The Bookshelf

Dave Eggers explores the messy intersection of art, friendship and growing up in Contrapposto, while Daniel Mason's Country People follows an academic family into a Vermont landscape full of stories, obsessions and believers in worlds beneath the earth. Then Maria Takolander's The End of Romance imagines life after collapse, where survival, motherhood and hope take unexpected forms.Joining Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh are our regular reviewers, novelist Madeleine Gray and musician Tim Rogers. Plus, playwright and novelist George Kemp shares three favourite Australian books ahead of the ABC's Top 100 Australian Books countdown.Books discussedContrapposto - Dave EggersCountry People - Daniel MasonThe End of Romance - Maria TakolanderCloudstreet - Tim WintonThe Sun Walks Down - Fiona McFarlaneCold Enough for Snow - Jessica AuGuest recommendationsDream Girls - Hannah GoldsteinBrother of the More Famous Jack - Barbara TrapidoThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel SparkRiverboy - Jim EwingA Suitable Man - Jock SerongFifty Beating Wonders - Dr Michelle JohnstonFlights - Olga Tokarczuk CreditsPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Micky Grossman and Tegan NichollsArts editor, Sarah L' Estrange

This week on The Bookshelf, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh discuss new novels including Laura McPhee-Browne's Worry Doll, a story of desire, obsession and uncertainty; Leïla Slimani's I'll Take the Fire, the acclaimed French-Moroccan writer's rich, politically charged exploration of family, memory and identity; and Kris Kneen's Rite of Spring, an eerie island novel where strange creatures lurk in the mist.Joining the program are regular reviewers, bestselling crime writer Michael Robotham and novelist and academic Roanna Gonsalves.Plus, as ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books Countdown approaches, writer and historian Bruce Pascoe shares three Australian books he loves.Books discussedWorry Doll, Laura McPhee-BrowneI'll Take the Fire, Leïla Slimani (translated by Sam Taylor)Rite of Spring, Kris KneenBenang: From The Heart, Kim ScottEvery Secret Thing, Marie MunkaraMullumbimby, Melissa LucashenkoGuest recommendationsWhistler, Ann PatchettThe Hunter, Tana FrenchTomb of Sand, Geetanjali Shree CreditsPresenter: Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound: Craig Tilmouth and Micky GrossmanArts editor: Sarah L'Estrange

A live recording from the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival, with guests Hannah Kent and Beejay Silcox.Hannah Kent, Always Home, Always Homesick (Picador)Eimear McBride, The City Changes Its Face (Faber)Susan Choi, Flashlight (Jonathan Cape)Edward St Aubyn, Parallel Lines (Jonathan Cape)Caryl Phillips, Another Man in the Street (Bloomsbury)GuestsHannah Kent is the author of the novels Burial Rites, The Good People and Devotion. Her latest book is the memoir, Always Home, Always HomesickBeejay Silcox is a critic, writer, festival director and literary interviewerOther Books MentionedJeffrey Eugenides, MiddlesexMichael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & ClayEric Puchner, Dream StateRebecca Makkai, The Great BelieversEmily Maguire, RaptureMariana Enríquez, A Sunny Place for Shady PeopleSusan Hampton, Anything Can Happen

We review the latest in fiction for dedicated readers and for those who wish they read more.

Cassie McCullagh is joined by Jonathan Green this time, for a wide-ranging hour of new fiction, from Australia and beyond. First, Fiona Mozley’s unsettling Awake Awake, where a young woman begins to suspect her grandfather may have killed Adolf Hitler, Zan Rowe weighs in. Then, Irish writer Niamh Campbell’s Make Strange, a quietly eerie novel about a four-year-old asking impossible questions, including whether she’s lived before...Madeleine Gray gives her verdict. And we begin with a striking new Australian voice in the short story collection I Made This Just For You by Chris Ames.~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDElmet; Hot Stew, by Fiona MozleyWhat We Can Know, by Ian McEwanThe Ruiners, by Ellena SavageThe Shepherd's Life; A Place of Tides, by James RebanksThe Animators; Returns and Exchanges, by Kayla Rae WhitakerFruit Fly, by Josh SilverYellowface, by R.F. KuangA Little Life, by Hanya YanagiharaShuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart~ CREDITSPresenter, Cassie McCullagh and Jonathan GreenProducer, Cassie McCullagh and Sarah CorbettSound, Antonia Gauci and Ann Marie DebettencorArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

From a sun-drenched Tuscan reset with a side of style advice (Andrew Sean Greer's Villa Coco via Michael Robotham), to Ilka Tampke’s How To Love the World, a tender take on parenting and the pull of the bush (guided by Roanna Gonsalves), and throw in a windswept lighthouse on the edge of the world with Michael Pedersen’s Muckle Flugga.~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDCharles Bukowski, worksAndrew Sean Greer, LessGraham Greene, Travels with My AuntPatrick Dennis, Auntie MameSteve Toltz, worksIlka Tampke, Skin; SongwomanDebra Adelaide,When I Am Sixty-FourDavid Sedaris, The Land and Its People; Me Talk Pretty One DayRashida Murphy, Old Ghosts; The Historian's DaughterOlga Ravn, The Wax Child; The Employees~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Tegan Nicholls and Harvey O'SullivanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh are joined by regulars Hannah Kent and Tom Wright to talk new fiction from three major voices: Maggie O’Farrell’s Land, an expansive novel set in famine-era Ireland that traces memory, myth and the imprint of history on place; Ann Patchett’s Whistler, a sharp story of family, lost fathers and the long shadow of childhood; and Christine Balint’s A Single Witness, which follows a teenage girl confronting her community and the law in 18th-century Italy.~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDMaggie O'Farrell, worksAnn Patchett, worksChristine Balint, worksGeorge R.Stewart, Names On The Land Sumner Locke Elliott’s Careful, He Might Hear You Tusiata Avia, Big Fat Brown Bitch Dominic Hoey, 1985Ingrid Horrocks, All Her Lives: Nine StoriesTāme Iti, MANA~ CREDITSPresenter: Kate EvansProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound: Micky Grossman, Isabella TropianoArts editor: Rhiannon Brown

