The Book Club Review

Inspired by the folk at the New York Times article '22 of the funniest novels since Catch 22', join me (Kate), Phil and Laura as we consider the books that make us laugh. Listen in as we explore the NYT's suggestions and add in a few of our own. Find out the author we can't believe they missed, and the book that reliably makes Laura – a tough customer when it comes to funny books – laugh every time. Books mentioned The New York Times article '22 of the funniest novels since Catch 22' Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut The Idiot and Either/Or by Elif Batuman The Possessed by Elif Batuman Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad Martyr by Kaveh Akbar Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi Where d'You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman Three Men and a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome Scoop by Evelyn Waugh Vanity Fair by William MakepieceThackarey The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Notes Here's the Patreon link If you'd like to get more involved and support the show, and you'll get lots of good things in return: Patreon.com/thebookclubreview Keep up to date between shows, follow The Book Club Review podcast on Instagram Next book club read: Wifedom by Anna Funder Do take a quick moment to rate and review us via your podcast app, your support is really appreciated. And hey, if you have bookish friends, tell them about the show, maybe they will like it too.

Exploring literary worlds beyond fiction: a dive into non-fiction Join Kate, as she ventures to South London to visit Backstory, a unique indie bookstore founded by former journalist Tom Rowley. Rowley shares his journey from journalism to opening a bookshop, the challenges and joys of running a bookstore, the importance of community engagement, and launching the second issue of the Backstory Magazine. We then turn our attention to non-fiction, pulling out some favourites, both backlist and new releases. As Tom says, 'I just read. I want good stories, I don't care whether they're true or not' 00:40 A visit to south London's indie bookshop Backstory, and why Kate's name is on the wall 01:53 From journalism to bookshop owner: Tom's lockdown dream comes true 04:25 Embracing the community: the transition from market stall to bookshop 09:26 Launching Backstory Magazine: a new chapter in storytelling 14:54 Exploring non-fiction: feel the fear and read it anyway 17:49 Just what is deep backlist? Tom's first recommendation is My War Gone By, I Miss it So by Anthony Lloyd (September Publishing) 20:18 Kate recommends Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell by John Preston (Penguin) 22:46 Tom's next pick: Maurice and Marilyn: A Whale, A Shipwreck, A Love Story by Sophie Elmhurst (Penguin) 25:52 Kate pulls out The Wager by David Grann (Simon & Schuster) (and we also talk about Devil in the White City by Erik Larson [Penguin]) 29:08 Tom recommends The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson (Penguin) 31:15 Great minds think alike: Kate and Tom both recommend The Moth and the Mountain by Ed Caesar (Penguin), author and now DJ! 35:32 An aside from Kate about The Possessed by Elif Batuman (Granta) 37:17 Towards the end of the episode we reach 'peak Tom', with Little Englanders by Alwyn Turner (Profile) 41:17 Book club reads: Red Memory by Tania Branigan (Faber) and Close to Home by Michael Magee (Penguin) 42:25 Tom's book of the summer: The Safe Keep by Yael van der Wouden (Penguin) 44:18 List of books, how to get support the pod and get extras via our Patreon account and details of our upcoming episode in which Phil and Laura join Kate to talk about books that make us laugh Notes Visit Backstory online at www.backstory.london

So Many Damn Books podcast creator and host Christoper Hermelin joins Kate to swap book recommendations and discuss the magic of book club, recent book discoveries and bookish pet peeves. EPISODE BOOK LIST The Eyes & The Impossible by Dave Eggers A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers McSweeney's magazine, including The Panorama issue How I Won A Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto Non-Fiction by Julie Myerson Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Polly Barton, trans.) Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai (Polly Barton, trans.) Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton The Extinction of Irena Ray by Jennifer Croft James by Percival Everett, and we also mentioned Erasure and The Trees Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schultz by Luca Debus and Francesco Mateuzzi NOTES Join the club and support us on Patreon Follow The Book Club Review on Instagram and Threads @bookclubreviewpodcast

Two marriages, two forbidden love affairs, and the passionate search for social and sexual freedom in late 19th-century London. Publishers Penguin call The New Life by Tom Crewe 'A brilliant and captivating debut, in the tradition of Alan Hollinghurst and Colm Tóibín' but what did our book club make of it? Kate is reporting back, with regular guest Philip Chaffee joining from New York. We'll be catching up on the discussion as well as bringing you our take on recent reads FAKE ACCOUNTS by Lauren Oyler and NORTH WOODS by Daniel Mason, as well as our recommendations for books inspired by Crewe's novel. Booklist Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler The Smiley Novels by John Le Carre North Woods by Daniel Mason Maurice by E. M. Forster Alec by William di Canzio Young Bloomsbury by Nino Strachey Blackouts by Justin Torres Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant The Ladies Lindores by Margaret Oliphant Tom Crewe's booklist on bookshop.org.uk Podcast episode on Young Bloomsbury The audiobook of The New Life is read by Freddie Fox and published by Penguin Audio, available wherever you get your audiobooks Keep up with us between shows. Follow us on Instagram or Threads @bookclubreviewpodcast, browse our website for our full archive, or drop us a line at thebookclubreview@gmail.com Want the deep dive? All the details of our Patreon extras and how to sign up here. Thanks for listening, happy reading, happy book clubbing

What did our podcast book club make of Mild Vertigo, Japanese author Mieko Kanai's 1997 novel, recently translated into English by Polly Barton. A 'modernist masterpiece' written in sentences that go on for pages with hardly any paragraph breaks might not seem like an obvious book club winner; listen in to find out if we were won over. To discuss it Kate is joined by Yuki Tejima, also known as @booknerdtokyo, and Shawn Mooney, aka Shawn the Book Maniac. Listen in for their thoughts on Mild Vertigo, their current reads and our book recommendations for anyone wanting the inside track on great Japanese fiction. Book list A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata (trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter) Home Reading Service by Fabio Morábito (trans. Curtis Bauer) Woman Running in the Mountains by Yūko Tsushima (trans. Geraldine Harcourt) Also Territory of Light and Child of Fortune by Yoko Tsutshima Grass for my Pillow by Sayiichi Maruya (trans. Dennis Keene) The Little House by Kyoto Nakajima (trans. Ginny Tapley Takamori) There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuo Tsumura (trans. Polly Barton) Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton Porn: An Oral History by Polly Barton Butter by Asako Yuzuki (trans. Polly Barton) Follow us on Instagram and threads @bookclubreviewpodcast Support the show and get Kate's weekly book-recommendations email, access to our book spreadsheets, connect with fellow readers and join our book club: find all the details on our Patreon page. If you enjoyed the episode, please share it, rate and review us on your podcast app, which helps other listeners find us. Find full shownotes and our episode archive at our website thebookclubreview.co.uk

Join me (Kate) and Laura as we go through our bookstacks and discuss our recent reads. Find out what why Laura can't put down The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Meanwhile I've discovered Mrs Miniver, a comfort read from the 1930s that still has a message for us today, Laura's made a discovery of her own – that there's more to Anita Brookner than Hotel du Lac, with her 1988 novel The Latecomers. We go from one good book club read to another with The Fraud by Zadie Smith, and Laura reports in from the recent backlist past with How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang. I take a detour through a ring of enchanted toadstools with Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, and Laura confesses to having spent a weekend lost in the pages of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. She's only interested in the dragons, mind. Books mentioned The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther The Latecomers by Anita Brookner The Fraud by Zadie Smith (UK paperback out in June) How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros UK listeners can find all the books listed above at our Bookshop.org.uk bookshop, if you purchase them there you'll be supporting independent bookshops and your favourite indie podcasters. Find out all the details of what we're offering on our Patreon here, including a weekly book recmomendations newsletter from Kate, occasional extra bits and bobs plus access to our pod book spreadsheets, and at the higher tier you can join our bookclub and talk books with Kate in person once a month. And come and find Kate on Instagram or Threads, or drop us a line at thebookclubreview@gmail.com and let us know your thoughts on the books discussed here anytime.

We've put our 2023 reading lists behind us, and now it's time to look ahead to 2024. Who better to guide us through all the new titles coming our way than Chrissy Ryan, owner of North London's buzziest bookshop and social space, Bookbar. New books by favourite authors, a non-fiction page-turner that will have you hooked, a high-concept potential blockbuster and a follow-up novel from the author of a debut that got people talking, we've got something for everyone. Not to mention our tips and strategies for how to avoid feeling overwhelmed by that TBR. Listen via the media player above or your preferred podcast player with this podfollow link. Books mentioned You are Here by David Nicholls (April) All that Glitters by Orlando Whitfield (May) Some Trick by Helen DeWitt The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley Glass Houses (May), and Voyeur by Francesca Reece England is Mine by Nicholas Padamsee (April) The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (out in paperback May 2024) Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson Fire Weather by John Vaillant Not the End of the World by Dr Hannah Ritchie The Fraud by Zadie Smith If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman (March) The Idiot by Elif Batuman Come and Get It by Kiley Reid (and we also mentioned Such a Fun Age) Notes Find out what we're up to and support the show on Patreon. The 10 Best New Novelists for 2024, The Observer Who is Still in the Metaverse by Paul Murray for New York Magazine

