The Bookshelf

Catch up on the best books and discussions about them from the last year. A songwriter, a plaintive guitar, time travel and a motel are all in the mix.Kate and Cassie's review of Willie Vlautin's Horse was originally was originally broadcast on 26 July 2024Cassie and Jonathan Green's appraisal of Kaliane Bradley's Ministry of Time was originally broadcast on 30 May 2024Kate, Kate Mildenhall and Beejay Silcox disagreed over Miranda July's All Fours back on 21 June 2024And bookseller David Gaunt and NZ Festival Director Claire Mabey gave their book recommendations on 26 July 2024

Detectives, tea ladies, journos, psychologists – what's the appeal of the crime series and repeat protagonist? Kate Evans with crime writers Michael Robotham, Tim Ayliffe and Amanda Hampson onstage at the BAD Sydney Crime Festival.GUESTSMichael Robotham, internationally bestselling crime writer, whose books include the Joe O'Loughlin series and the Cyrus Haven series. His latest is Storm Child.Tim Ayliffe, journalist and novelist, whose central character is also a media man. John Bailey is his name – and the latest book in that series is The Wrong Man.Amanda Hampson is an author of many novels, whose crime novels, set in the 1960s, feature tea ladies. Her latest is The Cryptic Clue.CRIME SERIES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSIONIan Rankin, Rebus seriesMichael Connelly, Bosch and McEvoy seriesAnne Cleeves, Vera seriesJanet Evanovitch, Stephanie Plum seriesKerry Greenwood, Phryne Fischer seriesStieg Larsson, Lisbeth Salander seriesPeter Høeg, Miss Smilla's Feeling for SnowStephen King's Holly Gibney seriesPatricia Cornwall's Kay Scarpetta seriesMick Herron's Slow HorsesTom Clancy, worksPeter Temple's Jack Irish seriesJohn Le Carre, worksJack Beaumont, Frenchman seriesWalter Mosley, Easy Rawlins seriesAdrian McKinty, Sean Duffy seriesSulari Gentill, Rowland Sinclair seriesCandice Fox, worksSujata Massey, Perveen Mistry seriesChris Hammer, worksCandice Fox, worksDon Winslow, worksPresenter: Kate EvansProducer: Kate Evans + Sarah CorbettSound engineers: John Jacobs + Tegan NichollsExecutive Producer: Rhiannon Brown

The best books of 2024 as selected by Cassie McCullagh, Kate Evans, Jason Steger, Lev Grossman and Michaela Kalowski. Keep scrolling for a full (and somewhat idiosyncratic) list.GUESTSJason Steger, literary journalist. Former literary editor at the Age and SMH; and regular guest on ABC TV's Tuesday Book Club.Lev Grossman, bestselling American novelist and journalist — whose books include The Magicians trilogy and (his latest), The Bright Sword (an Arthurian tale).Michaela Kalowski, literary interviewer and the curator of Radio National's Big Weekend of BooksBOOK RECOMMENDATIONS(listed according to the person who made the recommendation)Lev Grossman:Percival Everett, JamesPaolo Bacigalupi, NavolaTana French, The HunterKate Atkinson, Death at the Sign of the RookM.T. Anderson, NickedKarl Ove Knausgaard, The Third RealmNick Harkaway, Karla's ChoiceCassie McCullagh:Percival Everett, JamesKaliane Bradley, The Ministry of TimeFrancis Spufford, Cahokia JazzCeridwen Dovey, Only the AstronautsMichaela Kalowski's selection (in categories)Uplifting (subject matter or style):Ailsa Piper, For LifeJulia Baird, Bright Shining International:Percival Everett, JamesFrancis Spufford, Cahokia Jazz Australian:Robbie Arnott, Dusk Lexi Freiman, The Book of AynTim Winton, Juice Catherine McKinnon, To Sing of War James Bradley, Deep Water Julian Borger, I Seek a Kind Person Books in Translation:Greek Lessons by Han KangFantasy:Kelly Link, The Book of LoveJason StegerUplifting/ positive:Colm Tóibín, Long IslandMelanie Cheng, The BurrowKaliane Bradley, The Ministry of TimeOther highlightsNick Harkaway, Karla's ChoiceHelen Garner, The SeasonSamantha Harvey, OrbitalHeather Taylor Johnson, Little BitKate EvansPositive/ Joy or beauty:Niall Williams, Time of the ChildHanif Kureishi, ShatteredDeborah Levy, the Position of SpoonsInternational:Francis Spufford, Cahokia JazzAlan Hollinghurst, Our EveningsRichard Powers, PlaygroundIn translation:Olga Tokarczuk, The EmpusiumAustralian:Fiona McFarlane, Highway 13Dylin Hardcastle, A Language of LimbsCatherine McKinnon, To Sing of WarRobbie Arnott, DuskInga Simpson, The ThinningCREDITSPresenters: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound engineers: Craig Tilmouth, Ann Marie DebettencorExecutive Producer: Rhiannon Brown

