Books On The Go: Recent Episodes
Anna Baillie-Karas, Annie Waters and Amanda Hayes
Anna and Geoff discuss the 2025 Women's Prize winners and the new Data Bill regulating (or not) AI and creative work.
Our book of the week is THE EMPUSIUM: A HEALTH RESORT HORROR STORY by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Tokarczuk is the Nobel Prize lauereate author of FLIGHTS and DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD. Her latest novel is inspired by Thomas Mann's THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN and set in a sanatorium in west Poland in 1913. An instant national bestseller and New York Times book of the year, it satirises misogyny and has gothic horror elements. We differed on this one!
Coming up: our best books of the year so far.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Women’s Prize and try to predict the winner. Since we recorded this the winner has been announced: The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden. (Annie was right!)
And Annie wraps up recent Australian book award news including the Stella Prize winner Theory and Practice by Michelle de Kretser and the Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist.
Our book of the week is THE NAMES by Florence Knapp. Cora goes with her daughter Maia to register the birth of her son. According to family tradition, he will be called Gordon, after her husband. Cora prefers the name Julian and Maia suggests Bear. The story breaks into three as we see the ripple effects of each decision. Described as 'the best debut novel in years' (The Sunday Times), this buzzy book has been an instant bestseller and on many 'best of 2025' lists.
Coming up: THE EMPUSIUM by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.
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Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, JAMES by Percival Everett.
Our book of the week is SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell. A poet is admitted to hospital with severe pain. Bedridden, he reflects on his relationships, music and poetry and the small details of life. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. We loved this one.
Coming up: THE EMPUSIUM by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the cookbook controversy between Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin Eats and Brooke Bellamy of Bake with Brooki and ask whether it is possible to copyright a recipe.
Our book of the week is FUNDAMENTALLY by Nussaibah Younis. Shortlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction, this debut novel centres on Nadia, a UN worker who travels to Iraq to rescue ISIS brides. A serious topic treated with authenticity and humour, Younis describes it as 'Fleabag goes to Iraq'.
Other books discussed:
TOO SOON by Betty Shamieh
UNFINISHED BUSINESS by Shankari Chandran
Coming up: SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Women's Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of HORSE. This is a moving and honest memoir of Brooks' time grieving her late husband Tony Horwitz and also a portrait of their marriage. Partly set on a remote island off the coast of Tasmania, it is our final Australian book for #AussieApril.
Coming up: FUNDAMENTALLY by Nussaibah Younis.
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A special episode! Anna is joined by Emily Hart and Margot Lloyd, founders of Pink Shorts Press.
We discuss the exciting launch of this new publisher and the 2025 Stella Prize shortlist.
Our book of the week is SEA GREEN by Barbara Hanrahan, re-issued by Pink Shorts Press this year with an introduction by Laura Elizabeth Woollett. This semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of Virginia, a school-teacher and artist who travels from Adelaide to London in the 1960s. An Australian feminist classic, it explores the clash between a conservative upbringing with an artistic life.
Other books mentioned - perfect for a bad feminist Aussie April!
MY BEAUTIFUL FRIEND by Elena Ferrante translated by Anne Goldstein
THE TRANSIT OF VENUS by Shirley Hazzard
MONKEY GRIP by Helen Garner
THEORY AND PRACTICE by Michelle de Kretser
WEST GIRLS by Laura Elizabeth Woollett
Coming up: MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks
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Pink Shorts Press: https://www.pinkshortspress.com.au/ / https://www.instagram.com/pinkshortspress/?hl=en
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Stella Prize longlist and some upcoming book-to-screen adaptations: THE LEOPARD, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE, FOURTH WING and THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO.
Our book of the week is SOMEBODY DOWN THERE LIKES ME by Robert Lukins. A dysfunctional family comes together in Connecticut when the parents announce they have lost everything. This will appeal to SUCCESSION fans – we’re ready for the tv adaptation!
Coming up: Aussie April continues with SEA GREEN by Barbara Hanrahan with Emily and Margot from Pink Shorts Press, and MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Shortlist for fiction, including WOO WOO by Ella Baxter and HIGHWAY 13 by Fiona McFarlane.
Our book of the week is THE SEASON by Helen Garner. This is a memoir of a year Garner spent following her grandson's club football team. It explores masculinity, the sense of community at the local club and being a grandmother. As always with Garner's books, there is much to discuss.
Coming up: SOMEBODY DOWN THERE LIKES ME by Robert Lukins.
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Geoff and Anna discuss THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by David McDuff.
This is a fictionalised account of the four years Dostoevsky spent in a Siberian prison camp after he was arrested for taking part in a political conspiracy. Sold as a novel but with the feel of a documentary, it contains fascinating details and joins a collection of Russian prison memoirs.
Other books discussed:
PATRIOT by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel
THE LONG WALK TO FREEDOM by Nelson Mandela
NO FRIEND BUT THE MOUNTAINS by Behrouz Boochani translated by Omid Tofighian
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Coming up:
THE SEASON by Helen Garner
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Anna and Geoff discuss WHITE NIGHTS by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by Ronald Meyer.
A man meets a woman on the street in St Petersburg and falls in love in this short story. It has become a Tik Tok sensation in recent months and Penguin has commissioned a new audiobook to be read by Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson. Dostoevsky was in his romantic, millennial era when he wrote this (notably, before he spent four years in prison and escaped a death sentence).
Other books mentioned:
SUBTLY WORDED by Teffi translated by Anne Marie Jackson
THE GAMBLER AND OTHER STORIES by Fyodor Dostoevsky
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by Fyodor Dostoevsky
LETTER FROM AN UNKOWN WOMAN by Stefan Zweig translated by Anthea Bell
Coming up:
THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD by Dostoevsky
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A special episode: Anna chats with Kate Slotover of the Book Club Review podcast.
Our book of the week is THE UNSELECTED JOURNALS OF EMMA M. LION by Beth Brower. Recommended by our friend Shawn Mooney of Shawn Breathes Books, we enjoyed this novel set in Victorian London about a young woman returning to claim her inheritance. Light and witty, these books have been compared with Jane Austen and P. G. Wodehouse. Kate has become obsessed with the series and has now read all eight books. But will she convince Anna to do the same?
Books mentioned:
JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL by Susanna Clarke
DEATH IN THE STOCKS by Georgette Heyer
ARABELLA by Georgette Heyer
FREDERICA by Georgette Heyer
THE GRAND SOPHY by Georgette Heyer
THE SQUARE OF SEVENS by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Coming up: WHITE NIGHTS by Fyodor Dostoevsky
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Kate:
Instagram: @ bookclubreviewpodcast
Web: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk/
Substack: Book Club Review
Anna:
Instagram: @ abailliekaras
Substack: Books On The Go
Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: Anna is joined by author and U-Go founder John Wood.
We discuss our reactions to the 2025 Women’s Prize Longlist.
Our book of the week is PATRIOT by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel. This is Navalny’s autobiography detailing his rise to be a Russian opposition leader, but is also a prison diary following his arrest in January 2021. He died in prison in February 2024. A New York Times bestseller, best book of the year (New Yorker, Atlantic, NPR) and finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. We highly recommend it - essential reading.
Books mentioned
SO BIG by Edna Ferber
DAYS IN THE CAUCASUS by Banine translated by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova
RED NOTICE by Bill Browder
THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE by Masha Gessen
SECOND-HAND TIME by Svetlana Alexievich translated by Bela Shayevich
THE TRIAL OF VALDIMIR PUTIN by Geoffrey Robertson KC
TRAVELS IN SIBERIA by Ian Frazier
DISAPPEARING EARTH by Julia Phillips
A SWIM IN A POND IN THE RAIN by George Saunders
Films
Navalny
Coming up:
WHITE NIGHTS and THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD by Fyodor Dostoevsky
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John:
Linkedin : John Wood
www.ugouniversity.org
Anna:
Instagram: @ abailliekaras
Substack: Books on the Go
Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Geoff react to the 2025 Booker International Longlist.
Our book of the week is EUROTRASH by Christian Kracht translated by Daniel Bowles. A middle-aged man goes on a dubious road trip through Switzerland with his 80-year old mother, recently discharged from a mental institution. Blackly comic and written as autofiction, this was the Financial Times Best Translated Book of 2024 and a Time best book of 2024 and has been longlisted for the 2025 Booker International Prize.
Other books discussed:
THE QUANTITY THEORY OF INSANITY by Will Self (the story THE NORTH LONDON BOOK OF THE DEAD)
DR FISCHER OF GENEVA by Graham Greene
FRENCH EXIT by Patrick deWitt
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A special episode: Anna chats with author Holly Gramazio about her debut novel THE HUSBANDS.
When Lauren returns to her flat in London one night, she finds a husband called Michael: the only problem is, she isn’t married. It turns out that her attic is producing an endless supply of husbands. An instant New York Times best-seller, we loved this genre-bending comedy.
Holly talks about her inspiration for THE HUSBANDS, why she loves attics and the unusual setting for her next novel.
Books discussed:
LOLLY WILLOWES by Sylvia Townsend Warner
THE SLEEPWATCHER by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan
HEARTBURN by Nora Ephron
BLACK WATER SISTER by Zen Cho
THE STORY GIRL by Ellen Montgomery
VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER by C S Lewis
I WONDER AS I WANDER by Langston Hughes
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Holly:
Website: hollygramazio.net
Bluesky: @hollygramazio.bsky.social
Instagram: @holly_gramazio
Anna:
Substack: Books On The Go
Instagram: @abailliekaras
Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Anna and Geoff review OUR EVENINGS the new novel by Booker Prize-winning author Alan Hollinghurst. Dave Win is a Burmese-British actor reminiscing about his life, growing up as a gay man in the 1960s through to 2019. We loved the exact and beautiful prose but found it slow. The blurb also suggests a tension between Dave and bully Giles whereas the story is more of a (fictional) memoir of Dave and his mother. The Sunday Times called it 'the best novel that's been written about contemporary Britain in the past ten years.' An interesting read and much to discuss! If you enjoyed this book, we recommend: Garth Greenwell (his latest SMALL RAIN is on our TBR) Alan Hollinghurst’s earlier work (Geoff’s favourite: THE FOLDING STAR)
Coming up:
THE HUSBANDS with Holly Gramazio
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: Anna speaks with author Vaseem Khan about his new crime novel CITY OF DESTRUCTION.
This is the fifth in the Malabar House series set in 1950s Bombay after Partition. Persis Wadia is India’s first female police detective and is sent to work in Malabar House. In CITY OF DESTRUCTION, a gunman attempts to assassinate the Defence Minister at a political rally and Persis shoots him dead. The Minister wants war with Pakistan, MI6 agents are involved and Persis is sent to investigate another case. An intriguing mystery set against the backdrop of India’s history and written with warmth and wit. We loved it!
Vaseem recommends these crime series:
The Wyndham and Banerjee series by Abir Mukherjee
The Bernie Gunther series by Philip Kerr
Vaseem’s upcoming books are GIRL IN CELL A and QUANTUM OF MENACE, the first in a new series featuring Q from the James Bond franchise.
Coming up: OUR EVENINGS by Alan Hollinghurst
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Vaseem: vaseemkhan.com and podcast Murder Junction
Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @abailliekaras
Substack: Books On The Go
Anna and Annie discuss the success of Rebecca Yarros’s new book ONYX STORM, the third in the Emperyean series. Annie gives her views about why they have been huge best-sellers and the popularity of romantasy.
Our book of the week is DISAPPOINT ME by Nicola Dinan. This buzzy new novel by the author of BELLIES centres around Max, a 30 year-old trans woman who starts dating Vincent but is unsure whether she is cut out to be a trad wife. Chosen as a ‘Best Book of 2025’ by Stylist, Vogue, GQ, Elle and Cosmopolitan, this is funny, moving and original. We loved it.
Coming up: THE SEASON by Helen Garner
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Storygraph: @mr_annie
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode! Anna chats with USA Today best-selling author Kemper Donovan about his new novel LOOSE LIPS, the second in the Ghostwriter series after the best-selling THE BUSY BODY (see ep 265).
Kemper hosts the All About Agatha podcast and his crime novels bring the Golden Age of murder mysteries into a contemporary setting. LOOSE LIPS finds our ghost-writer on a literary cruise hosted by publishing celebrity Payton Garrett. A mysterious death occurs and the cruise becomes a murder investigation. Described as KNIVES OUT meets high seas intrigue, this is a fun and clever mystery. We loved it!
Kemper recommends:
My Eight Deranged Days on the Gone Girl Cruise by Imogen West-Knights
Crying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship Ever by Gary Shteyngart
DEATH ON THE NILE by Agatha Christie
THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 by Ruth Ware
THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER by Stuart Turton
MURDER IN THE SUBMARINE ZONE by Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr)
In Our Time podcast
Coming up:
DISAPPOINT ME by Nicola Dinan
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Kemper:
Website: Kemper Donovan
Podcast: All About Agatha
Facebook: Kemper Donovan Books
X: @allaboutthedame
Insta: @allaboutagatha
Anna:
Insta: @abailliekaras
Substack: Books On The Go
Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
A special episode : Anna chats with author Anthony Nocera.
We discuss Anthony’s brilliant essay WEDNESDAY BANG in the current issue of SPLINTER and his upcoming plays: Log Boy, My Hair is Thinning and Someone Like You.
Anthony’s book recommendations:
NOSTALGIA HAS RUINED MY LIFE by Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle
THE GUEST by Emma Cline
AN EXCITING AND VIVID INNER LIFE by Paul Dalla Rosa
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Anthony: https://anthonynocera.me/
Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna, Annie and Amanda reveal our favourite reads of 2024!
Books discussed:
MAGIC PILL by Johann Hari
ALL THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD by Patrick Bringley
THE ALTERNATIVES by Caoilinn Hughes
THIS STRANGE AND EVENTFUL HISTORY by Claire Messud
RAPTURE by Emily Maguire
WOO WOO by Ella Baxter
THE GENTLEMAN FROM PERU by André Aciman
JUICE by Tim Winton (Annie recommends the audiobook)
INTERMEZZO by Sally Rooney
QUESTION 7 by Richard Flanagan
THE WYCH ELM by Tana French
Children’s Pick
LANDOVEL by Emily Rodda
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Coming up: Book recommendations with author Anthony Nocera
A special episode: we chat with Farrin Foster about new literary journal SPLINTER and emerging Australian authors. We talk about authors who are also musicians, autofiction and taking a book of poetry in your bag for waiting times.
Farrin recommends the work of:
Seamus Lonergan –
KT Major
Olivia De Zilva
ROCK FLIGHT by Hasib Hourani
Dom Guerrera
Rapture by Emily Maguire
Coming up: Our Best Books of 2024
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Booker Prize winner ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey.
Our comfort reading recommendations are:
ARGYLLE by Elly Conway
WE SOLVE MURDERS by Richard Osman
LOOSE LIPS by Kemper Donovan
THE SPY COAST by Tess Gerritsen
THE ROM COMMERS by Katherine Center
THE WEDDING FORECAST by Nina Kenwood
WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS IN THE LIBRARY by Michiko Aoyama translated by Alison Watts
HAPPY GO LUCKY by David Sedaris
WINTERING by Katherine May
THE GARDEN AGAINST TIME by Olivia Laing
WHAT I ATE IN A YEAR by Stanley Tucci
TRAVELS IN EUROPE by Charles Dickens
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Goldsmiths Prize winner, Parade by Rachel Cusk, and ghostwriters in crime writing.
Our book of the week is JAMES by Percival Everett. This re-telling of Huckleberry Finn has been an instant New York Times best-seller, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and National Book award and described as 'genius' (The Atlantic).
Coming up: our comfort reading recommendations.
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Anna and Annie discuss AI in publishing.
Our book of the week is ALL FOURS by award-winning author and artist Miranda July. Described as July's 'peri-menopause novel', ALL FOURS tells the story of a woman who escapes married life and creates a space for herself. A finalist for the 2024 National Book Award and instant New York Times bestseller, it's funny, frank and causing a stir amongst book clubs.
We recorded this before the US election but some of the themes will resonate.
Coming up: JAMES by Percival Everett.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Booker Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is INTERMEZZO by award-winning author Sally Rooney. Intermezzo is a novel about two brothers who deal with grief, family and relationships. Intimate and poignant, it's been an instant New York Times bestseller, shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Book of the Year and one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year. We discuss Sally Rooney's popularity, the backlash and what it says about women's fiction.
Coming up: ALL FOURS by Miranda July.
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A special episode! Anna chats with author Chris Hammer about his new crime novel THE VALLEY, the fourth in the Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic series.
Chris' award-winning debut SCRUBLANDS was an instant bestseller and is now a TV series. THE VALLEY is his seventh novel and follows detectives Nell and Ivan as they investigate a murder in rural Australia and the victim's connections with logging, politics and an abandoned gold mine. We discuss why Chris has been compared to Shakespeare and how the Australian landscape inspires his stories.
Chris recommends books by Peter Temple and the TV show Slow Horses based on the books by Mick Herron.
Coming up: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
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Instagram: @abailliekaras / @thehammernow
Chris: https://chrishammerauthor.com/
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode! Kate Slotover from the Book Club Review Podcast joins Anna to discuss what makes a good book club book and our top recommendations. We tried to keep it to three each, and failed.
Our best book club books are:
STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL by Charlotte Wood
ALL FOURS by Miranda July
JAMES by Percival Everett
WIFEDOM by Anna Funder
FRUIT OF THE DEAD by Rachel Lyon
HOW I WON A NOBEL PRIZE by Julius Taranto
THE GARDEN AGAINST TIME by Oliva Laing
THE VASTER WILDS by Lauren Groff
THIS HOUSE OF GRIEF by Helen Garner
MONSTERS: WHAT DO WE DO WITH GREAT ART BY BAD PEOPLE? by Claire Dederer
JUST KIDS by Patti Smith
WEST by Carys Davies
Coming up: INTERMEZZO by Sally Rooney
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Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Booker Prize Longlist.
Our book of the week is WOO WOO by Ella Baxter. The latest novel from the award-winning author of New Animal, this tells the story of Sabine, an artist about to open her exhibition. She faces the pressure of the show and the terror of being stalked. Both disturbing and funny, Baxter's writing is strong, visceral and on point. We loved this one!
Coming up:
James by Percival Everett
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Anna and Annie discuss the Booker Prize 2024 Longlist.
Our book of the week is THE ALTERNATIVES by Caoilinn Hughes. We loved this Irish novel about four eccentric sisters each grappling with their dysfunctional family in different ways. Gripping, humane and funny, we highly recommend this one.
Coming up: WOO WOO by Ella Baxter.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Women's Prize winners.
We reveal our best books of 2024 so far. Our favourite reads are:
THE ALTERNATIVES by Caoilinn Hughes
HOME READING SERVICE by Fabio Morábito translated by Curtis Bauer
NOT THE END OF THE WORLD by Hannah Ritchie
THUNDERHEAD by Miranda Darling
REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong
THE SQUARE OF SEVENS by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode! Anna chats with author Kemper Donovan about his new crime novel THE BUSY BODY, the first in the Ghostwriter series.
A contemporary murder mystery told in the spirit of the Golden Age by the host of the All About Agatha podcast, THE BUSY BODY has been described as Veep meets Agatha Christie and a 'witty and highly entertaining mystery' (Sophie Hannah). Dorothy Gibson, failed presidential candidate aka That Woman, invites her ghostwriter to Maine to pen her memoir, but the dream assignment comes unstuck when a woman is murdered next door.
We loved this one and can't wait for the next in the series, LOOSE LIPS!
Kemper recommends the work of Agatha Christie and Tana French and the podcasts The Swinging Christies and Shedunnit.
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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @allaboutagatha
Facebook: Books On The Go and All About Agatha
X: Kemper Donovan
Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Stella Prize winner and the Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist.
Our book of the week is Thunderhead by Miranda Darling. A black comedy, set in suburbia, about one woman's struggle to be free, it has been described as a 'feminist triumph and homage to Virginia Woolf' (Australian Book Review). We love a short novel and this is a gem.
Coming up: The Busy Body with author Kemper Donovan.
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Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
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Anna and Annie find some book recommendations to read along with Taylor Swift's new album The Tortured Poets Department.
Our book of the week is Question 7 by Richard Flanagan. This memoir encompasses H. G. Wells, nuclear physics and the atomic bomb and ends in Tasmania, Australia. Memories, encounters and fictional vignettes are woven together into a beautiful tapestry that show how words don't suffice. The title references Chekhov and gives a hint of the absurd. Much to discuss!
Coming up: Thunderhead by Miranda Darling.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Stella Prize shortlist.
Our book of the week is Butter by Asako Yuzuki translated by Polly Barton. Described as 'a novel of food and murder' this follows Riko, a journalist, who investigates serial killer Manako Kajii. Kajii allegedly seduced rich men with her cooking before killing them, and she encourages Riko to cook and appreciate food. Inspired by a true story, this has been a cult Japanese best-seller.
Coming up: Question 7 by Richard Flanagan.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Stella Prize Shortlist.
We reveal our favourite recent crime reads. Our recommendations are:
The Many Lies of Veronica Hawkins by Kristina Perez Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan The Sleeping Nymph by Ilaria Tutti translated by Ekin Oklap To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey The Fugitives by Jamal Mahjoub Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead by Jenny Hollander The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan Coming up: Question 7 by Richard Flanagan Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: we chat with author Jenny Hollander about her debut crime novel EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD.
Charlie Colbert is an editor at a major magazine and engaged to a publishing heir. But she witnessed a tragedy at her elite journalism school and lied to the police 9 years ago. Now a classmate is making a film about the events, which threatens the life Charlie has built. This is a gripping, twisty thriller described as 'a delicious crime debut' (Red) and 'knife-sharp' (Woman's Own) and is a USA Today Bestseller.
Jenny recommends the authors Lisa Jewel, Sarah Sheppard, Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth and the podcast Unreal.
Coming up: our crime reading recommendations.
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Anna and Annie discuss the inaugural Women's Prize for Non-Fiction longlist, including Anna Funder's Wifedom.
Our book of the week is THE VULNERABLES by Sigrid Nunez. This is the third in a loose trilogy after THE FRIEND and WHAT ARE YOU GOING THROUGH. A writer, a college drop-out and a talking parrot share an apartment in New York during the Covid pandemic. This is subtler than the first two books but we loved the mix of story and Nunez's reflections on life and writing.
Coming up: our Crime reading recommendations.
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It's the Shawn and Anna Book Club!
Our first book is Home Reading Service by Fabio Morábito translated by Curtis Bauer. Eduardo is sentenced to a year of community service reading aloud to the elderly and disabled. Set in Mexico, this novel is witty and poignant. It even inspired us to discuss poetry! And the fine line between whacky and eccentric.
Also mentioned:
Shawn's Bite Sized Book Chat with Stu aka Winston's Dad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PubR7KrANvE&t=40s
Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai translated by Polly Barton
Book Club Review Podcast
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Anna and Annie reveal our book recommendations for the holiday season.
Our favourite holiday reads this year are:
THE CLUB by Ellery Lloyd
NOW YOU SEE US by Balli Kaur Jaswal
WEST HEART KILL by Dann McDorman
FLIGHT by Lynn Steger Strong
THE LIBRARIANIST by Patrick deWitt
ROMANTIC COMEDY by Curtis Sittenfeld
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Anna and Annie discuss the Booker Prize 2023 winner, PROPHET SONG by Paul Lynch.
We reveal the best books we read in 2023. In no particular order, they are:
Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren translated by Agnes Broomé
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton
Girl in a Pink Dress by Kylie Needham
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor
Loot by Tania James
Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Coming up: our Holiday Reading recommendations
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Anna and Annie discuss authors' concerns about Spotify streaming books and highlights from the 2024 Adelaide Writers Week lineup.
Our book of the week is Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren translated by Agnes Broomé. Sandgren has been described as "Sweden's Sally Rooney" (The Times). Collected Works is a thought-provoking, intellectual novel set in Gothenburg. At the heart of it is the mystery of the disappearance of Martin's wife, Cecilia. Anna loved it but Annie would have preferred more Cecilia and less Martin!
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Special guest Shawn Mooney of Shawn the Book Maniac joins Anna for Book Club!
We discuss TRUE BIZ by Sara Nović and Y/N by Esther Yi. These books have taken us down rabbit holes of deaf culture (True Biz) and super fandom (Y/N). Two interesting and thought-provoking reads!
Shawn recommends the interview with Esther Yi on Jaylen's The Bar and the Bookcase podcast.
We're currently reading:
GIBBONS OR ONE BLOODY THING AFTER ANOTHER by James Morrison (and see the book launch on Shawn's channel)
SMALL WORLDS by Caleb Azumah Nelson
LEOPOLDSTADT by Tom Stoppard
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2023 Booker Prize Shortlist and the authors taking action over the generative AI use of their work.
Our book of the week is WIFEDOM: MRS ORWELL'S INVISIBLE LIFE by Anna Funder. An innovative biography of Eileen Orwell by the Miles Franklin and Samuel Johnson prize winner, it has been described as a masterpiece and we think would make a great book club book.
Coming up: Book Club with Shawn Mooney
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Anna and Amanda discuss the Nero Book Awards which will commence in 2024.
Our book of the week is CHAI TIME AT CINNAMON GARDENS by Shankari Chandran. A layered story about a nursing home in Sydney whose residents have traumatic memories of the civil war in Sri Lanka, this won the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award.
Coming up: WIFEDOM by Anna Funder.
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A special episode: Anna chats with Shawn Mooney of Shawn the Book Maniac.
We recommend three books and each choose one to read for our next episode: the Anna and Shawn book club!
Books discussed:
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
True Biz by Sara Nović
Y/N by Esther Yi
Loop Tracks by Sue Orr
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder
The Recent East by Thomas Grattan
Coming up: Chai Time in Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
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Anna and Annie discuss a recent study on reading to young children.
We wrap up Women in Translation month. The books we read (or Annie did at least!) and recommend are:
Slime: A Natural History by Susanne Wedlich translated by Ayca Turkoglu
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd
What You're Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama translated by Alison Watts
Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren translated by Agnes Broomé
My Devotion by Julia Kerninon translated by Alison Anderson
Sleepless by Marie Darrieussecq translated by Penny Hueston
Coming up: Chai Time in the Cinnamon Gardens and Wifedom
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2023 Booker Prize Longlist.
Our book of the week is The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor. A novel about friends and lovers set in Iowa City, it is both intimate and explores wider issues in contemporary life and art. Taylor was short-listed for the Booker Prize for Real Life and won the Story Prize for his collection Filthy Animals. The Late Americans is an instant national bestseller and was a Most Anticipated Book of the year by Vogue, Elle, Oprah Daily, the Washington Post, Buzzfeed and Vulture.
Coming up: Chai Time in Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran.
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Anna and Amanda discuss Elizabeth Gilbert pulling her novel The Snow Forest from publication because of its Russia theme.
Our book of the week is This Other Eden by Paul Harding. Based on a true story, an island community of castaways and misfits is disrupted when a well-meaning but racist preacher enters their lives. It has biblical feels yet resonates today. Described as 'a harrowing tale of paradise lost' (New York Times) and 'sure to be a stand-out of 2023' (Los Angeles Times), since we recorded this episode it has been long-listed for the Booker Prize.
Coming up: The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the Women's Prize winner Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.
Our book of the week is The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland. This tells the true story of Rudolf Vrba who escaped from Auschwitz with Fred Wetzler and their attempt to tell Jewish leaders the truth about the Final Solution and prevent more deaths. A Sunday Times Best-Seller and shortlisted for the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, we could not put this down.
Coming up: This Other Eden by Paul Harding.
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A special episode: Anna chats with author Ennis Ćehić about his debut collection of short stories, Sadvertising.
Ćehić is based in Melbourne and Sarajevo and writes about displacement, creativity and existentialism. The stories in Sadvertising are set in the advertising world and explore the tension between art and capitalism. Satirical and very funny, with elements of meta-fiction and the surreal. "A work of thrilling, audacious verve and wit ... deserves a standing ovation" (Christos Tsiolkas) and "powerful, inventive and self-assured" (Australian Book Review). We loved this book!
Ennis recommends:
Hunger by Knut Hamsen translated by George Egerton
Authors Rachel Cusk , Deborah Levy and Ottessa Moshfegh
The Appointment by Katharina Volckmer
The Shakespeare and Company podcast
Coming up:
This Other Eden by Paul Harding
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Artwork: Sascha WIlkosz
A special episode: Anna chats with author Christine Keighery about her new novel The Half Brother.
Christine Keighery has written over 35 novels for children and young adults (as Chrissie Perry). The Half Brother is her first novel for adults. It's a psychological suspense story about a family, secrets and coercive control. Described as "sinister, suspenseful and tightly written, with an ending I didn't see coming" (Vikki Wakefield). There are no spoilers in this episode so you'll have to read it to see what the twist is!
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Christine: chrissieperry.com
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Anna and Amanda discuss The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard. This novel set in Japan and Hong Kong in 1947 explores the colonial era with a forbidden love story at its centre. Described as "the last masterpiece of a vanished age of civility" (Wall Street Journal) it won the 2003 Miles Franklin Award and the National Book Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the 2004 Orange Prize.
We also recommend Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life by Brigitta Olubas.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: Anna chats with author Kylie Needham about her debut novel, Girl In A Pink Dress.
Girl in a Pink Dress centres on Frances, an artist in her 40s who is invited to her former lover's exhibition opening in Sydney. A beautiful, spare novel that explores the idea of two artists living together and female rage, against the backdrop of the Australian landscape. Described as "a quiet triumph" (Heather Rose) and "breathtakingly good" (David Wenham), we loved this book.
Kylie recommends:
Can A Woman Who Is An Artist Ever Just Be An Artist? by Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
The New Yorker The Writer's Voice Podcast
The Witch Trials of J. K. Rowling Podcast
Coming up: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Stella Prize shortlist (belatedly!)
Our book of the week is The New Life by Tom Crewe. A brilliant debut novel about two marriages and sexual freedom in 1890s London, it evokes the time and place beautifully but feels modern and resonates today. It reminded us of Colm Tóibín, with "the spirit of Forster" (Washington Post).
Coming up: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.
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Anna, Annie and Amanda react to the 2023 Women's Prize Shortlist and give our winner predictions.
And Annie has news!
The shortlist is:
- Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris
- Pod by Laline Paull
- Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks
- Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
- The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Coming up: The New Life by Tom Crewe and The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.
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Annie, Anna and Amanda discuss the shortlist for the 2023 Stella Prize and give their winner predictions.
The shortlist is:
- We Come With This Place by Debra Dank
- big beautiful female theory by Eloise Grills
- The Jaguar by Sarah Holland-Batt
- Hydra by Adriane Howell
- Indelible City by Louisa Lim
- Bad Art Mother by Edwina Preston
Coming up: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard and our Women's Prize Shortlist episode.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the 2023 Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien. This debut novel tells the story of Ky, a Vietnamese-Australian woman who looks for answers when her brother is killed in Cabramatta, Sydney. It won the 2023 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction.
Coming up: The New Life by Tom Crewe.
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Anna and Annie discuss the books they are keeping or culling, including
- Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
- The Invention of Medicine by Robin Lane Fox
- Troy by Stephen Fry
Our book of the week is Stone Blind, the latest novel by Natalie Haynes. It tells the story of Medusa from a feminist perspective, is witty, rich with details from Greek mythology and has been long-listed for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction. We loved this one.
Coming up: All That is Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien.
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Anna and Annie react to the 2023 Women's Prize Longlist and the Booker International Longlist.
Our book of the week is I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai, the follow-up novel to her Pulitzer Prize winning best-seller The Great Believers. The story centres on podcaster Bodie, who is drawn back to a murder case from her boarding school days and starts to fear that the wrong man has been imprisoned. A gripping mix of crime, #MeToo and campus drama, this is perfect for book clubs. We recommend it.
Coming up: Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
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A special episode: Anna and Amanda chat with best-selling author Sally Hepworth about her new novel The Soulmate. The Soulmate is a gripping story about Pippa and Gabe, who are happily married until a woman dies near their home and they become entangled in the mystery that follows. A compulsive read which raises questions about marriage and loyalty, we could not put this down.
Sally also recommends:
Authors Jane Harper, Liane Moriarty, Kate Morton and Holly Ringland;
Podcasts The First Time Podcast and The Lise and Sarah Show; and
TV show Bad Sisters.
Coming up: I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai.
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Annie and Anna discuss the 2023 Stella Prize Longlist.
Our book of the week is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, the follow-up to his best-selling and Pulitzer Prize winning novel All the Light We Cannot See. Cloud Cuckoo Land was on the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks and was a National Book Award finalist. Set in 15th century Constantinople, modern day Idaho and a future spaceship, it is about children in times of peril who find hope in a book.
Coming up: The Soulmate with special guest Sally Hepworth.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode as we chat with Eve Thomson about her debut novel She Too.
She Too is a legal thriller about a young lawyer who acts for a man accused of being an abusive husband as he sues a news website for defamation. It looks at the nature of truth, celebrity and power.
Eve recommends the book Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr and the podcasts Conversations, Chat 10 Looks 3 and Head Noise.
Coming up: Cloud Cuckoo Land.
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A special episode - our interview with Louise Adler, Director of Adelaide Writers' Week! We discuss Louise's 'Director's Picks', some new authors to discover and the challenges of curating a literary festival.
Books discussed:
Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee
Beat the Devil by David Hare
Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life by Brigitta Olubas
The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
The Singularities by John Banville
We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958 by Fintan O'Toole
A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work by Bernadette Brennan
Coming up: Cloud Cuckoo Land.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2023 Dublin Literary Award Longlist.
Our book of the week is Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel. Like Station 11 and The Glass Hotel, it is speculative fiction with warmth, heart and great story-telling. A New York Times Bestseller and a Best Book of 2022 (New York Times, Oprah Daily, NPR) it has been described as 'transporting and brilliant and generous' (USA Today).
Coming up: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.
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Anna and Annie discuss the man arrested for stealing manuscripts and whether new AI technology ChatGPT can write novels.
Our book of the week is Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. Set in 1970s Belfast during the Troubles, it tells the story of a young Catholic woman and her affair with a married Protestant man. Described as "brilliant, beautiful, heartbreaking" (New York Times) and named a Best Book of the Year by the Washington Post, we loved this book.
Louise Kennedy will be at Adelaide Writers' Week in March. We can't wait!
Also mentioned:
Scriptnotes podcast
In Suspense podcast
AlphaGo documentary
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Anna and Annie discuss Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf and Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka in our Keep or Cull segment.
Our book of the week is The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov translated by Michael Glenny. We have been meaning to read this Russian classic for ages. A surreal, absurdist satire, it features Satan, Pontius Pilate, a poet and a talking cat. Not what we were expecting!
We'll be back in a few weeks.
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Anna, Annie and Amanda discuss our best books of 2022.
Our favourite reads were:
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
Border by Kapka Kassabova
Devotion by Hannah Kent
Love Marriage by Monica Ali
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Hummingbird by Sandro Veronesi translated by Elena Pala
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide translated by Eric Selland
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
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Email: Books On The Go
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Anna and Annie discuss how BookTok is helping young people discover a passion for reading.
Our holiday reading recommendations are:
Willowman by Inge Simpson
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
Better the Blood by Michael Bennett
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margo by Marianne Cronin
Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee
The Palace Papers by Tina Brown
The Master: The Brilliant Career of Roger Federer by Christopher Clary
Coming up: Our Best Books of 2022
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Anna and Amanda discuss book shopping on TikTok.
Our book of the week is Crossroads by award-winning author Jonathan Franzen. This is a family drama set in 1971 American suburbia and is the first in a trilogy. It was an instant New York Times best-seller, a Guardian Best Fiction Book of 2021 and has been described as 'a Middlemarch-like triumph' (The Telegraph).
Coming up: our Holiday Reading Recomendations and TBR.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the National Book Award winner for fiction, The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty.
Our book of the week is The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell, the follow-up novel to her hugely successful Hamnet. It's set in the Italian Renaissance and follows Lucrezia de'Medici and her marriage aged 15 to the Duke of Ferrara. All the ingredients for a great read, we had high expectations for this one!
Coming up: Crossroads by Jonanthan Franzen and our Holiday Reading recommendations and TBR!
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Anna and Annie discuss the court blocking the acquisition by Penguin Random House of Simon & Schuster.
Our book of the week is The Trees by Percival Everett. This novel set in Money, Mississippi starts with a brutal murder which detectives Ed and Jim struggle to solve. Satirical with absurdist elements and a whodunnit, but confronting racism and lynching in America, it has been described as a 'gory pulp revenge fantasy' (Bookforum) and 'explosive in every way' (Dua Lipa). It was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize.
Coming up: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Readings Prize winner, Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au.
Our book of the week is Real Bad Things by Kelly J. Ford. Set around the Arkansas River, this is a suspense thriller about Jane, who returns to her home town to face up to a murder that was committed years before. Described as Southern noir or Grit Lit, this was an Amazon Best Book of the Month and is recommended for Ozark fans.
Coming up: The Trees by Percival Everett.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Booker Prize winner, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka.
In Keep or Cull, Anna culls Mrs March by Virginia Feito and Annie keeps Seeing Other People by Diana Reid.
Our books of the week are Sweet Danger and Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham, one of the queens of classic crime. Both books feature gentleman sleuth Albert Campion. Described as 'addictive as cocaine' (Independent), Agatha Christie said 'Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light.'
Coming up: Real Bad Things by Kelly J Ford and The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell.
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Anna and Annie discuss the latest book sales and our theories on TikTok or #BookTok . We also preview our new segment Keep or Cull, as we will be reading from our ever-growing TBR shelf!
Our book of the week is Limberlost by award-winning author Robbie Arnott. It's a coming-of-age story about Ned, who lives on an apple farm in Tasmania and spends the summer of 1944 hunting rabbits while his brothers are at war. Annie loved this and has tipped it for the Miles Franklin already.
Coming up: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
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Anna and Annie discuss the death of Hilary Mantel and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Annie Ernaux.
Our books of the week are Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer and After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz, both long-listed for the 2022 Booker Prize.
We also discuss the Booker Prize Shortlist and our winner predictions.
Coming up: Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
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Anna and Amanda discuss our favourite small books.
Our book of the week is Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au, the inaugural winner of the Novel Prize. This inspired us to talk about other short novels that we have loved:
Guest Cat by Tikashi Hiraide translated by Eric Selland
Ikigai by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles
Japonisme: The Art of Finding Contentment by Erin Niimi Longhurst
Summerwater by Sarah Moss
A Chess Storyby Stefan Zweig translated by Alexander Starritt.
Coming up: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction shortlist.
Our book of the week is Bodies of Light by award-winning author Jennifer Down. This novel explores survival against the odds and is wonderfully engaging despite the subject-matter. Winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award.
Coming up: Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au and small books.
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Anna and Annie discuss the death of Queen Elizabeth II and recommend these books:
An Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
The Queen by Ben Pimlott
The Palace Papers by Tina Brown
Our book of the week is Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra. This New York Times Bestseller is set in Mussolini's Italy and 1940s Hollywood. Described as 'a wonderful novel' (Sunday Times), 'epically entertaining' (San Fancisco Chronicle) and 'A gorgeous book ... sublime' (New York Times). We agree!
Coming up: Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au and our small book recommendations.
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Anna and Annie discuss their predictions for the 2022 Booker Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley. This novel about a young woman in Oakland has been described as 'an electrifying debut' (Dave Eggers). It is a New York Times Bestseller, an Oprah Book Club pick and is longlisted for the Booker Prize. We think it more than lives up to the hype!
Coming up: Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down and Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra.
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Anna and Annie discuss literary scandals and the attack on Salman Rushdie. Sales of his book The Satanic Verses have surged since the attack.
Our book of the week is Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. A short novel set in Ireland in 1985, it tells the story of Bill Furlong and his moral dilemma when he sees wrongdoing by the church. Winner of the Orwell Prize for Politcal Fiction 2022 and longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize. We loved this one!
Coming up: Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down
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Anna and Annie discuss the mystery surrounding a killing in Zambia and Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing.
Our book of the week is Violets by Kyung-Sook Shin translated by Anton Hur. This novel explores violence and loneliness in Korean society. Described as a 'requiem to the unseen women' (Washington Independent Review of Books) it's a thoughtful book if not our favourite by this author. We read this for Women in Translation month.
Coming up: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan.
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Anna and Annie discuss their book recommendations for Women in Translation month. There is also a #WITreadathon on BookTube hosted by Matthew Sciarappa, Kendra Winchester and Insert Literary Pun Here if you're interested.
Our WIT month books:
Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Jennifer Croft
Long Live the Post Horn! by Vigdis Hjorth translated by Charlotte Barslund
Second Hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich translated by Bela Shayevich
The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura translated by Lucy North
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd
The Old Woman With the Knife by Gu Byeong-Mo translated by Chi-Young Kim
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung translated by Anton Hur
Waiting for the Waters to Rise by Maryse Condé translated by Richard Philcox
Paradais by Fernanda Melchor translated by Sophie Hughes
The Mermaid's Tale by Lee Wei-Jing translated by Darryl Sterk
Violets by Kyung Sook-Shin translated by Anton Hur
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Anna and Annie discuss the Miles Franklin Literary Award winner and react to the 2022 Booker Prize Longlist.
Our book of the week is Bolla by Pajtim Statovci translated by David Hackston. Set in Kosovo, this novel centres on Arsim, an Albanian man who falls in love with Milos, a Serbian man, just before the Kosovan war. It won the Finlandia Prize in its original Finnish. We echo the praise of Torrey Peters: "Devastating in the most beautiful ways ... you are in the hands of an absolute artist."
Coming up: our recommendations for Women in Translation Month.
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Anna and Annie discuss the plagiarism allegations with The Dogs originally reported by The Guardian. We love a literary scandal!
Our best books of 2022 so far are:
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy
Devotion by Hannah Kent
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Son of Sin by Omar Sakr
Annie also reacts to the Women's Prize winner and recommends the Tsundoku podcast.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the Women's Prize winner, The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki.
Our book of the week is Wild Abandon by Emily Bitto, the follow-up to her Stella Prize-winning novel The Strays. A heartbroken young man lands in New York City, indulges in the hedonistic art scene and then finds himself in Ohio working for Wayne, a collector of exotic animals.
Coming up: Bolla by Pajtim Statovci.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Miles Franklin longlist. Annie's tip to win is Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down.
Our comfort reading recommendations are:
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan
The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
Three Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative and Fate by Daniel Mendelsohn
Love Marriage by Monica Ali
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
Seventeen by John Brownlow
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Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the winner of the 2022 Dublin Literary Award, The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter translated by Frank Wynne.
Our book of the week is The Red Arrow by William Brewer. A writer who has taken a dose of mushrooms chases a famous physicist whose memoir he is ghost-writing. Described as 'hypnotic' and 'trippy', we could not find a bad review of this book. We are in the minority on this one!
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Anna and Amanda discuss the Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen.
Our book of the week is Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention by Johann Hari. It explores the forces in society that distract us and affect our ability to concentrate, from social media to processed food. Thought-provoking and has changed the way we view our phones!
Coming up: our comfort reading recommendations.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Women's Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is The Candy House by award-winning author Jennifer Egan. It is a sister novel to her Pulitzer-Prize winning A Visit from the Goon Squad and is set in a future where people upload their memories to the cloud. A Most Anticipated Book of 2022 and described as 'thrilling' (Kirkus); 'fiction at its best' (USA Today), 'radiant' (Slate) and 'dazzling' (Vogue), this is a wild ride of a novel. Recommended.
Coming up: our favourite comfort reads.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Booker International Shortlist.
Our book of the week is The Colony by Audrey Magee, author of the Women's Prize shortlisted The Undertaking. The Colony is a novel about colonialism on a wild Irish island. Described as lyrical and intelligent, this one did not work for us but provoked much discussion.
Coming up: The Candy House by Jennifer Egan.
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Anna and Annie belatedly discuss the Booker International Longlist.
Our book of the week is A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames. Happy Doll is an LA private detective who finds himself out of his depth after killing a customer at the Thai Miracle Spa. With Hollywood noir atmosphere, and loved by Lee Child, this hard-boiled crime novel is recommended.
Coming up: The Colony by Audrey Magee.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Women's Prize Longlist.
Our book of the week is Everybody: A Book About Freedom by Olivia Laing. Laing merges a biography of the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich with figures such as Susan Sontag and Nina Simone to discuss the body, illness, freedom and power. Annie rates it as her top non-fiction read of 2021.
Coming up: A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames.
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Anna and Annie discuss the LA Times Book Prize finalists. We fail to predict which books will be on the Women's Prize longlist but recommend this video by Eric Karl Anderson and Anna James.
Our book of the week is The Fell by Sarah Moss, the award-winning author of Ghost Wall and Summerwater. A short novel about a woman who breaks quarantine to go for a walk, it brings back the claustrophobia of isolation and raises the question, are we ready for pandemic fiction? A great book club read.
Coming up: Everybody by Olivia Laing
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Anna and Annie discuss reading recommendations for Black History Month.
Our book of the week is Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry by award-winning author Richard Flanagan. He exposes the secrets, lies, chemical dyes and environmental harm behind what is marketed as a clean and healthy food. We will never eat farmed salmon again after reading this book. Richard Flanagan will be in conversation with Kerry O'Brien at Adelaide Writers' Week.
Coming up: The Fell by Sarah Moss.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Rathbone Folio Prize shortlist.
Our book of the week is Devotion by Hannah Kent, author of the multi award-winning Burial Rites. Devotion is a queer love story set in Prussia and Australia in the 1830s. Described as 'utterly original' (Heather Rose), 'a glorious love story' (Sarah Winman) and 'stunning' (Evie Wyld) it was Booktopia's favourite book of 2021 and we predict will be on many awards lists.
Coming up: Toxic by Richard Flanagan and The Fell by Sarah Moss.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Costa Book of the Year The Kids by Hannah Lowe, the 2022 Dublin International LIterary Award Longlist and the Adelaide Writers' Week program.
Our book of the week is The Sentence, the new novel by Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich. Set in Minneapolis in 2020, it tells the story of badass heroine Tookie, her marriage, and a ghost haunting the bookshop where she works. We loved it.
Coming up: Devotion by Hannah Kent.
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Anna and Annie discuss joyful stories, vampires and other book trends for 2022.
Our book of the week is The Appeal by Janice Hallett. This debut crime novel with a nod to Agatha Christie has been a Sunday Times best-seller. Recommended as a fun holiday read.
Coming up: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Costa Book Awards category winners.
Our book of the week is Permafrost by S J Norman, their debut short story collection. Described as 'astonishing' (Christos Tsiolkas) and 'a literary genius' (Hannah Kent) these stories are haunting, visceral and moving. Highly recommended.
Coming up: The Appeal by Janice Hallett.
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Anna and Annie discuss the New York Times Best Books of 2021.
Our book of the week is Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas, the multi-award winning author of The Slap, Barracuda and Damascus. This novel centres on a man writing a book about a retired porn star and seeking beauty in the world. 'A scorching, mythic work with a heart of the sweetest intimacy' (Helen Garner on point as always), we loved it.
Coming up: Permafrost by S J Norman.
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Anna, Amanda and Annie pick our top ten books of 2021.
Our favourite reads (in no particular order) were:
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Moth by Melody Razak
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Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down
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The Magician by Colm Toíbín
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Phosphorescence by Julia Baird
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Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
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The Luminous Solution by Charlotte Wood
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The Promise by Damon Galgut
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Assembly by Natasha Brown
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Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas
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The False Rose by Jacob Wegelius translated by Peter Graves.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the Costa Book Awards Shortlists.
Our book of the week is The Promise by Damon Galgut, winner of the 2021 Booker Prize. This novel follows the crash and burn of a White South African family over a generation, against the backdrop of a changing country. A worthy winner, Amanda also recommends the audiobook narrated by Peter Noble.
Coming up: 7 1/2 by Christos Tsiolkas and our Top 10 Books of 2021.
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Anna and Annie discuss the winners of the Goldsmiths Prize, the Baillie Gifford Prize and the National Book Awards.
Our book of the week is The Magician by multi-award winning author Colm Tóibín. His latest novel, based on the life of Thomas Mann, is a New York Times Notable Book, a Best Book of Fall 2021 (Time) and described as an 'ode to a 20th-century genius' (O Magazine). We loved it.
Coming up: The Promise by Damon Galgut.
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Anna and Annie discuss The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. Shafak is an award-winning Turkish-British novelist whose previous novel 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in This Strange World was short-listed for the Booker Prize. We loved this latest novel set in Cyprus and London and featuring a sassy fig tree.
Coming up: The Magician by Colm Tóibín.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2021 Booker Prize winner The Promise by Damon Galgut.
Our book of the week is Bewilderment by Richard Powers, the follow up to his Pulitzer-Prize winning novel The Overstory and also shortlisted for the Booker Prize. This is a story about a father and son which touches on mass extinction and science fiction. It's an instant New York Times best-seller, an Oprah's Book Club Selection and long-listed for the 2021 National Book Award and 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. But what did Anna and Annie think?
Coming up: The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the 2021 Booker Prize winner, The Promise by Damon Galgut.
Our books of the week are Empire of Pain: The Secret History of The Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe and Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Dr Anna Lembke. Both books address the opioid epidemic in America, one focussing on the Sackler family and their responsibility and the other focussing on the nature of addiction. We recommend these for Non-fiction November.
Coming up: Bewilderment by Richard Powers.
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Anna and Annie discuss Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum.
Rabbits for Food is a novel about a woman living with depression who checks into a psychiatric ward. Described as 'bitingly funny' (New York Times) and 'absolute genius' (The Boston Globe) it was a New York Times Notable Book, a, NPR Favourite Book and a LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2019.
Coming up: Bewilderment by Richard Powers.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Giller Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is Matrix by Lauren Groff, the follow-up to her hugely successful Fates and Furies. This novel about Marie de France becoming the prioress of an abbey is a New York Times Bestseller and has been shortlisted for the National Book Awards.
Coming up: Bewilderment by Richard Powers.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Abdulrazak Gurner.
Our book of the week is Assembly by Natasha Brown. A short novel about a Black woman's experience in modern Britain, this has been described as 'diamond-sharp, timely and urgent' (The Observer) and 'the literary debut of the summer' (Vogue) and is short-listed for the Goldsmiths Prize 2021. We loved this small gem.
Coming up: Matrix by Lauren Groff.
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Anna and Amanda discuss Real Estate, the latest book by Deborah Levy in her living autobiography series.
Levy has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize twice, for her novels Swimming Home and Hot Milk, and has won acclaim recently for her non-fiction works, with the best-selling The Cost of Living a New York Times Notable Book and listed in the Guardian's '100 Best Books of the 21st Century'. Real Estate follows Levy's journey from London to a writing fellowship in Paris and has been described as 'a dialogue between art and life' (The Guardian).
Coming up: Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2021 Booker Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. This sweeping historical novel about a 1950s woman aviator and modern-day movie star has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Described as a 'soaring masterclass' (Telegraph), the Donna Tartt comparisons are apt.
Coming up: Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum.
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The new Sally Rooney novel is here! Anna and Annie discuss the publishing event and enormous success of the release of Rooney's third book.
Beautiful World, Where Are You is a novel about four friends, examining their relationships and touching on world issues. Perfect for book clubs, there is so much to discuss. Praised for its 'touching honesty' (Financial Times) and 'originality' (Esquire) this was Watersones' 2021 best-selling fiction title after only three days on the shelves.
Coming up: Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the 2021 Women's Prize winner Susanna Clarke for Piranesi, a follow-up story about #BookTok trends and the winners of the 2021 Wainwright Prize for nature writing. Amanda recommends this interview with Merlin Sheldrake on Conversations with Richard Fidler.
Our book of the week is Minor Detail by Adania Shibli translated by Elisabeth Jacquette. A short, powerful novel about a crime in 1949 and a young woman investigating in modern-day Palestine, it was longlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize and shortlisted for the 2020 National Book Awards for translated literature. It was also the group read-along for the Women in Translation Month #WITReadathon.
Coming up: Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney and Real Estate by Deborah Levy.
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Anna and Annie discuss Tik Tok book trends and the headlines around the upcoming release of Sally Rooney's new novel Beautiful World, Where Are You.
Our book of the week is Fault Lines by Emily Itami. A Brief Encounter set in Tokyo, this is a short novel about Mizuki, whose perfect married life changes when she meets restauranteur Kiyoshi. It's a 'brilliant modern love story' (Cathy Rentzenbrink), 'short, emotional and very funny' (Stylist) and one of Annie's top books of the year so far.
Coming up: Minor Detail by Adania Shibli translated by Elisabeth Jacquette.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 50 Hottest New Books Everyone Should Read.
Our book of the week is The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey, winner of the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award. This is a beautiful novel about a woman who moves to a coastal town to be near her son, who is in prison. Meditative and profound but there is dry humour too. We loved it.
Coming up: Minor Detail by Adania Shibli translated by Elisabeth Jacquette.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the 2021 Orwell Prize winners for political writing.
Our book of the week is Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa. This "beautiful, urgent novel" (New York Times) centres on Nahr, a young Palestinian woman who moves from Kuwait to Jordan. A 2020 Palestine Book Awards winner, this is a great read.
Coming up: The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey.
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Anna and Amanda discuss Women In Translation Month and the readathon on Youtube.
Our book of the week is At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop translated by Anna Moschovakis. This novel about two Senegalese soldiers fighting for France in World War One has won several awards including the 2021 International Booker Prize. We had to read it twice and could not discuss it without talking about the ending. Spoiler alert for this episode!
Coming up: Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2021 Booker Prize Longlist and the winner of the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey.
Our book of the week is Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee. Set in Margate in the near future, it depicts a bleak world as Chance and her family struggle to survive. It's dystopic 'cli-fi' and a beautiful love story. An Evening Standard Best New Book of 2021 and recommended by Brit Bennett, this lives up to the hype.
Coming up: At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop translated by Anna Moschovakis.
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A special episode: Anna brings you some recommendations for comfort reading, as Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide are in lockdown.
Books discussed:
A Room With A View by E. M. Forster
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan
Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
Calypso by David Sedaris
Coming up: At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop translated by Anna Moschovakis
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Anna and Amanda discuss the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction won by Hilary Mantel for The Mirror and the Light and the longlist for the Gordon Burn Prize.
Our book of the week is Still Life by Sarah Winman. Winman's previous novel Tin Man was a sensation and her fans will love Still Life, her latest release. Set in Florence and London from the 1940s to the 1970s, we follow Ulysses and his group of friends who become family. Infused with art and paying homage to A Room With A View, this is a comforting read for our times.
Coming up: At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop translated by Anna Moschovakis.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Miles Franklin shortlist.
Our book of the week is Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao translated by Mike Fu. This travel memoir has sold millions of copies in China and Taiwan since the 1970s and is now available for the first time in English translation. Sanmao was an iconic writer, feminist, philosopher and intrepid traveller. Well worth reading.
Coming up: Still Life by Sarah Winman.
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Happy Pride Month!
Anna and Annie discuss some favourite LGBTQIA+ books that we have read recently:
Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay
Memorial by Bryan Washington
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
Dreamland by Rosa Rankin Gee
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
And on our TBR:
As Beautiful As Any Other by Kaya Wilson
Bath Haus by P. J. Vernon
Future Feeling by Joss Lake
Still Life by Sarah Winman
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts
Lote by Shola von Reinhold
And for YA readers:
Felix Ever After by Kacen Challender
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
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Anna and Annie discuss the Booker International Prize winner and the Miles Franklin Award Longlist.
We reveal our top crime book recommendations:
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Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke
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Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham
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Northern Spy by Flynn Berry
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The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Leznevich
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Fog by Kaja Malanowska translated by Bill Johnston
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How to Kidnap the Rich by Rahul Raina
Also mentioned:
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The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
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Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
-
West Cork podcast
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A special episode: Anna chats with Kate and Laura from The Book Club Review Podcast to find the best books for book club reading.
We got together in Adelaide, London and Vancouver to bring you our Top 10:
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Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan translated by Heather Lloyd
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Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Start-Up by John Carreyrou
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New Animal by Ella Baxter
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Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
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Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
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No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
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A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelley
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Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
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The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Coming up: our top Crime reads.
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A special episode!
Anna chats with Shawn Mooney from Shawn the Book Maniac. We talk about the books we've been reading lately. Some of the books discussed:
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Growing Up Disabled in Australia edited by Carly Findlay
You can also watch us on Shawn's YouTube channel at Shawn the Book Maniac.
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Anna and Annie discuss Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters.
This debut novel about love and parenting in the trans community was long-listed for the Women's Prize. Described as 'exhilaratingly good' (Jia Tolentino), 'fiercely confident' (O Magazine), 'savvy' (New York Times Book Review) and 'electrifying' (Esquire), it's also very funny. Recommended.
Coming up: our top crime fiction recommendations.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2021 International Booker Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden. This debut novel by one of Britain's best loved poets reimagines Death as a working-class woman who is a muse for Wolf, a troubled writer. Praised as 'fantastically imaginative' (Idris Elba), it's part novel, part experience.
Coming up: Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2021 Women's Prize Shortlist and the winner of the Stella Prize, The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld.
Our book of the week is No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood, author of the hit memoir Priestdaddy. A Most Anticipated Book of 2021 (O, USA Today, Esquire), a National Bestseller and shortlisted for the Women's Prize, this is a zeitgeist-y novel about life after the internet. Highly recommended.
Coming up: Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the 2021 Booker International Longlist (the Shortlist has just been announced).
Our book of the week is Klara and the Sun, the latest novel by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Klara is an artificial friend to Josie in this dystopic novel set in the future. A 'masterpiece of great beauty' (Sunday Times) and 'deft dystopic fable' (Financial Times) this is a New York Times best-seller.
Coming up: Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters.
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Anna and Annie discuss the bookshops reopening in the UK and the Rathbones Folio prize scam.
Our book of the week is New Animal by Ella Baxter. This debut Australian novel centres on Amelia, a cosmetician at her family's funeral home business. It's wry, funny and tender with Six Feet Under and Fleabag vibes. Perfect for Aussie April.
Coming up: Hot Stew by Fiona Mozley.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2021 Stella Prize Shortlist and the Walter Scott Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is The Performance by Claire Thomas. This novel centres on three women at the theatre seeing Happy Days by Samuel Beckett, as bushfires rage outside. Intimate and sharply observed, this is a great pick for #AussieApril.
Coming up: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2021 Women's Prize Longlist and the Dublin Literary Award Shortlist.
Our book of the week is Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson. This love story about two Black British artists is his debut novel. Nelson is an award-winning photographer and writer described as 'an exhilarating new voice in British fiction' (Vogue).
Coming up: The Performance by Claire Thomas.
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Anna chats with special guest Jaclyn Masters (aka Six Minutes For Me and co-host of Reading Women) about Australian books.
Join us for the Aussie April Readathon!
Our reading recommendations and TBR for #AussieApril :
Growing Up Disabled in Australia edited by Carly Findlay
The Performance by Claire Thomas
Friends & Dark Shapes by Kavita Bedford
Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson
Born Into This by Adam Thompson
Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan
Bindi by Kirli Saunders
New Animal by Ella Baxter
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Aussie April announcement video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlyextOi6iQ&t=386s
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2021 Stella Prize longlist.
Our book of the week is The Coconut Children by Vivian Pham. Pham is a new, young voice in Australian literature. Her debut novel about a Vietnamese-Australian family in Cabramatta, Sydney, is 'brazenly confident' (The Australian) and 'the future of Australian writing' (Benjamin Law).
Coming up: Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson.
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Anna and Annie discuss the longlist for the 2021 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction.
Our book of the week is Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor translated by Sophie Hughes. This novel set in Mexico has been described as 'brutal', 'dazzling' and 'a force to be reckoned with'. It was longlisted for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the 2020 Booker International Prize and won the International Literature Award.
Coming up: Coconut Children by Vivian Pham.
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Anna and Annie discuss the decline in bookstore sales in the US.
Our book of the week is Exciting Times, the debut novel by Naoise Dolan. The story of 22 year-old Ava's life and loves in Hong Kong, this was a Sunday Times bestseller and shortlisted for the An Irish Post Book Awards 2020. It was recommended by New York Times, Esquire, Vogue and the Washington Post and compared with Sally Rooney. What did Anna and Annie think?
Coming up: Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor.
Both authors are coming to Adelaide Writers' Week.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Novel Prize winner, Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au.
Our book of the week is A Burning by Megha Majumdar. This debut novel set in India centres on Jivan, whose Facebook post sees her arrested, her student Lovely and her old teacher PT Sir. This was an instant New York Times bestseller, described as 'masterly' (The New Yorker) 'explosive' (O Magazine) and 'the must-read novel of the summer' (Washington Post). It was shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence.
We're looking forward to hearing Megha Majumdar speak at Adelaide Writers' Week.
Coming up: Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan.
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Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award, The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story by Monique Roffey.
Our book of the week is The Prophets , the much-hyped debut novel by Robert Jones, Jr. It is a queer black love story set during a time of slavery, told in a lyrical voice with echoes of Toni Morrison. Described as 'virtuosic' (The Guardian) it is an instant New York Times Bestseller. A great pick for Black History Month.
Coming up: A Burning by Megha Majumdar.
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Anna and Annie discuss the growth in book sales in Australia for 2020.
Our book of the week is Memorial by Bryan Washington, his debut novel following the prize-winning short story collection Lot. The story of Benson and Mike, set in Houston and Osaka, was a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, a TIME book of the year and is nominated for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence to be announced on 4 February. We loved it!
Coming up: The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Costa Book Awards and new releases for 2021 by Sally Rooney, Colson Whitehead and others.
Our book of the week is Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason. This novel about a woman struggling with her marriage failure and mental health is darkly funny and has been compared with Fleabag. Annie likens it to Bridget Jones meets Eleanor Oliphant. We loved it but had a lot of thoughts. Spoiler alert for the second half of this episode as we had to discuss the ending!
Coming up: Memorial by Bryan Washington.
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Anna, Annie and Amanda discuss our holiday reading recommendations - beach reads, or cosy winter reads for those in the northern hemisphere.
Our picks:
Ordinary Hazards by Anna Bruno
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Luster by Raven Leilani
The Survivors by Jane Harper
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby
The Performance by Claire Thomas
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
Happy holidays.
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Anna, Annie and Zoe discuss our Best Books of 2020 (we can't believe it's that time of year already!).
Our picks:
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd
The Gifts of Reading inspired by Robert Macfarlane, curated by Jennie Orchard
D (A Tale of Two Worlds) by Michel Faber
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
Middle Grade Fiction (age 10 - 14) - Zoe's Top 3
A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French
Death Sets Sail by Robin Stevens
Pages & Co: Tilly and the Map of Stories by Anna James
Coming up: Our Summer Reading Recommendations
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie the Giller Prize winner for Canadian Fiction, How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa.
Our book of the week is The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. A historical romance set in the 1920s, this has been described as a 'tour de force' (Wall Street Journal) and 'a delicious hothouse of a novel' (USA Today). Waters is a best-selling author who has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. We've been meaning to read her for ages. But was this the right book to start with?
Coming up: our Best Books of 2020.
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Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the 2020 Readings Prize for New Fiction, Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan.
Our book of the week is Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie. This collection of short stories was a Guardian Must Read Book of 2019. We read the story Grace Jones, which won the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. Highly recommended.
Coming up: The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Booker Prize 2020 shortlist and give our predictions on the winner.
The shortlisted books are:
The New Wilderness by Diane Cook, This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangaremba, Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi, The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, and Real Life by Brandon Taylor.
The winner will be announced on 19 November (delayed by two days to follow the publication of Barack Obama's book).
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Anna and Annie discuss What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez, the follow-up to her National Book Award -winning The Friend. A woman helps her friend who is dying of cancer in this erudite and drily funny novel.
In book news, Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby is being adapted for the big screen, and Hello Friend We Missed You by Richard Owain Roberts has won the Not The Booker Prize.
Coming up: Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie.
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A special 150th episode!
Anna chats with Jennie Orchard, curator of The Gifts of Reading: the Joys of Reading, Giving and Receiving Books, inspired by Robert Macfarlane. We could not think of a more apt book to celebrate our 150th 'birthday' than this incredible collection as today's best writers share stories about their reading life and books they have given and received. A perfect gift and a joyous read.
Highlights include Chigozie Obioma, Candice Carty-Williams, Max Porter, Jan Morris, William Boyd, Philip Pullman, Sisonke Msimang, Marcus Zusak and Room to Read founder John Wood.
Jennie also shares the 5 books that she most often gives as gifts:
No Friend But the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani translated by Omid Tofighian
The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri
The Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura
Necessary Losses by Judith Viorst
Coming up: Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie and What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Booker Prize plans.
Our book of the week is Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman. This social history challenges the idea that humans are selfish, arguing that we tend to be cooperative and this has driven our survival. An instant New York Times best-seller and an uplifting read, this is a great pick for Non-Fiction November.
Coming up: What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez and The Gifts of Reading inspired by Robert Macfarlane.
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Anna and Annie discuss the National Books Awards and Goldsmiths Prize shortlists.
Our book of the week is Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby. A crime novel with a getaway driver and 'one last' diamond heist, this has been described as 'sensationally good' (Lee Child) with a mix of Southern noir, Ocean's Eleven and Drive. We loved it.
Coming up: Humankind by Rutger Bregman.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the winner of the International Booker Prize The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, translated by Michele Hutchison.
Our book of the week is How To Be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi. In a mix of study and memoir, Kendi argues that being neutral about racism is not enough: we have to be anti-racist. Described as "transformative" (Robin Di Angelo), "courageous" (New York Times) and "electrifying" (The Voice), this is a timely book and a New York Times and Sunday Times best-seller.
Coming up: Humankind by Rutger Bregman.
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Anna and Amanda discuss the 2020 Booker Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is Summer by Ali Smith, the final novel in her Seasonal Quartet. We have read and loved all four books. An extraordinary achievement in real-time literature. We recommend the whole series!
Coming up: Humankind by Rutger Bregman.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the 2020 Women's Prize, Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. Annie is on a winning streak!
Our book of the week is Sisters by Daisy Johnson. Two sisters who share a close bond move to a creepy house with their mother. There is a mystery about why they have moved and a tension that builds and builds. A phenomenal book, we could not put this down.
Coming up: Summer by Ali Smith.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss Hong Kong publishers looking to print books in Taiwan.
Our book of the week is the Korean sensation, Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo translated by Jamie Chang. This is the story of an ordinary woman but also tells of the challenges faced by all women in South Korea.
Coming up: Sisters by Daisy Johnson and How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the HWA Crowns Historical Fiction Longlists.
Our book of the week is A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville. A fictional memoir of Elizabeth Macarthur shows the false stories that make up Australia's colonial history.
Coming up: Kim JiYoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo translated by Jamie Chang.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the 600 books to be released on 3 September and Annie mentions the C word.
Our book of the week is Dominicana by Angie Cruz. Fifteen-year-old Ana is forced into an arranged marriage and leaves the Dominican Republic for New York. A Most Anticipated Book of 2020, this has been short-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction to be announced on 9 September. We also reveal our tips for the Women's Prize.
Coming up: A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: Anna, Annie and Amanda reveal the best books we've read so far in 2020!
Our top 9 are:
Underland, Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (Pulitzer Prize winner)
The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (shortlisted for the Women's Prize)
There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the 2020 Booker Prize Longlist and the Caine Prize winner, Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie.
Our book of the week is The White Girl by Tony Birch. This novel tells the story of Odette and her granddaughter Sissy in outback Australia. Shortlisted for this year's Miles Franklin Award and winner of the 2020 NSW Premier's for Indigenous Writing.
Coming up: our Best Books of 2020 So Far and A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the 2020 Booker Prize Longlist.
Our book of the week is All Our Worldly Goods by Irène Némirovsky translated by Sandra Smith. This is a beautiful novel set in France during the period from the 1910s to the 1940s. Némirovsky was a best-selling author in her day and we can see why. A great pick for Women in Translation Month.
Coming up: The White Girl by Tony Birch.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the Miles Franklin Award winner, The Yield by Tara June Winch.
Our book of the week is The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, the follow up to her best-selling debut The Mothers. The story of twin sisters, race and passing as white in America, it spans 40 years from the 1950s to the 1990s. It is already a New York Times Best-selller, described as 'utterly mesmerising' by Bernardine Evaristo and has been compared with Toni Morrison. We highly recommend this one.
Coming up: All Our Worldly Goods by Irène Némirovsky translated by Sandra Smith for Women in Translation Month. #WITMonth
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss books sales in the time of Covid-19 as the big box stores in America find success selling books next to the toilet paper.
Our book of the week is Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles, the New York Times best-selling author of News of the World, which was a National Book Awards finalist. This is her highly anticipated follow-up novel, a Western romance set in Texas in the aftermath of the Civil War. Acclaimed for its 'authentic humanity' (New York Times) and 'airy, luminescent prose' (LA Times), but what did Anna and Amanda think?
Coming up: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and All Our Worldly Goods by Irène Némirovsky translated by Sandra Smith.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction winner The Nickel Boys, and what we think of David Walliams' books after criticism by Jack Monroe.
Our book of the week is Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke. This is the first in the Highway 59 series featuring Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger. With a gripping plot, vast landscape and racial tensions, this is a must-read. Described as 'mesmerising' (Guardian) and 'a superb thriller' (Times), Locke has won many awards and we can see why. Looking forward to the next in the series, Heaven, My Home.
Coming up: Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: Anna and Amanda discuss our top Wellbeing books.
We cover nutrition, sleep, exercise and mindfulness. Our top picks are:
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Food Rules by Michael Pollan
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Gut by Giulia Enders
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Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
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Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
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Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
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Chi Running by Danny Dreyer
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Finding Ultra by Rich Roll
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How to Live a Good Life by Jonathon Fields
-
Quiet by Susan Cain
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Lost Connections by Johann Hari
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Book of Joy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
-
Apples for the Mind by Tom Nehmy
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the bookstores reopening after lockdown.
Our book of the week is How Much Of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang. This debut novel which reimagines the American Western has been getting so much buzz. It's been a national best-seller, and described as 'outstanding' (Washington Post) an 'epic drama' (San Francisco Chronicle) and 'a glittering debut' (Esquire).
Coming up: Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke and our top Wellbeing books.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the Australian government's Arts package announced recently.
Our book of the week is Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd. Kawakami is a feminist icon in Japan. She has been profiled in the New York Times, praised by Haruki Murakami and has won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize. This novel explores womanhood and life as a single woman in Tokyo. Much hype for this one!
Coming up: The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters and our top Wellbeing books.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the Miles Franklin shortlist and the Booker Prize statement.
Our book of the week is The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. This novel set in a reform school in Florida in the 1970s is the follow-up to his multi-award winning The Underground Railroad. Whitehead won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize, becoming only the fourth author to win the Pulitzer twice. The Nickel Boys is a New York Times best-seller and was a Best Book of the Year for Time, Esquire, Washington Post and many others. "The essential paperback for these times", we can't stop raving about this book.
Coming up: How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss JK Rowling's comments about gender identity.
Our book of the week is Cleanness by Garth Greenwell. This short story collection is his follow-up to the hugely successful, 'instant classic' What Belongs To You. An American teacher in Sofia navigates sex, love and a wild night out. Named a Time and Esquire Best Book of 2020 So Far, it's been described as 'incandescent', 'extraordinary' and 'a work of genius'. A great Pride Month read and one of our books of the year.
Coming up: How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang and The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the publishing industry's pledge to increase diversity and the books by black authors topping the best-seller charts.
Our book of the week is The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack by H. M. Naqvi. Abdullah is a 70-year-old man on a mission to save his family empire in this rich, playful novel set in Karachi. Naqvi's writing has great rhythm and brings to life the joy and chaos of the city.
Coming up: Cleanness by Garth Greenwell and How Much Of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize, Lot by Bryan Washington.
Our Pride Month recommendations are:
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Orlando by Virginia Woolf
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Snare by Lilja Sigurðardóttir translated by Quentin Bates
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Trumpet by Jackie Kay
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You Will Be Safe Here by Damian Barr
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Amateur by Thomas Page McBee
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, narrated by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Books on our TBR:
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In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
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Cleanness by Garth Greenwell
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Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor
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Guapa by Saleem Haddad
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The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
Poetry Recommendations:
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Sergius Seeks Bacchus by Norman Erikson Pasaribu translated by Tiffany Tsao
-
Blakwork by Alison Whittaker
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the Jhalak Prize winner, Afropean by Johny Pitts.
Our recommendations for anti-racist books:
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Edo-Lodge
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (ep 85).
Our book of the week is The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak, Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in This Strange World (ep 87). This explores Turkish history through rebellious Asya and her family. Layered with textures, food and strong women, we loved this novel.
Coming up: our Pride Month recommendations.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda find out that Britons are reading more in lockdown and query whether dystopia has lost its lustre.
Our book of the week is Red At The Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, a young adult author, former Young People Poet Laureate, National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and recipient of the Hans Christian Anderson Award. Red At The Bone was a New York Times Bestseller and Notable Book of the Year, one of Oprah Magazine's Best Books of 2019 and was longlisted for the Women's Prize. It deals with family, racial prejudice and teen pregnancy.
Coming up: The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak.
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Anna and Annie discuss the 2020 Miles Franklin Longlist.
Our book of the week is Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, author of the best-selling memoir I Am, I Am, I Am. Her latest novel tells the story of Shakespeare's wife Agnes and their son Hamnet, who died aged 11, four years before Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. Marian Keyes has called it "O'Farrell's best book yet." It has been getting all the buzz and is shortlisted for the 2020 Women's Prize.
Coming up: Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded to Colson Whitehead for The Nickel Boys.
Our book of the week is The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld, award-winning author and "gothic genius" (Hannah Kent). This is a gripping novel about three women set in brooding coastal Scotland in the 18th century, 1950s and today. Described as "#MeToo Gothic" (Sydney Morning Herald), we love Jen Campbell's book maths: "Sarah Waters meets Ali Smith meets Fleabag". It's brilliant.
Coming up: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the 2020 Old Peculier Crime Novel Longlist .
We reveal our top crime picks for isolation reading:
Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh
The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty
Conviction by Denise Mina
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
And other favourites:
The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan
The Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
On our TBR:
Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald
Bluebird Bluebird by Attica Locke
The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan
Coming up: The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld and Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: we sit down with Annabel Bower to discuss her new book Miles Apart: A Heartfelt Guide to Surviving Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Baby Loss.
Annabel wrote this book after her fourth baby, Miles, was stillborn. It's a beautifully written, brave and heartbreaking story, combined with medical research and stories from other parents. Engaging and uplifting, this will be a valuable resource and great comfort for anyone suffering baby loss.
Annabel recommends Grown Ups by Marian Keyes and is watching Normal People.
You can follow Annabel at : @foodbyannabel and @miles__apart .
Coming up: The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld.
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Anna and Annie recommend books to read in isolation.
Our top 6 are:
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This Lonely City by Olivia Laing
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A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar
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A Tale For the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
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The Summer Book by Tove Jansson translated by Thomas Teal
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Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín
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Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann translated by Ross Benjamin
Coming up: The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld and Miles Apart with Annabel Bower.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the William Dean Howells Medal, awarded to Richard Powers for The Overstory.
Our book of the week is The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Kyung-sook Shin translated by Ha-yun Jung. A coming-of-age story of a factory girl in Seoul in the 1970s, this shows a different side of the rapid development of South Korea. Cited in Korea as one of the most important literary novels of the decade.
Coming up: our isolation reading recommendations.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: Anna chats with Jenny Colvin, host of Reading Envy, one of our favourite bookish podcasts.
Our book of the week is An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo, Poet Laureate of the United States. Joy Harjo has won multiple awards for her poetry telling First Nation stories and is also an acclaimed musician. Her memoir Crazy Brave won the American Book Award. Harjo goes back to the lands of her Mvskoke Creek people in An American Sunrise. It's a slim book and the poems are accessible, but it's full of depth and richness. A wonderful read, perfect for National Poetry Month.
We also chat about Jenny's read-along of Ducks, Newburyport.
Coming up: The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Kyung-sook Shin translated by Ha-yun Jung and our isolation reading recommendations.
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Adelaide Writers' Week Podcast sessions here
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the Women's Prize Shortlist.
Our book of the week is The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel. This is the follow-up to her hugely successful, multi-award winning pandemic novel Station Eleven. Inspired by the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, it centres on the fraudster's wife Vincent, who goes missing on a container ship. A New York Times, Newsweek and USA Today Most Anticipated Book of 2020, it's been described as 'a masterpiece' (NPR) and 'your perfect survival bunker read' (The Washington Post).
Coming up: An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo with Jenny Colvin from Reading Envy and The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Kyung-sook Shin translated by Ha-yun Jung.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the Stella Prize winner, See What You Made Me Do by Jess Hill.
Our book of the week is Vernon Subutex 1 and 2 by Virginie Despentes translated by Frank Wynne. Virginie Despentes is a sensation in France and a 'rock and roll Balzac' (Times Literary Supplement). The Vernon Subutex trilogy has been described as 'the zeitgeistiest thing I ever read' (Bustle), 'a sprawling Parisian epic' (New York Review of Books) and Volume 1 was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize.
Next up, The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Kyung-sook Shin translated by Ha-yun Jung and our isolation reading recommendations.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: Anna chats with international number one best-seller Ruth Ware about her new thriller The Turn of the Key.
We have long been fans of Ruth Ware's crime novels, from In A Dark, Dark Wood (optioned by Reese Witherspoon) to The Woman in the Cabin Ten , The Lying Game and The Death of Mrs Westaway. The Turn of the Key is a modern-day haunted house thriller - a perfect page-turner for isolation reading.
Ruth recommends Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie and the podcast Reply All.
You can follow Ruth at @ruthwarewriter.
Next up: Anna and Amanda will be reading Vernon Subutex One and Two by Virginie Despentes translated by Frank Wynne.
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Anna and Annie discuss the Booker International Shortlist and Annie recommends new release Phosphorescence by Julia Baird for Aussie April.
Our book of the week is The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. This is the much anticipated final book in her trilogy about Thomas Cromwell after her double Booker win with the first two novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. It's been critically acclaimed and is longlisted for the Women's Prize. High expectations for this one!
Next up: The Turn of the Key with Ruth Ware and Vernon Subutex by Virginie Despentes translated by Frank Wynne.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: Anna chats with Jamie Klingler, founder of Creative Influence Alliance, the London Book Club and now working with Lockdown Lit Fest, a virtual literary festival.
Jamie is reading the Women's Prize longlist and all 24 previous winners.
She recommends The Other's Gold by Elizabeth Ames and the podcast This American Life.
Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss a new way A-listers are helping children affected by the school closures: Save with Stories. And we've been inspired by all the reading recommendations for self-isolation. Stay tuned for our top picks!
Our book of the week is Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane, exploring the Earth's underworlds in landscape and culture. 'You'd be crazy not to read this book' (Sunday Times). It's a Guardian Best Book of the 21st Century and winner of the Wainwright Prize 2019 and the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award 2020.
Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie announce yet more award nominations, with the shortlist for the NSW Premier's Literary Award being released this week as well as the winners of the Windham Campbell Prize, including podcast favourites Maria Tumarkin and Yiyun Li.
Our book of the week is Weather by Jenny Offill, whose previous novels-in-fragments Dept of Speculation and Last Things have been much loved by Books on the Go hosts. This latest book makes for unsettlingly apt reading amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, as anxious librarian Lizzie grapples with the looming climate disaster alongside her complicated personal life. Darkly funny, perceptive and with "deftly curated silences" (Ben Lerner), Weather is the perfect book for our unsettled times.
Next week, Anna and Amanda will be reading Underland by Robert Macfarlane.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss how you can support your local bookstores during the COVID-19 shutdown - including Annie's store Mostly Books and ordering online via Hive in the UK.
Our book of the week is You Will Be Safe Here by Damian Barr, host of the fabulous Literary Salon and The Big Scottish Book Club. This is a novel set in South Africa during the Second Boer War and modern times, when Willem aged 16 is sent to a training camp to 'turn boys into men'. An Observer, Guardian and Financial Times book of the year and a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, we loved this one.
Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading Weather by Jenny Offill.
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the 2020 Stella Prize shortlist and the Walter Scott Prize longlist.
Our book of the week is Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Olga Tokarczuk won the Man Booker International Prize in 2018 for Flights and the 2018 Nobel Prize for Literature. This novel has been described as "thriller, comedy and political treatise" (Economist), and "a barbed, shrewd, parodic eco-noir" (Times Literary Supplement).
Coming up: You Will Be Safe Here by Damien Barr.
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Happy International Women's Day!
Anna and Annie discuss the 2020 Women's Prize Longlist.
Our book of the week is Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. Joint winner of the 2019 Booker Prize with Margaret Atwood and now long-listed for the Women's Prize, this novel about 12 British women has had rave reviews. What did Anna and Annie think?
Coming up: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, and Weather by Jenny Offill.
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Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the Booker International Longlist.
Our book of the week is City of Trees by Australian writer Sophie Cunningham. We loved this beautiful collection of essays.
Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (recently longlisted for the Women's Prize).
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Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the screen adaptation of No Friend But The Mountains by Behrouz Boochani, and books inspired by the film Parasite.
Our book of the week is The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy. This novel about a man who travels to East Berlin was long-listed for the 2019 Booker Prize and was a best book of 2019 in the New York Times Review of Books, the Washington Post and Time, among others. But what did Anna and Amanda think?
Next week, Anna and Annie will be back with Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo.
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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @amandalhayes99
Twitter: @abailliekaras
Litsy: @abailliekaras
Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss Black History Month and how Barnes and Noble got it wrong.
Our book of the week is A Moth to a Flame by Stig Dagerman, translated by Benjamin Miers Cruz with an introduction by Siri Hustvedt. We love the Penguin Writers Series but this one was not for us.
Coming up, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo and The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy.
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @abailliekaras and @amandalhayes99
Litsy: @abailliekaras
Twitter: @abailliekaras
Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the Stella Prize longlist.
Our book of the week is The Pine Islands by Marion Poschman translated by Jen Calleja. We admit we bought this one for the cover; it was also shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize. A novel about two men who travel through Japan as they trace the footsteps of the poet Basho, Anna and Annie disagreed about this one!
Next week, Anna and Amanda will be reading A Moth to a Flame by Stig Dagerman translated by Benjamin Miers Cruz.
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie
Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie
Litsy: @abailliekaras
Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the Edgar Allen Poe Awards shortlists and make our predictions for the Stella Prize Longlist, to be announced on 6 February 2020.
Our book of the week is The Yield by Tara June Winch. The story of an Aboriginal woman who returns to Australia when her grandfather dies, it has had rave reviews and is tipped to be on the Stella Prize longlist. It was Annie's favourite book of 2019, but what did Anna think?
Coming up: A Moth to a Flame by Stig Dagerman and The Pine Islands by Marion Poschman translated by Jen Calleja.
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Facebook: Books On The Go
Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie
Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie
Litsy: @abailliekaras
Credits:
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Annie discuss the American Dirt controversy. Here are 17 books on the US-American border by Latinx authors you can read instead of American Dirt.
Our book of the week is Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe. Winner of Book of the Year in the 2016 NSW Premier's Book Awards, it has been chosen as the first Parliamentary Book Club book. Pascoe explores the pre-colonial Aboriginal history of agriculture and the future of land management in Australia. A timely read after the bushfires sweeping the nation.
Next week, we will be reading The Yield by Tara June Winch.
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @abailliekaras
Twitter: @abailliekaras
Litsy: @abailliekaras
Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the Costa Book Awards category winners.
Our book of the week is Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips, a haunting debut novel about the disappearance of two girls in remote Kamchatka. A National Book Award finalist, it was one of the New York Times' best books of 2019 and was a Best Book of 2019 in The Washington Post, NPR, Vanity Fair, Esquire and USA Today.
Coming up: Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe and The Yield by Tara June Winch.
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @abailliekaras and @amandalhayes99
Litsy: @abailliekaras
Twitter: @abailliekaras
Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna and Amanda discuss the Costa Book Awards shortlists - the category winners will be announced on 6 January.
Our book of the week is Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister by Jung Chang. This tells the story of the Soong sisters, who played a central role in China's history from 1911 to the Mao years. It's been described as a 'fairy tale' but reads like an opera. We can't wait to hear Jung Chang speak at Adelaide Writers' Week in March.
Coming up: Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips.
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @abailliekaras and @amandalhayes99
Twitter: @abailliekaras
Litsy: @abailliekaras
Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
A special episode: our interview with Jeff Lindsay to discuss his new crime novel Just Watch Me.
Jeff is the author of the hugely successful Dexter books which led to the hit TV show. Just Watch Me is the first in a new series starring Riley Wolfe, a con man who performs daring heists and targets the wealthiest 0.1% . It's unputdownable, darkly funny and a great holiday read. All the Dexter feels!
We'll be back in January with Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister by Jung Chang.
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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @abailliekaras
Litsy: @abailliekaras
Twitter: @abailliekaras
Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Anna, Annie and Amanda are back with our holiday reading recommendations.
Our picks:
Your Own Kind of Girl by Clare Bowditch
Maybe the Horse Will Talk by Elliot Perlman
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Kitty Flanagan's 488 Rules for Life by Kitty Flanagan
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The Weekend by Charlotte Wood
The Way We Eat Now by Bee Wilson
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Other books mentioned:
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The Yield by Tara June Winch
Aristotle's Way by Edith Hall
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Next week, we'll be reading Just Watch Me by Jeff Lindsay.
Follow us!
Facebook: Books On The Go
Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @abailliekaras @mr_annie @amandalhayes99
Twitter: @abailliekaras @mister_annie
Litsy: @abailliekaras @mr_annie
Credits
Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz