On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, spend a few minutes discussing the aftermath of COVID-19 by which Kirstyn was unfortunately struck down last month. She is not happy about it.

The books up for discussion this month are Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi Demeester [4:10] and Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett [29:25].

Ian also heartily recommends Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett and Berg by Ann Quin.

Congratulations are due to Ian as well for his recent nomination for the William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review! And a gracious reminder that Kirstyn's new collection, Hard Places, is available now from Trepidatio Publishing.

If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 104:40 for final remarks.

Next month, the two books on the slab will be:

Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum

Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!