On 7 February, 2009, hundreds of bushfires tore across Victoria, taking 173 lives and destroying over 300 000 hectares of bushland and private property. In this podcast, we sit down with with Walkley Award-winning author and journalist Chloe Hooper to speak about her new book ‘The Arsonist’, a captivating and haunting retelling of the Black Saturday bushfires through the eyes of those who were there, as well as the subsequent investigation and trial of firebug Brendan Sokaluk. Chloe shares her own experience of the fires that swept past her house in Northern Victoria, discusses the role and response of governments when it comes to managing fires on a rapidly warming planet, and helps to answer the burning question: what kind of person is an arsonist?Find the book: http://bit.ly/2RSh8Hi

What do you get when you put the story of history's greatest pandemic in the hands of the Queen of Crime? Something truly un-put-downable.Minette Walters had sold over 25 million crime thriller novels when she stopped writing in 2007. In the midst of a 10-year hiatus, she made a grisly discovery in her town near Dorset, UK. That discovery inspired her new series about the Black Death that follows a heretical young woman, Lady Anne, as she defies the church to protect her people.Books mentioned in this podcast:The Last Hours - bit.ly/2B5IDrlThe Turn of Midnight - bit.ly/2OHyWmE

'Seven Deadly Sins (And one very naughty fruit)' is an irreverent romp through gastronomical history. Comedian and presenter Mikey Robins serves up bizarre anecdotes about food from around the world that all relate to a deadly sin - from greed and gluttony to lust and envy.Hear Mikey tell some outrageous foodie stories, both from the book and hilarious yarns he couldn't quite fit in. Mikey exclusively tells us the recipe for the cocktail named after him, tells the 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club' of fart jokes, and reveals the identity of the very naughty fruit he mentions in the title of his book!Get a copy of Seven Deadly Sins here: http://bit.ly/2ESdk7n

Lynette Noni is the author of the fantasy YA series 'The Medoran Chronicles' and 'Whisper', a novel about a girl called Jane Doe who has been locked away and experimented on for years.Olivia, Connor and Jenna from NSW's Central Coast Grammar School jumped behind the microphone and quizzed Lynette on everything from the hard hitting (how on earth do you write a book in just 26 days?!) to the hilarious (would you rather a leg-sized finger or a finger-sized leg?).Find out more about Lynette's books here: http://bit.ly/2SpJPfO

Stephanie Alexander, who has sold half a million copies of her book The Cook's Companion, introduces the young and the uninitiated to good food with her new book, The Cook's Apprentice: Tips, Techniques and Recipes for New Foodies.The legendary cook tells Gregory Dobbs about attacking pomegranates, her lamentations about modern eating habits, and how teaching her father to bake bread turned his life around.Find out more about Stephanie's new book: http://bit.ly/2ynZXWM

In 2016, Archibald Prize-winning artist Ben Quilty travelled with Richard Flanagan to places where the Syrian refugee crisis was peaking. He had no idea what to make of the experience until he met a young girl named Heba, and asked her to draw him a picture of her home.Find out more about Home: Drawings by Syrian Children - http://bit.ly/2R8ew81

As ABC political correspondent Laura Tingle put the finishing touches on her latest Quarterly Essay, 'Follow the Leader: Democracy and the rise of the strongman', Canberra descended into chaos. Dutton challenged, Turnbull fell, Morrison won. After some lightning-fast edits, the updated essay came out in the wake of the turmoil, and it examines Australian politics and the leaders of Germany, America, and China in order to answer the question in the minds of many: What the hell is going on?Angus Dalton quizzes Laura on the connections between political leadership and YA fiction, Trump’s Voldemortian qualities, and what needs to change in order for us to see a Prime Minister survive a full term.

For a guy who once thought that books were excruciatingly tedious, John Purcell has made quite the career from selling, reading, and writing them. He opened his own secondhand bookshop in his 20s, wrote a trilogy of bestselling erotica novels, and is now the Head of Books at Australian online bookshop, Booktopia. As part of that job, he's quizzed over a thousand of the world's brightest, bestselling writers.Here John tells Angus Dalton about his oddball bookshop customers, how Catch-22 and 50 Shades of Grey kicked off his career as a published writer, and his satirical, sexy new novel, The Girl on the Page.Books discussed:The Girl on the Page by John Purcell: http://bit.ly/2QrLvDHThe Secret Lives of Emma by Natasha Walker: http://bit.ly/2zQqf5nCatch-22 by Joseph Heller: http://bit.ly/2Rp6bNZ50 Shades of Grey by E L James: http://bit.ly/2Oy167w Normal People by Sally Rooney: http://bit.ly/2Oy1bbkListen to John's podcast over at Booktopia here: https://www.booktopia.com.au/blog/podcasts/

Singer-songwriter Holly Throsby took Aussie fiction lovers by storm in 2016 with her debut novel, Goodwood. Her latest book, Cedar Valley, came to form because she couldn't quite leave the world of her first book.Here Holly talks to Emma Harvey about quintessential Australian 'dagginess', Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and why a book tour is a hell of a lot better (though slightly less rock and roll) than a music tour.Goodwood: http://bit.ly/2ReZyxLCedar Valley: http://bit.ly/2zJCdxi

For this episode of the Good Reading Podcast, we hand over the mic to three Year 9 students of Brigidine College in Sydney. Together they quiz YA fantasy author Wanda Wiltshire on her 'Betrothed' series, and have a discussion about love triangles, the character traits of strength and independence, Sarah J Maas and other favourite books, and advice for aspiring writers.Find out more about the book series here: http://bit.ly/2wzMIBB