Bookmark This! Ep 17: Reviewing the 2020 Booker Prize 28:02 mins Synopsis: A monthly literary podcast by The Straits Times featuring titles in the headlines and sizzling reads. Who will win the 2020 Booker Prize? Will it be an ambitious historical novel about Ethiopia’s unsung women soldiers or a bleak dystopia about the last wilderness? Will a pioneer Zimbabwean author take the prize, or will it go to one of the four up-and-coming debut novelists on the list? In the latest episode of this monthly literary podcast, Straits Times journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li break down the prize’s unusually diverse shortlist ahead of the winner's announcement on Nov 19.  Listen at: This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga - 1:39 The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste - 4:59 Real Life by Brandon Taylor - 14:23 Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi - 17:25 Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart - 21:57 The New Wilderness by Diane Cook - 23:48 Produced by: Olivia Ho ([email protected]), Toh Wen Li ([email protected]) and Penelope Lee Edited by: Muhammad Firmann Subscribe to Bookmark This! Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps: Channel: https://str.sg/JWas Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWae Spotify: https://str.sg/JWan Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju4n  Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: [email protected] Read Olivia's stories: https://str.sg/JbhW Read Toh Wen Li's stories: https://str.sg/Jbhm See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bookmark This! Ep 16: The Discomfort Of Literature 22:16 mins Synopsis: A monthly literary podcast by The Straits Times featuring titles in the headlines and sizzling reads. Literary discomfort is having a winning streak of late, from Marieke Lucas Rijneveld's unsettling Dutch novel The Discomfort Of Evening snagging the International Booker Prize and Marylyn Tan becoming the first woman poet to score a solo victory at the Singapore Literature Prize for her collection Gaze Back. Journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li chat about these in the latest episode of this Straits Times literary podcast, as well as uncomfortable new releases The Lying Life Of Adults by Elena Ferrante and Death In Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh. Listen at: Gaze Back by Marylyn Tan - 00:42 The Discomfort Of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld - 03:20 Death In Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh - 09:53 The Lying Life Of Adults by Elena Ferrante - 12:36 Produced by: Olivia Ho, Toh Wen Li and Penelope Lee Edited by: Muhammad Firmann Follow Bookmark This! Podcast series and rate us on: Channel: https://str.sg/JWas Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWae Spotify: https://str.sg/JWan Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju4n  Feedback to: [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bookmark This! Ep 15: Escape into these books 23:54 mins Synopsis: A podcast by The Straits Times, where we talk about titles in the headlines and sizzling reads. After nearly two months under circuit breaker, you may want to break free - so journalists Olivia Ho (right) and Toh Wen Li (far right) pick out some escapist reads for you in the latest episode of this Straits Times literary podcast, whether it is renowned author Dan Brown or feeling less miserable with Les Miserables. Choose your own adventure in Intan Paramaditha's The Wandering, or flee a futuristic Singapore for new worlds in Judith Huang's Sofia And The Utopia Machine. Listen at: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown: 1:10 Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones: 4:45 The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emma Orczy: 8:37 Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: 11:40 Sofia And The Utopia Machine by Judith Huang: 16:52 The Wandering by Intan Paramaditha: 20:58 Produced by: Olivia Ho, Toh Wen Li and Penelope Lee Edited by: Penelope Lee Follow Bookmark This! Podcast series and rate us on: Channel: https://str.sg/JWas Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWae Spotify: https://str.sg/JWan Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju4n  Feedback to: [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bookmark This! Ep 14: Pandemic novels for stay-home reading 31:29 mins Synopsis: A podcast by The Straits Times, where we talk about titles in the headlines and sizzling reads. Bored out of your mind while staying at home during the coronavirus circuit breaker? In the latest episode of this Straits Times literary podcast, journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li pick out some pandemic novels that may resonate with you, from Albert Camus’s seminal The Plague to Emily St John Mandel’s post-apocalyptic Station Eleven, as well as books by Singaporean authors Danielle Lim and Thea Lim.  0:55 The Plague by Albert Camus 6:33 Severance by Ling Ma 13:51 Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 17:44 An Ocean Of Minutes by Thea Lim21:03 Trafalgar Sunrise by Danielle Lim 24:50 Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel  Produced by: Olivia Ho, Toh Wen Li and Penelope Lee Edited by: Penelope Lee Follow Bookmark This! Podcast series and rate us on: Channel: https://str.sg/JWas Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWae Spotify: https://str.sg/JWan Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju4n  Feedback to: [email protected] Thank you for your support! ST & BT Podcasts picked up a silver medal for Best Digital Project to engage younger and/or millennial audiences at 2019 Asian Digital Media Awards by Wan-Ifra: https://str.sg/Jw5T  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bookmark This! Ep 13: In the mood for love poems 30:56 mins Synopsis: A podcast by The Straits Times, where we talk about titles in the headlines and sizzling reads. With Valentine's Day around the corner, Life journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li chat about love poems across the spectrum, whether it is John Donne or Joshua Ip, budding romance or broken hearts, having a Coke together or keeping the stars apart.  Produced by: Olivia Ho, Toh Wen Li, Penelope Lee and Ernest Luis Edited by: Adam Azlee Follow more Bookmark This! podcasts on: Channel: https://str.sg/JWas Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWae Spotify: https://str.sg/JWan Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWah Feedback to: [email protected] Thank you for your support! ST & BT Podcasts picked up a silver medal for Best Digital Project to engage younger and/or millennial audiences at 2019 Asian Digital Media Awards by Wan-Ifra: https://str.sg/Jw5T  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bookmark This! Ep 12: Clothes, consumption and the climate crisis 20 mins Synopsis: A podcast by The Straits Times, where we talk about titles in the headlines and sizzling reads. Life journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li check out three new books on the climate crisis: Naomi Klein's searing essay collection On Fire; We Are The Weather, in which Jonathan Safran Foer argues you can fight climate change by changing your diet; and Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas, which looks at the environmental cost of fashion. Produced by: Olivia Ho, Toh Wen Li, Penelope Lee and Ernest Luis Edited by: Adam Azlee Follow more Bookmark This! podcasts on: Channel: https://str.sg/JWas Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWae Spotify: https://str.sg/JWan Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWah Feedback to: [email protected] Thank you for your support! ST & BT Podcasts picked up a silver medal for Best Digital Project to engage younger and/or millennial audiences at 2019 Asian Digital Media Awards by Wan-Ifra: https://str.sg/Jw5T  Watch a video of Podcasts on the rise in Singapore: https://youtu.be/aGJ4cbch6eQ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bookmark This! Ep 11: Booker breakdown - Atwood, Rushdie or the 1,000-page sentence? 27:30 mins Synopsis: A monthly podcast by The Straits Times, where we talk about titles in the headlines and sizzling reads. Life journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li break down the Booker Prize shortlist and weigh Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie's chances against Lucy Ellmann's Ducks, Newburyport, which is more than 1,000 pages long. 00:51 The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 05:15 Quichotte by Salman Rushdie 07:30 10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World by Elif Shafak 12:26 An Orchestra Of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma 15:26 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo 19:27 Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann Produced by: Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li Edited by: Penelope Lee Discover more Bookmark This! podcasts and rate us on: Spotify: http://str.sg/oeGg Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeXN Google Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeLG Playlist: https://str.sg/JZnG Feedback to: [email protected] Thank you for your support! ST & BT Podcasts picked up a silver medal for Best Digital Project to engage younger and/or millennial audiences at 2019 Asian Digital Media Awards by Wan-Ifra: https://str.sg/Jw5T  Watch a video of Podcasts on the rise in Singapore: https://youtu.be/aGJ4cbch6eQ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bookmark This! Ep 10: Screen sirens, showgirls and sexuality 23 mins Synopsis: A monthly podcast by The Straits Times, where we talk about titles in the headlines and sizzling reads. Revisit the glamour of 1930s and 1940s show business with Life journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li as they discuss Delayed Rays Of A Star, Singaporean writer Amanda Lee Koe's dazzling debut novel about cinema legends Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong and Leni Riefenstahl, and City Of Girls, Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert's glitzy romp through the New York theatre world of the 1940s.  Produced by: Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li Edited by: John Lui Discover more Bookmark This! podcasts and rate us on: Spotify: http://str.sg/oeGg Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeXN Google Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeLG Playlist: https://str.sg/JZnG Feedback to: [email protected] Thank you for your support! ST & BT Podcasts picked up a silver medal for Best Digital Project to engage younger and/or millennial audiences at 2019 Asian Digital Media Awards by Wan-Ifra:  https://str.sg/Jw5T  Watch a video of Podcasts on the rise in Singapore: https://youtu.be/aGJ4cbch6eQ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bookmark This! Ep 9: Reviewing global and Singapore audiobooks 24:18 mins Synopsis: A monthly podcast by The Straits Times, where we talk about titles in the headlines and sizzling reads When should an audiobook not sound too polished? Life journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li swap their bookmarks for headphones in this episode, in which they review audiobooks by the likes of David Sedaris, Neil Humphreys, Marlon James, Marie Kondo and more. They review the new Storytel app, which is also putting out original content based on Singapore literature: 2:50 David Sedaris, Children Playing Before A Statue Of Hercules 4:19 Neil Humphreys, Notes From An Even Smaller Island 6:16 George Saunders, Lincoln In The Bardo 8:02 Philip Pullman, The Book Of Dust #1: La Belle Sauvage (read by Michael Sheen) 10:30 Marlon James, Black Leopard, Red Wolf (read by Dion Graham) 13:44 Lau Siew Mei, The Last Immigrant (read by Benjamin Chow) 16:28 Sharlene Teo, Ponti (read by Vera Chok) 18:03 Sebastian Sim, The Riot Act (read by Karen Tan)  20:21 Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up (read by Lucy Scott) Audiobook clips provided courtesy of Storytel Singapore. Produced by: Olivia Ho, Toh Wen Li, John Lui and Ernest Luis Edited by: John Lui Discover more Bookmark This! podcasts and rate us on: Spotify: http://str.sg/oeGg Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeXN Google Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeLG Playlist: https://str.sg/JZnG Feedback to: [email protected] Thank you for your support! ST & BT Podcasts picked up a silver medal for Best Digital Project to engage younger and/or millennial audiences at 2019 Asian Digital Media Awards by Wan-Ifra:  https://str.sg/Jw5T  Watch a video of Podcasts on the rise in Singapore: https://youtu.be/aGJ4cbch6eQ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bookmark This! Ep 8: Middlemarch, Middle-Earth and the end of the world 20 mins Synopsis: A new monthly podcast by The Straits Times, where we talk about titles in the headlines and sizzling reads. Book-to-screen adaptations - love them or hate them? This month, as Game Of Thrones wraps up on HBO and we look forward to the Amazon Studios and BBC miniseries based on Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Armageddon comedy Good Omens, we size up the best and worst adaptations out there - from actors playing multiple characters in Cloud Atlas to the failure of the 2005 Pride And Prejudice film, and why Brad Pitt needs to stop making zombie movies. 1:55: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman 5:37: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell 7:04: The Lord Of The Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien 11:42: Middlemarch by George Eliot 13:31: Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen 14:51: Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates 15:27: The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien 15:47: Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie 16:23: World War Z by Max Brooks 18:18: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman 18:44: The Art Of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew Produced by: Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li Edited by: Adam Azlee Discover more Bookmark This! podcasts and rate us on: Spotify: http://str.sg/oeGg Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeXN Google Podcasts: http://str.sg/oeLG Playlist: https://str.sg/JZnG Feedback to: [email protected] Thank you for your support! ST & BT Podcasts picked up a silver medal for Best Digital Project to engage younger and/or millennial audiences at 2019 Asian Digital Media Awards by Wan-Ifra:  https://str.sg/Jw5T  Watch a video of Podcasts on the rise in Singapore: https://youtu.be/aGJ4cbch6eQ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.