The Book Club Review

It’s the end of summer, so Kate and Laura are looking back over their holiday reading, the books they loved, the ones that disappointed them, and the unexpected discoveries that made their reading lists longer rather than shorter.We talk about Alex E. Harrow’s huge fantasy novel The Everlasting, and why it turned out to be a surprisingly divisive read. Kate reports back on her pick from the Booker longlist, The Palm House by Gwendolyn Riley. She's also recently completed The Power Broker, Robert Caro's iconic book on New York master-builder Robert Moses, but was it worth the read? She's also discussing The Silver Book, Olivia Laing's most recent work of fiction. In Pankaj Mishra’s The Romantics, Laura found an interesting book club choice, while Kate's flagging up Vladimir by Julia May Jonas, and while on the campus novel theme she also read Joanna Miller’s The Eights, set in 1920s Oxford. Laura wraps things up with the wonderfully atmospheric The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo.But there’s more as pod-regular Phil Chaffee joins us with two of his favourite summer reads, Sue Prideaux’s Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin and Bret Easton Ellis’s The Shards.As summer comes to an end, we’re also looking ahead to Booker season, with the shortlist just around the corner and plenty more reading on the horizon.PatreonCome and find the pod on Patreon at patreon.com/thebookclubreviewKeep up with the pod between shows on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcastFor all other information and our episode archive find The Book Club Review online at thebookclubreview.co.ukComplete booklistThe Power Broker by Robert CaroGideon the Ninth by Tamsyn MuirThe Everlasting by Alex E. HarrowThe Calculation of Volume by Solvej BalleStarling House by Alex E. HarrowJonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna ClarkeThe Palm House by Gwendolyn RileyFamesick by Lena DunhamMy Phantoms by Gwendolyn RileyThe Silver Book by Olivia LaingThe Garden Against Time by Olivia LaingCrudo by Olivia LaingThe Romantics by Pankaj MishraThe Golden Mean by Annabel LyonFathers & Sons by Ivan TurgenevThe Heart of the Nhaga by Lee Young-do (Anton Hur)Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt DinnermanLand by Maggie O’FarrellThe Chair (Netflix)Monsters by Claire DedererVladimir by Julia May JonasThe Eights by Joanna MillerThe Night Tiger and The Fox Wife by Yangsze ChooThe Digital Critic: Literary Culture Online (Houman Barekat, Robert Barry and David Winters, eds.)When We Talk About Love by Carl WilsonTimecodes for the time-poor00:00 — Welcome & summer reading02:00 — What did we actually read this summer?Holiday reading plans, library books and the perennial problem of taking too many books away with you.04:00 — The Everlasting by Alex E. HarrowTime loops, quests and a very divided reaction.15:30 — The End of the Power Broker by Robert CaroKate tackles another Booker longlist book and asks: why is this on the longlist?20:00 — The Booker longlist pickA frank discussion of Gwendolyn Riley's The Palm House and the pleasures (and pains) of reading for the Booker.22:20 — The Silver Book by Olivia LaingA surprise for Kate after her mixed reaction to Laing’s Crudo.27:30 — An accidental book-club adventureLaura's brilliant idea: abandon the overheated book-club meeting and send everyone into Foyles to choose books.28:40 — The Romantics by Pankaj MishraA chance discovery — and a Hilary Mantel endorsement that seals the deal.35:50 — Vladimir by Julia May JonasSex, power, academia and the deliciously murky moral territory of a campus novel.40:00 — The Eights by Joanna MillerWomen in academia, 1920s Oxford and coming-of-age just after World War I42:40 — The Night Tiger by Yangsze ChooMystery, folklore, tigers and colonial Malaysia, Laura's perfect summer read50:45 — Phil’s summer readingWild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux and The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis54:20 — Booker season beginsThe shortlist is coming, and summer reading gives way to required reading.