Two Book Nerds Talking

Table for Two is a story told in vignettes - Evelyn Ross drifts betwen cities, going from New York City to Chicago, then to Los Angeles. With every step she takes closer to home, she treads farther away away and finds herself in a constantly spiraling dialogue betwen her past, present, and future. 

Exposited in seven points of view, the chain of storeis highlights the wit and dynamic penmanship of Amor Towles to craft the multi-faceted inner dialogue that goes on within people who are drifting and hoping to arrive into themselves. 

We enjoyed this read and we hope you'll enjoy this episode! 

Cheers booknerds!

Hello booknerds! 

It's been 2 weeks since the Aēsop Women's Library and we had some time to gather our thoughts about it. 

We got some special guests on board for this epsiode and we asked their thoughts on the Aēsop Women's Library 2024 that took place from 14-16 June at the Aēsop stores at The Exchange TRX and IOI City Mall, Putrajaya.

We have Shi Han, who is behind the fabulous Instagram account @human_edition.
Shi Han was brought on by Aēsop Malaysia to document and highlight the event and this is her first time at the Aēsop Women's Library! You can watch her videos over on her Instagram account and support her work! 

We also invited some of our listeners over to the preview on the 13th of June at Aēsop TRX and you'll hear from Sook Kwan (@bookknots), Aishah (@aishah.reads), Mahirah (@bymahirah), and Xueh Wei (@readlahwei) on their thoughts and what they picked up from the Aēsop Women's Library!

We like to thank the man of the hour, Remy Wong, the Assistant Marketing Manager of Aēsop Malaysia, for the opportunity to partner with Aēsop for a second year. This has been an amazing journey and we cherish the memories and connections made. 

If you missed the Aēsop Women's Library, we highly recommend that you listen to our first epsiode where we tell you about the books and head on over to a bookshop to pick the books up! There are so many amazing local women writers and your support goes a long way. 

Thank you again to everyone who listened to our episodes and made this event a successful one!

Hello everyone! 

In this second special Aēsop episode, we're talking to some special guests that are no strangers to the literary scene in Kuala Lumpur. 

We have Sharon Bakar who is the Managing Director of Word Works SDN BHD. Sharon runs creative writing courses, helps edit and publish writer’s works, and hosts literary events like readings at Seksan Gallery, Bangsar, KL. 

We also have Amir Muhammad who is an independent filmmaker, writer and founder of publication companies Matahari Books and Buku Fixi. 

We have Sharifah Osman with us too. Sharifah is a senior lecturer at the Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at University Malaya Kuala Lumpur. 

And we have Tutu Dutta who is an international nomad who has lived in far flung cities around the world, past decade she has authored 10 books including Timeless Tales of Malaysia and The Blood Prince of Langkasuka. 

We got to pick their brains and it was lovely talking to all of them. We learned a lot and we hope you'll enjoy this episode!

Remember to visit the Aēsop Women's Library next week (14-16 June 2024) at the Aēsop store at The Exchange TRX and IOI City Mall, Putrajaya!

Introducing the Aēsop Women's Library 2024, Malaysia Edition!

We are beyond excited to partner up with Aēsop Malaysia again to bring you another year of the Aēsop Women's Library! This year's theme is voices unbound and you'd be spoilt for choice as there will be 27 titles to choose from this year! Do visit the selected Aēsop stores and you are allowed to choose one complimentary book, no purchase required.

During this time, the shelves of Aēsop stores at The Exchange TRX and IOI City Mall Putrajaya will be cleared of products to make way for significant works of literature by Malayisan women writers. The selection is sprawling in genre and spirit: from emerging voices to seasoned authors, and short stories to novels and poetry. To find out more, listen to this episode and Part 1, if you're not caught up.

Mark your calendars and plan your journey!

When: 14 - 16 June 2024
Where: Aēsop The Exchange TRX, KL, and Aesop IOI City Mall, Putrajaya

—

Books in this episode: 

• Deplorable Conversations with Cats and Other Distractions by Yeoh Jo-Ann
• 洞 (Hole) by 蔡曉玲 (Cai Xiao Ling)
• The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
• 三滴米酒 (Three Drops of Rice Wine) by Wendi Sia, Wendy Teo, Wei Ling Hung 
• The Cats We Meet Along the Way by Nadia Mikail
•  声声慢 (Slow Voice) by Huang Huiru
• Tentang Pilihan by Dr. Nur Aisyah Zainorin
• Generation of Fragile by Germaine Thai
• Bergaji dan Pokai by Suraya Zainuddin
• 傷痛的祝福——大體捐贈者家屬的自述 (The Blessing of Pain - A Self Narration of an Anatomical Body Donor's Family) by 賴昭宏 (Lai Zhao Hong)
• Daylight Dialogues by Charissa Ong TY
• 余生：黎紫書微型小說自選集 (The Rest of Life) by 黎紫書 (Li Zi Shu)
• Senyum yang Tersembunyi by Melni
• 春天是一個晴天的早上 (Spring is the Morning of A Sunny Day) by 馬尼尼為 (Ma Ni Ni Wei)
• Duet Me Not by Lilian Li

Introducing the Aēsop Women's Library 2024, Malaysia Edition!

