95bFM's Loose Reads: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

Meiko Kawakami is a literary star in Japan (also a blogger, poet and former J-Pop star) and this is her first book published in English (translated by Sam Bet and David Boyd. )

Breasts and Eggs won Japan’s most prestigious writing award, the Akutagawa Prize, in 2007. Since then, it has expanded into two books within a book. In Book One, Natsuko is hosting her sister and niece over a sweltering summer in Tokyo from Osaka. Makiko is obsessed with getting breast implants while Midoriko is incredibly anxious about her impending body changes. In Book Two, it’s ten years later and Natsuko is exploring having a child using a sperm donor.

Throughout this novel, Natsuko is surrounded by solo, independent women and this book explores and makes a stand against Japanese patriarchal society. Grimy small apartments, bodily functions, ramen noodles and hostess bars are the background to an intriguing and fleshed out character study.

Also, highly recommended is Kawakami interviewing Murakami where she deeply takes him to task for his writing of female characters.

Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Sarah below:

RNZ's Nine to Noon: Square Haunting by Francesca Wade

A fascinating group biography of five women who lived on Melkenburgh Square between WW1 and WW2.

For fans of English literature, feminist leaders and the Bloomsbury set.

You can order the book here.

Listen to Jenna chat about Square Haunting as well as book store life in Level 2 below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: Recollections of my Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit

Recollections of my Nonexistence is Rebecca’s Solnit’s memoir - giving background and context to her body of work - 20 books on feminism, place, culture, ‘wandering and walking, hope and disaster.’

Solnit writes about reading here:
‘Sometimes when you are devastated you want not a reprieve but a mirror of your condition or a reminder that you are not alone in it. Other times it is not the propaganda or the political art that helps you face a crisis but whatever gives you respite from it.’

Solnit never feels like she’s speaking above you as a reader. You’ll underline and bookmark the many powerful lines in this book. It’s an intelligent and thoughtful read for both new readers and established fans.

#BookshopsWillBeBack

Listen to Jenna and Rachel chatting across the interweb below:

Rebecca Solnit, Jenna, Suri and Renee from Twizel Bookshop at the Winter Institute in Baltimore, January 2020.

Staff Blog: Jenna's Top 10 for Ten Years

By Jenna Todd

In the midst of this lockdown madness, I’ve celebrated ten years of both working at Time Out and being a bookseller. I fell into this book world by accident (with a sprinkling of fate) and have since become completely immersed - I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Starting in 2010, I worked the 9pm nightshift, sharing the counter with our tiny shop kitten Lucinda (now in early retirement) and spent the days devouring book recommendations from my colleagues such as Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge and Eleanor Catton’s The Rehearsal.

Since then, it’s been a joy to work with the most incredibly smart, caring and passionate coworkers, collaborate with our generous and hilarious owner Wendy and connect with our likeminded community - including customers and industry colleagues - who all share an overwhelming love and enthusiasm for our wee store.

Here are my favourite reads for the last decade, I’m sure I’ve shamefully missed a few out - but this is to the best of my memory:

2010 Just Kids by Patti Smith
The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett

2011 Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

2012 The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
Civilisation by Steve Braunias

2013 The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

2014 My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

2015 The First Bad Man by Miranda July 
The Story of a New Name, Those who Leave and Those who Stay, The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

2016 Deleted Scenes for Lovers by Tracey Slaughter 

2017 Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
The New Animals by Pip Adam

2018 My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
The Ice Shelf by Anne Kennedy

2019 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman

95bFM's Loose Reads: Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

With a book that has chapter titles such as, Sheltering in Place, Cabin Fever and Bracing for Change, Laura Zigman’s Separation Anxiety may speak to you more than usual.

Judy is an author and mother in her 50’s. Her 14 year old son doesn’t need her, she has writers block and can’t afford to divorce her anxious husband. Whilst going through her son’s baby items in the basement, she finds an organic cotton baby sling and after putting it on, she looks down at her dog Charlotte…

This book is a story of connection, loneliness and has a promise of lightness and laughs in a time where we all need some brain space. Jenna also recommends David Sedaris, Caitlin Moran and Nina Stibbe for some comedic relief.

Time Out is not currently open, but we urge for you to wait for us to open again to treat yourself to your next literary fix. #WaitForYourBookshop

Listen to Jenna, Rachel and Tess chatting across the interweb below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

Visual artist Jenny Odell contextualises and explores how we can live more fulfilling life just by paying more attention - just for ourselves.

How to Do Nothing is not a self help book, but a thorough investigation into the role of our individual attention and how it can diverted sideways to appreciate the world we live in without commodification.

This is an incredibly thoughtful and fascinating read. Jenna’s review with Rachel and Tess is below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

‘If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.’
ZORA NEALE HURSTON

After making multiple ‘Best of 2019’ lists in the USA, Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House has finally made it to New Zealand.

Machado describes a year long, psychologically abusive relationship with her ex-girlfriend through vignettes headed with narrative genres.

She contextualises her experience as she looks outwards into writing on abusive relationships in the queer community, folklore and pop culture.

This book is intense, helpless and visceral but as Machado says, this is an act of resurrection for herself. Incredibly smart, powerful and compelling - this may be my memoir of the year already!

Listen to Jenna’s review below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: Braised Pork by An Yu

An Yu’s debut novel tells the story of Jia Jia who after discovering her husband dead in the bath, finds a curious drawing from his dream.

From Beijing to Tibet - Braised Pork weaves together domesticity, Chinese traditions and myth - resulting in a gentle exploration of grief.

Braised Pork is also our March Lit Reads pick! Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel below:

RNZ's Nine to Noon: Jenna's Best of 2019

Lucy Ellmann's Ducks, Newburyport a 1000 page, stream of consciousness of an Ohio mother as she bakes pies. Is it worth it? Yes!

Also, Jenna almost missed this incredible memoir, The Copenhagen Trilogy by Danish author Tove Ditlevsen, republished as a Penguin Classic forty years after publication. 

Listen to Jenna’s review with Kathryn Ryan below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Are you looking for a great summer read that’s so compelling that you can’t put it down?

Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age is a topical page-turner that’s funny and sharp. Brilliant dialogue gives depth to her complex characters as they navigate race, privilege and wokeness.

This book has been bought by Lena Waithe’s production company and will soon be a TV series.

Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Tess below!

95bFM's Loose Reads: Jenna's Christmas Picks

Alright, it's the end of the year and wowee, Jenna has a full list of reckons for the last Loose Reads of 2019.

NOVEL OF THE YEAR The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

ADVENTURE STORY OF THE YEAR The Burning River by Lawrence Patchett

EPIC SUMMER READ Ducks Newburyport by Lucy Ellman

BEST BOOK FOR KIDS The Adventures of Tupaia by Courtney Sina Meredith
BEST BOOK FOR BABIES My First Words In Māori by Stacey Morrison

BEST FANCY BOOK Private Gardens of Aotearoa by Suzanne Turley

BEST CLIMATE SCIENCE BOOK Fifteen MIllion Years in Antarctica by Rebecca Priestley

BEST BOOK FOR A 2020 RESOLUTION Tales from a Hot Financial Mess by Frances Cook.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Me by Elton John

Jenna reviews this bloody excellent memoir by Elton John. Filled with incredible tales of celebrity, drugs and music - you will find yourself repeating these anecdotes around the dinner table.

This is the perfect Christmas present for any music lover in your life. Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Tess below:

RNZ's Nine to Noon: The Beautiful Ones by Prince

In early 2016, musical genius Prince announced that he was writing a memoir with editor Dan Piepenbring, however it was only a few months later that he died suddenly.

Piepenbring was given the task by Prince’s estate to put together The Beautiful Ones with what material they’d put together as well as full access to Prince’s Paisley Park.

The result is a lush illustrated hardback in which reading feels like you’re moving through a museum. For what material was available to put this together, it’s pitch perfect for the Prince fan.

Listen to Jenna’s review with Kathryn Ryan below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo is the ‘other’ winner of the 2019 Booker prize, alongside Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments.

Perhaps deserving of being the only winner, Evaristo’s novel takes us into a deep character study of 12 mostly black, mostly women.

Investigating the complexity and variety of gender, class, feminism, politics and sexuality - Girl, Woman, Other explores form with whip smart observation. Listen to Jenna’s review with Rachel and Tess on 95bFM’s Loose Reads below:

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95bFM's Loose Reads: A Sharp Left Turn by Mike Chunn

Mike Chunn’s new autobiography is the NZ rock bio that everyone is going to want this Christmas.

A founding member of Split Enz, Chunn suffered from debilitating panic attacks that caused him to quit the band two albums in. This didn’t stop his music career however - he moved on to found Citizen Band, worked for Mushroom and Sony records, APRA and founded Play it Strange.

A beautiful hardback book full of endearing yarns about Otahuhu in the 1960’s, the love of music, the NZ music industry and mental health.

We finished the review by playing Late Last Night from Split Enz’s second album, Second Thoughts.

Listen to Jenna, Rachel & Tess chat below:

RNZ's Nine to Noon: The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez

You may remember that Jenna reviewed Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award winning The Friend earlier in the year, which still remains one of her favourite reads for 2019. When a prolific, yet not as well known author wins such a prize, publishers often go to their backlist to republish an older title to give it a second life and this is what has happened with Nunez’s The Last of Her Kind, originally published in 2006.

This is a layered, intelligent and considered tale of female friendship, politics and cultural disruption in the 1960’s, New York City. Scholarship student Georgette George is roomed with the wealthy Ann Drayton at Barnard College. An intense friendship develops but ends as Ann’s journey into activism becomes more hard line and extreme.

However, Ann is brought back into George’s life years later after she is arrested for murder.

Listen to Jenna’s review below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith

Jenna is a huge Patti Smith fan and was very happy to step back into her comforting words with Year of the Monkey. Set in the year of 2016 - this is a poetic musing on grief, solitude, dreams & travel. Year of the Monkey is Smith’s third memoir after Just Kids (2010) & M Train (2015).

Today we played The Go-Go’s We Got the Beat after the chapter, Why Belinda Carlisle Matters.

Listen below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

The most highly anticipated release of 2019 is finally here! Jenna reviewed Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale , on this morning’s 95bFM Loose Reads.

Listen to the spoiler free review below!

RNZ's Nine to Noon: Doxology by Nell Zink

For fans of the great American novel, Nell Zink’s Doxology takes the reader from 1980’s New York City to the ill fated USA 2016 election.

Investigating generational shifts & responses, Doxology is a compelling, intelligent & witty observation on thirty years of history and cultural change. For fans of Franzen, Wolitzer and Tartt.

Listen to Jenna’s review below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: Lanny by Max Porter

On her latest Loose Reads review and in anticipation of the Booker shortlist being announced, Jenna reviewed the longlisted Lanny by Max Porter. This book is an expertly crafted exploration in narrative form and dialogue.

Another longlist title that Jenna mentions is The Testaments by Margaret Atwood - Booker judges can only say that it’s ‘terrifying and exhilarating’. This is out on September 10th!

The shortlist is announced at 9pm (NZ time) on September 3rd.

Listen to the review below: