It’s been a long time between drinks and it’s great to be back to our regular rotation of Loose Reads reviews on 95bFM. Today, Jenna talks about Booker Prize winning author Douglas Stuart’s Young Mungo.
Listen to Jenna and Rachel on the phone below:
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Manon joins our rotation of reviewers on 95bFM’s Loose Reads.
Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women who Revolutionized Food in America is a group biography of Chao Yang Buwei, Marcella Hazan, Madeleine Kamman, Julie Sahni, Norma Shirley, Elena Zelayeta, and Najmieh Batmanglij. Through these intimate and poetic biographical sketches, Mayukh Sen pays reverent dues to long-overlooked women who have shaped America's modern culinary landscape and pioneered cuisines of their homeland. His descriptions of their foods are sublime - this is a torturous book to read while hungry!
From Zelayeta, who learned to cook again after going blind and went on to become the first Latina chef to have a televised cooking show, to Batmanglij, who self-published several Iranian cookbooks in exile, these women are beacons of determination and talent who strived to preserve their culture in the face of prejudice and erasure.
Manon’s full review with Rachel is below.
Toi Tū Toi Ora is the book of the landmark exhibition of contemporary Māori Art from Auckland Art Gallery. Curator Nigel Borell has collated a richly illustrated text featuring exhibition artworks both on their own and within the gallery space. The book follows the exhibition's themes of Te Kore (the void), Te Pō (the night) and Te Ao Mārama (the light.)
With contributions from Moana Jackson and Taarati Taiaroa, this book is a must for your home library allowing the luxury of revisiting these beautiful works at your own pace.
Listen to Jenna and guest host Annabell chat below.
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Siri Hustvedt's urgent and moving new essay collection, Mothers, Fathers, and Others, explores the concept of motherhood, and examines its role in society, art, science, philosophy and literature.
Husvedt moves from the personal and intimate to the macro and theoretical deftly and creates surprising connections between women in her life, Emily Bronte, Louise Bourgeoise and the shifting role of the mother in society. With clever insights into everything from the future of the novel to the interconnectivity of humans and feminist theory, Siri Husvedt proves again to be an important writer for our times.
You can listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
With rain and thunder in the background, Jenna reviews Last Resort, a debut novel by Andrew Lipstein.
Caleb’s dream is to be a novelist and after some ethically dubious inspiration, it looks like his dream is to be realised. This book is not serious, sharp & funny and is recommend for fans of grifter stories - especially the infamous Who is the Bad Art Friend?
Listen to Jenna and Rachel discuss below.
Jenna reviews this epic novel from renowned poet, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers.
Ailey Pearl Garfield, her immediate family and ancestors tackle racism, trauma, colourism, black feminism, academia and history over 800 sweeping and effortless pages. This book is highly recommended!
Listen to Jenna’s review with Lynne Freeman on RNZ’s Nine to Noon below.
Suri reviews a vivid, evocative and compelling novel set in the early 21st century, by a multi disciplinary author, Keeping the House by Tice Cin.
Following a multi generational family in South London, Keeping the House studies the rich inner lives of women and immigrant communities.
There is a soundtrack for this book! You can listen to it here.
You can listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
Translated from Italian, Claudia Durastanti’s novel Strangers I Know explores the mythology of family, language, form and fiction. An incredibly smart read and highly recommended.
Listen to Jenna and Rachel discuss below.
Short, clear and concise. If you’re going to read any non-fiction title about America, this is it. National Book Award winner George Packer presents how politics, economics and culture has evolved into the America we know today.
You can listen to Suri’s review with Rachel below.
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Danya Kukafka’s Notes on an Execution is crime fiction fit for true crime lovers. Set in the twelve hours before he is to be executed, Ansel Packer’s story is told by three women who have been affected by his crimes. A pacy and thought provoking read.
Listen to Jenna, Rachel and Zoe discuss below.
A sprawling history of human civilization, The Dawn of Everything rivals its predecessors by asking 'Are both Hobbes and Rousseau wrong about the state of human nature?'. Drawing on carefully chronicled indigenous histories and posing a challenge to existing understandings of the development of civilization, The Dawn of Everything is a must read for fans of Sapiens and Humankind.
You can listen to Suri’s review below.
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The growth of tech, social media and personal devices has evolved the way our society interacts with the world today. Stolen Focus is an investigation into how this has happened, what it means and offers tools in how to get our focus back. A hot topic told in an engaging and thorough way, this a great non fiction read to start off the new year.
Read this excerpt from The Guardian and listen to Jenna, Rachel and Zoe discuss below.
As seen in Metro Magazine
Jenna
Times Like These by Michelle Langstone
Uprising by Nic Low
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders
Cait
Lolita in the Afterlife by Jenny Minton Quigley
Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki
Night Bus by Zuo Ma
Roman
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Second Place by Rachel Cusk
A Country for Dying by Annie Ernaux
Wendy
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
The Echo Chamber by John Boyne
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Manon
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders
In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova
The Right to Sex by Amia Srini
Sophie
Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney
No One is Talking about This by Patricia Lockwood
Slave Play by Jeremy O Harris
Suri
No One is Talking about This by Patricia Lockwood
The Hard Crowd by Rachel Kushner
Please, Call Me Jesus by Sam Te Kani
Amanda
Rangikura by Tayi Tibble
The Hard Crowd by Rachel Kushner
Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados
Saraid
A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam
Luster by Raven Leilani
Winter in Sokcho by Elsa Shua Dusapin
Katie
Women of Troy by Pat Barker
Roxy by Neal Shusterman
The House in the Cerulean Sea
T. J. Klune
Elijah
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
No One is Talking about This by Patricia Lockwood
Fragments of an Infinite Memory by Mael Renouard
Lauren
Matrix by Lauren Groff
The Last Graduate by Naomi Novak
These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan
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Our top 10 bestselling books of the year.
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TOP 5 BOOKS
KID'S BOOKS
