By The Book

Yangsze Choo's latest book explores 1930s Malaya, mythology, forbidden love... and weretigers. We talk to her about The Night Tiger, and the research required to evoke and describe a Malaya from the past with both accuracy and poetry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been one year since Malaysia’s watershed elections. We mark the anniversary by discussing the books that awoke in us, in ways both overt and subtle, a sense of political awareness. Picks include George Orwell’s Animal Farm, The Diary of Anne Frank, Alan Moore’s Watchmen, and Sonny Liew’s The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

For the very first edition of our monthly book club, we read Paul Kalanithi's memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, with BFM's own Tee Shiao Eek. The book chronicles his journey from neurosurgeon in training, to a patient diagnosed with stage IV metastatic lung cancer, and examines his changing relationship with medicine, time, mortality and hope. We discuss all this, and more. See omnystudio.com/liste...

Zen Cho’s first internationally published novel, “Sorcerer to the Crown”, debuted to much acclaim. We speak to her about the pains and pleasures of writing its follow-up, “The True Queen”. And because it’s World Book Day, we get back to basics and talk about the pleasures of reading… well, just about anything! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

As the “Game of Thrones” TV show starts its final season, we reminisce about the epic fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin that started it all - and how it feels to watch a show that has now overtaken the books. We also talk about our love for epic fantasies as a whole, from David Eddings to Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower”.  See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

We commemorate the declaration of Malacca as a historical city by exploring books that put a sense of place front and centre, creating and describing cities that are rich, palpable and detailed. Picks include Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, and Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Books discussed: 1. Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino 2. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mist...

A show where we celebrate books and a love of reading - for our very first episode, we talk about the books that have shaped and defined us as readers and people. Expect picks ranging from Anne of Green Gables to Kazuo Ishiguro, and a discussion on why representation matters in literature. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.