Two Book Nerds Talking

Being fantasy dorks, we dig deep into NK Jemisin's award-winning fantasy series, the Broken Earth trilogy. It is epic, nuanced and delves into really personal stuff with a backdrop of the world ending. We talk about reading everything from just one author and end the podcast with an excerpt of Jemisin's fierce Hugo acceptance speech.

Get steamy with Kiss Quotient & New Book Releases March 2019

We get up close and personal with Stella and Michael in one of the hottest contemporary romances out there. The Kiss Quotient is a reverse Pretty Woman and is how a person on the autism spectrum finds love unexpectedly with a male escort. But it’s much more that just a raunchy romp (although the love scenes were pretty hot), it’s also about trust and giving someone time to be comfortable with love… awww… the ‘feels’ is high in this one. We also announce the WINNER for our Hanna Alkaf Weight of or Sky giveaway.

For our 13th episode it’s HORROR with JD Barker and Dacre Stoker’s Dracul, a fictionalised (or is it?) account of Brams life which led him to write the horror classic Dracula. And yes, Dacre is Bram's great, great gandnephew. We talk vampires from gruesome to sparkly and get to tap into Sook Kwan’s super power of giving you a TV show for every book you throw at her. Also you finally get to meet our producer Jeff who is a bona fide horror buff and hosts Seram, a horror podcast under Renegade Radio too! So check that out.

Murder! Mayhem! In a crumbling English Manor... Stuart Turton's 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle brings back the heydays of Christie murder mysteries with a body hopping twist. Find out how confusing we got (without major spoilers of course) and if this demented book should be on your reading list this year. We also talk experimental novels and if it's satisfying reading. Do drop us an email at [email protected] if you like to tell us anything about the show and also join our book giveaway.

We have a BOOK GIVEAWAY this month so make sure you listen to the end and also a new segment called Break Your TBR. BYTBR talks about new releases for the month. It’ll be a monthly segment (not that you need any more books to read but you know, we like to kepoh on new books). We also discussed one of our favourite teen classics (which also has JK Rowling and Jenny Han as die-hard fans), which is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. You can listen to bits of the book and also a bit of the movie that starred Romola Garai and a young Henry Cavill. We even unearthed an old interview with Dodie Smith when she was 85 and she talks about her childhood and how she started writing. Do drop us an email at [email protected] if you like to tell us anything about the show and also join our book giveaway.

Spoiler free folks! Diana and Honey peels away Katherine Arden’s final book in the WInternight Trilogy. We talk fey creatures, Russian winters, families huddled over stoves the size of elephants and compassion for antgonists. We discuss Vasilisa, the plucky heroine who we grew to know and root for and how it is to have a dual nature. And we gushed a little about the horses. We also get to know Arden a little bit and the fact that she’s a passionate reader makes us love her all the more. For topic we merrily get onto the merry-go-round of Marie Kondo, the tidying up Guru that’s been deep in our closets and shelves organising our comfortable mess. How does a book lover get rid of their books? As usual let us know what you think of the episode by emailing us at [email protected].

TBNT Ep9: Spinning Silver | Topic: How We Choose Books for TBNT

In this magical episode we talk fairytales and why they are timeless and ripe for retellings. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is a fresh take on Rumplestilskin with strong female characters that kick-ass. However, even with a more feminist take on fairytales is there something in us that still wants a happily ever after? For our topic we delve into our own reading lives, reminisce on great libraries and let listeners know on how we select our books for discussion. As usual let us know what you think of the episode by emailing us at [email protected].

In this special YA edition of TBNT, Diana and Honey chats with Shemah Sham, moderator of the YA Discussion Group in KLBAC on what makes a Young Adult novel, the rise of YA fantasy books and what are our pet peeves for this genre of books. Are you a YA fan? Then give us your thoughts at [email protected].


Excerpts are from YA Books


The Rest of Us just Live Here- Patrick Ness

Shadow of the Fox- Julie Kagawa

My Heart and Other Black Holes- Jasmine Warga


Some Books mentioned and to check out


The Harry Potter Series- J.K. Rowling

The Hunger Games Trilogy- Suzanne Collins

The Hobbit- JRR Tolkien

The Red Rising Trilogy- Pierce Brown

All The Bright Places- Jennifer Niven


Book Recommendations


Sky in the Deep- Adrienne Young

The Cruel Prince- Holly Black

Strange the Dreamer & Muse of Nightmares- Laini Taylor

Six of Crows & Crooked Kingdom- Leith Bardugo

They Both Die at the End- Adam Silvera

My Lady Jane- Cynthia Hand, Brodie Ashton, Jodie Meadows

Iron Gold- Pierce Brown

His Dark Materials Trilogy- Phillip Pullman


Bookstagram Accounts

Shemah Sham's - @bookooville

Avery Kuan's - @bforbookslut

Sarah Lou’s- @thisdreamofmine

Tomi Adeyemi’s- @tadeyemibooks

Music Credits
Wind Marching For Rain - Puddle of Infinity - Youtube Audio Library
Epilog - Ghostpocalypse and Eastminster by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100666
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

In the first show of the new year, Honey and Diana peel back the layers of Murakami’s Killing Commendatore. A meditation on art, music and fraught relationships just to name a few themes in this book. Or izit just a rehash of old obsessions. We talk abt book resolutions, getting reacquainted with your bookshelves and going for a more varied reading list for 2019.

Book Recommendations:

The House of Spirits- Isabel Allende
Name of the Wind- Carlos Luis Zafon
The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Duma Key- Stephen King

In the Season finale of Two Book Nerds Talking, hosts Diana and Honey are joined by special guest Thean Kew, a radiologist with a voracious appetite for books.

We all talk about our best reads of 2018 and what to anticipate in 2019. All in all a good reading year for all of us, from books on family sagas, chess players, thought-provoking reads and poetry for all occasions. Kew, being an avid traveller and finder of great places to put up your feet and read, shares his Top Staycations within Peninsular Malaysia. You don’t want to miss this episode! Happy New Year bookish friends!

Outro music by Punch Deck
https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kdduxAVaFnbHJyNxl7FWV