It's our 2023 review of the year. Join me (Kate), Laura and Phil as we look back over our favourites, from new releases to backlist gems. Find out our overall book of the year, plus the books we're looking forward to in 2024. If you're wondering what to read next, this is the show for you, with over fifty tried and tested recommendations. Support the show, get our weekly newsletter or join our monthly book club via Patreon. Follow us on Instagram or Threads Find full shownotes and a transcript on our website thebookclubreview.co.uk Book list Favourite New Release August Blue by Deborah Levy The Rainbow by Yasunari Kawabata, and we also discussed Snow Country Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan Favourite backlist title Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston Charlotte by David Foenkinos A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd Favourite non-fiction This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes A House of Air (collected writing, ed. Hermione Lee) by Penelope Fitzgerald The Palace Papers by Tina Brown How to Talk About Books you Haven't Read by Piere Bayard Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles Free by Lea Ypi Favourite Book Club Read Super Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell The Years by Annie Ernaux Favourite comfort reads Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 191/2 Front Gardens by Ben Dark Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire Madensky Square by Iva Ibbotson Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell Going Zero by Anthony McCarten Most disappointed by The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (but do read Sabrina and Corina) Patreon recommends Loot by Tania James Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen Cider House Rules by John Irving Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung The Axman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey Not Now Not Ever by Julia Gillard All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey Machines Like Me by Ian McKewan Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting Overall Book(s) of 2023 Septology by Jon Fosse (and we mentioned Morning and Evening) Stay True by Hua Hsu How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff Monsters by Claire Dederer Books we're looking forward to Arturo's Island by Elsa Moranti Rememberance of Things Past by Proust (vol. 3) Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford Tremor by Teju Cole The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut

We read all six Booker shortlisted books, now join us as we evaluate them and try to second-guess the Booker judges, before finding out the winner - don't miss our hot take. 'A novel is a mirror carried along a high road' says Chair of the Booker judges Esi Edyugan, quoting Stendhal. 'Year after year', she continues, 'the Booker Prize encourages us to take sight of ourselves in the lives of others, to slip for the length of a story into different skins, to grapple with unfamiliar worlds that allow us to see our own afresh.' Unsurprisingly, seeing the world as it is right now has led to the most downbeat shortlist in our collective memory, but that doesn't mean these books don't make for fantastic discussion. As ever, we won't spoil the plots we'll just give you a sense of what we thought of them. Join me, Kate, with Laura, our regular guest Phil Chaffee, and first-timer, book blogger Martin Voke, as we talk through The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (audiobook narrated by Heather O'Sullivan, Barry Fitzgerald, Beau Holland, Ciaran O'Brien, Lisa Caruccio Came and published by Penguin Audio) Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (audiobook narrated by Gerry O'Brien and published by Bolinda Audio @bolindaaudio @borrowbox) If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (audiobook narrated by Torian Brackett and published by Fourth Estate) Western Lane by Chetna Maroo (audiobook narrated by Maya Saroya and published by Picador) This Other Eden by Paul Harding (audiobook narrated by Eduardo Ballerini, and published by Penguin Audio) and Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein (narrated by Sarah Bernstein and published by Granta) And for a deep dive into the winner and all fifty-seven previous winners of The Booker Prize don't miss Martin's website On the Prize

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry has sold over 2 and a half million copies worldwide since publication in 1985, and won a Pulitzer Prize. With prose as 'as smooth as worn saddle-leather', USA today writes 'If you read only one Western novel in your life, read this one . . . no other has ever approached the accomplishment of Lonesome Dove'. More interesting to us, Lonesome Dove is one of those 'if-you-know-you-know' books, passed from reader to reader, once read, never forgotten. And yet not everyone is a fan – listen in to see what Laura's book club made of it. As ever we're careful not to spoil the plot, so rest assured we won't give away any of the book's secrets. We're also recommending some follow-ons and some favourites from our recent reading piles. Book list Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser Days Without End by Sebastian Barry The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff Austerlitz by W.G. Seabed Sharp by Michelle Dean How to Talk About Books you Haven't Read by Pierre Bayard Notes If you read one article on Lonesome Dove, let it be this brilliant oral history that Texas Monthly put together, which is full of fascinating detail about the TV series and the book. The audiobook of Lonesome Dove is published by Phoenix Books and read by Lee Horsley. Links Website: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk Follow us on Instagram Find out about our Patreon, Kate's weekly book recommendations newsletter and how to join our book club and get extra episodes