The Book Club Review
- Épisodes
- 204
- Parution
- mensuelle
- Dernier épisode
- 9 Nov 2026
À propos du podcast
Discussion, debate, even a little dispute – expect it all on The Book Club Review. Join host Kate and her guests as they explore contemporary and classic titles. From hyped new releases to word-of-mouth backlist tips, books are put to the book club test – do they live up to our expectations? Listen in for thoughtful insights, lively opinions and inspiration for your next great read.
Épisodes 204
The 2026 Booker Longlist, hits and near misses • with Phil Chaffee, Elizabeth Eva Leach and Charlotte Kearsley
The Booker judges have made their choices, and six novels have made it through to the shortlist. But what about the books left behind?In this episode, Kate is joined by regular-contributor Phil Chaffee, and …
Notes de l’épisode
The Booker judges have made their choices, and six novels have made it through to the shortlist. But what about the books left behind?
In this episode, Kate is joined by regular-contributor Phil Chaffee, and Elizabeth Eva Leach and Charlotte Kearsley (both Patreon members) to give the best-of-the-rest their moment in the spotlight. Between them, they've read their way through the Booker dozen, now it's time for their full and frank reviews.
If the books on the longlist have one thing in common, Elizabeth thinks, it's a preoccupation with the idea of the failure of knowledge, while Charlotte noticed a split between authors who chose to be highly specific, and others who resisted doing that, which was a characteristic of many of the books on the list. Leaving no stone unturned, we're considering all seven books that didn't make the shortlist and singling out those books we don't want listeners to miss.
And of course we're taking a brief look at favourites from the shortlist and thoughts on the potential winner. This is Part One of our Booker coverage. Coming soon Part Two: our discussion of the six shortlisted novels, and then our reaction to the winner.
Books discussed
- The Shadow of the Object – Chloe Aridjis
- Switzy – Emma Cline
- Helen of Nowhere – Makenna Goodman
- The Renovation – Kenan Orhan
- The Palm House – Gwendoline Riley
- All Them Dogs – Djamel White
- The Vivisectors – Missouri Williams
Other books mentioned
- The Rouse – China Miéville
- The Power Broker – Robert A. Caro
- The Guest, Daddy and The Girls – Emma Cline
- Milkman – Anna Burns
- Hello Phantoms and First Love – Gwendoline Riley
- The Finkler Question – Howard Jacobson
- Flesh – David Szalay
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Two Novellas, Two Unreliable Narrators: Ben Lerner & Dorothy Baker (Book Club)
Kate and Laura are back and diving in to two book club reads, one recent release and one modern classic. Transcription by Ben Lerner was published earlier this year to much critical fanfare. It's a playful …
Notes de l’épisode
Kate and Laura are back and diving in to two book club reads, one recent release and one modern classic. Transcription by Ben Lerner was published earlier this year to much critical fanfare. It's a playful, intellectually ambitious exploration of writing, memory, technology and the slippery relationship between fiction and reality. When the narrator's phone fails to record his final interview with an eminent cultural figure, he reconstructs the conversation from memory. But does the truth of an encounter depend on an accurate transcript? And what happens when a novel begins to fold back on itself?
We discuss Lerner's auto-fictional project, his fascination with the act of writing, the glass flowers at Harvard's Natural History Museum, and whether Lerner's novels are genuinely profound or sometimes guilty of taking themselves a little too seriously.
Laura’s book club, meanwhile headed back to the mid-20th century with Dorothy Baker’s classic Cassandra at the Wedding, a brilliantly funny, unsettling and surprisingly contemporary novella about an intensely self-absorbed young woman determined to prevent her identical twin sister from getting married. With its claustrophobic family setting, unreliable narrator, dark comedy and complicated portrait of sisterly love, it's a novel that raises questions about identity, dependence, artistic ambition and the difficulty of allowing the people we love to become themselves – but what did Laura's book club make of it?
As ever in addition to the book club catch up we’re also swapping notes on recent reads and upcoming plans, including diving in to the Booker prize shortlist – the most enticing, we both agree, in years.
Notes and books mentioned
The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models at Harvard
A Portrait of the Artist as an Artist Portraying the Artist by Nathan Anthony West
Indiana by George Sand
Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens
The Romantics by Pankaj Mishra
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
The Great Dictator by Matthew Sweet
When the Going was Good by Graydon Carter
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
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Our next reads are A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch (October '26) and Helm by Sarah Hall (November '26).
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The Book Club Review is a podcast about books, book clubs and the books that get people talking.
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Summer Reading: The Debrief, with Kate and Laura
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
Patreon
Come and find the pod on Patreon at patreon.com/thebookclubreview
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For all other information and our episode archive find The Book Club Review online at thebookclubreview.co.uk
Complete booklist
The Power Broker by Robert Caro
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Everlasting by Alex E. Harrow
The Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle
Starling House by Alex E. Harrow
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Palm House by Gwendolyn Riley
Famesick by Lena Dunham
My Phantoms by Gwendolyn Riley
The Silver Book by Olivia Laing
The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing
Crudo by Olivia Laing
The Romantics by Pankaj Mishra
The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon
Fathers & Sons by Ivan Turgenev
The Heart of the Nhaga by Lee Young-do (Anton Hur)
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinnerman
Land by Maggie O’Farrell
The Chair (Netflix)
Monsters by Claire Dederer
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
The Eights by Joanna Miller
The Night Tiger and The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
The Digital Critic: Literary Culture Online (Houman Barekat, Robert Barry and David Winters, eds.)
When We Talk About Love by Carl Wilson
Timecodes for the time-poor
00:00 — Welcome & summer reading
02:00 — 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. Harrow
Time loops, quests and a very divided reaction.
15:30 — The End of the Power Broker by Robert Caro
Kate tackles another Booker longlist book and asks: why is this on the longlist?
20:00 — The Booker longlist pick
A 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 Laing
A surprise for Kate after her mixed reaction to Laing’s Crudo.
27:30 — An accidental book-club adventure
Laura's brilliant idea: abandon the overheated book-club meeting and send everyone into Foyles to choose books.
28:40 — The Romantics by Pankaj Mishra
A chance discovery — and a Hilary Mantel endorsement that seals the deal.
35:50 — Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
Sex, power, academia and the deliciously murky moral territory of a campus novel.
40:00 — The Eights by Joanna Miller
Women in academia, 1920s Oxford and coming-of-age just after World War I
42:40 — The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
Mystery, folklore, tigers and colonial Malaysia, Laura's perfect summer read
50:45 — Phil’s summer reading
Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux and The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
54:20 — Booker season begins
The shortlist is coming, and summer reading gives way to required reading.
