All Things Bookish Podcast: Recent Episodes
Shan & Sienna
**Today we are delighted and slightly awed to be joined by Australian author, Diana Reid, to talk about her powerful debut novel Love & Virtue, a book that has been highly praised by critics, authors, and readers for its fierce and somewhat brutal honesty.
You can buy Love & Virtue here**!!!
W**elcome back to All Things Bookish. Today we are joined by Australian fantasy author, Alicia Jasinska, who has written The Dark Tide and most recently, and what we’re here to talk about the wonderful, feminist fantasy and sapphic novel, The Midnight Girls!
You can purchase a copy of The Midnight Girls here!**
In this episode we rehash our favourite 21 books of 2021, discuss our least favourite book of the year and what we have read recently! To purchase any books mentioned in our top 21 see the links below!
Shans' Reads of 2021
Consent by Annabel Lyon
Tsarina's Daughter by Ellen Alpsten
The Traitor Queen by Dannielle L. Jensen
Love & Virtue by Diana Reid
The Lost Queen by Signe Pike
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
Legacy of Ash by Matthew Ward
Legacy of Steel by Matthew Ward
The Push by Ashley Audrain
Lore by Alexander Bracken
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
Kokomo by Victoria Hannan
Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden
A Lair of Bones by Helen Scheuerer
Siennas' Reads of 2021
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton
Come Again by Robert Webb
Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker
The Push by Ashley Audrain
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen
A Lair of Bones by Helen Scheuerer
As Far As You'll Take Me by Phil Stamper
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M.McManus
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Love & Virtue by Diana Reid
She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Welcome back to All Things Bookish - we are so delighted to be here with author and editor Tobias Madden to talk about his debut young adult novel Anything But Fine.
You can purchase Anything But Fine here!
Welcome to another episode of All Things Bookish. Before we get into the episode we’d like to acknowledge the traditional custodians on the land on which we virtually meet today, and we pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. Today we are speaking to renowned storyteller and author, Jay Kristoff, who has won multiple awards for his work, as well as reaching the #1 international, New York Times and USA bestseller list for fantasy and science fiction! Empire of the Vampire was just released worldwide, we loved it and hope you do too!
You can purchase Empire of the Vampire here.
Welcome to another episode of All Things Bookish!
We spoke to Helen Scheuerer about her latest book A LAIR OF BONES, the first book in her brand new A Curse of The Cyren Queen Quartet!
You can grab a copy of the book HERE
Welcome to another episode of All Things Bookish. Today on the podcast we are delighted to be chatting to the Queen of Imagination herself, Tabitha Bird, about her very recently released The Emporium of Imagination, which follows her magical debut novel A Lifetime of Impossible Days.
You can buy The Emporium of Imagination here.
In this episode we are extremely excited to be chatting with best-selling Australian author Lynette Noni. Lynette is a full-time writer and author of the #1 bestselling young adult fantasy series The Medoran Chronicles, along with the multi-award winning and bestselling Whisper duology, and her latest series, the Prison Healer trilogy. We have both just finished reading the first book in her latest works, The Prison Healer and loved it!
You can purchase The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni here.
In this weeks episode we discuss our past, current and future reads. We chat about our top 5 books that have the best pretty cover, storyline, characters and book bfs/gfs. Lastly, we chat with Shan's best mate Dylan, a book lover and Teacher-Librarian.
Show Notes:
Sienna's Reads-
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
The Betrayals by Bridget Collins
The Emporium of Imagination by Tabitha Bird
Shan's Reads-
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett Sinclair
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
This week we discuss our recent reads, our Book of the Month: The Prophets, and chat with bookstagrammer @rebireads.
Show Notes:
Sienna's reads:
Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
Shan's reads:
Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
To purchase our book of the month, The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr. head over to WellRead.
Show Notes:
Welcome back to All Things Bookish - we are so excited to be here with Kathryn Barker, author of the recently released, Waking Romeo, which is a retelling and literary mashup of Romeo & Juliet and Wuthering Weights! Kathryn’s first novel In the Skin of a Monster won the Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel.
You can buy Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker here.
Show Notes
Welcome back to All Things Bookish - we are so delighted to be here with Phil Stamper author of the young adult novel The Gravity of Us, and more recently As Far As You’ll Take Me! To purchase As Far As You'll Take Me click here
Show Notes:
This week we chat about our most recent reads, mainly A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas and our issues with it. We discuss our book of the month, The Push by Ashley Audrain which is from our book subscription WellRead, and chat about all things bookish with special guest....Sienna's mum!
To purchase the books discussed in our first segment click on the links below:
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson
The Morning Flower by Amanda Harding
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Welcome back to the All Things Bookish Podcast! Laurie Forest joins us today, and I am slightly awe struck! For those who aren’t familiar with Laurie Forest, she is the epic fantasy author of the The Black Witch Chronicles, the first book being The Black Witch which was published in 2017, and the fourth book The Demon Tide will be released in 2021.
Show Notes:
Today we chat with Laurie about how she started writing fantasy thanks to her kids, the epicness of a good love triangle and fantasy world building.
You can buy The Black Witch Chronicles here.
You’re back with All Things Bookish where we are chatting to another fabulous Australian author, Julietta Henderson. Julietta released her debut novel The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman in early January, and I can assure you, it is worth the read with reviews like “Norman Foreman will capture your heart” and “One of those gorgeous books that completely lifts your spirits and restores faith in humanity.”
Show Notes:
You can buy The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman here!
Julietta's Reads:
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Book Recommendation:
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornsby
The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
Show Notes:
Welcome to this weeks episode of All Things Bookish! Today we discuss what we just finished reading, what we are currently reading and what we will read next, we also discuss books that got us into reading and chat with bookstagrammer, Lucie, from @whatluciesreading. We hope you enjoy the episode and don't forget to check out our Instagram @allthingsbookishpod and Facebook page All Things Bookish (AUS).
Shan's reads:
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Legacy of Ash by Matthew Ward
The Morbids by Ewa Ramsey
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Sienna's reads:
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
The Morning Flower by Amanda Hocking
Welcome to this week's episode of the All Things Bookish Podcast! Today we are super excited to be speaking with the wonderful Brigid Kemmerer. Brigid is a New York Times best selling author, writing books across fantasy and fiction for young adult readers. Her next book in The Cursebreakers series, A Vow So Bold & Deadly will be released in February 2021, which we know for a lot of people can’t come sooner! Show Notes:You can buy A Curse So Dark and Lonely here.
You can buy A Heart So Fierce and Broken here.
You can pre-order A Vow So Bold and Deadly here.
Brigid's book recs:
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
The Life and Medieval Times of Kit Sweetly
Welcome back to All Things Bookish! Today we are joined by the wonderful Australian author, Molly Murn, who amongst many other inspiring things, wrote the contemporary fiction novel Heart of the Grass Tree, which hands down has one of the most stunning book covers I’ve ever seen. Molly is a poet and author from South Australia, is a current PhD candidate in Creative Writing, and most recently had her book shortlisted for the 2020 Australian Indie Book awards under the Debut Fiction section! Show Notes:In this episode we discuss Molly's creative journey, from poetry to writing her debut novel and the importance of local history.
You can purchase Heart of the Grass Tree here.
Show Notes:
In our final episode of 2020 we discuss our favourite reads of 2020, our 5 least favourite books, our favourite books to screen, Christmas book recs and our favourite Christmas movies!!
Christmas Reading Recs:
Shan:
Maggie's Going Nowhere by Rose Hartley
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland
Sienna:
One Day in December by Josie Silver
Heartstopper Series by Alice Oseman
We apologise for the quality of the audio for this episode, due to technical difficulties we were unable to maintain the quality that we generally produce and will amend this for our next episode
Welcome to this week's episode of the All Things Bookish Podcast! Today we are speaking with Australian fantasy author Sam Hawke, who literally exploded onto the fantasy scene with her multi award winning debut novel, City of Lies. We are going to discuss her recent release and sequel, The Hollow Empire, and basically all things fantasy! Welcome, Sam and thanks so much for joining us today.
