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Award-winning mystery writer Iona Whishaw drops by the podcast to discuss the latest book in her Lane Winslow mystery series. To Track a Traitor spans both world wars and is a tale of sibling rivalry, infidelity and espionage. Iona's backstory is just as compelling as her writing. Her books are inspired by the British Columbia town of her childhood and her mother's experience as a World War II spy.  She talks about her journey to becoming a novelist and how the question "Why Not Me?" gave her the conviction to pursue her dreams in her 60s.

Follow Iona Whishaw:

Website: https://ionawhishaw.ca
Instagram: @ionawhisawauthor

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Amy kicks off Season Four of the podcast with a discussion of the literary novel The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt and the memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful by poet Maggie Smith. The Librarianist is the story of retired librarian Bob Comet. Hoping to fill a void in his life, he volunteers at a senior's centre.  Amid a community of strange peers, Bob reflects on his past and his character is revealed. You Could Make This Place Beautiful is a firsthand account about the breakdown of a marriage and the rebirth of a person. Told through gorgeous prose, the memoir is sad, funny and hopeful. Amy also discusses the Netflix comedy Fisk and the podcast I've Had It.

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Hi Red Fern Listeners! I was recently a guest on a fabulous wine podcast called The TallMikeWine Podcast. Host Mike Stone and I talk about, what else, but books and wine.  I offer up a mini summer reading list and Mike explains how he comes up with all those wine adjectives. Mike is a self-professed wine geek who creates fun, relatable conversations around wine. And did I mention that he is a former disc jockey? Enjoy, and I will be back in the fall with a new lineup.

Follow Mike Stone

Website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1435309
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tallmikewine/

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Book blogger Susan Matheson stops by the podcast to talk about her favourite reads for summer. Her selections range from a cozy mystery to a contemporary memoir.

Books and Resources discussed:

Go as a River by Shelley Read
The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bingley
Darling by India Knight
The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
The House of Lincoln by Nancy Horan
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
March by Geraldine Brooks
The African Samurai by Craig Shreve
One Night in Mississippi by Craig Shreve

Follow Bedside Table Books:
Instagram: @bedside_table_books
Website: https://bedsidetablebooks.com/

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Amy and Geoff review the popular fiction novel Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson and literary fiction novel Ghost Music by An Yu. Pineapple Street is a bird's eye view into the moneyed Brooklyn Heights family The Stocktons. Sasha, a middle-class New England girl, marries into the family and tries to find her way. Set in Beijing, Ghost Music is a quiet book that examines the sad life of retired concert pianist Song Yan. A mysterious parcel of mushrooms begins arriving at her door each week and suddenly her life changes. Geoff also talks about his third failed attempt at reading Cormac McCarthy.

Books and Resources discussed:

The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
Ghost Music by An Yu
Braised Pork by An Yu
Wiser than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, podcast
The Diplomat, Netflix

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Retired English Professor Dr. Mason Harris drops by the podcast to discuss one of his favourite books Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This book combines elements of Gothic, Horror and Romantic literature. Dr. Harris delves in to Shelley's scandalous background and draws parallels between the Romantics and 1960s radicalism.

Books and Resources discussed:
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

Listen to my episode on the Villa here: The Age of Vice and The Villa, Season 3, Episode 15. 

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We review two of the buzziest books of early 2023: Fast-paced gangster novel set in India Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor and friendship travel story/thriller with Daisy Jones and the Six (by Taylor Jenkins Reid) vibes The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. Age of Vice is a contemporary novel set in India. It is equal parts thriller and family saga and centres around the Wadia crime family. The book is about gangsters, lovers, false friendships, forbidden romance and corruption. The Villa is a classic beach and escapist read. It is popular fiction with backstory and a bit of a bite.

Books and resources discussed:
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
Party Down, Crave
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Shantaram, Apple Plus

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We review one of our favourite books of last year Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin as well as This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the story of three friends Sadie, Sam and Marx and their foray into the video gaming industry. It is a campus novel as well as a look at video gaming as high art. This Time Tomorrow is a fun, nostalgic read with the main character, Alice, travelling back in time to the '90s. The book is a look at father/daughter relationships and a love letter to the '90s. It answers the question: Would you change the past if you could?

Books and Resources Discussed:

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Last of Us (Netflix)
Shrinking (Apple Plus)
Only Murders in the Buliding (Disney Plus)

Check out our episode on the Midnight Library here:
The Midnight Library, Klara and the Sun and Hamnet, Season 1, Episode 13

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Author Cedar Bowers joins the podcast to discuss her 2021 debut novel Astra. The book follows the life of a young woman who is born on a B.C. commune from the perspective of 10 different people.  Cedar discusses life growing up in a remote community, the failed promise of the back-to-the land movement and if we can ever really know somebody.

Books and Resources discussed:

Astra by Cedar Bowers
A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
The Island of Forgetting by Jasmine Sealy
We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence

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I review two novels by current Canadian literary stars Emily St. John Mandel and Heather O'Neill. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel is a science fiction novel about art, time, travel, love and plague that takes readers from 1912 Vancouver Island to a dark colony of the moon 500 years later. The author also incorporates references to her earlier award-winning novels Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel.

When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O'Neill is a historical fiction, satirical novel about 19th-century Montreal. It takes readers into the brutality of factory life and the opulent lives of Montreal’s wealthy while exploring sex, desire and class.

Books and Resources Discussed:

Significant Others, podcast
Borgen, Netflix
Dicte, Prime Video
Sea Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O'Neill
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Station Eleven, HBO
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Heavenly Creatures, movie (1994)
The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay

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