Reading Between Deadlines Podcast

This episode's book: My Sister, the Serial Killer is the debut thriller novel (although Rach reckons it’s more a novella) by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It was originally published in Nigeria as Thicker Than Water. It received critical acclaim upon publication and was long listed for the 2019 Booker Prize.
This week’s guest is multi-genre author, Kayte Nunn, who has the most delightful accent, probably because she grew up between England and the United States, although she’s now lived in Australia for more than twenty-five years. Kate is a lifelong book lover (which is obvious in this wonderful chat) and believes stories find their writers. Her latest book is THE PALAZZO.
In this episode, we cover:
Titles - original vs translation
Dynamics between sisters
Nigerian culture and setting
Dumb guys
What exactly is literary fiction?
The ethics of serial killer fiction.
Thoughts on Booktok.
💋 And, of course, we rate My SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER: Kiss, Kill, or Marry.
📚 Books Mentioned in this Ep
How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson
Jilly Cooper’s books
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
The Last Reunion by Kayte Nunn
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
Katherine Heiny books
Trespassers by Louise Kennedy
Small Pleasure by Clare Chambers
And TV/Movies:
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Timestamps
0.42 - Intro our author mate Kayte Nunn - what’s a nice girl from Wiltshire doing on a pod like this?
3.13 - Rach’s earrings get stabby - accessories for the crazy author in your life...
5.38 - Bios - boring, useful, a great way to brag about
7.10 - Anthea gives the narrator a full tick of approval - and not just because she didn’t have to read the book herself!
9.15 - A very average Goodreads rating and is the original title, classy - but boring?
11.53 - Double Kiss! Anthea commits to reporting back to RBD about her deathbed experience, and what she’d like to read before she goes..
14.30 - Tade - a tall dark and handsome Dr - Rachael not a fan. WTF???!!!
17.15 - Anthea - pro-serial killer - not into anti little sister movement. Speaks passionately in defence of junior siblings everywhere..
19.25 - OMG Rach admits she’s WRONG (and Anthea is very classy about it!)
21.10 - Kates raves about the symbolism and language - Fancy.
23.0 - Rach wonders about literary serial killers - just because you’re stabbing some guy, doesn’t mean you’re basic.
27.47 - Are serial killers sexy now? Is that ok?
30.02 - How does Kate read? Is she a DNF’er? YES SHE IS!
33.5 - Rach disses Anne of Green Gables and Anthea talks about the olden days. Again. And appreciates charming bloody Anne because she isn’t a total heathen!
35.25 -Car rides with Kayte’s family - NEXT LEVEL! (Best mum award goes to Kayte’s mum!)
38.02 - The historical vs contemporary fiction debate. Again. (Rach just won’t let it go) (Anthea quietly realises she’s written both, so she wins!)
40.00 - In praise of the voice. Kayte loves snark! (Anthea thinks the word snark isn’t used nearly enough)
42. 23 - Fave book adaptations (Kind of including The Talented Mr Ripley, but we forgot the name at the time!)
44.00 - Reviews - Kayte loves wallowing about in reviews - the thought alone makes Anthea reach for a stiff cup of tea.

Next Ep, we’re diving into The Crash by Freida McFadden and March guest is John Purcell who will make us read The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.
April Books: 14th April - Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy28th April - The Only One Left by Riley Sager with guest Mercedes Mercier


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Do you get the appeal of Pumpkin Spice?
This episode’s pick: The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore exploded onto BookTok a few years ago (yes, we know we’re a little behind the times) with its cozy cover and title vibes. It’s a “grumpy-sunshine” romance set in a small town that people are saying is very like Stars Hollow, the fictional town where hit TV series, The Gilmore Girls is set.
In this episode, we cover:
Pretty covers, sprayed edges and other special editions.
The TikTok Bookshop Awards
Believable conflict and sex scenes
Ghost and serial killers (spoiler, there are none)
Cat behaviour
What actually is pumpkin spice?
💋 And, of course, we rate it: Kiss, Kill, or Marry
⏰ Timestamps
00.00 Amazing intro expertly put there by tech genius
1.51 – We marvel at how Rachael has her finger on the pulse. (Anthea keeps her
hands to herself)
4.09 – A brief rundown of The Pumpkin Spice Café..
5.25 – Laurie Gilmore bio. Too many awards we haven’t heard of (but would
probably like!)
8.26 – Who the hell is Melissa and why did she change her name?
12.02 – We Kiss, Kill, Marry… and cosy cups of tea are spat out, around the world
16.18 – Rach and Anthea search for meaning – and TENSION
23.36 – The humble house cat as a literary device
24.18 – Pumpkin spice – just smashed up pumpkin, or something a little bit fancy?
25.56 – The cover is retro - like Anthea - but cozier, and fonder of cats
28.36 – Rachael spills on her new idea for a rom-com in a rage filled diatribe
30.36 – Grumpy/sunshine trope – adorable in a novel, annoying in a husband
34.08 – Rach goes nuclear
37.02 – Chilli rating – Rach calms down – then gets frisky
41.25 – There’s a mystery in the book, but what is it? (That’s the mystery..)
42.30 – Anthea asks about other books in the series, and Rachael realises she owns
most of them.
44.00 – Substack – Reading Between Deadlines is one of the greatest substacks of
all time according to recent research
45.12 What we are reading next – Serial Killers!!
47.20 – Bad reviews – not as good as good reviews, but not that bad…?
📖 Coming up next:
👉Next Ep we’re chatting to Kayte Nunn about My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
In March, we’re diving into The Crash by Frieda McFadden and guest author John Purcell will make us read The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.
For what we’re up to after that, click here.
🛍️ Do you read between deadlines too? Grab the merch
💎 Did you know we have at least one bonus episode a month for paid subscribers? And every now and then we’ll drop and extra episode when the zeitgeist calls for it.In our regular bonus episode we share what we’ve been reading, watching, writing, listening to, eating, and any other recs or not-reds we see fit. For only $5 a month you can get SO much more out of your RBD subscription and help us with the costs of editing, hosting platforms etc.
Thanks for listening. We love ya!


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe

Surprise!
We’re dropping a bonus episode to chat about HEATED RIVALRY… because we couldn’t not. If you haven’t heard about this book written by Rachel Reid’s and TV adaptation, where have you been hiding?
It’s a rivals-to-lovers hockey romance that’s taken over the world! It’s currently #1 on Booktopia and Amazon AU and so many other places, and when the TV series first landed, Australian publishers sold out almost immediately. Which tells you everything you need to know.
We recently read the book and then had a watch party, not just with each other but four seventeen year old girls, and in this episode we give you ALL our thoughts on both.
Enjoy.
Rach and Anthea.
In this episode, we cover:
The book vs the TV show - which is sexier? Which is more romantic?
How much sex is too much sex?
The term “rivalry” and the need for conflict
Scott from the first book, insta-love and episode 3
Does being a writer sometimes ruin reading?
Where are all the women?
That scene - building intimacy or a total cop out?
Original cover vs latest cover
We don’t pretend to know anything about ice hockey but…
Is the best part about the show the real estate?
Smoothie talk.
Does shock value build hype?
📖 Coming up next:
👉Next Ep we’re chatting to Virtually Annie about CIRCE by Madeleine Miller.
In February, we’re diving into The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore and guest author Kayte Nunn will make us read My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
In March, we’re reading The Crash one of Freida McFadden’s ZILLION books and our guest author for the second episode will be John Purcell, who is making us read The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.
For what we’re up to after that, click here.
🎽 Do you read between deadlines too? Grab the merch
Thanks for following. We love ya!


