Show Notes
Josie Shapiro discusses the perils of success, what we owe our friends and the pursuit of perfection in her novels, “Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts” and “Good Things Come and Go.”
Books mentioned in this episode: - On the Calculation of Volume, Solvej Balle (Faber) - The Last Living Cannibal, Airana Ngarewa (Moa Press) - Wonderland, Tracy Farr (The Cuba Press) - 1985, Dominic Hoey (Penguin) - The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (Penguin) - Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace (Little) - Double Fault, Lionel Shriver (HarperCollins) - Why Cats Paint, Burton Silver (Ten Speed Press)
Josie’s books are: - Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts (Allen & Unwin NZ) - Good Things Come and Go (Allen & Unwin NZ)
More from A Little Bit Booked
Ahead of his appearance at the 2026 Nelson Arts Festival, Booker Prize-winning author Shehan Karunatilaka joins to talk about his magical realism novel “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” – from ghosts and truth-finding to absurdism and a little bit of hope.
Catherine Chidgey’s latest captivating novel follows Hazel, a young woman who signs up as a Blackpool sideshow act where she won’t eat for 40 days. As the days tick by and strangers watch Hazel transform, she must decide how far she’s willing to go for what she wants.
With over 30 children’s books to his name, author and illustrator Ned Barraud looks at the world a little bit differently. With an eye for detail and love of nature, his love of New Zealand’s environment are brought to life for little readers around the country.
Allyson Gofton’s latest cookbook, Give: Seasonal Recipes for Gifting, is all about recipes you can bake, make and share with the loved ones in your life, any time of the year. We talk everything from recipe development, what qualities a “giftable” recipe needs to have and the secret to flaky pastry. $30 from every book sold goes to support Breast Cancer Cure, funding vital breast cancer research in Aotearoa New Zealand. Learn more at https://breastcancercure.org.nz.
How do you learn to work in publishing? Whitireia Publishing Programme tutor Theresa Crewdson and current student Gaby West do their best to tempt me into a career change...and share some exciting you-heard-it-here-first news about what’s next for the course!