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Looking for the perfect summer read? Kate is joined by Laura Potter and returning guest Phil Chaffee to compare recent reads before putting this year's biggest summer books to the test. Inspired by reading lists from The New York Times, The Times, Lit Hub and The Booker Prize, they decide which books are beach reads, suitcase books, and which they'd happily leave behind at the airport. Plus, they reveal the books they're packing for their own holidays.Books discussedRecently readThe Golden Mean — Annabel LyonPlato and the Tyrant — James RommGlorious Exploits — Ferdia LennonThe Game of Kings — Dorothy DunnettThe House of Niccolò series — Dorothy DunnettWe Are Green and Trembling — Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (trans. Robin Myers)Evaluating the picks from the summer reading listsHot Milk — Deborah LevyThe Eighth Life — Nino HaratischwiliA Month in the Country — J. L. CarrWhistler — Ann PatchettThe Things We Never Say — Elizabeth StroutLand — Maggie O'FarrellInstructions for a Heatwave — Maggie O'FarrellJohn of John — Douglas StuartI Want You to Be Happy — Jem CalderThe Director — Daniel KehlmannVilla Coco — Andrew Sean GreerOur holiday recommendationsThe Feast — Margaret KennedyFree Food for Millionaires — Min Jin LeeFamesick — Lena DunhamSwimming Home — Deborah LevyRadiant Star — Ann LeckieThe Balkan Trilogy — Olivia ManningWait for Me — Deborah, Duchess of DevonshireThe Pursuit of Love — Nancy MitfordAlso mentionedPachinko — Min Jin LeeShuggie Bain and Young Mungo — Douglas StuartLess — Andrew Sean GreerTranscription — Ben LernerReading Lolita in Tehran — Azar NafisiTimecodes00:00 Welcome02:44 Phil on The Golden Mean07:39 Laura on Dorothy Dunnett11:55 Kate on Green and Trembling16:54 Beach read game rules18:20 Booker picks: Hot Milk19:40 Doorstop epic The Eighth Life21:46 Classic: A Month Country23:07 NYT Beach Reads, Whistler by Ann. Patchett25:33 Elizabeth Strout and American vibes28:22 Switching to the (UK) Times list28:29 Times list features29:03 Maggie O'Farrell debate30:51 Douglas Stuart pick John of John33:05 New paperback picks35:03 Kehlmann masterpiece The Director38:28 The LitHub list of lists38:55 Villa Coco verdict41:44 Get more from the pod on Patreon43:26 Our personal holiday reads44:03 Phil recommends The Feast46:01 Min Jin Lee deep dive48:18 Lena Dunham Famesick51:44 Laura's summer stack53:56 Mitfords and Tana French01:02:20 Final wrap and farewellSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What makes secondhand books so irresistible? Kate and Laura celebrate the joy of used bookshops, their favourite places to shop, literary finds and the thrill of unexpected discoveries. There's also an interview with W. B. Gooderham, author of Dedicated To, a book that explores the touching, funny and sometimes heartbreaking messages that can be found in the handwritten dedications tucked inside secondhand books. Whether you're a devoted secondhand book hunter or simply love hearing readers talk about books, this episode is a celebration of literary serendipity, book collecting, and the enduring pleasure of finding exactly the right book when you least expect it.Book list and linksBookshopaholics: The Paperhound • Episode #139‘Owner of Vancouver's eclectic MacLeod’s Books marks 50 years of serving bibliophiles’,John Mackie for the Vancouver SunThe Second Shelf bookshop (now in online form)Aphrodisiacs in your Garden by Charles ConnellThe Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth GordonThe Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick HornbyThings I Learned on the 6.28 by Stig AbellGriffin Bay Bookstore, San Juan islandEpisode #51: Barnabees BookshopSkoob booksDedicated to, compiled by W.G. GooderhamThe Diary of a Nobody by George and Wheedon GrossmithThe Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole by Sue TownsendWise Children by Angela CarterArabella by Georgette HeyerHouse of Niccolo and Game of Kings by Dorothy DunnettJudd Books, BloomsburyTimecodes00:00 Welcome and a pod milestone00:48 Secondhand book-hunting03:01 Browsing vs. buying07:58 Secondhand treasures11:52 Kate's love of books about books16:23 Dream bookshops17:18 Our favourite places to buy secondhand20:42 Patreon Break21:50 Kate meets W.B. Gooderham23:43 Skoob books and inscribed editions27:22 How Wayne's collecting began28:41 Dedicated To: The forgotten friendships hidden stories and lost loves found in secondhand books30:50 Releasing Books Back32:09 To inscribe or not to inscribe33:07 Diary Of A Nobody by George and Wheedon Grossmith37:32 Adrian Mole Editions38:39 Wise Children39:51 Pnin – a collection that took Wayne years to assemble41:28 Bookshelves and Umberto Eco's library44:04 Laura shares some of her favourite used-book haunts47:54 Why secondhand books matter49:08 Episode wrapSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When the Guardian drops a list of the 100 Greatest Novels in English it's time to drop everything to talk about it. Luckily pod-regular guest, journalist Phil Chaffee and Joseph Dance, host of the Curious Readers podcast, also had views, and were willing to get together on a Sunday evening to share them. You'll hear our hits, our misses, how many we’ve read, whether we should have read more and much musing on whether a list like this is the way to get people excited about reading. We explore the joys of the sub-lists – the contributor lists – all squirrelled away on a sub-section of the Guardian's website, that arguably provide more excitement and inspiration than the fairly canonical top 100. Which is the best Brontë? Which is the best Austen? Do we age into certain books? If you've read all seven volumes of Proust shouldn't that count for more than one entry? All this and much, much more. Enjoy – this was an absolute delight to make and I hope it makes you smile as much as it did me.Have your say: get in touch on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast or email [email protected], or head to our website for full shownotes. What would be in your top-10?Check out the Patreon for all kinds of extras, from our monthly book club to extra shows and Kate's reading diaries. Find it at patreon.com/thebookclubreviewThe Guardian’s List of the 100 Greatest Novels published in English, copied below for ease of reference.*underlined – the ones Kate has readMiddlemarchBelovedUlyssesTo the LighthouseIn Search of Lost TimeAnna KareninaWar and PeaceJane EyrePride and PrejudiceMadame BovaryThe Great GatsbyBleak HouseEmmaMrs DallowayMoby-DickNineteen Eighty-FourOne Hundred Years of SolitudePersuasionThe Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, GentlemanWuthering HeightsThe Portrait of a LadyThings Fall ApartMidnight’s ChildrenThe Remains of the DayLolitaDon QuixoteThe TrialThe Brothers KaramazovPale FireFrankensteinThe Prime of Miss Jean BrodieThe God of Small ThingsDavid CopperfieldWolf HallGreat ExpectationsThe Handmaid’s TaleInvisible ManThe Age of InnocenceTheir Eyes Were Watching GodSong of SolomonHeart of DarknessThe Magic MountainHousekeepingGiovanni’s RoomThe Golden NotebookThe LeopardVanity FairThe MetamorphosisA Fine BalanceWide Sargasso SeaMy Brilliant FriendThe Golden BowlThe Transit of VenusOrlandoThe WavesMansfield ParkThe Sound and the FuryDisgraceNever Let Me GoHowards EndThe Rings of SaturnHalf of a Yellow SunWhite TeethThe Good SoldierThe Color PurpleThe Master and MargaritaThe Man Without QualitiesBlood MeridianCrime and PunishmentJude the ObscureKindredOur Mutual FriendAusterlitzNervous ConditionsThe Bluest EyeDraculaThe RainbowA House for Mr BiswasGo Tell It on the MountainRebeccaBuddenbrooksThe End of the AffairA Farewell to ArmsThe Talented Mr RipleyThe VegetarianThe Turn of the ScrewThe Line of BeautyRagtimeThe Left Hand of DarknessJacob’s RoomLife and FateSentimental EducationInvisible CitiesThe Known WorldThe Return of the NativePedro PáramoCatch-22The RoadThe Go-BetweenMy ÁntoniaParticular books we touch on in the showThings Fall Apart by Chinua AchebeUlysses by James JoyceIn Search of Lost Time by Marcel ProustMy Brilliant Friend by Elena FerranteWuthering Heights by Emily BrontëAs I Lay Dying by William FaulknerVillette by Charlotte BrontëOrlando, The Waves and To the Lighthouse by Virginia WoolfOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezMiddlemarch by George EliotPedro Páramo by Juan RulfoRebecca by Daphne du MaurierThe Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di LampedusaNervous Conditions, The Book of Not and This Mournable Body by Tsitsi DangarembgaThe Transit of Venus by Shirley HazzardDon Quixote by Miguel de CervantesThe Magic Mountain by Thomas MannBuddenbrooks by Thomas MannLonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryBlood Meridian by Cormac McCarthyThe Memory Police by Yoko OgawaThe English Understand Wool by Helen DeWittA Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb SalihThe Princess of Clèves by Madame de LafayetteThe Cairo Trilogy by Naguib MahfouzThe Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō TanizakiThe Trial and Metamorphosis by Franz KafkaThe Go-Between by L. P. HartleyMoby-Dick by Herman MelvilleA House for Mr Biswas by V. S. NaipaulThe New Life by Tom CreweMiss Marjoribanks by Mrs OliphantThe Palliser novels by Anthony TrollopeThe Warden by Anthony TrollopeThe Man Without Qualities by Robert MusilThe Known World by Edward P. JonesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

George Saunders is back with Vigil, his first novel since Lincoln in the Bardo. In this episode, Kate is joined by fellow book podcasters Jenny King and Sarah Kemp from The Bookcast Club to discuss itGiven his back catalogue, does Vigil live up to the high expectations we have Saunders, one of America's most admired contemporary writers? Why is he so fond of writing about ghosts? Do death, redemption, capitalism and climate change make for an enjoyable read? Do we want novels to be enjoyable? Or do we want them to make a point?We're also exploring Leo Tolstoy's classic novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich, cited by Saunders as a key influence on Vigil, and asks what both books reveal about how we live, how we die, and whether it's ever too late to change.Along the way, Kate, Jenny and Sarah share recent reads, their love of a Kobo e-reader, and recommend books (and one film) following on from our book club read.Books discussedVigil by George SaundersThe Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo TolstoyTranscription by Ben LernerAlmost Life by Kiran Millwood HargraveOnce There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghyBeautyland by Marie-Helene BertinoNorth Woods by Daniel MasonStoryland by Catherine McKinnonPlus a recommendation for the film Palm Springs.PatreonAccess extra episodes, join the pod book club and support the show at Patreon.com/bookclubreviewFollow on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcastemail [email protected]:26 Recent Reads & Kobos – Bookshelf chat, Kobo e-reader enthusiasm, and current reads including Ben Lerner's Transcription and Kiran Millwood Hargrave's Almost Life.11:54 About The Bookcast Club14:41 Patreon Break16:17 What Is Vigil? – Spiritual guide Jill escorts a remorseless fossil fuel tycoon toward death. Audiobook excerpt included.22:16 Discussing Jill28:22 Climate & KJ Boon31:21 A Christmas Carol Parallels34:16 Broader Reflections – Kate wonders if great writers can no longer make moral judgments in today's climate; Transcription raises similar questions.35:54 Verdict on Vigil38:30 The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Tolstoy's novella discussed as Saunders' cited influence. 43:00 Tolstoy the Man48:36 Recommendations52:42 Wrap-upSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.