We discuss the stories in Exhalation, Ted Chiang’s latest short story anthology, and touched on all sorts of sci-fi malarkey from virtual pets to robot nannies, from time-gates to intelligent parrots. What makes him such a story-telling rockstar in the genre of speculative fiction? Expanding on his time travel story within the collection, we delve deep into Diana’s latest literary obsession- time travel books. Do you too want a time machine? We give you some great reads and TV shows to sate your...
Jul 11, 2019•1 hr 8 min
We discuss Samantha Shannon's doorstopper epic fantasy Priory of the Orange Tree. A stand-alone that is a feminist reimagining of St. George and the Dragon as well as Japanese mythology The Luck of the Mountains. This book has magic! Political intrigue! Dragons! It pits western dragons against eastern dragons and takes the belief system from different canons in one hefty book. You can seriously curl up to this one. It is July already! Fancy that? So Break Your TBR has some exciting reads for you...
Jul 04, 2019•44 min
Our first PG-rated episode. We tear through EL James' The Mister with guest, Irene.
Jun 27, 2019•55 min
The front cover says that this book is a user manual for your own head. Matt Haig's Notes on a Nervous Planet will make you take a second and examine just how intact your mental health is in an overly connected world. And oh, reading is one of his surefire ways to stay centred! Huzzah! We also dig deeper into responsible reading.
Jun 19, 2019•58 min
We are back with a killer new season of book nerdery. First up, Good Omens, we talk book, TV and, friendships- between an angel, Aziraphale and a demon, Crowley plus that of co-writers Pratchett and Gaiman. It's a heart-warming tale filled with answerphone messages and the antichrist. Also June's book picks for Break Your TBR. Ah... we missed filling up your shelves...
Jun 13, 2019•58 min
Book of M, an exploration on the questions of humanity linked to the power of memory. All over the world people are loosing their shadows and eventually their memories in exchange for transformative power. What kind of world would that be? And how can love survive when you are fighting daily for survival? We discuss Peng Shepard's intriguing debut novel with Tina Isaacs who runs a speculative fiction discussion group. And being a writer of the genre herself, we also picked her brain on how to st...
Apr 18, 2019•58 min
Hiro Arikawa's wildly popular book The Travelling Cat Chronicles has been a hit since it was translated into English. People love cats, the story of a young man taking his kitty on a roadtrip around Japan (even on a ferry!) to find a new home for her has hit a lot of people in the 'feels'. We talk pet's intuitions, human relationships and the poignant/ transient feeling you get from Japanese literature, what they call Mono no aware. Our bookish topic today is on what to consider when you write b...
Apr 10, 2019•53 min
The hottest memoir in the market atm is Michelle Obama's Becoming. What is the story behind the hugely popular former first lady? We talk about her girlhood and the journey to BECOMING the person she is today. There is plenty in this book to inspire, ponder and celebrate. It's also the first week of April so as usual BYTBR comes back with books you want to check out this month.
Apr 03, 2019•52 min
You asked for it and here it is! The Live recording of TBNT's interview with Zen Cho when she swung by Lit Books on her last trip to KL. We talk about her new book, The True Queen, learn about her writing life and even got her to recommend some books for us!
Mar 27, 2019•47 min
In honour of World Poetry day, we bare our souls with an in-depth poetry discussion- I mean we go stuck into it making this our longest episode yet. We celebrate the moving poems of Mary Oliver who left us last year and celebrate her mind and words. We get stuck into Instapoets with Norman (who is one himself) and talk about inclusivity in poetry and how poets like Rupi Kaur have brought poetry to the mainstream. We even touched on Spoken Word poetry and how it represents the present generation....
Mar 20, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Being fantasy dorks, we dig deep into NK Jemisin's award-winning fantasy series, the Broken Earth trilogy. It is epic, nuanced and delves into really personal stuff with a backdrop of the world ending. We talk about reading everything from just one author and end the podcast with an excerpt of Jemisin's fierce Hugo acceptance speech.
Mar 13, 2019•55 min
Get steamy with Kiss Quotient & New Book Releases March 2019 We get up close and personal with Stella and Michael in one of the hottest contemporary romances out there. The Kiss Quotient is a reverse Pretty Woman and is how a person on the autism spectrum finds love unexpectedly with a male escort. But it’s much more that just a raunchy romp (although the love scenes were pretty hot), it’s also about trust and giving someone time to be comfortable with love… awww… the ‘feels’ is high in this...
Mar 06, 2019•48 min
For our 13th episode it’s HORROR with JD Barker and Dacre Stoker’s Dracul, a fictionalised (or is it?) account of Brams life which led him to write the horror classic Dracula. And yes, Dacre is Bram's great, great gandnephew. We talk vampires from gruesome to sparkly and get to tap into Sook Kwan’s super power of giving you a TV show for every book you throw at her. Also you finally get to meet our producer Jeff who is a bona fide horror buff and hosts Seram, a horror podcast under Renegade Radi...
Feb 26, 2019•54 min
Murder! Mayhem! In a crumbling English Manor... Stuart Turton's 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle brings back the heydays of Christie murder mysteries with a body hopping twist. Find out how confusing we got (without major spoilers of course) and if this demented book should be on your reading list this year. We also talk experimental novels and if it's satisfying reading. Do drop us an email at [email protected] if you like to tell us anything about the show and also join our book giveaway...
Feb 13, 2019•45 min
We have a BOOK GIVEAWAY this month so make sure you listen to the end and also a new segment called Break Your TBR. BYTBR talks about new releases for the month. It’ll be a monthly segment (not that you need any more books to read but you know, we like to kepoh on new books). We also discussed one of our favourite teen classics (which also has JK Rowling and Jenny Han as die-hard fans), which is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. You can listen to bits of the book and also a bit of the movie t...
Feb 08, 2019•42 min
Spoiler free folks! Diana and Honey peels away Katherine Arden’s final book in the WInternight Trilogy. We talk fey creatures, Russian winters, families huddled over stoves the size of elephants and compassion for antgonists. We discuss Vasilisa, the plucky heroine who we grew to know and root for and how it is to have a dual nature. And we gushed a little about the horses. We also get to know Arden a little bit and the fact that she’s a passionate reader makes us love her all the more. For topi...
Jan 30, 2019•46 min
TBNT Ep9: Spinning Silver | Topic: How We Choose Books for TBNT In this magical episode we talk fairytales and why they are timeless and ripe for retellings. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is a fresh take on Rumplestilskin with strong female characters that kick-ass. However, even with a more feminist take on fairytales is there something in us that still wants a happily ever after? For our topic we delve into our own reading lives, reminisce on great libraries and let listeners know on how we s...
Jan 23, 2019•42 min
In this special YA edition of TBNT, Diana and Honey chats with Shemah Sham, moderator of the YA Discussion Group in KLBAC on what makes a Young Adult novel, the rise of YA fantasy books and what are our pet peeves for this genre of books. Are you a YA fan? Then give us your thoughts at [email protected] . Excerpts are from YA Books The Rest of Us just Live Here- Patrick Ness Shadow of the Fox- Julie Kagawa My Heart and Other Black Holes- Jasmine Warga Some Books mentioned and to check o...
Jan 16, 2019•54 min
In the first show of the new year, Honey and Diana peel back the layers of Murakami’s Killing Commendatore. A meditation on art, music and fraught relationships just to name a few themes in this book. Or izit just a rehash of old obsessions. We talk abt book resolutions, getting reacquainted with your bookshelves and going for a more varied reading list for 2019. Book Recommendations: The House of Spirits- Isabel Allende Name of the Wind- Carlos Luis Zafon The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald D...
Jan 09, 2019•43 min
In the Season finale of Two Book Nerds Talking, hosts Diana and Honey are joined by special guest Thean Kew, a radiologist with a voracious appetite for books. We all talk about our best reads of 2018 and what to anticipate in 2019. All in all a good reading year for all of us, from books on family sagas, chess players, thought-provoking reads and poetry for all occasions. Kew, being an avid traveller and finder of great places to put up your feet and read, shares his Top Staycations within Peni...
Dec 31, 2018•53 min
We are Honey and Diana, two Malaysian gals who really love diving into books of all kinds. Welcome to 2 Book Nerds Talking where we discuss books we love or those hot on the read list. We get to share reading insights, bookish topics, pick the minds of occasional bookworm guests and other general book nerdery. If you love books as much as we do, this is the podcast for you! In our first non-fiction episode we discussed Harari's 21 Lessons for the 21st century a collection of essays that touches ...
Dec 31, 2018•38 min
We are Honey and Diana, two Malaysian gals who really love diving into books of all kinds. Welcome to 2 Book Nerds Talking where we discuss books we love or those hot on the read list. We get to share reading insights, bookish topics, pick the minds of occasional bookworm guests and other general book nerdery. If you love books as much as we do, this is the podcast for you! In this episode we go into the world of Murakami with his short stories, Men without Women. We discussed one of his best co...
Dec 31, 2018•37 min
We are Honey and Diana, two Malaysian gals who really love diving into books of all kinds. Welcome to 2 Book Nerds Talking where we discuss books we love or those hot on the read list. We get to share reading insights, bookish topics, pick the minds of occasional bookworm guests and other general book nerdery. If you love books as much as we do, this is the podcast for you! 2 Book Nerds Talking is hosted by Honey Ahmad and Diana Yeong. In this episode we delve into the world of Crazy Rich Asians...
Dec 31, 2018•35 min
