Tsundoku
Episodes
Episode 62 - Antonia Pont’s ‘Plain Life’ + Tsundoku team’s recommended reads
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the midst of the anxiety-ridden chaos of late-stage capitalism, is it really possible to lead a plain life? Philosopher, essayist and yogi Antonia ...
Episode 61 - Photographing the Southern Flinders Ranges + “Do We Deserve This?”
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Meet Dr Annette Marner who has spent eight years documenting her ‘patch’, South Australia’s geologically extraordinary Southern Flin...
Episode 60 -Michael Brissenden’s rural thriller Dust & getting to know spy writer Mick Herron
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former journalist, Michael Brissenden, brings insider knowledge and a sharp world view to the crime and thriller genre. “Dust” goes into t...
Episode 59: “The Woman in the Watchtower” by Susan Wyndham
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cath and Annie take a deep dive into the brilliant, celebrated and mysterious life of Elizabeth Harrower, author of the 1960s Australian classic &ldqu...
Episode 58: “A Great Act of Love” by Heather Rose + new publisher Aniko Press
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drawing on her own family history for inspiration, Heather Rose delivers a compelling and heart rending saga of a father and daughter torn apart by a ...
Episode 57: “The Seeker and the Sage” by Brigid Delaney + “The Pacific Tale” by Mandy Treagus
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In “The Seeker and the Sage” a traumatised journalist is given a dream assignment - track down the mayor of a mysterious town whose citize...
Episode 56: “The Slip” by Miriam Webster + a chat with new publishing duo “Pink Shorts”
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Miriam Webster makes her literary debut with a sharp, funny and often dark collection of short stories about love, loss and very modern dilemmas. With...
Episode 55: “The Oasis” by Anne Buist & Graeme Simsion + “The Body Next Door” by Zane Lovitt
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since shooting to fame with “The Rosie Project”, Graeme Simsion has formed a successful writing partnership with his psychiatrist wife, An...
Episode 54: “Chinese Postman” by Brian Castro + “Reunion” by Bronwyn Rivers
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Castro's “The Chinese Postman” is a meditation on old age with a central character whose life mirrors his own. The story strays into...
Episode 53: “Landfall” by James Bradley & “Panic” by Catherine Jinx
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Bradley introduces his latest novel; one of crime in a time of climate crisis. The desperate search for a missing child is set against a terrify...
Minisode 52.5: Kate Grenville and her new book “Unsettled”
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kate Grenville is best known for her book “The Secret River” published in 2005 which became an analogy for white settlement of A...
Episode 52: “Delirious” by Damien Wilkins + how to style a second hand bookshop
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cath discovers the people in Damien Wilkins’ life who inspired his latest novel, “Delirious”. It’s an emotionally powerful nov...
Episode 51: “High Wire” by Candice Fox + new literary journal, “Splinter”
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah is joined by Candice Fox who reflects how her “scrappy” upbringing in Bankstown and her Dad’s work in the local prison informe...
Episode 50: “The Burrow” by Melanie Cheng + “Alias Grace” by Margaret Atwood
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cath and Sarah delight in sharing what they loved about Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey’s short novel, “Orbital” + Cath then set...
Episode 49: To Sing of War by Catherine McKinnon + remembering Beryl Bainbridge
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Catherine McKinnon’s tense but tender tale, “To Sing of War”, immerses the reader in the lives of three characters strung across the...
Episode 48: Robbie Arnott + Hannah Ferguson + Tsundoku’s best books of 2024
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michaela talks to one of her favourite writers, Robbie Arnott, about “Dusk”; a beautiful and beguiling tale of siblings, so down on their ...
Episode 47: Markus Zusak’s “Three Wild Dogs and the Truth” + revisiting Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Markus Zusak uses words like “challenging” and “ complex” to describe his three dogs, Reuben, Archie and Frosty. In this interview Zusak recou...
Episode 46: Sean Williams; guru of speculative fiction and fantasy + Kylie Cardell dissects the “gloriously unhinged” work of Miranda July and Rachel Yoder
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sean Williams, author of 5 million words, is famous for his hugely successful forays into the worlds of Star Wars, Dr Who, the Marvel Universe, but di...
Episode 45: The Romance Edition
01 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As Mills and Boon Australia celebrates 50 years of taking readers on journeys of love and lust, Annie speaks with Barbara Hannay about her latest nove...
Episode 44: Amy Stewart’s tales of arboreal obsession in “The Tree Collectors” + Don Binney, New Zealand’s favourite bird artist remembered in “Flight Path”
02 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Stewart paints a powerful portrait of the human passion for plants in “The Tree Collectors” with fifty different tales of people who, for on...
Episode 43: “The End And Everything Before It” by Finegan Kruckemeyer + “Don’t Tell Alfred” by Nancy Mitford
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A story that is difficult to pin down to a narrative, playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer’s debut novel explores arrivals and departures, time and space,...
Episode 42: “This Devastating Fever” by Sophie Cunningham + The Jewish Men’s Book Club
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cath carries this episode with two great chats; the first with author Sophie Cunningham and the other with self-professed “book snob”, Ron Hoenig....
Episode 41: “The Work” by Bri Lee + “The Radio Hour” by Victoria Purman
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Peeling back the veneer of the New York art scene, Bri Lee takes readers into the background world that fuels the industry. ‘The Work’ follows the...
Episode 40: “The Accident” by Fiona Lowe + “Suddenly Single at Sixty” by Jo Peck
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When a car veers off the road with devastating consequences, the small wheatbelt town of Garringarup is left reeling, but no one's worlds are more sha...
Episode 39: Tension builds in Miranda Darling’s "Thunderhead" + Bel Schenk portrays teen angst in "The Most Famous Boy in Town"
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The outwardly comfortable life of mother and wife, Winona Dalloway, has dark currents running beneath. "Thunderhead" is her interior monologue as she ...
Minsode 38.5: Thrilling Australian crime with debut novelist Louise Milligan
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a move away from investigative journalism and her previous deep diving non-fictiontitles, Louise Milligan delves into crime fiction with debut nove...
Episode 38: Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens + Storyland; A new mythology of Britain
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Miles Franklin Award winner, Shankari Chandran takes Cath to Cinnamon Gardens, an aged care home established by Tamil refugees and now run by their da...
Episode 37: Dive into the world of poetry with Peter Bakowski and Ken Bolton + veteran poet and broadcaster Mike Ladd on ‘why be a poet?’
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Poetry seems a solitary pursuit but not for well known Australian poets Peter Bakowski and Ken Bolton - they recently released two new collections ‘...
Minisode 36.5: Molly Schmidt’s "Salt River Road"
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Molly Schmidt’s "Salt River Road" is a searing account of grief and redemption set in the big sky/small town landscape of south-west WA. Racism, pov...
Episode 36: “The Disorganisation of Celia Stone” + the secret life of a romance writer
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Celia appears to have it all and her life is running like clockwork - and so it should because she has it planned down to the very last minute - but t...
Episode 35: Paddy O’Reilly’s “Other Houses” + The timeless Anne of Green Gables
29 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cath has admired the work of Paddy O’Reilly for some time but with her shortlisting for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, “Other Houses” lo...
Episode 34: Sarah Smith’s “12 Steps to a Long and Fulfilling Death” + Is book translation an art or science?
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Smith has been successfully writing for popular TV shows such as “McLeod’s Daughters”, “All Saints” and “Love Child” for years. No...
Minisode 33.5: Trent Dalton’s new novel "Lola in the Mirror"
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Trent Dalton’s new novel Lola in the Mirror travels to the dark heart of homelessness and domestic violence and yet is a love story and a love lette...
Episode 33: Fashion, feminism and war with Natasha Lester + a rock’n’roll mystery from Dave Warner
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard” is loosely based on the life of Mitzah Bricard, a woman the world remembers as the outrageous muse of Chri...
Minisode 32.5: Discovering the unwritten histories of women with Pip Williams
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Leaving the world of academia when creativity came knocking has paid off for Pip Williams. She's the bestselling author of "The Dictionary of Lost Wor...
Episode 32: Justin Cronin’s latest dystopian thriller will grip you from the first page to the last + PhD candidate, Georgia Nicholls, reveals the romance titles sweeping young women off their feet.
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Cronin’s “The Ferryman” the world’s elite enjoy eternal youth and deep personal satisfaction on the archipelago of Prospera but all is not ...
Episode 31: Meet Leslie Bird, fiction’s most abrasive woman + the First Nation men who started an arts movement
11 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Let author Catherine Therese introduce you to Leslie Bird, a fictional character so caustic she’ll make your eyes water. Yet, as Michaela discovered...
Episode 30: Chris Hammer thrills in “The Tilt” + Aldous Huxley; perennially prescient
14 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The fates of three people from the 1940s, ‘70s and today collide in Chris Hammer’s thrilling new mystery, “The Tilt” - you won’t see it comi...
Episode 29: Three successful authors share their tips on How to Get Published!
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Best-selling Australian authors, Sean Williams, Victoria Perman and Tricia Stringer, talk to Tsundoku’s Sarah Martin and Cath Kenneally about their ...
Episode 28: Crack the case in Garry Disher’s “Day’s End” + The distinct style and tone of literary journalism
05 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Best selling Australian author of “rural noir”, Garry Disher hopes to be seen as novelist first and crime writer second. American Academic Saar Sh...
Episode 27: “The Sun Walks Down”, an Australian classic in the making + the curious legacy of Barry Humphries
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In September 1883, the South Australian town of Fairly huddles under strange, vivid sunsets. A child has gone missing and the whole town is intent on ...
Episode 26: Troubled love in Louise Kennedy’s “Trespasses” + the 18th Century “cancelling” of Captain Cook
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
At first drawn to short stories, Louise Kennedy couldn’t resist expanding this ill-fated love story set at the peak of the Irish Troubles into a ful...
Episode 25: Shannon Burn’s literary salvation + Greek myth-busting with “Pandora’s Jar”
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“I’ve discovered an important truth and it’s all I care about, all I can depend on,the only thing that means anything, the one sure thing that w...
Episode 24: Vikki Wakefield’s thrilling adult debut + a brilliant memoir of Andy Warhol
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hugely popular author of gritty young adult fiction, Vikki Wakefield, has turned her hand to a psychological thriller in ‘After You Were Gone’ …...
Episode 23: How to be Stoic in Modern Times + "The Bloody Chamber"
24 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Author, Brigid Delaney, considers whether ancient philosophers can guide us in how to live a good life, and has found the Stoic school may have the an...
Ep 22: The Last Days of Roger Federer + Unforgettable Iris
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Literary raconteur, Geoff Dyer, isn’t getting any younger and it’s got him contemplating The End; not death so much as “last times”, the likes...
Ep 21: Gracie Flynn may be dead, but she’s not gone + Louise Adler’s Adelaide Writers’ Week
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The highest compliment any reader can pay new crime fiction writer, Joanna Morrison, is “I couldn’t put it down” or “You moved me”. Both epi...
Ep 20: A female mortician meets a bloke from the bush in Fiona McIntosh’s “The Orphans” + why an Excel spreadsheet is invaluable when writing historical fiction
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Prolific British author Fiona McIntosh faced the challenge of setting her latest two novels in an Australian landscape when Covid kept her from her us...
EP 19: Black comedy in aged care in “The Castaways of Harewood Hall” + Are librarians romance snobs?
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What are the odds of an author penning not one, but two, debut novels - and of BOTH being fabulous?! Newly retrenched from a career in aged care, Kare...
Minisode 18.5: A Personal Journey Of Spiritual Discovery in 'Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here'
13 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Heather Rose has spent her life saying yes and pushing the boundaries of physical and spiritual experience. She tells of love, loss, and discovery in ...
Ep 18: Holiday reads
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Detective Cato Kwong gets mixed up in dirty politics between Timor and Australia in “Crocodile Tears” by Alan Carter+ We’ve got your summer read...
Ep 17: Grace Chan’s speculative fiction “Every Version of You” + the shocking genius of Philip Roth
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Are there times when you wonder what sort of world our children and grandchildren will inherit? Grace Chan has created an online world called Gaia in ...
Ep 16: Adventures in Paris in "My Sweet Guillotine" + 20th century women writers get their own showcase
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Jayne Tuttle fell in love with Paris she had no idea its quaint charm would beindirectly responsible for almost killing her. In her first Paris m...
Minisode 15.5: A world quest for a religion where women have power in "Holy Woman"
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Pentecostal preacher Louise Omer started to question her devotion to a religion run by men to keep men in power, she decided to break free. "Holy...
Ep 15: Victoria Hannan’s Marshmallow + John Wyndham’s 1950’s novel The Midwich Cuckoos
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An innocuous little marshmallow shatters the life of a group of friends. As the anniversary of the horrible event looms, each must come to terms with ...
Ep 14: Chilling out with crime writers new and old; Vikki Petraitis + Agatha Christie
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a “reading slump” Sarah was delighted to be swept away by a powerful new detective, Antigone Pollard; she isn’t afraid of the dark and won...
Ep 13: In Search of the Woman Who Sailed the World + the healing power of bibliotherapy
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Biologist and award-winning author Danielle Clode embarks on a journey to reveal the true story of Jeanne Barret, the first woman to circumnavigate th...
Ep 12: Psalms for the End of the World + My Extraordinary Mum
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Times calls it “ingenious and clever”, the Daily Mail declares it “mind-bendingly clever”, “Psalms for the end of the World” is a spra...
Minisode 11.5 Facing death with a To-Do list in The Very Last List of Vivian Walker
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Death isn’t like in the movies - there’s no grand musical score playing as we leave this world. It’s just the final scene of our wonderful, comp...
Ep 11: Rattled explores the subtle terror of being stalked + Why Viking tales never lose their mystique
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ellis Gunn didn’t just survive the terrifying and unsettling experience of being stalked. She wrote about it, in a book that is part poetic real l...
Minisode 10.5 Scottish noir with a fairytale edge in Charlotte McConaghy’s “Once There Were Wolves”
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Australian author Charlotte McConaghy talks about her latest novel, how her screenwriting experience informs its edgy pace and why climate remains her...
Ep 10: Ghost Tattoo tells the hidden story of one man’s Holocaust + The mercurial nature of the memoir
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It took forty years for Dr Tony Bernard to uncover the full horror of what his father went through in World War 2. The memoir “Ghost Tattoo” is an...
Ep 09: "Basin" by Scott McCulloch journeys through the apocalyptic and surreal + An early 70s fantasy classic from Ursula Le Guin
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A man gasps for breath as he is dragged from the ocean and given another chance. Living within a surreal, war-torn landscape and ever on the run throu...
Ep 08: The latest masterpiece from Geraldine Brooks + a poetic classic from Joe Brainard, one of the art world’s most original creators
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A discarded painting in a roadside clean-up, forgotten bones in a research archive, and Lexington, the greatest racehorse in US history. From these st...
Ep 07: Twenty-four seasons of love, loss and food in Japan + the ever-changing allure of the recipe book
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Katherine is hafu; half Japanese, half English but in the experience of eating her body “forgot its cultural confusion”. Meshi explores the meals ...
Ep 06: A wild woman of 19th century Australia + the classic books that still keep the cash registers ringing
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mabel Worley leapt off the pages of history and could not be shaken from the consciousness of museum curator, Corinne Ball. Who was this woman who gav...
Ep 05: A crime thriller about the devil you know + family dysfunction 1930s style still hits a nerve
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Robotham has a new psychological thriller on the shelves, Lying Beside You. While his stories delve into the dark side, in person he is a wa...
Ep 04: Finding utopias and dystopias in mystic India + a darker side to Jane Eyre's man Rochester
12 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Miles Allinson on his book "In Moonland" - a son untangles the mystery of his father as he follows his trail into the 70s hippie heart of India. A...
Ep 03: Faith, love and a flight to freedom + immersion in a Woolfe classic
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Award winning Melbourne author Hannah Kent talks about her new book Devotion - a love story that traverses oceans, reality a...
Ep 02: A road trip into America’s dark heart + travelling in the footsteps of heroes
15 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Award winning Melbourne author Emily Bitto talks about her new book Wild Abandon - the story of a naive young Australian man’s odyssey of ...
Ep 01: A Muslim father’s love letter + revisiting an Australian gothic classic
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Edgy Sydney author Michael Mohammed Ahmad talks about his latest book The Other Half of You… and about why writing is like ...
Coming Soon - Tsundoku
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Coming Soon to the Auscast Network - Tsundoku – the podcast for addicted readers. Tsundoku is the Japanese word for that pile of book...