On 95bFM’s Loose Reads Kiran reviewed Another Planet: A Teenager in Suburbia by Tracey Thorn. It’s a lovely memoir about family, music, culture and the crushing boredom of growing up in 1970s suburbia. It’s a wonderful book which celebrates the ordinary over the extraordinary.
95bFM's Loose Reads: Kamila Shamsie, Zoya Patel & Sabrina Mahfouz /
Whether you’re reading a reflection of your own community, or stepping inside the stories from another culture, the joy of reading has no boundaries.
On the latest 95bFM Loose Reads, Jenna suggests some wonderful Muslim writers to delve in to.
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie - see her in May at the Auckland Writers Festival.
No Country Woman by Zoya Patel
The Things I Would Tell You - British Muslim Women Write ed. by Sabrina Mahfouz
95bFM's Loose Reads: The Wall by John Lanchester /
On 95bFM’s Loose Reads, Kiran reviewed our Time Out Book of the Month for March - The Wall by John Lanchester. It’s a startlingly prescient allegory for our times where The Defenders patrol a Wall to keep out The Others. Looking at climate change and political turbulence, John Lanchester is a brilliant writer.
95bFM's Loose Reads: You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian /
Today we talk short stories and how GREAT they are!
Before today’s review, Jenna gave Tess some homework: To read the viral, December 2017 short story, Cat Person, from The New Yorker.
This collection of twelve stories (including Cat Person) was published off the back of this success. Dark, twisted and humourous (sometimes), You Know You Want This explores the power dynamics of sex, relationships and gender.
If this sounds good to you, you may also like the following short story collections: Things to Do When You’re Goth in the Country & Her Body and Other Parties. You can also buy Cat Person on its own!
BOOK OF THE MONTH: March 2019 /
The Wall
John Lanchester
Our Book of the Month for March is The Wall by John Lanchester.
"It's cold on the Wall. You look for metaphors. It's cold as slate, as diamond, as the moon. Cold as charity - that's a good one. But you soon realise that the thing about the cold is that it isn't a metaphor. It isn't like anything else. It's nothing but physical fact. This kind of cold, anyway. Cold is cold is cold."
After a catastrophic environmental disaster, sea levels have risen, there are no beaches, and a Wall encircling Great Britain has been erected. Beset by cold, loneliness and fear, it is on the Wall that the Defenders stand guard to keep the Others out. A dystopian allegory about the current political and environmental climate, The Wall also looks at intergenerational disparity and will hook you in from the first line.
RNZ's Nine to Noon: My Coney Island Baby by Billy O'Callaghan /
On RNZ’s Nine to Noon Kiran reviewed Billy O’Callaghan’s My Coney Island Baby which is also our March Lit Reads title.
Bestsellers for February 2019 /
Click on the covers to shop!
TOP 5 BOOKS
Bestsellers Gallery Archive (Pre 2022)
KID'S BOOKS
Kids' Bestsellers Archive (Pre 2022)
95bFM's Loose Reads: Nothing is Real: The Beatles Were Underrated And Other Sweeping Statements About Pop by David Hepworth /
On 95bFM’s Loose Reads Kiran reviewed Nothing is Real: The Beatles Were Underrated and Other Sweeping Statements About Pop by music journalist David Hepworth. Entertaining and informative, this collection of essays shows how to take music seriously but at the same time, not drain the life out of it.
Guest Post: A Poem for Time Out Bookstore by Kiri Piahana-Wong /
Republished with permission from NZ Author. Issue 315 Summer 18/19. Read the whole issue here.
95bFM's Loose Reads: Bad Blood: Secrets & Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou /
On today’s Loose Reads, Jenna and Tess chat about one of the latest fraud cases to be in the midst of a media frenzy.
With two upcoming documentaries, a podcast and a movie due, the case of Elizabeth Holmes and her now failed, fraudulant medical company Theranos is being dissected by all angles.
However, Bad Blood is the book that started it all. John Carreyrou’s thorough reporting is transfixing, culminating in a truly compelling tale of corporate crime.
For fans of the Fyre Festival documentaries and the latest scoop on Dan Mallory AKA A.J.Finn, this is an another intriguing tale of millenials gone bad. The new b-format edition is due back in stock very soon, so pre-order now.
RNZ's Nine to Noon: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez /
Jenna popped into the RNZ studio in Wellington to review National Book Award-winning novel The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. It’s a wry and moving story of companionship based around the unlikely friendship between a woman and a Great Dane.
95bFM's Loose Reads: Dirt: Food and Words by Gemma Walsh and Katie Kerr /
On 95bFM’s Loose Reads Kiran spoke about the locally produced and beautifully crafted Dirt by Gemma Walsh and Katie Kerr. Not your average cookbook, Dirt is experimental and brings together delicious plant-based recipes paired with poems, writing, and conversations with local writers and thinkers. It would make a lovely gift!
BOOK OF THE MONTH: February 2019 /
For the Good Times
David Keenan
Time Out Bookstore is thrilled to introduce you to our Book of the Month for February For the Good Times by David Keenan, a harshly brutal but also romantic and sometimes comic insider’s account of The Troubles in 1970s Belfast.
It follows a sharp-suited, Perry Como and family-loving Provisional IRA gang and is told as a compelling oral history by Sammy, a Republican foot soldier as he looks back on what he ironically calls his “happy days.” The novel charts the lads as they carry out business in a Mickey Mouse decorated van and take over a comics shop amongst a backdrop of violence, arms raids and explosions.
Exhilarating and phantasmagorical, this cold-eyed novel with a wild and loyal heart is volatile and vividly realised.
95bFM's Loose Reads: The Ockhams’ 2019 Longlist /
It’s an exciting time of year for NZ literature as the Ockhams’ 2019 Longlist has just been announced. Jenna talks to Mikey and Tess about the award categories, some titles to look out for on the longlist and points out what books we’ve reviewed previously on Loose Reads!
They also ponder, how long should you keep reading a book that you’re not enjoying…?
Listen to previous reviews of longlisted titles here:
This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman
The Ice Shelf by Anne Kennedy
Poukahangatus by Tayi Tibble
We Can Make a Life by Chessie Henry
Bestsellers for January 2019 /
Click on the covers to shop!
TOP 5 BOOKS
Bestsellers Gallery Archive (Pre 2022)
KID'S BOOKS
Kids' Bestsellers Archive (Pre 2022)
RNZ's Nine to Noon Best of 2018 with Kiran Dass /
Kiran spoke about two of her favourite reads from 2018: Normal People by Sally Rooney and This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman on RNZ’s Nine to Noon.
95bFM's Loose Reads: One Hundred Lyrics & a Poem by Neil Tennant /
For her first Loose Reads book review for 2019, Kiran reviewed One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem by Neil Tennant, one half of the iconic British electronic pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Tennant’s lyrics observe and celebrate modern life, and on the page they read like poetry! Each lyric is annotated by Tennant, which makes for fascinating insight and backstory.
95bFM's Loose Reads: My Thoughts Exactly by Lily Allen /
It’s a powerful thing to be able to tell your own story in your own words and Lily Allen does it well in My Thoughts Exactly. This autobiography is straight up honest, gossy and super compelling. Listen to Jenna’s review from this morning with Mikey & Tess.
Time Out's Bestsellers in 2018 /
Our top 10 bestselling books of the year.
Click on the covers to shop!
Bestsellers for December 2018 /
Click on the covers to shop!
TOP 5 BOOKS
Bestsellers Gallery Archive (Pre 2022)
KID'S BOOKS
Kids' Bestsellers Archive (Pre 2022)
