To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com

Some stories don’t just trace characters arcs - they wrestle with human nature itself. In East of Eden, John Steinbeck explores the nature of good and evil, and the choices that define who we become. Set against the backdrop of the biblical story of Cain and Abel across generations, asking one powerful question: are we bound by our past, or do we have the freedom to choose our own path?

Painting: Today I painted a globe coming out of a book

Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q

Substack: https://substack.com/@alexanderwoolven

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5

Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/

Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com

To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com

Substack link: Reflections on a world book tour https://alexanderwoolven.substack.com/p/reflections-on-a-world-book-tour

In 2025 for the podcast, I wanted to try something different to bring meaning to the podcast. Having grown up in a typical Anglo household, my upbringing was surrounded by the normality of Western books. This is in no way a criticism of something that couldn’t be helped, especially because those books are colourful, wonderful and the reason I fell in love with literature.

Painting: Today I painted a globe coming out of a book

Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:

• Italy
• The Moon and the Bonfires by Ceasare Pavese
• A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietratntonio
• Germany
• I Was There by Hans Peter Richter
• A Girl in Berlin by Anonymous
• Chile
• The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
• Space Invaders by Nona Fernandez
• Japan
• Days at the Morasaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagasawa
• Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
• Nigeria
• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
• Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
• Afghanistan
• The Kite Runner by Khaleed Hosseini
• The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi
• United States of America
• Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
• The Colour Purple by Alice Walker
• China
• Chronicle of a Blood Merchant by Yu Hua
• Naked Earth by Eileen Chang
• India
• The White Tiger by Avind Adiga
• The God of the Small Things by Arundhati Roy
• England
• Watership Down by Richard Adams
• The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
• The Netherlands
• The Assault by Harry Mulisch
• Midnight Blue by Simone Van Der Vlugt
• Australia
• Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook
• My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

Additional segments throughout the podcast include:

• Mantle Piece Moments
• What are you reading?
• On that Quote

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5

Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod

Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/

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#BookPodcast, #ChristmasPodcast, #HolidayPodcast, #BookTube, #BookLovers, #ReadingCommunity, #LiteraryPodcast, #BookishChristmas, #HolidayReading, #BooksAndSociety, #ReadingForChange, #LiteratureLovers, #ReadersOfYouTube, #PodcastEpisode, #SeasonalContent, #ThoughtfulReading, #BookDiscussion, #CulturalConversation, #EndOfYearReflection, #ChristmasSpecial

To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com

Curl up with a warm drink for a very Christmassy episode of the podcast! This festive season its books stories that spark reflection, and how reading can inspire us to show up more thoughtfully in society. As the year comes to a close, this time of year encourages empathy, responsibility, and active participation in our communities. From small everyday actions to bigger conversations that matter, because being part of society isn’t just about observing; it’s about engaging, questioning, and caring.

Painting: Today I painted a candle

Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:

• Advent by Gunar Gunnarsson
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson
• The Wax Child by Olga Ravn

Additional segments throughout the podcast include:

• Mantle Piece Moments
• What are you reading?
• On that Quote

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5

Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod

Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/

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#BookPodcast, #ChristmasPodcast, #HolidayPodcast, #BookTube, #BookLovers, #ReadingCommunity, #LiteraryPodcast, #BookishChristmas, #HolidayReading, #BooksAndSociety, #ReadingForChange, #LiteratureLovers, #ReadersOfYouTube, #PodcastEpisode, #SeasonalContent, #ThoughtfulReading, #BookDiscussion, #CulturalConversation, #EndOfYearReflection, #ChristmasSpecial

To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com

Some seek isolation for its freedom, but for Sybylla Melvyn, the open space of the Australian Outback only serves to drown her. Miles Franklin’s first novel, My Brilliant Career captures the lack of agency young girls and women growing up in rural Australia would have felt towards the turn of the 20th century. A country on the cusp of its own independence still saw half the population oppressed. Dreaming of a brilliant career, Sybylla’s frank attitude, and quick wit often gets her into trouble in a world where submission is a norm.