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Summer Reading: The Books Worth Packing This Year, with Kate, Laura and Phil
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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 discussed
Recently read
- The Golden Mean — Annabel Lyon
- Plato and the Tyrant — James Romm
- Glorious Exploits — Ferdia Lennon
- The Game of Kings — Dorothy Dunnett
- The House of Niccolò series — Dorothy Dunnett
- We Are Green and Trembling — Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (trans. Robin Myers)
Evaluating the picks from the summer reading lists
- Hot Milk — Deborah Levy
- The Eighth Life — Nino Haratischwili
- A Month in the Country — J. L. Carr
- Whistler — Ann Patchett
- The Things We Never Say — Elizabeth Strout
- Land — Maggie O'Farrell
- Instructions for a Heatwave — Maggie O'Farrell
- John of John — Douglas Stuart
- I Want You to Be Happy — Jem Calder
- The Director — Daniel Kehlmann
- Villa Coco — Andrew Sean Greer
Our holiday recommendations
- The Feast — Margaret Kennedy
- Free Food for Millionaires — Min Jin Lee
- Famesick — Lena Dunham
- Swimming Home — Deborah Levy
- Radiant Star — Ann Leckie
- The Balkan Trilogy — Olivia Manning
- Wait for Me — Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire
- The Pursuit of Love — Nancy Mitford
Also mentioned
- Pachinko — Min Jin Lee
- Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo — Douglas Stuart
- Less — Andrew Sean Greer
- Transcription — Ben Lerner
- Reading Lolita in Tehran — Azar Nafisi
Timecodes
00:00 Welcome
02:44 Phil on The Golden Mean
07:39 Laura on Dorothy Dunnett
11:55 Kate on Green and Trembling
16:54 Beach read game rules
18:20 Booker picks: Hot Milk
19:40 Doorstop epic The Eighth Life
21:46 Classic: A Month Country
23:07 NYT Beach Reads, Whistler by Ann. Patchett
25:33 Elizabeth Strout and American vibes
28:22 Switching to the (UK) Times list
28:29 Times list features
29:03 Maggie O'Farrell debate
30:51 Douglas Stuart pick John of John
33:05 New paperback picks
35:03 Kehlmann masterpiece The Director
38:28 The LitHub list of lists
38:55 Villa Coco verdict
41:44 Get more from the pod on Patreon
43:26 Our personal holiday reads
44:03 Phil recommends The Feast
46:01 Min Jin Lee deep dive
48:18 Lena Dunham Famesick
51:44 Laura's summer stack
53:56 Mitfords and Tana French
01:02:20 Final wrap and farewell
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Secondhand Books: Hidden Stories and Literary Treasures
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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 links
Bookshopaholics: The Paperhound • Episode #139
‘Owner of Vancouver's eclectic MacLeod’s Books marks 50 years of serving bibliophiles’,John Mackie for the Vancouver Sun
The Second Shelf bookshop (now in online form)
Aphrodisiacs in your Garden by Charles Connell
The Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth Gordon
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
Things I Learned on the 6.28 by Stig Abell
Griffin Bay Bookstore, San Juan island
Episode #51: Barnabees Bookshop
Skoob books
Dedicated to, compiled by W.G. Gooderham
The Diary of a Nobody by George and Wheedon Grossmith
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
Wise Children by Angela Carter
Arabella by Georgette Heyer
House of Niccolo and Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
Judd Books, Bloomsbury
Timecodes
00:00 Welcome and a pod milestone
00:48 Secondhand book-hunting
03:01 Browsing vs. buying
07:58 Secondhand treasures
11:52 Kate's love of books about books
16:23 Dream bookshops
17:18 Our favourite places to buy secondhand
20:42 Patreon Break
21:50 Kate meets W.B. Gooderham
23:43 Skoob books and inscribed editions
27:22 How Wayne's collecting began
28:41 Dedicated To: The forgotten friendships hidden stories and lost loves found in secondhand books
30:50 Releasing Books Back
32:09 To inscribe or not to inscribe
33:07 Diary Of A Nobody by George and Wheedon Grossmith
37:32 Adrian Mole Editions
38:39 Wise Children
39:51 Pnin – a collection that took Wayne years to assemble
41:28 Bookshelves and Umberto Eco's library
44:04 Laura shares some of her favourite used-book haunts
47:54 Why secondhand books matter
49:08 Episode wrap
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The Guardian's 100 Best Novels of All Time: A Hot Take, with Phil Chaffee and Joseph Dance
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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/thebookclubreview
The Guardian’s List of the 100 Greatest Novels published in English, copied below for ease of reference.
*underlined – the ones Kate has read
- Middlemarch
- Beloved
- Ulysses
- To the Lighthouse
- In Search of Lost Time
- Anna Karenina
- War and Peace
- Jane Eyre
- Pride and Prejudice
- Madame Bovary
- The Great Gatsby
- Bleak House
- Emma
- Mrs Dalloway
- Moby-Dick
- Nineteen Eighty-Four
- One Hundred Years of Solitude
- Persuasion
- The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
- Wuthering Heights
- The Portrait of a Lady
- Things Fall Apart
- Midnight’s Children
- The Remains of the Day
- Lolita
- Don Quixote
- The Trial
- The Brothers Karamazov
- Pale Fire
- Frankenstein
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
- The God of Small Things
- David Copperfield
- Wolf Hall
- Great Expectations
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Invisible Man
- The Age of Innocence
- Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Song of Solomon
- Heart of Darkness
- The Magic Mountain
- Housekeeping
- Giovanni’s Room
- The Golden Notebook
- The Leopard
- Vanity Fair
- The Metamorphosis
- A Fine Balance
- Wide Sargasso Sea
- My Brilliant Friend
- The Golden Bowl
- The Transit of Venus
- Orlando
- The Waves
- Mansfield Park
- The Sound and the Fury
- Disgrace
- Never Let Me Go
- Howards End
- The Rings of Saturn
- Half of a Yellow Sun
- White Teeth
- The Good Soldier
- The Color Purple
- The Master and Margarita
- The Man Without Qualities
- Blood Meridian
- Crime and Punishment
- Jude the Obscure
- Kindred
- Our Mutual Friend
- Austerlitz
- Nervous Conditions
- The Bluest Eye
- Dracula
- The Rainbow
- A House for Mr Biswas
- Go Tell It on the Mountain
- Rebecca
- Buddenbrooks
- The End of the Affair
- A Farewell to Arms
- The Talented Mr Ripley
- The Vegetarian
- The Turn of the Screw
- The Line of Beauty
- Ragtime
- The Left Hand of Darkness
- Jacob’s Room
- Life and Fate
- Sentimental Education
- Invisible Cities
- The Known World
- The Return of the Native
- Pedro Páramo
- Catch-22
- The Road
- The Go-Between
- My Ántonia
Particular books we touch on in the show
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
- Ulysses by James Joyce
- In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
- My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
- Villette by Charlotte Brontë
- Orlando, The Waves and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
- Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
- Nervous Conditions, The Book of Not and This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
- The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
- The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
- Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
- The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
- The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt
- A Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih
- The Princess of Clèves by Madame de Lafayette
- The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz
- The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
- The Trial and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
- The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
- A House for Mr Biswas by V. S. Naipaul
- The New Life by Tom Crewe
- Miss Marjoribanks by Mrs Oliphant
- The Palliser novels by Anthony Trollope
- The Warden by Anthony Trollope
- The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
- The Known World by Edward P. Jones
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George Saunders' Vigil: The Book Club Debate
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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 it
Given 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 discussed
Vigil by George Saunders
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
Transcription by Ben Lerner
Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
North Woods by Daniel Mason
Storyland by Catherine McKinnon
Plus a recommendation for the film Palm Springs.
Patreon
Access extra episodes, join the pod book club and support the show at Patreon.com/bookclubreview
Follow on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast
email [email protected]
Timestamps
1:26 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 Club
14:41 Patreon Break
16:17 What Is Vigil? – Spiritual guide Jill escorts a remorseless fossil fuel tycoon toward death. Audiobook excerpt included.