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe

Does CIRCE live up to the hype?
This episode's pick: Circe by Madeline Miller is a beautifully written retelling of Greek myth that puts the infamous witch from The Odyssey centre stage. Banished to a lonely island for angering the gods, Circe slowly discovers her own strange, dangerous powers and starts to shape a life on her own terms. Along the way, gods, heroes and mortals drift in and out of her world - including Odysseus - and along the way Circe learns the true extent of her power and strength.
This week’s guest is our friend and saviour, superstar virtual assistant, Annie Bucknall. As well as helping us get this pod off the ground, creating our gorgeous branding and rescuing Anthea from many a tech disaster, Annie is a historian/librarian by day and an aspiring writer by night.
In this episode, we cover:
Greek Gods - our passion or lack thereof for them.
Necessity of universal of emotions in fiction.
The many loves of Circe.
Feminine rage and vengeance
Things Anthea doesn’t believe in
💋 And, of course, we rate CIRCE: Kiss, Kill, or Marry.
Which way did the votes fall? You’ll have to listen to find out.
📚 Books Mentioned in this Ep
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
The Bronze Horseman by Paulina Simons
Road to Paradise by Paulina Simons
Tully by Paulina Simons
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Alchemised
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
What Happened to Nina by Dervla McTiernan
Cold Truth by Ashley Kaligian Blunt
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine
And podcasts - Creative Pep Talk and Haptic and Hue.
⏰ Timestamps
1.0 - Intro our fab guest
2.35 - The best eras of history (Anthea’s pretty historical because she can remember the 70’s..)
4.30 - Shout out to long suffering Annie our RBD Queen - who managed to teach Anthea about the computer machines
7.10 - Zeus, deserted Islands and multiple book blurbs - (Are Greek gods kind of arseholes?)
8.56 - Judging Madeline’s bio - Anthea thinks it needs a few chickens.
11.24 - Circe, Goddess of magic and sorcery - (probably got her edits in on time…)
13.02 - Kiss, Kill or turn some nymph into a sea monster
14.18 - Anthea finally finishes CIRCE and enjoys time in Greece with Hermes
17.25 - Rach enjoys every one of the 124000 words of Circe as much as Prometheus enjoyed feeding his liver to that eagle.
21.14 - Annie loves the language almost as much as Circe loves love (no judgement..)
24. - Men are pigs! (Hey, Homer said it in the Odyssey, not us!)
27.48 - Circe - kind of epic - congrats, Madeline Miller. (Rach has probably had enough now..!)
30. Question Time
33.46 - Annie’s hot tip - spending a weekend with a book, then dumping it and never calling again… harsh but fair.
36. The fear of re-reading.
38. Trigger warnings - yay or nay
44.40 Annie recommends a weird podcast. Bring it on!
46.10 Rachael has us reading about pumpkins and serial killers. In that order - Goodluck!

📖 Coming up next:
👉Next Ep, we’re diving into The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore (Feb 14th)
On Feb 28th guest author Kayte Nunn will make us read My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
In March we’re reading The Crash by Freida McFadden and our guest John Purcell will make us read The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.
🎽 Do you read between deadlines too? Grab the merch


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe

Dear RBD Listeners
January is a busy month for EVERYONE, so we decided instead of discussing a particular book this month, we’d ask each other the questions we usually ask our author guests instead.
Enjoy the list of recommendations and non-recommendations mentioned in this ep below.
Book that made you cry?
Anthea - doesn’t cry in books
Rach - Goodnight Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson; Pack Up the Moon by Kristin Higgins; Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Book that got you into reading?
Rach - The Baby-Sitters Club books by Ann M. Martin and late 90s chick-lit
Anthea - The Folk of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
How do you read?
Anthea - has a Kindle, loved print best but listens mostly to audiobooks these days (currently listening to Secrets by Judi Morison and Circe by Madeleine Miller.
Rach - recently bought a Kobo as is loving it ALMOST as much as print. Audiobooks while cleaning (currently listening to Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan)
What is the book that you wish you’d written?
Rach wishes she’d written The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller.
Anthea wishes she’d written her bestselling novel The War Nurses earlier.
What is the book you recommend the most?
Rach - The Wedding People by Alison Espach, Sandwich by Catherine Newman, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley (and bonus mention of The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty.
Anthea - somehow we skipped her!?!
Where do you like to read?
Anthea - reading in bed early in the morning with a cup of tea
Rach - bed too but also on an aeroplane and especially on holiday.
What’s your fave book-to-screen adaptation?
Rach - Bridget Jones’ Diary and Gone Girl
Anthea - BBS Pride & Prejudice (Hello, Colin - Rach agrees), North & South.
Do you have snacks and/or drinks while you read?
Anthea - nice cup of tea; no snacks
Rach - Diet Coke or wine; no snacks
What’s the last book you recommended?
Rach - Sandwich and The Wedding People - already mentioned above
Anthea - The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight (listen to our ep about it here)And a shout out to Lara in Denver!! and The Far Flung Life by ML Stedman
Do you reread books?
Anthea - as a rule no, but sometimes she does accidentally as she’s getting old and forgetful, but she does mention MM Kaye and her lovely British murder mysteries.
Rach - wants to reread more, including Three Little Truths by Eithne Shortall, Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
Are you embarrassed about a book you read?
Anthea - The White Hotel by DM Thomas - but you’ll have to listen to find out WHY!
Rach - not at all embarrassed now but might have been embarrassed once to admit she’d read a lot of M&B novels
Do you have a fave go-to cookbook?
Rach - Nagi’s books and Everybody Loves Cake
Anthea - Jamie Oliver’s and Nagi’s books
Do you DNF books?
Anthea - yes; she really wants to read The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins but just can’t get into it.
Rach - yes (quick mentions of Heart the Lover and Writers and Lovers by Lily King - Rach HAS read them both though)
What book do you wish Booktok would know about?
Anthea - The Drifter by herself (fair)
Rach - The Sun Down Motel by Simone St James
What’s your fave book outside your genre?
Anthea - Lady of Hay and House of Echoes by Barbara Erskine
Rach - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
What’s your three desert island books?
Anthea - the Game of Thrones novels (um, Anthea, that’s FIVE)
Rach - The Paper Palace (AGAIN), Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee, Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld.
What’s a classic book you’ve never read?
Rach - Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Anthea - again, we seemed to skep this!
What are your three auto-buy authors?
Anthea - Rachael Treasure, Emily Henry, Beth O’Leary and Kim Wilkins (Anthea can’t count)
Rach - Marian Keyes, Fredrik Backman, Elin Hilderbrand and Liane Moriarty (yes, Rach can’t count either)
Do you read your own reviews?
Anthea - nope
Rach - yes, with caution
What book do you think is overhyped?
Rach - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Heart the Lover by Lily King
Anthea - never knows what is hyped ;)
What book do you want to read but haven’t read yet?
Anthea - anything by Jodi Piccoult (Rach raves about Plain Truth and Wish You were Here and Tenderfoot by Toni Jordan.
Rach - My Friends by Fredrik Backman and Ghost Cities by Siang Lu
What is your favourite book of the year so far?
Anthea - The Far Flung Life (already mentioned above)
Rach - The Last Encore by Rebecca Heath
What is your fave book you’ve written and why?
Anthea - The War Nurses, with special mention to The Drifter
Rach - Man Drought (if rural), The Patterson Girls (if general fiction), but Just One Wish if she really has to pick just one! Special mention to How to Mend a Broken Heart.
What are you currently writing/editing?
Anthea - editing The Palace of Lost Virtue
Rach - writing Someone Else’s Fortune and also The Number One Insta Detectives Agency with Mercedes Mercier
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
We’re launching a bonus episode a month for our paid subscribers!!
📖 Coming up next:
👉Next Ep we’re chatting to Virtually Annie about CIRCE by Madeleine Miller.
In February, we’re diving into The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore and guest author Kayte Nunn will make us read My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
In March, we’re reading The Crash one of Freida McFadden’s ZILLION books and our guest author for the second episode will be John Purcell, who is making us read The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.
For what we’re up to after that, click here.
🎽 Do you read between deadlines too? Grab the merch
Thanks for following. We love ya!


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe