‘Lonely mouth is a Japanese expression. It means, like, you feel like you want to eat something, but you don’t know what it is. You’re looking for just the right thing. But maybe there is no right thing. Maybe you don’t need anything at all.’This episode, we are talking and thinking about Jacqueline Maley’s latest novel, Lonely Mouth. It begins with two young girls being abandoned by their mother at the Big Merino just out of Goulburn and goes on to be the story mostly of the elder sister Matilda, her hungers, losses, relationships, relationship to her sister Lara and her body. And it sparked this conversation which we hope you enjoy listening to. And as always, you don’t have to have read the book to listen along, we deal more with the themes of the book than the plot (no spoilers we promise).Show notes with all the links and a soup to soothe and calm are coming to our wonderful subscribers shortly.Germaine and Sophie xThank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.Thanks for reading Something to Eat and Something to Read! This post is public so feel free to share it.We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe
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Travelling through books and food
What do you read before you go away? Do you research your trips/holidays through ‘place-rich’ novels? What genre do you prefer while ‘in transit’? How does travel affect the ‘shape’ a book or meal leaves on you (how can it not?). This episode meanders through the above and more, and we hope you enjoy it. We would love to hear about the books you love to read while dreaming of, planning for, and during your own travels.The afternoon we recorded this episode, Germaine had just arrived back from a trip to Germany and the UK, and Sophie was heading to the airport to visit Italy and Slovenia.Thank you for listening; we hope you enjoy this one. Show notes are coming to our subscribers shortly.Germaine and Sophie xThank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.Thanks for listening to Something to Eat and Something to Read! If you know of someone who might also enjoy our podcast, please do share with them. Thanks so much xWe acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe
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On optimism and how reading and cooking helps
Welcome to another episode of Something to Eat and Something to Read, a podcast for people who love cooking, reading and talking about both! Hosted by food writer Sophie Hansen and Germaine Leece, psychotherapist and bibliotherapist.This episode, because we think we all need it, we’re talking about optimism and the books and foods we reach for when we want/need to be reminded that everything is going to be ok in the end. Here below are some of the books that came up in this one.From baking to re-reading, poetry and the inherent optimism of leftovers, we have a list of 20 things to be optimistic about. We hope you enjoy them. We’re optimistic you will! Show notes will be sent out to our subscribers shortly.Germaine and Sophie x Thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe
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On distraction and finding peace in books and cooking
Welcome to another episode of Something to Eat and Something to Read, a podcast for people who love reading and eating, and talking and thinking about both. In this episode, we're wondering if reading and cooking too much—is there such a thing?—can ever stop us from living. Maybe sometimes we need a pause to give us time to respond to all the stimuli (and there's a lot out there at the moment). After we've had that pause, we've got some good things to read and cook and ways to approach both so they're as nourishing as possible.We loved this chat, flipping the narrative a little on our passions and hope you do too.Thank you for listening. Show notes are coming to our subscribers shortly.Germaine and Sophie xThank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe
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Summering in 2025
Hello, and welcome to the 2025 season of Something to Eat and Something to Read!!! This is a podcast for people who love to eat and read and talk about both, hosted by bibliotherapist Germaine Leece and food writer Sophie HansenWe all, thanks to writer Katherine May and her book of the same name, are familiar with the idea of Wintering. Of recognising and resting through fallow seasons, of re-grouping, healing, hibernating through days when the light is low, as she says, “doing these deeply unfashionable things — slowing down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep, resting — is a radical act now, but it is essential.”.For our first episode of the year, we’re talking about the idea of ‘Summering’ and what that means for us in terms of reading and eating. Plus there are loads of good things to read and cook as we share our top five good things from this summer.We hope you enjoy listening. Show notes with all the links and things mentioned will be sent to our subscribers shortly.Sophie and GermaineThank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully.We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe
Something to Eat and Something is a podcast about cooking and reading, and reading about cooking. Hosted by food writer Sophie Hansen and Bibliotherapist/Psychotherapist Germaine Leece; we believe that you should never go anywhere, or for too long, without something to eat and something to read.
So every episode we’re going to dive into a book we’ve both read and talk about the ’shape’ it left on both of us. And because this is a podcast about reading about cooking; these books will all have a strong connection with food (of course). Part two will be the listener letter which we’ll select then read out loud. Germaine will prescribe a book and I’ll recommend a recipe.
We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy putting it together for you, Sophie and Germaine x somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com
New Zealand