Jenna phoned into the Nine to Noon studio today to talk about the fantastic memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club. Following the famous Dunne family, through celebrity, hilarity and then deep tragedy, this book has something for everyone.
A masterclass in storytelling! Listen below.
Winner of The National Book Award in America, Blackouts is a clever and moving read. A love story between two men - young and old - as they reckon with queer histories and their place within them.
Listen to Suri and Jonny talk about it below.
A cleverly told story which thoughtfully captures the uncomfortable space between the generational and gender divide of a daughter and a father.
Sophia’s father sits in a theatre to watch the debut of his young daughter’s play. But he soon realises the play is about him and a holiday they took together in Sicily.
For fans of Deborah Levy, Ian McEwan and Rachel Cusk!
Listen to Jenna chat with guest Nine to Noon host, Paddy Gower below.
Jenna has Father’s Day on her mind, with a recommendation that would be great for your Dad, or quite frankly, just yourself!
Auckland based journalist Steve Braunias has declared The Survivors is his last book of true crime. Some cases you will know, others Steve was the only media in the room. This series of essays that depicts the human condition, with insight, investigation and humour.
Listen to Jenna & Jonny chat about it below.
Told through the eyes of sharp-eyed secret agent Sadie Smith, Creation Lake is a genre-bending espionage tale, with an unexpectedly philosophical core. Set in the ancient caves and dried lakes of France, this atmospheric novel follows Sadie as she infiltrates an extremist group intent on unraveling civilization and replacing it with a primordial society. Headed by the charismatic and evasive Bruno, the group plots violent acts intended to pull Europe back into the Bronze Age.
A surprising and fascinating cat-and-mouse chase, Creation Lake asks existential questions about human and civilizational origins whilst remaining thrilling up to its last words.
This is Rachel Kushner's second Booker longlisted title and perhaps her most rigorous one yet. Creation Lake is released early September.
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TOP 5 BOOKS
KID'S BOOKS
Behind You is the Sea is a collection of linked stories based around a community of Palestinians in Baltimore. Richly developed and compelling, this book is a new favourite at the shop!
Listen to Jenna & Jonny chat about it below.
Mongrel, a Time Out staff favourite for 2024, follows three women’s explorations of cultural identity. Moving between England and Japan, the threads that connect these characters are revealed.
This is a coming of age debut that features an expert hand of character development and an articulate and compelling exploration of cultural identity.
Listen to Jenna chat with Kathryn below.
Suri declares My Friends by Hisham Matar one of her favourite reads of 2024 and one to look out for on the Booker Longlist (which is announced next week).
My Friends is a political novel that follows three Libyan men, exiled in London, and their friendship’s journey, weaving together fictional characters along side real events. With themes of loss, grief and friendship, My Friends reveals uncomfortable truths about finding your identity whilst away from home.
Suri phoned into the studio, listen to her review with Jonny below.
All That We Know is a Tāmaki Makaurau based, coming of age novel about Māreikura Pohe and her journey in rumaki reo whilst navigating viral fame, whānau, activism and relationships.
This book is funny, nuanced and asks hard questions - of its characters and the reader.
This has become a fast Time Out staff favourite, it’s for fans of Rebecca K. Reilly’s Greta & Valdin and Coco Solid’s How to Loiter in a Turf War.
Listen below!
Author Tina Makereti’s new novel released on Wednesday 3rd of July. It covers an array of themes such as colonisation, ecological devastation and extremism. It explores the strength of womanhood and the importance of connection in a polarised and fraught world.
Set in a small Aotearoa town, a little bit into the future, the story follows three women who find themselves neighbours. A sense of disquiet arises when the Pākehā neighbour’s son moves in sporting a fresh buzzcut and a new tattoo.
Beth spoke to Tina about The Mires, its themes and the inspiration behind the book. Listen below!
Teetering on the edge of dystopia, debut novel The Mark, takes place in a future Iceland where the device Zoe plays videos to soothe minds ill-at-rest and an Empathy Test determines your societal status.
Starting weeks before an explosive referendum to make the Empathy Test mandatory, The Mark follows the story of four characters: lonely, isolated Tristan fearful of what the Test will mean for his future job prospects, Vetur, a teacher worried about the prospects of her failing students and Eyjal, a corporate office worker facing dismissal and Oli, a psychiatrist who heads the organization responsible for creating and administering the test.
A compulsive, addictive read for fans of Black Mirror
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TOP 5 BOOKS
KID'S BOOKS
Today we welcome Jonny as bFM’s new breakfast host with the heifty 650-paged Caledonian Road by writer and journalist, Andrew O’Hagan.
A huge cast weaves together fully realised characters from all walks of life - an art writer, a Robin Hood style hacker plus Lords, politicians, Russian oligarchs and migrants. This is a Dickensian epic that tells a tale of modern London. It is also readable! and funny!
Jenna is tipping this for a Booker nod - the longlist is announced on July 31st.
Listen below!
After five years of reviews, Suri AND Jenna came into the studio to farewell the amazing Rachel Ashby from her role at breakfast.
Suri then talks about David Coventry’s new autofiction-ish novel, Performance. From Te Waipounamu to Europe, David takes us on a clever and fascinating observation of identity, loss and longing.
Listen below!
Jenna phoned into the 95bFM studio fresh from the BookPeople Australian Booksellers Conference.
Hard by the Cloud House, written by Peter Walker and published by Massey University Press, weaves together the threads of memoir, history, pūrākau and nature writing to tell the tale of the mysterious extinct bird, Pouakai (Haast’s Eagle).
Listen below!
This morning, Suri visited the bFM studio to review the well researched, electric and genius new book of short stories by Patricia Grace.
Divided into three sections, this collection immediately connects you to the human experience across a wide variety of character and place.
Listen to Suri’s chat with Rachel below.
Take What You Need follows an estranged stepmother and stepdaughter whilst commenting on the rural and urban divide, class, poverty and racism in America and the lives of artists.
It’s a fantastic read - compelling, nuanced and contemporary. Listen to Jenna chat with Kathryn below.
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TOP 5 BOOKS
KID'S BOOKS
Hollie spoke to Ineke Meredith about her memoir, On Call.
Author Photo: Rachel Calvo
What does a typical day look like for you?
Well, I don't quite have a typical day at the moment. I am in this period of transition with my life in Paris now. A few years ago, I launched our canine dermocosmetic brand in New Zealand and now we are launching in France. I have a new business partner here in Paris, and we are just about to take on a new member of the team. Most days we are working together.
But the typical day starts with coffee and a croissant. We live next to the Eiffel Tower so I try to run in the morning along the river and say hi to her :) I never cease to be absolutely amazed by her beauty. Then I have a day packed full of business meetings or I am writing something! I just finished writing an article for the veterinarians in the UK about the importance of dermocosmetics in dogs. Later this month, we are working with the French veterinary dermatologists in Corsica, so it's really project after project right now. If I did not run in the morning, I absolutely have to run in the evening. My running route is along the river all the way to the Louvre and back. I try to have a little break from the desk before I jump back on to time with NZ waking. At the moment, I am on meetings with NZ from 930pm - 2am Paris time. I am involved with some changes happening in Breast Screen Aotearoa so the meetings are a mix between Fur Love and that ;)
What made you decide to write ‘On Call’?
I never really 'decided' to write On Call. I was writing about patients and their stories which are always far greater than what we appreciate when we see someone in their illness. I was a little hit by this idea that we manage disease, and in particular for trauma or cancer, this journey turns the whole family upside down. I just wanted to write about them so that I would remember them as a person and not just the disease. I initially thought that I would like to write something to the New England Journal of Medicine which is one of the greatest medical journals but they did not want my stories, so when I had over 30,000 words I decided that maybe a publisher would want it.
The importance of your relationship with your mother shines through in your memoir, what was the greatest lesson she taught you?
I have a huge work ethic, I don't stop and this was through watching her. I don't know anyone who worked as much as she did. But if there is one 'lesson' that shines through for me, it is not to look into your neighbour's bowl. I do my best! Anyway, I think I am too busy to worry about what others have and what I don't have...and to be honest, if there is one thing medicine teaches you, it's that every day is a gift.
What is your strongest memory of medical school?
For some reason, cadaver labs. I suppose because it is so strongly visual, that it pervades my memories of med school. I can remember the hallway outside where we would leave our bags. The smell and the harsh white light in the labs. The cadavers on the table and our small groups huddled around a cadaver...I remember even the cold of the cadaver through my gloved hand and the greasiness... I imagine this memory is quite pervasive for most of us. My husband is also a surgeon and one day he bought a leg of "Pata negra" which is a cured leg of pork. At the time, it was a good idea...we loved to eat it in restaurants. Why not have it at home with friends? After a couple of months of this big leg of meat sitting on our kitchen bench, we started to feel unwell even walking into the kitchen. It really pulled on the memory of cadaver labs for both of us!
What’s one takeaway you hope people will have from your book?
It's been a pretty amazing month because I never realised how widely the book would resonate for all people from all walks of life. When I was writing the book, I had different thoughts at different moments: First, I hoped it would become this 'book of truth' for people entering medicine. For so long, we were always told to read 'House of God' but I was disappointed by how negative it was about patients, and frankly, our patients are awesome and they go through a lot. I hoped that it would illustrate something closer to the truth for young people who wanted to become surgeons at this moment in time. Second, I hoped that patients and patients' families would read it, and understand how much they impacted us. No matter how many times we have given bad news, it is always hard and heartbreaking even for us. And third, I hoped that the families of my colleagues would read it, and understand what it is like because I don't think there is any way you can understand what it is like unless you live it. I have had amazing messages from people who have read the book and so many messages have made me cry. People have told me they cried and they laughed. Spouses of colleagues have said that they have insight into what we go through at work. But the most frequent message I have received is that the book made them realise that life is fragile and can be taken at any moment.
What author or book is a recent discovery for you?
I am terrible. I have 3 books on the go right now. Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, Nos Frères Inattendus by Amin Maalouf (I always try to read something in French to continue to improve) and I am finishing Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. One of my favourite books and 'recent' discovery has to be The Spinoza Problem by Irvin D. Yalom. I thought it was extraordinary and I subsequently read his other book When Nietzsche Wept which was also very good.
What is your favourite snack to enjoy while writing?
I can't snack while writing because if there is something in front of me, I will inhale it. So I am more of a mint tea while writing kinda girl.