Show Notes:
In this episode we discuss Sams' love of fantasy growing up, her two books, world building and the importance of sibling relationships in adult fantasy books.
You can purchase City of Lies here.
You can purchase Hollow Empire here.
Welcome to episode eleven of the All Things Bookish Podcast! Today we have the wonderfully creative Maria V. Snyder with us to chat about her Sentinels of the Galaxy series. You might recognise Maria’s name from her hugely popular Poison Study series, or her recent fantasy series starting with The Eyes of Tamburah! Maria has won multiple awards for her fantasy and science fiction works, and we are absolutely delighted that she can join us on All Things Bookish - thanks for being with us today, Maria!
Show Notes:
In this episode we discuss Maria's recent science fiction series, The Sentinels of the Galaxy, writing at night time and The Terracotta Warriors of China.
You can purchase Defending the Galaxy here
Maria's reads:
Past read:
Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris
Current read:
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Shan's reads:
Past read:
Navigating the Stars by Maria V. Snyder
Current read:
Chasing the Shadows by Maria V. Snyder
Sienna's reads:
Past read:
Navigating the Stars by Maria V. Snyder
Current read:
All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
Welcome back to the All Things Bookish Podcast! This week we are chatting to one of Australian’s most loved and best selling author, Monica McInerney. For those who aren’t familiar with Monica, she is a prolific fiction writer who has won too many awards to list here. Her most recent book, The Godmothers, was published in September this year, and has already received wide acclaim and praise for its depth, warmth, and tear jerking narrative.
Show Notes:
In this episode we talk about the research that goes into Monica's books, her writing process, inspiration for characters in The Godmothers and her love for Australian literature.
You can purchase The Godmothers here.
Monica's reads:
Past Read:
The Lost Love Song by Minnie Dark
Current Read:
Untwisted: The Story of My Life by Paul Jennings
Growing Up series
Shan's reads:
Past Read:
The Godmothers
Current Read:
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
Future Read:
Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud
Sienna's reads:
Past Read:
The Godmothers
Future Read:
The Evening and Morning by Ken Follett
Welcome to this week's episode of the All Things Bookish Podcast! Today we are speaking with one of Australia’s best selling and well loved authors, Fiona McIntosh about her new historical fiction book, The Champagne War!
Show Notes:
In this episode we talk about researching WWII, how and why Fiona creates such morally grounded characters, and learn about the people of Épernay in 1914.
You can purchase the Champagne War here.
Shan's Reads
Past Read:
The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall
Current Read:
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
Sienna's Reads
Past Read:
The Champagne War
Current Read:
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Future Read:
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
This episode we discuss our last reads, our five star reads, Trent Dalton, bookish this or that and guess that book!
Show Notes:
Sienna's reading:
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson
Honeybee by Craig Silvey
The Black Witch Chronicles by Laurie Forest
Shan's reading:
The Motherfault by Kate Mildenhall
All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
The Champagne War by Fiona McIntosh
Welcome to the latest episode of the All Things Bookish Podcast! Today we have the amazing Australian author Trent Dalton with us to chat about his latest and extremely well received book, All Our Shimmering Skies. You might recognise Trent’s name from his hugely successful debut novel Boy Swallows Universe, or from his articles in various newspapers across Australia. Trent has won multiple Australian and International awards for both journalism and his novels, and we are absolutely thrilled that he can join us on All Things Bookish All Our Shimmering SkiesDarwin, 1942, and as Japanese bombs rain down, motherless Molly Hook, the gravedigger's daughter, is looking to the skies and running for her life. Inside a duffel bag she carries a stone heart, alongside a map to lead her to Longcoat Bob, the deep-country sorcerer who she believes put a curse on her family. By her side are the most unlikely travelling companions: Greta, a razor-tongued actress, and Yukio, a fallen Japanese fighter pilot. The treasure lies before them, but close behind them trails the dark. And above them, always, are the shimmering skies. You can purchase the book here Trent's Reads:
Past Read:
The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall
Current Reads:
May Flies by Andrew O'Hagan
Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk
1,2,3,4, The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown
Shan's Reads:
Past Reads:
All Our Shimmering Skies
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
Sienna's Reads:
Past Read:
All Our Shimmering Skies
Current Read:
Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin
Discussion:
In this episode we discuss the impact of books, the influence of Tolkien, using our local library, the research behind All Our Shimmering Skies and the character of Molly Hook.