We are beyond excited to partner up with Aēsop Malaysia again to bring you another year of the Aēsop Women's Library! This year's theme is voices unbound and you'd be spoilt for choice as there will be 27 titles to choose from this year! Do visit the selected Aēsop stores and you are allowed to choose one complimentary book, no purchase required.

During this time, the shelves of Aēsop stores at The Exchange TRX and IOI City Mall Putrajaya will be cleared of products to make way for significant works of literature by Malayisan women writers. The selection is sprawling in genre and spirit: from emerging voices to seasoned authors, and short stories to novels and poetry. To find out more, listen to this episode and Part 2!

Mark your calendars and plan your journey!

When: 14 - 16 June 2024
Where: Aēsop The Exchange TRX, KL, and Aesop IOI City Mall, Putrajaya

—

Books in this episode: 

• As Equals: the Oei Women of Java by Daryl Yeap
• L的棱角 (The Edges and Corners of L) by 郭詩玲 (Guo Shi Ling)
• The Food That Makes Us by Foong Li Mei and Szetoo Weiwen
• My Mother Pattu by Saras Manickam
• King of the Sea by Dina Zaman
• The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
• Principal Girl Redux, edited by Sharifah Osman and Tutu Dutta
• How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart by Florentyna Leow
• Mengejar Mimpi Sempura by Auni Zainal
• 趁早出發 (Leave Early) by 旅人小魚 (Traveler Xiao Yu)
• Fried Rice by Erica Eng
• 哪有什麼勇敢 不過就是沒死 (I'm Not Brave, Just Not Dead) by 背包旅神 (Backpacker God)

We're talking about Butter by Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton) in this episode. Whew! There's a lot to unpack in this book, from delectable desciptions of food, to possible murders, the power struggle between the characters... this book is so much more than it seems. 

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer", the books is about gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back. What happens after this is a real roller coaster of a read. 

We hope you enjoy this episode and if you've read Butter, let us knwo what you think!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCMENT: The Aesop Women's Library is back this year! Stay tuned for our special epsiodes in collaboration with Aesop Malaysia to find out the book selections this year, author interviews, and more! 

Live, laugh, love, and read well.

Some people think foxes are similar to ghosts because we go around collecting qi, or life force, but nothing could be further than the truth. We are living creatures, just like you, only usually better looking . . .

Hello booknerds! 

We're so excited to share our interview with the fabulous Yangsze Choo on her new book The Fox Wife! It has a bit of everything; spirits, mystery, vengence, longing, all the good stuff! 

We really enjoyed this book and we got to talk to Yangsze (thank you Definitely Books) about it. Listen on about a world of mortals and spirits, humans and beasts, and their dazzling intersection.

Cheers!

Hello book nerds!

We're back with a whole new season and we're kicking it off with our anticipated reads for the first quarter of 2024!

It's an eclectic list filled with family drama, witches, crime, tea, and all sorts. It's going to be an interesting reading year and we hope you'll join us.

Books mentioned:
- You Only Call Me When You're In Trouble by Stephen McCauley
- You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrique, translated by Natasha Wimmer
- Good Material by Dolly Alderton
- Illium by Lea Carpenter
- The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland
- The Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
- Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
- Butter by Asako Yuzuki
- The Book of Love by Kelly Link
- Until August by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
- Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
- The Searcher by Tana French
- Song of the Huntress by Lucy Holland

Hello booknerds!

It has been some time but we're back from the ether to bring you our last episode of the year.

Publishers usually hold out till the end of the year to release the good stuff and in this episode, we're talking about some anticipated reads that came out during the autumn season and year end.

We would like to take this time to thank all our listeners for sticking with us and for all the support and love we have received. We appreciate you and we will be back in 2024 with all new bookish episodes and content.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from ours to yours!

Spooky greeting booknerds.

We know we're late but better late than never right? In this episode, we got to talk to the mysterious Kopi Soh, author of Looking After the Ashes. The book is a semi-biographical fiction of Kopi Soh’s childhood stories from growing up in a Peranakan family filled with "wisdom".

We talked about strange taboos (pantang larang), spirits, ghosts, and everything in between. We definitely learnt some new ones and relived some taboos we heard growing up.

We hope you enjoy this episode and do pick up Kopi's book! Cheers!