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News & Reviews by Bri Lee

Bri Lee
News & Reviews by Bri Lee
Latest episode

5 episodes

  • News & Reviews by Bri Lee

    New Release Roundup - October

    28/10/2026 | 1h 5 mins.
    Jaclyn Crupi is back with a stack of recommendations, including two books over 600 pages, two books about classical music and musicians, and two  books about the imagined lives of famous writers.
    If you want to hear Jaclyn and Bri talk IRL, there are still 30+ tickets left for Sydney GarnerRama on November 24 but only 20 tickets left for Brisbane GarnerRama on November 25. If you’re worried about not being prepped enough, please don’t let that stop you from coming! Jaclyn and Bri agree, if you haven’t read any Garner at all, these are the single books you should pick per city event:
    * In Sydney we’re talking about the diaries, and you should definitely start with Yellow Notebook.
    * In Brisbane we’re talking about the families, and you should definitely start with Monkey Grip.
    * In Melbourne we’re talking about the courtroom dramas, and you should definitely start with The First Stone. (Controversial, we know!)
    Books mentioned in this episode:
    Under Story - Chloe Benjamin
    Partita - Barbara Kingsolver
    Music Against the Night - Yiyun Li
    In One Brief Moment All Eternity - Elif Shafak
    The Song of Stork and Dromedary - Anjet Daanje
    American Hagwon - Min Jin Lee
    People Skills - Nina Kenwood
    The Starving Bride - Catherine Chidgey
    Dodge City - Patrick deWitt
    Stations - Louise Kennedy
    Life Out of Order - Audrey Niffenegger
    No One’s Looking - Brooke Davis
    To carry on the conversation with all the best five-star nerds make sure to join our subreddit.


    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsandreviews.substack.com/subscribe
  • News & Reviews by Bri Lee

    Welcome Back to N&R!

    22/10/2026 | 51 mins.
    We kick off Summer Season with a brief reintroduction to what the News & Reviews community is all about, and what this “newsletter” is going to deliver next year.
    Books mentioned in this episode:
    Brave New Humans by Sarah Dingle
    American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee
    Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
    The Fraud by Zadie Smith
    Ordinary, Funny, Tragic by Bridie Jabour
    The Correspondent by Virginia Evan
    The Heather Blazing by Colm Tóibín
    Take the Fire by Leila Slimani
    The Country of Others by Leila Slimani
    Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
    Plain Life by Antonia Pont
    Sophie Standing There by Meg Mason
    Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
    There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
    Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
    All Heart by Mick Fanning
    Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi
    Walking on Broken Glass by Shannon Nutter and Julia C. Carreon
    Who Gets to Be Smart by Bri Lee
    Switzy by Emma Cline
    Monkey Grip by Helen Garner
    I Am Nannertgarrook by Tasma Walton
    Fruit Fly by Josh Silver
    The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
    If you want to continue the conversation make sure to join our subreddit with all the best 5-star nerds.
    Otherwise leave a comment below.


    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsandreviews.substack.com/subscribe
  • News & Reviews by Bri Lee

    GarnerRama - The Children’s Bach

    14/09/2026 | 41 mins.
    This is the first live recording of Bri and Jaclyn Crupi’s GarnerRama series. Bri and Jaclyn discuss Garner’s classic novella The Children’s Bach, recorded at the Melbourne Writers Festival.
    They talk through when they first encountered the novel, how it affected them then as well as how a re-read has changed their perspectives. They also discuss what Garner was going through in her life during the time she wrote it as well as the impact it had on the Australian literary landscape.
    There will be three more live shows in this series with the next Melbourne show already being sold out.
    Be sure to get your tickets to the remaining GarnerRamas:
    Sydney will be focusing on The Diaries (Yellow Notebook, One Day I’ll Remember This, How to End a Story) on the 24th of November at The Vanguard.
    Brisbane will be focusing on The Families - Monkey Grip, The Children’s Bach, The Season) on Wednesday 25th November at Avid Reader.
    Tickets are $40 at every venue. Thank you for supporting this totally independent News & Reviews production.
    Make sure you’re subscribed to News & Reviews to stay up to date with all the latest events.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsandreviews.substack.com/subscribe
  • News & Reviews by Bri Lee

    New Release Roundup - August - Free Version

    20/08/2026 | 15 mins.
    This is a free 15 minute version of our August New Release Roundup with the incomparable Jaclyn Crupi! This is a part of our seasonal online readers and writers festivals.
    To be able to listen to the full version of this episode and all the back catalogue of our seasonal online readers and writers festivals, become a paying subscriber to News & Reviews on Substack.
    Books mentioned in this episode:
    Tight Lines - Allee Richards
    Trust - Hernan Diaz
    Beginning Middle End - Valeria Luiselli
    A Real Animal - Emeline Atwood
    Nightbitch - Rachel Yonder
    Heresies - Richard Flanagan
    Sophie Standing There - Meg Mason
    A Swim in a Pond in the Rain - George Saunders
    I Love the Whole World! - Victoria Hannan
    Kokomo - Victoria Hannan
    Helpless - Jessica Knoll
    Good Witch - Lucianne Tonti
    Kitten - Stacey Yu
    Mother Waters - Lisa Nan Joo
    The Wanted and the Unwanted - A.M Stafford
    It Will Come Back to You - Sigrid Nunez
    Nerve Damage - Annakeara Stinson
    A Study in Sparkling - Jodi McAlister


    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsandreviews.substack.com/subscribe
  • News & Reviews by Bri Lee

    Philosophy Right Now - Stan Grant - Free Version

    06/08/2026 | 16 mins.
    Bri is joined by Stan Grant to discuss his book When Words Fail Us. They discuss the notion of time, the nature of history and words as well as religion, mysticism and trying to find meaning in the face of modernity.
    Let us know what you thought of this episode below.
    To keep the discussion going head over to our subreddit where all the best five-star nerds congregate.
    To ensure you’re able to make the most of our online seasonal readers and writers festivals make sure you’re subscribed. ‘
    Books mentioned in this episode:
    Gravity and Grace - Simone Weil
    The Power of Words - Simone Weil
    Yorro Yorro - David Mowaljarlai
    Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
    Digging - Seamus Heaney


    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsandreviews.substack.com/subscribe
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About News & Reviews by Bri Lee
A seasonal online readers and writers festival. newsandreviews.substack.com
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