What do Kate and Cassie make of Will Self’s Elaine, a portrait of a frustrated fifties housewife, based on his mother's own diaries. Plus, The City and its Uncertain Walls, the much anticipated new novel by Haruki Murakami with a dreamy library in a parallel universe at its centre; and Rosalia Aguilar Solace’s The Great Library of Tomorrow, another novel set in an alternate world that pays tribute to libraries.BOOKSWill Self, Elaine, Grove PressHaruki Murakami, The City and its Uncertain Walls (translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel), Harvill SeckerRosalia Aguilar Solace, The Great Library of Tomorrow, TextGUESTSJon Page, long-time bookseller. General Manager, Dymocks, Sydney CBD store C.S. Pacat, writer whose books include the Dark Rise and Captive Prince series, and the graphic novel Fence series. OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDStephanie Meyers, Twilight seriesSamantha Harvey, OrbitalAsako Yuzuki, ButterGenevieve Cogman, Invisible LibrariesJorge Luis Borges, The Library of Babel; Labyrinths Anne Rice, The Vampire ChroniclesChristine Dwyer Hickey, Our London Lives Colum McCann, Apeirogon; TwistCREDITSPresenter: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound engineer: Craig Tilmouth, Beth StewartExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

A focus on literature in translation with special guests Bora Chung and Anton Hur, both of whom are South Korean authors and translators, who translate each others' work, and write outside the system of state-sanctioned literature. Anton translates from Korean into English; Bora translates Russian and Polish works into Korean. In this episode, they describe each others' work, discuss translation, give recommendations, and respond to fellow South Korean writer Han Kang's Nobel Prize in literature.We also meet Chinese podcaster and translator Yu Shi, who has translated Margaret Atwood and Jeanette Winterson's fiction into Mandarin.GUESTSBora Chung, lecturer, fiction writer and translator from South Korea, who translates from Russian and Polish into Korean. Her books include Cursed Bunny (which was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize), Your Utopia and Grocery ListAnton Hur, novelist and translator. He translates from Korean into English. His books are Toward Eternity and No One Told Me Not To. He also translated the global phenomenon I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki by Baek Se-heeYu Shi, Chinese podcaster and translator Bora Chung and Anton Hur were in Australia as guests of the Korean Cultural CentreALL BOOKS MENTIONEDHan Kang, The Vegetarian; Human Acts; Greek Lessons; We Do Not PartFyodor Dostoevsky, worksBruno Jasieński, worksBruno Schulz, worksOlga Tokarczuk, worksStanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, worksWitold Gombrowicz, worksMargaret Atwood, The Testaments; The Handmaid’s TaleJeanette Winterson, Oranges are Not the Only FruitStephen King, worksPaul Auster, worksMishima Yukio, worksCREDITSPresenter: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound engineer: Peter ClimpsonExecutive producer: Rhiannon Brown

Derided, disparaged and cursed to the heavens, book critics are depicted as literature’s grand villains – as frustrated creators and gleeful wreckers. But what do critics really do? And why are they necessary for a healthy literary ecosystem? James Jiang, Beejay Silcox and Christos Tsiolkas join Kate and Cassie as part of a panel discussion at Canberra Writers' Festival - five Aussie critics - making the case for criticism.

Niall Williams’ Time of the Child might just be the big ‘feel-good book of the year’—but there’s more to it than that. This is a beautifully written Irish story, full of ordinary lives described in painfully funny detail. Also, Scottish writer Ali Smith and her too-real-to-be-allegorical Gliff; and in Alan Moore's The Great When, we're presented with a hallucinatory vision of an alternative London, anchored in post-World War ll realism.BOOKSAli Smith, Gliff, Hamish HamiltonAlan Moore, The Great When, BloomsburyNiall Williams, Time of the Child, BloomsburyGUESTSGarth Nix, sci-fi and fantasy writer whose books include the Old Kingdom series, Angel Mage , and  The Left-Handed Booksellers of London; his latest is a middle-grade novel, We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old OverlordChris Hammer, crime writer whose books include Scrublands, Silver, and The Tilt. His latest, featuring his characters Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic is The Valley OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDKazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me GoAldous Huxley, Brave New WorldClaire Keegan, Small Things Like TheseFintan O'Toole, We Don't Know OurselvesLarry McMurtry, Lonesome DoveChris Whittaker, We Begin at the EndC.S. Robertson, The Trials of Marjorie CroweCREDITSPresenter: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Craig Tilmouth, Ann-Marie DebettencorExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

The Dressmaker’s backstory, a universe of stars to expand our ideas about nature writing, and fragments and tricks galore: Kate and Cassie read Inga Simpson’s The Thinning, Brian Castro’s Chinese Postman and Rosalie Ham’s Molly with guests Ella Jeffery and Amanda HampsonBOOKSInga Simpson, The Thinning, HachetteBrian Castro, Chinese Postman, GiramondoRosalie Ham, Molly, PicadorGUESTSDr Ella Jeffery, poet and lecturer in Creative Writing at Griffith University, Qld; ABC Radio National ‘Top 5 Arts’ candidate; currently examining insecure housing as a theme in 21st-century literatureAmanda Hampson, novelist whose latest series feature tea ladies in 1960s Sydney . . . solving crime. The first, The Tea Ladies, won the 2024 Danger Award for Best Crime Novel. The second is The Cryptic Clue; and the third – The Deadly Dispute – will be published in April 2025. There will be five in the series.Other books mentioned:Patricia Wrightson, The Nargun and the StarsJohn Marsden, Tomorrow when the War BeganJames Bradley, Deep Water: The World in the OceanRichard Powers, PlaygroundRobert C. O’Brien, Z for ZachariahCormac McCarthy, The Road Miles Franklin, My Brilliant CareerA B Facey, A Fortunate LifeMarcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural LifeRuth Park, works Helen Garner, WorksJohn Birmingham, He Died with a Felafel in his HandAndrew McGahan, worksBernadette Brennan, Brain Castro’s Fiction: The Seductive Play of LanguageCREDITSPresenter: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan, Peter Climpson, Emrys CroninExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

The latest from double Miles Franklin Award winner, Michelle de Kretser, Theory and Practice, a novel that evokes the 1980s and Virginia Woolf. Scottish writer Graeme Macrae Burnet plays a French literary game in A Case of Matricide; and summer days under the light of a strange star in Norway in Karl Ove Knausgaard’s The Third Realm.BOOKSGraeme Macrae Burnet, A Case of Matricide, TextMichelle de Kretser, Theory & Practice, TextKarl Ove Knausgaard, The Third Realm, (Translated from the Norwegian by Martin Aitken), Harvill SeckerGUESTSClare Monagle, Professor of Mediaeval History, Macquarie University – who specialises in the history of ideas, and theology in the Middle AgesMark Mordue, freelance music writer and poet whose latest book is the biography, Boy on Fire - The Young Nick Cave. He is also co-director of the Addi Road Writers Festival OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED Daphne du Maurier, RebeccaHelen Garner, worksC.J. Sansom, Shardlake seriesUmberto Eco, The Name of the Rose Jack Gilbert, Collected PoemsJuno Gemes, Until Justice Comes: Fifty Years of the Movement for Indigenous Rights CREDITSPresenter: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Tegan Nicholls, Ann Marie de BettencorExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

