The Book Club Review

What are we reading outside of book club? In Kate's stack this episode: Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami and Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple. In Laura's: Heartburn by Nora Ephron, You Think it I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld, The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar. Listen in to hear what we thought of them, the hits and misses and whether there are any book club gems in there.

So often in the reading world we are chasing the latest new release, so it was a great pleasure to interview Simon Thomas who specialises in seeking out books from the past. We explore his unusual take on a book club where he and like-minded book bloggers read and review books from a particular year in the last century. This interview is full of gems and some great book club suggestions, so have a pen ready at the end! • Next up for the Book of the Year Club is 1965 and it starts in April. Check out Simon's website www.stuckinabook.com for more info. You can also find him on Instagram @Simonedwardthomas and on Twitter @stuck_inabook. And finally we recommend curling up for a listen to Simon's own podcast, Tea or Books, available on iTunes, in which he and his friend Rachel (Book Snob) debate the difficult decisions of reading and books. • Books mentioned on this show: The Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield, Merry Hall by Beverly Nichols, Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym, Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker, The Museum of Cheats by Silvia Townsend Warner, Little and Alva and Irva, both by Edward Carey and Simon’s top book club suggestion Another Part of the Woods by Beryl Bainbridge.

We discuss Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology, whose compelling book offers us the chance to be more attractive, slimmer, happier and healthier, all thanks to a good night’s sleep. Critics have called this international bestseller 'accessible', 'compelling' and 'enlightening', but what did Kate's book club make of it? For us was it electrifying or soporific? Listen in to find out. • 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, subscribe to us and never miss an episode.

What do we read when not busy reading our book club books? Listen in to find out. This episode it’s a wide-ranging list as we report in on Lily Allen’s My Thoughts Exactly, The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis, the provocative Poverty Safari by Darren McGarvey, short stories from the Orkney Islands, French classic Bonjour Tristesse, and the indulgent, laugh-out-loud Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims. Oh yes, and The Female Persuasion by Meg Wollitzer too.   Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod or leave us a comment on iTunes, we'd love to hear from you. Subscribe and never miss an episode.    

From Game of Thrones to Watership Down via Haruki Marukami, Margaret Atwood, Frank Herbert and everything in-between, Mostly Harmless are a thriving book club devoted to sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comics. We interviewed founders Derek and Barbara about the hits and misses over the years, and get a great set of expert recommendations for die-hard enthusiasts, and also those thinking about trying a genre novel.  •  The Mostly Harmless Book Club meet monthly, find details here. • Books mentioned in this episode were: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Dune by Frank Herbert, the novels of George R. R. Martin, Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse, Annihilator by Grant Morrison, Ronin by Frank Miller, The Female Man by Joanna Russ, The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemison, Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

Normal People was named Waterstones book of the year, was longlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize and most recently won the Costa Novel Award. Sally Rooney’s editor at Faber & Faber dubbed her a ‘Salinger for the Snapchat generation’, while praise has been heaped on the book by the critics. But did it make for a good book club read? Is the hype justified? Listen in to find out.

A special episode with historian, academic, documentary maker, journalist, cultural polymath and keen fiction reader Simon Schama. Listen in to find out what sends him to sleep happy, how his reading informs his writing, his favourite bookstores, his views on the pleasure of imperfect books, and best of all a ton of book suggestions and a brilliant book club recommendation just for us. Books by Simon Schama include: Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution The Embarrassment Of Riches: An Interpretation Of Dutch Culture In The Golden Age Belonging: The Story of the Jews 1492–1900 Books mentioned on this episode: War and Peace, Anna Karenina by Tolstoy A Sentimental Education Flaubert In the First Circle by  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni The General and His Labyrinth by Gabriel García Márquez Memoirs of Hadrian and That Mighty Sculptor, Time by Marguerite Yourcenar 'Don't Look Now' and  'The Birds' Daphne du Maurier Exit West by Mohsin Hamid The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books by Edward Wilson-Lee

One of our favourite interviews, duly resurrected for any who heard Andy on our recent Haunting of Hill House show and wanted to know more about his book club. For scaredy cats like Laura and me, listen in to find out why the horror genre might be more rewarding than you realised. Horror aficionados listen in for a recommendation so frightening it freaked even Andy out. Find the Horror Book Club online at www.thehorrorbookclub.com, on twitter @horrorbookclub or see details on meetup.com

Hill House, 'not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more.' Andy Russell of London's Horror Book Club joins us to discuss Shirley Jackson's classic. A total terror? Or just the right side of thrilling? Listen in to hear what Laura's book club made of it. • London's Horror Book Club read one weird, wonderful and (crucially) terror-inducing book a month. If you're interested in joining you can find them on meetup.com • Books mentioned on this episode: The Shining and On Writing by Stephen King Hell House and I Am Legend by Richard Matheson Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

What we've been reading outside of book club – the books we get to pick and choose. On the list: Things I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, Mrs Gaskell and Me by Nell Stevens, I Am I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell, Billie by Anna Gavalda, A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, The Last Samurai by Helen De Witt, and Moneyball by Michael Lewis.