient and modern lore – ranging from the origins of tales such as the Jersey Devil, ghosts from the English civil war, fairy changelings, and tales of German village murders. All set to beautiful haunting music. Not one to listen to alone in the house on a dark winter’s night. Trust me.
Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Another podcast series from master storyteller, Aaron Mahnke. Each episode of this series explores two short strange tales from real life events. Tales such as the cursed car of James Dean, the origins of the American flag, and the story of Adam Rainer, who is the only known person who lived as a dwarf and a giant. This series is more lighthearted than Lore – there are some stories that will send a shiver up your spine, but they’re more likely to make you cock your head to the side and think, “Huh.”
Myths & Legends
From husband and wife team, Jason and Carissa Weiser, Myths and Legends retells familiar stories, but from their original source material. Robin Hood? Turns out he was actually a regular thief who only cared about giving back to himself. The team put a great modern spin on the language of the stories – adding in lots of humour and cultural references. They’re really fun to listen to. There are also plenty of tales included which you won’t have likely heard before.
Fictional
Another series from Jason and Carissa Weiser, which is similar to Myths and Legends, but re-tells classic fictional stories such as Sherlock Holmes, Shakespeare’s plays, and The Count de Monte Cristo. All told in a modern voice with plenty of laughs. I really enjoyed The Count de Monte Cristo – it’s always been a story I’ve wanted to read, but I find classic literature a struggle to engage with. The Weisers retold it in a way that stayed true to the original story, but also made it easy and enjoyable to engage with.
Writing
Writing Excuses
A short sharp weekly podcast run by four American writers, including Brandon Sanderson. Every year the hosts explore one topic in depth. This year they are looking at world building. There are 12 seasons (or 12 years, I guess!) of content backlogged, exploring everything to do with novel writing. They also get guests onto the show to diversify the voices that are speaking. It’s just a good podcast to keep your writing brain ticking over and gives you plenty of food for thought to apply to your own writing.
Reading
Book Riot podcasts
Hopefully this section won’t sound like too much of a promo for Book Riot, but this section is full of their podcasts, because their podcasts are just so good! They’ve got 11 podcasts, which cover a wide variety of book topics. I’ve listened to a few episodes of most of them and have subsequently picked out my favourites. After listening to any of these, your Want to Read Goodreads shelf will double in size!
I will say that because Book Riot is an American company, all their news and recommendations are US based, which I found a little off putting from a UK listener perspective, but it’s still interesting to find out what is happening across the pond.
All the Books: News and discussions around the latest book releases.
Get Booked: Answering book recommendation requests from listeners.
Hey YA: News, recommendations and discussions around the YA genre.
Recommended: Book recommendations from published writers.
SFF Yeah: News, recommendations and discussions around the sci-fi and fantasy genres.
When in Romance: News, recommendations and discussions around the romance genre.
The Book Riot Podcast: News from the world of books. Great to listen to if you want to know more about what’s going on in the wider world of publishing.
The Bookseller Podcast
From the UK’s book trade magazine, comes the Bookseller podcast. A monthly podcast which is broken into several segments covering book news, author interviews, and a segment featuring booksellers from across the UK giving book recommendations to listeners. I do think this series is very focused on adult literary fiction – they gave the YA Book Prize a segment on the show and some of the book doctors have recommended fantasy of sci-fi books, but the focus is very much on adult literary fiction.
Books of Your Life With Elizabeth
From one of the founders of Goodreads, Books of Your Life is an interview based podcast, where Elizabeth Khuri Chandler interviews authors or prolific people in the book industry about the books that have shaped their lives. It’s a nice discussion-based podcast and it raises my spirits to hear about how other people’s lives can be improved by stories.
Bookworm Scribe 