Books On The Go

Anna and Geoff react to the 2026 Women's Prize  winners:  Virginia Evans' THE CORRESPONDENT  for Fiction, which prompts Geoff to recommend 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD, and Lyse Doucet's THE FINEST HOTEL IN KABUL for Non-Fiction.    Our book of the week is JOHN OF JOHN  by Douglas Stuart, the Booker Prize-winning author of SHUGGIE BAIN. Set in the remote Scottish Hebrides among a weaving community, this...

Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 Stella Prize winner , CANNON by Lee Lai and the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction shortlist .  We also react to the Guardian list of 100 best books of all time . Is there a difference between your 10 favourite novels and your top 10 best books of all time?   Our book of the week is LONDON FALLING by Patrick Radden Keefe.  This is Keefe's latest book, after his...

Anna and Geoff react to the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner, ANGEL DOWN by Daniel Kraus, a World War 1 novel written in one sentence. We also discuss Dwight Garner's New York Times article about the lack of book critics and our views on book influencers and reviews that make news, such as the Harper's review  of To Paradise by Hana Yanagihara.   Our book of the week is TRANSCRIPTION by Ben Lerne...

Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist . Is it  more commercial than usual?   Our book of the week is LÁZÁR by Nelio Biedermann translated by Jamie Bulloch. This sweeping historical novel about the aristocratic von Lázár family during the 20 th century from the Austro Hungarian empire through to Russian occupation is a buzzy debut which has received much praise. Patti...

Anna and Geoff discuss the news that Helen deWitt has turned down the Windham Campbell prize .  Are authors expected to do too much publicity?     Our book of the week is PEDRO PÁRAMO by Juan Rulfo translated by Douglas J. Weatherford.  'Wuthering Heights located in Mexico written by Kafka' gives a hint - this book is a trip. It broke Anna's brain but Geoff found it richly rewarding once you get i...

Anna and Annie discuss the 2026 Booker International Shortlist .   Our book of the week is HEART THE LOVER by Lily King. This buzzy novel follows three friends at university and into adulthood.  A follow up from King's best-seller WRITERS AND LOVERS, it is an instant New York Times best-seller and is long-listed for the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction (shortlist to be announced on 22 April). It's a...

Anna and Annie discuss the news that Hachette has pulled the book SHY GIRL by Mia Ballard from publication after concerns it was written by AI.   Our book of the week is A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF by Megha Majumdar.  This follow-up to her novel A Burning is set in near-future, dystopian Kolkata.  A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF is full of ethical dilemmas, flawed characters and memorable food scenes - a good b...

Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 International Booker Prize longlist . We're intrigued by   Women Without Men: A novel of Modern Iran  by   Shahrnush Parsipur  translated by Faridoun Farrokh  and The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran  by Shida Bazyar translated by Ruth Martin.   Our book of the week is SEASCRAPER by Benjamin Wood. This short novel about a man who works as a shanker on a foggy beach and a...

Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction longlist , including Flashlight , The Correspondent and Audition .  Some of the other long-listed books feature writers as characters, which gets us talking about turn-offs in novels.   Our book of the week is DEPARTURE(S) by Julian Barnes. This is the final book by the Booker Prize-winning author. It is a novel about a couple who reunite l...

Anna and Geoff discuss the cancellation of Adelaide Writers' Week 2026 amid the controversy after the Adelaide Festival Board disinvited Palestinian-Australian writer Dr Randa Abdel-Fatteh .  Among the authors who withdrew from Writers' Week was Richard Flanagan, who wrote this article (sorry for the paywall).  Director Louise Adler resigned with this letter to the Guardian. Since we recorded this...

It's our best books of the year episode!   Anna, Amanda and Annie reveal our favourite reads of 2025:   Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden The Time of the Child by Niall Williams The Granddaughter by Bernhard Schlink translated by Charlotte Collins A Guardian and a Thief by Megan Majhumdar Eurotrash by Christian Kracht translated by Daniel Bowles Dream...

Anna and Geoff discuss their reaction to the 2025 Booker Prize winner , FLESH by David Szalay, and the winner of the Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction , Australian author Helen Garner for her collection of diaries HOW TO END A STORY .   Our book of the week is CREATION LAKE by Rachel Kushner. Her follow-up novel after the Booker-shortlisted Mars Room, this centres on Sadie Smith, an undercover...

Anna and Geoff discuss their Booker Prize winner predictions. We haven't read enough of the shortlist to know who will win, but Geoff is tipping THE LAND IN WINTER (a DNF for Anna).   Our book of the week is FLASHLIGHT by Susan Choi. This is Choi's follow-up novel after winning the National Book Award for TRUST EXERCISE. It is a sweeping family saga set in America, Japan and Korea.  Shortlisted fo...

Annie was lucky enough to catch Bri Lee on her book tour for her second novel, Seed . Set in Antarctica, Seed follows two scientists, Mitch and Frances, as they spend a month at the seed vault that they have been creating and protecting. But as strange things keep happening to the facility, culminating in their helicopter failing to pick them up, they both have to grapple with their life choices a...

A special episode: Anna chats with author and Tony-award winning Broadway producer Eric Schnall about his debut novel I MAKE ENVY ON YOUR DISCO .   Sam Singer flies to Berlin for an art gallery opening, needing a break from his partner in New York. He meets enigmatic hotel receptionist Magda and ex-pat Jeremy, goes clubbing, and discovers the 2000s nostalgia for East and West Berlin. Named a GQ Ed...

Anna and Annie discuss the settlement offer by Anthropic to pay $1.5bn to settle a book piracy lawsuit and the 2025 National Book Awards fiction longlist. Our book of the week is ENDLING by Maria Reva.  Yeva is a snail conservationist in Ukraine who becomes caught up in Nastia and Sol's scheme to disrupt the romance tour industry. A heist ensues but everything changes when Russia invades Ukraine....

A special episode: Anna chats with award-winning poet Alison Gorman about her debut poetry collection A WOMAN TALKS TO HER TONGUE .   These poems examine family secrets, silences and women's voices.  Beautiful and assured, we loved this book. Alison joins us fresh from her sold-out launch in Sydney to discuss the moving themes from the collection and other favourite poets, including Judith Beverid...

Anna and Geoff discuss Sally Rooney pledging royalties to Palestine Action and the Library of South Australia being second on the list of the world's most beautiful libraries .   Our book of the week is FLESH , the new novel by David Szalay which has been long-listed for the 2025 Booker Prize . It tells the story of Istvan, a Hungarian British man, in an episodic structure using key points in his...

Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Booker Prize Longlist . We have many comfort reading recommendations!  Here are some of the books discussed: DEAD GIRL GONE by Gareth and Louise Ward THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB series and WE SOLVE MURDERS by Richard Osman IN SPITE OF YOU by Patrick Lenton CONSIDER YOURSELF KISSED by Jessica Stanley THE WEDDING FORECAST by Nina Kenwood FINE WEATHER, JEEVES by P. G. Wod...

Anna and Geoff discuss PERFECTION by Vincent Latronico translated by Sophie Hughes. PERFECTION is a short novel about Tom and Anna, digital nomads living in Berlin.   A re-telling of the cult classic 1960s novel The Things by Georges Perec, it examines a couple who have built a stylish life but find themselves disilusioned. Perfection was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker International Prize . Sligh...

Anna and Geoff discuss THE DIRECTOR by best-selling author of MEASURING THE WORLD and TYLL Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin. THE DIRECTOR tells the story of cinema director G. W. Pabst, who in the 1930s fled Nazi Germany for Hollywood and then returned to make films for the German Reich. This novel explores Pabst's moral dilemma and the place of art in a dictatorship. Described as 'his...

Anna and Annie discuss our 10 best books of 2025 so far. Books mentioned: A LITTLE TRICKERIE by Rosanna Pike THE NAMES by Florence Knapp THE HUSBANDS by Holly Gramazio DREAM COUNT by Chimananda Ngoze Adiche SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell STINKBUG by Sinéad Stubbins PATRIOT by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel I MAKE ENVY ON YOUR DISCO by Eric Schnall MY FRIENDS by Hisham Ma...

Anna and Geoff discuss the 2025 Women's Prize winners and the new Data Bill regulating (or not) AI and creative work. Our book of the week is THE EMPUSIUM: A HEALTH RESORT HORROR STORY by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Tokarczuk is the Nobel Prize lauereate author of FLIGHTS and DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD. Her latest novel is inspired by Thomas Mann's THE MAGIC M...

Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Women's Prize and try to predict the winner. Since we recorded this the winner has been announced: The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden. (Annie was right!) And Annie wraps up recent Australian book award news including the Stella Prize winner Theory and Practice by Michelle de Kretser and the Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist . Our book of the week is THE NAMES...

Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, JAMES by Percival Everett. Our book of the week is SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell. A poet is admitted to hospital with severe pain.   Bedridden, he reflects on his relationships, music and poetry and the small details of life. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award fo...