Jenna
Jenna reviewed Shana Chandra’s new novel Banjara on this week’s Loose Reads.
Published by Moa Press, the team behind Saraid De Silva’s Amma, this novel captures the tale of an indentured Indian, Avani, who leaves Rajasthan for Fiji in 1988 and her great-granddaughter, Meera, living in Auckland, NZ.
Listen to Jenna’s chat with Rosetta and Milly below.
Jenna is in the midst of a stocktake storm, so phoned into the studio to chat John Lanchester’s Look What You Made Me Do.
When upper middle class couple Kate & Jack's private behaviour is displayed on a hit TV show, there seems to only be one answer - Jack must have had an affair.
This is a rip-roaring page-turner about class, privacy and generational differences. Ultimately, this is a great tale of revenge.
Listen to Jenna’s chat with Rosetta and Milly below.
Party Boy is a Dunedin-based fever dream delving into the life of Marco, whose nerves are on the slow boil. A story of masculinity, trauma, memory, interruptions, and food.
Read Talia Marshall’s piece on Newsroom’s Reading Room here.
See Breton Dukes in these Auckland Writers Festival events.
Jenna called into the bFM studio to chat to Rosetta and Milly about Party Boy, listen below.
On RNZ’s Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan, Jenna spoke about Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This is Where the Serpent Lives.
Set in Pakistan over 50 years, post-Partitian, Serpent hosts a wide range of characters demonstrating a deeply ingrained feudal class structure that appears not to be able to be shaken.
Vividly told - in descriptions of place, expertly weaved characters and symbols of betrayal and culturally rich, this is an epically told fable, full of corruption, that leads to a truly electrifying final 50 pages. Great for readers who have recently enjoyed Kiran Desai’s Sonia & Sunny or Andrew O’Hagan’s Caledonian Road.
Jenna popped into the 95bFM studio today to chat about Elisabeth AKA Nurse Carla Easther’s debut novel, Seed. A character driven novel full of clever quips, holding humour alongside the heartache whilst capturing the lottery of fertility and the tension this can cause between friends.
Jenna also had a bunch of book news:
The International Booker longlist, specifically mentioning Women Without Men by Shahrnush Pasipur.
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist being released this Wednesday, 4th March.
The Auckland Writers Festival Programme is being announced next week.
She also should have mentioned that the Women’s Prize longlist is also out this week. Phew!
Listen to the kōrero with Jenna, Milly & Sam below:
Leila Mottley was 19 when her debut novel, Nightcrawling, was longlisted for the Booker Prize. She returns with The Girls Who Grew Big, a story set in Florida following three teen mothers. Visceral and rich language makes for an excellent story.
Jenna phoned into the studio with Rosetta and Milly. Listen below!
Sean is a 48 year old poet, writer and reluctant bookseller, “A flaneur in utopia, with nowhere to flan”, in John Tottenham’s Service.
This is a book that dives into the perils and repetition of customer service, the writing process and the dreary reality of gentrification.
Think of this as Black Books set in LA.
Listen to Jenna, Rosetta and Milly below!
Today on RNZ’s Nine to Noon, Jenna chatted with Kathryn about three of her 2025 highlights: Helen Garner’s How to End a Story: Collected Diaries 1978 - 1998, Tony Tulathimutte’s Rejection and The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (And his Mother) by Rabih Alameddine.
Listen below!
Jenna visited the 95bFM studio this morning to talk about Rejection, a book that Jia Tolentino says is “a thrill for the sickos among us.”
A dive into the darkest crevices of the internet and internet culture, this book is self aware, outrageous and outrageously funny.
Listen to Jenna’s chat with Milly and Rosetta below. We also mention Bread of Angels by Patti Smith.
Jenna visited the 95bFM studio for the last time in 2025. She plotted together some book recommendations for Christmas with Rosetta and Milly. Listen below!
FOR FANS OF TIM WINTON’S JUICE
Flesh by David Szalay
THE UP-TO-DATE LIT READER
The Silver Book by Olivia Laing
Helm by Sarah Hall
The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and his Mother) by Rabih Alameddine
ROMANCE READER
Heart the Lover by Lily King
A TRAVEL BOOK
Michael Palin in Venezuela
FOR FANS OF KALIANE BRADLEY’S THE MINISTRY OF TIME
Moderation by Elaine Castillo
MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY
Mana by Tāme Iti
Bread of Angels by Patti Smith
Night People by Mark Ronson
Chris Knox - Not Given Lightly by Craig Robertson
Jenna popped into RNZ’s Culture 101 today to chat with Perlina Lau to chat long books of 2025 as well as some category favourites.
Listen below!
Jenna visited the 95bFM studio this morning to talk about Laura Vincent’s (Ngāti Māhanga, Ngāpuhi) debut novel, Hoods Landing.
Four generations gather for Christmas, small-town gossip and tragedy, tarot cards and secrets are revealed in this funny and sharp ensemble tale.
If you’re going to buy any book this Christmas - this is the one! A local author, from indie publisher Āporo Press.
Jenna joined Milly & Rosetta in the studio to talk about Elaine Castillo’s Moderation.
You may have caught Elaine at the Auckland Writer’s Festival in 2019. Her new novel follows Girlie, a Filipnx American social media moderator in a Vegas-based, VR tech empire, Austen-esque romance genre bending novel. This is whip smart, entertaining and timely - for fans of Kaliane Bradley’s The Ministry of Time.
This morning, Jenna chatted to Rosetta & Milly about the debut novel, Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin.
This is one for the Irish Catholics, it’s a story that delves into grief, family, faith & queer identity with a light touch. Ni Mhaoileoin was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize Discoveries shortlist and the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize.
Listen below!
Today, on RNZ’s Nine to Noon book review, Jenna talked about Kiran Desai’s Booker shortlisted, The Loneliness of Sonia & Sunny.
This is an epic & full tale of Sonia & Sunny, their families, East & West, India & America, love & loneliness. Listen to Jenna’s review with Kathryn below.
Jenna visited the 95bFM studio this morning to delve into the Booker shortlist.
Flesh by David Szalay
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
Audition by Katie Kitamura
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
Flashlight by Susan Choi
Then, we chat about our upcoming activities for NZ Bookshop Day, Saturday 11th October.
Jenna called into the RNZ studio to talk about Booker longlisted, Seascraper, by Benjamin Wood.
Set in a seaside town, in 1960’s England, a teenage shrimp scraper dreams of a life outside of his grueling work. When a film director comes to town, his world suddenly opens up.
This is a tightly written narrative. Immersive, insular, timeless modern classic that explores asperation vs. duty. A hot contender for the Booker shortlist!
I kōrero a Jenna rātou ko Milly, Ko Rosetta i a Te Kōrero o Tōku Reo nā Mike McRoberts mō Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Whakaronga mai!
For our first day of spring, Jenna brought Gary Shteyngart’s sixth novel, Vera, or Faith into the studio.
A story of an anxious ten year old trying to keep it together as her family, friend and school life are in disarray. Set in a not-too distant future America; recognisable advances in AI and political control also affect Vera’s outer life.
Shteyngart wrote this book in just two months. It’s charmingly funny, sad and is a clear comment on the American Dream.
Listen to the full review below with Milly & Rosetta.
On this week’s Loose Reads, Jenna delves into Wendy Erskine’s first novel, The Benefactors. An assault rocks four Belfast families, where the class & privilege of the three perpetrators’ mothers collide with the street smarts of the victim’s family.
Richly drawn & nuanced characters with bitingly funny dialogue and a surprising amount of heart, The Benefactors is a book about leveraging the power you have.
Listen to the full review below with Milly & Rosetta.
