The Book Show - Series One

Episode One - Lloyd Jones, Tze Ming Mok
TV presenter Marcus Lush, scriptwriter Kath Akuhata-Brown and author Rachel King join the book club with Emily Perkins to review the historical adventure novel Zorro by Isabelle Allende. In Wellington, interviewer Finlay Macdonald visits award-winning author Lloyd Jones, who talks about his new book Mister Pip. Lastly, Emily Perkins interviews Tze Ming Mok on the books that speak to her. 

Episode Two - Kelly Ana Morey, Charlotte Grimshaw
Marcus Lush and Rachel King return to the book club with the addition of singer and songwriter Rick Bryant to discuss Theft: A Love Story by Australian Peter Carey. Finlay Macdonald meets novelist Kelly Ana Morey in her peaceful Northland retreat to find out how she spends her work day writing. Then novelist Charlotte Grimshaw sits down with Emily Perkins to discuss how her writing is affected by what she reads.

Episode Three - CK Stead, David Eggleton
This episode’s book club includes actor Kerry Fox, Dominion Post Books Editor Guy Somerset, and bookseller Doris Mousdale, who discuss artist Jacqueline Fahey’s memoir Something For The Birds. Then Finlay Macdonald speaks with CK Stead about his career as a distinguished, novelist, poet and literary critic. Poet David Eggleton speaks with Emily Perkins about his influences growing up reading comics and New Zealand poetry.  

Episode Four - Joy Cowley, Kevin Ireland
Guy Somerset and Kerry Fox return to the book club, joining Shortland Street actor Laura Hill to discuss Everyman by Philip Roth. In the Marlborough Sounds, Finley Macdonald joins Joy Cowley to hear how she found success writing for children. Then poet and novelist Kevin Ireland talks about the four different novels he is reading at the moment. 

Episode Five - Cliff Fell, Nigel Cox
Scriptwriter Kath Ahukata-Brown, Dominion Post Books Editor Guy Somerset and bookseller Doris Mousdale are in the book club this episode, reviewing two books by Dunedin writers: Laurence Fearnley's Degrees of Separation and Emma Neale's Relative Strangers. Then Finlay Macdonald meets poet Cliff Fell in Nelson, to hear about how he came about the name ‘Cliff’. Plus author Nigel Cox talks about bringing excitement into his own fiction. 

Episode Six - Sarah Kate-Lynch, Hinemoana Baker
The book club this episode is made up of Rick Bryant, Laura Hill and Guy Somerset, discussing the generational commentary of Joe Queenan’s Balsamic Dreams. Then Finlay Macdonald quizzes novelist and food writer Sarah-Kate Lynch bn the role of food in her novels. Lastly, Poet and Musician Hinemoana Baker talks about the books that  impacted her as a child, from Dr. Seuss to Witi Ihimaera.  

Episode Seven - Elizabeth Knox, Tusiata Avia
First up, Emily Perkins moderates a lively discussion from Guy Somerset, Marcus Lush and Kath Akuhata-Brown about Susanne Williams Milcairns' Native Strangers (which is not widely enjoyed). Finlay Macdonald visits author Elizabeth Knox at her bach in Golden Bay, where he hears about her wild imagination and new novel Dreamhunter. Rounding off the episode, Perkins interviews Tusiata Avia in the studio, on beloved books and her own poetry collection Wild Dogs Under My Skirt.  

Episode Eight - Patricia Grace, Jenny Bornholdt
Kicking off with memoir The Accidental Anthropologist, book club guests Laura Hill, Marcus Lush and Guy Somerset make clear they are not fans of the book. Roving reporter Finlay Macdonald then visits novelist Patricia Grace on her ancestral land, before presenter Emily Perkins talks poetry back at the studio. She is joined by poet Jenny Bornholdt, who pays tribute to CS Lewis and Dinah Hawken's poetry collection It Has No Sound and is Blue.  

Episode Nine - Brian Turner, Glenn Colquhoun
This week's book club features writer Anna Jackson, Marcus Lush and Kath Akuhata-Brown discussing their wildly different views on Davey Darling by Christchurch author Paul Shannon. Then Finlay Macdonald hits the road to visit Brian Turner in the Maniototo, and chat about his new memoir Somebodies and Nobodies. Finally, presenter Emily Perkins is joined by Glenn Colquhoun for a wide-ranging talk on his influences and voice as a writer.  

Episode Ten - Lloyd Spencer, Damien Wilkins
Anna Jackson, Marcus Lush and Laura Hill return for the book club, this week discussing John Updike's Villages. Finlay Macdonald then travels to the Otago Peninsula to visit zoologist turned author Lloyd Spencer, where they chat about his new book Looking for Darwin and his previous work The Plight of the Penguin. Back in the studio, presenter Emily Perkins is joined by Damien Wilkins, who shares his love of the Biggles adventure books and Dennis McEldowney's memoir The World Regained.