The Joys of Binge Reading

By: Jenny Wheeler
Listen for free

  • Summary

  • The best in mystery, romance and historical books to read
    Show more Show less
activate_WEBCRO358_DT_T2
Episodes
  • Helen Brown – Memoirs & Magic

    Helen Brown – Memoirs & Magic
    Aug 22 2024
    We're celebrating a milestone with this podcast, the 300th episode of The Joys of Binge Reading show. And it's wonderful to be able to share it with best-selling author Helen Brown. Helen is a good friend and a former colleague who is appearing on the show for the second time, so it's just like all the stars are aligned. She has a remarkable gift for creating stories readers love with a mix of memoir and imaginative fiction that crosses international boundaries. Hi, I'm your host, Jenny Wheeler, and this is the second to last episode of The Joys of Binge Reading, at least for the time being. We love having Helen here to share it with us. She talks about her latest book, Mickey, The Cat Who Helped Me Through Times Of Change. Those of you who know Helen's work, know that cats feature prominently. Her classic memoir Cleo, The Small Black Cat That Helped Heal A Family has sold over two million copies and been translated into 18 languages, sold in 42 countries. Mickey is another heart touching gem, a wistful coming of age true story about the transition from childhood to adolescence, and the small stray cat that helped guide the way. We'll get to Helen in just a moment. But before we do, I want to say a few words about the show. As I've indicated, both today and earlier I'm retiring it at least for a season, to pursue other things like writing my own books. Our Giveaway This Week With that in mind, our Giveaway this episode is Poppy's Dilemma, Book #1 in my latest series, The Sisters Of Barclay Square, set in Sydney in the late 1860s. Poppy Barclay's privileged life shatters when her father's investment company collapses amidst shocking allegations of fraud. Download for FREE DOWNLOAD E BOOK https://dl.bookfunnel.com/8qspkbukp3 Jilted by her fiancé, shunned by the elite, the beautiful heiress finds herself an outcast, her dreams of a perfect marriage in ruins. She's determined to fight back, but Poppy's quest for justice puts her up against tenacious journalists, Thomas Yates, who is bent on exposing the truth behind the Barclay’s disgrace. You can get a free copy of Poppy's Dilemma from the download link in the show notes for this episode on our website, the joys of binge reading.com. Here is the link to download: Alyssa Maxwell's Newport murder mysteries I'm halfway through the first draft of the second book, working title Posey’s Peril about Poppy's twin. And without the podcast to take up my time, I'm planning to finish it next month. As I foreshadowed, this will be our penultimate show. There will be one more episode, # 301, because I committed to featuring historical mystery author Alyssa Maxwell’s was latest book months ago, before I'd made the decision to give Binge Reading a rest, and we recorded the interview in April or May - quite some time ago. I'm going to stay true to that and do that last episode so it doesn't waste the effort of being interviewed on Alyssa's part. The show started in August, 2017, so we've been going for seven years straight, podcasting weekly for the first six years and fortnightly for nearly the last year. It's quite a load to carry, forever lining up new guests, reading their books, researching their careers, and then doing the technical work of sound and transcript editing for every episode. The technical side of it in particular has become tedious and time consuming, and ironically, I've had lots of problems getting this last show recorded. The reasons for that are too boring to go into, but suffice it to say that after 299 reasonably straightforward episodes, #300 has proven particularly difficult technically speaking. Technical issues sorted - at last! It's appropriate that I had to call in sound engineer Dan Cotton, who edited the show professionally for me for the first few years, to sort out the problems in this, our second to last show. There's a nice circularity about that for me.
    Show more Show less
    50 mins
  • Jeff Carson – For Baldacci Fans

    Jeff Carson – For Baldacci Fans
    Jul 2 2024
    Jeff Carson is the Amazon-Bestselling author of the David Wolf series, thrillers set in the high country of Colorado, chock-full of action, mystery, thrills, and suspense. With millions of copies sold internationally, he's regularly recommended as suitable for fans of David Baldacci and Daniel Silva. Hi I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today on the Binge Reading show Jeff Carson talks about how he turned a year-long stay in Italy into a fulltime writing career, and his new series, a big change to David Wolf, featuring Italian woman police officer Ali Flavia, set against the backdrop of Italian culture, ancient walled towns, tourist mayhem and fabulous food and wine. Two Free Book Giveaways We’ve got two book offers this week, and the first books in my two series are on offer. The Thriller and Mystery series Giveaway has Sadie’s Vow, #1 in the Home At Last series on offer. download free books ​https://books.bookfunnel.com/thrillingfreebies-jul/4h2xrdstd8 The Kobo Editor’s Pick’s promotion has the Of Gold & Blood book set - #1 and #4. Kobo Editor's Pick kobo free books selection Visit the following link(s) to see the promotion: ​https://www.kobo.com/p/free-ebooks​! If you live in a country that isn't included in this promotion, you may have trouble accessing the sale link. If this happens, change the flag at the top of the Kobo homepage to one of the included countries to see the sale link properly. This is one of the last shows I’ll be doing for a while on The Joys of Binge Reading. I’m taking a break after two more episodes, but I’ll be posting many of the past interviews on YouTube so if you’ve missed them, you’ll find them there. Links to things mentioned in the show Carabinieri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carabinieri Disc Golf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_golf MHZ.com: https://www.mhz.com/ Ali Falco: https://www.jeffcarson.co/ali-falco-series What Jeff is reading now: Lincoln Child: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Child https://lincolnchild.com Agent Prendergast series: https://www.prestonchild.com/ Douglas Preston: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12577.Douglas_Preston Marko Kloos: https://www.markokloos.com/ Where to find Jeff online Website: www.jeffcarson.co Or his Amazon books site: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Jeff-Carson/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AJeff+Carson Introducing Jeff Carson, thriller author Jeff Carson - thriller author of David Wolf Colorado Mountain series But now, here’s Jeff. Hello there Jeff and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us. It's great to have you with us. Jeff Carson: Nice to be here. Thanks for having me. Jenny Wheeler: You are somewhere in Colorado and I'm in Auckland, so that's a good long reach between us. You've got this Amazon hit on your hands. It's obviously not a surprise because you've written 17 in the series now. David Wolfe, a small-town, Colorado mountain sheriff. Tell us about David. How did he come to life for you? Jeff Carson: Yes, you've got that right. He is a small-town Colorado Sheriff. My wife is from Italy. I guess it was like 2012, 2011? We were visiting Italy for a year because we had a son, and my wife wanted to go to Italy and be with our young son there and to be with her mom and dad and get some support with the young son and stuff. And I was at a crossroads in my professional life. I did not like what I was doing and I got this idea that I was going to start writing fiction. Long story short, I got looking into these self-published authors and all, I was just like, I didn't even understand that existed until when we got to Italy. And then I realized in the drop of a hat. I'm going to be a fiction writer. My wife was nice enough to not disown me or leave me after that. But I decided to start writing books. I'm in Italy, in this country where I don't know, in the area, nobody speaks English whatsoever,
    Show more Show less
    32 mins
  • Jennifer Deibel – Irish Magic

    Jennifer Deibel – Irish Magic
    Jun 18 2024
    Irish magic from Jennifer Deibel – the best- selling and award-winning author of a series of charming Emerald Isle novels combining history, family, faith and romance. Her newest book, The Irish Matchmaker…introduces matchmaker Catriona Daly. Hi I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today on Binge Reading Jennifer talks about how a US born gal fell in love with Ireland. and her latest book The Irish Matchmaker. As daughter of a well-known matchmaker, Catríona Daly is no stranger to the business of love – and she sees it as her ticket away from the sleepy village that only comes alive during the annual matchmaking festival. Our Giveaway this week Our Giveaway this week is Summer Sleuthing – June Mystery Thrillers. Sadie's Vow – Book #1 in my Home At Last San Francisco historical mystery series is included. Stock up on some great summer reading here! download free summer mysteries ​https://books.bookfunnel.com/summersleuthing/9mwtzhs5pv Before we get to Jennifer – a reminder You can help defray the costs of production by buying me a cup of coffee on buymeacoffee.com/jennywheelx And if you enjoy the show. Leave us a review so others will find us too. Word of mouth is the best way for others to discover the show and great books they will love to read. Links to things mentioned in the episode A Dance In Donegal, Jennifer Deibel: https://www.amazon.com/Dance-Donegal-Jennifer-Deibel/dp/0800738411 The Princess Bride (movie) Irish location: https://giggster.com/guide/movie-location/where-was-the-princess-bride-filmed#: Lisdoonvarna: https://matchmakerireland.com/ https://www.ireland.com/en-us/destinations/county/clare/lisdoonvarna The Maid of Ballymacool, Jennifer Deilbel: https://jenniferdeibel.com/books/the-maid-of-ballymacool/ Willie Daly, Irish matchmaker: https://www.williedaly.com/ Books Jennifer is reading: Jaime Jo Wright, The Lost Boys of Barlow Theater: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90203406-the-lost-boys-of-barlowe-theater Natalie Walters Snap agency series: https://www.amazon.com/The-SNAP-Agency-3-book-series/dp/B08XW1LGC3 Where to find Jennifer Online Website: www.jenniferdeibel.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferdeibel_author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferDeibelAuthor Introducing author Jennifer Deibel But now, here’s Jennifer Hello there, Jennifer, and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us. Jennifer Deibel - Historical Irish mysteries with magic Jenny Wheeler: But now here's Jennifer. Hello there, Jennifer, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us. Jennifer Deibel: Hi Jenny. Thanks so much for having me. I'm looking forward to chatting. Jenny Wheeler: These Irish stories are both best sellers and award winners. How did you come to start on the Irish story thread? Jennifer Deibel: It all feels like it happened by accident, but I believe everything happens by design. My husband and I had lived in County Donegal for two years as students. We were studying the language and the culture. My husband had fallen in love with all things Celtic after spending a summer abroad in Wales during university. We spent two years there and when we came back I was expecting our first baby. He went into graduate school in Texas and I was struggling to process all we had experienced in those two years. An Irish American girl moves to Donegal The idea for what would eventually become my debut novel, A Dance in Donegal, came to me, a story about an Irish American girl who moves to rural Donegal to teach. I started writing it then and of course once my baby was born, it sat for a very long time. It took about 15 years for me to actually finish the whole manuscript. During which time we moved back to Ireland and lived in County Galway. While we were there, we had our son and I heard about a parenting website that was starting up called The Better Mom and they were lo...
    Show more Show less
    32 mins
Art World Literary History & Criticism Social Sciences Travel Writing & Commentary
Show more Show less

What listeners say about The Joys of Binge Reading

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com reviews

Amazon reviews
No Reviews are Available