The Book Club Review
Discussion, debate, even a little dispute – expect it all on The Book Club Review. Every month hosts Kate and Laura bring you a new episode. That could be Book Club where we chat about the book read most recently by one of our book clubs. It could be Bookshelf, an episode dedicated to the books we’re reading outside of book club – the ones we get to pick and choose. Or it could be an interview with a book club, bookshop or book lover. Whatever the topic, every episode features lively and frank reviews and recommendations.
Episodes
Curious about the 2024 Booker Prize? Wondering if the shortlisted novels live up to the hype? In this latest episode Kate and Laura are joined by returning guests Phil, Sarah and Martin to dive deep into this year's shortlist bringing you their usual frank, honest opinions in true book-club style.
This isn’t your typical review show — you get real, unfiltered thoughts from book lovers who tell it like it is. From literary brillian...
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 ...
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 wit...
Laura’s on a flying visit to London, and so of course we took the opportunity to get together and swap notes on our recent reading. Regular guest Phil Chaffee dialled in from New York to add his picks to the mix.
Find out what we thought of summer it-book The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, we consider the auto fictional world of Deborah Levy, Kate reports back on Francis Spufford’s new novel – and podcast book club read – Cah...
Inspired by the folk at the New York Times article ‘22 of the funniest novels since Catch 22’, join me (Kate), Phil and Laura as we consider the books that make us laugh. Listen in as we explore the NYT's suggestions and add in a few of our own. Find out the author we can’t believe they missed, and the book that reliably makes Laura – a tough customer when it comes to funny books – laugh every time.
Boo...
So Many Damn Books podcast creator and host Christoper Hermelin joins Kate to swap book recommendations and discuss the magic of book club, recent book discoveries and bookish pet peeves.
EPISODE BOOK LIST
The Eyes & The Impossible by Dave Eggers
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
McSweeney’s magazine, including The Panorama issue
Two marriages, two forbidden love affairs, and the passionate search for social and sexual freedom in late 19th-century London. Publishers Penguin call The New Life by Tom Crewe ‘A brilliant and captivating debut, in the tradition of Alan Hollinghurst and Colm Tóibín' but what did our book club make of it? Kate is reporting back, with regular guest Philip Chaffee joining from New York. We'll be catching up on the discussion as wel...
What did our podcast book club make of Mild Vertigo, Japanese author Mieko Kanai's 1997 novel, recently translated into English by Polly Barton. A 'modernist masterpiece' written in sentences that go on for pages with hardly any paragraph breaks might not seem like an obvious book club winner; listen in to find out if we were won over.
To discuss it Kate is joined by Yuki Tejima, also known as @booknerdtok...
Join me (Kate) and Laura as we go through our bookstacks and discuss our recent reads. Find out what why Laura can’t put down The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Meanwhile I’ve discovered Mrs Miniver, a comfort read from the 1930s that still has a message for us today, Laura’s made a discovery of her own – that there’s more to Anita Brookner than Hotel du Lac, with her 1988 novel The Latecomers. We go from one good ...
We’ve put our 2023 reading lists behind us, and now it's time to look ahead to 2024. Who better to guide us through all the new titles coming our way than Chrissy Ryan, owner of North London’s buzziest bookshop and social space, Bookbar.
New books by favourite authors, a non-fiction page-turner that will have you hooked, a high-concept potential blockbuster and a follow-up novel from the author of a debut that got people talking, w...
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...
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...
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 fro...
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 re...
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 ti...
Whether you're after fly-through-them page-turners or immersive long-reads, or perhaps you're after a challenge, or the perfect discussion book, we've got the list for you. Find out our expert picks from indie-bookshop Bookbar's Chrissy Ryan, a woman at the centre of a hub of reading recommendations from authors, customers and booksellers alike. Kate is swapping notes and sharing her own summer reading pile. Plus just to pack in ev...
If you've been wondering whether or not to tackle the work of Nobel-prizewinner Annie Ernaux, and in partiular The Years, generally considered to be definitive, listen in and find out what Laura's book club thought (you might be surprised).
We're also generally delighted by how interesting the life of 17th-century poet John Donne is in the hands of Katherine Rundell, and her Baillie-Gifford prizewinner Super-Infinite. But were Kate...
Join Kate in the historic market town of St. Albans, home to a cathedral, some impressive Roman ruins and one of Kate's favourite independent bookshops. Books on the Hill is owned and run by a mother and daughter duo who launched it just before the pandemic. Listen in and find out what makes it so special, their book club recommendations and discover Kate and Antonia's choices as they each pick three books from the shelves, from ne...
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