WEBVTT - The Best Books Of All Time 0:00:11.104 --> 0:00:15.024 So much. You're listening to a Muma Mia podcast. Mamma 0:00:15.104 --> 0:00:18.784 Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and borders that 0:00:18.864 --> 0:00:20.584 this podcast is recorded on. 0:00:20.864 --> 0:00:24.504 Hey spillers, this is producer of This spill Minisha, just 0:00:24.624 --> 0:00:28.144 jumping in because today is a public holiday here in Australia, 0:00:28.544 --> 0:00:31.624 so we don't have our usual daily episode for you. 0:00:31.984 --> 0:00:34.704 But don't worry, we would never leave you without something 0:00:34.744 --> 0:00:37.904 to listen to. So we're bringing back an absolute classic 0:00:38.064 --> 0:00:40.064 where Laura and m hit you with all their top 0:00:40.064 --> 0:00:43.344 book recommendations of all time. Just perfect if you're looking 0:00:43.384 --> 0:00:45.824 to curl up with a great read over the wintery 0:00:45.904 --> 0:00:46.584 long weekend. 0:00:47.064 --> 0:00:50.544 Enjoy. So you might have heard me mention this before. 0:00:51.064 --> 0:00:54.424 It is my single biggest achievement in life, my system 0:00:54.464 --> 0:00:57.144 of how I organize books and how I recommend books, 0:00:57.424 --> 0:00:59.344 and it was born out of this idea of that 0:00:59.704 --> 0:01:01.664 so many of my friends and colleagues over the years 0:01:01.704 --> 0:01:04.464 would come to me and want book recommendations because I'm 0:01:04.464 --> 0:01:06.864 such an avid reader and I get very passionate about 0:01:06.864 --> 0:01:09.784 my books, and a lot of the time, to sort 0:01:09.824 --> 0:01:11.904 of forget the tone of what someone wants, you have 0:01:11.944 --> 0:01:13.784 to ask them what they're in the mood for and 0:01:13.824 --> 0:01:15.584 I feel like the best way to do that is 0:01:15.624 --> 0:01:17.864 to liken it to a food or beverage, because you know, 0:01:17.864 --> 0:01:19.304 when you're like you're deciding to go out, You're like, 0:01:19.304 --> 0:01:20.544 what do you feel like? Do you feel like this? 0:01:20.624 --> 0:01:22.504 VI dinner? Do you feel like that? And that's how 0:01:22.544 --> 0:01:23.984 you get to the heart of what someone wants. You 0:01:24.024 --> 0:01:26.104 can't just give them a random book. And so I 0:01:26.144 --> 0:01:29.224 set up this system, which is the vodka, vegetable chocolate. 0:01:28.864 --> 0:01:34.064 System, the most chaotic types of meals and drinks I know. 0:01:34.144 --> 0:01:36.064 And some people are like, but vodkas are drinking. It's 0:01:36.104 --> 0:01:37.624 a food. I'm like, no, no, we don't. 0:01:37.544 --> 0:01:39.864 Like, I'm not alcoholic. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. 0:01:39.664 --> 0:01:41.744 It's just a vibe. It's a feeling. You can drink 0:01:41.824 --> 0:01:43.704 vodka as you read, but you don't have to. That's 0:01:43.704 --> 0:01:46.224 not the rule. So it's the way I categorize my books. 0:01:46.264 --> 0:01:48.344 So my friends and I now have a shorthand whether 0:01:48.344 --> 0:01:50.624 they'll want a book, and I'll say and they'll be like, oh, 0:01:50.744 --> 0:01:52.624 I need a vodka, but I also like, I'll take 0:01:52.624 --> 0:01:54.624 a vegetable with me. And that's how I dole out 0:01:54.664 --> 0:01:59.024 my books. So just sort the categories out vodka. These 0:01:59.064 --> 0:02:02.464 are books that you potentially want to hit really hard 0:02:02.464 --> 0:02:06.224 and fast in one night. A page turner, a thriller, 0:02:06.664 --> 0:02:09.864 something exciting. You have to know what happens next, Yeah, exactly, 0:02:09.944 --> 0:02:12.904 So potentially will keep you up all night because you 0:02:12.944 --> 0:02:15.384 have to finish it. All of my biggest vodka books 0:02:15.544 --> 0:02:17.864 I've started in the afternoon. I finished at like one am, 0:02:17.904 --> 0:02:20.464 two am, so you sometimes do have a little bit 0:02:20.504 --> 0:02:22.584 of a hangover the next day. And it's not the 0:02:22.664 --> 0:02:24.744 kind of book you can read every day or every week, 0:02:24.784 --> 0:02:26.824 and like you have to space your vodka books out, 0:02:27.344 --> 0:02:29.224 But they are the books that will give your buzz. 0:02:29.384 --> 0:02:30.624 Yeah, that's a good one. 0:02:30.744 --> 0:02:33.664 Vegetable books. Now, some people think that vegetable books are 0:02:33.664 --> 0:02:34.904 the books that we don't want to read, but that 0:02:34.944 --> 0:02:36.864 is not true. Now, they're not the boring books because 0:02:36.984 --> 0:02:39.624 we need vegetables exactly. The thing is, you need vegetables 0:02:39.664 --> 0:02:43.744 in your diet, and when prepared correctly and when written correctly, 0:02:43.984 --> 0:02:47.504 vegetables can be delicious. It's just that sometimes if you 0:02:47.544 --> 0:02:50.024 want something sugary or like a hit of vodka, that 0:02:50.064 --> 0:02:52.544 you're not in the mood for vegetables. But there's something 0:02:52.584 --> 0:02:56.024 that you that are very satisfying, that good for you, 0:02:56.624 --> 0:02:59.504 and you feel very good after consuming them, and that 0:02:59.584 --> 0:03:01.344 is what a vegetable book will do for you. So 0:03:01.424 --> 0:03:04.504 they can sometimes be like, you know, a classic book 0:03:04.544 --> 0:03:07.464 or historical book or something. Everyone's books and these genres 0:03:07.464 --> 0:03:09.104 are different. But for me, it's a book that I 0:03:09.224 --> 0:03:12.784 might It's not one I'm like craving, but when I 0:03:12.904 --> 0:03:16.144 consume it, it's satisfying and I feel good, and I 0:03:16.224 --> 0:03:18.064 know that these books should make up a big part 0:03:18.104 --> 0:03:20.704 of my diet. That's a vegetable book. But vegetable books 0:03:20.744 --> 0:03:22.744 are also some of my favorite books. Yeah, me too, 0:03:22.864 --> 0:03:24.504 So again, vegetabooks aren't bad, we have. 0:03:24.584 --> 0:03:26.704 Vegetable books are also the best ones to preach about 0:03:26.744 --> 0:03:28.544 when someone asks I need something new to read. 0:03:28.664 --> 0:03:30.944 Yeah, exactly. It's like you want to say to someone, oh, yeah, 0:03:30.984 --> 0:03:33.944 I made like a butternut squash bake last night. 0:03:35.344 --> 0:03:36.144 I've made a salad. 0:03:36.224 --> 0:03:38.024 You're like, yeah, I made a salad, and I feel 0:03:38.064 --> 0:03:39.984 good about that. That's the same as telling someone that 0:03:40.024 --> 0:03:42.384 you read a vegetable book. So often they're the ones 0:03:42.384 --> 0:03:44.944 that people have prominently displayed in their homes, or they're 0:03:45.064 --> 0:03:47.704 vegetabooks are ones that people love to put on Instagram, 0:03:47.904 --> 0:03:49.344 like just casually reading. 0:03:49.304 --> 0:03:52.944 Casually read quiet all the rest in front of British furniture. 0:03:52.744 --> 0:03:56.104 Just casually read War and Peace. That's a vegetable vegetable book. 0:03:56.184 --> 0:03:58.864 And then we get to chocolate books, which is just 0:03:58.984 --> 0:04:02.464 a little sweet treat. I've got to say a lot 0:04:02.504 --> 0:04:04.464 of my diet of books is chocolate books. 0:04:04.504 --> 0:04:05.424 Yeah, I'm like eighty percent. 0:04:06.184 --> 0:04:09.304 If that's nothing wrong with that, because again, chocolate import 0:04:09.344 --> 0:04:11.744 it doesn't mean they're frivolous, doesn't mean they're silly. It 0:04:11.864 --> 0:04:13.784 just means that they can be a bit comforting, they 0:04:13.784 --> 0:04:16.224 can be a bit light. They're easy to just pick 0:04:16.304 --> 0:04:17.864 up and snack on, like you could just read a 0:04:17.864 --> 0:04:20.264 few chapters here and there, and they just make you 0:04:20.304 --> 0:04:22.824 feel good. They're like a delightful little treat that comes 0:04:22.864 --> 0:04:25.264 into your life. So that is how we are setting 0:04:25.344 --> 0:04:27.184 up the episode today. We're going to do one book 0:04:27.224 --> 0:04:31.584 each for vodka, vegetable, chocolate, and yeah the best. The 0:04:31.584 --> 0:04:33.624 only kind of diet we care about is a book diet, 0:04:33.664 --> 0:04:35.664 and that's all we're here to talk about. 0:04:37.064 --> 0:04:40.544 So I'm going to go first. I'm starting with the Veggies. 0:04:41.024 --> 0:04:45.024 This is a book that I have actually read twice, 0:04:45.304 --> 0:04:48.064 So I know a vegetable book twice, that's impressive. I 0:04:48.144 --> 0:04:51.224 think I read it twice because I didn't fully grasp 0:04:51.264 --> 0:04:52.904 it the first time I read it, And there are 0:04:53.024 --> 0:04:56.144 like a lot of storylines that I felt like I 0:04:56.184 --> 0:04:58.544 skimmed over when I probably should have really concentrated on. 0:04:58.624 --> 0:05:01.464 The issue I have is that I'm a really fast reader, 0:05:01.944 --> 0:05:04.864 and that doesn't change depending on what type of book 0:05:04.904 --> 0:05:07.864 I'm reading. And when you read a vegetable book really fast, 0:05:07.904 --> 0:05:10.904 you don't actually sit with everything. I only said with 0:05:10.944 --> 0:05:13.704 what you finish. And I had to go back in 0:05:13.704 --> 0:05:15.544 this book and then take it much slower. 0:05:15.624 --> 0:05:17.584 Do you find that sometimes when you're reading that your 0:05:17.624 --> 0:05:19.824 eyes are darting ahead, like the bottom of the next 0:05:19.824 --> 0:05:21.664 page because you know where that's where the cliffhanger is 0:05:21.664 --> 0:05:21.944 going to be. 0:05:21.984 --> 0:05:24.504 And I get excited. Yeah, I'm kind of like when 0:05:24.504 --> 0:05:26.664 you're watching a movie and you get like really like 0:05:26.824 --> 0:05:29.184 angsy about it. Yeah, it's similar with books. And then 0:05:29.224 --> 0:05:31.664 I'm like, wait, oh what your mind wanders and then 0:05:31.744 --> 0:05:33.224 you're like, oh, I have to read this page again 0:05:33.224 --> 0:05:34.664 because I have no idea what just happened. 0:05:34.744 --> 0:05:36.784 My trick for that because I only maybe it's different 0:05:36.824 --> 0:05:38.304 if you're on an e reader or something, but I'm 0:05:38.384 --> 0:05:42.104 old school only read physical books. Cover it. Yeah, I 0:05:42.224 --> 0:05:44.344 hold it because it's always the cliffhanger is on the 0:05:44.424 --> 0:05:46.584 second page on the right hand side. So I read 0:05:46.664 --> 0:05:48.464 like this where I have my hand over the page 0:05:48.704 --> 0:05:50.344 and I don't lift it up until I'm getting to 0:05:50.384 --> 0:05:51.224 that bit. So weird. 0:05:51.224 --> 0:05:53.024 Why do we do that? Like why do your eyes 0:05:53.184 --> 0:05:54.344 just like have a mind of the I. 0:05:54.264 --> 0:05:56.144 Also sometimes if I'm in a really exciting part of 0:05:56.184 --> 0:05:58.744 a book, I stand up because I just I just 0:05:58.744 --> 0:06:00.504 see it from the book to know that I'm present, 0:06:00.544 --> 0:06:01.104 I'm in there with. 0:06:01.384 --> 0:06:03.024 Don't do that like when you're in public, because that's 0:06:03.064 --> 0:06:05.824 quite alarming. I just stand up on a plane. So 0:06:05.904 --> 0:06:10.344 my vegetable book is Girl Woman Other and it's a novel. 0:06:10.624 --> 0:06:14.304 It's a novel by Bernardine Evaristo. She won the Book 0:06:14.304 --> 0:06:17.184 of Prize in twenty nineteen for it, and it is 0:06:17.504 --> 0:06:20.104 extremely complex. Have you read it? 0:06:20.304 --> 0:06:20.464 Yeah? 0:06:20.504 --> 0:06:20.664 I have. 0:06:20.944 --> 0:06:23.904 It's so confusing. So that's the main reason why I 0:06:23.944 --> 0:06:26.184 had to read it twice because I would always recommend 0:06:26.224 --> 0:06:27.704 it to people and they're like, what's it about? And 0:06:27.744 --> 0:06:30.424 I had to be like, wait, you explained the witch 0:06:30.424 --> 0:06:33.504 shot explaining it's literally that they're like, so, why are 0:06:33.504 --> 0:06:36.064 you recommending this? But I am recommending it because I 0:06:36.104 --> 0:06:38.464 read it twice and I love it. So it focuses 0:06:38.504 --> 0:06:42.264 on the experiences of Black British women across different generations, 0:06:42.584 --> 0:06:46.024 and it does like all the themes like identity, race, gender, 0:06:46.144 --> 0:06:50.824 except in sexuality. There's twelve characters like I count to twelve. 0:06:50.824 --> 0:06:54.024 That possibly is more, but each character has their own 0:06:54.144 --> 0:06:57.144 unique storyline, which is where I think I got confused 0:06:57.184 --> 0:07:00.664 the first time around. But the three main characters that 0:07:00.704 --> 0:07:03.704 I think have the deepest storylines that are constantly hearing from. 0:07:03.824 --> 0:07:07.584 We first hear from Ama, who's like a playwright. She's 0:07:07.624 --> 0:07:09.504 a feminist, and she's kind of like one of those 0:07:09.504 --> 0:07:13.904 really strong femine that's also trying to navigate the landscape 0:07:13.944 --> 0:07:16.304 of feminism as it's changing and as we become like 0:07:16.344 --> 0:07:19.104 more modern. She has a daughter named Jazz, who's a 0:07:19.184 --> 0:07:22.584 university student who's also a bit confused in her life. 0:07:22.744 --> 0:07:25.544 And then AMA's best friend's name is Dominique and she's 0:07:25.584 --> 0:07:29.664 currently struggling in a domestic abuse of relationship. They all 0:07:29.824 --> 0:07:34.584 are such interesting, well thought out characters, and the entire 0:07:34.704 --> 0:07:38.304 novel like spans across more than a century in British history, 0:07:38.344 --> 0:07:41.024 so you're seeing also history come within this novel, which 0:07:41.064 --> 0:07:45.464 is really interesting. The hardest thing about this book is 0:07:45.544 --> 0:07:49.064 that every Stow's style of writing is described as free 0:07:49.104 --> 0:07:54.304 flowing and poetic, and that means there's no punctuation in 0:07:54.504 --> 0:07:57.504 the entire book. I think there's one full stop in 0:07:57.544 --> 0:08:04.144 the entire novel relief for me, I can breathe. But 0:08:04.264 --> 0:08:05.904 I think that's why I read it so fast the 0:08:05.904 --> 0:08:08.064 first time. There's no sentences, so. 0:08:08.064 --> 0:08:09.304 You didn't know where to stop. You just kept going. 0:08:09.544 --> 0:08:09.704 Yeah. 0:08:09.704 --> 0:08:11.784 I probably had my first broke at that one full 0:08:11.784 --> 0:08:14.224 stop halfway through, and I just kept going. But I 0:08:14.264 --> 0:08:16.304 think a lot of people struggle with this book because 0:08:16.304 --> 0:08:18.864 I can't get past that. And when I read it 0:08:18.904 --> 0:08:22.784 for the second time, it just made everything so much better, 0:08:22.864 --> 0:08:26.224 Like I fully immersed myself into her style of writing, 0:08:26.544 --> 0:08:29.704 and it just felt like one big, massive thought that's 0:08:29.744 --> 0:08:32.904 just spanning across these generations and these years, and it 0:08:32.944 --> 0:08:34.984 was just such an experience of reading that I've never 0:08:35.024 --> 0:08:37.704 had before, and it was just so beautiful. It's such 0:08:37.784 --> 0:08:41.024 a brilliant book. I highly recommend it to everyone. I 0:08:41.064 --> 0:08:43.304 would say if you're not an avid reader, this is 0:08:43.304 --> 0:08:45.344 probably a really big one for you to start with. 0:08:45.504 --> 0:08:47.064 Don't if you haven't read a book for ten years, 0:08:47.104 --> 0:08:48.304 don't leap in with this one. 0:08:48.384 --> 0:08:50.464 Don't leap in with this one. But if you love 0:08:50.544 --> 0:08:53.184 reading and you love like just the description I gave you, 0:08:53.224 --> 0:08:54.824 this needs to be on your list. 0:08:55.344 --> 0:08:58.464 Oh I really love that. Okay, my vegetable book. I 0:08:58.504 --> 0:09:00.664 only realized after I had finished making my notes of 0:09:00.704 --> 0:09:03.264 this episode, and I had very painstakingly picked my book 0:09:03.264 --> 0:09:06.224 for each category that I've picked novels that I all 0:09:06.264 --> 0:09:08.984 read as like a young teenager, because this is the 0:09:09.024 --> 0:09:11.224 first time this idea started for me in my head 0:09:11.264 --> 0:09:13.744 of like these different books. So I've somehow picked my 0:09:13.904 --> 0:09:18.944 very first vegetable word cod chocolate books by accident. So 0:09:19.104 --> 0:09:23.944 my vegetable book is The Color Purple, which so good. 0:09:23.984 --> 0:09:25.744 I had such a vivid memory of I think I 0:09:25.944 --> 0:09:28.464 got it from the library and like the school holidays 0:09:28.504 --> 0:09:30.264 when I was like fourteen. I was like, I read 0:09:30.264 --> 0:09:30.864 it around. 0:09:30.664 --> 0:09:32.344 The same age. Yeah, my nana gave it to me 0:09:32.384 --> 0:09:34.504 and I was like, Nana. 0:09:35.144 --> 0:09:37.464 Famous book. And I remember just like through the school 0:09:37.504 --> 0:09:40.344 holidays really trying to like I loved reading it. But 0:09:40.344 --> 0:09:41.864 I also it was the first time I was really 0:09:41.984 --> 0:09:43.864 struggling to get through a book and I had to 0:09:43.864 --> 0:09:46.184 sort of sometimes remind myself to go and read it 0:09:46.264 --> 0:09:47.824 and finish it. And it's the first time I remember 0:09:47.864 --> 0:09:50.464 telling myself as like a teen, like, no, no, this 0:09:50.464 --> 0:09:51.944 book is good for you. You need to read it, you 0:09:51.944 --> 0:09:54.624 need to finish it. And so The Color Purple came 0:09:54.664 --> 0:09:57.024 out in nineteen eighty two. It's a novel by an 0:09:57.024 --> 0:10:01.024 American author called Alice Walker, and it was hugely successful 0:10:01.064 --> 0:10:03.464 after it came out. It won the nineteen eighty three 0:10:03.504 --> 0:10:06.624 Pulit Surprise for Fiction and also the National Book Award 0:10:06.624 --> 0:10:09.024 for Fiction. That Alice Walker is actually the first black 0:10:09.064 --> 0:10:12.224 woman to win for fiction in the Plitzurprise category. So 0:10:12.464 --> 0:10:15.024 that is obviously so well deserved. And one reason I 0:10:15.064 --> 0:10:17.664 wanted to read the book before I saw the movie 0:10:17.704 --> 0:10:19.784 or anything like that is that The Color Purple has 0:10:19.864 --> 0:10:23.344 kind of sprung up into this whole cornerstone of pop 0:10:23.384 --> 0:10:27.544 culture and entertainment over the years. And when something like that, yeah, exactly, 0:10:27.624 --> 0:10:29.184 and when something like that happens, I think it's really 0:10:29.184 --> 0:10:31.424 important to read the source material so you can you 0:10:31.424 --> 0:10:34.064 can understand what it's across. So it was adapt into 0:10:34.104 --> 0:10:37.464 a film in nineteen eighty five, directed by Steven Spielberg, 0:10:37.504 --> 0:10:40.384 and it had Whoopi goldbergs star as the lead. And 0:10:40.424 --> 0:10:42.824 then it became a men Epra. Yes, Oprah was in 0:10:42.864 --> 0:10:46.344 it too, as Sofia Danny Glover. Like all Star cast. 0:10:46.464 --> 0:10:49.144 There was no Made for eleven Academy Awards. Didn't win any, 0:10:49.184 --> 0:10:51.064 but it was no Made for eleven Academy Awards. That's 0:10:51.064 --> 0:10:54.064 important to note. It then became a Broadway musical in 0:10:54.104 --> 0:10:57.344 two thousand and five, and then just last year it 0:10:57.384 --> 0:11:01.424 was adapted into So is the adaptation of the Broadway 0:11:01.504 --> 0:11:04.424 musical into a movie, which if anyone hasn't seen that, 0:11:04.824 --> 0:11:08.344 it is just incredible. I loved it so much. So 0:11:08.544 --> 0:11:11.464 it's a story of Seely, who's a poor African American 0:11:11.504 --> 0:11:14.504 girl living in rural Georgia in the early nineteen hundreds. 0:11:14.864 --> 0:11:17.584 She is very close to her sister Netti. They're being abused, 0:11:17.624 --> 0:11:21.264 they get separated, and then attracts Sealy's life over thirty years. 0:11:21.584 --> 0:11:23.224 It's such a sad story. 0:11:23.264 --> 0:11:25.824 It is so sad. I remember just like being in 0:11:25.824 --> 0:11:27.704 my room on the summer holidays, my siblings are out 0:11:27.704 --> 0:11:29.024 in the pool, my Mom's coming to my room and 0:11:29.064 --> 0:11:30.224 she's like, why are you crying here? 0:11:30.224 --> 0:11:33.064 And other Yeah, right, especially the book because the book 0:11:33.184 --> 0:11:35.704 is like way more traumatizing than the Marrie. 0:11:35.744 --> 0:11:37.864 I should say. The book has a bit of controversy 0:11:37.904 --> 0:11:40.024 over the years in terms of like some of the 0:11:40.024 --> 0:11:43.504 way it depicts domestic abuse and rape and sexual assault, 0:11:43.584 --> 0:11:46.224 and some people think it it's not handled in the 0:11:46.304 --> 0:11:48.184 right way, and some people think we're reveling in pain. 0:11:48.304 --> 0:11:50.184 There's a huge long history there that I won't get 0:11:50.184 --> 0:11:52.784 into it. It's quite graphic. It's very graphic. Yeah, just 0:11:52.824 --> 0:11:54.704 a warning of reading it. This is not in any 0:11:54.704 --> 0:11:56.344 way a light read. But I just think it's such 0:11:56.344 --> 0:11:59.504 an incredible story. You just feel like you're in it 0:11:59.544 --> 0:12:01.864 when you're reading it, and it's so important, and I 0:12:01.904 --> 0:12:03.704 just think sometimes we have to read things that are 0:12:03.704 --> 0:12:05.024 difficult and sit in those stories. 0:12:05.224 --> 0:12:08.424 It's important because it's depicting what actually would have happened. 0:12:08.664 --> 0:12:11.264 Oh yeah, exactly one hundred and it really kind of 0:12:11.344 --> 0:12:14.584 is a moment in time where women but especially African 0:12:14.584 --> 0:12:18.304 American women in Georgia in that time, just have absolutely 0:12:18.384 --> 0:12:21.224 no rights, and you see the pain and torture, and 0:12:21.264 --> 0:12:24.504 sometimes those characters like the side characters in those kind 0:12:24.504 --> 0:12:26.704 of novels where you just seen there's like you know, 0:12:26.744 --> 0:12:28.984 they're the servants or they're like, you know, the supportive 0:12:29.144 --> 0:12:31.744 like woman of color in the background kind of thing. 0:12:31.784 --> 0:12:33.784 And so this is like taking that story and putting 0:12:33.784 --> 0:12:35.704 it front and center. So it's a difficult read, but 0:12:35.744 --> 0:12:38.744 it's so beautifully written, and it's my first memory of 0:12:38.824 --> 0:12:40.904 kind of like making myself read a book outside of 0:12:40.904 --> 0:12:43.304 school and being like, I'm so glad I read that, 0:12:43.384 --> 0:12:44.984 like I needed to know that story. 0:12:45.384 --> 0:12:48.784 Okay, moving onto vodka. I remember I got this really 0:12:48.784 --> 0:12:50.984 mixed up because I thought it was about the speed 0:12:51.064 --> 0:12:53.504 of how you read, and because I read really fast, 0:12:53.784 --> 0:12:57.144 I would get my vodkas and chocolates mixed up quite often. 0:12:57.304 --> 0:13:00.184 But like I said, it's sometimes a chocolate book for me, 0:13:00.224 --> 0:13:02.064 bite me, a vodka book for someone else, or a 0:13:02.104 --> 0:13:04.424 vuable book, like it's a very personal decision. 0:13:04.744 --> 0:13:05.824 I'm all vodka here. 0:13:05.904 --> 0:13:06.384 Yeah. 0:13:06.424 --> 0:13:08.984 So my vodka book I want to talk about is 0:13:09.224 --> 0:13:13.704 Yellow Face of Kwan. I've read this book so many times. 0:13:13.744 --> 0:13:17.344 It is so good. It's like a very fast paced 0:13:17.424 --> 0:13:21.544 kind of like psychological drama, but it's also very funny 0:13:22.024 --> 0:13:24.824 and very hectic and I think the pace of the 0:13:24.864 --> 0:13:27.344 novel dictates the pace of how you read it, because 0:13:27.544 --> 0:13:30.784 you're constantly wanting to turn to the next page. So 0:13:31.264 --> 0:13:34.584 it's about this writer, a white writer, and it's important 0:13:34.584 --> 0:13:38.344 that she's white. Yeah, named June Hayward, who's in publishing. 0:13:38.464 --> 0:13:40.824 She's writing books, but she's not really making it like 0:13:40.864 --> 0:13:43.944 she's struggling a little bit. She has a friend who's 0:13:44.104 --> 0:13:46.504 very good at writing books, and her name is Athena, 0:13:47.184 --> 0:13:50.144 and Athena is an Asian American author, and they both 0:13:50.224 --> 0:13:52.184 kind of started out at the same time. They're both 0:13:52.224 --> 0:13:55.624 the same age, except Athena just went skyrocketing, like writing 0:13:55.664 --> 0:13:58.664 amazing stuff, and June is kind of hanging out in 0:13:58.704 --> 0:14:04.064 the background. Athena suddenly dies. It's like the craziest dead 0:14:04.104 --> 0:14:05.184 scene I've ever read. 0:14:05.264 --> 0:14:07.144 Every time I'm eating it home, I think about choking 0:14:07.184 --> 0:14:10.104 to death from that. It is that part of the base. 0:14:10.424 --> 0:14:12.744 This isn't a spoiler because it happens quite early. Yeah, 0:14:13.104 --> 0:14:17.024 the entire the first few pages. So Athena suddenly dies 0:14:17.064 --> 0:14:20.424 and June was with her, and then after she dies, 0:14:20.704 --> 0:14:24.024 June finds a manuscript of a novel that Athena was 0:14:24.104 --> 0:14:29.264 currently working on and June decides to develop a pseudonym 0:14:29.344 --> 0:14:32.824 named Junipersong, which yes, does sound like an Asian name, 0:14:33.504 --> 0:14:38.384 and publish Athena's novel under her alias. And then what 0:14:38.624 --> 0:14:42.744 ensures is just like so many critics and people in 0:14:42.864 --> 0:14:45.784 like think of Reddit threads and people who are book 0:14:45.824 --> 0:14:49.704 fans trying to figure out who Juniper Song is and 0:14:49.744 --> 0:14:53.144 then trying to make connections like how come this girl 0:14:53.344 --> 0:14:55.744 June is suddenly like taking off with like all of 0:14:55.784 --> 0:14:58.264 these shows and stuff like that, Like people are starting 0:14:58.304 --> 0:15:02.024 to figure out who really wrote the manuscript, and it 0:15:02.104 --> 0:15:04.744 just dives into this whole world of I want to 0:15:04.784 --> 0:15:09.984 call it modern racism and modern microaggressions of what happens 0:15:10.024 --> 0:15:13.464 when you have a white person who is a complete 0:15:13.504 --> 0:15:17.464 ally suddenly gets support from people who aren't allies, and 0:15:17.504 --> 0:15:20.504 like how that dictates how they see people of color. 0:15:20.824 --> 0:15:24.024 It is just so incredibly done. It is really funny. 0:15:24.104 --> 0:15:26.344 The lengths that some of the fans go to try 0:15:26.384 --> 0:15:29.704 to expose her is insane, but it also just shows 0:15:29.744 --> 0:15:32.904 how far you're willing to go just to be famous. 0:15:33.184 --> 0:15:34.704 I love this book so much. It's one of my 0:15:34.824 --> 0:15:37.224 vodka books as well, because I read it all in 0:15:37.304 --> 0:15:39.144 one night. I couldn't stop them, like I have to 0:15:39.224 --> 0:15:41.304 know because the build up of like is she going 0:15:41.344 --> 0:15:43.424 to get caught out? And who's going to catch her out? 0:15:43.424 --> 0:15:45.744 And who are those anonymous messages coming from? And then 0:15:45.784 --> 0:15:48.024 you start thinking, wait, is Athena even dead? Am I 0:15:48.064 --> 0:15:49.264 going crazy? What's happening? 0:15:49.344 --> 0:15:51.984 It's so good. I went to actually watch iv Quan 0:15:52.104 --> 0:15:53.944 speak and she came to Sydney to speak, and I 0:15:53.984 --> 0:15:56.104 went to get my book signing. It's a whole drama. 0:15:56.224 --> 0:15:57.944 I was last in line, and then they cut it 0:15:57.984 --> 0:16:00.704 off right at me. It was so I had my 0:16:00.744 --> 0:16:02.304 book and I was holding in front of the security 0:16:02.344 --> 0:16:04.824 guard and I was like, please, sir, just me, It's 0:16:04.904 --> 0:16:07.704 just me one morning. He's like, sorry, that's the hundred limit. 0:16:07.984 --> 0:16:11.184 And my Mom's like, please got my book signed. It 0:16:11.224 --> 0:16:14.544 was really sad. She speaks so well. She's actually a 0:16:14.544 --> 0:16:16.944 fantasy writer and this was like her first like no 0:16:17.104 --> 0:16:19.704 like chick lit novel, and the fact that it was 0:16:19.704 --> 0:16:22.544 her first was just amazing because I'm not really into fantasy, 0:16:22.624 --> 0:16:25.384 but she's a massive fantasy writer and so what she 0:16:25.424 --> 0:16:27.224 said was really interesting because every time I recommend this 0:16:27.224 --> 0:16:28.904 book to someone, they either hate it or love it. 0:16:29.424 --> 0:16:32.504 And She said that she loves that people hate her 0:16:32.584 --> 0:16:34.504 characters because that's exactly what she was going for. 0:16:34.544 --> 0:16:36.424 Yeah, I think you're everyone. 0:16:36.024 --> 0:16:39.104 In this book is so unlikable, like every single person, 0:16:39.184 --> 0:16:42.264 but they feel like real people. It's so brilliant. Okay, 0:16:42.304 --> 0:16:43.384 what is your vodka? 0:16:43.504 --> 0:16:45.904 Okay, my vodka book? She just had vodka with us. 0:16:45.984 --> 0:16:47.744 I know it's I actually do have some on my desk. 0:16:47.824 --> 0:16:50.624 Someone sent it to me. So this is the first 0:16:50.704 --> 0:16:52.904 book I stayed up all my reading. I'm really painting 0:16:52.904 --> 0:16:54.184 myself as a cool teenager. 0:16:55.864 --> 0:16:58.304 We love especially you say your siblings are outside playing 0:16:58.344 --> 0:17:01.584 in the sun and you're just crying over the color. 0:17:02.784 --> 0:17:05.504 That is mean a nutshell. So when I was fourteen 0:17:05.624 --> 0:17:08.424 years old, I went into the school library very early 0:17:08.504 --> 0:17:11.144 before my first class, and by past the nuns who 0:17:11.144 --> 0:17:15.304 were restacking the books, and I got this very battered 0:17:15.344 --> 0:17:17.824 old copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula. 0:17:17.864 --> 0:17:19.424 Oh, they were definitely trying to hide that one. 0:17:19.584 --> 0:17:22.024 Yeah, I can't believe it wasn't even in I went 0:17:22.024 --> 0:17:23.544 to a convent school. I can't believe there was even 0:17:23.544 --> 0:17:24.304 a copy around. 0:17:24.544 --> 0:17:26.944 Some none was like, I'm going to change history and 0:17:27.104 --> 0:17:28.704 these girls are going to read Jaculas my. 0:17:28.704 --> 0:17:30.824 Sister a Gena'll shout out to you. I'm sure a 0:17:30.864 --> 0:17:33.384 lot of people know the like Dracula obviously the character, 0:17:33.464 --> 0:17:37.344 and this is the first definitive book his origin story, 0:17:37.784 --> 0:17:40.184 you will. So it was written by Bram Stoker, who's 0:17:40.224 --> 0:17:44.104 an Irish author, and published in eighteen ninety seven. I mean, 0:17:44.184 --> 0:17:48.064 it's a Gothic horror novel and it is just so 0:17:48.864 --> 0:17:51.504 it's almost for some people might be a vegetable book 0:17:51.584 --> 0:17:53.864 because in some cases it could be hard to follow 0:17:53.904 --> 0:17:55.544 because it's as. 0:17:55.424 --> 0:17:57.224 A very like archaic language. 0:17:57.504 --> 0:17:59.664 Yeah, to an extent, not as much as you would think, 0:17:59.784 --> 0:18:01.744 like I guess, like you know, there's a vampire here, 0:18:01.864 --> 0:18:06.584