Kate Evans is joined by Bernadette Brennan and Beejay Silcox to talk three striking new releases: Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s Said the Dead, a haunting, archive-rich exploration of a derelict Irish asylum; Chloe Wilson’s The Thornbacks, a darkly comic debut of morticians, dating apps and unsettling female entanglements; and Deborah Levy’s My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein, a playful meditation on literary life in Paris. ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDAmitav Ghosh, Ghost-EyeSusan Choi, Flashlight S.A. Cosby, worksDoireann Ní Ghríofa, A Ghost in the Throat Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the CastleAngela Carter, Wise ChildrenJeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin SuicidesDaisy Johnson, SistersGillian Flynn, Sharp ObjectsOyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister the Serial KillerDeborah Levy, worksKim Scott, BenangAlexis Wright, CarpentariaFrancesca Wade, Gertrude Stein: An AfterlifeGertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Prudence Bussey-Chamberlain, Bone HornErin Vincent. Fourteen Ways of LookingClaire Thomas, On Not Climbing MountainsGwendoline Riley, The Palm HouseChloe Wilson, Hold Your FireRobin Robertson, The Long TakeJoseph Furphy, Such is LifeElizabeth Jolley, works~ CREDITSPresenter: Kate EvansProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound: Antonia GauciArts editor: Rhiannon Brown

The Bookshelf comes to you from a sold out session at Sydney Writers’ Festival, for a conversation that brings together an exceptional line-up: acclaimed novelist and poet Tony Birch, Miles Franklin Award-winning author Siang Lu, and internationally celebrated writer Lily King. Together, with Cassie, Kate and special guest Claire Nichols from The Book Show, they mark the launch of ABC Radio National’s 2026 Top 100 Books countdown, this year turning the spotlight on the very best of Australian writing, fiction and non-fiction, across all time.~ ABC RADIO NATIONAL TOP 100 AUSTRALIAN BOOKS COUNTDOWNhttps://www.abc.net.au/listen/radionational/top-100-books-2026/106621398~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY LILY KINGColleen McCullough, The Thorn BirdsShirley Hazzard, The Transit of Venus; The Evening of the HolidayKate Grenville, The Idea of PerfectionChristina Stead, The Man Who Loved Children~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY TONY BIRCHWilliam Dick, A Bunch of RatbagsRuth Park, worksColin Johnson, Wild Cat FallingKenneth Cook, Wake in FrightFrank Hardy, Power Without GloryPeter Carey, American Dreams; CrabsPi O, 24 Hours: Ulysses in Fitzroy~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY SIANG LUNam Le, The BoatMichael Winkler, GrimmishPeter Carey, The True History of the Kelly GangHelen Garner, Monkey GripCharlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY CASSIE MCCULLAGHMiles Franklin, My Brilliant CareerPeter Temple, Broken ShorePeter Carey, The Fat Man in History~  BOOKS MENTIONED BY KATE EVANSEthel Turner, Seven Little AustraliansFlorence James and Dymphna Cusack, Come in SpinnerPeter Carey, Illywhacker; Oscar and Lucinda~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY CLAIRE NICHOLSThe Australian Women's Weekly Birthday Cake BookMem Fox, Wilfrid Gordon McDonaldKim Scott, worksTim Winton, worksJosephine Wilson, Extinctions~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED Tim Winton, CloudstreetTrent Dalton, Boy Swallows UniverseCharlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark ShoreSally Morgan, My PlaceArchie Roach, Tell Me WhyJimmy Barnes, Working Class BoyRuby Langford Ginibi, Don’t Take Your Love to TownThea Astley, worksHelen Garner, The Children's Bach; The Spare RoomMelina Marchetta, Looking for AlibrandiRichard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North; Question 7Madeleine St John, Ladies in BlackShankari Chandran, Chai Time at Cinnamon GardensRuth Park, Playing Beatie BowAndrew McGahan, PraiseMarkus Zusak, The Book ThiefRobbie Arnott, LimberlostHannah Kent, Burial RitesNorman Lindsay, The Magic PuddingA.B. Facey, A Fortunate LifeDavid Malouf, Johnno Jane Harper, The Dry~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans, Cassie McCullagh, Claire NicholsProducer, Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound, Harvey O'SullivanArts Editor, Rhiannon Brown

We head by rackety ferry to Scotland in John of John, the latest, quietly devastating novel from Shuggie Bain author Douglas Stuart. Henry Lawson reimagined - brawling poets, strange tunnels, time loops, and a warped tussle between city and bush in Wayne Marshall’s Henry Goes Bush, reviewed by You Am I's Tim Rogers. From there, novelist Madeleine Gray turns her eye to Lena Dunham’s sharp, self‑aware memoir Famesick, before moving to Ellena Savage’s The Ruiners, which shifts between a Melbourne lobster shack and a smoke‑wreathed Greek island.~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDNorman Lindsay, Bohemians of the BulletinRuth Park, Playing Beatie BowRoxane Gay, Bad Feminist: EssaysLena Dunham, Not That Kind of GirlJoan Didion, worksEve Babitz, worksEllena Savage, BlueberriesCharles Dickens, worksCharmian Clift, worksGeorge Johnston, worksMichael Winkler, GriefdoggRachel Yoder, NightbitchColum McCann, ApeirogonSteve MinOn, First Name Second NameMuriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean BrodieJames Bailey, Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel SparkLee Lai, Cannon~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Craig Tilmouth and Roi HubermanExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

