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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Anna and Annie find some book recommendations to read along with Taylor Swift's new album The Tortured Poets Department.

Our book of the week is Question 7 by Richard Flanagan.  This memoir encompasses H. G. Wells, nuclear physics and the atomic bomb and ends in Tasmania, Australia. Memories, encounters and fictional vignettes are woven together into a beautiful tapestry that show how words don't suffice.  The title references Chekhov and gives a hint of the absurd. Much to discuss!

Coming up: Thunderhead by Miranda Darling.

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Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Stella Prize shortlist.

Our book of the week is Butter by Asako Yuzuki translated by Polly Barton. Described as 'a novel of food and murder' this follows Riko, a journalist, who investigates serial killer Manako Kajii.  Kajii allegedly seduced rich men with her cooking before killing them, and she encourages Riko to cook and appreciate food.  Inspired by a true story, this has been a cult Japanese best-seller. 

Coming up: Question 7 by Richard Flanagan.

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Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Stella Prize Shortlist. 

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

The Many Lies of Veronica Hawkins by Kristina Perez Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan The Sleeping Nymph by Ilaria Tutti translated by Ekin Oklap To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey The Fugitives by Jamal Mahjoub Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead by Jenny Hollander The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan   Coming up: Question 7 by Richard Flanagan   Follow us!   Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie   Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

A special episode: we chat with author Jenny Hollander about her debut crime novel EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD.

Charlie Colbert is an editor at a major magazine and engaged to a publishing heir.  But she witnessed a tragedy at her elite journalism school and lied to the police 9 years ago.  Now a classmate is making a film about the events, which threatens the life Charlie has built.  This is a gripping, twisty thriller described as 'a delicious crime debut' (Red) and 'knife-sharp' (Woman's Own) and is a USA Today Bestseller.

Jenny recommends the authors Lisa Jewel, Sarah Sheppard, Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth and the podcast Unreal.

Coming up: our crime reading recommendations.

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Anna and Annie discuss the inaugural Women's Prize for Non-Fiction longlist, including Anna Funder's Wifedom.

Our book of the week is THE VULNERABLES by Sigrid Nunez. This is the third in a loose trilogy after THE FRIEND and WHAT ARE YOU GOING THROUGH. A writer, a college drop-out and a talking parrot share an apartment in New York during the Covid pandemic.  This is subtler than the first two books but we loved the mix of story and Nunez's reflections on life and writing.  

Coming up: our Crime reading recommendations.

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It's the Shawn and Anna Book Club!

Our first book is Home Reading Service by Fabio Morábito translated by Curtis Bauer. Eduardo is sentenced to a year of community service reading aloud to the elderly and disabled.  Set in Mexico, this novel is witty and poignant.  It even inspired us to discuss poetry!  And the fine line between whacky and eccentric.

Also mentioned:

Shawn's Bite Sized Book Chat with Stu aka Winston's Dad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PubR7KrANvE&t=40s 

Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai translated by Polly Barton

Book Club Review Podcast

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Anna and Annie reveal our book recommendations for the holiday season.

Our favourite holiday reads this year are:

THE CLUB by Ellery Lloyd

NOW YOU SEE US by Balli Kaur Jaswal

WEST HEART KILL by Dann McDorman

FLIGHT by Lynn Steger Strong

THE LIBRARIANIST by Patrick deWitt

ROMANTIC COMEDY by Curtis Sittenfeld

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Anna and Annie discuss the Booker Prize 2023 winner, PROPHET SONG by Paul Lynch.

We reveal the best books we read in 2023.  In no particular order, they are:

Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren translated by Agnes Broomé

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton

Girl in a Pink Dress by Kylie Needham

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

The Fraud by Zadie Smith

The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor

Loot by Tania James

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Coming up: our Holiday Reading recommendations

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Anna and Annie discuss authors' concerns about Spotify streaming books and highlights from the 2024 Adelaide Writers Week lineup.

Our book of the week is Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren translated by Agnes Broomé. Sandgren has been described as "Sweden's Sally Rooney" (The Times).  Collected Works is a thought-provoking, intellectual novel set in Gothenburg.  At the heart of it is the mystery of the disappearance of Martin's wife, Cecilia.  Anna loved it but Annie would have preferred more Cecilia and less Martin!

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Special guest Shawn Mooney of Shawn the Book Maniac joins Anna for Book Club!

We discuss TRUE BIZ by Sara Nović and Y/N by Esther Yi.  These books have taken us down rabbit holes of deaf culture (True Biz) and super fandom (Y/N). Two interesting and thought-provoking reads!

