Books On The Go

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....

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...

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 Sh...

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. Follow us! Instagram: @abailliekaras an...

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...

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 b...

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 recomme...

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 sp...

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 Nois...

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 B eat t he Devil by David Hare Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life by Brigitta Olubas The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard Trespasses by Louis...

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' (US...

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...

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 expect...

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 P...

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 F...

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...

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...

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 'g...

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 recommende...

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 'add...

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 brot...

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 Follow us! In...

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 Summerwate...

Anna and Annie discuss the 2022 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction shortlist . Our book of the week is Bodies of Light by award-winning author Jennifer Down. This novel explores survival against the odds and is wonderfully engaging despite the subject-matter. Winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award .  Coming up: Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au and small books. Follow us! Instagr...

Anna and Annie discuss the death of Queen Elizabeth II and recommend these books: An Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett The Queen by Ben Pimlott The Palace Papers by Tina Brown Our book of the week is Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra. This New York Times Bestseller is set in Mussolini's Italy and 1940s Hollywood.  Described as 'a wonderful novel' (Sunday Times), 'epically entertaining' (San...