Kate and Cassie read Melanie Cheng’s The Burrow, a pandemic-set novella that details the healing powers of a pet rabbit for a family dealing with tragedy. Plus, Native American writer Louise Erdrich’s The Mighty Red, a beautifully crafted novel about a love triangle and everyday life in a farming community in North Dakota, and the latest from Yuwaalaraay storyteller Nardi Simpson, The Belburd, a poetic montage of life and death.BOOKS Melanie Cheng, The Burrow, Text Louise Erdrich, The Mighty Red, Corsair Nardi Simpson, The Belburd, Hachette GUESTS Steph Harmon, Culture Editor, The Guardian Tom Wright, theatre writer and adaptor; Associate Director, Belvoir Theatre OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDNardi Simpson, Song of the CrocodileEmeric Pressburger, The Glass PearlsClaire Kilroy, Soldier SailorAlan Murrin, The Coast Road Dan Hogan, Secret Third Thing​CREDITPresenter: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound engineer: Craig Tilmouth, Beth StewartExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

Twins, pumas and a colonial western in Robbie Arnott’s Dusk; gay lives, racial politics, class, theatre and exquisite writing, in Alan Hollinghurst’s Our Evenings; and writing between the myths, rumours and religious speculation of a mediaeval woman pope in Emily Maguire's Rapture.BOOKSRobbie Arnott, Dusk, PicadorAlan Hollinghurst, Our Evenings, PicadorEmily Maguire, Rapture, Allen & UnwinGUESTSHuw Griffiths, Associate Professor of English Literature, University of Sydney – with a special interest in Shakespeare and contemporary gay literature. His books include Disavowing Authority in the Shakespeare Classroom and Shakespeare’s Body Parts: Figuring Sovereignty in the History PlaysMeredith Lake, presents Soul Search on ABC Radio National as well as Mornings on ABC Alice Springs. She is also a historian of religion, whose latest book is The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History  OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDJon Ransom, The GallopersMax Porter, worksCynan Jones, worksArelhekenhe Angkentye - Women’s Talk, Poems of Lyapirtneme from Arrernte Women in Central AustraliaKim Mahood, Craft for a Dry Lake; Position Doubtful; Wandering with IntentCREDITS Presenter, Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Roi Huberman, Ann-Marie DebettencorExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

The Bookshelf is a program for dedicated readers and those who wished they read more.

Many people have been awaiting the release of Intermezzo, the latest book by Irish writer Sally Rooney, which explores love, grief, growing up, playing chess, understanding and misunderstanding family...Kate and Cassie begin the show with this one, with additional input from millennial author Madeleine Gray. Also, under the sea with Richard Powers in his new novel Playground; and searching the American South with Gayl Jones in The Unicorn Woman, with guidance from historian Ethan Blue.BOOKSSally Rooney, Intermezzo, FaberRichard Powers, Playground, Hutchinson HeinemannGayl Jones, The Unicorn Woman, ViragoGUESTSMadeleine Gray, critic and writer whose debut novel, Green Dot, was published in 2023 and is now being adapted for screen. Winner of the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year at the 2024 ABIAsEthan Blue, Associate Professor of History at the University of W.A., where he specialises in histories of punishment, migration and incarceration.  Author of The Deportation Express: A History of America through Forced Removal https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-deportation-express/hardcoverOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDBonnie Garmus, Lessons in ChemistryReginald Rose, Twelve Angry MenMiriam Toews, Women TalkingJulia Langbein, American MermaidRosemarie Garland-Thomson, Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body Neil Stephenson, Termination ShockEleanor Catton. Birnam WoodZora Neal Hurston, There Eyes are Watching GodLangston Hughes, worksW.E.B. Du Bois, worksRichard Wright, worksElla Baxter, Woo WooAnne Carson, Eros the BittersweetPercival Everett, JamesIvan Chaar Lopez, The Cybernetic Border: Drones, Technology, and IntrusionFelicity Amaya Schaeffer, Unsettled Borders: The Militarized Science of Surveillance on Sacred Indigenous LandsFrederick Jamieson, The Political UnconsciousMargaret Drabble, worksThomas Hardy, worksCREDITSCREDITSPresenter: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan, Simon BranthwaiteExecutive producer: Rhiannon Brown

