Novel Thoughts

This week we’re deep diving into the brilliant Maggie O’Farrell’s The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox , a novel about Victorian asylums, family secrets, and the tragedy of being yourself.  Also this week, Saph read 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell, Joseph read Day by Michael Cunningham, and Michelle read Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.  This week’s listener recom...

This week we take a look at Small Hours , the highly-anticipated second novel from British writer Bobby Palmer whose debut Isaac and the Egg is already being touted as a contemporary classic.   Also this week, Saph read Turbulence by David Szalay and Joseph read The Night Alphabet by Joelle Taylor.  This week’s listener recommendation request comes from Rachel who really enjoyed The...

In celebration of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2024 on this week’s episode we talk about active female representation in contemporary fiction and recommend some of our favourite books that absolutely smash the Bechdel Test Boulder by Eva Baltasar Jungle House by Julianne Pachico Matrix by Lauren Groff If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha Also this week, Joseph read On Reading, Writing, and Li...

Join us this week as we chat about a glut of great new fiction and non-fiction releases for March, plus we reveal our top picks from the new Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction long list.  March 2024 New Releases The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft Mona of the Manor by Armistead Maupin Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood Clear by Carys Davies Who Owns the Moon? by A.C. Grayling The Ri...

Join us this week as we give our empathy muscles a workout and chat about six of the best contemporary memoirs we’ve read recently.  Saph recommends This Is Not A Pity Memoir by Abbi Morgan, Taking Sides: A Memoir About Love, War, and Changing the World by Sherine Tadros, and The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen. Joseph recommend...

Ahoy! Join us for our first ever author spotlight in which we dive into the award-winning novels of American author Rebecca Makkai. Makkai’s work tackles subjects as diverse as the trauma of the 1980’s AIDS crisis and the enduring legacy of the #MeToo movement, to the secrets and scandals of a mysterious artists’ colony and the modern-day politics of conversion therapy.  I Have Some Questions...

It’s Donna Tartt appreciation week! Michelle joins us for our deep dive into The Goldfinch , Donna Tartt’s brilliant, award-winning novel about art, drugs, loss, and not always getting what you want.  Also this week Joseph read Death Valley by Melissa Broder and Duty Free Art by Hito Steyerl, Michelle read A Curious History of Sex by Kate Lister and Fire and Blood by George R R Martin, and Sa...

This week Sapphire and Joseph deep dive into two new brilliant fiction releases: debut novel Piglet by British writer Lottie Hazell and The Vulnerables , the ninth novel from American writer Sigrid Nunez.  Also this week Sapphire read Jillian by Halle Butler and Normal Women by Ainslie Hogarth. Joseph read Minor Detail by Adania Shibli and The Coming Bad Days by Sarah Bernstein.  This we...

On this week's episode we're chatting about the best short books to start your year. Read this week: Corey Fah Does Social Mobility by Isabel Waidner, The Employees by Olga Ravn, Come Closer by Sara Gran, Bewilderment by Richard Powers, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.  Saph’s short books: Ti Amo by Hanne Orstavik, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, You Shou...

Happy New Year! Michelle is back with a hot take on Tom Hanks’s charisma. Read this week: Shark Heart by Emily Habeck, Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan and Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adeji-Brenyah, Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Speedboat by Renata Adler, The Maid by Nita Prowse, Better Left Unsaid by Tufayel Ahmed. This week’s deep dive book is the best-selling Good Materia...

Sapphire and Joseph talk about the new releases they can’t wait to read in 2024. Sapphire is looking forward to reading Sandwich by Catherine Newman, Nuclear Family by Kate Davies, and Small Hours by Bobby Palmer. Joseph wants to read Parade by Rachel Cusk, Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie, Your Utopia by Bora Chung, and Until August by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  S...

Read this week: Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas, The Seaplane on Final Approach by Rebecca Rukeseyer, Wellness by Nathan Hill, and Ghost Music by An Yu.  2023 favs: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, In Memoriam by Alice Winn, Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang, In Ascension by Martin MacInnes, The Glutton by A K Blakemore, Julia by Sandra Newman, Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri, Dying of Polite...

Sapphire, Michelle and Joseph chat about what they’ve been reading, watching, and listening to this week including Sean Michaels’ sensitive existential comedy Do You Remember Being Born? , Clementine Ford’s inspiring feminist manifesto Fight Like A Girl , Nathan Hill’s portrait of marital dysfunction Wellness , and Julian Fellowes’ historical drama The Gilded Age .   This week’s deep dive boo...

Sapphire, Michelle and Joseph chat about what they’ve been reading, watching, and listening to this week including the thought-provoking The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry, the international bestseller Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent from Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, the atmospheric novella Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal (translated by Jessica Moore), an...

Michelle, Sapphire and Joseph chat about what they’ve been reading, watching, and listening to this week including the true crime podcasts Crime Junkie , Morbid , and Small Town Dicks , as well as the new TV series The Curse starring Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder, and the classic 80s creature feature Gremlins .  This week’s deep dive book is Disobedient Bodies: Reclaim Your Unruly Beauty by E...

Sapphire, Joseph, and Michelle chat about what they’ve been reading, watching, and listening to this week including Paul Lynch’s Booker Prize-winning novel Prophet Song , Alison Rumfitt’s gutchurning new release Brainwyrms , and Down The Drain , the hotly anticipated memoir from model and actress Julia Fox.  This week’s deep dive book is the million copy bestseller A Little Life by Hanya Yana...

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