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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Irish author Claire Keegan is generally considered to be one of the finest writers working today. ‘Every word is the right word in the right place, and the effect is resonant and deeply moving’ said Hilary Mantel, of her work, while for Colm Toiíbín ‘Claire Keegan makes her moments real – and then she makes them matter.’ Praise indeed, but what did our brand new podcast book club make of So Late in the Day, her most recently published short story? We’ll be reporting back. And we’re also rounding up a few stand-outs from our recent reading piles, from J. L. Carr’s meditative classic A Month in the Country to V.E. Schwab’s latest fantasy novel The Fragile Threads of Power. Book list So Late in the Day and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt, The Road to the City by Natalia Ginsberg in the Storybook ND series Tom Lake, Bel Canto and The Dutch House by Ann Patchett The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey A Month in the Country, by J. L. Carr Soldier, Sailor by Claire Kilroy The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab Join us on Patreon Here's the link for all the details, find out what extras you'll receive. Connect with us Find us on Instagram or Facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast On X at @bookclubrvwpod or email us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, we love to hear from you

Is there any point in doing a nice thing if you can’t flaunt it on social media? Can we ever know what it’s like to be a bat? If we know Cinderella isn’t real, why do we care about whether or not she marries the prince? In this episode Kate is joined by Jonny Thomson, the man behind the popular Instagram account @philosophyminis, and a bestselling book of the same name. With a new title out, Mini Big Ideas, it seemed the perfect time to catch up with him and consider the philosophical ideas that lie behind three works of fiction: The Death of Yvan Illyich by Leo Tolstoy, Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Just what connects these three titles? Listen in to find out, plus a few more book recommendations. All that, plus discover 'the gap', and how knowing about it might change your life, and the benefits of scepticism. Book list On Fairy Stories by J.R.R. Tolkien The Road by Cormac McCarthy The Death of Ivan Illyich by Leo Tolstoy (and in particular the Peter Carson translation) Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Leonard & Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer Metaphysical Animals by Rachel Wiseman and Claire MacCumhaill Philosopher Queens by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting Mini Philosophy and Mini Big Ideas by Jonny Thomson Notes Find Jonny on Instagram @philosophyminis Find us at: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast Kate's Threads reading log: @bookclubreviewpodcast@threads.net Newsletter sign-up: https://substack.com/@thebookclubreview Patreon and book club: We've made free episodes of The Book Club Review for 6 years now, and we'll continue to keep them free, and ad-free. But they take a lot in terms of time and resources so if you appreciate the shows and would like to support us we now have a Patreon where you can do that. In return you'll get weekly bookish recommendations from Kate, plus, at the higher tier, extra episodes and membership of our podcast book club, to be held over Zoom once a month on Sunday nights (UK time). We would love to see you there. https://patreon.com/thebookclubreview

Whether you're after fly-through-them page-turners or immersive long-reads, or perhaps you're after a challenge, or the perfect discussion book, we've got the list for you. Find out our expert picks from indie-bookshop Bookbar's Chrissy Ryan, a woman at the centre of a hub of reading recommendations from authors, customers and booksellers alike. Kate is swapping notes and sharing her own summer reading pile. Plus just to pack in even more book tips we've got a few extra recommendations from Chrissy's Bookbar team. And so sit back and let us give you books to inspire, inform, amuse and entertain as we see out the summer and anticipate our Autumn reads. Booklist The Guest by Emma Cline Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang The Centre, by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqui, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson, Time’s Shelter by Gyorgi Gospodinov, Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan How to Read Now and America is not the Heart by Elaine Castillo Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton The Secret History by Donna Tartt Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver Tom Lake, and These Precious Days by Ann Patchett Read This: Handpicked Favourites from America’s Indie Bookstores, compiled by Hans Weyandt (Coffee House Press) Roman Stories and Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri Good Material by Dolly Alderton Notes Visit Bookbar online The indie publishing mavericks shaking up the UK book world (The Guardian) The Book Club Review's Fitzcarraldo episode