22:16 Discussing Jill
28:22 Climate & KJ Boon
31:21 A Christmas Carol Parallels
34:16 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 Vigil
38:30 The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Tolstoy's novella discussed as Saunders' cited influence.
43:00 Tolstoy the Man
48:36 Recommendations
52:42 Wrap-up
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The 2026 Women's Prize, with Amanda Moulson (Curious Readers)
In this episode Kate is joined by Amanda Moulson, co-host of Curious Readers, to consider the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist. Ahead of the prize ceremony next week, which one do we think will …
Notes de l’épisode
In this episode Kate is joined by Amanda Moulson, co-host of Curious Readers, to consider the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist. Ahead of the prize ceremony next week, which one do we think will win?
Perhaps like Amanda you have read them all, but if, like Kate, you're going to struggle to get to all six, which ones should you focus on? Which are the standout reads? Which are the books most likely to delight, surprise, and stay with you long after you've turned the final page?
We're covering all six books, and you’ll also find out what Amanda has on her TBR, the books she most loves recommending, and how a busy book podcaster organises her bookshelves.
Timestamps for the time-poor
00:00 Welcome and Prize Preview
01:31 Meet Amanda Molson
01:44 Quickfire Reading Habits
03:18 Bookshelf Organization
04:06 Favorite Recs and Current Reads
06:20 Kate’s Power Broker Detour
08:54 Patreon Readalong and Book Club
10:12 Women’s Prize Context and History
15:09 Shortlist Book 1 Flashlight
20:51 Shortlist Book 2 Dominion
25:23 Shortlist Book 3 The Correspondent
26:31 Sybil’s Dark Past
27:07 Audiobook Clip Letters
29:15 Cozy Yet Dark
30:22 Famous Author Replies
31:14 Sybil Effect Debate
32:49 Craft and Book Clubs
33:28 The Mercy Step Setup
34:40 Mercy Step Clip
36:35 Child Narrator Power
37:12 Small Press Spotlight
38:01 Kingfisher Obsessive Love
38:50 Kingfisher Clip Warning
40:40 Kingfisher Reactions
41:35 Heart the Lover Clip
44:07 Two Halves Romance
45:36 Illness and Mortality
47:33 Marketing and Triggers
49:04 Winner Predictions
51:23 Wrap Up and Patreon
52:25 Kate’s Recent Reads and Outro
Books mentioned
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
You With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
A Long Game by Elizabeth McCracken
The Power Broker by Robert Caro
We Are Green and Trembling Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
Feminist History for Every Day of the Year by Kate Mosse
The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Flashlight by Susan Choi
Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
Dominion by Addie E. Citchens
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson
Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley
Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
The Director by Daniel Kehlman
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
This is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin
You'll find all the titles we mentioned in our Bookshop.org list. Buying books there helps support independent bookshops, and also supports The Book Club Review.
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The Art of the Everyday: Miranda Keeling, The Anthropologists and the books that slow us down
What if the antidote to our increasingly frantic world isn't a grand gesture, but simply the act of paying attention?This week, Kate and Laura are joined by actor, podcaster, and author Miranda Keeling …
Notes de l’épisode
What if the antidote to our increasingly frantic world isn't a grand gesture, but simply the act of paying attention?
This week, Kate and Laura are joined by actor, podcaster, and author Miranda Keeling – returning to the pod to talk about her wonderful new book, The Place I'm In, a collection of the small, luminous moments she's gathered from daily life. After her debut The Year I Stopped to Notice, Miranda is back with more of her 'noticings': fragments from parks, supermarket queues, and streets that remind us how much magic is hiding in the everyday.
Their book club read is the perfect complement: The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Şavas – a soulful, quietly funny novel following Asya and Manu as they hunt for an apartment, trying on different futures for size in a city far from home. Asya, a documentary filmmaker, spends her days in the park gathering footage – an anthropologist of the ordinary – and her project rhymes beautifully with Miranda's own.
Plus recommendations inspired by the art of the everyday.
You can find out more about Miranda and her work at mirandakeeling.com, and her podcast Stopping to Notice – over 200 five-minute episodes of binaural location recording – is the perfect companion listen.
Find all the books mentioned at our bookshop.org shop. And if you'd like to join Kate's monthly book club and reading community, head to patreon.com/thebookclubreview.
Booklist
Ashes and Stones by Alison Shaw – a journey through Scotland in search of the women killed in the witch trials
Open Book by Jessica Simpson – Laura takes a nostalgic trip back through her twenties
No Such Thing as Monday by Sîan Hughes – a brilliantly written novel from the author of Pearl; up there with Eimear McBride ( A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing) and Maggie O'Farrell
The Anthropologists by Aysgul Savas
The Imperfectionist, Oliver Burkeman's newsletter
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Flesh by David Szalay
The Café With No Name by Robert Seethaler
Memories of Distant Mountains (illustrated notebooks) by Orhan Pamuk
A Nobel Laureate's journals offer much colour but little drama, by Dwight Garner for the NYT (gift link)
Look Closer: How to Get More Out of Reading by Robert Douglas Fairhurst
The Place I'm In by Miranda Keeling
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Liberating Women's Voices: Austen, Wollstonecraft and after, with Bee Rowlatt
A new local literary festival provided the perfect opportunity to record the very first Book Club Review live. Kate is joined by author and broadcaster Bee Rowlatt, whose books include the best-selling Talking …
Notes de l’épisode
A new local literary festival provided the perfect opportunity to record the very first Book Club Review live. Kate is joined by author and broadcaster Bee Rowlatt, whose books include the best-selling Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad, which went on to be dramatised by the BBC, and In Search of Mary inspired by Mary Wollstonecraft. Bee also runs the Wollstonecraft Society, a human rights charity. Her debut novel, One Woman Crime Wave, is a novel that explores the realities of wealth, influence, and inequality in present-day London and offers plenty of talking points for book club discussion and debate. Join our festival audience to hear more about Bee's life and work and why Mary Wollstonecraft and her writing has never been more relevant.
Books mentioned
Find all the titles below in The Book Club Review's bookshop on Bookshop.org
Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad: The True Story of an Unlikely Friendship by Bee Rowlatt
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
In Search of Mary by Bee Rowlatt
Letters Written in Sweden, Norway and Denmark by Mary Wollstonecraft
One Woman Crime Wave by Bee Rowlatt
An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestly
Uprising by Tahmima Anam
Feminism for a World on Fire by Natasha Walter
Notes
Find out more about The Mary Wollstonecraft memorial sculpture (The Guardian)
Follow the Barnsbury Book Festival for news and updates
Patreon
Discover what's on offer over on The Book Club Review Patreon. In becoming a member you'll get extra shows and become part of a warm community swapping book recommendations and connecting over our shared love of books and reading. At the book club tier you can join our monthly book club and come and talk books with Kate in person every month. And as a paying member you're supporting Kate in making this independent podcast.
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The Book of Love vs The Dud Avocado: Fantasy, Paris & Book Club Verdicts
The Book of Love vs The Dud Avocado: Fantasy, Paris & Book Club VerdictsIn this episode of The Book Club Review, we return to our book club roots with two wildly different novels: The Book of Love by Kelly Link …
Notes de l’épisode
The Book of Love vs The Dud Avocado: Fantasy, Paris & Book Club Verdicts
In this episode of The Book Club Review, we return to our book club roots with two wildly different novels: The Book of Love by Kelly Link and The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy.
