The Writer and the Critic

Episode 54: Quicksand House | A Head Full of Ghosts

It's Patron's Choice this month on The Writer and the Critic where your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, spend the episode discussing two books as voted on by their lovely supporters on Patreon. But first, they quickly go through the list of other nominated titles that were pipped at the post:

• The Dead Lake by Hamid Ismailov    
• Borderline by Mishell Baker         
• Defying Doomsday edited by Tsana Dolichva and Holly Kench    
• Heat and Light by Ellen Van Neervan    
• Arms Race by Nic Low        
• Planetfall by Emma Newman         
• The Testimony by James Smythe    
• Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A. S. King        
• Affinity by Sarah Waters

The discussion then moves on to the two books that garnered the most votes: Quicksand House by Carlton Mellick III [5:50] and A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay [45:00]. This review of Quicksand House was mentioned in passing.



If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:27:30 for some brief final remarks. Next month, the theme will be First Read/Re-Read, where Kirstyn and Ian each select a book they have read and loved a long, long time ago but which the other has never read before. The two novels up for discussion will be:

• Savage Season by Joe R. Lansdale - chosen by Ian
  
• The Pillow Friend by Lisa Tuttle - chosen by Kirstyn

Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!

Episode 53: All the Light We Cannot See | The Girl on the Train

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, spend a few minutes talking about the New York Times Bestseller lists before jumping straight into the discussion of two novels which have been on the lists in some form for, oh, about a squillion weeks: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr [11:45] and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins [46:45].



Here are the links for various items mentioned during this episode:

• On Blindness and the Portrayal of Marie-Laure in All the Light We Cannot See by Sheri Wells-Jensen  (The Toast)
• "There Was Darkness" by Martin Livings from Living With the Dead
• NYT Book Review podcast featuring Megan Abbott

If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:32:00 for final remarks, including which books will be discussed next episode.

Next month is the inaugural Patron's Choice episode, wherein Kirstyn and Ian read two books nominated and voted on by some of their lovely supporters on Patreon. Ian won't let Kirstyn put the titles in the shownotes, because he wants them to be a surprise for listener's of this month's episode. Seriously, blame Ian. Then go to 1:32:00 to find out what they'll be discussing.

Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!