Cath discovers the people in Damien Wilkins’ life who inspired his latest novel, “Delirious”. It’s an emotionally powerful novel about families, ageing and the surprising ways second chances come around.

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Annie visits Orchard Books in the Adelaide Arcade where she receives a masterclass in styling a warm, inviting and delightfully idiosyncratic second-hand bookshop.

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Our random reader XYZ recommends “Time of the Child” and “This is Happiness” by Niall Williams.

Guests

Damien Wilkins, New Zealand author of “Delirious”... and 14 other novels.

Nick Patrick and Kate Treloar, owners of Orchard Bookshop, Adelaide Arcade.

Other books that get a mention:

Cath recommends her holiday reads; “Molly Keen; A Life” by Sally Phipps and “Overtaken” by Alexei Sayle

Annie recommends “The Tenderness of Wolves” by Stef Penney

INSTAGRAM

@thwupbooks
@orchardbookshop

@damienwilkins103

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Sarah is joined by Candice Fox who reflects how her “scrappy” upbringing in Bankstown and her Dad’s work in the local prison informed her crime writing. It still makes her a magnet for people willing to share their dark and strange story ideas.
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Annie takes you to the launch of “Splinter”, a new literary journal, to meet its editor, Farrin Foster. In the tradition of such journals Splinter will be a place for new writing of any kind to get a showing, and a welcoming forum for South Australia’s literary community.
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Sarah recommends “Australian Gospel: A Family Saga” by Lech Blaine
Our random reader recommends “Technofeudalism: What killed capitalism” by Yanis Varoufakis and “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy.

Guests
Candice Fox, author of “High Wire”
Farin Foster, editor of “Splinter”
You can find more information about “Splinter” here: https://splinterjournal.com/

INSTAGRAM
@candicefoxauthor
@penginrandomhouse
@splinterjournal

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Cath and Sarah delight in sharing what they loved about Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey’s short novel, “Orbital”

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Cath then settles into a cosy chat to author Melanie Cheng. She’s created a delicate and wise novella in which a family’s grief is articulated and haltingly addressed with the adoption of a pet rabbit.

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Michaela enjoys revisiting Margaret Atwood’s enigmatic classic “Alias Grace” with Flinders University Associate Professors, Kylie Cardell and Lisa Bennett.

Guests

Melanie Cheng, General Practitioner and author of “The Burrow”, “Room for a Stranger” and “Australia Day”

Lisa Bennett is Associate Professor of Creative Writing and English at Flinders University. She’s the author of “Viking Women: Life and Lore”. The follow-up volume, “Viking Women: Myth and Magic” is due out this year.

Kylie Cardell is Associate Professor of Creative Writing and English at Flinders University. She’s the author of “Dear World: Contemporary Uses of the Diary” and Editor (with Kate Douglas) of “Telling Tales: Autobiography of Childhood and Youth” and she is the essays Editor for the Australian scholarly journal, “Life Writing”.

INSTAGRAM

@lisalhannett

@kyliesays

@text_publishing

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Catherine McKinnon’s tense but tender tale, “To Sing of War”, immerses the reader in the lives of three characters strung across the globe during the dying days of World War II …as the days tick towards the detonation of the first nuclear weapon on Hiroshima.

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Poet Ken Bolton makes a good case for why British writer Beryl Bainbridge should not be forgotten.

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ABC Broadcaster and poet Mike Ladd shares what’s in his tsundoku.

Guests

Catherine McKinnon, author of “To Sing of War” and the Miles Franklin Award shortlisted “Storyland”

Ken Bolton, Australian poet whose most recent collection is titled “Salute”

Our Random Reader is ABC broadcaster and poet Mike Ladd

Other books that get a mention

Catherine McKinnon mentions “The Regeneration Trilogy” by Pat Barker, “Cloud Cukooland” by Anthony Doerr.

Ken Bolton mentions Beryl Bainbridge’s books, “An Awfully Big Adventure”, “Injury Time”, “Master Georgie”, “The Birthday Boys”, “Watson’s Apology”, “According to Queeney” and “A Quiet Life”.

Mike Ladd mentions “The story of Wy-lah, the cockatoo” by Leslie Rees, “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller, “Selected Poems’ by Elizabeth Bishop, “The Years” by Annie Ernaux, “The Pole and Other Stories” by John Coetzee and “Salt Creek” by Lucy Treloar.

INSTAGRAM

@cathmckinnonauthor

@harpercollinsaustralia

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Michaela talks to one of her favourite writers, Robbie Arnott, about “Dusk”; a beautiful and beguiling tale of siblings, so down on their luck they embark on an impossible quest to slay a puma in the Tasmanian highlands and claim a life-changing bounty.

Sarah chats to stand-out millennial Hannah Ferguson about her second book, “Taboo: Conversations we never had about sex, body image, work and relationships”

Then, the Tsundoku gang gets together to discuss their favourite books of 2024 and the book they’d most like to find in their Christmas stocking.

