Books On The Go

A special episode: Anna chats with award-winning poet Alison Gorman about her debut poetry collection A WOMAN TALKS TO HER TONGUE.   These poems examine family secrets, silences and women’s voices.  Beautiful and assured, we loved this book. Alison joins us fresh from her sold-out launch in Sydney to discuss the moving themes from the collection and other favourite poets, including Judith Beveridge, Eileen Chong, Sarah Holland-Batt, Audrey Molloy, Ada Limón and Sharon Olds. Alison recommends podcasts Poetry Off The Shelf, Poetry Unbound, Close Readings and The Literary Life.   Coming up: ENDLING by Maria Reva Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @alisongorman  Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Geoff discuss Sally Rooney pledging royalties to Palestine Action and the Library of South Australia being second on the list of the world’s most beautiful libraries.   Our book of the week is FLESH, the new novel by David Szalay which has been long-listed for the 2025 Booker Prize. It tells the story of Istvan, a Hungarian British man, in an episodic structure using key points in his life, moving from a poor upbringing in Hungary to the riches of  London, charting his rise and fall. We both read this quickly and found much to discuss.   Coming up: ENDLING by Maria Reva. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras  Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz      

Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Booker Prize Longlist. We have many comfort reading recommendations!  Here are some of the books discussed: DEAD GIRL GONE by Gareth and Louise Ward THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB series and WE SOLVE MURDERS by Richard Osman IN SPITE OF YOU by Patrick Lenton CONSIDER YOURSELF KISSED by Jessica Stanley THE WEDDING FORECAST by Nina Kenwood FINE WEATHER, JEEVES by P. G. Wodehouse DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY by E. M. Delafield LESS by Andrew Sean Greer THE UNCOMMON READER by Alan Bennett THE NEVERMOOR SERIES by Jessica Townsend PIPPI LONGSTOCKING by Astrid Lindgren FINN FAMILY MOOMINTROLL by Tove Jansson THE SUMMER BOOK by Tove Jansson translated by Thomas Teal RAINCLOWD PALACE by Phillipa Rice TELL ME EVERYTHING by Elizabeth Strout TASTE – MY LIFE THROUGH FOOD by Stanley Tucci Coming up: our Booker Longlist reading updates. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Geoff discuss PERFECTION by Vincent Latronico translated by Sophie Hughes. PERFECTION is a short novel about Tom and Anna, digital nomads living in Berlin.  A re-telling of the cult classic 1960s novel The Things by Georges Perec, it examines a couple who have built a stylish life but find themselves disilusioned. Perfection was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker International Prize. Slight spoiler alert as we discuss the ending. Coming up: Comfort reading recommendations Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Geoff discuss THE DIRECTOR by best-selling author of MEASURING THE WORLD and TYLL Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin. THE DIRECTOR tells the story of cinema director G. W. Pabst, who in the 1930s fled Nazi Germany for Hollywood and then returned to make films for the German Reich. This novel explores Pabst’s moral dilemma and the place of art in a dictatorship. Described as ‘his best novel yet’ (The Guardian) and ‘nothing short of brilliant’ (Wall Street Journal), it mixes comedy, tragedy and horror in Kehlmann’s ironic style. Coming up: PERFECTION by Vincnezo Latronico translated by Sophie Hughes. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss our 10 best books of 2025 so far. Books mentioned: A LITTLE TRICKERIE by Rosanna Pike THE NAMES by Florence Knapp THE HUSBANDS by Holly Gramazio DREAM COUNT by Chimananda Ngoze Adiche SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell STINKBUG by Sinéad Stubbins PATRIOT by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel I MAKE ENVY ON YOUR DISCO by Eric Schnall MY FRIENDS by Hisham Matar NESTING by Roisin O’Donnell EUROTRASH by Christian Kracht translated by Daniel Bowles Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Geoff discuss the 2025 Women's Prize winners and the new Data Bill regulating (or not) AI and creative work. Our book of the week is THE EMPUSIUM: A HEALTH RESORT HORROR STORY by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Tokarczuk is the Nobel Prize lauereate author of FLIGHTS and DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD. Her latest novel is inspired by Thomas Mann's THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN and set in a sanatorium in west Poland in 1913. An instant national bestseller and New York Times book of the year, it satirises misogyny and has gothic horror elements.  We differed on this one! Coming up: our best books of the year so far. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras  Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Women’s Prize and try to predict the winner. Since we recorded this the winner has been announced: The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden. (Annie was right!) And Annie wraps up recent Australian book award news including the Stella Prize winner Theory and Practice by Michelle de Kretser and the Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist. Our book of the week is THE NAMES by Florence Knapp. Cora goes with her daughter Maia to register the birth of her son.  According to family tradition, he will be called Gordon, after her husband.  Cora prefers the name Julian and Maia suggests Bear. The story breaks into three as we see the ripple effects of each decision. Described as 'the best debut novel in years' (The Sunday Times), this buzzy book has been an instant bestseller and on many 'best of 2025' lists. Coming up: THE EMPUSIUM by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.  Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, JAMES by Percival Everett. Our book of the week is SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell. A poet is admitted to hospital with severe pain.  Bedridden, he reflects on his relationships, music and poetry and the small details of life. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. We loved this one. Coming up: THE EMPUSIUM by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Annie discuss the cookbook controversy between Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin Eats and Brooke Bellamy of Bake with Brooki and ask whether it is possible to copyright a recipe. Our book of the week is FUNDAMENTALLY by Nussaibah Younis.  Shortlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction, this debut novel centres on Nadia, a UN worker who travels to Iraq to rescue ISIS brides. A serious topic treated with authenticity and humour, Younis describes it as 'Fleabag goes to Iraq'.  Other books discussed: TOO SOON by Betty Shamieh UNFINISHED BUSINESS by Shankari Chandran Coming up: SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Women's Prize Shortlist. Our book of the week is MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of HORSE. This is a moving and honest memoir of Brooks' time grieving her late husband Tony Horwitz and also a portrait of their marriage.  Partly set on a remote island off the coast of Tasmania, it is our final Australian book for #AussieApril. Coming up: FUNDAMENTALLY by Nussaibah Younis. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

A special episode! Anna is joined by Emily Hart and Margot Lloyd, founders of Pink Shorts Press. We discuss the exciting launch of this new publisher and the 2025 Stella Prize shortlist. Our book of the week is SEA GREEN by Barbara Hanrahan, re-issued by Pink Shorts Press this year with an introduction by Laura Elizabeth Woollett. This semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of Virginia, a school-teacher and artist who travels from Adelaide to London in the 1960s. An Australian feminist classic, it explores the clash between a conservative upbringing with an artistic life. Other books mentioned - perfect for a bad feminist Aussie April! MY BEAUTIFUL FRIEND by Elena Ferrante translated by Anne Goldstein THE TRANSIT OF VENUS by Shirley Hazzard MONKEY GRIP by Helen Garner THEORY AND PRACTICE by Michelle de Kretser WEST GIRLS by Laura Elizabeth Woollett Coming up: MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Pink Shorts Press: https://www.pinkshortspress.com.au/ / https://www.instagram.com/pinkshortspress/?hl=en  Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Stella Prize longlist and some upcoming book-to-screen adaptations: THE LEOPARD, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE, FOURTH WING and THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. Our book of the week is SOMEBODY DOWN THERE LIKES ME by Robert Lukins. A dysfunctional family comes together in Connecticut when the parents announce they have lost everything. This will appeal to SUCCESSION fans – we’re ready for the tv adaptation! Coming up: Aussie April continues with SEA GREEN by Barbara Hanrahan with Emily and Margot from Pink Shorts Press, and MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Shortlist for fiction, including WOO WOO by Ella Baxter and HIGHWAY 13 by Fiona McFarlane. Our book of the week is THE SEASON by Helen Garner. This is a memoir of a year Garner spent following her grandson's club football team. It explores masculinity, the sense of community at the local club and being a grandmother. As always with Garner's books, there is much to discuss.  Coming up: SOMEBODY DOWN THERE LIKES ME by Robert Lukins. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Geoff and Anna discuss THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by David McDuff.   This is a fictionalised account of the four years Dostoevsky spent in a Siberian prison camp after he was arrested for taking part in a political conspiracy.  Sold as a novel but with the feel of a documentary, it contains fascinating details and joins a collection of Russian prison memoirs.  Other books discussed: PATRIOT by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel THE LONG WALK TO FREEDOM by Nelson Mandela  NO FRIEND BUT THE MOUNTAINS by Behrouz Boochani translated by Omid Tofighian A DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn  Coming up: THE SEASON by Helen Garner Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Anna and Geoff discuss WHITE NIGHTS by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by Ronald Meyer.  A man meets a woman on the street in St Petersburg and falls in love in this short story. It has become a Tik Tok sensation in recent months and Penguin has commissioned a new audiobook to be read by Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson.  Dostoevsky was in his romantic, millennial era when he wrote this (notably, before he spent four years in prison and escaped a death sentence). Other books mentioned: SUBTLY WORDED by Teffi translated by Anne Marie Jackson THE GAMBLER AND OTHER STORIES by Fyodor Dostoevsky CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by Fyodor Dostoevsky LETTER FROM AN UNKOWN WOMAN by Stefan Zweig translated by Anthea Bell Coming up: THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD by Dostoevsky Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

