Episodes

  • Best of 2021 Part 2: Our books of the year
    Dec 27 2021
    It's part 2 of our end-of-year special, in which we look back over the books we read outside of book club, the ones we chose for ourselves, and pick out our favourites. And so listen in for more book recommendations than you can shake a stick a, plus recommendations from our book clubs and friends of the pod. We also look ahead to some new releases coming out in 2022. Booklist Kate's top three favourites from 2021 Don't Touch My Hair, Emma Dabiri A Ghost in the Throat, Doireann ní Ghrí­ofa Lean, Fall, Stand, Jon McGregor   Laura's top three favourites from 2021 A Life's Work, Rachel Cusk Miss Iceland, Audur Ava Olafsdottir Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese   Kate's longlist of favourite reads in 2021 The Moth and the Mountain, Ed Caesar Writers and Lovers and Euphoria Lily King Real Estate, Deborah Levy The Library Book and The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean All My Friends are Superheroes, Andrew Kaufman Owls of the Eastern Ice, Jonathan C. Slaght Nightbitch, Rachel Yoder Don't Touch My Hair, Emma Dabiri Fun Home, Alison Bechdel Parisan Lives, Deidre Bair Nightbitch, Rachel Yoder Early Morning Riser, Katherine Heiny Love Letters, Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West (Alison Bechdel, ed.) A Ghost in the Throat, Doireann ni Ghriofa Re-Educated, Lucy Kellaway Pew, Catherine Lacey Happy All the Time, Laurie Colwin Whereabouts, Jhumpa Lahiri Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason Lean, Fall, Stand, Jon McGregor Assembly, Natasha Brown The Stranding, Kate Sawyer The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden-Keefe Matrix, Lauren Groff The See-Through House, Shelley Klein   Laura's longlist of favourite reads in 2021 His Only Wife, Peace Adzo Medie Miss Iceland, Hotel Silence and Butterflies in November, Audur Ava Olafsdottir Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong Homeland Elegies, Ayad Akhtar No-One is Talking About This, Patricia Lockwood Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead D: A Tale of Two Worlds, Michael Faber Graceling, Kristin Cashore A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik The Annals of the Western Shore, Ursula Le Guin The Book of Hidden Things, Francesco Dimitri Frederica, Georgette Heyer Conundrum, Jan Morris A High Wind in Jamaica, Richard Hughes The Rules of Civility, Amor Towles   Chrissy Ryan's recommendations Open Water, Caleb Azumah Nelson Assembly, Natasha Brown Detransition Baby, Torrey Peters Elizabeth Morris' recommendations Nightbitch, Rachel Yoder   Book club recommendations The Summer Book, Tove Jansson The Mermaid of Black Conch, Monique Roffey Whereabouts, Jhumpa Lahiri The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë A Dance to the Music of Time, Anthony Powell The Siege of Krishnapur, J. G. Farrell The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst Isaac Steele and the Forever Man, Daniel Rigby Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer Albert and the Whale, Philip Hoare Trieste or the Meaning of Nowhere, Jan Morris The Bass Rock, Evie Wyld Autumn, Ali Smith The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan The Offing, Benjamin Myers Circe, Madeleine Miller Three Women, Lisa Taddeo My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid   Upcoming books in 2022 We also discussed our inordinate desire for The Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss to finally be published, and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel Notes Full details of all the titles discussed in this episode can be found in the shownotes on our website thebookclubreview.co.uk.  Do keep up with us between episodes on Instagram and Facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. We always love to hear from you.
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Best of 2021 Part 1: best book club books
    Dec 27 2021

    In part one of our 2021 end-of-year special episode we look back over the books we’ve covered for book club. Which ones have stayed with us? Which were our stand outs? And which are we going to crown our book club book of the year. Whether you're looking for your next book club read or just a great book for your personal reading pile, don't miss it. We also look forward to new book club plans and projects for the coming year.

    For our best books of 2021 (from our own personal reading piles) go to Part 2, available in your podcast feed now.

    Booklist

    Writers and Lovers, Lily King

    Early Work, Andrew Martin

    Euphoria, Lily King

    Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart

    The Mermaid of Black Conch, Monique Roffey

    Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden

    A Lonely Man, Chris Power (recommended by Gary)

    The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro

    Like a Sword Wound by Ahmet Altan

    I Will Never See the World Again by Ahmet Altan

    How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann and The Barsetshire Chronicles by Anthony Trollope (Phil's recommendations)

    Second Place by Rachel Cusk

    Matrix by Lauren Groff

    Full shownotes are on our website thebookclubreview.co.uk, where you can browse our full episode archive and sign up for our bi-weekly-ish newsletter, full of recommendations and bookish links. Keep up with us between episodes on Instagram and Facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. We always love to hear from you.

     

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    49 mins
  • Kate Sawyer and The Stranding • 108
    Dec 12 2021

    Join us as we talk all things books, apocalypses, whales and the Costa Prize shortlist with Kate Sawyer, author of The Stranding. It's a novel about a woman who survives the end-of-the-world by hiding inside the belly of a whale. Find out why we loved it, as we consider its place in the canon of apocalypse novels from Z for Zachariah to The Road. We've also got a ton of book club recommendations, find out what Kate's been reading recently and have some follow-on read suggestions for when you've finished The Stranding.

    Book list

    Moby Dick by Herman Melville

    The Road by Cormac McCarthy

    Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence

    Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien

    Nights at the Circus and Wise Children by Angela Carter

    Matrix and Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

    Larry’s Party and Unless by Carol Shields

    Assembly by Natasha Brown

    Still Life by Sarah Winman

    Wahala by Nikki May (out Spring 2022)

    Burntcoat by Sarah Hall

    The Smallest Man by Frances Quinn

    Weather by Jenny Offill

    Humankind by Rutger Bregman

    The Life of the Mind by Christine Smallwood

    Follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. Don't miss our website where you can find our archive of over 100 shows to browse through. Don’t miss our recent Booker Prize special, or our discussion of Lauren Groff’s latest book Matrix and find out why we just can’t stop thinking about nuns. You can also find our library of articles including our recent one on our favourite book podcasts. And you can sign up to our bi-weekly newsletter for book reviews, recommendations and more.

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    45 mins
  • Matrix by Lauren Groff • 107
    Nov 27 2021

    Join us as we dive, in spoiler-free fashion, into Lauren Groff's latest novel, Matrix. It tells of Marie de France, a cast-off from Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine's court, exiled to be a prioress at a run-down Abbey inhabited by starving nuns. Devastated and grieving the young Marie thinks only of regaining the queen's favour and returning to court. Gradually, though, she comes to see that if she is to stay, she must change, and the Abbey with her. The book has been a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist but what did Laura's book club think? We're joined by pod-regulars Phillip Chaffee and Sarah Oliver to discuss it.

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    49 mins
  • The 2021 Booker Prize • #106
    Nov 5 2021

    Join us as we discuss the 2021 Booker shortlist in typical book club style, with journalist Phil Chaffee and Chrissy Ryan, owner of Bookbar. We livestream the Booker ceremony so you can catch our immediate reactions to the winner. Did we agree? Was there a book we loved more? Was there one we loathed? Whether we loved them or loathed them, as ever, you can be assured of good debate. We thoroughly recommend any and all of these books for a good read and good discussion.

    Notes

    The Paris Review article on Anuk Arudpragasam Phil mentions is here

    Click here if you're wondering what a nudibranch looks like?

    Check out our website for our episode archive and more. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. Tell us what you’re reading for book club right now – we love to hear from you.

    If you've enjoyed this episode please leave us a quick online review, it helps other listeners find us :)

     

     

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    59 mins
  • Second Place by Rachel Cusk
    Oct 9 2021

    It's our latest Book Club episode, and we're discussing Rachel Cusk's latest novel, Second Place. It was longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize, but didn’t make the cut for the shortlist. Sally Rooney calls it ‘masterful’, saying it ‘achieves a kind of formal perfection’ while the Observer newspaper lauds it as ‘A landmark in twenty-first-century English literature.' But what did Laura’s book club make of it? And who would we rather have to dinner, Rachel Cusk or Deborah Levy? Listen in to find out.

    Book recommendations

    To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

    The Outline trilogy, by Rachel Cusk, read on audio by Kristen Scott Thomas

    Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy

    The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe

    The audiobook of Second Place by Rachel Cusk is published by Faber & Faber and narrated by Kate Fleetwood. It’s available for download now.

    Listen to the Rachel Cusk interview Phil mentioned at the Edinburgh Literary Festival

    Find our full episode archive and sign-up link for our newsletter at our The Book Club Review website. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you’re not already, why not subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what we do please help spread the word and tell a book-loving friend about our show. 

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    49 mins
  • 104. Bookshelf: Back-to-school reads
    Sep 27 2021

    We've shaken the sand from our flip-flops and put our suitcases away. Now it's back to business as Kate and Laura catch up on their recent reads, everything from this year's Booker International Prize winner to a fantasy romp about teenage wizards.

    Booklist

    Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

    On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

    At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

    Mud and Stars by travel writer Sara Wheeler

    A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

    Re-Educated by Lucy Kellaway

    We also discuss the property website themodernhouse.com

    if you’d like to see what we’re up to between episodes check out the website at www.thebookclubreview.co.uk, find us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. Drop us a line and tell us what you’re reading, we always love to hear from you.

    Next episode: Book club on Second Place by Rachel Cusk

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    43 mins
  • Close-up: Adam Ashton and Adam Jones
    Sep 18 2021

    "Ashto" and "Jonesy" are two Australians who devour books on everything from self-improvement to business and marketing for their weekly podcast, What You Will Learn. They’ve recently launched their own book, The Sh*t They Never Taught You. They joined Kate to discuss what books have taught them, and provide her with some personal bibliotherapy to kick her out of her counter-productive ways. Listen in to find out what you can learn.

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    25 mins