Welcome to The Tastemakers, in partnership with Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur. In this very special fortnightly book club series, our host Gemma Dimond sits down with your favourite tastemakers from a range of backgrounds. From beauty to lifestyle to food creators, over the next few months, we will be getting to know The Tastemakers we reckon lead the charge in their respective areas of expertise. Today, we are joined by the effervescent Maggie Zhou. Big thanks to Baileys for making this episode p...
Mar 06, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Happy Tuesday, book clubbers! Our second pick of the year was Maame by Jessica George; this coming-of-age debut received a glowing review in the New York Times in January and was shortlisted twice in the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards. This book follows Maddie who's living a far from rewarding life in London. Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced-stage Parkinson’s. At work, Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting and her mum is mos...
Mar 04, 2024•40 min•Ep. 68
Hey, book clubbers! We’re so excited to bring you this interview with the author of 'Such A Fun Age' Kiley Reid. Sohani speaks to Kiley about her new novel, ‘Come and Get It’ . Set on a college campus, you’ll hear why Kiley was inspired to look at the influence consumption and money have on us as a society. Join us for all the book chat over on our Insta @theshamelessbookclub , our TikTok @theshamelessbookclub , or in The Shameless Book Club Facebook group. Thank you so much to Baileys for makin...
Feb 26, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Welcome to The Tastemakers, in partnership with Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur. In this very special fortnightly book club series, our host Gemma Dimond sits down with your favourite tastemakers from a range of backgrounds. From beauty to lifestyle to food creators, over the next few months, we will be getting to know The Tastemakers we reckon lead the charge in their respective areas of expertise. Today, we chat with Shameless Media co-founder, Michelle Andrews. Big thanks to Baileys Irish Cream L...
Feb 21, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Hello, friends! We put the power in your hands last month to pick which adaptation we’ll be reviewing and you guys OVERWHELMINGLY voted in favour of Normal People. Normal People follows Connell and Marianne - two young people who met in high school and… simply cannot stay away from each other. This novel was a runaway best seller, so, naturally, it was turned into a TV series, which launched the careers of both Daisy Edgar Jones and Paul Mescal. We’ll be reviewing the mini-series today! Big than...
Feb 19, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Hello helloooo! Calling all Mortal Instruments readers - today on Stranger Than Fiction, Eilish Gilligan and Sohani Goonetillake cover all things Cassandra Clare, AKA Cassandra… Claire. There’s Harry Potter fandom drama from the early 2000s, fanfiction tomes that are longer than the bible, and two seperate plagiarism accusations… almost 20 years apart. Phew! Big thanks to Baileys - Irish Cream Liqueur - for making this episode possible. If you are over 18 and interested in an indulgent treat the...
Feb 12, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Happy Tuesday, book club friends! Our first pick of the year was Tom Lake by Ann Patchett; a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As ...
Feb 05, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Happy Tuesday, book clubbers! Today, we are so thrilled to bring you this interview with lifestyle editor and writer, Gyan Yankovich. Gyan is a lifestyle editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and has just published her first novel. Just Friends explores modern friendship: what it means to be a friend, lose a friend, and everything in between. Big thanks to Baileys for making this episode possible. If you are over 18 and looking for an indulgent treat, head online or instore to your l...
Jan 22, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Welcome to the first-ever episode of The Adaptation - a monthly review series from The Shameless Book Club. On the 18th of June, 2018, Trent Dalton’s debut novel - Boy Swallows Universe - was released into the world. The book came with some serious hype - expectations were high. Almost six years on, there’s a seven-episode Netflix series that brings Darra - a south-western suburb in Brisbane, Queensland - to life. We’re here to determine if the adaptation does the book justice. Big thanks to the...
Jan 15, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Hello helloooo! Today on Stranger Than Fiction, Eilish Gilligan and Michelle Andrews cover one of the most interesting literary scandals of recent years - influencer Caroline Calloway, writer Natalie Beach, and the tell-all essay that blew their long-standing rivalry wide open. Join us in the all the book chat over on our Insta, @theshamelessbookclub , and our TikTok, @theshamelessbookclub . Or, if you’re after some variety, here’s a link to record a voice message via our website , too. This epi...
Jan 08, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Helloooo, book clubbers! This month, we read Green Dot by Australian author Madeleine Grey. In this book, we meet Hera Stephen, a twenty-something who is working as an underpaid comment moderator in an overly air-conditioned newsroom by day and kicking around Sydney with her two best friends by night. While everyone around her seems to have slipped effortlessly into adulthood, Hera is wondering if she's being left behind. Then she meets Arthur, an older, married colleague. Intoxicated by the pro...