Show Notes:
Welcome to episode eight of the All Things Bookish Podcast! Today we are so grateful to be joined by the very talented Kyle Perry. Kyle is a counsellor and youth worker who has worked extensively in high schools, youth shelters and drug rehabs. In his work he encounters stories and journeys that would fill a hundred books. Kyle released his debut novel, The Bluffs with Penguin Random House, earlier this year. **The Bluffs:
When a school group of teenage girls goes missing in the remote wilderness of Tasmania’s Great Western Tiers, the people of Limestone Creek are immediately on alert. Three decades ago, five young girls disappeared in the area of those dangerous bluffs, and the legend of ‘the Hungry Man’ still haunts locals to this day. Now, authorities can determine that the teacher, Eliza Ellis, was knocked unconscious, so someone on the mountain was up to foul play. Jordan Murphy, the local dealer and father of missing student Jasmine, instantly becomes the prime suspect. But Detective Con Badenhorst knows that in a town this size – with corrupt cops, small-town politics, and a teenage YouTube sensation – everyone is hiding something, and bluffing is second nature. When a body is found, mauled, at the bottom of a cliff, suspicion turns to a wild animal – but that can’t explain why she was discovered barefoot, her shoes at the top of the cliff, laces neatly tied.
You can purchase the book here**Kyle's Reads:
Past Read:
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Current Read:
The Survivors by Jane Harper
Future Read:
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
Shan's Reads:
Past Read:
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Current Read:
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
Future Read:
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Sienna's Reads:
Past Read:
Whole New World A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell
Current Read:
Kingdom of Copper by S.A Chakraborty
Future Read:
All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
Discussion:
We discuss how Kyle began his writing journey, the creation of the Bluffs, scary encounters and writing his next book!
Welcome to episode five of the All Things Bookish Podcast! This is a particularly special episode because we have the incredibly talented Kalynn Bayron joining us from the United States. Kalynn recently released the young adult novel, Cinderella is Dead, which is a reimagining of the fairytale, Cinderella. Alongside writing, Kalynn is also a classical trained vocalist, which is very very cool.
You can purchase Kalynn's book here:
Show Notes:
Kalynn's reads:
Past Reads:
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Changeling by Victor Lavelle
Current Reads:
Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Future read:
Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon
Sienna's reads:
Current Read:
A Twisted Tale: Aladdin by Liz Braswell
Shan's reads:
Past Read:
A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan
Current Read;
Riven by Bronwyn Eley
Discussion:
We discuss the creation of Cinderella is Dead, the influence of real world and human experience within Kalynn's work and the right way to do Mac N Cheese.
Welcome to episode four of the All Things Bookish Podcast! Shan and I are both very excited today because we are chatting with the Australian author Steven Conte.
**For those who aren’t familiar with one of Australia’s finest writers Steven Conte, he wrote The Zookeeper’s War in 2007 and won the inaugural Prime Minister’s award for fiction. He recently published his second novel, The Tolstoy Estate which is a powerful novel about war, love and literature!
You can purchase Steven's book here: The Tolstoy Estate Show Notes:**
Steven's ReadsPast read: Station 11 by Emily St John MandelCurrent read:The De Cameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
Sienna's ReadsPast reads: The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi DareThe Tolstoy Estate by Steve Conte Future read:City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty Shan's ReadsCurrent reads:A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan
Discussion:We discuss the creation of The Tolstoy Estate, World War II and the impact of covid-19 on the future of literature.
Today on All Things Bookish we discuss our recent, current and future reads. We delve into the world of unpopular opinions, mainly toxic relationships in YA books and have a new guess the book for you! Don't forget to follow our instagram page @allthingsbookspodcast, follow us and message us to guess the book and win a prize!
Show Notes:
This week we share five facts about ourselves, from we where we live in the world to our favourite countries!
5 star reading recommendation:
The City of Brass by S A Chakrabortyhttps://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780008239398/the-city-of-brass/
Sienna's ReadsPast read: Piranesi by Susanna Clark Current read:Olive by Emma Gannon Future read:Retribution Dies by Chloe HodgeShan's ReadsCurrent reads:A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Future reads:The Yield by Tara June WinchThe Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet
Unpopular bookish opinions - toxicity in YA booksSienna discusses whether Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte should be classified as a true romance novel: "This book should never make anyone's heart skip a beat".
Shan raises some issues she sees in the acclaimed Folk of the Air trilogy by Holly Black: "He literally says, 'You are so disgusting and I hate you'".
We discuss the limitations of first person POV versus multiple POVs.
Listen to find out who won the bookish guessing game from our first episode & make sure to join in this week for your chance to win a prize!
Next episode:We welcome the wonderful Steve Conte to the podcast to discuss his recently released The Tolstoy Estate.
Rose Hartley is the author of the contemporary fiction novel “Maggie’s Going Nowhere”, which was published in January this year by Penguin Random House. Today we discuss books that Rose loves, what she is currently working on and life in 2020.
Episode 2 Show Notes
Here is a link if you wish to purchase Maggie’s Going Nowhere:
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/maggies-going-nowhere-9780143795483
Roses’ reads:
Persuasion by Jane Austen
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/persuasion-9780099511175
Theft by Peter Carey
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/theft-a-love-story-9781760896522
Death in Her Hands- Ottessa Moshfegh
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/death-in-her-hands-9781787332201
Shans’ reads:
Past Read:
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780008125073/an-ember-in-the-ashes-ember-quartet-book-1/
Future Reads
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9780374313647/
Siennas’ reads:
Past Reads:
The Bluffs by Kyle Perry
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-bluffs-9781760895679
Current Read:
Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew
https://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Blood-Moon-9781406393446
Future Read:
City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780008239404/the-city-of-brass/
Book discussion:
We also all discussed Naomi Novik author of
Uprooted: https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781447294146/
Spinning Silver: https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781509899043/spinning-silver/
Katherine Arden author of The Bear and the Nightingale series
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-bear-and-the-nightingale-9781785031052
We are coming to you from Australia to discuss books, new book releases, mini reviews, unpopular opinions and author talks with local Aussie authors and international authors.
Episode 1 Show Notes
Shans’ reads:
5 Stars Reading Recommendation:
Dark Shores by Danielle Jensen
https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781250317735/
Dark Skies by Danielle Jensen
https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781250317766/dark-skies/
Past Read:
Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri (4 stars)
https://www.hachette.com.au/tasha-suri/empire-of-sand
Current Read:
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (4 stars)
https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/throne-of-glass-9781408832332/
Siennas’ reads:
5 Star Reads Recommendation:
Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan (5 stars)
https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/three-apples-fell-from-the-sky-9781786077301/
Past Reads:
The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier (5 stars)
https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781760783297/
A Dance with Fate by Juliet Marillier (4 stars)
https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781760784225/
Current Read:
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (5 stars)
https://www.hachette.com.au/brit-bennett/the-vanishing-half-sunday-times-bestseller
Unpopular bookish opinion:
Shan disliked Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Sienna loved this book:
https://www.hachette.com.au/delia-owens/where-the-crawdads-sing
Next episode:
Our author interview will be with Australian author Rose Hartley. Rose wrote Maggie’s Going Nowhere which was published by Penguin Australia earlier this year.
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/maggies-going-nowhere-9780143795483