By The Book

If you're wondering what the podcast Two Book Nerds Talking (TBNT) is about, well, it really is all in the title. Born out of a mutual love for reading, the Malaysian literary podcast was started by Diana Yeong and Honey Ahmad, and has since grown to have a loyal following. Meanwhile, we're always delighted to find fellow book-lovers, so we speak with Diana and Honey about their shows, how they decide what to talk about, and what appeals to them about podcasts. We close off with some TBNT book recommendations. 

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A family story that's also the tale in some ways of newly independent Bengal, and a pre-independence Malaya, A Flutter in the Colony is the debut novel of Sandeep Ray, whose short story 'Eggs' won the Hanif Kureishi Writing Competition in 2023. We discuss our impressions of the novel, and its contribution to the landscape of historical fiction in Malaysia, in this month's Book Club. 

Image Credit: Penguin Random House SEA

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Award-winning Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng's third novel has just arrived on the shelves amidst a lot of anticipation, and it certainly takes on a lofty task: The House of Doors fictionalises, among others, renowned author William Somerset Maugham and revolutionary Chinese statesman Sun Yat Sen, in a story set in colonial Penang. We speak with Twan Eng about why he was drawn to these personalities, writing from the viewpoint of a repressed British woman of the era, and the unique structure of the novel. We close off with a review of the book.

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Joy of Books is a platform that allows folks to rent books online, while Bookaholics Anonymous is a shop that began life as a bookcrossing initiative, before morphing into an affordable secondhand bookstore. We speak with Carol Low, who runs both platforms, about her drive to get more Malaysians reading! 

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In conjunction with the 4th of July, we're diving deep into American literature, to discuss what makes it unique, and the writers (both classic and contemporary) that have shaped it. We also talk about some of the themes and preoccupations that American authors have explored, and how that has shifted over time - and of course, make recommendations about what to read to get started! 

Image Credit: Beloved Toni Morrison/Goodreads, The Human Stain Philip Roth/Goodreads, The History of Love Nicole Krauss/WordPress

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Writing a book about one's life can be a finely calibrated balancing act - revealing emotional truths and vulnerability, while telling an interesting, well-written story, all without giving too much of yourself up. In this episode, we explore some of our favourite memoirs and discuss what sets them apart. And then in Footnotes, we talk about a podcast that looks at the life and views of a previously well-loved, now controversial author, JK Rowling. 

Image Credit: Anthony Bourdain Medium Raw/Goodreads,  Barack Obama A Promised Land/The New York Times, Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle/Amazon

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Book translators often have their work cut out for them - not only do they have to be writers themselves, they also serve as the interpreters of another writer’s ideas, and a valuable bridge for readers to access literature from other languages. We speak with translator Fahmi Mustaffa about the pains and pleasures of his work, and how translating is about much more than simply substituting one language for another. 

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Audiobooks have increasingly come into their own, in some cases as popular with readers as “reading”. We speak with the homegrown Nusantara Audiobooks about how they create books to be listened to, and how they’re trying to both promote and preserve local literature.   

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Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese was released to a lot of acclaim, including being a finalist for the 2006 National Book Awards. It weaves three separate stories together: that of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, a coming-of-age tale of a first generation American, Jin Wang, and lastly that of Danny, who's tormented by his deeply stereotypical visiting cousin from China, Chin Kee. Since it's being adapted for a show by Disney, we thought the time was right to discuss the book, including its graphic style, storytelling approach and what it says about identity. And then in Footnotes, we talk about casting actors in our minds for characters we enjoy reading, particularly for graphic novels. 

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Written before the attempt on Salman Rushdie's life earlier this year, but released after, Victory City is an oddly prescient book that's also one of the most interesting of Rushdie's long career. Framed as a fictional translation of the epic history of the Bisnagan empire, it is also ostensibly the biography of the empire's queen, Pampa Kampana, who - casually - has the powers of Parvati, the goddess. Its themes also focus on the power and responsibility of creation, the dangers of blind belief, and how acts of violence can shape freedom of speech and thought. In this month's Book Club, we get into this very rich, layered text from one of our favourite authors. 

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