PODCAST · arts
Books On The Go
by Anna Baillie-Karas, Annie Waters and Amanda Hayes
A podcast where we talk about our book of the week. Read along with us!
Episodes
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The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Anna and Geoff react to the 2026 Booker Prize Shortlist. Our book of the week is THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY by Elizabeth Strout. The latest novel by the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize winning author centres on Artie Dam, a history teacher who has a full life but is upended by feelings of isolation and…
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Switzy by Emma Cline
Anna and Geoff discuss the Singapore government paying people to read books, and the 2026 National Book Awards longlist for fiction. Our book of the week is SWITZY by Emma Cline. Switzy is Cline's latest novel after her best-sellers The Girls and The Guest. David, a retired executive suffering…
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All Them Dogs by Djamel White
Anna and Geoff discuss the challenges facing our local bookstores: rising taxes in the UK and a cyber-hacking event affecting a major distributor in Australia. We also take a look at the current front-runners for the Booker Prize. Our book of the week is debut novel ALL THEM DOGS by Djamel White.…
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The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
Anna and Geoff discuss THE PALM HOUSE by Gwendoline Riley. Set in London, it centres on friends Laura and Putnam, both journalists facing a changing work landscape. It is longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize. We enjoyed this book, especially the spare writing. It got us talking: How important is...
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Summer Holiday Reading Recommendations
A special episode: Anna and Geoff are joined by Kate Slotover of the Book Club Review Podcast, on location in London. We discuss our top holiday reading recommendations. Our picks: FAMESICK by Lena Dunham THE PALACE PAPERS by Tina Brown ENOUGH SAID by Alan Bennett SLOUGH HOUSE by Mick Herron...
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Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector translated by Benjamin Moser
Anna and Geoff discuss the Dublin Literary Award winner, Gliff by Ali Smith. Our book of the week is HOUR OF THE STAR by Clarice Lispector translated by Benjamin Moser. Lispector was the Ukrainian-Brazilian novelist writing from the 1940s to 1970s who is widely referenced and is having a moment…
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John of John by Douglas Stuart
Anna and Geoff react to the 2026 Women's Prize winners: Virginia Evans' THE CORRESPONDENT for Fiction, which prompts Geoff to recommend 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD, and Lyse Doucet's THE FINEST HOTEL IN KABUL for Non-Fiction. Our book of the week is JOHN OF JOHN by Douglas Stuart, the Booker...
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London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 Stella Prize winner, CANNON by Lee Lai and the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction shortlist. We also react to the Guardian list of 100 best books of all time. Is there a difference between your 10 favourite novels and your top 10 best books of all time? Our…
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Transcription by Ben Lerner
Anna and Geoff react to the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner, ANGEL DOWN by Daniel Kraus, a World War 1 novel written in one sentence. We also discuss Dwight Garner's New York Times article about the lack of book critics and our views on book influencers and reviews that make news, such as the...
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Lázár by Nelio Biedermann translated by Jamie Bulloch
Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist. Is it more commercial than usual? Our book of the week is LÁZÁR by Nelio Biedermann translated by Jamie Bulloch. This sweeping historical novel about the aristocratic von Lázár family during the 20th century from the Austro...
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Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo translated by Douglas J. Weatherford
Anna and Geoff discuss the news that Helen deWitt has turned down the Windham Campbell prize. Are authors expected to do too much publicity? Our book of the week is PEDRO PÁRAMO by Juan Rulfo translated by Douglas J. Weatherford. 'Wuthering Heights located in Mexico written by Kafka' gives a hint…
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Heart The Lover by Lily King
Anna and Annie discuss the 2026 Booker International Shortlist. Our book of the week is HEART THE LOVER by Lily King. This buzzy novel follows three friends at university and into adulthood. A follow up from King's best-seller WRITERS AND LOVERS, it is an instant New York Times best-seller and is...
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A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
Anna and Annie discuss the news that Hachette has pulled the book SHY GIRL by Mia Ballard from publication after concerns it was written by AI. Our book of the week is A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF by Megha Majumdar. This follow-up to her novel A Burning is set in near-future, dystopian Kolkata. A...
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Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 International Booker Prize longlist. We're intrigued by Women Without Men: A novel of Modern Iran by Shahrnush Parsipur translated by Faridoun Farrokh and The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar translated by Ruth Martin. Our book of the week is SEASCRAPER…
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Departures by Julian Barnes
Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction longlist, including Flashlight, The Correspondent and Audition. Some of the other long-listed books feature writers as characters, which gets us talking about turn-offs in novels. Our book of the week is DEPARTURE(S) by Julian Barnes. This...
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The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Anna and Geoff discuss the cancellation of Adelaide Writers' Week 2026 amid the controversy after the Adelaide Festival Board disinvited Palestinian-Australian writer Dr Randa Abdel-Fatteh. Among the authors who withdrew from Writers' Week was Richard Flanagan, who wrote this article (sorry for…
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Best Books of 2025
It's our best books of the year episode! Anna, Amanda and Annie reveal our favourite reads of 2025: Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden The Time of the Child by Niall Williams The Granddaughter by Bernhard Schlink translated by Charlotte Collins A...
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Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
Anna and Geoff discuss their reaction to the 2025 Booker Prize winner, FLESH by David Szalay, and the winner of the Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction, Australian author Helen Garner for her collection of diaries HOW TO END A STORY. Our book of the week is CREATION LAKE by Rachel Kushner. Her...
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Flashlight by Susan Choi
Anna and Geoff discuss their Booker Prize winner predictions. We haven't read enough of the shortlist to know who will win, but Geoff is tipping THE LAND IN WINTER (a DNF for Anna). Our book of the week is FLASHLIGHT by Susan Choi. This is Choi's follow-up novel after winning the National Book...
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Seed with Bri Lee
Annie was lucky enough to catch Bri Lee on her book tour for her second novel, Seed. Set in Antarctica, Seed follows two scientists, Mitch and Frances, as they spend a month at the seed vault that they have been creating and protecting. But as strange things keep happening to the facility,...
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I Make Envy On Your Disco with Eric Schnall
A special episode: Anna chats with author and Tony-award winning Broadway producer Eric Schnall about his debut novel I MAKE ENVY ON YOUR DISCO. Sam Singer flies to Berlin for an art gallery opening, needing a break from his partner in New York. He meets enigmatic hotel receptionist Magda and...
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Endling by Maria Reva
Anna and Annie discuss the settlement offer by Anthropic to pay $1.5bn to settle a book piracy lawsuit and the 2025 National Book Awards fiction longlist. Our book of the week is ENDLING by Maria Reva. Yeva is a snail conservationist in Ukraine who becomes caught up in Nastia and Sol's scheme to...
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A Woman Talks to Her Tongue with Alison Gorman
A special episode: Anna chats with award-winning poet Alison Gorman about her debut poetry collection A WOMAN TALKS TO HER TONGUE. These poems examine family secrets, silences and women's voices. Beautiful and assured, we loved this book. Alison joins us fresh from her sold-out launch in Sydney…
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Flesh by David Szalay
Anna and Geoff discuss Sally Rooney pledging royalties to Palestine Action and the Library of South Australia being second on the list of the world's most beautiful libraries. Our book of the week is FLESH, the new novel by David Szalay which has been long-listed for the 2025 Booker Prize. It…
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Comfort Reading Recommendations for 2025
Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Booker Prize Longlist. We have many comfort reading recommendations! Here are some of the books discussed: DEAD GIRL GONE by Gareth and Louise Ward THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB series and WE SOLVE MURDERS by Richard Osman IN SPITE OF YOU by Patrick Lenton CONSIDER...
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Perfection by Vincent Latronico translated by Sophie Hughes
Anna and Geoff discuss PERFECTION by Vincent Latronico translated by Sophie Hughes. PERFECTION is a short novel about Tom and Anna, digital nomads living in Berlin. A re-telling of the cult classic 1960s novel The Things by Georges Perec, it examines a couple who have built a stylish life but…
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The Director by Daniel Kehlmann translated by Ross Benjamin
Anna and Geoff discuss THE DIRECTOR by best-selling author of MEASURING THE WORLD and TYLL Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin. THE DIRECTOR tells the story of cinema director G. W. Pabst, who in the 1930s fled Nazi Germany for Hollywood and then returned to make films for the German...
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Our Top 10 Books of the Year So Far
Anna and Annie discuss our 10 best books of 2025 so far. Books mentioned: A LITTLE TRICKERIE by Rosanna Pike THE NAMES by Florence Knapp THE HUSBANDS by Holly Gramazio DREAM COUNT by Chimananda Ngoze Adiche SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell STINKBUG by Sinéad Stubbins PATRIOT by Alexei Navalny...
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The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Anna and Geoff discuss the 2025 Women's Prize winners and the new Data Bill regulating (or not) AI and creative work. Our book of the week is THE EMPUSIUM: A HEALTH RESORT HORROR STORY by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Tokarczuk is the Nobel Prize lauereate author of FLIGHTS…
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The Names by Florence Knapp
Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Women's Prize and try to predict the winner. Since we recorded this the winner has been announced: The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden. (Annie was right!) And Annie wraps up recent Australian book award news including the Stella Prize winner Theory and Practice by...
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Small Rain by Garth Greenwell
Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, JAMES by Percival Everett. Our book of the week is SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell. A poet is admitted to hospital with severe pain. Bedridden, he reflects on his relationships, music and poetry and the small details of life.…
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Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
Anna and Annie discuss the cookbook controversy between Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin Eats and Brooke Bellamy of Bake with Brooki and ask whether it is possible to copyright a recipe. Our book of the week is FUNDAMENTALLY by Nussaibah Younis. Shortlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction, this...
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Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Women's Prize Shortlist. Our book of the week is MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of HORSE. This is a moving and honest memoir of Brooks' time grieving her late husband Tony Horwitz and also a portrait of their marriage. Partly…
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Sea Green with Pink Shorts Press
A special episode! Anna is joined by Emily Hart and Margot Lloyd, founders of Pink Shorts Press. We discuss the exciting launch of this new publisher and the 2025 Stella Prize shortlist. Our book of the week is SEA GREEN by Barbara Hanrahan, re-issued by Pink Shorts Press this year with an...
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Somebody Down There Likes Me by Robert Lukins
Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Stella Prize longlist and some upcoming book-to-screen adaptations: THE LEOPARD, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE, FOURTH WING and THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. Our book of the week is SOMEBODY DOWN THERE LIKES ME by Robert Lukins. A dysfunctional family comes together...
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The Season by Helen Garner
Anna and Annie discuss the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Shortlist for fiction, including WOO WOO by Ella Baxter and HIGHWAY 13 by Fiona McFarlane. Our book of the week is THE SEASON by Helen Garner. This is a memoir of a year Garner spent following her grandson's club football team. It...
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The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Geoff and Anna discuss THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by David McDuff. This is a fictionalised account of the four years Dostoevsky spent in a Siberian prison camp after he was arrested for taking part in a political conspiracy. Sold as a novel but with the feel of a...
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White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by Ronald Meyer
Anna and Geoff discuss WHITE NIGHTS by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by Ronald Meyer. A man meets a woman on the street in St Petersburg and falls in love in this short story. It has become a Tik Tok sensation in recent months and Penguin has commissioned a new audiobook to be read by Bridgerton's...
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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
A special episode: Anna chats with Kate Slotover of the Book Club Review podcast. Our book of the week is THE UNSELECTED JOURNALS OF EMMA M. LION by Beth Brower. Recommended by our friend Shawn Mooney of Shawn Breathes Books, we enjoyed this novel set in Victorian London about a young woman...