Jan 01, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Hey, book clubbers! Today, we are so excited to bring you this interview with Australian writer and critic, Madeleine Gray. Madeleine was working at a bookstore when her debut novel Green Dot took off, and has already become an absolute crowd favourite. In this interview, Madeleine and Sohani chat, of course, about all things Green Dot. From how Madeleine researched and came up with some of the concepts in the novel, to Madeleine’s next project, which has been picked up for screen already! Grab ...
Dec 21, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Happy Stranger Than Fiction Day, book clubbers! Today, Eilish Gilligan and Zara McDonald are breaking down the surprising history of the New York Times Best Seller list, and the shady things some authors have done to land a spot on the list… Join us in the all the book chat over on our Insta, @theshamelessbookclub , and our TikTok, @theshamelessbookclub . Or, if you’re after some variety, here’s a link to record a voice message via our website , too. Big thanks to Baileys for making this episode...
Dec 14, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 53
G’day, book clubbers! This month, we read Good Material by the one and only Dolly Alderton. Good Material tells the story of Andy who has recently split from his long-term partner, Jen. We follow Andy on his painful, self-indulgent journey of heartbreak, as he desperately tries to solve the puzzle of their broken relationship. After all, he figures, if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him. But alas, Good Material is not a love story. It’s about the wreckage...
Nov 30, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Hey, book clubbers! Today, we’re bringing you an interview with the brilliant Jessie Stephens. You’ll likely know Jessie as a podcaster, writer, and author of the international bestseller, ‘Heartsick’. Annabelle was lucky enough to chat with Jessie about her new release, ‘Something Bad is Going to Happen’ - a book that pulled us straight in within the first few sentences. From what it’s like separating this work of fiction from her own personal and family history of depression, to who the book w...
Nov 27, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 51
G’day, book clubbers! Today on Stranger Than Fiction, Eilish Gilligan and Annabelle Lee are talking about the Twilight Saga extended universe. How exactly was 50 Shades of Grey inspired by Stephenie Meyer's story about love and vampires? And how do we look back on both worlds today? Join us in the all the book chat over on our Insta, @theshamelessbookclub , and our TikTok, @theshamelessbookclub . Or, if you’re after some variety, here’s a link to record a voice message via our website , too. Big...
Nov 14, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Hello, book clubbers! This month we read None of This is True by Lisa Jewell. Podcaster Alix Summer meets the meek and mysterious Josie Fair on the night of… both of their 45th birthdays. A few days later, they meet again, and Josie convinces Alix that Josie’s story is worth telling on her podcast. Alix discovers a number of disturbing facts about Josie’s life as her investigation progresses - from meeting Josie’s husband when she was 13 and he was 40, to the Fair family’s unsettling reputation....
Oct 31, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Hey, book clubbers! Today, we are so thrilled to be bringing you this interview with Aussie journalist and award-winning author Trent Dalton. Trent is the author of so many novels you’ve probably read already, including Love Stories , All Our Shimmering Skies , and of course, his widely acclaimed, semi-autobiographical novel, Boy Swallows Universe (which has been adapted for television and will soon be hitting your Netflix screens). Trent is a captivating storyteller if you’ve read his written w...
Oct 21, 2023•57 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Hello, book clubbers! Today on Stranger Than Fiction, Eilish Gilligan and Annabelle Lee are talking about YouTube influencer turned author, Zoe Sugg - also known as Zoella - and the ghostwriting drama that followed the release of her debut novel, Girl Online. Join us in the all the book chat over on our Insta, @theshamelessbookclub , and our TikTok, @theshamelessbookclub . Or, if you’re after some variety, here’s a link to record a voice message via our website , too. Big thanks to Baileys for m...
Oct 14, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Hey, book clubbers! This month we read ‘The List’ by Yomi Adegoke. Ola is a high-profile journalist at a feminist website who is one month away from marrying Michael, the love of her life. One morning, they both wake up to the same message: ‘Oh my god, have you seen The List?’ The List began as a crowdsourced collection of men in the media who had been accused of everything from sexual misconduct to homophobia. Ola would be the first journalist to report on a list like this one, but this time, M...
