Literary Anything

It's here! Salma and Jasmine discuss 'Half His Age', the debut novel from bestselling author Jennette McCurdy on the April podcast! This was a highly anticipated book for 2026, with so many readers loving McCurdy's memoir 'I'm Glad My Mum Died'. What did Salma and Jasmine think? And also, what did you guys think?? Listen to find out!

Books they mentioned:

I'm Glad My Mum Died – Jennette McCurdy
Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
To All the Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han
Love Me Tomorrow – Emiko Jean
Some Bright Nowhere – Ann Parker
Last Shot – Jock Zonfrillo
Sunrise on the Reaping – Suzanne Collins
I'm Not Really Here - Gary Lonesborough
Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros
I'd Rather Not – Robert Skinner
Rental Person Who Does Nothing - Shoji Morimoto
Flesh – David Szalay
A Court of Thorns and Roses – Sarah J Maas
Throne of Glass – Sarah J Maas
Big Little Lies – Liane Moriarty
Big Little Truths – Liane Moriarty
The Night We Met – Abby Jimenez

For this month's Literary Anything podcast we're sharing Fleur McDonald in conversation with Nina Campbell. Fleur is such an amazing storyteller (obviously)! In this convo, she shares funny stories about her time in Kalgoorlie while researching her book 'The Prospect'. She also talks about farm life, her advocacy work, flying planes and the one time she wrote 60,000 words in one week!

Salma and Jasmine are in their visors and tennis whites to discuss romance novel 'Game Point' by Meg Jones. 🎾📚 This is the perfect summer read, especially if you're missing the Australian Open!

They also discuss what other books they've been reading over summer, and some anticipated reads for 2026!

And sorry, at about half way through Salma choked on water and sounds a bit croaky for the rest of the pod. 😂

Books they mention:
Clean Point – Meg Jones
Match Point- Meg Jones
Set Point – Meg Jones
The Elements – John Boyne
Last Shot – Jock Zonfrillo
Watching You – Helen Fields
A Well-Trained Wife – Tia Livings
Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver
My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell
Half His Age – Jennette McCurdy
My Husband's Wife – Alice Feeney
The Prospect – Fleur McDonald

Bonus episode! We thought we'd give you some extra content to consume in January, for those still on holidays or for those long car rides.

We’re sharing our author talk with SA Storytellers Nicole Yates, Robert Horne and Satish Gupta. This is an interesting conversation covering a diverse range of topics across poetry, politics and South Australian history.

Learn something new and discover local SA voices.

For this month's Literary Anything episode, we're excited to share Alli Parker in conversation with Lyn Dickens at the Marion Cultural Centre Theatre!

Together they discuss Alli's latest book 'Until the Red Leaves Fall', how young historical fiction writers are changing the narrative and how fiction in general is important for building connections and encouraging empathy.

We hope you love this talk as much as we do!