The Book of Love is the first novel from acclaimed American short story virtuoso and Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link. In a seemingly ordinary coastal town three teenagers become pawns in a supernatural power struggle. Vulture magazine named it ‘the escapist masterpiece of the year’ but what did Laura’s book club think?
Our second book-club pick is Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado – a fizzing, exuberant novel from 1958 about a young American woman let loose in Paris, determined to live life on her own terms. It gained instant cult status on first publication and remains a timeless portrait of a woman hellbent on living, a book that feels bracingly modern despite being nearly seventy years old. But did it make for a good book club read?
We've also got some listener feedback on Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, we're catching up on recent reads, and the books we’re excited about next.
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Booklist
You'll find all the books mentioned in the pod's Bookshop.org bookshop
Slow Days Fast Company by Eve Babitz
Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Book of Love by Kelly Link
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan
Niccolo Rising by Dorothy Dunnett
Other links of note
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Nearly Departed: Love, Loss and Literary Romance, with Lucas Oakeley
Valentine’s-ish Literary Romance: Lucas Oakley on Nearly Departed, Boys Book Club & love stories that stay with you long after readingJoin Kate and Lucas Oakeley for this Valentine's-ish episode of The Book …
Notes de l’épisode
Valentine’s-ish Literary Romance: Lucas Oakley on Nearly Departed, Boys Book Club & love stories that stay with you long after reading
Join Kate and Lucas Oakeley for this Valentine's-ish episode of The Book Club Review, recorded at Housmans Bookshop in King's Cross. We're exploring literary fiction where love takes centre stage, but the reward is complexity rather than a guaranteed happy ending.
Nearly Departed manages to combine the enjoyable tropes of Rom Com with the thoughtful exploration through writing that we associate with literary fiction. We explore how Lucas’s real-life experiences—witnessing a fatal cycling accident and his father's first wife dying young—shaped the book's exploration of love, loss, and second chances, and the art of balancing humour with heartbreak while playing with rom-com tropes.
Of course, we’ve got plenty of recommendations for love stories with emotional depth, including Lily King's Writers & Lovers, Andrew Kaufman's All My Friends Are Superheroes, Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, David Nicholls' Sweet Sorrow, Douglas Stuart's John of John, and hot-book-of-the-moment Wuthering Heights.
We’re also discussing Boys Book Club, the organization Lucas has co-founded to encourage men to read and talk about books. What makes a great book club pick for an all-male book club? We’re going to be finding out.
We’ve even got Valentine's recipe – rigatoni with a long-simmered ‘Sunday sauce’ – and a couple of cocktail ideas.
All in all, the perfect ingredients for a literary Valentine’s weekend.
Become a member of The Book Club Review community
Join The Book Club Review community on Patreon for ad-free listening, extra episodes, Kate’s weekly reading diaries, the opportunity to connect with other listeners in the chat groups, and at the higher tier to talk books in-person with Kate at the monthly book club. Find all the details and how to sign up at patreon.com/thebookclubreview.
Booklist
You can find all the titles mentioned in this episode in the Book Club Review bookshop on bookshop.org
Nearly Departed by Lucas Oakeley
Heart The Lover by Lily King
All My Friends are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman
Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls
John of John by Douglas Stuart
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Comfort MOB: Food that Makes You Feel Good
Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser
All My Precious Madness by Mark Bowles
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Tales of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger
Links
Follow Lucas on Instagram and Tik Tok @lucasoakeley, and you can find out all the details for the Boy’s Book Club at theboysbookclub.co.uk
Housmans bookshop, the longest continuous-running radical bookshop in Britain, established in 1945 and based in London’s Kings Cross since 1959
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The Bestseller Test • Are bestsellers worth the hype? • Episode #186
What makes a bestseller? Is it the quality of the writing, or just the right book at the right time? This week Kate is joined by co-host Laura Potter and returning guest Phil Chaffee to find out.Between us …
Notes de l’épisode
What makes a bestseller? Is it the quality of the writing, or just the right book at the right time? This week Kate is joined by co-host Laura Potter and returning guest Phil Chaffee to find out.
Between us we've tackled six of the biggest bestsellers out there – Dan Brown's The Secret of Secrets, Freida McFadden's The Housemaid, Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary, Matt Dinnerman's Dungeon Crawler Carl, SenLinYu's Alchemised, and Sarah Adams' In Your Dreams – and we have some opinions.
We're sharing our honest experiences of each one: what worked, what didn't, and whether these books truly earned their place on the bestseller lists. But this isn't just a round of verdicts. We're also pooling our recommendations for the bestsellers we genuinely think are worth your time, like The Correspondant by Virginia Evans – because there are some real gems out there among the hype.
And as always, we round off with our current and upcoming reads.
Press play to find out which bestsellers passed the test – and which ones didn't.
Support the pod on Patreon
Explore all the benefits of membership. Kate's weekly reading diary is available to free members. Paid tiers include ad-free episodes, extra shows, chat group access and our monthly book club at Patreon.com/thebookclubreview.
Booklist
You can also find all the books mentioned in The Book Club Review bookshop on Bookshop.org, the online bookstore that supports independent bookshops.
The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams
Alchemized by SenLinYu
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Martian by Andy Weir
Nobody's Fool by Harlen Cobden
The Correspondant by Virginia Evans
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Robin Buss)
Rivals by Jilly Cooper
The novels of Stephen King
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Smiley books by John Le Carre
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin
Ice by Jacek Dukaj (Author) , Ursula Phillips (Translator)
The Virgin in the Garden by A.S. Byatt
I'll Take The Fire by Leïla Slimani
(also The Country of Others and Watch US Dance)
Lullaby / The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani
Nearly Departed by Lucas Oakeley
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
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The New Year Reading Reset: Finding fresh inspiration with bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud • #185
New year, new intentions – but if you're in the northern hemisphere, January can feel less like renewal and more like the darkest, coldest stretch of endless winter. Maybe what you need isn't another …
Notes de l’épisode
New year, new intentions – but if you're in the northern hemisphere, January can feel less like renewal and more like the darkest, coldest stretch of endless winter. Maybe what you need isn't another resolution. Maybe you just need the right book.
Ella Berthoud is an writer and an artist, but most importantly from our point of view a bibliotherapist. She has been prescribing fiction for life's ailments for over a decade. She co-wrote The Novel Cure, a brilliant guide that matches books to every psychological state and is packed with sound recommendations.
Who better then to give me some great suggestions for avoiding the January blues. Join Kate and Ella as they talk about the questions that vex every reader: how do we find more time for reading? How do we escape reading slumps? And how can we read more deeply without it feeling like homework?
Plus of course we're swapping lots of great book recommendations for January and the year ahead. Listen in for a shot of literary inspiration that might be just what you need.
Booklist
The Novel Cure by Ella Berthoud
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reed
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale
Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale
Metamorphoses by Ovid
Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell
The Golden Ass by Apuleius
A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter (Jane Degras)
Dálvi by Laura Galloway
The Artist by Lucy Steeds
The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
Things: A Story of the Sixties by Georges Perec
Sky Daddy by Kate Folk
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Robin Buss)
Find out more about Ella at ellaberthoud.com
Find all the books mentioned in this episode in the Book Club Review Bookshop, on Bookshop UK, the online retailer that supports independent bookshops.
Patreon
Head to Patreon.com/thebookclubreview to join The Book Club Review community for book recommendations, readalongs, book club and, new for 2026, Kate’s Reading Diaries. You can also buy someone gift membership at https://www.patreon.com/thebookclubreview/gift
Serious Readers
Take advantage of the Serious Readers offer. Head to seriousreaders.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout for £150 off any HD light.
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Favourite and Best: Our Books of 2025 • #184
We're celebrating the end of the year with a look back over our favourite reads of 2025, from new releases to backlist gems, best book club books, best non-fiction, best comfort reads and more. Between us we …
Notes de l’épisode
We're celebrating the end of the year with a look back over our favourite reads of 2025, from new releases to backlist gems, best book club books, best non-fiction, best comfort reads and more. Between us we read over 350 books in 2025. Listen in to hear the ones we loved best. We've also got a radical new idea for a book club involving cold-water swimming and the works of Robert B. Parker, and how to embrace DNFing without guilt. Join us for recommendations to see you through the festive season and set your new reading year off in style.
With Phil Chaffee and Sarah Oliver
Serious Readers
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Patreon
Head to Patreon.com/thebookclubreview for all the benefits of membership and how to sign up.
You can also buy someone gift membership at https://www.patreon.com/thebookclubreview/gift
Booklist
Mother Mary Come to Me by Arundhati Roy
The Silver Book by Olivia Laing
Crudo by Olivia Laing
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngoze Adiche
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue
Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart
Lake Shore by Gary Shteyngart
Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm
The First Man by Albert Camus
Robert B. Parker novels
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Muybridge by Guy Delisle
The Sense & Sensibility Diaries by Emma Thompson
The Lockwood & Co novels by Jonathan Stroud
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
Shattered Lands by Sam Dalrymple
Maurice and Marilyn, or A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhurst
Agent Zo by Clare Mulley
The Devil Two Step by Jamie Quattro
Train Dreams by Denis Johnston
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnston
The Director by Daniel Kelman
We Do Not Part by Han Kang
How to End a Story by Helen Garner (3 volume diaries collection)
The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner
This House of Grief by Helen Garner
Eucalyptus by Murray Bail
Wild Thing by Sue Prideaux
Nonesuch by Francis Spufford
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Between the Lines: The Art of the Diary • Episode #183
'I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train' wrote Oscar Wilde, in the Importance of Being Ernest. In this episode Kate is joined by critic, editor and …
Notes de l’épisode
'I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train' wrote Oscar Wilde, in the Importance of Being Ernest. In this episode Kate is joined by critic, editor and podcaster Lucy Scholes and regular pod guest Phil Chaffee to explore the intimate world of diaries. Can immersing ourselves in the details of other people's lives offer us valuable insight into how to fully appreciate the passing moments of our own? From gossipy self-mythologising Samuel Pepys right up to the present with the experimentation of Sheila Heti's Alphabetical Diaries, and the beauty and hard-won insight of Helen Garner's Baillie Gifford prize-winning diaries. Also not to be missed, living it up Vanity Fair style through the glitz and glamour of 80s New York, with Tina Brown.
And if you enjoy this conversation don't miss Part II, over on the Patreon, where we swap notes on our favourite fictional diaries, consider the diaries we'd love to read if they had only been published and share some thoughts on our own diary keeping. You'll find that episode plus lots of benefits including ad-free listening, extra episodes, our community of readers and the pod book club over at patreon.com/thebookclubreview.
And to take advantage of that Serious Readers offer of £150 off any HD light head to serious readers.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout.
Book list
The Private Life of the Diary by Sally Bayley
They by Kay Dick
Lord Jim at Home by Dinah Brooke
Love Life of a Cheltenham Lady by Dinah Brooke
Part of the Story by Margaret Busby
Woman Alive by Susan Ertz
Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld
Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista
Look Closer by Robert Douglas Fairhurst
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Robert Latham (ed)
How To End a Story by Helen Garner
Henry Chips Channon: The Diaries
Writing Home by Alan Bennett
There and Back: 1999–2009 by Michael Palin
The Vanity Fair Diaries 1983–1992 by Tina Brown
End of a Berlin Diary by William L. Shirer
War in Val D'Orcia by Iris Origo
Russian Journal by Andrea Lee
Beloved Son Felix: Coming of Age in the Renaissance by Felix Platter
Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati
Modern Nature by Derek Jarman
Pharmacopeia by Derek Jarman
Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe
Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti
A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter
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The 2025 Booker Prize: From Shortlist to Spotlight • #182
Explore this year's Booker Prize shortlist on the latest episode of the Book Club Review! Hosts Kate and Laura and contributors Phil Chaffee and Martin Vovk discuss and debate the six shortlisted novels.Listen …
Notes de l’épisode
Explore this year's Booker Prize shortlist on the latest episode of the Book Club Review! Hosts Kate and Laura and contributors Phil Chaffee and Martin Vovk discuss and debate the six shortlisted novels.
Listen in to hear our predictions, and then find out our reaction to the winner as we listen in to the live Booker Prize ceremony. We won't spoil the plots for you, just whet your appetite to read some or all of the books, all of which make for brilliant discussion.
Booklist
Paddy Clark, Ha, H, Ha by Roddy Doyle
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Flesh by David Szalay
All That Man Is by David Szalay
Starling House by Alex E. Harrow
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markowits
Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles
You Don't Have To Live Like This by Ben Markowits
Oh William by Elizabeth Strout
All Fours by Miranda July
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Audition by Katie Kitamura
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Flashlight by Susan Choi
Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
Booker Longlist episode
Episode 181 of The Book Club Review
Links
A Good Read: Colm Toibin and Zadie Smith discuss Flesh
Martin's Eyes On the Prize blog
Browse Martin's archive and discover his extensive reviews (including The Women's Prize) here.
Patreon
Head to www.patreon.com/thebookclubreview for all the benefits (extra shows, readalongs, book club and more) and how to sign up.
Serious Readers
To take advantage of the special offer code for any Serious Readers HD Essential Reading Light head to SeriousReaders.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout
Instagram
Follow Kate for updates between shows @bookclubreviewpodcast
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Beyond the Shortlist: The 2025 Booker Longlist titles worth your time • #181
In which Kate is joined by pod regular, journalist Phil Chaffee and Professor Elizabeth Eva Leach. Both read over 200 books a year, and their reading stacks this year have included the Booker longlist. And so …
Notes de l’épisode
In which Kate is joined by pod regular, journalist Phil Chaffee and Professor Elizabeth Eva Leach. Both read over 200 books a year, and their reading stacks this year have included the Booker longlist.
And so who better to consider the books that didn't make the final cut – but which are, notwithstanding, the 'best' books selected from over 150 submitted titles.
As we know, really great books can get overlooked for the shortlist. Consider Trust by Hernan Diaz, longlisted but not shortlisted, or, going further back Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and before that Penelope Fitzgerald's miraculous novel The Blue Flower. The fallibility of the judging process thus proven let's leave no stone unturned in considering this year's selection. Did the judges overlook a new favourite read?
The Booker Prize is announced on 10th November and we'll be recording an episode on the shortlist on the night. Coming soon!
Booklist
Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
Endling by Maria Reva
One Boat by Jonathan Buckley
The Outline Trilogy by Rachel Cusk
Universality by Natasha Brown
The South by Tash Aw
Love Forms by Claire Adam
Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
Patreon
Head to www.patreon.com/thebookclubreview for all the benefits (extra shows, readalongs, book club and more) and how to sign up, and know that you'll be supporting a show that takes a lot of time and love to make.
Serious Readers
To take advantage of the special offer code for any Serious Readers HD Essential Reading Light head to SeriousReaders.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout
Instagram
Follow Kate for updates between shows @bookclubreviewpodcast
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Autumn bookshelf, with Kate & Laura • Episode #180
In this episode: Kate and Laura are catching up on their pre-Booker season reading. Did You Are Here by David Nicholls make Laura want to lace up her walking boots? How did Kate get on with A Waiter in Paris by …
Notes de l’épisode
In this episode: Kate and Laura are catching up on their pre-Booker season reading.
Did You Are Here by David Nicholls make Laura want to lace up her walking boots? How did Kate get on with A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm, a page-turning account that explores a side of the city that tourists never see. We're also reporting back on book club reads Mouthing by Orla Mackey and The Pretender by Jo Harkin. Mix in the enjoyment of Curtis Sittenfeld's latest collection of short stories, and the all-too relevant classic Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and that's our Autumn bookshelf.
Books mentioned
You Are Here and One Day by David Nicholls
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Your Life and Other Stories and Exhalations by Ted Chiang
The Left-Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Mouthing by Orla Mackey
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Every One Still Here by Liadan ní Chuinn
The Pretender by Jo Harkin
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
Sky Daddy by Kate Folk
The Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin Markovitz
You Don't Have To Live Like This by Benjamin Markovitz
Serious Readers
Book Club Review listeners get £150 off any HD Essential Reading Light, plus free UK delivery. Go to SeriousReaders.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout. It's completely risk-free with a 30-day home trial. If you don't feel the difference, they'll collect it for free and fully refund you.
Patreon
Support the show on Patreon and get ad-free episodes, extra shows, chat groups, book clubs and readalongs. Head to patreon.com/thebookclubreview to find out all the benefits and how to sign up.
Instagram
@bookclubreviewpodcast
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Book Club: Universality and Sparks of Bright Matter • Episode #179
Book Club: Universality by Natasha Brown & Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell Welcome to The Book Club Review! In this episode, Laura joins Kate to dive into two book club picks: Natasha Brown's …
Notes de l’épisode
Book Club: Universality by Natasha Brown & Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell
Welcome to The Book Club Review! In this episode, Laura joins Kate to dive into two book club picks: Natasha Brown's much-anticipated second novel, Universality, and the debut Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell.
In this episode:
Kate and Laura catch up on their current reads, including Sky Daddy by Kate Folk and A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett, before diving into a discussion of Universality. How did it compare to Brown's acclaimed debut Assembly, and did the satirical style, bold narrative choices, and themes of media, class, and culture wars work for our book club.
We then move on to Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell, an historical tale of alchemy set across 18th-century London and Ireland. We're exploring the vivid sense of place and real-life inspirations behind the story, but did the many different characters and story arcs knit together?
We're also meeting Kristina Ambrosia, who offers a creative twist on book club with her "Graffiti Book Club," where members are encouraged to write, doodle, and annotate in their books before passing them around.
All that plus our current reads and community updates on how to join the Book Club Review Patreon, participate in chat groups, and readalongs.
Books mentioned:
- Universality by Natasha Brown
- Assembly by Natasha Brown
- Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell
- Sky Daddy by Kate Folk
- A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
- Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
- Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal
- The Women by Kristin Hannah
- Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer
- Just Kids by Patti Smith
- All Fours by Miranda July
- Theory and Practice by Michelle de Kretser
- And more!
Links & Extras:
- Special offer for Serious Readers HD Essential Reading Lights: visit seriousreaderscom/bcr and use code BCR at checkout.
- Join the Book Club Review community on Patreon for ad-free episodes, bonus content, and monthly book club meetings: patreon.com/thebookclubreview
- Follow on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast or email [email protected]
If you enjoyed the show, please share it with friends or leave a review – your support helps us reach more book lovers!
Happy reading!
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Shelf-reflective: Books about Books, with Joseph Dance • #178
Something a little different this episode as I invite you to head down the rabbit hole with me into the world of books about books. Accompanying us into this particular wonderland is Joseph Dance, host of the …
Notes de l’épisode
Something a little different this episode as I invite you to head down the rabbit hole with me into the world of books about books. Accompanying us into this particular wonderland is Joseph Dance, host of the Curious Readers podcast. From meta-fictional narratives to booksellers with shadowy agendas, we're flagging up some of our favourites both for behind-the-scenes insights into the literary world, and for the way they allow us to discover yet more books we might want to read. From Alberto Manguel's library of 35,000 titles, to Alejandro Zambra's essay collection On Not Reading, we're considering a broad spectrum of perspectives that help us reflect on and enrich our reading lives. And so listen in to hear what happens when two book podcasters get together to talk about their favourite topic.
Booklist
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Packing my Library by Alberto Manguel
The Book Forger by Joseph Hone
Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire
Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef
A Bookshop of One's Own by Jane Cholmeley
In Search of Lost Books by Giorgio van Straten
Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati
Further reading / listening
And here's Manguel sharing his favourite bookstores and libraries with Biblio-file podcast host Nigel Beale
Umberto Eco's library on Youtube
Kate's Moleskine reading journal
Read this wonderful review of Shelf Life from Australian critic Beejay Silcox, who lived for two years in Cairo and knew the Diwan bookstore well.
Patreon
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Bookish in Seattle • Episode #177
Seattle, forever linked with books and reading thanks to Sleepless in Seattle. Also Maria Semple's Where d'you Go Bernadette, tho' to be clear, Bernadette was not a fan of the rainy city. Londoners, though …
Notes de l’épisode
Seattle, forever linked with books and reading thanks to Sleepless in Seattle. Also Maria Semple's Where d'you Go Bernadette, tho' to be clear, Bernadette was not a fan of the rainy city. Londoners, though, umbrella always at hand, feel right at home. A recent family holiday offered a rare chance for an in-person bookish catchup. Listen in for our thoughts on our latest reads including the new novel from Lily King and some purchases from the inimitable Elliot Bay bookshop.
Embracing the holiday spirit we're also getting into our bookish cocktails. Luckily Margaret C. Beeler, author of literary cocktail book Tropetails, is on hand to help us out. She shares one of her favourites, scroll down for the recipe, and if you like the sound of the book and want to get yourself a copy, US listeners, if you use the code TROPECLUBREVIEW at checkout you'll get free shipping.
Don't forget to check out The Book Club Review on Patreon to support Kate in making the show. In return you'll get extra episodes, chat group access with Kate and Laura, starting and at the higher tier you can join the monthly book club. This month we're reading On The Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, in September it's Mouthing, the bestselling Irish debut from Orla Mackey. We meet on the last Sunday of the month over Zoom, with a catch-up episode posted for anyone unable to make the live session.
Books mentioned
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum (Shanna Tan)
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa (Eric Ozawa)
The Bookshop Woman by Nanako Hanada (Cat Anderson)
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
Euphoria by Lily King
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. LeGuin
Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
Audition by Katie Kitamura
The Odd Woman and the City by Vivan Gornick
The Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth Gordon
The Cafe with No Name by Robert Seethaler (Katy Derbyshire)
Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto (Jesse Kirkwood)
Margaret's Cocktail
Give me Your Brains
into shaker with ice: 2 oz / 60 ml bourbon 1 oz / 30 ml aquafaba 1 oz / 30 ml fresh lemon juice 1 oz / 30 ml blackcurrant (juice or syrup) shake + pour into a coupe garnish with dehydrated lemonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Friendship and Fiction in New York • Episode #176
Join Kate as she takes the Book Club Review on tour to New York, a city filled with incredible bookshops, and book podcasters. Christopher Hermelin of So Many Damn Books and Drew Broussard of The Lit Hub …
Notes de l’épisode
Join Kate as she takes the Book Club Review on tour to New York, a city filled with incredible bookshops, and book podcasters. Christopher Hermelin of So Many Damn Books and Drew Broussard of The Lit Hub Podcast share cocktails and book recommendations on the theme of friendship.
Notes and Booklist
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley
Who Will Watch the Frog Hospital by Lorrie Moore
Marlena by Julie Bunton
Mayflies by Andrew O'Hagan
Stay True by Hua Hsu
The Sherlock Holmes Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
It by Stephen King
The Wonder State by Sarah Flannery Murphy
A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara
The Interestings by Meg Wollizer
Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
The Animators by Kayla Raye Whittaker
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
A/S/L by Jeanne Thornton
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary
On The Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle
A Man Called Ove, Anxious People and My Friends by Friedrik Backman (sp)
My Friends by Hisham Matar
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
End of the World House by Adrian Kelt (sp)
Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession
Ghost Mountain by Rónán Hession
Woodworking by Emily St. James
Some Strange Music Draws Me In by Griffin Hansbury
All That Glitters by Orlando Whitfield
Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent
The Details by Ia Genberg
Network Effect by Martha Wells
The Odd Woman and the City by Vivian Gornick
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Explicitly Literary: sex writing in books • Episode #175
From lightening and dragons in Iron Flame to trembling mountains in A Court of Thorns and Roses, from Sally Rooney's Connell and Marianne to Ice Planet Barbarians - sex in books has gone mainstream. From …
Notes de l’épisode
From lightening and dragons in Iron Flame to trembling mountains in A Court of Thorns and Roses, from Sally Rooney's Connell and Marianne to Ice Planet Barbarians - sex in books has gone mainstream. From serious high-brow literature to warm and cozy rom-coms, what do we want or need from writers when it comes to including sex in their books?
To consider the matter Kate is joined by critic Elizabeth Morris (Crib Notes), and author Alex Allison' (The Art of the Body and Greatest of All Time)
We'll be bringing you our recommendations for books we think push all the right buttons,once we've figured out what those are.
Patreon
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Keep in touch
Find the pod on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast
Browse the archive
Find full shownotes and a transcript plus our full episode archive at thebookclubreview.co.uk
Booklist
Greatest of All Time by Alex Allison
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
Mrs Caliban by Rachel Ingals
The Literary Review's Bad Sex Awards
The Office of Gardens and Ponds by Didier Decoin
Pax by John Harvey
The River Capture by Mary Costello
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Electric Hotel by Dominic Smith
The Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante
I Love Dick by Chris Kraus
All Fours by Miranda July
The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Elmet and Hot Stew by Fiona Mosley
Tampa by Alyssa Nutting
Isaac by Curtis Garner
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Lullaby by Leïla Slimani
The Country of Others and Watch Us Dance by Leïla Slimani
The Bear by Marianne Engel
The Snow Ball by Brigid Brophy
Busy Being Free by Emma Forrest
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Books, film, TV and Murderbot
From Murderbot to Sense and Sensiblity, what are our favourite adaptations from books that we love? Inspired by the recent Apple adaptation of Martha Wells sci-fi novels The Murderbot Diaries, this episode is a …
Notes de l’épisode
From Murderbot to Sense and Sensiblity, what are our favourite adaptations from books that we love? Inspired by the recent Apple adaptation of Martha Wells sci-fi novels The Murderbot Diaries, this episode is a celebration of the world of books to film. From the joy of seeing a book that we love brought to the big screen, to the pitfalls when things don't match up to our expectations, we're considering the hits and misses, and passing on our recommendations. You'll be hearing from pod regulars Laura Potter and Phil Chaffee, plus we meet Philippa Donovan, a literary scout to the film and TV world. Philippa founded her consultancy Smart Quill to bridge the gap between agents, publishers and authors around the world. She's giving us the inside track on the world of book to film.
All that, plus a peek into the future and the upcoming projects we've earmarked as ones to watch.
Interview
Listen to the full interview with literary scout Philippa Donovan here [TO COME]
PatreonCome and listen to the episodes ad-free over on Patreon, plus The Book Club Review Weekend, join our chat threads where you'll be able to swap book recommendations with Kate and other Book Club Review listeners and if you want to come and talk books with Kate in person at the higher tier you can join the pod's monthly book club.
Head to Patreon.com/thebookclubreview for all the benefits and how to sign up.
BooklistAll Systems Red by Martha Wells (Book 1)
Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (Book 2)
Room by Emma Donoghue
Normal People by Sally Rooney
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Sparks
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Exhalations by Ted Chiang (the film Arrival is based on Story of Your Life)
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissinger
Rivals by Jilly Cooper
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
Children of Men by P. D. James
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda
Barn Burning by Haruki Murakami
Barn Burning by William Falkner
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Salt Path by Raynor Wynn
Everything I Know About Love andGood Material by Dolly Alderton
Universality by Natasha Brown
Theory and Practice by Michelle de Kretser
Transcript
Head over to the episode page at thebookclubreview.co.uk for a full transcript
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Nonfiction That Changed Us, featuring Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles
At a time in which digital information is increasingly uncertain it feels more essential than ever to engage with books that tell us about the world, diversify our perspectives and propose solutions for change …
Notes de l’épisode
At a time in which digital information is increasingly uncertain it feels more essential than ever to engage with books that tell us about the world, diversify our perspectives and propose solutions for change. Yet these 'serious' books aren't always what we feel like reading. In this episode Kate is joined by regular contributor Phil Chaffee to talk about the books so good they powered through them like a good novel, and felt changed afterwards. The books they want to pass on to someone else. The books that make for great book club discussions.
One such is Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse and What To Do About It by Daniel Knowles, a persuasive book that advocates for a world in which we rely on cars far less than we do currently. Daniel joines Kate and Phil from Chicago to discuss it.
Booklist
Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewall
Putin's People by Catherine Belton
Papyrus by Irene Vallejo
Invisible Child by Andrea Elliot
Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie
Stranger in the Shogun's City by Amy Stanley
Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles
Notes
Serious Readers lamps: visit seriousreaders.com/bcr and use the offer code BCR at checkout for £150 off any HD light and free UK delivery. You also get a 30-day trial period.
Support the show
Come join us on Patreon for extra episodes, our community chat group, and, at the book club level, come and talk books with Kate in person at the end of every month. We're currently reading Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell
If you enjoyed the episode please take a moment to rate and review on your podcast app, which helps the pod's visiblity and helps other listeners find it. Your kindness is hugely appreciated.
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Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon • #172
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon is a novel that takes us back to ancient Syracuse, where war, art, and humanity collide. This gripping tale follows two down-on-their-luck potters who hatch an audacious plan …
Notes de l’épisode
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon is a novel that takes us back to ancient Syracuse, where war, art, and humanity collide. This gripping tale follows two down-on-their-luck potters who hatch an audacious plan to produce a performance of the works of Euripedes despite the fact that their actors are prisoners of war and their stage set a death camp in a marble pit. It's a story of resilience, friendship, and the power of art in the face of destruction, but did it make for a good book club book?
Regular book-club reporter Phil Chaffee dials in from New York to join Kate alongside keen readers and returning pod guests Emily Bohill and Sarah Oliver in London.
And find out Laura's thoughts at the end as we consider what makes Glorious Exploits such a standout debut, whether or not you need to know about Classical history to enjoy it, and why the audio version is such a particular joy. All this plus our recommendations for follow on reads inspired by Glorious Exploits.
Booklist
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
The Years by Annie Ernaux
Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
You Dreamed of Empires by Ávaro Enrigue
Metamorphoses by Ovid
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen
Circe by Madeleine Miller
Patreon
Signing up for membership is a great way to support the show, and in return you'll have access to weeklyish bonus episodes, plus the archive of back episodes to enjoy. At the higher tier you can join the podcast book club, currently reading Hateship, Friendship, Loveship, Courtship, Marriage by Alice Munroe. I'd love to have you join us.
Instagram & Threads
@bookclubreviewpodcast
Web
Our full archive of episdoes with shownotes
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How to Read Yourself Happy, with Daisy Buchanan • Episode #171
Author, podcaster and reader Daisy Buchanan joins Kate to discuss Read Yourself Happy, her latest book that explores 'shelf-help' and the healing power of books and reading to inspire, comfort and fortify. You …
Notes de l’épisode
Author, podcaster and reader Daisy Buchanan joins Kate to discuss Read Yourself Happy, her latest book that explores 'shelf-help' and the healing power of books and reading to inspire, comfort and fortify. You might not think that someone who regularly interviews literary stars like Anne Patchett and Lauren Groff on her podcast 'You're Booked' might also be someone who has struggled throughout her life with anxiety. Find out how books helped Daisy overcome her fears and inspired her to be adventurous in the manner of her favourite literary heroines. We also discuss the practicalities of the reading life, how to manage a mountainous TBR, and insider stories from the Jilly Cooper book club. With Valentine's Day in mind, find out how to 'Read Yourself Romantic' with Daisy's favourite romance novels. Oh, and you'll get about a million other brilliant book recommendations along the way!
Notes
If you're interested to try a Serious Readers lamp use our special offer code BCR at checkout for £150 off any HD light.
Looking for your perfect bookish match? Use our offer code BookClubReview for 10% off a subscription to Book Lovers Dating.
Reading list
The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
Strange Beach by Oliwaseun Olawiola
The Pirahna Club: Power and Influence in Formula 1 by Timothy Collings (my husband's book, by the way, in case you were wondering. He's been dipping in for something he's working on.)
Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe
Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
Rivals by Jilly Cooper
The Come Up by Jonathan Abrams
I Want my MYV by Rob Tannenbaum
Uncommon People by Miranda Sawyer
Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny
Us by David Nicholls
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser Akner
Peter Hujar's Day by Linda Rosenkrantz
Deano: Life After Football by Dean Windass
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
Camp by Paul Baker
Notes from the Henhouse by Elspeth Barker
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
The Gemma Books by Noel Streatfield
Love Junkie by Robert Plunket
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes
Expiation by Elizabeth Von Arnim
They Were Sisters and Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Mhairi McFarlane - various titles, try If I Never Met You
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Book Club: The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk • #170
Olga Tokarczuk's haunting 'health resort horror story' may have wow-ed the critics, but how did it fare with Laura's book club? Phil, Sarah and Laura join Kate to discuss it. You'll also find out the books …
Notes de l’épisode
Olga Tokarczuk's haunting 'health resort horror story' may have wow-ed the critics, but how did it fare with Laura's book club? Phil, Sarah and Laura join Kate to discuss it. You'll also find out the books we've been reading lately, and our suggestions for follow-on reads if The Empusium leaves you hankering for more.
Books mentioned
The Sewing Girl's Tale by John Wood Sweet
Two Step Devil by Jamie Quattro
The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Strange Beach by Oluwaseum Olayiwola
The Fizcarraldo poetry subscription
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
Sanatorium by W. Somerset Maugham
The Wind Rises by Hayao Miyazaki
The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft
The Paper Hound bookshop
The Plague and I by Betty Macdonald
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
NOTES
Support the show and get exclusive subscriber benefits
On Patreon: weekly-ish minisodes, chat groups, special feature episodes, War & Peace readalong, and at the higher tier join the monthly book club
Or via Substack: weekly-ish minsodes and special feature episodes
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Meditations for Mortals, with Oliver Burkeman • Episode #169
Step into a world of philosophical musings and practical wisdom with Oliver Burkeman. 'Meditations for Mortals' is his latest book designed as a four-week mental retreat, promising to help readers lead a …
Notes de l’épisode
Step into a world of philosophical musings and practical wisdom with Oliver Burkeman. 'Meditations for Mortals' is his latest book designed as a four-week mental retreat, promising to help readers lead a 'saner, freer, and more enchantment-filled life'. Oliver joins Kate to talk about everything from the inspiration he took from Marcus Aurelius to how to invite people over without feeling like you have to spend three hours tidying the house. He also reveals his tips on making life-changes that stick, and the books he turns to when he's not reading for work.
Keen to test out the methodology, Kate is then joined by City high-flyer and busy mother-of-three Emily Bohill to discover how Meditations for Mortals works in practice. From managing work-life balance to facing literal rats in the PTA shed, we explore whether the lessons of Meditations are ones that will stay.
This episode is for everyone who is keen to turn knowledge into action and embrace life's imperfections. No less important is the fact that Meditations for Mortals is perfect for sparking deep conversations, and there's nothing we love more at The Book Club Review than that.
Reading list 4,000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life by James Hollis Find out more and sign up for The Imperfectionist (a free newsletter) at Oliver Burkeman's website Subscribe and support the show Want more from the pod? You can subscribe to The Book Club Review via Patreon. Click through for full details and to sign up with a 7-day free trial. You'll get a weekly-ish minisode, with access to the full archive, and extra bits and bobs like extended episodes or Patreon-only specials, plus access to book recommendations from Kate and fellow pod fans in the chat group. At the higher tier you can join the pod book club and come and talk books with me, Kate, in person. We meet on the last Sunday of the month via Zoom, with a recording posted to listen back to anytime. In February we're reading All The Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley, and in March it's Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munroe. Upcoming books are decided by members vote, so join in and suggest one that you would love to read and discuss. If you're a Substacker you can also subscribe and support the pod there. (It's slightly cheaper as you don't get the chat or the book club options, but everything else is just the same.) Timecodes for the time-poor00:00 Introduction
01:32 An overview of the book, and the degree to which Oliver Burkeman put himself in there
03:55 The relationship between Meditations for Mortals and Four Thousand Weeks
06:24 Imperfectionism
10:45 Practical Applications and personal reflections
13:01 Field-testing the book's methodology
29:37 Daily-ish and embracing imperfection
34:34 Scruffy hospitality and overcoming procrastination
45:34 Has it changed our lives?
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