Sep 30, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 46
G’day, book clubbers! Today, we are bringing you an interview with domestic thriller novelist, Sally Hepworth. Sally is a NYT bestselling author who has sold over one million books worldwide. She’s written eight novels including The Good Sister, The Younger Wife, and The Mother-In-Law - the latter has very excitingly been optioned for a TV show by Amy Poehler. Sally’s latest novel, Darling Girls, comes out today, and it follows three women who are drawn back to their past - and the foster mother...
Sep 25, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Hello, everyone! Today on Stranger Than Fiction, Eilish Gilligan and Shameless Media co-founder Michelle Andrews are talking about Naomi Wolf, author of ‘The Beauty Myth’ and feminist icon turned… anti-vaxxer. Join us in the all the book chat over on our Insta, @theshamelessbookclub , and our TikTok, @theshamelessbookclub . Or, if you’re after some variety, here’s a link to record a voice message via our website , too. Big thanks to Audible for making this episode possible. Download the app to b...
Sep 14, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Happy first of the month, book clubbers! This month, we read ‘The Rachel Incident’ by Caroline O’Donoghue. Rachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James, and it’s love at first sight. James soon invites Rachel to be his roommate and the two begin a friendship that changes their lives forever. When Rachel falls in love with her married professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, James helps her devise a reading at their local bookstore, with the goal that she might seduce him afterward. But Fred...
Aug 31, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Hello, book clubbers! Today, we are bringing you an interview with New York Times bestselling author R.F. Kuang. At the very beginning of this month, we dropped a review episode of Rebecca’s latest and arguably buzziest book Yellowface, so this interview couldn’t have come at a better time. In this conversation, Rebecca talks about the ways the book is reflective of her own experience in the publishing industry, why writing from the perspective of June was actually kind of cathartic, and of cour...
Aug 21, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Hello, everyone! Today on Stranger Than Fiction, we’re talking about Susan Meachen, a self-published romance author who has caused quite a stir within the romance community recently. Join us in the all the book chat over on our Insta, @theshamelessbookclub , and our TikTok, @theshamelessbookclub . Or, if you’re after some variety, here’s a link to record a voice message via our website , too. Big thanks to Audible for making this episode possible. Download the app to browse their audiobooks, pod...
Aug 14, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Hello, book clubbers! Welcome to our first book review episode in The Shameless Book Club’s cosy new nook. This month, we read ‘Yellowface’ by New York Times bestselling author, R.F Kuang. Yellowface is told through the lens of our unreliable narrator - a white author named June Hayward. At the very beginning of the book, she steals the book manuscript of her friend in the industry, Chinese-American author Athena Liu, moments after Athena suddenly passes away. June’s act of unthinkable deceit ki...
Jul 31, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Hello! Welcome to the first episode of our new monthly series, Stranger Than Fiction. On the 15th of every month, host Eilish Gilligan will recap the most bizarre stories to rock the lit world. Today, we’re going to be talking about an author named James Frey and his interesting little book, A Million Little Pieces. Join us in the all the book chat over on our Insta, @theshamelessbookclub , and our TikTok, @theshamelessbookclub . Or, if you’re after some variety, here’s a link to record a voice ...
Jul 14, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Welcome, book clubbers! To The Shameless Book Club’s very own nook. We are so excited to kick off our re-launch by bringing you a special chat between New York Times bestselling author Gabrielle Zevin and book clubber Sohani Goonetillake. We actually reviewed Gabrielle’s 'Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow' in our January episode of The Shameless Book Club, so we were incredibly stoked to be able to make this interview happen. We hope you enjoy this wide-ranging chat between Gabrielle and Soha...
Jul 13, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Hello, book clubbers! This month, we read Monica Heisey’s debut novel: Really Good, Actually. The book is told through the eyes of Maggie - a 29-year-old whose marriage ended just 608 days after it started. Sure, she’s alone for the first time in her life, can’t afford her rent and her obscure PhD is going nowhere, but she’s reaaaally good. As Maggie throws herself headlong into the chaos of her first year of divorce, she finds herself questioning absolutely everything. Join us in the all the bo...
Jun 27, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 37
G’day, book clubbers! This month, we read Jenny Jackson’s debut novel, Pineapple Street. Pineapple Street follows three women in an old money Brooklyn Heights family: one was born with money, one who married into it, and one who wants to give it all away. Over the course of the novel we learn about the intricacies of the Stockton family’s dynamic, how they each feel about their relationship with wealth, and whether or not you can ever really break out of a mold your parents created for you. Join...
Jun 27, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 36
