Books On The Go (Anna Baillie-Karas, Annie Waters and Amanda Hayes)

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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 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 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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna, Amanda and Annie pick our top ten books of 2021.

Our favourite reads (in no particular order) were:

1.  Moth by Melody Razak

2. Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down

3. The Magician by Colm Toíbín

4. Phosphorescence by Julia Baird

5. Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

6. The Luminous Solution by Charlotte Wood

7. The Promise by Damon Galgut

8. Assembly by Natasha Brown

9. Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas

10. The False Rose by Jacob Wegelius translated by Peter Graves.

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz 

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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, 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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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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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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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 Story by Stefan Zweig translated by Alexander Starritt.

Coming up: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell 

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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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Artwork: Sasha Wilkosz

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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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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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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X: Kemper Donovan

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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 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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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 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 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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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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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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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 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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Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

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 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 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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the Booker International Prize winner and the Miles Franklin Award Longlist.

We reveal our top crime book recommendations:

- Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke

- Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham

- Northern Spy by Flynn Berry

- The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Leznevich

- Fog by Kaja Malanowska translated by Bill Johnston

- How to Kidnap the Rich by Rahul Raina

Also mentioned:

- The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

- Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

- West Cork podcast

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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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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

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

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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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 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 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 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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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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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 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 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 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 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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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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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 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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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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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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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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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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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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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 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 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!  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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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 the 2024 Stella Prize Shortlist. 

We reveal our favourite recent crime reads.  Our recommendations are:

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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Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Credits

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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Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: Books On The Go

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @shawnthebookmaniac

YouTube: Shawn the Book Maniac

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Instagram: @mr_annie and @abailliekaras

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Credits

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

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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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

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

Follow us!

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Instagram: [a] abailliekaras and [a] shawnthebookmaniac

Youtube: Books On The Go and Shawn the Book Maniac

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: Books On The Go

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Twitter: @abailliekaras

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha WIlkosz

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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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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

Follow us!

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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

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Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: Books On The Go

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz