Diving In

Virginia and Louise immerse themselves in the meadows, riverbanks, orchards, high tides and deep snow to explore the deep connection and chasms between community, environment and climate change, in the emerging genre and precious language of eco-fiction. 

Books

The Offing by Benjamin Myers, 2019

Stolen by Ann-Helene Laestadius, 2023

Also consider A Month in the Country by JL Carr

Limberlost by Robbie Arnott, 2022.

Cuddy by Benjamin Myers 2023

The Stella Prize 2023 winner Sarah Holland Batt for The Jaguar. 

Podcast

The Rest is History podcasts on the Coronations

Wiser than Me with Julia Louis Dreyfuss 

Streaming

Unstable 

The Diplomat 

Queen Charlotte

Virginia and Louise are excited to share some must-read new releases including compelling stories about activist guerilla gardeners, true crime podcasters, writers rooms, surveillance and murder as well as the pitfalls and power dynamics of modern relationships, social media, dating apps and late night sketch TV.

Books

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkah, 2023, Flint Publishing

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, 2023, Granta Publishing

Search History by Amy Taylor, 2023, Allen and Unwin

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, 2023, Penguin Random House

Streaming

Succession HBO 

Netflix

The Diplomat

Line of Duty

Podcasts

Mel’s Electric Adventures

KicPod, Keep It Cleaner Podcast

Louise and Virginia jet off to San Francisco in the episode, where they discuss the origins of the City and County, and why it became the home and haven for people wanting to discard façades and identities they may have held in their home towns. They also discuss the original gold rush and the modern tech gold rush and the impact these have had on the city, as well as the serialisation of novels and they way this can shape the overall architecture of a novel. They also revisit the issue of Nazism and the presence of monsters living in plain sight among us. 

Books

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, 1941

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin, 1978

Daughter of Fortune by Isabelle Allende, 1998

Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, 2012

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry, 2016

Television

Clarkson’s Farm – Prime

My Mother and Other Strangers, BBC, ABC iView

Blog

Literary Hub by Megan Abbott

https://lithub.com/megan-abbott-on-the-difference-between-hardboiled-and-noir/ 

Louise and Virginia do a deep dive into the very contentious topic of Cancel Culture and the trend of cancelling books and authors. They also touch on the subject of banning books (and indeed burning books), which always have the opposite effect of that sought. Virginia and Lou both have very strong opinions on the subject and it’s such an interesting conversation. They also discuss a few great non-bookish things they’ve been diving into of late.

Books

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, 2006, Doubleday

All the Bright Places by John Boyne, 2022, Doubleday

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, 1969

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D H Lawrence, 1928.

The Trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Edited by CH Rolphe

TV Shows

Vardy v Rooney-Binge

Murder on the Homefront – Netflix

Significant Others – ABC iView

Nolly – Foxtel

Podcast

The Banned Books Podcast

Louise and Virginia have been immersed in some armchair travel to Tokyo, which has made them both very keen to travel there. These four books are great to read if you have a trip to Japan on your horizon or your bucket list. They also discuss some fabulous TV series to get streaming, a podcast, and they’ve both had very different recent experiences meeting Yotam Ottolenghi (although both evenings were great fun).

Books

Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray. Published by St Martin’s Publishing Group

The Book of Tokyo – A City in Short Fiction, edited by Michael Emmerich, Jim Hinks and Masashi Matsuie. 

Tokyo Redux by David Peace. Faber 2021

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata and translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori

Streaming TV series

Vardy v Rooney – Foxtel

Happy Valley – Binge

Bump – ABC

Podcast

The Mel Robbins Podcast

Yotam Ottolenghi – Test Kitchen

From soccer teams, eerie forests, dysfunctional families and loyal companions, Louise and Virginia ventured back into the world of books for younger readers.

Books

A Walk in the Dark by Jane Godwin – Lothian Hachette

Football Fever by Kristin Darell - Penguin

Take Me with You When You Go by David Levithan and Jennifer Niven – Penguin 2022

Runt by Craig Silvey – Allen and Unwin 2022, Illustrated by Sara Acton

Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden – Penguin 2022

Podcasts

Maintenance Phase – Debunking junk science behind health fads

The Daily – George Santos

Streaming Shows 

Emily in Paris

Yellowstone

Colin from Accounts

Slow Horses

Louise lost her beautiful Lagotto dog Buster, two months ago, and so today Virginia and Louise want to dedicate this episode to him and to celebrate the wonder and loyalty that is a dog. In this conversation they discuss four lovely dog-related books as well as a few other things they’ve been diving into lately.

Books

Dog Stories – Everyman’s Pocket Classics

Ava’s Apartment by Jonathan Lethem

The Emissary by Ray Bradbury

Dog Days by Ericka Waller

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Murder Most Royal by SJ Bennett

Podcast

The Crown : The Official Podcast with Edith Bowman

TV Series 

The Sandhamn Murders  (SBS Australia)

Instagram accounts

@jennybloomfield

@catherine.rayner

Streaming

Shetland Series 6 and 7

Julia - with Sarah Lancashire

Louise and Virginia have been reading some books by debut writers as well as a charming re-release from the 1960s. These are all great books which they enjoyed enormously. They also discuss a few other non-bookish things they’ve been diving into.

Books

A Helping Hand by Celia Dale

Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

TV

Marriage with Nicola Walker and Sean Bean

Annika with Nicola Walker

BBC Radio

Annika Stranded

Podcast

Off Air with Jane Garvey and Fi Glover

After a long break Virginia and Louise are excited to be back in their makeshift cushion studios to discuss some new releases by authors they absolutely love……. as well as some other popular culture they have been diving in to.

Email [email protected] 

Instagram @diving_in_podcast 

Virginia’s Instagram @virginia_reads

Louise’s Instagram @louise_cooks_and_reads

Song ‘Diving In’ – original music and lyrics written and performed by Laura Adeline – https://linkt.ree/llauraadeline  

Podcast sound production and editing by Andy Maher. 

Graphics by Orla Larkin - [email protected]

Books

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O' Farrell 2022, Hachette

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson, 2022, Penguin Books

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves 2022, Pan Macmillan

Exiles by Jane Harper, 2022, Pan Macmillan

Television

Louise recommends This England and DI Ray

Virginia recommends Sherwood and Savage River

Movies

Virginia recommends See How They Run

Podcast

Louise recommends Empire with Anita Anand and William Dalrymple

Louise and Virginia conclude their dive into Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes in this Book Club episode. They discuss Part 2 of Don Quixote, published over 10 years after Part 1, after an imposter had published a fake sequel. Virginia and Louise discuss several characters, the infamous cave scene and much more .