Novels from France, Poland and India – with politics, sanatoriums, automata and horror in the mix too. Kate and Cassie read French writer (and provocateur) Michel Houellebecq’s Annihilation (but can they get to the end of the book? There’s the question); while Polish reader and publicist Anna O’Grady joins them to discuss Nobel Prize winning writer Olga Tokarczuk’s The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story; and academic, novelist and memoirist Kári Gislason joins them to review Tania James’ Loot.BOOKSMichel Houellebecq, Annihilation, PicadorOlga Tokarczuk, The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story, TextTania James, Loot, Harvill Secker  GUESTSAnna O’Grady, Publicity Director, Simon & Schuster. Born in Poland, both her parents and grandparents were connected with the Polish publishing industryKári Gislason, Professor in Creative Writing & Literary Studies, Queensland University of Technology. His books include The Promise of Iceland, the novel The Sorrow Stone and Saga Land (co-authored with Richard Fidler). His latest is the memoir Running with PiratesOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDThomas Mann, The Magic MountainSamantha Harvey, OrbitalCarys Davis, ClearJennifer Croft, The Extinction of Irena ReyDebra Dank, We Come With This PlaceTegan Bennett Daylight, The DetailsGerald Durrell, My Family and Other AnimalsKarl Over Knausgaard, My Struggle seriesAnna Jacobson, How to Knit a HumanCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans + Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans  + Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Harvey O'Sullivan + Simon BranthwaiteExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

Sex parties, corruption and dark dark deeds in not-quite-Nigeria, in Akwaeke Emezi’s Little Rot; aspiration, real estate and misguided philanthropists in New York, in Rumaan Alam’s Entitlement, and ordinary people living extraordinary lives, and all those untold stories, in Elizabeth Strout’s Tell Me Everything. GUESTSGretchen Shirm, critic and writer whose books include the short story collection Having Cried Wolf and the novels Where the Light Falls and The Crying Room.Stephen Long, Senior Fellow at the independent policy research organisation, The Australia Institute. Before that he was a senior reporter for the ABC’s investigative journalism program, Four Corners, as economics correspondent and national finance correspondent.BOOKSAkwaeke Emezi, Little Rot, Faber Rumaan Alam, Entitlement, Riverhead Books Elizabeth Strout, Tell Me Everything, Viking Penguin OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDBarbara Kingsolver, Demon CopperheadTaffy Brodesser-Akner , Long Island CompromisePorochista Khakpour, TehrangelesAndrew O'Hagan, Caledonian RoadAlice Robinson, If You GoSusie Boyt, Love and MissedPaul Lynch, Prophet SongJoseph Stiglitz, The Road to Freedom - Economics and the Good Society CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans + Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans +  Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Tegan Nicholls + Simon BranthwaiteExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

A peripatetic hotel, a paddle steamer of dreams and a dastardly law firm, in Jock Serong’s Cherrywood; one of the 20th century’s top 10 all-star ‘leading’ murderers, and what it might mean to be close to him, in Malcolm Knox’s The First Friend; and spies, caves, lies and Neanderthals in Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake. BOOKS Malcolm Knox, The First Friend, Allen & Unwin Jock Serong, Cherrywood, Fourth Estate Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake, Jonathan Cape GUESTS Roanna Gonsalves, creative writing academic, writer whose books include the short story collection The Permanent Resident Tom Wright, theatre writer and adapter; artistic associate, the Belvoir Theatre OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDPeter Carey, worksJoseph Conrad, Heart of DarknessJames Bradley, Ghost SpeciesJon Baptiste del Amo, Son of ManMichelle de Kretser, Theory and PracticeWilliam Dalrymple, The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the WorldJosé Saramago, The Elephant's JourneyAdalbert Stifter, The BachelorsJonathan Raban, Soft CityCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans + Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans + Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Craig Tilmouth + Ann-Marie DebettencorExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

An overview of the books of the year so far, what’s coming up for the rest of the year, and the 'to be read' book pile of regret as Kate and Cassie confess all with bookseller Jon Page and literary interviewer and editor of The Monthly Michael Williams.BOOKS MENTIONED BY CASSIEPercival Everett, JamesCeridwen Dovey, Only the AstronautsIain Ryan, The StripGabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Kaliane Bradley, The Ministry of TimeFrancis Spufford, Cahokia JazzElizabeth Strout, Tell Me EverythingRobbie Arnott, worksTim Winton, JuiceBOOKS MENTIONED BY JON PAGESarah J. Maas, Court of Thorns seriesRebecca Yarros, The Empyrean seriesTéa Obreht, The MorningsideMurray Middleton, No Church in the WildGarry Disher, worksJane Harper, The DryChris Hammer, worksChristian White, worksHayley Scrivenor, worksMichael Robotham, worksPeter Temple, worksBarbara Kingsolver, worksHaruki Murakami, worksNagi, Recipe Tin Eats cookbooksJock Serong, CherrywoodElizabeth Strout, Tell Me EverythingTim Winton, JuiceCormac McCarthy, The RoadKaliane Bradley, The Ministry of TimeBOOKS MENTIONED BY KATEFrancis Spufford, Cahokia JazzRodney Hall, VortexDylin Hardcastle, A Language of LimbsFiona McFarlane, Highway 13Catherine McKinnon, To Sing of WarAndrew O'Hagan, Caledonian RoadOlga Tokarczuk, The EmpusiumLouise Erdrich, The Mighty RedJames McBride, The Heaven & Earth Grocery StoreBOOKS MENTIONED BY MICHAEL WILLIAMSMelissa Lucashenko, EdenglassieTony Birch, Women and ChildrenKate Grenville, Dolly MaunderJonathan Lethem, Brooklyn Crime NovelRebecca Makkai, The Great BelieversNam Le, 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese PoemRichard Osman, We Solve Murders seriesSally Rooney, IntermezzoHelen Garner, The SeasonMelanie Cheng, The BurrowAn overview of the books of the year so far, what’s coming up for the rest of the year, and the 'to be read' book pile of regret as Kate and Cassie confess all with bookseller Jon Page and literary interviewer and editor of The Monthly Michael Williams.BOOKS MENTIONED BY CASSIEPercival Everett, JamesCeridwen Dovey, Only the AstronautsIain Ryan, The StripGabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Kaliane Bradley, The Ministry of TimeFrancis Spufford, Cahokia JazzElizabeth Strout, Tell Me EverythingRobbie Arnott, DuskTim Winton, JuiceBOOKS MENTIONED BY JON PAGESarah J. Maas, Court of Thorns seriesRebecca Yarros, The Empyrean seriesJonathan Lethem, Brooklyn Crime NovelTéa Obreht, The MorningsideMurray Middleton, No Church in the WildGarry Disher, worksJane Harper, The DryChris Hammer, worksChristian White, worksHayley Scrivenor, worksMichael Robotham, worksPeter Temple, worksBarbara Kingsolver, worksHaruki Murakami, worksNagi Maehashi, Recipe Tin Eats seriesJock Serong, CherrywoodElizabeth Strout, Tell Me EverythingTim Winton, JuiceCormac McCarthy, The RoadKaliane Bradley, The Ministry of TimeBOOKS MENTIONED BY KATEFrancis Spufford, Cahokia JazzDylin Hardcastle, A Language of LimbsFiona McFarlane, Highway 13Catherine McKinnon, To Sing of WarAndrew O'Hagan, Caledonian RoadOlga Tokarczuk, The EmpusiumLouise Erdrich, The Mighty RedJames McBride, The Heaven & Earth Grocery StoreBOOKS MENTIONED BY MICHAEL WILLIAMSMelissa Lucashenko, EdenglassieTony Birch, Women and ChildrenKate Grenville, Restless Dolly MaunderJonathan Lethem, Brooklyn Crime NovelRebecca Makkai, The Great BelieversNam Le, 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese PoemRichard Osman, We Solve Murders seriesSally Rooney, IntermezzoHelen Garner, The SeasonMelanie Cheng, The BurrowCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans + Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans + Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Beth Stewart + Emrys CroninExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

Stories of Northern Soul, pigs trotters in performance art and politics in the subtropical 1950s come to life in three new works of fiction including Vortex, the new novel from 88 year old Rodney Hall, twice winner of the Miles Franklin Award; Woo Woo, by another Australian writer, Ella Baxter; and Rare Singles, the latest from English writer and journalist Benjamin Myers.BOOKSRodney Hall, Vortex, PicadorElla Baxter, Woo Woo, Allen & UnwinBenjamin Myers, Rare Singles, BloomsburyGUESTSGretchen Shirm, critic, novelist and teacher of creative writing. Her books include Having Cried Wolf, Where the Light Falls and The Crying Room. (Her book Out of the Woods will be published next year)Stuart Coupe, music writer and promoter. His books include Roadies: The Secret History of Australian Rock N Roll; biographies of Paul Kelly, Tex Perkins and Michael Gudinski; and the memoir, Shake Some Action. (He is currently writing a history of the Australian entertainment industry and its links to organised crime)OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDJonathan Lethem, worksNick Hornsby, worksWalter Moseley, worksÉdouard Louis, Change; The End of EddyKate Jennings, Snake Bud Smith, TeenagerWilly Vlautin, The HorseCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans + Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans + Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Tegan NichollsExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

Kate and Cassie read Rita Bullwinkle's Headshot, a luminous debut that follows eight teenage girl boxers in Reno, Nevada. Crime writer Michael Robotham discusses Chris Whitaker’s All the Colours of the Dark – a story with a one-eyed boy, missing children, and a character who may or may not be an hallucination, and a nod to True Crime and Australia’s dark history in Fiona McFarlane’s Highway 13, with critic Beejay Silcox.BOOKSRita Bullwinkel, Headshot, DB OriginalsFiona McFarlane, Highway 13, Allen & UnwinChris Whitaker, All the Colours of the Dark, OrionGUESTSBeejay Silcox, critic, essayist and director of the Canberra Writers FestivalMichael Robotham, internationally bestselling crime writer whose books include the Joe O’Loughlin series and the Cyrus Haven series. His latest is Storm ChildOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDStephen King, worksDavid Owen Kelly, Host CityRebecca Makkai, The Great BelieversRodney Hall, VortexMichael Winkler, GrimmishJ.P. Pomare, Seventeen Years LaterColm Tóibín, Long IslandCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans + Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans + Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Beth Stewart + Ann Marie DebettencorExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

What does the 2024 Miles Franklin shortlist tell us about our shared imagination? Bernadette Brennan and Geordie Williamson join Kate and Cassie to examine the winner, Alexis Wright's epic novel Praiseworthy, and all the finalists for Australia’s most prestigious literary prize.BOOKSWINNER:Alexis Wright, Praiseworthy (Giramondo)REST OF SHORTLIST:Hossein Asgari, Only Sound Remains (Puncher & Wattmann)Jen Craig, Wall (Puncher & Wattmann)André Dao, Anam (Hamish Hamilton)Gregory Day, The Bell of the World (Transit Lounge)Sanya Rushdi, Hospital, (Giramondo)GUESTSBernadette Brennan, literary scholar, biographer, and former judge of the Miles FranklinGeordie Williamson, literary critic and publisherCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans + Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans + Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Tegan Nicholls and Ann Marie DebettencorExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown