The Book Club Review

What do we read when not reading book club books? Listen in to find out. This episode, we report in on non-fiction sleeper-hit A Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks, Otessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation, A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agalusa (winner of Kate's favourite prize, the Dublin International Literary Award), and read-of-the-moment Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What do you do when your small start-up book club is so popular that you quickly become overwhelmed with new members? For Eléonore Pratoussy of the Lesbian Book Club East London, it signalled a need for more lesbian book groups. Happily she has a plan to expand. Eléonore and fellow bookclubbers Caroline and Carina joined Kate in the studio to talk Angela Carter, Reni Eddo-Lodge, and a ton of great book recommendations in-between. The Lesbian Book Club on meetup.com Books mentioned on this episode: Orlando by Virginia Woolf Gender Trouble by Judith Butler The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Edo-Lodge Born a Crime by Trevor Noah What Is Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to our new, shorter-format episode in which we discuss Pulitzer-prize winning comic novel Less by Andrew Sean Greer, and Joseph Cassara's novel of drag queens and drag balls in 1980s New York, The House of Impossible Beauties. Both received rave reviews from the critics, but did they make for good book club books? Listen in to find out. We end with some great recommendations from Jim McSweeney of Gay's The Word bookshop in London's Bloomsbury, the only dedicated LBGTQ bookstore in the UK and a literary delight. Books mentioned on this episode: Fair Play by Tove Jansson White Houses by Amy Bloom See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're joined by US Vogue senior editor Chloe Schama to consider The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit which was Kate's last book club read. We consider the genre of 'anti-memoir' (and if you're unfamiliar with the term you will find yourself among friends) and come up with some light alternative reading in case it all gets too much. Our regular interview is with Financial Times Life and Arts editor Natalie Whittle who tells us about the FT book club, and we finish with some great recommendations for your next book club read. • Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, or leave us a comment on iTunes. Get in touch – we'd love to hear from you. Subscribe and never miss an episode. • Books mentioned in this episode were Wanderlust and Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. In the recommendations we talked about Terra Incognita by Sara Wheeler and Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik. Chloe Schama recommended The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamieson and we briefly discussed her own book, Wild Romance, at the beginning of the show. And if you're interested in what we've been reading outside of our book clubs keep listening to our extra bit at the end where we discuss Circe by Madeleine Miller, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, The Loved Ones by Evelyn Waugh, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark, and The Death of Truth by Michiko Kakutani. • Our next episode will be on Lullaby by Leila Slimani, a murderous nanny thriller that became an international bestseller but what did Laura's book club make of it? Tune in to find out. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From no formal education before the age of seventeen to a PhD from Cambridge ten years later, Tara Westover's transformation is the stuff of Hollywood. And that's before you learn about the violence and brainwashing that tainted her upbringing within her Mormon survivalist family. Westover's 'remarkable memoir' made Barack Obama's summer reading list. But what did Laura's book club make of it? Listen in to find out. Plus we interview a book club who meet in the convivial surroundings of a seaside bakery. And we finish with some great recommendations for your next book club read. Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, or leave us a comment on iTunes. Get in touch – we'd love to hear from you. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Books mentioned in this episode: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance, When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant, A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh, Lady Chatterly's Lover by D. H. Lawrence, Crudo by Olivia Laing and The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. For our next book club we will be reading and discussing The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A Far Cry From Kensington has many fans amongst the critics but what did Kate's book club make of it. Did they fall in love with Muriel Spark's genteel farce set in the postwar London publishing industry? Or did they need more convincing of Spark's genius. For an informed opinion we interview Hannah Griffin of the Spark Challenge Book Group, and find out what it's like being part of a book group who only read a single author's work. We finish with the usual round of recommendations to help you find your perfect book club read. Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, or leave us a comment on iTunes. Get in touch – we'd love to hear from you. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Books mentioned in this episode: The Driver's Seat; The Girls of Slender Means and Robinson, all by Muriel Spark, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Terson, Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adoyemi, The Possessed by Elif Batuman, The Unseen by Roy Jacobson and Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi. On our next episode we'll be discussing Educated by Tara Westover, which is the latest read for Laura's book club.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The New York Times called it a 'powerfully expansive novel' and it was shortlisted for the Booker, but what did Laura's book club make of 'Do Not Say We Have Nothing' by Madeleine Thien? For our regular book club interview we get radical with London's Radical Reading Group and we finish as always with some fresh recommendations for your next book club read. • Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, or leave us a comment on iTunes. Drop us a line – we'd love to hear from you. Subscribe and never miss an episode. • Books mentioned on this episode were 'The Concubine's Children' by Denise Cheong, 'The Noise of Time' by Julian Barnes, 'The Rest is Noise' by Alex Ross, 'Ru' by Kim Thuy and 'Brother' by David Chariandy. Terri Jane of the Radical Reading Group talked about 'Close to the Knives' by David Wojnarowicz, 'Your Silence Will Not Protect You' by Audre Lorde and 'Too Much and Not in the Mood' by Durga Chew-Bose. To find out more about the Radical Reading group find them on facebook under Radical Reading London. And if you keep listening to our extra bit at the end we discuss 'Children of Blood and Bone' by Tomi Adeyemi, 'Bleaker House' by Nell Stevens and 'Cartes Postales' by Victoria Hislop. • Next up on The Book Club Review is A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel SparkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We love books, we love book clubs, and so we created a show dedicated to both. We review the books read most recently by our own book clubs. We interview people about their book clubs to get tips and tricks. And finally we pull together great recommendations to make your next book club book your best yet.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It has been called her finest novel, but what did Laura's book club make of Zadie Smith's Swing Time? In our regular interview we talk to The Divas, a close-knit group of women based in north-west London, about books, friendship and travel. And we finish as always with some fresh recommendations for your next book club read. • Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, or leave us a comment on iTunes. Drop us a line – we'd love to hear from you. Subscribe and never miss an episode. • Our bookseller recommendation comes from Carrie and Becca of The Bookstore Podcast. If you want to hear more check out their show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts: we love it. • Books mentioned in this episode were Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, Feel Free by Zadie Smith, You are Free by Danzy Senna and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Plus if you stay listening for our extra bit at the end we discuss The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (we've come up with an ending – be the first to hear it!), Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward, Exit West by Mosin Hamid, Educated by Tara Westover and the collected works of Gerald Durrell. • Next up on The Book Club Review is Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

East West Street is a memoir by prominent British barrister Philippe Sands. It's a history of atrocity combined with a relentless search for the truth, with Sands digging deep, into both his own family history and the legal framework that eventually brought Nazi war criminals to justice. Powerful stuff, but what did Kate's book club make of it? Did it make for a good book club read? Plus we talk to an all-male book club on the value of friendship and shared conversations about books, and lightly delve into the mystery of what makes a book 'manly'. We end with some recommendations for your next book club read. Get in touch with us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, follow us on Instagram @thebookclubreviewpod, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, or leave us a comment on iTunes. We'd love to hear from you. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Books mentioned on this episode were: The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson, The Tobacconist and A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler, Under the Glacier by Halldor Laxness, Blindness by José Saramago, A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul and Life, A User's Manual by Georges Perec. Henry from The Book Hive in Norwich recommended Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates and Heather, A Totality, by Matthew Weiner. For our next book we will be reading and discussing Swing Time by Zadie Smith. Keep listening for our extra bit at the end in which we discuss My Family and Other Animals by Lawrence Durrell, A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility by Amor Towles and Solar Bones by Mike McCormack. We also take a quick look at Bailie Gifford (Samuel Johnson) prizewinners.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.