Booksmart

In this book club episode, Sunny and Allie review Muñeca by author Cynthia Gómez. The short novel comes in at under 200 pages and promises a Gothic queer love story featuring witchcraft and revenge.

Listen to hear the Booksmart girls unpack whether Muñeca's stunning cover matches the book's content & debate whether a novel set in the 1960s can be properly considered Gothic. They delve into the power imbalances present in this book, from body-swapping to patient x carer romances in fiction, with plenty of laughs along the way.

One thing the girls are sure of? GIVE US MORE WITCHCRAFT IN WOMEN'S FICTION!!!

In this episode of Booksmart, hosts Sunny Adcock and Allie Daisy King sit down with Sydney-based professional fangirl Cazzie Ahmed (@filmgirlcazzie).

Ahmed tells us how harnessing her long-standing affinity for pop culture has helped her build a loyal network of more than 12k followers and a side hustle that is swiftly becoming a 5-9 outside of her already full-time 9-5 career. The girls discuss the value of building your own digital platforms and the challenges that arise when you wish to be taken seriously as a creator with growing access to opportunities, especially if you're a fangirl with a predominantly female audience.

Ahmed also shares how she's learnt to establish boundaries and protect her space as an emerging public figure in the book and film world. Plus, she gives her input on the girls' ongoing discussion about how much say fans should have in the casting of book adaptations and how fandoms play a large role in making these adaptations possible.

In this hotly anticipated book club episode, Sunny and Allie review the most talked-about book of the year: 'Yesteryear' by Caro Claire Burke. This debut fiction novel draws on our growing cultural fascination with "tradwife" influencers, the alarming rise of conservative values among young women, and the "angry women" who can't bring themselves to look away from them — no matter how hard they try.

'Yesteryear's protagonist (and villain), Natalie, who has been compared to 'Gone Girl's Amy Dunne and 'American Psycho's Patrick Bateman, is as divisive as the book's plot-twist ending, and the girls are not seeing eye to eye. The book's high-concept premise promises great mystery and suspense, but does it deliver?

Listen to this episode to be a part of a conversation that has taken the internet by storm. You can purchase 'Yesteryear' by Caro Claire Burke online with QBD Books using the following link:

https://www.qbd.com.au/yesteryear/caro-claire-burke/9780008742775/?utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPBooksmartYesteryear&utm_id=BooksmartYesteryear

In this bonus episode of Booksmart, hosts Sunny Adcock and Allie Daisy King react to Prime Video's television adaptation of Carley Fortune's popular young adult romance novel, 'Every Summer After'.

The show, titled 'Every Year After', dropped this week, hot on the heels of the streamer's very successful adaptation of Elle Kennedy's 'Off Campus' series, but the girls are divided on whether it'll satisfy existing fans of the novel or have enough impact to draw in new viewers.

From major changes to the novel's characters and storyline to large age gaps among the central cast, there's certainly a lot to talk about (but don't worry, it's not all bad).

Proceed with caution as this episode contains spoilers for the television series and the novel it's based on.

*CORRECTION: In this episode, Sunny incorrectly criticises the casting of a Black character she misremembered as being described by the author as having "dark skin". Chantal is not described as such and we would like to apologise to actress Aurora Perrineau for the misinformation.

You can purchase Carley Fortune's romance novels online with QBD Books using the following link:

https://www.qbd.com.au/search/?q=Carley+Fortune&utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPCarlyFortune&utm_id=BooksmartCarlyFortune

In this episode of Booksmart, hosts Sunny Adcock and Allie Daisy King sit down with seasoned Australian journalist and television presenter Georgie Tunny on the launch day of her debut novel, Over to You.

Over to You follows three best friends — Carter, Naya, and Greta — as they navigate the competitive Australian media industry while trying to hold their friendship together.

Tunny draws on her more than a decade-long career in media to faithfully depict the complexities of the newsroom. In this episode, the girls also bond over their shared love of Taylor Swift and their unyielding adoration of the way shared interests create immediate, authentic connections between strangers.

Get your copy now at QBD Books with this link;

https://www.qbd.com.au/over-to-you/georgie-tunny/9781761471803/?utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPOverToYou&utm_id=BooksmartOverToYou

In this very special mini episode of Booksmart, Sunny is joined by the brains behind Netflix’s adaptation of 'Remarkably Bright Creatures', author and executive producer Shelby Van Pelt and Director and writer Olivia Newman.

This conversation sees Sunny talk to these incredible minds about the book-to-screen adaptation process, the difficulty of grounding a story about an octopus in reality, and so many more wonderful insights.

This was such a wonderful chat that we just knew we had to share it in its entirety with our audience.

Head to Netflix to watch this amazing film now, you will not be disappointed.

In their fourth book club episode, Sunny and Allie review 'My Dear You' by Rachel Khong. The book is a collection of ten short stories, written in as many years, exploring race, connection, transformation, and grief.

Khong's protagonists compel us to confront some of life's biggest questions, hidden beneath the veil of unusual, paranormal scenarios. Here, Sunny and Allie reconsider their bias against the short story format, discuss which animal they'd choose to be reborn into, whether they'd keep their current appearance in the afterlife if given a choice, and much more.
You can purchase 'My Dear You' by Rachel Khong online with QBD Books using the following link: https://www.qbd.com.au/my-dear-you/rachel-khong/9781529155365/?utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPMyDearYou&utm_id=BooksmartMyDearYou

The original hockey romance has finally gotten its own TV adaptation. In this episode, Sunny and Allie review episodes 1-7 of Prime Video's new 'Off Campus' series, based on the best-selling novels by Elle Kennedy. But unlike their prior discussions on book adaptations, only Allie has read the books the adaptation is based on (and trust me, she's read them enough for the both of us).

How does this adaptation stack up for a fan who has read the series back to front more times than she should admit, versus a booklover who hasn't yet entered the world of 'Off Campus' and is learning about its characters for the first time through the TV show?

Together, they attempt to answer the age-old question: Is it preferable to read the book before or after watching its screen adaptation?

Proceed with caution as this episode contains minor spoilers for the television series.

You can purchase Elle Kennedy’s sports romances online with QBD Books using the following link: https://www.qbd.com.au/search/?q=Elle+Kennedy&utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPElleKennedy&utm_id=BooksmartElleKennedy

In this very chaotic Booksmart special, Allie holds Sunny hostage to explain all thirteen books in the ever-expanding 'Off Campus' universe by Canadian author Elle Kennedy ahead of season one of the screen adaptation dropping on Prime Video on May 12.

Elle Kennedy is one of the pioneers of the contemporary sports romance novel. Her first hockey romance novel, ‘The Deal’, was released in 2015, years before the success of other beloved series like ‘Heated Rivalry’ and ‘Icebreaker’, which are also known for spending a great deal of time on the ice and in the bedroom.

Proceed with caution as this episode contains huge spoilers for novels in the ‘Off Campus’, ‘Briar U’, and ‘Campus Diaries’ series, as well as the standalone novel ‘Love Song’.

You can purchase Elle Kennedy’s sports romances online with QBD Books using the following link: https://www.qbd.com.au/search/?q=Elle+Kennedy&utm_source=Booksmartpod&utm_medium=MPPodcast&utm_campaign=BSMPElleKennedy&utm_id=BooksmartElleKennedy

Move over Sylvia Plath, a new foundational feminist author has entered the chat. Dee Salmin, esteemed radio presenter and modern dating, sex, and love expert, has released her debut book, ‘It’s Not Love, Actually’. From ‘Boy Sober’ to ‘Femcels’ and the timeless question of ‘are the straights okay?, she tackles myriad topics present in the lives of young folk in 2026. In this episode of Booksmart, hosts Sunny & Allie sit down with Dee to unpack her powerful book, her “reputation” as a “gonad stealing feminist witch”, and her storied career as a radio presenter.

Get your copy of 'It's Not Love, Actually' by Dee Salmin here.