Book Island - Book Reviews by Writers

By Book Island and Friends

What's Book Island - Book Reviews by Writers about?

What makes a good book?

Offering a writers’ perspective on all things books, Book Island is a bi-weekly book review diving into how literature works while never taking things too seriously.

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Book Island - Book Reviews by Writers episodes:

10.30.2021
Halloween! Peter Straub's 'Ghost Story'
It's spooky season! In this episode, Lisa breaks down her thoughts on Peter Straub's Ghost Story.
09.25.2021
Gabriel García Márquez - Love in the Time of Cholera
Following Lisa's review of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote last episode, Tim dives into Gabriel García Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera.
09.07.2021
Truman Capote - In Cold Blood
In this Episode, Lisa shares her thoughts on a true-crime classic, Capote's In Cold Blood, and it's lasting legacy on the true-crime genre.
08.15.2021
Who Gets to Be Smart? by Bri Lee
This week Lisa unpacks Bri Lee's latest work, 'Who Gets to be Smart'.
07.25.2021
Garth Nix & Stephen King
This week Tim dives deep into his read of Garth Nix's The Left Handed Booksellers of London, while Lisa shares her thoughts about Stephen King's The Shining.
06.30.2021
Melissa Lucashenko - Too Much Lip
This time Lisa and Tim dive into Melissa Lucashenko's Miles Franklin winner, Too Much Lip.
06.02.2021
Book Chat
This week Lisa and Tim chat books, while Lisa asks the hard questions!
04.29.2021
Stella Prize Nominees
This week, Tim and Lisa dive into a pair of Stella Prize nominees: Ellena Savage's personal anthology Blueberries, and Laura Jean McKay's groundbreaking The Animals in that Country.
03.17.2021
Kerouac and the Beats
This week Tim and Lisa share their thoughts on Jack Kerouac's On the Road, and the generation of literature it helped to define.
02.14.2021
Nicholas Sparks and Neil Gaiman
On this speical Valentine's Day episode, Lisa searches for her new love interest in Nicholas Sparks' 'The Return,' while Tim finds his heart's desire in Neil Gaiman's Stardust.
01.25.2021
Tara June Winch & Sophie Ward
This week Tim and Lisa jumped into Tar June Winch's Miles Franklin winner The Yield, and Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward.
01.04.2021
Foundations of Fantasy
On this leg of the journey to Book Island, Lisa and Tim check out some of the supports that the contemporary fantasy genre is built on. While Tim takes on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Lisa decided to check out...
12.14.2020
The Russian Classics
This week, Lisa and Tim fall into some Russian classics. Lisa takes on Tolstoy's inimicable Anna Karenina, while Tim struggles through Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground.
11.30.2020
Jane Harper and Evie Wyld
This week Lisa and Tim navigate the depths of Jane Harper's latest novel, The Survivors, and Evie Wyld's gothic The Bass Rock.
11.16.2020
All Our Shimmering Skies
This week Lisa and Tim dive into award-winning author Trent Dalton's latest novel, All Our Shimmering Skies, to see if it lives up to the hype... and how it compares to Dalton's first work, Boy Swallow's Universe.
10.31.2020
Halloween Special!
This time Lisa and Tim are thrilled to read some horror specials, under the blankets, where the monsters won't get us... Happy Halloween.
10.13.2020
Book to Film!
This week Tim and Lisa dive into books recently adapted for the screen. Lisa picks up Ian Reid's I'm Thinking of Ending Things, while Tim takes on Sci-Fi classic Dune.
09.29.2020
Our Favourites
This episode, Lisa and Tim talk through their favourite books, writers, and breakdown their reading experience!
08.17.2020
Coming of Age
This week Tim and Lisa take on a couple of modern coming of age tales... with Lisa re-living her teens with Stephanie Myers' Twlight, and Tim reading Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones.
08.03.2020
Social Distancing
This week Tim explored the stars with Max Barry's latest Sci-Fi tome, Providence, while Lisa devoured Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize winning The Nickel Boys... all while maintaining social distancing.
07.20.2020
Author Interview - Ross Watkins
This episode, Lisa and Tim sit down with Ross Watkins, author of The Apology, to talk reading and writing for both adults and children, and more.
07.06.2020
Mining Aussie Gold
This week Lisa and Tim unearth some more Australian gold, with Stone Sky Gold Mountain by South-East Queensland writer Mirandi Riwoe, and Australian poet John Kinsella's Hollow Earth.
06.22.2020
Science Fiction Fantasy Week!
This week Tim and Lisa explore the depths of Science Fiction and Fantasy - with Jeff VanderMeer's Annhiliation, and the brand new The City We Became by Nebula/Huga Award-Winning NK Jemisin.
06.09.2020
Author Interview - Melanie Myers
This week Tim and Lisa sat down with local South East Queensland Writer Melanie Myers to talk about everything from her novel, Meet Me at Lennons, to creative writing degrees, and more.
05.27.2020
Preview - Author Interview: Melanie Myers
Melanie Myers is a local South East Queensland writer. We spoke to her about the creative arts, COVID-19's impact on creatives and university staff, and her debut novel Meet Me at Lennon's. Here's a preview of the interview.
05.25.2020
New Releases
Audition Template: 1 Mono Host track (with Speech Volume Leveler), 1 Mono Interview track (with Speech Volume Leveler), 1 Stereo Sound FX with effects, 1 Stereo Music Bed track. 44.1k, 16 bit, Stereo Master.
05.11.2020
The McCarthy-a-thon!
This week Tim and Lisa do their best to read as many Cormac McCarthy books as they can... and then throw out a hot take on Sally Rooney's Normal People.
04.27.2020
Got beef!
This episode, Tim and Lisa tackle a new challenge: re-reading books they didn't like the first time. While Lisa tried to get back into Bret Easton Elis's White, Tim picked Bobby Hall's Supermarket back up.
04.13.2020
Classics!
This week, Lisa and Tim review two classic novels: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, and Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan!
03.30.2020
The Stella Prize!
This week, Lisa and Tim take a long hard look at two works recently long-listed for the Stella Prize: short story collection Here Until August by Josephine Rowe, and Jess Hill's non-fiction See What You Made Me Do.
03.16.2020
Blowin' the bloody doors off!
This week, Tim and Lisa explore the shoals of their mutual favourite actor, in Michael Caine's memoir 'Blowing the Bloody Doors Off.'
03.02.2020
Christmas Catchup
This week Lisa and Tim tackle their Christmas reading pile, reviewing Find Me by Andrè Aciman, and Widow's Welcome by D.K. Fields.
02.17.2020
Award Winners
This week Lisa and Tim review award winning novels: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo, The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, and Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare.
02.02.2020
All Aussie Adventures
This week Lisa and Tim review books by Australian authors: Wolfe Island by Lucy Treloar, Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe, and All The Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld.

What's Book Island - Book Reviews by Writers about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Book Island - Book Reviews by Writers episodes:

Halloween! Peter Straub's 'Ghost Story'

Gabriel García Márquez - Love in the Time of Cholera

Truman Capote - In Cold Blood

Who Gets to Be Smart? by Bri Lee

Garth Nix & Stephen King

Melissa Lucashenko - Too Much Lip

Book Chat

Stella Prize Nominees

Kerouac and the Beats

Nicholas Sparks and Neil Gaiman

Tara June Winch & Sophie Ward

Foundations of Fantasy

The Russian Classics

Jane Harper and Evie Wyld

All Our Shimmering Skies

Halloween Special!

Book to Film!

Our Favourites

Coming of Age

Social Distancing

Author Interview - Ross Watkins

Mining Aussie Gold

Science Fiction Fantasy Week!

Author Interview - Melanie Myers

Preview - Author Interview: Melanie Myers

New Releases

The McCarthy-a-thon!

Got beef!

Classics!

The Stella Prize!

Blowin' the bloody doors off!

Christmas Catchup

Award Winners

All Aussie Adventures