Two Book Nerds Talking

Lisa Taddeo's hot non-fiction Three Women has been on everyone's summer reading list. Does it really give what it claims to offer? Give you vital truths about feminine desire. Can we relate to these three women as women ourselves? And what does a man think after reading this? We discuss this book together in this episode with Min Hun who runs the local bookstore, Lit Books and also grab some juicy insights in how it is to run an Indie Bookstore in Malaysia.

We got to skype with the charming Yangsze Choo on her latest novel The Night Tiger. She answered all our questions including enlightening us on genre selection, her morbid fasciation with ghosts and, mirror worlds...

We got a long TBR for September so it's out this week as a bonus Minisode. Our producer Jeff K. joined us for a lively discussion on tasty books out this month of September. Quite a lot of horror since it's creeping up to Halloween.

The 10 Loves of Mr Nishino is a series of ten short stories about the different women and affairs in one man's life. Contemporary author Hiromi Kawakami explores the nuances of a Japanese playboy and writes a wry, astute and at times, an achingly portrait of people seeking for connection, intimacy and that ever illusive everlasting love.

The Minorities is a rib-tickling, social satire on the life of 4 housemates and a pontianak that starts off with a few mishaps and culminating in a battle royale across the border. Nak perang pun... kena datang ke Malaysia... (want to fight also must do it in Malaysia) so you don't have to fill forms and pay a fine. Anyway, we sat down with author Suffian Hakim to talk about his multi-cultural book and all things hantu. It was a great conversation! This dude is one to watch folks!

Our guest this week, Marianne Dark has taught English for many years and run a language centre. She brings her insights in this episode on how to get kids excited about reading. Our book choice is the Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo, a wonderful book for kids aged 10-12 and touches on all sorts of issues like loneliness, kinship with animals and adventure. We talk about how kid's books have evolved and feel nostalgic about those we used to love. If you have kids or appreciate children's literature, this episode is for you!

Ever so often both of us crave for fae creatures and fantastical worlds. The recent Pan's Labyrinth book The Labyrinth of the Faun based on the 2006 movie by Del Toro had us frothing at the bit. His imagination paired with Cornelia Funke's elegant prose was a real treat. Not just a retelling, you can say that it's a deepening of the story, an exploration of the many creatures and tales within the world where monsters wear human faces and lost princesses have to find magic in a time where there's very little to spare. All with the backdrop of Franco's Spain. This book is worth exploring, even if you've seen the movie several times...

Ocean Vuong's raw and visceral debut novel takes you by the throat and doesn't let you go. Admittedly not for everyone, you will still be floored by the emotional truth within. Structured as a letter written by a son to his illiterate mother, this work of auto-fiction blurs the lines between reality and make-believe, you won't really know where Ocean ends and Little Dog (the protagonist) begins and in there lies the beauty of it. Also it's August! So it's break your T.B.R. again and there are so many lovely books to cover...

Are you strangely fascinated by true crime and serial killers? Then you might have heard of My Favourite Murder, one of the most popular true crime podcasts out there helmed by dynamic duo Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff. Well now they have spanking new book out, which is part memoir, part life insights and part we-have-done-it-bad-idea-don't-do-it kinda stuff. Call it a bit of a survival guide because if there's one thing these ladies know after over 180 episodes is how well... to Stay Sexy and not get Murdered...

After reading Tash Aw's riveting latest novel, We, The Survivors, we, the interviewers sat down to a skype with him. We talked all sorts of things, from fatalistic viewpoints of Asians to the class system that overrides race and religion. We also prodded on his writing process and what it took for him to write something personal but also hard to put down at times. Listen to this! Plus we also have a new book giveaway this week.

We discuss the stories in Exhalation, Ted Chiang’s latest short story anthology, and touched on all sorts of sci-fi malarkey from virtual pets to robot nannies, from time-gates to intelligent parrots. What makes him such a story-telling rockstar in the genre of speculative fiction? Expanding on his time travel story within the collection, we delve deep into Diana’s latest literary obsession- time travel books. Do you too want a time machine? We give you some great reads and TV shows to sate your inner time-lord.Emily A. Sprague - FloatAnn Annie - Long StreamTopher Mohr and Alex Elena - Space CoastKYLE and Amine Type Beat - LemonadeKevin Macleod - Bossa Antigua Music from https://filmmusic.io:"Bossa Antigua" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

We discuss Samantha Shannon's doorstopper epic fantasy Priory of the Orange Tree. A stand-alone that is a feminist reimagining of St. George and the Dragon as well as Japanese mythology The Luck of the Mountains. This book has magic! Political intrigue! Dragons! It pits western dragons against eastern dragons and takes the belief system from different canons in one hefty book. You can seriously curl up to this one. It is July already! Fancy that? So Break Your TBR has some exciting reads for you...

Our first PG-rated episode. We tear through EL James' The Mister with guest, Irene.

The front cover says that this book is a user manual for your own head. Matt Haig's Notes on a Nervous Planet will make you take a second and examine just how intact your mental health is in an overly connected world. And oh, reading is one of his surefire ways to stay centred! Huzzah! We also dig deeper into responsible reading.

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...

Book of M, an exploration on the questions of humanity linked to the power of memory. All over the world people are loosing their shadows and eventually their memories in exchange for transformative power. What kind of world would that be? And how can love survive when you are fighting daily for survival? We discuss Peng Shepard's intriguing debut novel with Tina Isaacs who runs a speculative fiction discussion group. And being a writer of the genre herself, we also picked her brain on how to start writing in this vein.

Hiro Arikawa's wildly popular book The Travelling Cat Chronicles has been a hit since it was translated into English. People love cats, the story of a young man taking his kitty on a roadtrip around Japan (even on a ferry!) to find a new home for her has hit a lot of people in the 'feels'. We talk pet's intuitions, human relationships and the poignant/ transient feeling you get from Japanese literature, what they call Mono no aware. Our bookish topic today is on what to consider when you write book reviews and of course further reading if you like cats in your books.

The hottest memoir in the market atm is Michelle Obama's Becoming. What is the story behind the hugely popular former first lady? We talk about her girlhood and the journey to BECOMING the person she is today. There is plenty in this book to inspire, ponder and celebrate. It's also the first week of April so as usual BYTBR comes back with books you want to check out this month.

You asked for it and here it is! The Live recording of TBNT's interview with Zen Cho when she swung by Lit Books on her last trip to KL. We talk about her new book, The True Queen, learn about her writing life and even got her to recommend some books for us!

In honour of World Poetry day, we bare our souls with an in-depth poetry discussion- I mean we go stuck into it making this our longest episode yet. We celebrate the moving poems of Mary Oliver who left us last year and celebrate her mind and words. We get stuck into Instapoets with Norman (who is one himself) and talk about inclusivity in poetry and how poets like Rupi Kaur have brought poetry to the mainstream. We even touched on Spoken Word poetry and how it represents the present generation. We discuss books with Norman and get his 5 Tips on how to be an Instapoet.