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Ep 284: Patriot by Alexei Navalny with special guest John Wood
A special episode: Anna is joined by author and U-Go founder John Wood. We discuss our reactions to the 2025 Women's Prize Longlist. Our book of the week is PATRIOT by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel. This is Navalny's autobiography detailing his rise to be a Russian...
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Ep 283: Eurotrash by Christian Kracht translated by Daniel Bowles
Anna and Geoff react to the 2025 Booker International Longlist. Our book of the week is EUROTRASH by Christian Kracht translated by Daniel Bowles. A middle-aged man goes on a dubious road trip through Switzerland with his 80-year old mother, recently discharged from a mental institution. Blackly...
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Ep 282: The Husbands with Holly Gramazio
A special episode: Anna chats with author Holly Gramazio about her debut novel THE HUSBANDS. When Lauren returns to her flat in London one night, she finds a husband called Michael: the only problem is, she isn't married. It turns out that her attic is producing an endless supply of husbands. An...
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Ep 281: Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst
Anna and Geoff review OUR EVENINGS the new novel by Booker Prize-winning author Alan Hollinghurst. Dave Win is a Burmese-British actor reminiscing about his life, growing up as a gay man in the 1960s through to 2019. We loved the exact and beautiful prose but found it slow. The blurb also…
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Ep 280: City of Destruction with Vaseem Khan
A special episode: Anna speaks with author Vaseem Khan about his new crime novel CITY OF DESTRUCTION. This is the fifth in the Malabar House series set in 1950s Bombay after Partition. Persis Wadia is India's first female police detective and is sent to work in Malabar House. In CITY OF...
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Ep 279: Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan
Anna and Annie discuss the success of Rebecca Yarros's new book ONYX STORM, the third in the Emperyean series. Annie gives her views about why they have been huge best-sellers and the popularity of romantasy. Our book of the week is DISAPPOINT ME by Nicola Dinan. This buzzy new novel by the…
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Ep 278: Loose Lips with Kemper Donovan
A special episode! Anna chats with USA Today best-selling author Kemper Donovan about his new novel LOOSE LIPS, the second in the Ghostwriter series after the best-selling THE BUSY BODY (see ep 265). Kemper hosts the All About Agatha podcast and his crime novels bring the Golden Age of murder...
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Ep 277: Book Recommendations with Anthony Nocera
A special episode : Anna chats with author Anthony Nocera. We discuss Anthony's brilliant essay WEDNESDAY BANG in the current issue of SPLINTER and his upcoming plays: Log Boy, My Hair is Thinning and Someone Like You. Anthony's book recommendations: NOSTALGIA HAS RUINED MY LIFE by Zarah...
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Ep 276: Best Books of 2024
Anna, Annie and Amanda reveal our favourite reads of 2024! Books discussed: MAGIC PILL by Johann Hari ALL THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD by Patrick Bringley THE ALTERNATIVES by Caoilinn Hughes THIS STRANGE AND EVENTFUL HISTORY by Claire Messud RAPTURE by Emily Maguire WOO WOO by Ella Baxter THE…
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Ep 275: Australian Literature with Farrin Foster
A special episode: we chat with Farrin Foster about new literary journal SPLINTER and emerging Australian authors. We talk about authors who are also musicians, autofiction and taking a book of poetry in your bag for waiting times. Farrin recommends the work of: Seamus Lonergan – KT Major Olivia…
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Ep 274: Comfort Reading Recommendations
Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Booker Prize winner ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey. Our comfort reading recommendations are: ARGYLLE by Elly Conway WE SOLVE MURDERS by Richard Osman LOOSE LIPS by Kemper Donovan THE SPY COAST by Tess Gerritsen THE ROM COMMERS by Katherine Center THE WEDDING FORECAST…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Books On The Go have?
Books On The Go currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Books On The Go about?
A podcast where we talk about our book of the week. Read along with us!
How often does Books On The Go release new episodes?
Books On The Go has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Books On The Go?
You can listen to Books On The Go on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Books On The Go?
Books On The Go is created and hosted by Anna Baillie-Karas, Annie Waters and Amanda Hayes.
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