Guests

Robbie Arnott, author of “Dusk”

Hannah Ferguson, author of “Taboo: Conversations we never had about sex, body image, work and relationships”

Other books that get a mention

Robbie Arnott also mentions “Creation Lake” by Rachel Kushner, “The Sound of Waves” by Yukio Mishima, “Deep Water; The world in the ocean” by James Bradley, “Old School” by Tobias Wolff and “The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien

Cath mentions “The Red Children”, “The White Children”, “My Driver” and "My Cleaner” by Maggie Gee and Belinda Bauer’s books “Snap”, “Exit” and “The Impossible Thing”

Annie mentions “The Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St John Mandel,“The Beesting” by Paul Murray, “Caledonian Roads” by Andrew O’Hagan and the Robert Harris books, “Precipice”, “Pompeii” and “Fatherland”

Sarah mentions “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin, “All Fours” by Miranda July, “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and “Stone Yard Devotional” by Charlotte Wood

Michaela mentions “Other Houses” by Paddy O'Reilly and “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey

INSTAGRAM

@robbie_gc_arnott

@macmillanaus

@hannahferguson_
@affirmpress

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Markus Zusak uses words like “challenging” and “ complex” to describe his three dogs, Reuben, Archie and Frosty. In this interview Zusak recounts the joy of remembering his hounds in all their unvarnished glory for this, his first memoir. Also, the challenge of recording his own audio books, the old favourites he likes to read and re-read “forensically”, and which of his favourite books piqued Archie’s literary tastebuds!

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Our beloved reviewers of literary classics, Kylie Cardell and Lisa Bennett, return to reassess Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”. Kylie has read it many times and Lisa for the first time this year. The tale has obviously endured in our popular culture, movies and vernacular but is it still a “good read”?

Guests:

Markus Zusak, author of “Three Wild Dogs and the Truth”. Also “The Book Thief”, “Bridge of Clay”, “The Messenger” and the young adult trilogy “The Underdog”, “Fighting Ruben Wolfe” and “When Dogs Cry”.

Associate Professor Kylie Cardell teaches and researches life narrative with the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University.

Associate Professor Lisa Bennett teaches undergraduate and Honours classes in Creative Writing and English, Flinders University.

Maddie recounts the books she first fell for as a teenager, her passion for Margaret Atwood’s dystopian creations and a series that explores indigenous knowledge.

Other books that get a mention:

Annie mentions “Butter” by Asako Yuzuki and “All Fours” by Miranda July.

Michaela mentions “Want; Sexual fantasies by anonymous” edited by Gillian Anderson.

Markus mentions “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver, “All the Pretty Horses” written by Cormac McCarthy and narrated by Brad Pitt, “Cairo” by Chris Womersley, “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” by Peter Hedges, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” by Michael Chabon and “Barbarian Days; A surfing life” by William Finnegan

Maddie mentions young adult author Margaret Clark, “Puberty Blues” by Gabrielle Carey and Kathy Lette, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, “Oryx & Crake”, “The Year of the Flood” and “MaddAddam” by Margaret Atwood, the six-part “First Knowledges” series, in particular “Astronomy” edited by Margo Neale.

INSTAGRAM

@markuszusak

@macmillanaus

@kyliesays

@lisahannett

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Sean Williams, author of 5 million words, is famous for his hugely successful forays into the worlds of Star Wars, Dr Who, the Marvel Universe, but did you know he also writes ghost stories for young readers? ”Honour Among Ghosts” and “Her Perilous Mansion” are exciting, mysterious, witty and clever reads, officially for 8-12 year olds, but really for anyone who enjoys a rollicking adventure.

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It’s a case of “Art vs Mother’ in two “gloriously unhinged…yet deeply philosophical” novels celebrated by our special guest Associate Professor Kylie Cardell. In “Nightbitch” Rachel Yoder’s protagonist unleashes her inner canine to navigate the new imperatives of motherhood. In “All Fours” Miranda July’s heroine, also at a hormonal crossroad, finds a space to explore who she is and what she will make of her changing reality.

Guests

Sean Williams, author of “Her Perilous Mansion” and “Honour Among Ghosts”. He’s the NYTimes Bestselling author of 50 books and over 120 short stories.

Associate Professor Kylie Cardell teaches and researches life narrative with the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University. She's the author of “Dear World: Contemporary Uses of the Diary” and Editor (with Kate Douglas) of “Telling Tales: Autobiography of Childhood and Youth”. She’s also the essays Editor for the Australian scholarly journal, “Life Writing”.

Other books that get a mention:

Sarah mentions “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts.

Michaela mentions “Three Wild Dogs and the Truth” by Markus Zusak and Robbie Arnott’s books, “Dusk” and “Limberlost”

Sean mentions author Georgette Heyer, his own books “Ink” and “Impossible Music” and the series he co-wrote with Garth Nix, “Troubletwisters”

Nikki mentions Hilary Mantel’s books “Wolf Hall” and “Bring up the Bodies” and Anne Patchett’s books “Tom Lake”, “The Dutch House”, “These Precious Days”, “Commonwealth” and “Bel Canto”. She also mentions “Shoe Dog” by Nike’s founder, Phil Knight.

INSTAGRAM

@allenandunwin

@penguinrandomhouse

@aucklanduniversitypress

@adelaidesean

@raijoy

@mirandajuly

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As Mills and Boon Australia celebrates 50 years of taking readers on journeys of love and lust, Annie speaks with Barbara Hannay about her latest novel, "The Wife's Secret", and Michaela discusses medical romance with Amy Andrews, author of "The Outback Doctor's Surprise Bride".

Guests :

Barbara Hannay, author of "The Wife’s Secret"

Amy Andrews, author of "The Outback Doctor's Surprise Bride" and co-founder of the "How to Write Academy" (www.howtowriteacademy.teachable.com)

Barbara’s recommendations:

"Seven Little Australians" by Ethel Turner

Amy’s recommendations:

"Working Class Boy" and "Working Class Man" by Jimmy Barnes

"In Pieces" by Sally Fields

Annie’s recommendations:

"Yellowface" by Rebecca F. Kuang

"James" by Percival Everett

Michaela’s recommendation:

"Other Houses" by Paddy O’Reilly

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