A special episode: Anna chats with Kate Slotover of the Book Club Review podcast. Our book of the week is THE UNSELECTED JOURNALS OF EMMA M. LION by Beth Brower. Recommended by our friend Shawn Mooney of Shawn Breathes Books, we enjoyed this novel set in Victorian London about a young woman returning to claim her inheritance. Light and witty, these books have been compared with Jane Austen and P. G. Wodehouse. Kate has become obsessed with the series and has now read all eight books. But will she convince Anna to do the same?   Books mentioned: JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL by Susanna Clarke DEATH IN THE STOCKS by Georgette Heyer ARABELLA by Georgette Heyer FREDERICA by Georgette Heyer THE GRAND SOPHY by Georgette Heyer THE SQUARE OF SEVENS by Laura Shepherd-Robinson Coming up: WHITE NIGHTS by Fyodor Dostoevsky Follow us! Kate: Instagram: @ bookclubreviewpodcast Web: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk/ Substack: Book Club Review Anna: Instagram: @ abailliekaras Substack: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode: Anna is joined by author and U-Go founder John Wood.  We discuss our reactions to the 2025 Women’s Prize Longlist.  Our book of the week is PATRIOT by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel. This is Navalny’s autobiography detailing his rise to be a Russian opposition leader, but is also a prison diary following his arrest in January 2021.  He died in prison in February 2024. A New York Times bestseller, best book of the year (New Yorker, Atlantic, NPR) and finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. We highly recommend it - essential reading. Books mentioned SO BIG by Edna Ferber DAYS IN THE CAUCASUS by Banine translated by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova RED NOTICE by Bill Browder THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE by Masha Gessen SECOND-HAND TIME by Svetlana Alexievich translated by Bela Shayevich THE TRIAL OF VALDIMIR PUTIN by Geoffrey Robertson KC TRAVELS IN SIBERIA by Ian Frazier DISAPPEARING EARTH by Julia Phillips A SWIM IN A POND IN THE RAIN by George Saunders  Films Navalny  Coming up: WHITE NIGHTS and THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD by Fyodor Dostoevsky Follow us! John: Linkedin : John Wood www.ugouniversity.org Anna: Instagram: @ abailliekaras Substack: Books on the Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz        

Anna and Geoff react to the 2025 Booker International Longlist. Our book of the week is EUROTRASH by Christian Kracht translated by Daniel Bowles. A middle-aged man goes on a dubious road trip through Switzerland with his 80-year old mother, recently discharged from a mental institution. Blackly comic and written as autofiction, this was the Financial Times Best Translated Book of 2024 and a Time best book of 2024 and has been longlisted for the 2025 Booker International Prize. Other books discussed: THE QUANTITY THEORY OF INSANITY by Will Self (the story THE NORTH LONDON BOOK OF THE DEAD) DR FISCHER OF GENEVA by Graham Greene FRENCH EXIT by Patrick deWitt Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras Substack: Books On The Go  Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode: Anna chats with author Holly Gramazio about her debut novel THE HUSBANDS. When Lauren returns to her flat in London one night, she finds a husband called Michael: the only problem is, she isn’t married.  It turns out that her attic is producing an endless supply of husbands.  An instant New York Times best-seller, we loved this genre-bending comedy.  Holly talks about her inspiration for THE HUSBANDS, why she loves attics and the unusual setting for her next novel. Books discussed: LOLLY WILLOWES by Sylvia Townsend Warner THE SLEEPWATCHER by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan HEARTBURN by Nora Ephron BLACK WATER SISTER by Zen Cho THE STORY GIRL by Ellen Montgomery VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER by C S Lewis I WONDER AS I WANDER by Langston Hughes Follow us! Holly: Website: hollygramazio.net Bluesky: @hollygramazio.bsky.social Instagram: @holly_gramazio Anna: Substack: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com