Hullo, Bookworms!

For this Very Special Episode™, we read Beth O'Leary's chart-topping novel 'The Flat Share', a delicious and uplifting romantic comedy about friendship, love and the depressing realities of London real-estate.

We are desperate to know if you would have gone to Sniff City.

And the reason this episode is special is because it's our last one. We love you for reading along with us, and we're not crying there's just an EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNT OF DUST IN OUR EYES.

Thanks for listening and, as always, happy reading x

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We are still @bookwhostalking in all of the places, and we would love to chat to you.

Awrite, Bookworms?

This month we read Shuggie Bain, the debut novel by Scottish-American writer Douglas Stuart. It tells the story of the youngest of the three children, Shuggie, growing up with his alcoholic mother, Agnes, in the 1980s, in Thatcher-era post-industrial working-class Glasgow.

We won't lie, this wiz’nae an easy read, it's pretty heartbreaking, but we're really glad we read it. And also, as you may be able to tell, we really enjoyed all of the Glasgow slang, even when we havnae a scooby (have no idea) what it means.

Happy listening!

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Tell us what you think about the book! Or the podcast! Or if you're Buzzin about learning new words. We are @bookwhostalking on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. And you can email us at [email protected]

It's our first book for 2021, and we're kicking off with a graceful and poetic bang, by reading All Our Shimmering Skies, the second novel by Australian author Trent Dalton.

Set in Darwin during World War II, the book follows Molly Hook, a gravedigger girl who is desperate to break a family curse that is slowly turning her heart to stone. This is a book full of adventure, optimism, and just a little bit of magic, and it properly captured us, Bookworms. 

And hey! You could be one of the lucky first to invest in Laura's incredibly original movie idea! Very exciting stuff.

Happy listening!

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Tell us what you think about the book! Or the podcast! Or if you would swipe right on our Tinder profiles? We are @bookwhostalking on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. And you can email us at [email protected]

 

Happy Holidays, Bookworms!

We're celebrating with our annual Christmas book, and this year Ben suggested we read The Hogfather, a Christmas adjacent Discworld novel by absolute legend Terry Pratchett.

So light a candle, grab some pudding, and pop on your thematically appropriate headwear. Find out whether it's as good as Ben remembers, why Fiona isn't welcome at the library, and whether Laura is wrong about the Discworld being "sort of like a spaceship" (she is wrong).

Happy reading!

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Tell us what you think about the book! Or the podcast! Or if you have seen that movie about the bee romance? We are @bookwhostalking on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. And you can email us at [email protected]

Bookworms! It's your friends from Book Who's Talking, here with some summer reading recommendations (or Christmas present suggestions, your choice).   Give it a listen to hear *why* we recommend them, but here are the books for your easy reference:   LAURA Sex and Vanity - Kevin Kwan Honeybee - Craig Silvey

JOSIE Piranesi - Susanna Clarke

FIONA Your Own Kind of Girl - Clare Bowditch Dark Emu - Bruce Pascoe

BEN The Devil and the Dark Water - Stuart Turton

Happy Summer Reading! 

After thoroughly enjoying our book last month, we decided to do a proper movie marathon, with TWO adaptations of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. The 1940 Alfred Hitchcock movie (Best Picture winner, fancy), and the brand new Netflix film starring Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas, and absolute unit Armie Hammer.

We recommend, if not highly at least middlingly, BOTH of these movies. So come and hear what we loved, what we liked, and what we weren't so sure about (do you even sketch, mate).

Happy Watching!

Last night we dreamt we went to Manderley again

Bookworms, we thought it was high time we dove into a classic, and what could be more classic than Daphne Du Maurier's 1938 gothic thriller, Rebecca? A best seller that has spawned multiple movies and never, not once ever, been out of print. Classic like tea in the library at Manderley.

Find out which characters we loved (hi, Frank), which characters we loved to hate (hello, Mr Favell) and who we would definitely save from a fire (good boy, Jasper).

Happy listening!

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Tell us what you think about the book! Or the podcast! Or if you would wash your boss's underpants? We are @bookwhostalking on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. And you can email us at [email protected]

This month we popped on our jerkins and sheepskin gloves, and relaxed on the second-best bed, to read Hamnet, the 2020 novel (and winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction) by Maggie O'Farrell.

Set in Stratford, England in the late 16th century, Hamnet imagines the emotional, domestic, and artistic repercussions after the world's most famous (though never named) playwright and his wife lose their only son, 11-year-old Hamnet, to the bubonic plague.

Prepare the tissues, because this one will make you feel some things. But only in the best ways. We genuinely loved this one, Bookworms. Get reading. 

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Tell us what you think about the book! Or the podcast! Or if you have ever heard of Macbet? We are @bookwhostalking on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. And you can email us at [email protected]

After reading Iain Reid's debut novel I'm Thinking Of Ending Things, we jumped on Netflix to watch the new movie adaptation, written and directed by Charlie Kaufman. 

And really, folks, what a movie.

Find out what's the same, what's missing, which bits we fast-forwarded through, and whether anyone did the worm.

**SPOILERS** (for the book and for the movie, and yes, they are very different spoilers)

This month we turned on all of the lights and made sure we locked the doors before reading I'm Thinking of Ending Things, the 2016 debut novel of Canadian writer Iain Reid.

This psychological thriller slash horror fiction slash newly-adapted Netflix movie kept us on the edge of our seats, and had us asking questions like "how easy is it to lose a toenail" and "why are high schools so terrifying" and "did you hear that?"

Happy Listening!

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Tell us what you think about the book! Or the podcast! Or if you you know how to do the worm! We are @bookwhostalking on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. And you can email us at [email protected]

Bookworms, it's time to pop on your camouflage onesie, feed your best friend, and settle down in front of some Christian call-in radio, because this month we read the much talked about (and somewhat confusing) Death in Her Hands, the latest novel by American author Ottessa Moshfegh.

While on her daily walk with her dog in a secluded woods, a woman comes across a note, handwritten and carefully pinned to the ground by stones. “Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.”

And from there, things get weird. 

Come and hear us chat about unreliable narrators, what we would Ask Jeeves, and whether dogs like lentils (they do not).

Happy Listening!

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Tell us what you think about the book! Or the podcast! Or how you've disposed of human remains? We are @bookwhostalking on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. And you can email us at [email protected]