You can find Anna Pitoniak at www.annapitoniak.com and on socials at annapitoniak.

-Website atwww.perksofbeingabooklover.com.

For our final episode of 2023, we chat with Anna Pitoniak, whose 4th novel, The Helsinki Affair, has been named a Best Thriller of 2023 by The Washington Post. Anna has long been a fan of spy novels and decided to try her hand at writing the genre. While spy novels have usually been written by and about men, Anna shows that women agents can be just as smart, sly, and ballsy. With a background in the publishing industry, Anna discusses how this experience impacted her journey writing, finding an agent, and working to get her novel into the world.

We also discuss how she is very different from Carrie on the Christmas front and why tacos were not her favorite food from a trip to Mexico (you’ll be surprised by what was.)

Books Discussed in This Episode:

1- The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak

2- Slow Horses by Mick Herron

3- Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak

4- The Looking Glass War by John Le Carre

5- The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carre

6- Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukherji

7- Mr. Lullaby by J.H. Markert

8- The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert

9- The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel

10- Speak Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Emily Wiggins @emwigsterbookshelf

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Shows mentioned--

1- Slow Horses (Apple +, 2022)

2- Russian Doll (Netflix, 2019)