<p>Welcome to our last Culture Club episode for 2025! We start this chat with a pop culture year review, reminiscing on the biggest stories of the last 12 months. </p><br><p>Then, we get into our annual book recap! Here we discuss our best, worst and most unexpected reads of the year.</p><br><p>Jas' least favourite reads were <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/water-moon-9781804993323" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao</a> and <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/orbital-9781529922936" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Orbital by Samantha Harvey</a>. Her most unexpected reads were <a href="https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781925773088/9781925773088" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead by Olga Tokarczuk</a> and <a href="https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781472273048/long-island-compromise--taffy-brodesser-akner--2021--9781472273048" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner</a>. And her favourite books of the year? <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Yasmin-Zaher-Coin-9781804441893" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Coin by Yasmin Zaher</a> and <a href="https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780008623005/blue-sisters--coco-mellors--2024--9780008623005" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors</a>.</p><br><p>Maggie's least favourite reads were <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Eat-Your-Heart-Out/Victoria-Brownlee/9781923135604" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eat Your Heart Out by Victoria Brownlee</a> and <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/three-days-in-june-9781529940220" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Three Days in June by Anne Tyler</a>. Her most unexpected reads were <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/florence-knapp/the-names-the-best-debut-novel-in-years-sunday-times" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Names by Florence Knapp</a> and <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/gliff-9781405959452" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gliff by Ali Smith</a>. Her favourite books were <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/wild-dark-shore-9781761620034" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy</a> and <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-bee-sting-9780241984406" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Bee Sting by Paul Murray</a>.</p><br><p>Thank you for listening to Culture Club this year. If you've enjoyed this conversation, please share it with a friend. We'll see you next year!</p><br><p>Jas &amp; Mags x</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>