46 | What are you reading? The best book recommendations of 2021

12/07/21 • 65 min

The best (and most!) book recommendations of the year! We share the 'What Are You Reading?' highlights from a wide range of our 2021 guests, including Nardi Simpson, David Vann, Kavita Bedford, Luke Stegemann, Ruhi Lee, Joanna Nell, Fiona Murphy, Heather Taylor Johnson, Jacinta Dietrich and – of course – James and Ashley.

Books discussed in this episode (all 44 of them):

Bindi by Kirli Saunders
The Road to Woop Woop by Eugen Bacon
The End: My Struggle Book 6 by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
Shadow Child by PF Thomése
Eight Lives by Susan Hurley
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
Disoriental by Négar Djavadi
The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon
Deepfakes by Nina Schick
The Possessed by Dostoevsky
Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marias
A Heart So White by Javier Marias
The Stranger and short stories by Albert Camus
When We Dead Awaken by James Robins
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby
Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
The Ripping Tree by Nikki Gemmell
On Quiet by Nikki Gemmell
Beautiful Kate by Newton Thornburg
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
The Animals in that Country by Laura Jean McKay
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
Ghost Species by James Bradley
The Past by Tessa Hadley
The Iceman by John Sandford
Storm Prey by John Sandford
Love, Clancy by Richard Glover
Flesh Wounds by Richard Glover
Prosopagnosia by Sonia Hernandez
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
Late Bloomer by Clem Bastow
The Rúin by Dervla McTiernan
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

What about you – what are you reading? Get in touch and let us know!

Ashley's website: ashleykalagianblunt.com
Ashley's Twitter: @AKalagianBlunt
Ashley's Instagram: @akalagianblunt
James' website: jamesmckenziewatson.com
James' Twitter: @JamesMcWatson
James' Instagram: @jamesmcwatson

Books discussed in this episode (all 44 of them):

Bindi by Kirli Saunders
The Road to Woop Woop by Eugen Bacon
The End: My Struggle Book 6 by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
Shadow Child by PF Thomése
Eight Lives by Susan Hurley
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
Disoriental by Négar Djavadi
The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon
Deepfakes by Nina Schick
The Possessed by Dostoevsky
Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marias
A Heart So White by Javier Marias
The Stranger and short stories by Albert Camus
When We Dead Awaken by James Robins
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby
Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
The Ripping Tree by Nikki Gemmell
On Quiet by Nikki Gemmell
Beautiful Kate by Newton Thornburg
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
The Animals in that Country by Laura Jean McKay
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
Ghost Species by James Bradley
The Past by Tessa Hadley
The Iceman by John Sandford
Storm Prey by John Sandford
Love, Clancy by Richard Glover
Flesh Wounds by Richard Glover
Prosopagnosia by Sonia Hernandez
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
Late Bloomer by Clem Bastow
The Rúin by Dervla McTiernan
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

What about you – what are you reading? Get in touch and let us know!

Ashley's website: ashleykalagianblunt.com
Ashley's Twitter: @AKalagianBlunt
Ashley's Instagram: @akalagianblunt
James' website: jamesmckenziewatson.com
James' Twitter: @JamesMcWatson
James' Instagram: @jamesmcwatson

Previous Episode

45 | Writing the book you need with Jacinta Dietrich, author of 'This Is Us Now'

James and Ashley speak with Melbourne-based author Jacinta Dietrich about her debut book 'This Is Us Now', which explores a young couple's relationship as one of them faces a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Based on her boyfriend's experience of surviving lymphoma, the book explores two individuals who don't know where their relationship is going and have to figure out how they feel about each other, all as one of them goes through chemo. Jacinta discusses how cancer treatment 'suppresses every part of a relationship', her decision to write the book she needed to read, and how she managed to write honestly about difficult feelings.

Jacinta Dietrich is a writer and editor who holds a Master of Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne. 'This Is Us Now' is her first book. You can order it from Booktopia and bookshops across Australia.

Books and authors discussed in this episode:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green;
Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott;
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks;
Lee Kofman (featured in episode 3);
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata;
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata;
Late Bloomer by Clem Bastow;
Kay Kerr (featured in episode 37);
The Rúin by Dervla McTiernan;
Tana French;
Dinuka McKenzie;
Andrew Solomon, of course!
Ten Thousand Aftershocks by Michelle Tom (featured in episode 38);
Lyn Yeowart (featured in episode 39)

Get in touch!

Ashley's website: ashleykalagianblunt.com
Ashley's Twitter: @AKalagianBlunt
Ashley's Instagram: @akalagianblunt
James' website: jamesmckenziewatson.com
James' Twitter: @JamesMcWatson
James' Instagram: @jamesmcwatson

Next Episode

47 | Bonus episode! In conversation with Michelle Tom for Avid Reader's Festival of Cancelled Events

The last episode for 2021 is a special bonus interview with Michelle Tom, who James and Ashley first spoke to in episode 38 (the most downloaded episode of the year). As part of Avid Reader's Festival of Cancelled Events, James joined Michelle in conversation for an online event to discuss her memoir, 'Ten Thousand Aftershocks.' This event took place on October 18 2021.

A video recording of this event is available to watch on YouTube and includes Michelle answering questions from the audience at the end of the event.

See you in 2022!

Get in touch!