Two Book Nerds Talking

It's the first episode of Season 5. Hello friends and book lovers we are back and this is our 100th episode! That's pretty amazing eh? And have we got a treat for you. This is an interview we did with sci-fi author Andy Weir and we had a good time chatting with him about his latest book, Project Hail Mary. We both enjoyed this book and it's back on familiar 'The Martian' territory. One man, solo, stuck between planetary annihilation and deep space (you'll get what we mean when you read this book). Enjoy!

Music credits:
What Does Anybody Know About Anything by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/dtv/

Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

Just to get you folks warmed up for Season 5. Yes! Season 5 is just around the corner and we are giving you our monthly 30 Dirty. June's #tbntbookchallenge2021 is to read a translated work OR a book written by a non-nativeEnglish speaker. We have decided to narrow the field by focusing on books translated and released this year. Let's get to it!

Editor's note: We apologise for the audio quality in this episode - we're still trying to get the hang of virtual recordings. Thank you for sticking it out!

Music credits:
Bossa Antigua by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3454-bossa-antigua
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Long Stroll by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3997-long-stroll
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Notes: A few more sleeps till we kick off Seasons 5 (and it'll be our 100th episode too!). So till then, enjoy this throwback to our 7th episode on Murakami's Killing Commendatore. We thought it'd be a good one to indulge in, especially because his latest release, First Person Singular, has hit our shores. Enjoy! |..|

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.

Yes, we're on a break, but we couldn't let you go without another 30Dirty episode! So we roped in our interns to give you the low-down on coming-of-age and family drama recommendations… all as graphic novels - fun! Not to worry, we do have some novels too for those who aren't ready to brave full frontal illustrations. Please make our first-time podcasters Steph and Aly feel welcomed - they definitely had a blast! Oh to be young again… enjoy!

Notes: Just because Season 4 is over, does not mean you have to stop listening! We've got lots of exciting tid-bits coming your way. But, for now, here's an oldie but a goldie; a perfect read for our April #tbntbookchallenge too! |..|

We are back with a killer new season of book nerdery. First up, Good Omens, we talk book, TV and, friendships- between an angel, Aziraphale and a demon, Crowley plus that of co-writers Pratchett and Gaiman. It's a heart-warming tale filled with answerphone messages and the antichrist. Also June's book picks for Break Your TBR. Ah... we missed filling up your shelves...

This has been a loooooong season folks, but in our final episode of Season 4 we discussed Klara and the Sun, quite possibly the book of the moment. Often we find ourselves quite agreeable on the books that we review but ever so often, we have different opinions. This is one such book. What we do agree upon is that there is much to talk about. Enjoy folks!

Music credits:
With a Stamp by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org/

Retro Dreamscape by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://www.twinmusicom.org/song/283/retro-dreamscape
Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org

Bossa Antigua by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3454-bossa-antigua
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

This is an edited version of our LIVE stream discussion with Lauren Marino, author of Bookish Broads and Ain Aissa, host of podcast Seek to Speak. We had a gala time talking about forgotten women authors, inspirational trailblazers and of course recommend some empowering reads for you to nerd out on.

Special thanks to our guests Ain Aissa (Seek To Speak Podcast) and Lauren Marino.

Bossa Antigua by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3454-bossa-antigua
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Swimmey Texture by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4451-swimmey-texture
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Energizing by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5709-energizing
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Another 30 Dirty and we have to say we do enjoy putting these mini-shows together for you folks because it lets us look back on some of our favourite reads and discover a whole lot more other reads. Rest assure our TBRs grow ever longer too with each 30Dirty that we do each week. April's Challenge is to read a book with a non-human protagonist or a book with a picture of an animal on it. So we decided to give you robot and alien reads (Diana wants to throw in some other mythological creatures too). Enjoy!

We spent a delightful hour talking to Viji Krishnamoorthy and Shireen Zainuddin the editors of a collection of short stories called Lockdown Chronicles. After the first MCO ended they decided to record down the Malaysian experience of the pandemic in 19 fictional stories. The voices are varied, the POVs are from urban built up areas to longhouses, you get to see it from a child's perspective to a front-liner to even a river's experience. How important is it to record these peculiar times? Join us in this conversation.

Việt Thanh Nguyễn fans rejoice! The sequel to The Symphatiser, the spy thriller that goes deep into the Vietnam War that won the 2016 Putlizer Prize for fiction is sharper, more violent and just as absurd. This novel has layers like a kek lapis and set up like a gangster novel except now, Nguyen has his pen trained on colonialism and French imperialism. We follow our nameless narrator who now finds himself in Paris, dealing drugs, getting into trouble and trying his best to hold on to his humanity while philosophising on the nature of life, love, identity and politics (just to name a few)