The Times calls it “ingenious and clever”, the Daily Mail declares it “mind-bendingly clever”, “Psalms for the end of the World” is a sprawling jigsaw of a story that propels its characters through time and space as they explore and discover the relative nature of love and reality.

And…

Dani Vee wasn’t content merely to create a podcast, Words and Nerds, that attracts 50,000 listeners each month, she’s also written a picture book and presides over the “slush pile” at edgy Aussie children’s publisher, Larrikin House. So, what books does Dani rate as “classics” and does she have any advice for aspiring picture book writers?

Guests: 

Cole Haddon, author of “Psalms for the End of the World”

Dani Vee, author of “My Extraordinary Mum” and presenter of Words and Nerds Podcast

Our Random Reader - Monique

Other books that get a mention:

Monique recommends “The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy, anything written by Haruki Murakami and “Middlesex” by Geoffrey Eugenides

Cole Haddon refers to the authors Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman and David Mitchell.

Dani Vee mentions “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wild and Judy Blume (author of books including “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” and “Blubber”), “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B White and The Baby-Sitters Club series by Anne M Martin. She mentions two other Larrikin House books; “My Shadow is Pink” and “My Shadow is Purple”. Michaela mentions “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde. 

Dani Vee’s next picture book is titled “My Epic Dad!”

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

INSTA - @hachetteaus

INSTA - @colehaddonwashere

INSTA - @DaniVeeBooks-Words & Nerds

INSTA - @larrikinhouse

FB - @HachetteAustralia

FB - @DaniVeeBooks

FB - @Larrikin House

Twitter - @colehaddon

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Death isn’t like in the movies - there’s no grand musical score playing as we leave this world. It’s just the final scene of our wonderful, complex and maybe ordinary life. But, asks author Megan Albany, what’s to be done about all that unfinished business? In The Very Last List of Vivian Walker, Vivian writes a to-do list and so begins a tale both hilarious and heartbreaking.

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

Insta - @ meganalbanywriter

FB - @ meganalbanywriter

Twitter - @ Megan_Albany

Web -meganalbany.com

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Ellis Gunn didn’t just survive the terrifying and unsettling experience of being stalked.  She wrote about it, in a book that is part poetic real life thriller, part advice manual for women.

And…

It may be many centuries since Vikings raided, traded and settled across Europe and Scandinavia, but time has not dimmed the romance of their stories. Viking scholar Dr Lisa Bennett explores why the heroic sagas continue to be a rich inspiration for authors and film-makers. 

Guests: 

Ellis Gunn, author of Rattled

Dr Lisa Bennett, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Flinders University and author of forthcoming speculative non-fiction title ‘Viking Women; Life and Lore’

Our Random Reader - Annie

Other books that get a mention:

Ellis Gunn mentions ‘Troll Hunting’ by Ginger Gorman. She also mentions a group called ‘Action Against Stalking’ established by Anne Moulds in Scotland.

Annie and Lisa Bennett mention the books ‘The Greenlanders’ by Jane Smiley, ‘Norse Mythology’ by Neil Gaiman, ‘Norse Tales’ and other books about vikings for young people by Kevin Crossley-Holland.

They mention the film ‘The Northmen’ starring Nicole Kidman and the TV series ‘Vikings’. Cath and Annie both recommend the SBS TV series “Beforeigners’.

The Icelandic historian, politician and poet mentioned by Lisa is Snorri Sturluson.

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

INSTA - Allen and Unwin - @ allenandunwin

INSTA - Lisa Bennett - @ lisalhannett

FB - Allen and Unwin - @ AllenandUnwinBooks

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Australian author Charlotte McConaghy talks about her latest novel, how her screenwriting experience informs its edgy pace and why climate remains her passion even as she writes a romantic thriller.

Another book by Charlotte McConaghy is “Migrations; A novel”

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

Insta - @ charlottemcconaghy

FB - charlottemcconaghyauthor

Twitter - @ CharMcConaghy

Web - https://www.charlottemcconaghy.com

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It took forty years for Dr Tony Bernard to uncover the full horror of what his father went through in World War 2. The memoir “Ghost Tattoo” is an extraordinary adventure and survival tale of life in Auschwitz but more than that it tells the lesser-known story of what really happened in  the Jewish ghettos.

And…

What sets memoir apart from autobiography and why is it such an important form of writing? Dr Kylie Cardell illustrates a lively conversation about what she calls “life writing” with two fearless books that reveal much about the historical and contemporary experience of being black in Australia.

Guests: 

Dr Tony Bernard, author of Ghost Tattoo

Dr Kylie Cardell, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Adelaide and author of “Dear World: Contemporary Uses of the Diary”

Our Random Reader - Patrick

Other books that get a mention:

Kylie Cardell mentions “Truganini: Journey through the apocalypse” by Cassandra Pybus and “The Hate Race” by Maxine Beneba Clarke

Michaela mentions “Still Life” and “Family Life” by Elizabeth Luard and “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo.

Patrick mentions “The story of San Michel” by Axel Munthe,  “A Fortunate Life” by A B Facey, “Any Human Heart” by William Boyd, “The Map that Changed the World” by Simon Winchester, “The Passions of the Mind” by Irving Stone and “Breath” by Tim Winton.

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

INSTA - Allen and Unwin - @ allenandunwin

INSTA - Dr Kylie Cardell - @ kyliesays

INSTA - Hachette - @ hachetteaus

FB - Allen and Unwin - @ AllenandUnwinBooks

FB - Hachette - @ HachetteAustralia

TW - Dr Kylie Cardell - @ KylieCardell

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A man gasps for breath as he is dragged from the ocean and given another chance. Living within a surreal, war-torn landscape and ever on the run through the swampy and threatening world of Basin, Scott McCulloch’s un-named protagonist takes readers on a road story that is unsettling and stark. 

And, 

Discover or re-discover Earthsea, a vast archipelago of islands populated by wizards, dragons and shadowy creatures; it's the 1970s ground-breaking creation of fantasy writer Ursula Le Guin.

Guests: 

Scott McCulloch, author of debut novel, ‘Basin’

Dr Lisa Bennett, senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Flinders University

 

Our Random Reader - Chelsea

 

Other books that get a mention: ‘Four Fifty from Paddington’ by Agatha Christie and 'The Great Hope' by Jessica Stanley currently sit on Cath’s Tsundoku. Cath and Lisa discussed ‘Earthsea’ by Ursula Le Guin in our classics segment. Chelsea’s recommendations include 'Fish out of Water' by Kate Hendrick, 'The Yield' by Tara June Winch, 'Talking to My Country' by Stan Grant

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES 

Publisher of Basin, Black Inc Books: 

Insta:@blackincbooks

Facebook: BlackIncBooks

Twitter: @BlackIncBooks 

Dr Lisa Hannett: 

Insta: @lisalhannett

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A discarded painting in a roadside clean-up, forgotten bones in a research archive, and Lexington, the greatest racehorse in US history. From these strands of fact, in 'Horse' Geraldine Brooks weaves a sweeping story of spirit, obsession and injustice across American history.

And…

Meet writer and artist Joe Brainard, whose series of 'I Remember' memoirs broke new literary ground in the 1960s and early 1970s,  and have inspired poets and writers ever since.

Guests: 

Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winning author of 'Horse'

Ken Bolton, poet, author of 'Salute' and 19 other books of poetry published since 1977… and devoted fan of Joe Brainard

 

Our Random Reader - Kortin

Other books that get a mention: 'Phosphorescence' by Julia Baird and 'The Hush' by Sara Foster currently sit on Sarah’s Tsundoku. Michaela mentioned 'White Fragility' by Robin DiAngelo in her interview with Geraldine Brooks.

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

Geraldine Brooks:

Insta: @ozbrooks100

Facebook: Geraldine Brooks

Twitter: @GeraldineBrooks

Hachette:

Insta:@HachetteAus

Facebook: Hachette Australia Books

Twitter: @HachetteAus

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Katherine is hafu; half Japanese, half English but in the experience of eating her body “forgot its cultural confusion”. Meshi explores the meals of Katherine’s childhood through Japan’s twenty-four sekki (seasons) untangling the threads of meaning, memory and ritual woven through every delicious mouthful.

And…

From hand-written recipes passed down through generations, to cook books that take us inside other cultures, or sell us dreams of travel, the recipe book is an enduring artefact of our culture. Foodie and former bookseller Kate Jordan Moore takes us through the many shapes food literature can take.

Guests: 

Katherine Tamiko Arguile, author of Meshi; A personal history of Japanese food published by Affirm Press

Kate Jordan Moore, former bookseller and history researcher

 

Our Random Reader - Clara

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

Instagram: @katherinetamikoarguile @affirmpress

Facebook: @katherinetamikoarguile @affirm press

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Mabel Worley leapt off the pages of history and could not be shaken from the consciousness of museum curator, Corinne Ball. Who was this woman who gave birth to a daughter in a destitute asylum, married, ran away to join the circus and rubbed shoulders with the stars of her day – only to lapse eventually into criminal existence as a vagrant and public drunk? How did it all go wrong? Corinne Ball tells Mabel’s poignant story.

And…

Which old classic still keeps the cash registers ringing in Adelaide’s oldest bookstore? And, of all the books they sell, which book would they never allow to run out of stock? Find out from Annie Waters… the woman whose customers trust her with their [reading] lives!

Guests: 

Corinne Ball, author of Three-Ring Circus: the dramatic, mysterious and tragic life of Mabel Worley, a destitute asylum girl

Annie Waters, Co-owner of Mostly Books, Adelaide’s oldest bookstore

Our Random Reader - Lily

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

Insta: @mostly_books

Insta: @mr_annie

Facebook: @mostlybooks

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Michael Robotham has a new psychological thriller on the shelves, Lying Beside You.  While his stories delve into the dark side, in person he is a warm and relaxed man with a passion for his craft.

And…

Evan S. Connell’s Depression-era pair of novels Mrs Bridge and Mr Bridge tell a still familiar tale of a safe but desperate marriage. 

 

Guests: 

Michael Robotham author of Lying Beside You 

Olga Sankey

Our Random Reader - Adrian

Music composed by Quentin Grant 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES

Facebook:  MichaelRobothamAU

IG: @michaelrobotham

Facebook: HachetteAustralia

Instagram: hachetteaus

Tsundoku https://www.facebook.com/Tsundokucast

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