Best-loved writer Sally Rooney discusses her novel 'Normal People' with insights on love story vs. class and politics. Jo and James explore the book's popularity, themes, and Rooney's rise to fame. Emotions, character complexities, and struggles with identity are highlighted in the discussion.

A happy Burns Night to one and all. In honour of this day of celebration for ol' Rabbie Burns, and by extension all Scottish literature, we're taking a dive into one of the most popular Booker Prize winners: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. The novel, Stuart's debut, presents a blistering and heartbreaking exploration of the unsinkable love that only children can have for their damaged parents.In this episode Jo and James: Share a brief biography of Douglas Stuart Summarise the plot of Shuggie Bain Discuss their thoughts on the novel Delve into the characters, particularly Shuggie and his mother, Agnes Consider the idea of the divided self in Scottish literature Reading list: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart Loitering With Intent by Muriel Spark His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's winter in the northern hemisphere right now and we are simply filled with the urge to hibernate. If you're feeling the same vibe and want to stay in with a good book, allow us to recommend three short books that could keep you company through a weekend. Listen in this week to hear Jo and James discuss some of the most bijou of novels from the Booker Prize and International Booker Prize archive.Reading list: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated by Julia Sanches A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast delves into A.S. Byatt's novel 'Possession', exploring its intricate plot, academic sleuthing, and Victorian poetry revelations. It also covers Byatt's early career, her rivalry with sister Margaret Drabble, and the unexpected success of the novel.

WARNING: this episode contains some adult language. We’re back after our festive hiatus – and how better to start the year than with a rundown of some of the most-anticipated reads of 2024. This week, Jo and James are joined by journalist and TLS podcast host Alex Clark, so listen in as they discuss the books, by Booker Prize authors and beyond, that we should all keep an eye out for this year.2024 reading list: Long Island by Colm Tóibín The Women Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle James by Percival Everett Choice by Neel Mukherjee What Will Survive of Us by Howard Jacobson Parade by Rachel Cusk The Spoiled Heart by Sunjeev Sahota The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry The Underground Sea by John Berger The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain by Kazuo Ishiguro Knife by Salman Rushdie My Heavenly Favourite by Lucas Rijneveld, translated by Michele Hutchison The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma Parasol Against the Axe by Helen Oyeyemi Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner Mr Geography by Tim Parks Fourteen Days: A Collaborative Novel Day by Michael Cunningham Enlightenment by Sarah Perry Godwin by Joseph O'Neill Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan  Other books mentioned: Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle Paula Spencer by Roddy Doyle The Committments by Roddy Doyle The Snapper by Roddy Doyle The Van by Roddy Doyle Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle Two Pints by Roddy Doyle The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Sellout by Paul Beatty The Trees by Percival Everett Erasure by Percival Everett Suder by Percival Everett The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee Who's Sorry Now? by Howard Jacobson Kalooki Nights by Howard Jacobson J by Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson Live a Little by Howard Jacobson Mother's Boy by Howard Jacobson The Dog's Last Walk: (and Other Pieces) by Howard Jacobson The Outline trilogy by Rachel Cusk Into the Fold by Rachel Cusk Second Place by Rachel Cusk Self-Portrait by Celia Paul The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota China Room by Sunjeev Sahota City of Bohane by Kevin Barry Beatlebone by Kevin Barry Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld, translated by Michele Hutchison The Hours by Michael Cunningham The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry Virginia Woolf's Nose by Hermione Lee Mayflies by Andrew O'Hagan A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.You can listen to Alex's podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-tls-podcast/id868068396  Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our last episode of the year (time flies!), we catch up with International Booker Prize 2023 winners Georgi Gospodinov and Angela Rodel. The winning novel, Time Shelter, follows an enigmatic therapist who runs a ‘clinic for the past’ that offers a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s sufferers. It was the first book from Bulgaria to win the International Booker – and, in fact, to be shortlisted – and its win has been received with much excitement in Gospodinov's home country and beyond. This week, we catch up with author and translator to find out how the award has changed their lives and what they've been up to since their win.In this episode Jo and James speak to Georgi and Angela about: The book, its plot and its themes What the night of their International Booker Prize win was like How their lives have changed since winning the prize What it means for translators to receive recognition alongside the writers they work with The importance of music in their work The unique working relationship between writers and translators Why Bulgarian literature deserves more recognition and which books to look out for A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sara Cox, host of BBC Two's TV book club, Between the Covers, joins Jo and James to discuss our December Book of the Month: Any Human Heart by William Boyd. Told through the journals of Logan Mountstuart, it's an engrossing – and often funny – novel that takes in many of the defining events of the 20th century and the people who shaped them. The Booker Prize 2002-longlisted book was recently discussed on Between the Covers, so tune in to our podcast as Sara, James and Jo talk about William Boyd's beloved novel, as well as Sara's own reading habits and inspirations.In this episode Jo, James and Sara talk about: The idea behind television book club Between the Covers The variety of books guests have been bringing to this series of Between the Covers The novels that got Sara into reading at a young age Sara's favourite Booker Prize books How Sara balances reading and her own writing – and whether what she's reading influences her work What the book clubbers on Between the Covers thought of Any Human Heart A brief summary of Any Human Heart and a discussion about its plot Who they'd recommend the book to Reading List: Any Human Heart by William Boyd: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/any-human-heart Life of Pi by Yann Martel: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/life-of-pi The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Pessimism is for Lightweights by Salena Godden Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume Catherine Cookson novels Jilly Cooper novels Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/paddy-clarke-ha-ha-ha John Boyne novels Margaret O'Farrell novels Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/redhead-by-the-side-of-the-road A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/a-spool-of-blue-thread A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Step behind the velvet rope and let Jo and James take you on a VIP tour of the Booker Prize 2023 award ceremony. Listen in as they speak to some of this year's shortlisted authors and judges, as well as other guests at the ceremony and hear, first-hand, how the shortlisted authors felt in the run up to the announcement, how the judges enjoyed being part of the jury and what it feels like to be a guest at one of the most exciting events in the booklover's calendar.In this episode Jo and James speak to: Paul Lynch, 2023 Booker Prize winner Paul Murray, 2023 Booker Prize shortlistee Robert Webb, 2023 Booker Prize judge Adjoa Andoh, 2023 Booker Prize judge Graeme Macrae Burnet, 2016 Booker Prize longlistee Frederick Studemann, literary editor of the Financial Times A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hot off the press, we're bringing you The Booker Prize Podcast's reaction to the Booker Prize 2023 winner. Recorded at the Booker Prize award ceremony on 26 November, Jo and James share their thoughts on the winning book and hear directly from winner Paul Lynch and Esi Edugyan, chair of judges and previous Booker Prize nominee. That's not all for this week though, as we'll be back with a special episode in our usual Thursday slot.A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're only three days away from finding out who will take home the Booker Prize 2023 so who better to speak to than last year's winner? Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka won the prize for his searing satire The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida in 2022, and the 13 months since his win has been a whirlwind of activity. This week, Shehan joins us on the podcast to tell us all about the past year and what the 2023 winner can expect on the night of the award ceremony and beyond.In this episode Jo and James speak to Shehan about: What it's like to be at the Booker Prize award ceremony – and how it felt to be announced as the 2022 winner The strangeness of winning the Booker Prize amidst economic crisis and civil unrest in Sri Lanka The impossibility of making an acceptance speech in one minute Why he paints his fingernails black How he spent his prize money The whirlwind that has been the 13 months since he won the Booker Prize His daily writing and reading routine Books and authors mentioned: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka Agatha Christie Salman Rushdie Raymond Chandler John le Carré Armistead Maupin A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices