95bFM's Loose Reads: Taste Makers by Mayukh Sen

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Toi Tū Toi Ora by Nigel Borell

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Mothers, Fathers, and Others by Siri Hustvedt

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Keeping the House by Tice Cin

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Strangers I Know by Claudia Durastanti

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Last Best Hope by George Packer

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber & David Wengrow

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention by Johann Hari

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.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Matrix by Lauren Groff

Jenna is Rachel and Zoe’s first guest in the studio since August! Today, she reviews Lauren Groff’s Matrix. An imagining of the life medieval poet, Marie de France, who is sent away from the royal court to live as a nun. Never has a story set in the twelfth century felt so contemporary!

95bFM's Loose Reads: Bewilderment by Richard Powers

Richard Power's latest novel, Bewilderment, is a tender exploration of loss, climate anxiety and the binding love between father son. In the wake of his wife's death, scientist Theo tries to rescue his sensitive son from the noise and cruelty of the modern world. A rich mixture of philosophy, science and spirituality, Bewilderment is a powerful ode to the natural world.

This is another lockdown review! You can listen to Suri chat with Rachel below.

95bFM's Loose Reads: A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003 - 2020 by David Sedaris

The prolific David Sedaris is back with his second volume of diaries, A Carnival of Snackery (2003-2020.)

With the usual ingredients of travels stories, languages, bad jokes, the Sea Section, taxidermy, rubbish, Hugh & the infamous Sedaris family, this is a must read for Sedaris fans. It’s the type of book that can sit over the coffee table over Christmas and have multiple readers at once.

Listen to Jenna’s lockdown review with Rachel and Zoe below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: Please, Call Me Jesus by Samuel Te Kani

Samuel Te Kani's debut erotic short fiction collection, Please, Call Me Jesus is an electric, moreish journey through suburbia and its dark pleasures.

From gaming housewives, to teenage werewolves and suburban fathers with secrets, Sam Te Kani's psychologically piercing and playful vignettes of suburban desire make for addictive reading.

Samuel Te Kani is a contributor to Metro NZ, The Spinoff, Pantograph Punch and formerly Vice NZ.

This is another lockdown review! You can listen to Suri chat with Rachel below.

95bFM's Loose Reads: The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Nastuko Imamura

This little book follows The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan and she follows, like a friendly(ish) ghost, The Woman in the Purple Skirt.

This is a portrait of single women in Japan, women who work in service and the hierarchy within those industries. It’s also a portrait of loneliness.

This is perfect Christmas present for fans of Sayaka Murata and also Korean authors such as Han Kang and Bae Suah. It’s completely bonkers but funny, creepy but innocent, compelling and mysterious.

Listen to Jenna’s lockdown review with Rachel and Zoe below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: A Good Winter by Gigi Fenster

Keep the spooky season alive with Gigi Fenster's chilling new novel, A Good Winter! The 2021 Michael Gifkins Prize winner is an absorbing psychological thriller told through the neurotic and increasingly frenetic observations of Olga, a lonely woman who befriends her neighbour Lara. As Olga's life becomes more entwined with Lara's and her feelings become more obsessive, her paranoia begins to take over until the shocking end.

A compulsive and addictive read, A Good Winter is a dark and fascinating insight into the mind of a woman alienated from family, love and desire.

This is another lockdown review! You can listen to Suri chat with Rachel below.

95bFM's Loose Reads: She's a Killer by Kirsten McDougall

Alice is ‘the person nobody cares about in the movie if they die’. She’s in her late thirties and lives with her mother (whom she only communicates with by morse code), she has an extraordinary IQ and low empathy for others.

Aotearoa is in a state of political and social change. A chance encounter with one of Aotearoa’s new weathugees,Pablo, leaves Alice living with his 15 year old daughter, Erika - who also happens to be a genius.

Set in a bleak future that we can almost touch with our fingertips, She’s a Killer has a perfectly formed plot, funny & considered dialogue and a thrilling twist. Not a single character is wasted.

Listen to Jenna’s lockdown review with Rachel and Zoe below:

95bFM's Loose Reads: My Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard

After a brief hiatus, Karl Ove Knausgaard returns to fiction with The Morning Star, a rich 666-page exploration of human existence told through the lives of nine interconnected characters. In The Morning Star, the spectre of the unreal and imagined hovers over the prosaic rituals of daily life, as Knausgaard's characters try to find meaning in the modern world. A stunning novel for turbulent times.

This is another lockdown review! You can listen to Suri chat with Rachel below.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

An epic tale that spans the past, present and future from the author of All the Light We Cannot See. Jenna reviews this highly anticipated read from the shop floor, which was delivered by the courier during the review.

95bFM's Loose Reads: Nostalgia has Ruined My Life by Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle

Auckland writer Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle’s devastating little novella ‘Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life’ explores the emptiness of dating and work in the modern world. Told through darkly funny and painful little vignettes, ‘Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life’ is a deliciously twisted and intoxicating work. For fans of Ottessa Moshfegh and Sakaya Murata!

Listen to Suri’s lockdown review with Rachel below.