In this special episode, originally released for our Patreon subscribers, Kate celebrates the joys of the perfect notebook with fellow enthusiast and stationery shop owner David Frostick (Lift, Southwold). From the importance of flat-lay paper to the perfect pen we've got it all covered just in time for back-to-school season.

And then we turn to the art of notetaking. Kate and Laura discuss how they take notes on the books they're discussing on the show, and then we find out how the professionals do it, with friends of the pod, journalist Phil Chaffee and literary critic Emily Rhodes. We also hear from Bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud whose book, The Art of Mindful Reading, is full of great suggestions for how to get the most from your reading. 

If this whets your appetite come and join us at Patreon.com/thebookclubreview where for a small monthly fee (or you can sign up for annual membership if you prefer) you'll receive benefits such as Kate's weekly books email, occasional special episodes, and at the higher tier you can join our monthly book club for live discussions with Kate over Zoom. If you love the pod your support is helpng Kate make the shows, which means a lot, so thank you for considering it.

Discover David's store LIFT here.

For other things referenced in this episode here's an index to products with links.

For the love of a good lamp: 

Visit seriousreaders.com/BCR for our special offer on any HD light – use the code BCR at checkout and if you're in the UK you can also benefit from free shipping. You get a month to try out the lights to decide if they're for you, if not you can return them. We seriously love them, and think you will too.

We love a list, and we love an excuse for a conversation about books, and so we couldn't have been more delighted when the New York Times released their list of the best books of the 21st century, so far. From 503 top tens submitted by authors and other literary world folk, and a bit of statistical magic, they boiled it down to their definitive top 100. And we had to hand it to them, it's a damn good list. Still, we might argue with a few of their choices, and of course have some thoughts of our own.

And so in this episode you'll get our own Book Club Review top 20 books, some of which were on the NYT's list, most of which were not. They're the books we felt had been overlooked, books we loved and were desparate to talk about, books we want to share with you.

And so join me (Kate) and Sarah in London, Phil in New York and Laura in Vancouver as we spend a delightful hour considering the best of the best. I guarantee you'll come away with at least one book for your TBR, and hopefully you'll love it as much as we did.

No booklist, as I thought you might like to find out as you listen, but you'll find all the books discussed at the episode page on our website, thebookclubreview.co.uk

Here's the link to the NYT's list

Also do check out our episode sponsors Serious Readers, who are offering £100 off their brilliant HD reading lamps, use the code BCR at checkout. UK customers get free delivery, elsewhere you can still take advantage of the offer, but there will be a shipping charge.

It's our 2023 review of the year. Join me (Kate), Laura and Phil as we look back over our favourites, from new releases to backlist gems. Find out our overall book of the year, plus the books we're looking forward to in 2024. If you're wondering what to read next, this is the show for you, with over fifty tried and tested recommendations.

Support the show, get our weekly newsletter or join our monthly book club via Patreon.

Follow us on Instagram or Threads

Find full shownotes and a transcript on our website thebookclubreview.co.uk

Book list

Favourite New Release

August Blue by Deborah Levy

The Rainbow by Yasunari Kawabata, and we also discussed Snow Country

Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks 

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan

Favourite backlist title

Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

Charlotte by David Foenkinos

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd

Favourite non-fiction

This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes

A House of Air (collected writing, ed. Hermione Lee) by Penelope Fitzgerald 

The Palace Papers by Tina Brown

How to Talk About Books you Haven’t Read by Piere Bayard

Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles 

Free by Lea Ypi

Favourite Book Club Read

Super Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell

The Years by Annie Ernaux

Favourite comfort reads

Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe

The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 191/2 Front Gardens by Ben Dark

Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire

Madensky Square by Iva Ibbotson

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell

Going Zero by Anthony McCarten

Most disappointed by

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (but do read Sabrina and Corina)

Patreon recommends

Loot by Tania James

Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen

Cider House Rules by John Irving

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

The Axman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey

Not Now Not Ever by Julia Gillard

All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase

Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

Machines Like Me by Ian McKewan

Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov

The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting

Overall Book(s) of 2023

Septology by Jon Fosse (and we mentioned Morning and Evening)

Stay True by Hua Hsu

How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

Monsters by Claire Dederer

Books we’re looking forward to

Arturo’s Island by Elsa Moranti

Rememberance of Things Past by Proust (vol. 3)

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce

Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford

Tremor by Teju Cole

The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut

Comfort reads to curl up with? Or books that provoke, stimulate and challenge? In this episode, we share our latest lockdown reads.

We stay close to home with period drama Belgravia by Julian Fellowes, and London-based fantasy Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. We escape to Provence with unreconstructed male-wish-fulfillment novel Hotel Pastis by Peter Mayle, and escape altogether with the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Cobb. We're delighted by heartwarming romance Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda, and intrigued by Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson. We walk in the footsteps of Raynor Winn on The Salt Path and finally consider the practicalities of sheep farming with The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks.

For many parents home-schooling their children over the coming weeks, the idea of reading in snatches of borrowed time will strike a strong chord.

After the birth of her son, Elizabeth Morris decided to put her career in the book world to good use and set up Crib Notes, a book club in newsletter form. Every month, she curates the perfect book recommendations for new and busy mothers. ‘Sometimes you just need a little spark of mental stimulation to remind you of who you are beyond being a mother’, Elizabeth explains.

Listen in for some fantastic book recommendations – for all readers, not just mums! – and some great practical tips for how to fit in reading when all you have are stolen moments.

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Sign up for Crib Notes at tinyletter.com/CribNotes

Find Elizabeth on Twitter @elizabethmoya and on Instagram @cribnotesbookclub

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Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

My Wild and Furious Nights by Clover Stroud

Constellations, Sinead Gleeson

I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell

Weather by Jenny Offill

The Panic Years, Nell Frizzell

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

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Keep up with what we're doing between episodes on Instagram and facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, and email us anytime at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, we'd love to hear from you. If you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us, it helps other listeners find us and means you'll never miss an episode.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang clocked in at number 80 on The Guardian's list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Barack Obama's a fan too. But what about Laura's book club? What did they make of this mesmerising collection of eight stories, one of which formed the basis of the film Arrival starring Amy Adams?

Real-life rocket scientists Kristy and Ed join the discussion and weigh in on the big questions. Like, will reading Chiang make you more intelligent? Do you have to be a sci-fi devotee to enjoy these stories? And finally, did the book make for a good book club discussion? All this, plus some great book recommendations for your next read.

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Find us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast

on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod

email thebookclubreview@gmail.com

Please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and means you’ll never miss an episode.

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Books mentioned

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Wally Funk's Race for Space: The Extraordinary Story of a Female Aviation Pioneer by Sue Nelson

Pavane by Keith Roberts

Ed's author recommendations: John Brunner, James Blish ('Cities in Flight' and 'The Seedling Stars' [with the puddle story 'Surface Tension'] among others), and Algis Budrys

Laura reports in on The Wych Elm by Tana French, The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne and The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman. Kate's stack consists of Love by Hanne Ostavik, The Anna Karenina Effect by Viv Groskop and Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Join us as we review them and figure out if there are any book club gems in there.

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Drop us a line at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on facebook or instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast or on twitter @bookclubrvwpod. And if you enjoy the show do take a moment to rate and review us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and brings us joy.

Fleishman is in Trouble tells the story of Toby, a successful NYC doctor whose almost ex-wife Rachel has vanished, leaving him alone with their two children. But is she the selfish, self-absorbed, neglectful mother he portrays? 

It’s been described as a Trojan Horse of a novel, a sharp, dry portrait of the blind spots that come with male privilege and entitlement. But what did Laura’s book club make of it? Listen in to find out.

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This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad (New York Times)

How Taffy Brodesser-Akner Thrives on Stress (Real Simple magazine)

Reading the right books is key to making your book club a success. But how to choose?

Listen in to hear the top 10 books we think make for perfect book club reads. They vary from fiction to non-fiction, and cut across every genre and subject. But they're all highly readable, packed full of ideas and will divide opinion – always good for a sparky debate.

Want more? See below for links to the episodes where we've discussed these books in more detail.

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1. Educated by Tara Westover. Episode 22

2. Putney by Sofka Zinovieff

3. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. Episode 55

4. Supper Club by Lara Williams

5. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Episode 33

6. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. 

7. East West Street by Philippe Sands. Episode 18

8. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

9. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. Episode 8

10. This is London by Ben Judah. Episode 9

Ready to start your own book club? 

This special episode tells you how, from who to invite and what books (or genre) to read, to the pitfalls you’ll want to avoid.

It's packed full of inspiration and advice from book clubs we’ve interviewed over the years, including the Proust Book Group in Paris, London's own Jilly Cooper book club, a Horror Book Club and the Walking Book Club of Hampstead Heath.

We've even come up with the top 10 recommended book club books guaranteed to get the discussing going. So, listen in for everything you need to know to start and run a flourishing book group. 

How to find the right book club books? Here are some of our recommended places to look: newspapers summer reading guides and end of year lists, in particular The Times and Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Observer and The Financial Times, The Washington Post and the New York Times; prizes The Booker Prize, The Booker International Prize (for books in translation), The Women's Prize, The Wainwright Prize (for nature writing), The Costa Book Awards, The Goldsmiths Prize (for books that open up new possibilities in the novel form), The Baillie Gifford Prize (for non-fiction), The Walter Scott Prize (for historical-fiction), in the US The National Book Award, the Pulitzer, Barack Obama's annual reading list, in Australia the Miles Franklin and the Stella Prize, and back in Europe Kate's favourite, The Dublin Literary Award (for books nominated by libraries around the world)

Book clubs mentioned in the show:

Emily's Walking Book Club of Hampstead Heath

Simon Thomas's Book of the Year Club

The Horror Book Club

The Lesbian Book Club

The London Literary Salon (Toby Brothers)

Ink84 Bookshop book club

In our stacks this episode: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Becoming by Michelle Obama, Seven Days in the Artworld by Sarah Thornton, 84 Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury by Helene Hanff and Help Me! by Marianne Power. Listen in to find out what we thought of them, and whether there are any gems in there for your next book club read.

Pat Barker's retelling of the Iliad from the female perspective proves a surprisingly marmite read. It was shortlisted for the Women's Prize and received widespread critical praise but Kate's book club was less convinced.  Listen in to find out whether we loved or loathed it, plus some recommendations for your next book club read.

Laura's off for this episode, back for our next Bookshelf show, coming soon. THIS SHOW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS.

A book club for people who don't like the idea of all having to read the same book. At Bee's Bookshare everyone brings a book they’ve loved, loathed, can’t put down or can’t get into and shares them – best of all everyone gets to take away a new read at the end. We met up with Bryony Bishop, founder of Bee’s Bookshare, to find out more.

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Books mentioned:

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting

Stoner by John Williams

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

Having a Wonderful Crime by Craig Rice

Salt on your Tongue by Charlotte Runcie.

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Bees Bookshare meets every other month, visit beesbookshare.co.uk for the latest event details and news.

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Follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. If you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and means you’ll never miss an episode. Thanks :)

We read all six Booker shortlisted books, now join us as we evaluate them and try to second-guess the Booker judges, before finding out the winner - don't miss our hot take.

'A novel is a mirror carried along a high road' says Chair of the Booker judges Esi Edyugan, quoting Stendhal. ‘Year after year’, she continues, ‘the Booker Prize encourages us to take sight of ourselves in the lives of others, to slip for the length of a story into different skins, to grapple with unfamiliar worlds that allow us to see our own afresh.'

Unsurprisingly, seeing the world as it is right now has led to the most downbeat shortlist in our collective memory, but that doesn't mean these books don't make for fantastic discussion. As ever, we won't spoil the plots we'll just give you a sense of what we thought of them.

Join me, Kate, with Laura, our regular guest Phil Chaffee, and first-timer, book blogger Martin Voke, as we talk through 

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (audiobook narrated by Heather O’Sullivan, Barry Fitzgerald, Beau Holland, Ciaran O'Brien, Lisa Caruccio Came and published by Penguin Audio)

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (audiobook narrated by Gerry O’Brien and published by Bolinda Audio @bolindaaudio @borrowbox)

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (audiobook narrated by Torian Brackett and published by Fourth Estate)

Western Lane by Chetna Maroo (audiobook narrated by Maya Saroya and published by Picador)

This Other Eden by Paul Harding (audiobook narrated by Eduardo Ballerini, and published by Penguin Audio)

and

Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein (narrated by Sarah Bernstein and published by Granta)

And for a deep dive into the winner and all fifty-seven previous winners of The Booker Prize don't miss Martin's website On the Prize

We delve into the whirlwind story of Elizabeth Holmes and her biotech company Theranos. At its height, valued at 9 billion dollars. At its heart, a product that didn't work.

In this compelling book, Wall Street Journal writer John Carreyrou sets out his dogged efforts to penetrate the wall of fear and intimidation that hid the truth. Gripping stuff, but did it make for a good book club read? What did Kate's book club think?

