Booksmart

It's Halloween ya'll (basically), and it's time to get spooky! In this book club episode, Sue Ann a.k.a. Ma (Sunny) and Helen Sharp (Allie) review Shailee Thompson's slasher rom-com 'How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates'.

This debut novel follows cinephile Jamie Prescott, who gets caught in the middle of a murder spree at a speed-dating event with her best friend Laurie and must use her encyclopedic knowledge of the romance and horror genres to make it as a real-life Final Girl.

It's funny, scary, and surprisingly... incredibly horny?! Finding love is hard at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a killing spree. Tune in to this unhinged Halloween book club special to find out whether our girls figured out who the killer was and whether they've got what it takes to survive the night.

You can purchase 'How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates' by Shailee Thompson online with QBD Books using the following link:

https://www.qbd.com.au/how-to-kill-a-guy-in-ten-dates/shailee-thompson/9781761826788/?utm_source=booksmart&utm_medium=booksmart&utm_campaign=booksmart&utm_id=booksmart&utm_term=booksmart&utm_content=booksmart

On a very special episode of Booksmart for asexuality awareness week, Allie Daisy King had a chat with Alice Oseman, English author, illustrator, and screenwriter best known for creating the beloved Emmy Award-winning & New York Times best-selling queer series Heartstopper.
Alice is openly aromantic asexual, which lends itself well to her plethora of characters on the aroace spectrum through her stories. In this chat, Allie and Alice kiki about the utter dearth of asexual & aromantic characters in media, the struggles with representing marginalised groups without wanting those stories to seem monolithic, and what the future of Alice's work holds.
We hope you enjoy this chat, and you can buy any of Alice Oseman's books at QBD with 5% off using the code ‘BOOKSMART’ online or at the checkout:
https://www.qbd.com.au/search/?q=Alice+Oseman&utm_source=booksmart&utm_medium=booksmart&utm_campaign=booksmart&utm_id=booksmart&utm_term=booksmart&utm_content=booksmart

In this bonus episode of Booksmart, hosts Sunny and Allie meet with Canadian author Bal Khabra, of the beloved hockey romance series Off the Ice — which includes Collide, Spiral, Revolve, and Embrace.

Khabra rarely does on-camera interviews and is notoriously private, but in this exclusive interview, the author shares her observations on the growing appeal of the sports romance sub-genre. The trio discuss how romance authors are leading the charge for diverse representation in literature, and why Hollywood adaptations of popular fiction often tend to lag behind real-time reader preferences.

Khabra also reveals details about her upcoming cowboy, second-chance romance Last Call, her unique strategy for recruiting beta readers directly from Goodreads, and what inspired her transition from a faceless author persona to front-facing book tours and reader events.

You can buy any of Bal Khabra’s books at QBD with 5% off using the code ‘BOOKSMART’ online or at the checkout:

https://www.qbd.com.au/embrace/bal-khabra/9781037201554/?utm_source=booksmart&utm_medium=booksmart&utm_campaign=booksmart&utm_id=booksmart&utm_term=booksmart&utm_content=booksmart

In this very special episode of Booksmart, co-host Sunny had the sublime opportunity to interview English actress Daisy Edgar-Jones for the Sense and Sensibility junket held in Sydney last week.
Edgar-Jones plays Jane Austen's beloved Elinor Dashwood, the sensible older sister of Marianne and Margaret Dashwood, whose emotional restraint is tested when she grows attached to Edward Ferrars. The actress is no newcomer to book-to-screen adaptations, having risen to prominence for her roles as Marianne Sheridan in Normal People and Kya in Where the Crawdads Sing. She is also set to star in the upcoming production of Gabrielle Zevin's novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
Listen to hear the stars' thoughts on adapting classic literature, maintaining your sensibility, curating the perfect angsty playlist, working with Australian author and screenwriter Diana Reid, and reading Sarah J Maas's Throne of Glass and ACOTAR series.
Sense and Sensibility arrives in cinemas across Australia on October 15th, 2026.

Welcome back to book club friends! Things are heating up down under, hence our desire to choose Jenny Jackson's New England set contemporary novel 'The Shampoo Effect' as our September book club pick.
The hype surrounding this book has been hard to ignore, with VOGUE calling it one of the "best books of 2026".  Many readers have likened the reading experience to overhearing juicy gossip about a friend group you know only tangentially. But does the story, focused on one accidental pregnancy and a tight-knit group of dysfunctional friends in their 30s, live up to the buzz? Fortunately, the answer lies in this loving diss (about a book that would have been a far better television show).
Warning: this episode contains spoilers for the book's central plot twist.
You can purchase The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson online from QBD Books using the following link:

https://www.qbd.com.au/the-shampoo-effect/jenny-jackson/9781529155235/?utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPBooksmartshampooeffect&utm_id=Booksmartshampooeffect
Use code BOOKSMART for 5% off your purchase with QBD Books in-store or online.

The BookTok girlies have been blessed with yet another book-to-screen adaptation with Ali Hazelwood's 'The Love Hypothesis' dropping on Prime Video. But the real question is, does this adaptation and its stars Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman have chemistry?

This is one of the many questions we answer in this podcast review of the buzzy adaptation, discussing the changes made from the book to the screen, the unexpected but immensely exciting asexual representation, and the infamous 16th chapter.

We hope that you enjoy this episode and conversation divas.

Warning: this episode contains spoilers for the book & film.
You can purchase The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood online with QBD Books.

https://www.qbd.com.au/the-love-hypothesis-film-tie-in-edition/ali-hazelwood/9781408738474/?utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPBooksmartLoveHyp&utm_id=BooksmartLoveHyp

Use code BOOKSMART for 5% off your purchase

In this episode of Booksmart, hosts Sunny Adcock and Allie Daisy King take on the current romantic fiction boom and share which new love stories you should be reading.

Print sales of romantic fiction have reached an all-time high worldwide, but the genre (and its many sub-genres) isn't just outselling mystery or sci-fi; it's expanding the market with its more inclusive and diverse stories.

These "light-hearted" stories challenge how audiences see themselves and the world around them, while putting protagonists often ignored in the literary world at the centre of the narrative. But what happens when the film and television industry, which continues to capitalise on built-in audiences by adapting popular books rather than investing in original stories, appears to have zero interest in maintaining that diversity in its casting decisions, even when it's a foundational part of the source material?

Warning: this episode features discussion of overused book tropes, whitewashed musical theatre productions, and calls back to the days of dark Harry Styles fan fiction.

What are these intentions Jessy speaks about, and are they good? Well that is what we are here today to find out.

Welcome to Booksmart’s August Book Club episode! This month, we’re diving into Good Intentions, the buzzy debut novel from Sydney-based author and entrepreneur Jessy Wu.

Jessy describes the book as a college coming-of-age story meets corporate thriller - and honestly, it’s every bit as juicy as that sounds.

In this very special Book Club episode, Sunny and Allie spend the first half doing what they do best: unpacking the book. In the second half, we’re joined by Jessy herself for a Q&A, where she gives us the inside scoop on the book, its characters and the intentions behind it all.

So, grab your copy, settle in and let’s get into it.

Warning: this episode contains spoilers for the book.

You can purchase Good Intentions by Jessy Wu online with QBD Books using the following link:

⁠https://www.qbd.com.au/good-intentions/jessy-wu/9781761776694/?utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPBooksmartgoodintentions&utm_id=Booksmartgoodintentions⁠

Use code BOOKSMART for 5% off your purchase

In this instalment of Booksmart, hosts Sunny Adcock and Allie Daisy King travel 125 years back in time to 1901 for Netflix’s adaptation of My Brilliant Career, the landmark Australian novel by literary icon Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, better known as Miles Franklin.

A foundational feminist work in the Australian literary canon, My Brilliant Career first made its way to the big screen in 1979 in Gillian Armstrong’s acclaimed adaptation, now regarded as a defining film of the Australian New Wave.

In this episode, Sunny and Allie delve into Netflix’s hotly anticipated new adaptation, joined by a stellar line-up of cast and creatives. They speak with Philippa Northeast (Sybylla), Miah Madden (Betty), Kate Mulvany (Augusta), showrunner and writer Liz Doran, and author and Miles Franklin expert Alexandra Lapierre.

From Franklin’s enduring legacy to the challenges of bringing Sybylla’s story to a new generation, this episode explores what makes My Brilliant Career such a vital and resonant Australian story.

We hope you enjoy the episode—and the adaptation!

Warning: this episode contains spoilers for all six episodes.

You can purchase My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin online with QBD Books using the following links:

qbd.com.au/clothbound-classic-my-brilliant-career/miles-franklin/9780241699584

qbd.com.au/my-brilliant-career/miles-franklin/9780143105053

Use code BOOKSMART for 5% off your purchase

In this bonus episode of Booksmart, host Allie Daisy King sits down with Australian romance author Tierney Page, known online as TierneyReads.

Page is the author of the 'London Hearts' trilogy, known for their swoony male love interests, relatable heroines, and taboo romances. But she's also beloved for her viral, unfiltered, and NSFW TikTok reviews of dark romance novels.

Listen to hear Allie, "an asexual woman and avid romance reader", and Tierney, "a venerated smut lover," unpack the many overlooked ways in which explicit scenes in romance often serve as a vehicle for character growth, allowing characters to communicate needs on a deeper level while building the tension that readers crave.

You can buy any of Tierney's books at QBD with 5% off using the code 'BOOKSMART' online or at the checkout:

https://www.qbd.com.au/search/?q=Tierney+Page&utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPBooksmartTierneypage&utm_id=BooksmartTierney