Discussion, debate, even a little dispute – expect it all on The Book Club Review. Join host Kate and her guests as they explore contemporary and classic titles. From hyped new releases to word-of-mouth backlist tips, books are put to the book club test – do they live up to our expectations? Listen in for thoughtful insights, lively opinions and inspiration for your next great read.
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Two Novellas, Two Unreliable Narrators: Ben Lerner & Dorothy Baker (Book Club)
Épisode 197
samedi 3 octobre 2026 • Durée 58:11
Kate and Laura are back and diving in to two book club reads, one recent release and one modern classic. Transcription by Ben Lerner was published earlier this year to much critical fanfare. It's a playful, intellectually ambitious exploration of writing, memory, technology and the slippery relationship between fiction and reality. When the narrator's phone fails to record his final interview with an eminent cultural figure, he reconstructs the conversation from memory. But does the truth of an encounter depend on an accurate transcript? And what happens when a novel begins to fold back on itself?
We discuss Lerner's auto-fictional project, his fascination with the act of writing, the glass flowers at Harvard's Natural History Museum, and whether Lerner's novels are genuinely profound or sometimes guilty of taking themselves a little too seriously.
Laura’s book club, meanwhile headed back to the mid-20th century with Dorothy Baker’s classic Cassandra at the Wedding, a brilliantly funny, unsettling and surprisingly contemporary novella about an intensely self-absorbed young woman determined to prevent her identical twin sister from getting married. With its claustrophobic family setting, unreliable narrator, dark comedy and complicated portrait of sisterly love, it's a novel that raises questions about identity, dependence, artistic ambition and the difficulty of allowing the people we love to become themselves – but what did Laura's book club make of it?
As ever in addition to the book club catch up we’re also swapping notes on recent reads and upcoming plans, including diving in to the Booker prize shortlist – the most enticing, we both agree, in years.
It’s the end of summer, so Kate and Laura are looking back over their holiday reading, the books they loved, the ones that disappointed them, and the unexpected discoveries that made their reading lists longer rather than shorter.
We talk about Alex E. Harrow’s huge fantasy novel The Everlasting, and why it turned out to be a surprisingly divisive read. Kate reports back on her pick from the Booker longlist, The Palm House by Gwendolyn Riley. She's also recently completed The Power Broker, Robert Caro's iconic book on New York master-builder Robert Moses, but was it worth the read?She's also discussing The Silver Book, Olivia Laing's most recent work of fiction. In Pankaj Mishra’s The Romantics, Laura found an interesting book club choice, while Kate's flagging up Vladimir by Julia May Jonas, and while on the campus novel theme she also read Joanna Miller’s The Eights, set in 1920s Oxford. Laura wraps things up with the wonderfully atmospheric The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo.
But there’s more as pod-regular Phil Chaffee joins us with two of his favourite summer reads, Sue Prideaux’s Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin and Bret Easton Ellis’s The Shards.
As summer comes to an end, we’re also looking ahead to Booker season, with the shortlist just around the corner and plenty more reading on the horizon.
For all other information and our episode archive find The Book Club Review online at thebookclubreview.co.uk
Complete booklist
Summer Reading: The Books Worth Packing This Year, with Kate, Laura and Phil
Épisode 195
vendredi 7 août 2026 • Durée 01:03:19
Looking for the perfect summer read? Kate is joined by Laura Potter and returning guest Phil Chaffee to compare recent reads before putting this year's biggest summer books to the test. Inspired by reading lists from The New York Times, The Times, Lit Hub and The Booker Prize, they decide which books are beach reads, suitcase books, and which they'd happily leave behind at the airport. Plus, they reveal the books they're packing for their own holidays.
Secondhand Books: Hidden Stories and Literary Treasures
Épisode 194
dimanche 2 août 2026 • Durée 50:17
What makes secondhand books so irresistible? Kate and Laura celebrate the joy of used bookshops, their favourite places to shop, literary finds and the thrill of unexpected discoveries. There's also an interview with W. B. Gooderham, author of Dedicated To, a book that explores the touching, funny and sometimes heartbreaking messages that can be found in the handwritten dedications tucked inside secondhand books. Whether you're a devoted secondhand book hunter or simply love hearing readers talk about books, this episode is a celebration of literary serendipity, book collecting, and the enduring pleasure of finding exactly the right book when you least expect it.
The Guardian's 100 Best Novels of All Time: A Hot Take, with Phil Chaffee and Joseph Dance
Épisode 191
mardi 28 juillet 2026 • Durée 43:00
When the Guardian drops a list of the 100 Greatest Novels in English it's time to drop everything to talk about it. Luckily pod-regular guest, journalist Phil Chaffee and Joseph Dance, host of the Curious Readers podcast, also had views, and were willing to get together on a Sunday evening to share them. You'll hear our hits, our misses, how many we’ve read, whether we should have read more and much musing on whether a list like this is the way to get people excited about reading. We explore the joys of the sub-lists – the contributor lists – all squirrelled away on a sub-section of the Guardian's website, that arguably provide more excitement and inspiration than the fairly canonical top 100. Which is the best Brontë? Which is the best Austen? Do we age into certain books? If you've read all seven volumes of Proust shouldn't that count for more than one entry? All this and much, much more. Enjoy – this was an absolute delight to make and I hope it makes you smile as much as it did me.
Have your say: get in touch on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com, or head to our website for full shownotes. What would be in your top-10?
Check out the Patreon for all kinds of extras, from our monthly book club to extra shows and Kate's reading diaries. Find it at patreon.com/thebookclubreview
George Saunders is back with Vigil, his first novel since Lincoln in the Bardo. In this episode, Kate is joined by fellow book podcasters Jenny King and Sarah Kemp from The Bookcast Club to discuss it
Given his back catalogue, does Vigil live up to the high expectations we have Saunders, one of America's most admired contemporary writers? Why is he so fond of writing about ghosts? Do death, redemption, capitalism and climate change make for an enjoyable read? Do we want novels to be enjoyable? Or do we want them to make a point?
We're also exploring Leo Tolstoy's classic novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich, cited by Saunders as a key influence on Vigil, and asks what both books reveal about how we live, how we die, and whether it's ever too late to change.
Along the way, Kate, Jenny and Sarah share recent reads, their love of a Kobo e-reader, and recommend books (and one film) following on from our book club read.
The 2026 Women's Prize, with Amanda Moulson (Curious Readers)
Épisode 192
vendredi 5 juin 2026 • Durée 54:13
In this episode Kate is joined by Amanda Moulson, co-host of Curious Readers, to consider the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist. Ahead of the prize ceremony next week, which one do we think will win?
Perhaps like Amanda you have read them all, but if, like Kate, you're going to struggle to get to all six, which ones should you focus on? Which are the standout reads? Which are the books most likely to delight, surprise, and stay with you long after you've turned the final page?
We're covering all six books, and you’ll also find out what Amanda has on her TBR, the books she most loves recommending, and how a busy book podcaster organises her bookshelves.
Timestamps for the time-poor
00:00 Welcome and Prize Preview
01:31 Meet Amanda Molson
01:44 Quickfire Reading Habits
03:18 Bookshelf Organization
04:06 Favorite Recs and Current Reads
06:20 Kate’s Power Broker Detour
08:54 Patreon Readalong and Book Club
10:12 Women’s Prize Context and History
15:09 Shortlist Book 1 Flashlight
20:51 Shortlist Book 2 Dominion
25:23 Shortlist Book 3 The Correspondent
26:31 Sybil’s Dark Past
27:07 Audiobook Clip Letters
29:15 Cozy Yet Dark
30:22 Famous Author Replies
31:14 Sybil Effect Debate
32:49 Craft and Book Clubs
33:28 The Mercy Step Setup
The Art of the Everyday: Miranda Keeling, The Anthropologists and the books that slow us down
Épisode 190
samedi 9 mai 2026 • Durée 49:48
What if the antidote to our increasingly frantic world isn't a grand gesture, but simply the act of paying attention?
This week, Kate and Laura are joined by actor, podcaster, and author Miranda Keeling – returning to the pod to talk about her wonderful new book, The Place I'm In, a collection of the small, luminous moments she's gathered from daily life. After her debut The Year I Stopped to Notice, Miranda is back with more of her 'noticings': fragments from parks, supermarket queues, and streets that remind us how much magic is hiding in the everyday.
Their book club read is the perfect complement: The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Şavas – a soulful, quietly funny novel following Asya and Manu as they hunt for an apartment, trying on different futures for size in a city far from home. Asya, a documentary filmmaker, spends her days in the park gathering footage – an anthropologist of the ordinary – and her project rhymes beautifully with Miranda's own.
Plus recommendations inspired by the art of the everyday.
You can find out more about Miranda and her work at mirandakeeling.com, and her podcast Stopping to Notice – over 200 five-minute episodes of binaural location recording – is the perfect companion listen.
Ashes and Stones by Alison Shaw – a journey through Scotland in search of the women killed in the witch trials
by Jessica Simpson – Laura takes a nostalgic trip back through her twenties
Liberating Women's Voices: Austen, Wollstonecraft and after, with Bee Rowlatt
Épisode 189
mercredi 22 avril 2026 • Durée 50:23
A new local literary festival provided the perfect opportunity to record the very first Book Club Review live. Kate is joined by author and broadcaster Bee Rowlatt, whose books include the best-selling Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad, which went on to be dramatised by the BBC, and In Search of Mary inspired by Mary Wollstonecraft. Bee also runs the Wollstonecraft Society, a human rights charity. Her debut novel, One Woman Crime Wave, is a novel that explores the realities of wealth, influence, and inequality in present-day London and offers plenty of talking points for book club discussion and debate. Join our festival audience to hear more about Bee's life and work and why Mary Wollstonecraft and her writing has never been more relevant.
The Book of Love vs The Dud Avocado: Fantasy, Paris & Book Club Verdicts
Épisode 188
mardi 31 mars 2026 • Durée 52:49
The Book of Love vs The Dud Avocado: Fantasy, Paris & Book Club Verdicts
In this episode of The Book Club Review, we return to our book club roots with two wildly different novels: The Book of Love by Kelly Link and The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy.
The Book of Love isthe first novel from acclaimed American short story virtuoso and Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link. In a seemingly ordinary coastal town three teenagers become pawns in a supernatural power struggle. Vulture magazine named it ‘the escapist masterpiece of the year’ but what did Laura’s book club think?
Our second book-club pick is Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado – a fizzing, exuberant novel from 1958 about a young American woman let loose in Paris, determined to live life on her own terms. It gained instant cult status on first publication and remains a timeless portrait of a woman hellbent on living, a book that feels bracingly modern despite being nearly seventy years old. But did it make for a good book club read?
We've also got some listener feedback on Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, we're catching up on recent reads, and the books we’re excited about next.
Get more from the pod on Patreon
Come behind the scenes and enjoy extra episodes, book club membership, community chat threads, readalongs, Kate's reading diaries and more, head to patreon.com/thebookclubreview
Booklist
You'll find all the books mentioned in the pod's Bookshop.org bookshop
1:26 Recent Reads & Kobos – Bookshelf chat, Kobo e-reader enthusiasm, and current reads including Ben Lerner's Transcription and Kiran Millwood Hargrave's Almost Life.
11:54 About The Bookcast Club
14:41 Patreon Break
16:17 What Is Vigil? – Spiritual guide Jill escorts a remorseless fossil fuel tycoon toward death. Audiobook excerpt included.
22:16 Discussing Jill
28:22 Climate & KJ Boon
31:21 A Christmas Carol Parallels
34:16 Broader Reflections – Kate wonders if great writers can no longer make moral judgments in today's climate; Transcription raises similar questions.
35:54 Verdict on Vigil
38:30 The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Tolstoy's novella discussed as Saunders' cited influence.
We Are Green and Trembling Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
Feminist History for Every Day of the Year by Kate Mosse
The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Flashlight by Susan Choi
Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
Dominion by Addie E. Citchens
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson
Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley
Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
The Director by Daniel Kehlman
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
This is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin
You'll find all the titles we mentioned in our Bookshop.org list. Buying books there helps support independent bookshops, and also supports The Book Club Review.
Discover what's on offer over on The Book Club Review Patreon. In becoming a member you'll get extra shows and become part of a warm community swapping book recommendations and connecting over our shared love of books and reading. At the book club tier you can join our monthly book club and come and talk books with Kate in person every month. And as a paying member you're supporting Kate in making this independent podcast.
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