The Book Club Review

What's it like to set up your own publishing business? What does it take to succeed? And how do you find the right books? We talk to Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press, who gives us some behind-the-scenes insights into running a small, independent publishers, and her mission to seek out forgotten fiction and authors who need to be rediscovered. Business as Usual by Jane Oliver and Anne Stafford Save Me The Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald The Exile Waiting by Vonda N. McIntyre Women's Weird, Melissa Edmundson (ed.) British Weird, James Machin (ed.) Kingdoms of Elfin by Silvia Townsend Warner After the Death Of Ellen Keldberg by Eddie Thomas Petersen The Caravaners, by Elizabeth von Arnim www.handheldpress.co.uk For more detailed show notes and our archive of over 80 episodes go to thebookclubreview.co.uk. If you'd like to see what we're up to between episodes 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 do take a moment to rate and review the show, it helps other listeners find us.

We discuss The Memory Police, a haunting dystopian novel that explores questions of power, trauma and state surveillance written by Yoko Ogawa, one of Japan's leading contemporary novelists. Set on an unnamed island, the narrator of The Memory Police describes how every so often something in the inhabitants' lives will disappear. Birds, roses, books, one by one these things vanish overnight and the next day people wake up to find they have lost the memory of them. The Memory Police then arrive to enforce the disappearance, rounding up and destroying all evidence of the disappeared thing. They are also on the hunt for those few members of the population who have the ability to retain their memories, something hard to disguise. These people too must disappear, but what happens to them? The narrator tries to save her friend, R, by hiding him in a concealed room. But as more and more things disappear it starts to become unclear what she is saving him for. An uncomfortable read that provoked mixed feelings among Laura's book group, but which, on reflection, we think could have been one of the best book club books we have ever done. Listen in to hear more, why Yoko Ogawa is the Georgette Heyer of Japan, and how Laura is about to become a disappeared thing herself. Plus our recommendations for your next book club read. Books mentioned on the show: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Never Let Me Go and The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro, We by Yevgeny Zamyatin and The Happy Reader magazine. Find full show notes, plus our archive of over 80 episodes, book reviews and articles on our new website: thebookclubreview.co.uk

Wondering which of the Booker shortlisted novels to read? Look no further, we've got the rundown of all of them in our Booker Prize special. We're joined by previous podcast guests Phil Chaffee and Sarah Oliver to discuss the six titles. Due to Covid we weren't able to be in the same room, but that didn't hold us back. It's book club, so whether we loved them or loathed them, you'll get to hear what we really thought. Plus we play a game of 'Snog, Marry, Avoid' with Booker books, and offer up our favourite reads from past years. • Find full show notes including extra links on our website www.thebookclubreview.co.uk

The perfect solution when your book club wants to read a classic, but no-one quite has the energy for the 19th-century greats, Bonjour Tristesse clocks in at just over 100 pages and was written by Françoise Sagan when she was only a teenager. It became an instant bestseller in France, and subsequently around the world, and has remained a hugely popular read ever since. What did Kate's book club make of it? Did they find it fabulous or frivolous? Listen in to find out. We also have some book recommendations for your next read or book club discussion. Check out our new website for extended show notes including some extra links: www.thebookclubreview.co.uk Book recommendations Cheri and Claudine at School by Colette Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald Au Revoir, Tristesse by Viv Groskop

Our bookshelf episodes are the ones where we get to let our hair down and talk about the things we're reading outside of our book clubs, the books that we get to pick and choose. So listen in as Kate is bewitched by the new Susanna Clarke novel Piranesi, charmed by Shirley Jackson's memoir of raising her children in Life Among the Savages, and has a guilty confession to make about To Calais in Ordinary Time by James Meek. In Laura's stack are supernatural thriller Himself by Jess Kidd, Midnight in Sicily by Peter Robb and The Observations by Jane Harris. Not to mention some guilty pleasure reading of Georgette Heyer and Alison Croggon's fantasy series of Pellinor novels. It's a packed episode, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it. For detailed notes on this episode, and over 70 other episodes of book club discussions, interviews and features you can find us at our new website: www.thebookclubreview.co.uk. Drop us a line there and say hello, we'd love to hear from you. Tell us what books are keeping you turning the pages right now?

Identical twin sisters Stella and Desiree Vignes grow up together in a small, southern black community where the inhabitants have noteably light skin. When they run away at the age sixteen they make very different choices. One will marry and then return to her hometown, the other will live her life passing for white, knowing she can never go back. What will happen, though, when the next generation of their families connects? Race, identity, family, love, belonging, all thoughtfully woven through a compulsive page-turner that had both Laura and Kate's book clubs talking... We may just have found the perfect book club book. Did we have anything bad to say about it? Listen in to find out. Booklist: A Drop of Patience by William Melvin Kelley, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo and Passing by Nella Larsen Upcoming shows will be on Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan and The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. Why not read along with us. Drop us a line and let us know what you think, and we can weave your comments into the show. If you'd like to see what we're up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. If you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and means you'll never miss an episode.

More than ever as we gradually emerge from lockdown we find ourselves appreciating the natural world and the joys of walking. The perfect time then to revisit our interview with Emily's Walking Book Club to hear about the inherent pleasures of walking and talking about books. And picking up on the theme we have some handpicked recommendations for you, perfect for topping up your TBR pile. From past-podcast favourites such as Peter Matthiessen's Snow Leopard to new release The Well Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith, we found walking and the natural world an easy fit when it came to recommendations. Laura has a theory that all readers like walking, and walkers like reading. But is she right? Or maybe like Kate you try to do both at the same time. Listen in to hear all about it. For more information about Emily's walking book club including what's coming up and how to book tickets, check out Emily's website emilyrhodeswriter.com Books mentioned by Emily: The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson, West with the Night by Beryl Markham, Westwood by Stella Gibbons, All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West, The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee, Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple, Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig, and Brodeck's Report by Philippe Claudel. Kate and Laura's recommendations: The Salt Path by Raynor Wynn, The Gift by Alison Croggon, The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen, The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane, Flâneuse: Women Walk the City by Lauren Elkin, and The Well-Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or drop us a line at thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you're not already, do subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

In real life, Bill Clinton asked Hillary Rodham to marry him three times before she finally said yes. The rest is history. But in Sittenfeld's alternative world, Hillary says no, and their lives diverge from there. Hillary is alone and heartbroken, but she's also free to pursue her own political ambitions – and free from the humiliating sexual scandals that will plague Bill's political career. Sittenfeld deftly mines the 'What if?" possibilities of her premise, but does the novel live up to the hype? Or is it just literary fan fiction? An exercise in wishful thinking? Journalist Phil Chaffee joins us to give Rodham the full book club treatment. It's a no holds barred discussion as we try to figure out whether the novel is an ingenious yet plausible glimpse of an alternative reality, or just a writer capitalising on a famous name. What is your book club reading next? At the end of the show, keep listening for our follow-on recommendations, all inspired by Rodham. In this episode, that includes: American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld Becoming by Michelle Obama What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton 'Up, Simba' from Consider the Lobster and Other Essays by David Foster Wallace Political Fictions by Joan Didion Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin Other books mentioned in this episode: Prep, Sisterland and You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

'Beach read', 'holiday read', 'summer read'. This year there's another term in the mix: the 'stay-cation read'. But whatever you call it, for us summer reading is all about choice. Reading what you want. Not reading what you should. So, what do YOU feel like reading? Well, we're here to help you decide. Speed read. Comforting classic. Wish fulfillment romance. Genre-bending Whodunnit. Rollicking historical epic. Forgotten 1930s gem. We've got you covered. Listen in to find your perfect 'beach read' – even if you're nowhere near a beach. We're joined by Emily of the Walking Book Group of Hampstead Heath, Elizabeth Morris of the Crib Notes newsletter, friend and journalist Phil Chaffee – who joins us on upcoming episode devoted to Rodham – and Simon of the Tea and Books podcast. This show is all about recommendations. Here's a list of everything we cover: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner Sea of Poppies by Amitav Gosh Highland Fling by Nancy Mitford Middlemarch by George Eliot Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman Business As Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton Blonde Roots by Bernadine Evaristo Also mentioned: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala The Meaning of Rice by Michael Booth Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Beloved by Toni Morrison War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Love in a Cold Climate, The Pursuit of Love and Wigs on the Green by Nancy Mitford In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald The Road by Cormac McCarthy Lord of the Flies by William Golding Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo You can find out more about Emily's Walking Book Club, including how to join, here. We'd also encourage you to watch Emily sing the praises of Middlemarch, part of her brilliant lockdown series. Have a listen to Tea or Books with Simon (Stuck in a Book) and Rachel (Book Snob) as they debate ideas around books. Warning: have your notepad at the ready, as this show will leave you with a ton of recommendations. For more recommendations, from the back list to the hottest new new releases, sign up for Crib Notes, Elizabeth Morris's monthly newsletter. Follow her on Instagram @cribnotesbookclub and Twitter @elizabethmoya for more tips and reviews.

It's a summer sizzler of a Bookshelf with rave reviews from both Laura and Kate for their eclectic books of choice. For Kate, it's all about hot contemporary reads, including Carmen Maria Machado's In the Dream House, an eye-opening memoir about an abusive lesbian relationship. Whereas Laura's enchanted by the African adventures of 1930s aviatrix Beryl Markham, and dazzled by William Melvin Kelley's portrait of a black musician in Jazz Age America. Listen in to hear what we made of… In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener Morning by Allan Jenkins West with the Night by Beryl Markham A Drop of Patience by William Melvin Kelley The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel Also mentioned on this episode: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen Out of Africa by Karen Blixen Mrs Hemingway by Naomi Wood Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou – listen in to episode 55 for a full discussion Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris Plot 29 by Allan Jenkins Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker – listen in to episode 38 for a full discussion If you'd like to see what we're up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. If you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts – we love to hear from you, and you'll never miss an episode.