Recommendations come left right centre. To be honest, it can get overwhelming. But lean on us – we’ll point you in the right direction.
We’re back this week, collating the best books, TV shows, podcasts and audiobooks for you to sink your teeth into every weekend.
Here are the best titles thanks to our friends at Scribd so you’re never on the picnic conversation back-foot again.
On this week’s hit list? I look at one of the hottest new voices in town, Virginia Feito and her debut novel, Mrs March; local phenomena Rhiannon Wilde and her extraordinarily charming YA romance, Henry Hamlet’s Heart and the Netflix show the entire world is talking about – Squid Game. (Trust me, you’ll get hooked too.)
LISTEN: Mrs March by Virginia Feito (narrated by Elisabeth Rogers)
There is a fine art to writing about about woman’s psyche. It’s private and secretive, because we live in a world that insists on our repressing much of what we think (god forbid we’re called crazy!)
But Virginia Feito’s debut novel is a perfect experiment of the modern day psychological thriller, blending in twists and turns and extraordinary language.
This comedy slash thriller follows the seemingly perfect life of Upper East Side woman, Mrs March, who is married to a bestselling novelist named George. When a casual visit to the deli turns into a life-changing revelation, our heroine is pushed down a path of paranoia and murder. ‘Is the female character, the crazy one, in her husband’s latest book, really based on her?’
Feito has perfected the formal prose of a sincere, yet witty deadpan comic. It’s an intense, and incredibly funny read.
Delve into it here, on Scribd.
READ: Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde
Henry Hamlet’s Heart is a queer YA romance set in a Brisbane all-boys high school in 2008, and it’s a massive tear-jerker.
This friends-to-lovers coming of age narrative centres on Henry Hamlet. Henry is entering his last term in Year Twelve: the school captain, very popular and coddled by a tight group of close friends.
But his feelings begin to intensify as he thinks about Len, his best friend ‘since forever’. The story is deftly told, and the dialogue is remarkably authentic. (Wilde is a high school teacher)
It’s an Aussie teenage rom-com with the flair and wit of a unique and fresh young voice.
Read it here, on Scribd.
WATCH: Squid Game — Netflix.
Remember this number: 456.
That is the identity of our protagonist in what is being called Netflix’s biggest show to date. If you were swept up in the ardour of The Hunger Games, you’ll be driven to a state of screening paralysis by this incredible new show.
(I sat through the first five episodes in one go and realised five hours had gone by)
The series premise is simple, albeit a bit twisted. 456 is 47-years old, divorced, in debt, and struggling with a gambling addiction. He is really scrapping the bottom of the barrel, and the barrel has in fact, completely crumbled.
Enter a mysterious man one evening in a subway station in Seoul. The man offers 456 a chance to participate in a game for money. There are incredible rewards to be gained if he wins.
Left with no choice, 456 decides to call the number on the back of a card the mysterious man gives him. And the rest — well, you’re going to have to see for yourself.
A little bit of a teaser; there is bold, bright visuals, incredible story-lines, breath-stopping scenes of intense voracity, and quite a sprinkling of violence (which I covered my eyes during).
The show has been on the mouths, minds and eyes of literally everyone I know — and trust me — you’ll be next. Just watch the first episode — you’ll get sucked in right away.
