I’m, erm, late to posting here this year. This is partly because the start of the year in the UK was rough; lockdown in winter is no fun whatsoever. It’s also partly because I’ve been working on a new project, a podcast called Late To It, with my friend and co-host Kirsty Doole.
Late To It is about reading books at the right time. The idea that you are ‘late’ to a book, film, TV series, exhibition, article and so on has become pervasive on social media in the last few years. We wanted to reclaim this idea and make it positive. Sometimes you read a book that’s been around for years at a time that’s perfect for you, when it means more than it ever would if you’d read it on the week it was published. We wanted to capture that and to highlight books that are out in paperback that might not have had the attention they deserved when they were first released. We also wanted a reason to read those books that have been sitting on our own shelves for a while that we’ve been neglected for the shiny and new ones that can sometime feel as though they’re shouting for our attention.
The first episode features two debut novels: Gwendoline Riley’s Cold Water, which is set in Manchester, a city I love and am strongly connected to, and Kirsten Innes’ Fishnet, which is set in an unnamed city that might be Glasgow, which is close to where Kirsty grew up.
We do also mention more recent books that we’ve been reading and enjoying. In this episode they are:
little scratch by Rebecca Watson
Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden
Sanatorium by Abi Palmer
You can view our podcast landing page, and listen directly, here. Or listen on Spotify here. We will also be available on Apple, we’re just waiting for them to approve the listing. We hope you enjoy it and discover some new/old books.
The Writes of Womxn 
What a brilliant idea! I always seem to come late to books or TV series or films or memes – but I refuse to feel guilty about that. I get to it when the time is ripe for me. It does mean, however, that I have no one to discuss certain things I get excited about, though, as they have all moved on by the time I want to talk about things…
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Thanks, Marina! I am also almost always late to film and TV. It became a bit of a thing for a while. I totally recognise the not having people to discuss it with. Although, when I watched The Wire a couple of years ago, I tweeted about it and a few people commented saying they were enjoying watching me discover it.
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I only watched the whole of The Wire this past year with my boys, so I’m very much like you! Now watching The Sopranos. I don’t think I’ll ever bother with Game of Thrones though (although my son read the books and enjoyed them).
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Hooray hooray hooray!
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I’m very much a mood reader. If that means I read a book months or years after “everyone” else, so be it. I also think there is a lot of joy for discovering books long after they have been published. It’s like unearthing buried treasure. I have a similar feature on my blog where authors suggest quiet books that don’t get a lot of press. These are often older books and I have lots of comments from people saying they’ve either read them and forgot how much they enjoyed them or that they sound like books they would love to read. Books have no expiration date, thankfully they will be happy to be discovered at any time.
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