Painting: Today I painted a gum tree in the outback

Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:

• Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook
• My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

Additional segments throughout the podcast include:

• Mantle Piece Moments
• What are you reading?
• On that Quote

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5

Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod

Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/

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#WakeInFright #KennethCook #Duality #Indulgence #LackOfJudgment #Outback #AustralianGothic #LiteraryAnalysis #PsychologicalThriller #BookAnalysis #feminsim

To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com

Mockingjay is the final instalment of Suzanne Collins Hunger Games trilogy. A story that delves deeper into the political issues of a rebellion and the true cost of the face of war. Where propaganda is rife and for Katniss Everdeen, it becomes clearer as time passes that children are a political currency both sides are happy to spend.

Painting: Today I painted a Mockingjay pin

Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:

• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Into the D/ark by David Elias
• Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb
• I Was There by Hans Peter Richter

Additional segments throughout the podcast include:

• Mantle Piece Moments
• What are you reading?
• On that Quote

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5

Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod

Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/

To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com

Is the isolated outback town of Bundanyabba a paradise of absolute freedom or a living nightmare? This week, Kenneth Cook's novel, Wake in Fright, explores the disturbing duality at the heart of the story and how the lack of judgment in The Yabba can make hell of heaven in a life of excess and indulgence - a dangerous freedom that strips away social constraints. For the locals, this is heaven; a life free from moral scrutiny, for John Grant it is a nightmare he spirals into until the thing he wants to escape is the fabric of a town he is now intimately part of.

Painting: Today I painted a beer

Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:

• Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook
• My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
• The Moustache by Emanuel Carrier

Additional segments throughout the podcast include:

• Mantle Piece Moments
• What are you reading?
• On that Quote

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5

Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod

Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/

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#WakeInFright #KennethCook #Duality #Indulgence #LackOfJudgment #Outback #AustralianGothic #LiteraryAnalysis #PsychologicalThriller #BookAnalysis

To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com

Midnight Blue by Simone Van Der Vlught unfolds with a swift and unflinching frankness. The story of a widowed woman trying to understand and find her place in this new found world, while also trying to distance herself from her past. Difficult to outrun who you were when it is the path that lead you to where you are.

Painting: Today I painted some blur florals

Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:

• Midnight Blue by Simone Van Der Vlught
• The Assault by Harry Mulisch
• The Evenings by Gerard Reve
• Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook
• My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

Additional segments throughout the podcast include:

• Mantle Piece Moments
• What are you reading?
• On that Quote

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5

Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod

Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/

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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast

To follow and support us, click here: http://anovelreviewpodcast.com

Catching Fire, the burning sequel to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, ignites the spark of rebellion in this near perfect sequel. We are back in Panem and Katniss has survived the Hunger Games. But, in that survival, the seeds of rebellion have been sown as Katniss understands that the real game has only just begun.

Painting: Today I painted Katniss rising to be the Mockingjay

Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include:

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Additional segments throughout the podcast include:

• Mantle Piece Moments
• What are you reading?
• On that Quote

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQzE_T2r6qPR_jbZNgZC1Q

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-novel-review-podcast/id1681724908

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5uCgZyBj9T5uPQsfbqTUW5

Podbean: https://anovelreviewpodcast.podbean.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/novelreviewpod

Email: anovelreviewpodcast@gmail.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/anovelreviewpod/

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#ANovelReview #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #poetry #literature #books #novels #booktok #bookstagram #bookwitter #books #novels #literaryfacts #podbean #LiteraryLovers #whatareyoureading #BookLaunch #Literature #PodcastAndChill #BookBoost #BookLover #Art #Watercolour #WatercolourArt #TinyArt #WW2 #WorldWarTwo #NaziGermany #Education #Fantasy #Gormenghast