At the start of this episode of The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond spend a little time addressing some listener feedback from last month concerning social media and book recommendations. They have picked a book recommended by a listener to be read and reviewed in February but they're not telling you which one because, as Ian says, there aren't enough surprises in the world anymore. The Writer and the Critic is a proud contributor to the global surprise quotient. Then follows a very lengthy discussion about The Book Thief (one of the novels from the previous podcast) which was sparked off by a passionate and thought-provoking review of the same from Catherynne M. Valente. Free-form digressions may or may not be included. Conclusions may or may not be drawn. Ian and Kirstyn vow not to mention this particular book again for quite some time. This month's official books up for review are Feed by Mira Grant (recommended by Ian) and The Red Tree by Caitlín R. Kiernan (chosen by Kirstyn). We hope you enjoy this month's podcast. In the next episode, scheduled for late January, Ian and Kirstyn will discussion The Wind-Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi and The City and the City by China Miéville.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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