Talking Aussie Books

Ayesha Inoon was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and worked as a journalist in Sri Lanka before migrating to Australia in 2013.  
Her debut novel, Untethered, which draws partly on her own journey as a migrant muslim woman won the 2022 ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize and was awarded a Highly Commended in both the 2024 ACT Book of the Year and the ACT Literary Awards for Fiction. 
This year listeners, Ayesha has a new book out and I’m in love with this story. 
Called ‘The Sisters of Serendib’ it is the story of three sisters separated by tragic circumstances and the fractured lives they lead in search of the missing pieces of their identity. 
Beautifully written, this book is both tender and shocking in its portrayal of the kind of suffering these young women endured. A quiet novel that will have you reaching for the tissue box more than once. 
I loved chatting with Ayesha for the podcast recently.

Many avid readers and authors both here and abroad are familiar with Australia’s largest online reading community - Better Reading.
Launched by Cheryl Akle back in 2014, Better Reading has become a staple feature of the Australian literary landscape - reaching over 1 million readers each month. 
A testament to Cheryl’s passion and dedication to reading and her standing in   the Australian book industry. 
This year, Cheryl has capitalised on that passion and dedication by launching an Australian reading app. 
Described as ‘if Goodreads and Storygraph had a baby, but the baby was raised in Australia’ . 
An app that is focussed on Australian titles for Australian readers with a whole lot of brilliant features to help readers find their next book, connect with other readers and learn more about the authors they’re interested in.  
And it’s called ‘What Are You Reading’ the App.  
I was amongst some of the first in Australia to get a look at the app at an exclusive launch party earlier this year and in this episode I welcome Cheryl to the podcast to talk about the app and how this fantastic development all came about. 
Happy listening!

In part 2 of this special collaboration episode, Nick Wasiliev and I chat about challenges for the Australian publishing industry and what challenges in particular writers themselves are facing and what the future holds. We also discuss some of the trends we're seeing (and loving) especially relation to debut novels
We wrap up the conversation with a quick fire round of questions for each of us - the answers to which you may find surprising!
Such a joy to work with Nick on these episodes .
If you want to learn more about Nick and the podcast, check out the Date with a Debut website at:
https://datewithadebutpodcast.podbean.com
Or find Nick on Instagram at:
https://www.instagram.com/nickwasiliev/
Happy listening!

Tune into this special episode with Talking Aussie Books friend Nick Wasiliev and host of the wonderful podcast Date with a Debut.
Like me, Nick is a seasoned podcaster as well as an author and facilitator. 
Date with a Debut is currently in it’s fourth season of production and in it, you may know, Nick interviews debut authors, shining a light on their books and journey to publication. 
And in Part 1 of this special episode, I get the lowdown on Nick's decision to start up a new book podcast and his own writing before we discuss some of the brilliant debuts we've been reading recently.
So whether you’re an avid reader or just want to get the lowdown on what’s new and hot in publishing, then this is the episode for you.

Lawyer-turned author Sarah Clutton was last on the podcast back in 2020 when we were discussing her second novel ‘The Daughter’s Promise’ - a thrilling drama dealing with a deep family secret set in the rugged wilds of Tasmania. 
Since that episode was recorded, Sarah’s star has blazed even brighter with the publication of two further novels with Allen & Unwin.
The first, published in early 2025 was called ‘The Remarkable Truths of Alfie Bains’ and the second published a mere year later and currently gracing bookshelves around the country is called ‘The Bookshop of Buried Pasts’. 
A beautiful, quiet novel about a woman and her antiquarian bookshop in the southern highlands of NSW and the secret past she has kept hidden for over 50 years.