In this episode, Annabelle and Andrea team up with Nivea Serrao to take on some of the buzziest books from social media. They are also joined by the YA superstar, social media sensation and one of the New York Times youngest bestselling authors, the one and only Chloe Gong. (TikTok: @thechloegong)

To find out more about the impact social media is having on literature, listen to Episode 3 from this season.

Books and authors mentioned in this episode include:

One of Us is Lying, by Karen M McManus

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in this twisty page turner.

These Violent Delights, by Chloe Gong

Romeo & Juliette in 1920s Shanghai with a big bad threatening the very existence of our protagonists.

This Woven Kingdom, by Tahereh Mafi

A Cinderella story set in a magical Middle East-flavoured kingdom, with magic, Jinn, and forbidden love, blowing up on TikTok.

About Chloe Gong:

Chloe Gong is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and its sequel Our Violent Ends. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she double-majored in English and International Relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Chloe is now located in New York pretending to be a real adult.

Need more recommendations? How about some armchair travel or perhaps we can tempt you with the Best Books of 2021 for your TBR?

About us:

Andrea Gissdal is the Ex Head of Communications and Marketing for the Emirates Literature Foundation, and current resident podcaster. A book pusher and compulsive book clubber, she is a literary omnivore with a preference for fiction. Andrea also dabbles in creative writing, and once scored 82 points in one move in Scrabble. Best day ever.

Annabelle Corton is the English Programme Manager at the Emirates Literature Foundation. She runs the Festival Book Club and has a background in guesting and presenting on talk radio shows about various literary topics. She likes words like ‘equinox’ and ‘vespa’, and loves a good pun. She’ll read anything in reach, but has a fondness for witty tussles of good vs. evil on page and screen, especially vampire fiction where a great deal is at stake. Get it? Stake? ….She’s not sorry.

Dipping into the cool pond of myths and magical make believe, Ahlam and Andrea share their top tips before speaking with actor, director, comedian and author of wonderful children's books, Ben Miller!

Books and authors mentioned include:

Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings, by Ferdowsi

Part myth, part history, these epic tales contain magical birds, superhuman heroes and centuries-long battles.

The Silence of the Girls, by Pat Barker

This retelling of the Iliad and the battle of Troy from another perspective works not only as a great story, but makes us question history as we know it.

Ben Miller is an actor, director and comedian and the bestselling author of magical stories for all the family: The Night I Met Father Christmas, The Boy Who Made the World Disappear, The Day I Fell Into a Fairytale, How I Became a Dog Called Midnight and Diary of a Christmas Elf. His next children's book will be released in September 2022. He is best-known for the Armstrong and Miller sketch show, the Johnny English and Paddington films, BBC's Death in Paradise and recent Netflix smash, Bridgerton.

About us:

Ahlam Bolooki is the Festival Director for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, the largest celebration of the written and spoken word in the Arab World. Ahlam finds it difficult to choose a favourite genre as it’s always changing and she’s still in the midst of discovering her literary self. She’s catching up on all the gems she missed as a child such as The Little Prince and The Giving Tree, but has also developed a new appetite for Crime Fiction so who knows what’s next?

Andrea Gissdal is the Ex Head of Communications and Marketing for the Emirates Literature Foundation, and current resident podcaster. A book pusher and compulsive book clubber, she is a literary omnivore with a preference for fiction. Andrea also dabbles in creative writing, and once scored 82 points in one move in Scrabble. Best day ever.

Annabelle Corton is the English Programme Manager at the Emirates Literature Foundation. She runs the Festival Book Club and has a background in guesting and presenting on talk radio shows about various literary topics. She likes words like ‘equinox’ and ‘vespa’, and loves a good pun. She’ll read anything in reach, but has a fondness for witty tussles of good vs. evil on page and screen, especially vampire fiction where a great deal is at stake. Get it? Stake? ….She’s not sorry.

On this episode the team talk about some smashing debut novels, before they are joined by the critics' favourite debut writer of 2022, Jo Browning Wroe, author of A Terrible Kindness, who shares some of the background to her debut novel as well as some great writing tips.

Books and authors:

Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus

Set in the 1960s, this is a story of an unconventional female scientist with a quiet game-plan to change the world, and Tamreez loved it.

How to Kill Your Family, by Bella Mackie

Andrea is on a mission to make everyone laugh out loud in public by pushing this revenge comedy slash family drama slash slasher.

Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors, by Aravind Jayan

A bittersweet comedy offering candid insight into contemporary Indian society and an online generation, Annabelle predicts this one will be big when it drops in July.

Jo Browning Wroe grew up in a crematorium in Birmingham. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and is now Creative Writing Supervisor at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Her debut novel, A Terrible Kindness, was shortlisted for the Bridport Peggy Chapman-Andrews award. 

About us:

Andrea Gissdal is the Ex Head of Communications and Marketing for the Emirates Literature Foundation, and current resident podcaster. A book pusher and compulsive book clubber, she is a literary omnivore with a preference for fiction. Andrea also dabbles in creative writing, and once scored 82 points in one move in Scrabble. Best day ever.

Annabelle Corton is the English Programme Manager at the Emirates Literature Foundation. She runs the Festival Book Club and has a background in guesting and presenting on talk radio shows about various literary topics. She likes words like ‘equinox’ and ‘vespa’, and loves a good pun. She’ll read anything in reach, but has a fondness for witty tussles of good vs. evil on page and screen, especially vampire fiction where a great deal is at stake. Get it? Stake? ….She’s not sorry.