Listen in to find out. 

Listen in as we discuss the books we've reading outside of book club. In Laura's stack: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and Queenie, by Candice Carty Williams, while Kate has The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez and The Easternmost House by Juliet Blaxland. We also discuss the Wainwright Prize shortlist, how to dip into your TBR and whether there are any gems in all of these for your next book club read.

Annie and Dave tell us about their family book club that has kept their family engaging with books and debating their merits for seven years now. They give us their tips for making it work and we follow up with some recommendations for books we might try out on our own families.

A sweeping and evocative portrait of an Egyptian family at a time of great social change, from Nobel Prizewinning author Naguib Mahfouz. 'Writing worthy of a Tolstoy, a Flaubert or a Proust' said The Independent newspaper but what did Laura's book club make of it? Listen in to find out, plus lots of great recommendations to help you find your next book club read.

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Recommendations were Women of Sand and Myrrh by Hanan Al-Shaykh, The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and Sally recommended The Map of Love by Ahdef Soueif and The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning.

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If you’d like to see what we’re up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and means you’ll never miss an episode.

Our latest interview is with Tyona Campbell, owner of Barnabees, a very special secondhand bookshop tucked away in the small Suffolk village of Westleton.

Tyona tells us about how her shop is in a small way a protest against the data-gathering online giants, why in her shop you don’t so much find the books as they find you, and why books benefit from being coddled and canoodled. She also has a couple of great recommendations for your next book club read.

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Follow Barnabees on Instagram @barnabeesbooks, and if you want to visit in person the shop is located on the Yoxford Road in Westleton, IP17 2AF. It's open Thursday–Sunday 11am–5pm.

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If you’d like to see what we’re up to between episodes follow BCRP on Instagram or Facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and means you’ll never miss an episode.

The Happy Reader is a magazine that takes the idea of a book club as its inspiration. To celebrate the launch of their latest issue we're revisiting one of our favourite interviews, with editor Seb Emina. He told us about the careful thinking and attention to detail that goes into putting the magazine together plus has some great book recommendations and a radical suggestion for a book club where no-one is allowed to mention the book club book. Intrigued? Then listen on.

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Find out more about The Happy Reader magazine and read along with their next book of the season at www.thehappyreader.com

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Books recommended were Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard, The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, which we also covered in episode 13 of the podcast.

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If you’d like to see what we’re up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or why not drop us a line at thebookclubreview@gmail.com and tell us about your book club. And if you’re not already, do subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

My Sister the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite's superbly titled debut novel, has been one of the literary sensations of 2019 –nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction and long listed for the Booker.

But what did both our book clubs make of it? Does it merit all the acclaim? Listen in to find out. 

Heads up: it's SPOILER-full, so don't listen unless you've read the book, or have no intention of reading it.

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Books mentioned on this episode:

Ponti by Sharlene Teo, Half of a Yellow Sun, Why We Should All be Feminists, and Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngoze Adiche and Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. 

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On our next book club show, we’ll be discussing Palace Walk, the first novel in Nobel Prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy.

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To keep up with us between shows follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com.

And if you’re not already, why not subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have time to rate and review us we will love you forever, it helps other listeners find our pod.

Tucked away in London's Soho is a hidden gem of a bookshop. The Second Shelf sells rare and antiquarian books, modern first editions, ephemera, manuscripts, and rediscovered works – all by women.

We sit down with proprietor A. N. Devers to learn how she went from rare-book dealing to shopkeeping. We also hear about the bookshelves that regularly make customers gasp, and why all women should think about collecting books by women writers.

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For more information check out The Second Shelf's website www.thesecondshelf.com, find them on Twitter @secondshelfbks or Instagram @secondshelfbooks

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If you’d like to see what we’re up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you’re not already, why not subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

It’s a slight volume, but packs a powerful punch. Each of its short essays was smuggled out of the prison where Altan serves – and continues to serve – a life sentence.

The book has been championed by author, international human rights lawyer and general real-life Mark Darcy figure Philippe Sands, while writer A. L. Kennedy said ‘Read this – it will explain why you ever read anything, why anyone ever writes.’ But what did Kate’s book club make of it?

Listen in to find out. Plus our usual range of recommendations for your next book club read.

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Books mentioned on this episode:

• A Strangeness in my Mind by Orhan Pamuk
• A Day in the Life of Yvan Denisovich by Alexander Solyenitzhn
• The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
• Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières

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If you’d like to see what we’re up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you’re not already, why not subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ever dreamed of owning a bookstore? How about one a stone's throw from the beach? When she realised the British seaside town of Margate didn't have a bookshop for new titles, Francesca Wilkins realised it would be the perfect place to realise her lifelong ambition and launch her own store. Listen in for the behind-the-scenes story, some great book recommendations and the secret, in a nutshell, to running a successful bookshop. 

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry has sold over 2 and a half million copies worldwide since publication in 1985, and won a Pulitzer Prize. With prose as ‘as smooth as worn saddle-leather', USA today writes 'If you read only one Western novel in your life, read this one . . . no other has ever approached the accomplishment of Lonesome Dove'. More interesting to us, Lonesome Dove is one of those 'if-you-know-you-know' books, passed from reader to reader, once read, never forgotten. And yet not everyone is a fan – listen in to see what Laura's book club made of it. As ever we're careful not to spoil the plot, so rest assured we won't give away any of the book's secrets. 

We're also recommending some follow-ons and some favourites from our recent reading piles.

Book list

Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

Austerlitz by W.G. Seabed

Sharp by Michelle Dean

How to Talk About Books you Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard

Notes

If you read one article on Lonesome Dove, let it be this brilliant oral history that Texas Monthly put together, which is full of fascinating detail about the TV series and the book.

The audiobook of Lonesome Dove is published by Phoenix Books and read by Lee Horsley.

Links

Website: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk

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Find out about our Patreon, Kate's weekly book recommendations newsletter and how to join our book club and get extra episodes

In our Bookshelf shows we discuss the books we're reading outside of book club, the ones we get to pick and choose! Join us as we successfully identify a book perfect for beach reading this summer, get to the bottom of Kate's problem with audio books (and the cure, The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton), muse on what it’s like reading a book when there’s no cover image (the joys of the elegant but inscrutable Fitzcarraldo edition), discuss Laura’s intentions to set aside lightweight fluff and get back into some serious reading and hear Kate’s true-life encounter with Philippa Perry, author of ‘The Book You Wish Your Parents had Read’.

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Books mentioned in this episode: Becoming by Michelle Obama, A Brief History of Seven Killings and Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James, The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton, Transcription by Kate Atkinson, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead, Flights and The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, Mr Salary by Sally Rooney, The Book You Wish Your Parents had Read by Philippa Perry and The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer

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If you'd like to see what we're up to between episodes follow us on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Facebook and Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com

Subscribe, like us, leave a comment, we love all that, and never miss an episode. Thanks for listening and happy reading.

If you've ever dreamed of switching everything off and being able to read for hours, then this is the show for you. Reading Retreats run holidays where people can rediscover their love of uninterrupted reading but what is the experience really like? Your intrepid reporter from The Book Club Review went along to Matlock in Derbyshire with a stack from the TBR pile to find out.

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To find out more about Reading Retreats check out their website www.readingretreat.co.uk, or find them on facebook and twitter @retreatandread.

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Books mentioned on this show were: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey; in Annie's stack were A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab, Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Aisha Malik, Rosewater by Tade Thompson, Belonging by Umi Sinha and Among Others by Jo Walton; in Sheila's stack were The Only Story by Julian Barnes, Revenge on the Rye by Alice Castle, Washington Black by Esi Edugyan and Broken Ground by Val McDermid and A Boy in Winter by Rachel Seiffert; Sarah Ward recommended The Silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigurdardottir and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters; and in my stack were Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner, There There by Tommy Orange, Bad Blood by Jon Carreyrou and Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday.

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If you’d like to see what we’re up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you’re not already, why not subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

One book club in south London have found a way to get even more out of their book club meetings, and that's to invite the authors along. Listen in to hear more about the 'Wilde Imagination' book club, plus tips on how to manage your group so that everyone, from the loudest to the quietest, gets to have a say.

Books mentioned on this show: A Girl In Traffick by Mamta Valderrama, Eleanor Oliphant is Perfectly Fine by Gail Honeyman, Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant by Shrabani Basu, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod or leave us a comment on iTunes, we'd love to hear from you. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

We're joined by author Phyllis Richardson to discuss Golden Hill, Francis Spufford's rollicking historical novel. It has plot full of more twists and turns than a slide at Centerparcs so we've split the episode into two; the first half is the safety zone where we won't spoil the plot for you, but if you have read it and want to dive deeper listen on for part two. Come back to us at the end for our recommendations and to hear more about Phyllis's wonderful book about authors and their houses, House of Fiction. 

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Books mentioned: The Prophets of Eternal Fjord by Kim Leine (discussed in full detail in episode 6 of the pod), The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson, The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey, Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne.

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House of Fiction by Phyllis Richardson is published by Unbound.

Masterpiece from the contemporary heir to Samuel Beckett or demanding endurance read with not nearly enough paragraph breaks? We debate Anna Burns' Booker-Prize winning novel – a tale of suffocating gossip, ever-present violence and one young woman’s struggle to retain her sense of self during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. For this show we were joined by @jenny.mccullough who brought a fascinating perspective to it from her Northern Irish background.

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Books mentioned: The People's Act of Love by James Meek, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear Macbride, Days Without End by Sebastian Barry, Troubles by J. G. Farrell, The Trial by Franz Kafka, The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry.

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The twitter feed Jenny mentions is from Dr. Caroline Magennis, @DrMagennis, for Northern Irish literature recommendations.

For a ton of great recommendations most of which were new to us we turned to Anna Bailie Karas from Australian podcast Books on the Go. Listen in to hear about some books that might be new to you, or ones that you might have overlooked when they came out. And finally a book that has all of Australia buzzing that's not yet been published in the UK...

Find Books on the Go on iTunes, and on all other major podcast platforms, or check out their website . Find Anna on Instagram @abailliekaras

Books mentioned on the show:

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie

No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani

The Dry, Force of Nature and The Lost Man by Jane Harper, outback crime novels

We That Are Young by Preti Taneja

Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

The Shepherd’s Hut by Tim Winton

What happens when all the black people in a Southern town decide to pack their things and leave? First published in 1962 A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelly had been largely forgotten until rediscovered by journalist Kathryn Schulz. Her New Yorker article put it back on the map. Laura's book club were intrigued by the story, but did it live up to the cultural hype? Meanwhile Kate's book club tackled If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin, a moving story of love in the face of injustice set in Harlem, New York. The Hollywood film adaptation was nominated for several awards but what did we think of the book? Listen in to find out.

What are we reading outside of book club? In Kate's stack this episode: Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami and Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple. In Laura's: Heartburn by Nora Ephron, You Think it I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld, The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar. Listen in to hear what we thought of them, the hits and misses and whether there are any book club gems in there.

So often in the reading world we are chasing the latest new release, so it was a great pleasure to interview Simon Thomas who specialises in seeking out books from the past. We explore his unusual take on a book club where he and like-minded book bloggers read and review books from a particular year in the last century. This interview is full of gems and some great book club suggestions, so have a pen ready at the end!

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Next up for the Book of the Year Club is 1965 and it starts in April. Check out Simon's website www.stuckinabook.com for more info. You can also find him on Instagram @Simonedwardthomas and on Twitter @stuck_inabook. And finally we recommend curling up for a listen to Simon's own podcast, Tea or Books, available on iTunes, in which he and his friend Rachel (Book Snob) debate the difficult decisions of reading and books.

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Books mentioned on this show: The Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield, Merry Hall by Beverly Nichols, Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym, Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker, The Museum of Cheats by Silvia Townsend Warner, Little and Alva and Irva, both by Edward Carey and Simon’s top book club suggestion Another Part of the Woods by Beryl Bainbridge.

We discuss Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology, whose compelling book offers us the chance to be more attractive, slimmer, happier and healthier, all thanks to a good night’s sleep. Critics have called this international bestseller 'accessible', 'compelling' and 'enlightening', but what did Kate's book club make of it? For us was it electrifying or soporific? Listen in to find out.

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If you’d like to see what we’re up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you're not already, subscribe to us and never miss an episode.

Irish author Claire Keegan is generally considered to be one of the finest writers working today. ‘Every word is the right word in the right place, and the effect is resonant and deeply moving’ said Hilary Mantel, of her work, while for Colm Toiíbín ‘Claire Keegan makes her moments real – and then she makes them matter.’ Praise indeed, but what did our brand new podcast book club make of So Late in the Day, her most recently published short story? We’ll be reporting back.

And we’re also rounding up a few stand-outs from our recent reading piles, from J. L. Carr’s meditative classic A Month in the Country to V.E. Schwab’s latest fantasy novel The Fragile Threads of Power.

Book list

So Late in the Day and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt,

The Road to the City by Natalia Ginsberg in the Storybook ND series

Tom Lake, Bel Canto and The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer

The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn

Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey

A Month in the Country, by J. L. Carr

Soldier, Sailor by Claire Kilroy

The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab

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or email us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, we love to hear from you

What do we read when not busy reading our book club books? Listen in to find out. This episode it’s a wide-ranging list as we report in on Lily Allen’s My Thoughts Exactly, The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis, the provocative Poverty Safari by Darren McGarvey, short stories from the Orkney Islands, French classic Bonjour Tristesse, and the indulgent, laugh-out-loud Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims. Oh yes, and The Female Persuasion by Meg Wollitzer too.

Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod or leave us a comment on iTunes, we'd love to hear from you. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

From Game of Thrones to Watership Down via Haruki Marukami, Margaret Atwood, Frank Herbert and everything in-between, Mostly Harmless are a thriving book club devoted to sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comics. We interviewed founders Derek and Barbara about the hits and misses over the years, and get a great set of expert recommendations for die-hard enthusiasts, and also those thinking about trying a genre novel. 

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The Mostly Harmless Book Club meet monthly, find details here.

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Books mentioned in this episode were: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Dune by Frank Herbert, the novels of George R. R. Martin, Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse, Annihilator by Grant Morrison, Ronin by Frank Miller, The Female Man by Joanna Russ, The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemison, Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

Normal People was named Waterstones book of the year, was longlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize and most recently won the Costa Novel Award. Sally Rooney’s editor at Faber & Faber dubbed her a ‘Salinger for the Snapchat generation’, while praise has been heaped on the book by the critics. But did it make for a good book club read? Is the hype justified? Listen in to find out.

A special episode with historian, academic, documentary maker, journalist, cultural polymath and keen fiction reader Simon Schama. Listen in to find out what sends him to sleep happy, how his reading informs his writing, his favourite bookstores, his views on the pleasure of imperfect books, and best of all a ton of book suggestions and a brilliant book club recommendation just for us.

Books by Simon Schama include:

• Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution
• Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution
• The Embarrassment Of Riches: An Interpretation Of Dutch Culture In The Golden Age
• Belonging: The Story of the Jews 1492–1900

Books mentioned on this episode:

• War and Peace, Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
• A Sentimental Education Flaubert
• In the First Circle by  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
• Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
• The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa
• Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
• The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
• The General and His Labyrinth by Gabriel García Márquez
• Memoirs of Hadrian and That Mighty Sculptor, Time by Marguerite Yourcenar
• 'Don't Look Now' and  'The Birds' Daphne du Maurier
• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
• The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books by Edward Wilson-Lee

One of our favourite interviews, duly resurrected for any who heard Andy on our recent Haunting of Hill House show and wanted to know more about his book club. For scaredy cats like Laura and me, listen in to find out why the horror genre might be more rewarding than you realised. Horror aficionados listen in for a recommendation so frightening it freaked even Andy out.

Find the Horror Book Club online at www.thehorrorbookclub.com, on twitter @horrorbookclub or see details on meetup.com

Hill House, 'not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more.' Andy Russell of London's Horror Book Club joins us to discuss Shirley Jackson's classic. A total terror? Or just the right side of thrilling? Listen in to hear what Laura's book club made of it.

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London's Horror Book Club read one weird, wonderful and (crucially) terror-inducing book a month. If you're interested in joining you can find them on meetup.com

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Books mentioned on this episode:

• The Shining and On Writing by Stephen King
• Hell House and I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
• Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
• 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

What we've been reading outside of book club – the books we get to pick and choose. On the list: Things I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, Mrs Gaskell and Me by Nell Stevens, I Am I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell, Billie by Anna Gavalda, A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, The Last Samurai by Helen De Witt, and Moneyball by Michael Lewis.

Whether for book club or your TBR shelf, 2019 may be the year for a challenge. But what is it about classics such as Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, or Homer’s Iliad, James Joyce's Ulysses or Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain that makes them seem more daunting than pleasurable? Fear not, we have just the interview for you (and in a sneak preview I can tell you that you're not supposed to like those books at first!). In a quiet north London street, Toby Brothers runs the London Literary Salon in which she seeks to help people unlock the secrets of books both classic and contemporary. She also gives us some book club doctor tips for getting the most out of your group, and a great list of book suggestions for sparky debates and rich discussions.

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Find out more about the London Literary Salon at www.litsalon.co.uk

'The baby is dead. It took only a few seconds.' So begins this bestselling thriller by French author Leïla Slimani, and the winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt. Unmissable? Unreadable? 

Listen in to hear Laura report back on what her book club made of Lullaby – and whether she made it out intact. With much, much to debate and discuss, Lullaby may well be our most divisive book club book yet.

Books mentioned on this episode:

• The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
• Somewhere Someone is Waiting for Me and Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda
• A Life's Work by Rachel Cusk
• My Thoughts Exactly by Lily Allen
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Laura also mentioned the play Girls and Boys by Dennis Kelly.

We take stock of another year of book club books and square off to choose an official Book Club Book of the Year. On the list: Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman, Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles, Educated by Tara Westover, Swing Time by Zadie Smith, Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien, The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara, Lullaby by Leila Slemani, A Horse Walks Into A Bar by David Grossman, Dr Fischer of Geneva by Graham Greene, East West Street by Philippe Sands, A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark, The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit, Less by Andrew Sean Greer and The Unfinished Palazzo by Judith Mackrell.

Is there any point in doing a nice thing if you can’t flaunt it on social media? Can we ever know what it’s like to be a bat? If we know Cinderella isn’t real, why do we care about whether or not she marries the prince? In this episode Kate is joined by Jonny Thomson, the man behind the popular Instagram account @philosophyminis, and a bestselling book of the same name. With a new title out, Mini Big Ideas, it seemed the perfect time to catch up with him and consider the philosophical ideas that lie behind three works of fiction: The Death of Yvan Illyich by Leo Tolstoy, Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Just what connects these three titles? Listen in to find out, plus a few more book recommendations. All that, plus discover 'the gap', and how knowing about it might change your life, and the benefits of scepticism.

Book list

On Fairy Stories by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Death of Ivan Illyich by Leo Tolstoy (and in particular the Peter Carson translation)

Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov

Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Leonard & Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession

Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer

Metaphysical Animals by Rachel Wiseman and Claire MacCumhaill

Philosopher Queens by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting

Mini Philosophy and Mini Big Ideas by Jonny Thomson

Notes

Find Jonny on Instagram @philosophyminis

Find us at: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk

Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast

Kate's Threads reading log: @bookclubreviewpodcast@threads.net

Newsletter sign-up: https://substack.com/@thebookclubreview

Patreon and book club: We've made free episodes of The Book Club Review for 6 years now, and we'll continue to keep them free, and ad-free. But they take a lot in terms of time and resources so if you appreciate the shows and would like to support us we now have a Patreon where you can do that. In return you'll get weekly bookish recommendations from Kate, plus, at the higher tier, extra episodes and membership of our podcast book club, to be held over Zoom once a month on Sunday nights (UK time). We would love to see you there. https://patreon.com/thebookclubreview

From hockey team to all-male book club with 50+ members, Jim West tells us how founding The Paperbacks revealed 'the great undiscovered demographic': men who read.

Books mentioned on this episode:

• Madness, Betrayal and the Lash: The Epic Voyage of Captain George Vancouver by Stephen R. Bown
• The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie by Grant Lawrence
• Iron Coffins: A U-boat Commander's War, 1939-45 by Herbert Werner 

The story of three extraordinary women – Luisa Casati, Doris Castleross, Peggy Guggenheim – and the Venetian Palazzo that captivated them. Judith Mackrell's biography is a fascinating read but does it make for a good book club book? Listen in to find out.

Books mentioned on this episode:

• The Unfinished Palazzo: Life, Love and Art in Venice by Judith Mackrell
• Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl, Portrait of a Lady and The Ambassadors by Henry James
• Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh

Wondering what to buy the book clubber in your life for Christmas? Here's Claire Griffiths of Highbury bookshop Ink84 with a brilliant rundown of new titles to catch your interest and inspire some great book club debates.

Ink84 bookshop

Books mentioned on this episode:

• Ghost Wall and The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss
• Fresh Water by Akwaeke Emezi
• Fox 8 by George Saunders
• French Exit by Patrick DeWitt
• Conversations with Friends and Normal People by Sally Rooney
• Bedsit Disco Queen and Another Planet by Tracey Thorn
• My Thoughts Exactly Lily Allen
• Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
• Cold Black Mornings by Brett Anderson
• A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelley

If you’d like to see what we’re up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com.

And if you’re not already, why not subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Drop us a line and let us know your best book club reads, or your worst. We'd love to hear from you.