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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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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

Credits

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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Substack: Books On The Go 

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @anocera02

Anthony: https://anthonynocera.me/

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Credits

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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Instagram: @abailliekaras / @mr_annie / @vibrant_lives_podcast

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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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @splinterjournal

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

 

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

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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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @bookclubreviewpodcast

Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

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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

Instagram: @ abailliekaras and @mr_annie

 

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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

Follow us!

Instagram: @mr_annie and @abailliekaras

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

 

Credits

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

Credits: 

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Facebook: Books On The Go

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

 

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

 

Credits

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast @ gmail.com

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

 

Credits

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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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @shawnthebookmaniac

Youtube: Anna Baillie-Karas and Shawn the Book Maniac

Credits

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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Instagram: @ abailliekaras and @ mr_annie

Credits

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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Email: booksonthegopodcast @ gmail.com

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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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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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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @shawnthebookmaniac

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Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

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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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

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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Instagram: @ abailliekaras and @ vibrant_lives_podcast

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

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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 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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Instragram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

 

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

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 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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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast

Twitter: @abailliekaras

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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Instagram : @abailliekaras and @enniscehic

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha WIlkosz