Shawn recommends the interview with Esther Yi on Jaylen's The Bar and the Bookcase podcast.

We're currently reading:

GIBBONS OR ONE BLOODY THING AFTER ANOTHER by James Morrison (and see the book launch on Shawn's channel)

SMALL WORLDS by Caleb Azumah Nelson

LEOPOLDSTADT by Tom Stoppard

 

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Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Booker Prize Shortlist.

Our book of the week is INTERMEZZO by award-winning author Sally Rooney. Intermezzo is a novel about two brothers who deal with grief, family and relationships. Intimate and poignant, it's been an instant New York Times bestseller, shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Book of the Year and one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year. We discuss Sally Rooney's popularity, the backlash and what it says about women's fiction.

Coming up: ALL FOURS by Miranda July.

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Anna and Annie discuss the 2023 Booker Prize Shortlist and the authors taking action over the generative AI use of their work.

Our book of the week is WIFEDOM: MRS ORWELL'S INVISIBLE LIFE by Anna Funder.  An innovative biography of Eileen Orwell by the Miles Franklin and Samuel Johnson prize winner, it has been described as a masterpiece and we think would make a great book club book.

Coming up: Book Club with Shawn Mooney

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Anna and Amanda discuss the Nero Book Awards which will commence in 2024.

Our book of the week is CHAI TIME AT CINNAMON GARDENS by Shankari Chandran.  A layered story about a nursing home in Sydney whose residents have traumatic memories of the civil war in Sri Lanka, this won the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award. 

Coming up: WIFEDOM by Anna Funder.

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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

 

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Anna and Annie discuss a recent study on reading to young children.

We wrap up Women in Translation month.  The books we read (or Annie did at least!) and recommend are:

Slime: A Natural History by Susanne Wedlich translated by Ayca Turkoglu

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd

What You're Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama translated by Alison Watts

Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren translated by Agnes Broomé

My Devotion by Julia Kerninon translated by Alison Anderson

Sleepless by Marie Darrieussecq translated by Penny Hueston

 

Coming up: Chai Time in the Cinnamon Gardens and Wifedom

 

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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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Litsy: @abailliekaras

 

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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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Litsy: @abailliekaras

 

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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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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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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha WIlkosz

A special episode: Anna chats with author Christine Keighery about her new novel The Half Brother.

Christine Keighery has written over 35 novels for children and young adults (as Chrissie Perry).  The Half Brother is her first novel for adults.  It's a psychological suspense story about a family, secrets and coercive control. Described as "sinister, suspenseful and tightly written, with an ending I didn't see coming" (Vikki Wakefield).  There are no spoilers in this episode so you'll have to read it to see what the twist is!

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Christine: chrissieperry.com

 

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz 

Anna and Amanda discuss The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.  This novel set in Japan and Hong Kong in 1947 explores the colonial era with a forbidden love story at its centre.  Described as "the last masterpiece of a vanished age of civility" (Wall Street Journal) it won the 2003 Miles Franklin Award and the National Book Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the 2004 Orange Prize.

We also recommend Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life by Brigitta Olubas.

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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

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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Chris: https://chrishammerauthor.com/

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

A special episode: Anna chats with author Kylie Needham about her debut novel, Girl In A Pink Dress.

Girl in a Pink Dress centres on Frances, an artist in her 40s who is invited to her former lover's exhibition opening in Sydney.  A beautiful, spare novel that explores the idea of two artists living together and female rage, against the backdrop of the Australian landscape.  Described as "a quiet triumph" (Heather Rose) and "breathtakingly good" (David Wenham), we loved this book.

Kylie recommends:

Can A Woman Who Is An Artist Ever Just Be An Artist? by Rachel Cusk

The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante

The New Yorker The Writer's Voice Podcast

The Witch Trials of J. K. Rowling Podcast

Coming up: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.

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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

 

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Anna and Annie discuss the Stella Prize shortlist (belatedly!)

Our book of the week is The New Life by Tom Crewe.  A brilliant debut novel about two marriages and sexual freedom in 1890s London, it evokes the time and place beautifully but feels modern and resonates today.  It reminded us of Colm Tóibín, with "the spirit of Forster" (Washington Post).

Coming up: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

Anna, Annie and Amanda react to the 2023 Women's Prize Shortlist and give our winner predictions.

And Annie has news!

The shortlist is:

• Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris
• Pod by Laline Paull
• Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks
• Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Coming up: The New Life by Tom Crewe and The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.

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Instagram: @abailliekaras , @vibrant_lives_podcast , @mr_annie

 

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Annie, Anna and Amanda discuss the shortlist for the 2023 Stella Prize and give their winner predictions.

The shortlist is:

• We Come With This Place by Debra Dank 
• big beautiful female theory by Eloise Grills 
• The Jaguar by Sarah Holland-Batt 
• Hydra by Adriane Howell 
• Indelible City by Louisa Lim 
• Bad Art Mother by Edwina Preston

Coming up: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard and our Women's Prize Shortlist episode.

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Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the 2023 Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlist.

Our book of the week is All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien.  This debut novel tells the story of Ky, a Vietnamese-Australian woman who looks for answers when her brother is killed in Cabramatta, Sydney.  It won the 2023 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction. 

Coming up: The New Life by Tom Crewe.

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the books they are keeping or culling, including

• Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
• The Invention of Medicine by Robin Lane Fox
• Troy by Stephen Fry

Our book of the week is Stone Blind, the latest novel by Natalie Haynes.  It tells the story of Medusa from a feminist perspective, is witty, rich with details from Greek mythology and has been long-listed for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction. We loved this one.

 

Coming up: All That is Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien.

 

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Anna and Annie react to the 2023 Women's Prize Longlist and the Booker International Longlist.

Our book of the week is I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai, the follow-up novel to her Pulitzer Prize winning best-seller The Great Believers. The story centres on podcaster Bodie, who is drawn back to a murder case from her boarding school days and starts to fear that the wrong man has been imprisoned.  A gripping mix of crime, #MeToo and campus drama, this is perfect for book clubs.  We recommend it.

Coming up: Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

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Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

A special episode: Anna and Amanda chat with best-selling author Sally Hepworth about her new novel The Soulmate. The Soulmate is a gripping story about Pippa and Gabe, who are happily married until a woman dies near their home and they become entangled in the mystery that follows.  A compulsive read which raises questions about marriage and loyalty, we could not put this down.

Sally also recommends:

Authors Jane Harper, Liane Moriarty, Kate Morton and Holly Ringland;

Podcasts The First Time Podcast and The Lise and Sarah Show; and

TV show Bad Sisters.

Coming up: I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai.

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Instagram: @abailliekaras , @vibrant_lives_podcast and @sallyhepworth

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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

Annie and Anna discuss the 2023 Stella Prize Longlist.

Our book of the week is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, the follow-up to his best-selling and Pulitzer Prize winning novel All the Light We Cannot See. Cloud Cuckoo Land was on the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks and was a National Book Award finalist.  Set in 15th century Constantinople, modern day Idaho and a future spaceship, it is about children in times of peril who find hope in a book.  

Coming up: The Soulmate with special guest Sally Hepworth.

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Email: booksonthegopodcast [at] gmail.com

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Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode as we chat with Eve Thomson about her debut novel She Too.

She Too is a legal thriller about a young lawyer who acts for a man accused of being an abusive husband as he sues a news website for defamation.  It looks at the nature of truth, celebrity and power.

Eve recommends the book Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr and the podcasts Conversations, Chat 10 Looks 3 and Head Noise.

Coming up: Cloud Cuckoo Land.

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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

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode - our interview with Louise Adler, Director of Adelaide Writers' Week!  We discuss Louise's 'Director's Picks', some new authors to discover and the challenges of curating a literary festival.

Books discussed:

Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee

Beat the Devil by David Hare

Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life by Brigitta Olubas

The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

The Singularities by John Banville

We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958 by Fintan O'Toole

A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work by Bernadette Brennan

Coming up: Cloud Cuckoo Land.

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Adelaide Writers' Week: @adelaidewritersweek

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Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

Anna and Annie discuss the 2023 Dublin Literary Award Longlist. 

Our book of the week is Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel. Like Station 11 and The Glass Hotel, it is speculative fiction with warmth, heart and great story-telling.  A New York Times Bestseller and a Best Book of 2022 (New York Times, Oprah Daily, NPR) it has been described as 'transporting and brilliant and generous' (USA Today).  

Coming up: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.

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Facebook: Books On The Go

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Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the man arrested for stealing manuscripts and whether new AI technology ChatGPT can write novels. 

Our book of the week is Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. Set in 1970s Belfast during the Troubles, it tells the story of a young Catholic woman and her affair with a married Protestant man. Described as "brilliant, beautiful, heartbreaking" (New York Times) and named a Best Book of the Year by the Washington Post, we loved this book.

Louise Kennedy will be at Adelaide Writers' Week in March.  We can't wait!

Also mentioned:

Scriptnotes podcast

In Suspense podcast

AlphaGo documentary

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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf and Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka in our Keep or Cull segment.

Our book of the week is The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov translated by Michael Glenny. We have been meaning to read this Russian classic for ages.  A surreal, absurdist satire, it features Satan, Pontius Pilate, a poet and a talking cat.  Not what we were expecting! 

We'll be back in a few weeks.

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Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna, Annie and Amanda discuss our best books of 2022.

Our favourite reads were:

The Comfort Book by Matt Haig

Border by Kapka Kassabova

Devotion by Hannah Kent

Love Marriage by Monica Ali

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

The Hummingbird by Sandro Veronesi translated by Elena Pala

The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide translated by Eric Selland

Limberlost by Robbie Arnott

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra

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Email: Books On The Go

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss how BookTok is helping young people discover a passion for reading.

Our holiday reading recommendations are:

Willowman by Inge Simpson

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

Better the Blood by Michael Bennett

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margo by Marianne Cronin

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee

The Palace Papers by Tina Brown

The Master: The Brilliant Career of Roger Federer by Christopher Clary

Coming up: Our Best Books of 2022

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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anna and Amanda discuss book shopping on TikTok. 

Our book of the week is Crossroads by award-winning author Jonathan Franzen.  This is a family drama set in 1971 American suburbia and is the first in a trilogy.  It was an instant New York Times best-seller, a Guardian Best Fiction Book of 2021 and has been described as 'a Middlemarch-like triumph' (The Telegraph). 

Coming up: our Holiday Reading Recomendations and TBR.

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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Amanda discuss the National Book Award winner for fiction, The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty.

Our book of the week is The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell, the follow-up novel to her hugely successful Hamnet. It's set in the Italian Renaissance and follows Lucrezia de'Medici and her marriage aged 15 to the Duke of Ferrara.  All the ingredients for a great read, we had high expectations for this one!

Coming up: Crossroads by Jonanthan Franzen and our Holiday Reading recommendations and TBR!

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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras 

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the court blocking the acquisition by Penguin Random House of Simon & Schuster.

Our book of the week is The Trees by Percival Everett. This novel set in Money, Mississippi starts with a brutal murder which detectives Ed and Jim struggle to solve.  Satirical with absurdist elements and a whodunnit, but confronting racism and lynching in America, it has been described as a 'gory pulp revenge fantasy' (Bookforum) and 'explosive in every way' (Dua Lipa). It was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize.

Coming up: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell.

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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Facebook: Books On The Go

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the Readings Prize winner, Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au.

Our book of the week is Real Bad Things by Kelly J. Ford.  Set around the Arkansas River, this is a suspense thriller about Jane, who returns to her home town to face up to a murder that was committed years before. Described as Southern noir or Grit Lit, this was an Amazon Best Book of the Month and is recommended for Ozark fans.

Coming up: The Trees by Percival Everett.

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Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Facebook: Books On The Go

Credits

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

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the Booker Prize winner, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka.

In Keep or Cull, Anna culls Mrs March by Virginia Feito and Annie keeps Seeing Other People by Diana Reid.

Our books of the week are Sweet Danger and Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham, one of the queens of classic crime. Both books feature gentleman sleuth Albert Campion. Described as 'addictive as cocaine' (Independent), Agatha Christie said 'Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light.'  

Coming up: Real Bad Things by Kelly J Ford and The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell.

Follow us!

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the latest book sales and our theories on TikTok or #BookTok .  We also preview our new segment Keep or Cull, as we will be reading from our ever-growing TBR shelf!

Our book of the week is Limberlost by award-winning author Robbie Arnott.  It's a coming-of-age story about Ned, who lives on an apple farm in Tasmania and spends the summer of 1944 hunting rabbits while his brothers are at war.  Annie loved this and has tipped it for the Miles Franklin already.

Coming up: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

Follow us!

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Facebook: Books On The Go

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the death of Hilary Mantel and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Annie Ernaux.

Our books of the week are Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer and After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz, both long-listed for the 2022 Booker Prize. 

We also discuss the Booker Prize Shortlist and our winner predictions.

Coming up: Limberlost by Robbie Arnott

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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie

Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Amanda discuss our favourite small books.

Our book of the week is Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au, the inaugural winner of the Novel Prize. This inspired us to talk about other short novels that we have loved:

Guest Cat by Tikashi Hiraide translated by Eric Selland

Ikigai by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles

Japonisme: The Art of Finding Contentment by Erin Niimi Longhurst

Summerwater by Sarah Moss

 A Chess Story by Stefan Zweig translated by Alexander Starritt.

Coming up: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell 

Follow us!

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @vibrant_lives_podcast

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras

Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz