The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is a sharply written literary mystery infused with nostalgia that leaves its readers guessing.Journalist and author Felicity McLean joins Angus Dalton to talk 90s cuisine, the art of ghostwriting, Australian Gothic, and which iconic Aussie actor accidentally catalysed the writing of her novel.Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8More about The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone: bit.ly/2GmkCz0

As an award-winning writer and a professor working in the realm of pharmacology and medical research, Susan Hurley has been published in both literary magazines and medical research journals.She joins the Good Reading podcast to tell Angus Dalton about her life-saving research, the realms of medicine and biotechnology, and a medical trial that sparked the idea for her new thriller, Eight Lives.Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8Find out more about Eight Lives: bit.ly/2G2WCPU

Now the author of four novels who works in one of Australia's biggest publishing houses among blockbuster titles like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Boy Swallows Universe, Matt Howard never planned to make a life surrounded by books.In this episode of the Good Reading podcast, Angus Dalton pays a visit to Matt's office to talk about his latest novel, The Time is Now Monica Sparrow, which centres on an aspiring writer, an accidental death, and a guy who takes Marie Kondo way too seriously.Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8Find out more about The Time is Now, Monica Sparrow: bit.ly/2G6ywoM

There's a war on truth, and the liars are winning. So goes the warning of veteran investigative journalist Stephen Davis about the state of our media landscape. In his new book, Truthteller, Stephen reveals the 'toolbox' of methods used by governments and corporations to mislead the public and dodge accountability.Here he tells Angus Dalton fascinating stories from his life as a journalist, from M16 agents and Russian threats to an unresolved case of alleged murder in Sydney, and how we foot-soldiers can contribute to the War on Truth.Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8Find out more about Truthteller: http://bit.ly/2UfDd8h

Chocolate serves as a muse for many a writer, but did you know that the arrival of the delicious elixir in England catalysed a movement towards a more literate, engaged and sober society?For this episode of the Good Reading Podcast, historical fiction author Karen Brooks joins Angus Dalton to tell us more about chocolate's transformation of 17th-century London and her new novel, The Chocolate Maker's Wife.Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8Find out more about The Chocolate Maker's Wife: bit.ly/2TB1DEh

In her first book for adults since 2004, 'Gravity is the Thing', treasured children's author Jaclyn Moriarty writes about a mysterious self-help book called 'The Guidebook' that is sent to selected mailboxes one chapter at a time. Jaclyn joins Angus Dalton in this episode to talk about getting sucked in to self-help, why she would like an external committee to be in control of her life, and why she has a bone to pick with her sister, Liane Moriarty.Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8About Gravity is the Thing: http://bit.ly/2UeRYaA

Archivist and curator Vanessa Finney unearths Australia's earliest natural history photographs in Capturing Nature, her new book that reveals how scientific photography began at the Australian museum.From tiny inch-long fish to whale skeletons as long as buses, the museum's camera captured thousands of extraordinary images that have never been seen by the public. Angus Dalton heads to the museum to meet Vanessa and find out how photography revolutionised scientific understanding of nature and influenced the ideas of Charles Darwin.Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8About Capturing Nature: bit.ly/2HAgMUQ

In his first series for adults, Canberra writer Jack Heath has created a compelling character who works as a consultant for the FBI and has a very peculiar palate ...In this episode, Jack sits down with Angus Dalton to talk about Hangman and its new sequel, Hunter, getting published as a teenager, the ethical questions that surround cannibalism, and whether he'd mind being devoured upon dying. Yeah, things get weird.Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8Find out about Hangman & Hunter: bit.ly/2CyljTt

As a writer, Simon Cleary brings art and creativity up alongside experiences of war. In his latest novel, The War Artist, a Brigadier called James Phelan escorts the body of a young soldier home from Afghanistan. Struggling to adapt back to civilian life, an encounter with a tattoo artist named Kira changes Phelan permanently - both inside and out. Simon joined Angus Dalton to talk about the legacy of the Afghanistan War, PTSD, and the significance of tattoos in this episode of the Good Reading Podcast.Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8About the book: bit.ly/2TXj8CN

Peggy Frew's Hope Farm was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize. The Melbourne writer and ARIA Award-winning musician is back with Islands, a novel about a family in crisis that covers many generations, viewpoints and timelines. In this episode, Peggy tells Angus Dalton about creative doubt, running into the ocean in her undies, and 'the big, enormous, sprawling mess' of family. Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2NGVDYKListen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2MXSxQ8About the book: bit.ly/2VNkhdi