This week’s Bookshelf features the latest from Elizabeth Strout, creator of Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton, returning with a stand‑alone novel called The Things We Never Say. We’re also reading an ambitious, genre‑bending novel that moves from 1980s gaming culture to far‑future space travel, and Daniel Kehlmann’s The Director, a German novel in translation that explores film, power and propaganda. Joining us to review are Geordie Williamson - critic, publisher and writer; and Robert Forster - singer‑songwriter, founding member of The Go‑Betweens, memoirist and brand new novelist with Songwriters on the Run.~ REVIEWERSRobert Forster and Geordie Williamson~ BOOKSDaniel Kehlmann, The Director (translated from the German by Ross Benjamin), RiverrunElizabeth Strout, The Things We Never Say, Viking Penguin  Portia Elan, Homebound, Chatto & WindusCaro Claire Burke, Yesteryear, Fourth Estate ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDDaniel Kehlmann, worksElizabeth Strout, My Name is Lucy BartonThe Boundless Deep, Richard HolmesJohnno, David MaloufKeeley Jobe, The EndlingAna Paula Maia, On Earth as It Is Beneath~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Craig Tilmouth and Roi HubermanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

In this episode, superstar reviewer Hannah Kent tackles the rugged terrain of a journey that edges towards the Tibetan border in Deepa Anappara's The Last of Earth, and theatre writer Tom Wright ponders extraterrestrial encounters in Amanda Lohrey's new one, Capture. Plus, Kate and Cassie take a look at two titles on the International Booker Prize shortlist, from France and Bulgaria, one follows a not‑very‑successful witch who weeps tears of blood; and the other is the story of a woman in Albania who switches genders through an ancient ritual.~ BOOKS Marie NDiaye, The Witch, translated from the French by Jordan Stump, MacLehose Press Rene Karabash, She Who Remains, translated from the Bulgarian by Izidora Angel, Peirene Press Deepa Anappara, The Last of Earth, One World Amanda Lohrey, Capture, Text~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDDavid Malouf, worksChloe Dalton, Raising HareLaura McPhee Brown, Worry Doll Ranginui Walker, Struggle Without End Patricia Walker, Potiki Cameron Sullivan, The Red Winter~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Bella Tropiano and Hamish CamilleriArts editor, Rhiannon Brown 

This week The Bookshelf leans into the wild as Kate Evans and guests are circled by stories of wolves, wild boar and witches, along with the final year of celebrated poet Sylvia Plath and a sensual story of food and obsession from Japan. Kate is joined by regular guests, the novelist, poet and Professor of Australian literature Tony Birch; and critic Beejay Silcox, who arrives fresh from the U.K. ready to talk literary pilgrimages and bookish souvenirs. Plus, a bonus discussion on this year's Stella Prize shortlist.~ BOOKS REVIEWEDInga Simpson, Once We Were Wildlife: Stories, HachetteSarah Walker, The Water Takes, Summit BooksAsako Yuzuki, Hooked, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton, Fourth EstateHelen Bain, The Daffodil Days, BloomsburySally O’Reilly, Hagtale, Scribe~ 2026 Stella Prize shortlistEvelyn Araluen, The Rot, UQPGeraldine Brooks, Memorial Days, HachetteMiranda Darling, Fireweather, ScribeLee Lai, Cannon, GiramondoMarika Sosnowski, 58 Facets: On violence and the Law, Melbourne University Press  Tasma Walton, I am Nannertgarrook, Simon & SchusterNOTE: the winner will be announced on 13 May ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDIan McEwan, What We Can KnowCormac McCarthy, The RoadKim Scott, Dead Man DanceJohn Higgs, Lynchian: The Spell of David LynchAsako Yuzuki, ButterMieko Kawakami, Breasts and EggsSayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman; EarthlingsEmi Yagi, Diary of a VoidColum McCann, worksFiona McFarlane, Highway 13Guillaume Lecasble, Lobster Lucie Rico, Fowl EulogiesRobin Robertson, The Long TakeJenni Fagan, The DelusionsJames Alistair Henry, PagansLaurie Colwin, Shine On Bright and Dangerous ObjectTracy Chevalier, Burning Bright ~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate EvansProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Roi Huberman and Tegan NichollsArts Editor, Rhiannon Brown

In this episode, Kate and Cassie are joined by celebrated novelist Madeleine Gray and rock icon Tim Rogers for a wide-ranging discussion looking at three works of contemporary fiction: Indian writer Amitav Ghosh’s Ghost Eye, a meditation on reincarnation and climate change; Australian writer and musician Edwina Preston’s Sororicidal, a sharp novel of sisterhood and rivalry; and English stylist Gwendoline Riley’s The Palm House, a disquieting portrait of modern life in London.BOOKSAmitav Ghosh, Ghost-Eye (John Murray)Edwina Preston, Sororicidal (Picador)Gwendoline Riley, The Palm House (Picador)REVIEWERSMadeleine Gray — writer and critic, author of Green Dot and Chosen FamilyTim Rogers — singer‑songwriter, actor and writer; frontman of You Am I and the Hard‑Ons, currently on a solo tourOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDBritney Spears memoirSinéad O'Connor, memoirLeo Tolstoy, Anna KareninaDaphne du Maurier, RebeccaEdwina Preston, Not Just a Suburban Boy; Bad Art MotherSimon Mason, DI Wilkins MysteriesClive James, Unreliable MemoirsCharlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark ShoreWayne Marshall, Henry Goes BushLarry McMurtry, worksJoe Boyd, And The Roots of Rhythm RemainCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Antonia Gauci and Micky GrossmanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Memory, lost conversations and almost-fathers-and sons in Ben Lerner's Transcription; children divided by the throw of a dice, and that's just the start of it, in Steve Toltz's A Rising of the Lights; no such thing as unskilled labour, in Siân Hughes' No Such Thing as Monday, where a woman works as a drycleaner, trying desperately to rid herself of the stains of her childhood; new crime releases, and an Australian in Hollywood is reconsidered. Kate and Cassie with reviewers Michael Robotham and Geordie Williamson.BOOKSBen Lerner, Transcription, GrantaSteve Toltz, A Rising of the Lights, PenguinSiân Hughes, No Such Thing as Monday, PenguinTana French, The Keeper, Viking PenguinCandice Fox, Redbelly Crossing, PenguinPatricia A. O'Brien, Errol Flynn: The true story of Australia's Hollywood Icon, Allen & Unwin[Keep scrolling for other books and writers mentioned in the discussion]GUESTSMichael Robotham is an internationally-acclaimed crime writer whose books include the Joseph O'Loughlan and Evie Cormac series. His latest novel is The White Crow — and his next one, Tell Me Something True, will be his first to be set in AustraliaGeordie Wiliamson is a literary critic, writer and publisher at Picador, whose books include a critical study of Alexis Wright in the Black Inc Writers on Writers series; and The Burning Library — on neglected Australian writersOther books mentioned in the discussionKarl Ove Knausgård, worksRachel Cusk, worksW G Sebald, worksAlexander Kluge, worksDavid Foster Wallace, worksJonathan Franzen, worksWallace Stevens, worksLes Murray, worksSaul Bellow, worksPhilip Roth, worksP D James, worksAgatha Christie, worksSam Twyford-Moore, Cast Mates: Australian Actors in Hollywood and at HomeCREDITSPresenters: Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducers: Kate Evans, Sarah Corbett, Tracey TrompfSound Engineers: Craig Tilmouth, Roi HubermanA/ Arts Editor: Sarah Corbett

What does it mean to write using an 'ethical imagination'? Colum McCann onstage with Kate Evans at the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival, on his novels Twist, Apeirogon, TransAtlantic, Let the Great World Spin and many more; and his work with the social justice storytelling movement, Narrative Four.Presenter/ Producer: Kate EvansSound Engineers: Simon Branthwaite, Antonia GauciActing Arts Editor: Sarah L'Estrange

This week The Bookshelf revisits the Trojan War from the ground up in Yann Martel’s Son of Nobody, moves through friendship and loss in Debra Adelaide’s When I Am Sixty‑Four, and dives into queer Sydney in the 1940s with Fiona Kelly McGregor’s The Trap. BOOKSFiona Kelly McGregor, The Trap, PicadorDebra Adelaide, When I Am Sixty-Four, UQPYann Martel, Son of Nobody, TextGUESTSTom Wright, theatre writer and adaptor; Artistic Associate, Belvoir TheatreHannah Kent, novelist, scriptwriter and memoirist, whose books include Burial Rites, Devotion and Always Home Always HomesickOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDSarah Waters, Tipping the VelvetDelia Falconer, worksPeter Cornell, The Ways of Paradise Ingrid Horrocks, All Her Lives: Nine StoriesCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Craig Tilmouth and Hamish CamilleriArts editor, Sarah L'Estrange

This week The Bookshelf revisits the Trojan War from the ground up in Yann Martel’s Son of Nobody, moves through friendship and loss in Debra Adelaide’s When I Am Sixty‑Four, and dives into queer Sydney in the 1940s with Fiona Kelly McGregor’s The Trap. BOOKSFiona Kelly McGregor, The Trap, PicadorDebra Adelaide, When I Am Sixty-Four, UQPYann Martel, Son of Nobody, TextGUESTSTom Wright, theatre writer and adaptor; Artistic Associate, Belvoir TheatreHannah Kent, novelist, scriptwriter and memoirist, whose books include Burial Rites, Devotion and Always Home Always HomesickOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDSarah Waters, Tipping the VelvetDelia Falconer, worksPeter Cornell, The Ways of Paradise Ingrid Horrocks, All Her Lives: Nine StoriesCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Craig Tilmouth and Hamish CamilleriArts editor, Sarah L'Estrange

A rich mix of voices and stories in short fiction from acclaimed Native American writer Louise Erdrich; essays and memories from two‑time Miles Franklin Award winner Alex Miller; bleakly funny childhood tales by English author Mark Haddon; and, from Michael Winkler, a surreal and darkly comic story about a man who decides he’d rather be the family dog.BOOKS Michael Winkler, Griefdogg, Text Louise Erdrich, Python’s Kiss: Stories, Corsair Alex Miller, Journey to the End of Time, Allen & Unwin Mark Haddon, Leaving Home: A Memoir in Full Colour, Chatto & Windus GUESTS Shannon Burns, writer and critic from Adelaide, whose first book Childhood: a memoir, was published in 2022 Tony Birch, poet, writer, and Professor of Australian Literature at Melbourne University. His latest book is the short story collection Pictures of You OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDGrimmish, Michael WinklerAct of the Damned; Fado Alexandrino, António Lobo AntunesWhat We Can Know, Ian McEwanThe Transformations, Andrew Pippos Brawler, Lauren GroffCREDITSPresenter: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah Corbett, Ce BenedictSound: Craig Tilmouth, Antonia GauciArts editor: Sarah L' Estrange

What if the most talked‑about streaming show of the moment was a mirror reflecting your most private fears and failures? That unnerving question sits at the heart of John Lanchester’s Look What You Made Me Do, a sharp novel about resentment, revenge, money, class and generational unease. Plus: the art of the short story, as Hannah Kent reads and reflects on Lauren Groff’s new collection Brawler; and a woman’s inner life rendered with quiet and devastating precision in Mary Costello’s A Beautiful Loan.BOOKSJohn Lanchester, Look What You Made Me Do, FaberLauren Groff, Brawler, Hutchinson HeinemannMary Costello, A Beautiful Loan, TextGUESTSHannah Kent, novelist behind the phenomenon Burial Rites + The Good People, Devotion and Always Home, Always HomesickTim Rogers, author of Detours; frontman of You Am I, The Hard-Ons and various musical escapades. His solo tour Le Charme Defensif kicks off this weekOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDAndrew O'Hagan, Caledonian RoadCharlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Emily Brontë, Wuthering HeightsMichelle de Krester, Theory and PracticeJacqueline Maley, Lonely MouthErin Somers, The Ten Year Affair James Joyce, The Dubliners; The Dead Thomas Mann, The Magic MountainColm Tóibín, The MagicianSteve Hanley, The Big Midweek: Life Inside the FallCREDITSPresenter: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound: Craig Tilmouth, Antonia GauciArts editor; Sarah L'Estrange

A Bookshelf festival special featuring Kate Evans onstage with writers Jock Serong and Emily Maguire on historical fiction, from the 2025 Sydney Writers Festival.GUESTSEmily Maguire is a novelist and essayist whose books include An Isolated Incident and Love Objects, and her latest, RaptureJock Serong is a novelist and lawyer, whose books include The Rules of Backyard Cricket, On the Java Ridge, the Preservation series, The Settlement, and his latest, CherrywoodCREDITSPresenter/producer, Kate EvansSound engineer, Roi HubermanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Statues come alive and London is re-imagined in Francis Spufford's Nonesuch, and surprising parallels in two Australian novels of secrets, shame, land and time in M L Stedman's A Far-Flung Life and Eva Hornung's The Minstrels. Kate Evans, Cassie McCullagh, Michael Robotham and Roanna Gonsalves - to help you decide what to read next.BOOKSFrancis Spufford, Nonesuch, FaberEva Hornung, The Minstrels, TextM L Stedman, A Far-Flung Life, PenguinGUESTSMichael Robotham, internationally acclaimed crime writer – whose books include the Joe O’Loughlin series, the Cyrus Haven/ Evie Cormac series, and his latest – featuring Philomena MCcCarthy, The White Crow. His first Australian-based novel is out later this yearRoanna Gonsalves, writer whose collection of short stories is The Permanent Resident, and whose first novel (The Servants) will be published later this year. She is also one of the hosts of a monthly book club at the State Library of NSWOther books mentioned:Phillippa McGuiness and Richard Neville (eds) The Library that Made Me (you can write your own stories about libraries that have shaped you right here)Anita Heiss, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray: River of Dreams Emily St John Mandel, Station ElevenCormac McCarthy, The RoadRashida Murphy’s Old Ghosts  and Karleah Olson’s Bloodwood (forthcoming)Michelle de Kretser, The Hamilton CaseNatasha Brown, Assembly, UniversalityCharlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark ShoreDon Winslow, The Power of the Dog, The Death and Life of Bobby Z,  The Final Score [stories]Presenters: Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer: Kate EvansSound engineers: Timothy JenkinsArts Editor: Rhiannon Brown

In this episode, we travel from the Swiss Alps to the quiet strangeness of Danish suburbia and the fierce edges of American literary drama. We begin with the visceral intensity of Gabriel Tallent’s latest novel, Crux, where characters cling to passion and survival with bloodied fingertips. Claire Thomas reflects on art, ambition, and the lure of towering peaks in On Not Climbing Mountains, and Helle Helle's They, a delicately surreal portrait of mothers, daughters, and the lives lived between silences. BOOKS Gabriel Tallent, Crux, Fig Tree Claire Thomas, On Not Climbing Mountains, Hachette Helle Helle, They, translated from Danish by Martin Aitken, Giramondo GUESTSHannah Kent, novelist, scriptwriter, and memoirist, whose books include Burial Rites, The Good People, Devotion, and Always Home Always Homesick Tom Wright, theatre writer and adaptor; Artistic Associate at Belvoir Theatre in Sydney OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDOlga Tocarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the DeadRachel Cusk, worksW.G. Sebald, worksMary Shelley, FrankensteinHenry James, worksRainer Maria Rilke, worksJames Baldwin, worksKatherine Mansfield, worksLeo Tolstoy, worksTeju Cole, worksMuriel Sparks, worksJohanna Spyri, HeidiBlaise Cendrars, worksJessica Au, Cold Enough for SnowHarry Matthews, SleuthJohn Cowper Powys, Wolf Solent Harry Mathews, Tlooth Solvej Balle, On the Calculation of VolumeCatherine Lacey, The Möbius BookCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Micky Grossman and Roi HubermanExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

Emerald Fennell's film adaptation of Wuthering Heights has been marketed as "the greatest love story ever told", which is not typically the description given to the original novel. What does this adaptation achieve, and what does it sacrifice in the process?The Bookshelf's Kate Evans and Radio National's Arts Hour's Sky Kirkham discuss what they felt did and didn't work in this film and, in an expanded podcast extra edition, they also discussed the film adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet

Kate and Cassie read Kin, the latest novel from Tayari Jones — the acclaimed American novelist behind An American Marriage, a book that resonated with both critics and readers alike. Her work sits alongside a bold mix of stories in this episode, from a vampiric love story to speed‑dating slasher fiction, and South African writer Nadia Davids adds her own unsettling brilliance, taking us into the life of a furious yet outwardly obedient domestic servant in a mysterious house on a hill in Cape Fever.BOOKSTayari Jones, Kin, PenguinNadia Davids, Cape Fever, ScribnerShailee Thompson, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, Atria BooksPip Knight, Aubrey Wants to Die, Harper Collins  GUESTSTony Birch, poet and novelist; Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at Melbourne UniversityBeejay Silcox, writer and criticOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDDavid Peace, The Red Riding Quartet; Twilight seriesAnne Rice, Interview with the VampireDan Jennings, Dancing Through the FireRebecca Perry, May We Feed the KingMaylis de Kerangal, Painting TimeCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Harvey O'Sullivan and Simon BranthwaiteExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

Join Kate and Cassie as they explore new fiction alongside guests: musician Tim Rogers (You Am I) and novelist Madeleine Gray (Green Dot, Chosen Family). Three American novels, each tackling big ideas in very different ways - from the political absurdity and humour of Jess Walter’s So Far Gone, to the mockumentary-style tensions of Patmeena Sabit’s Good People, to the darkly comic moral maze of Jonathan Miles’ Eradication.BOOKSJess Walter, So Far Gone, HarperJonathan Miles, Eradication, RiverrunPatmeena Sabit, Good People, ViragoGUESTSTim Rogers, singer-songwriter and actor. Frontman of You Am I.Madeleine Gray, novelist whose books are Green Dot and Chosen FamilyOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDLarry McMurtry, worksBertie Blackman, Bohemian NegligenceJhumpa Lahiri, WhereaboutsNussaibah Younis, FundamentallyNiamh Campbell, Make StrangeEllena Savage, The Ruiners; BlueberriesAlexandra Vasti, Ladies in HatingKatherine Mansfield, worksIan Penman, Three Piece SuiteZadie Smith, The FraudCharles Dickens, Great ExpectationsCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Antonia Gauci and Harvey O'SullivanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown 

Madeline Cash’s buzzy debut Lost Lambs pairs an off‑kilter storytelling sensibility with a sharp exploration of displacement and identity. George Saunders returns with Vigil, offering his moral curiosity in a novel that probes what it means to pay attention to the world. George Kemp’s Soft Serve delivers a charming and quietly affecting debut about growing up in a small town; and Steven Carroll’s The Afterlife of Harry Playford continues his investigations of history and memory.BOOKSMadeline Cash, Lost Lambs, DoubledayGeorge Saunders, Vigil, BloomsburyGeorge Kemp, Soft Serve, UQPSteven Carroll, The Afterlife of Harry Playford, Fourth EstateGUESTSMichael Robotham is an international crime writer and former journalist whose books include The Secrets She Keeps, Good Girl Bad Girl, and his latest, White Crow. His next novel — his first to be set in Australia — will be published in October.Roanna Gonsalves is a writer and teacher of creative writing whose short‑story collection The Permanent Resident won wide acclaim. Her novel The Servants will be published later this year.OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDKurt Vonnegut, worksJoseph Heller, worksThomas Pynchon, worksJonathan Franzen, worksPaul Murray, The Bee StingDBC Pierre, Vernon God LittleShaun Prescott, The TownStephen King, worksLiz Nugent, The Truth About Ruby CooperGillian Flynn, Gone GirlDeborah Adelaide, When I Am Sixty-FourTim Ayliffe, Dark Desert RoadKatie Kitamura, AuditionCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Roi HubermanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Kate and Cassie read award-winning Australian author Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s bold new novel Bugger, while reviewers Hannah Kent and Tom Wright take on Jennette McCurdy’s provocative new book Half His Age — from the former child actor whose memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died shook readers worldwide — and Nina McConigley’s How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder...does it live up to the name?BOOKS Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Bugger, Hachette Jennette McCurdy, Half His Age, Fourth Estate Nina McConigley, How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder, Fleet GUESTS Hannah Kent, novelist, screenwriter, and memoirist, whose books include Burial Rites, The Good People, Devotion, and Always Home, Always Homesick Tom Wright, Artistic Associate at Belvoir St.Theatre OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDJim Butcher, Twelve Months: The Dresden Files Sita Walker, In a Common Hour Jonas Jonasson, The Distinctly Competent District Councillor  Catherine Newman, Wreck India-Rose Bower, We Call Them Witches Amie Kaufman, Red Star Rebels Yxavel Magno Diňo, The Firefly Crown Vladimir Nabokov, LolitaKiran Desai, The Loneliness of Sonia and SunnyOlga Ravn, The Wax Child Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the WindTravis Baldree, Brigands and Breadknives Jorge Luis Borges, LabyrinthsCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Micky Grossman and Ann Marie DebettencorArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Kate and Cassie are back for a big year of books, beginning with Booker-Prize winner Julian Barnes' Departures, a novel about looking back, facing the future, and coming to the end of life. Plus, regular reviewers Tony Birch and Beejay Silcox join us for discussions on This, My Second Life by British novelist Patrick Charnley, and Iluka, by Australian author Cassie Stroud.BOOKSJulian Barnes, Departure(s), Jonathan CapeCassie Stroud, Iluka, HQ BooksPatrick Charnley, This, My Second Life, Hutchinson HeinemannGUESTSTony Birch, poet, novelist and short story writer whose books include Dark as Last Night, Shadow Boxing, Women and Children and The White Girl. His latest is Pictures of You. He is also a Professor of Australian literature at the University of MelbourneBeejay Silcox, critic, writer and regular interviewer at writers festivals.OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDLily King, Heart the LoverAnne Enright, AttentionMelissa Lucashenko, Not Quite White in the HeadBryan Washington, Palaver; Family MealSouvankham Thammavongsa, Pick the ColourCharlotte Wood, The WeekendAnn Patchett, Tom LakeJonathan Tropper, And Then We Came To the EndMaggie Shipstead, Seating ArrangementsEmily O'Grady, FeastHayle Felicity, Our Brother Nick and the Tolling BellElizabeth Strout, My Name is Lucy BartonJoe Hill, King SorrowHaldor Laxness, Independent PeopleDani Netherclift The Shape of Absent BodiesGeorge Eliot, MiddlemarchAlexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte CristoEric Puchner, Dream StateCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Roi Hubermann and Ann Marie DebettencorArts editor, Rhiannon Brown 

Novelist and memoirist Maggie O'Farrell in conversation with Kate Evans at the 2025 Sydney Writers Festival. Her nine novels include After You'd Gone, the Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, This Must be the Place, Hamnet and the Marriage Portrait . . . and her extraordinary memoir is I Am I Am I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death.

Kate and Cassie on stage at the 2025 Brisbane Writers Festival with authors Eric Puchner, Toni Jordan, Patrick Holland, and Zeynab Gamieldien, discussing their most recent novels and the books and writers who inspire them. This discussion was recorded in front of a live audience, just ahead of our Top 100 Books of the Century.It was first broadcast on Friday 17 October 2025GUESTSEric Puchner, novelist, academic, and short story writer, whose books include the collections Last Day on Earth and Music Through the Floor, and the novels Model Home and (his latest) Dream StateToni Jordan, a writer whose novels include Nine Days, Our Tiny, Useless Hearts, Prettier If She Smiles More, Dinner with the Schnabels . . . and her latest, TenderfootPatrick Holland is a writer and academic, and author of eight books, including the novel The Mary Smokes Boys and — his latest — Oblivion. He lives between Hong Kong and BrisbaneZeynab Gamieldien is a writer whose first novel, The Scope of Permissibility, won the inaugural WestWords/Ultimo Prize (for emerging writers from Western Sydney); and her second novel, Learned Behaviours, has just been publishedBOOKS MENTIONED BY ERIC PUCHNER•    James Salter, Light Years•    Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad•    Joy Williams, works•    Willa Cather, My Ántonia•    Jhumpa Lahiri, A Temporary Matter•    Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping•    Evan S. Connell, Mrs. Bridge•    César Aira, An Episode in the Life of a Landscape PainterBOOKS MENTIONED BY TONI JORDAN•    Craig Silvey, Jasper Jones•    Trent Dalton, Boy Swallows Universe•    Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall•    Zadie Smith, White Teeth•    Alexis Wright, Carpentaria•    Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet•    Richard Ford, CanadaBOOKS MENTIONED BY PATRICK HOLLAND•    Yasunari Kawabata, Snow Country•    Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights•    Ernest Hemingway, 88 Poems•    Leah Swann, Bearings•    Felix Calvino, works•    Brian Castro, works•    Françoise Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse•    Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian; All the Pretty Horses•    Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of GenjiBOOKS MENTIONED BY ZEYNAB GAMIELDIEN•    Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake•    Tara June Winch, The Yield•    Hisham Matar, The Return; My Friends•    Anne Enright, The Gathering•    Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn; Long Island•    Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These•    Sally Rooney, IntermezzoOTHER BOOKS AND WRITERS MENTIONED•    J.G. Ballard, works•    Graham Greene, The Quiet American•    David Malouf, works•    Patrick White, works•    Curtis Sittenfeld, Show Don't Tell•    David Mitchell, worksCREDITS•    Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh•    Producer, Kate Evans + Sarah Corbett•    Sound engineer, Steve Fieldhouse + Harvey O'Sullivan•    Arts editor, Rhiannon Brown

The Bookshelf's Kate Evans and the Book Show's Claire Nichols joined forces onstage at the 2025 Sydney Writers Festival — with a panel of international writers — to talk favourite and influential books from the 21st century, in the lead up to the inaugural Top 100 Books countdown of the twenty-first century. This live broadcast happened in May 2025 — with Emirati poet Afra Atiq, English chronicler of gay lives, Alan Hollinghurst, Argentinian purveyor of all things dark and surprising, Mariana Enriquez, and New Zealand novelist with a dystopian edge, Catherine Chidgey.This discussion was first broadcast live on Friday 23 May 2025For more details of the final Top 100 Books of the 21st Century countdown, follow the link hereBOOKS MENTIONED in this programALAN HOLLINGHURSTAlice Munro, RunawayDavid Szalay, All That Man IsPeter Carey, True History of the Kelly GangBryan Washington, LotClaire Keegan, Small Things Like These; FosterMARIANA ENRIQUEZCormac McCarthy, The RoadDennis Cooper, The SlutsJorge Luis Borges, worksHoracio Castellanos Moya, SenselessnessCATHERINE CHIDGEYJoan Didion, The Year of Magical ThinkingJohn D'Agata and Jim Fingal, The Lifespan of a FactMelissa Lucashenko, EdenglassieAnna Smaill, The ChimeOTHERSPaul Lynch, Prophet SongKate Grenville, The Secret RiverSarah Winman, Still LifeMarkus Zusak, The Book ThiefMelissa Lucashenko, Too Much LipDonna Tartt, The GoldfinchAnn Patchett, Bel CantoHilary Mantel, Wolf HallPip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost WordsTrent Dalton, Lola in the MirrorRobbie Arnott, LimberlostAmor Towles, A Gentleman in MoscowGeraldine Brooks, Year of WonderMin Jin Lee, PachinkoVirginia Woolf, To the LighthouseCREDITS•    Presenter: Kate Evans, Claire Nichols•    Producer: Kate Evans, Sarah Corbett•    Sound engineer: Emrys Cronin, Hamish Camilleri, Harvey O'Sullivan•    Executive producer, Rhiannon Brown

Why aren't you reading more poetry? Perhaps you don't know where to begin — in which case, listen here, for a guide.Join Kate Evans, as she is joined by acclaimed author and poet Maxine Beneba Clarke, Stella Prize-winning poet and academic Sarah Holland-Batt, much-loved broadcaster and author Daniel Browning, and best-selling author and journalist Julia Baird to discuss and read some of the poems that have shone brightest for each of them this century, as well as how the art-form has evolved.This event was presented at the State Library of NSW in partnership with Red Room Poetry.This event was first broadcast on 3 October 2025POETS AND POETRY MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE•    Warsan Shire, Home•    Adam Zagajewski, Try to Praise the Mutilated World•    Graeme Dixon, Six Feet of Land Rights•    Gwen Harwood, In the Park•    Anonymous Rose, Broken World•    Zora Howard and Joshya Bennett, Still Life with Police Sirens•    Ali Cobby Eckermann, works•    Simon Armitage, The Shout•    Evelyn Araluen, decolonial poetics (avant gubba)•    Candy Royale, works•    Max Porter, worksCREDITSPresenter, Kate EvansProducer, Kate Evans, Lisa NeedhamSound engineer, Ann Marie Debettencor + Harvey O'SullivanExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

Colm Tóibín onstage at the 2025 Sydney Writers Festival with The Bookshelf's Kate Evans — on fiction, fridges, rain, hinges, melodrama, reading, and why he can't write American dialogue so every character he writes has to be Irish (except, of course, when they're Thomas Mann and family). This is a conversation that begins in his hometown of Enniscorthy, site of his novels Nora Webster, The Blackwater Lightship, Brooklyn and Long Island — and the site of his memories and overheard conversations — and moves on to his bookshelves, writing, and the story of a tongue. Really.

In the year of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, this lively and thought-provoking discussion explores her life, legacy, and literary brilliance — her novels are charming, sure, but also radical, political, witty, and entertaining.Presented in partnership with the State Library of NSW, this event brings together Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh from The Bookshelf, with Scott Stephens from Radio National's The Minefield, and Sophie Gee, English Professor at Princeton, Vice-Chancellor's Fellow in the humanities at the University of Sydney, and co-host of the Secret Life of Books podcast, for a conversation that delves into Austen’s sharp observations on friendship, ambition, money, love, power, and equality.This program was first broadcast on 12 September 2025CREDITSPanellists: Kate Evans, Cassie McCullagh, Scott Stephens, Sophie GeeProducer: Kate Evans, Amanda RobertsSound engineer: John JacobsEditors: Muditha Dias, Rhiannon Brown

It's Christmas, 1962, and a baby is born . . . and left behind, in Ireland. This all takes place in the fictional town of Faha, a place created by write Niall Williams in his novels History of the Rain, This is Happiness and (his latest, and the one featuring said baby) Time of the Child.Niall Williams spoke to The Bookshelf's Kate Evans onstage at the 2025 Adelaide Writers Week.(A longer version of this discussion was broadcast on Friday 18 April 2025. You can listen to it here:The Bookshelf Easter Special: Irish writer Niall Williams — ABC listenPresenter/ Producer: Kate EvansSound engineer: Harvey O'SullivanArts Editor: Rhiannon Brown

Whodunnit, whydunit, and where in time was all of it done — in an historical crime fiction special for our Summer Bookshelf. Kate Evans, onstage at the 2025 BAD Sydney Crime Festival, with novelists Nilima Rao (the story of an Indian police officer in Fiji in the 1910s), Michael Burge (religious communities and Jenolan caves in the 1850s), and Lainie Anderson (women policing Adelaide in the 1910s).This discussion was recorded at the site of one of Australia's oldest lending libraries — the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts.BOOKSNilima Rao, A Shipwreck in Fiji, Echo PublishingMichael Burge, The Watchnight, HistriaLainie Anderson, Murder on North Terrace, HachetteGUESTSNilima Rao, creator of the Akal Singh series set in Fiji — whose latest, and second in the series, is A Shipwreck in FijiMichael Burge, journalist and novelist whose books include Tank Water and Dirt Trap — and his latest, The WatchnightLainie Anderson, also a journalist and novelist, and creator of the Kate Cocks series of novels set in Adelaide — the second of which is Murder on North Terrace. She has also written a PhD on the real historical figure of Kate CocksPresenter/ Producer: Kate EvansSound engineers: Timothy Jenkins, Harvey O'SullivanArts Editor: Rhiannon Brown

Trent Dalton (Gravity Let Me Go, Boy Swallows Universe), Heather Rose (A Great Act of Love, Bruny) and Garry Disher (the Peninsula Crimes and Hirsch series) name some of their favourite books, and the titles may delight and surprise you. Hosted by Kate and Cassie as part of this year's Canberra Writers' Festival.TRENT DALTON'S PICKSGeraldine Brooks, Year of WondersSteve Toltz, A Fraction of the WholeJohn Steinbeck, Grapes of WrathHEATHER ROSE'S PICKSTom Robbins, Still Life with WoodpeckerVirginia Woolf, OrlandoPeter Carey, The Fat Man in History; IllywhackerHaruki Murakami, The Wind Up Bird ChronicleWilliam Faulkner, Light in AugustJohn Steinbeck, Of Mice and MenToni Morrison, BelovedDavid Mitchell, Cloud AtlasGeorge Eliot, MiddlemarchGARRY DISHER'S PICKSRussell Braddon, The Naked IslandNicolas Monsarrat, The Cruel SeaRaymond Carver, worksRichard Ford, worksEvan Connell, Mrs BridgeColm Toibin, BrooklynAlice Munro, worksRon Rash, worksCormac McCarthy, Child of GodHelen Garner, The Children's BachKingsley Amis, worksClaire Keegan, worksJohn Sandford, worksMichael Connelly, worksIan Rankin, worksOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDStephen King, The Life of ChuckHannah Kent, DevotionJames Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManDorothy Dunnett, Lymond ChroniclesRichard Stark, Parker seriesDonald E. Westlake, Dortmunder seriesLloyd Jones, Mr Pip

The best books of 2025 as selected by Cassie McCullagh, Kate Evans and a panel of bookish guests - Jason Steger, Jon Page and Robert Goodman. Keep scrolling for a full list...GUESTS Jason Steger, arts journalist. Former book editor of the Age & SMH, and panellist on ABC TV’s Book Club Jon Page, long time bookseller with Pages and Pages bookshop, former General Manager of Dymocks Sydney – and now, book-buyer for W.H. Smith Robert Goodman, reviewer and literary judge specialising in genre fiction; regularly reviews for the Newtown Review of Books. His website is pilebythebed.com Jason Steger's PicksOn-air:Flesh by David SzalayYou Must Remember This by Sean WilsonThe Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran DesaiLong Island by Colm TóibínMy Father Bryce by Adam CourtenayRunt and the Diabolical Dognapping by Craig SilveyExtras:My Sister and Other Lovers by Esther FreudJon Page's PicksOn-air:Buckeye by Patrick RyanUnbury the Dead by Fiona HardyFlashlight by Susan ChoiI Want Everything by Dominic AmarenaOne Day Everyone Will Have Been Against This by Omar El AkkadExtras:A Beautiful Family by Jennifer TrevelyanThe Body Next Door by Zane LovittThe Emperor of Gladness by Ocean VuongThe Rose Field [Book of Dust, Vol. 3] by Philip PullmanThe Names by Florence KnappRobert Goodman's PicksOn-air:Salvage by Jennifer MillsPicks and Shovels by Cory DoctorowWe Do Not Part by Han KangEden by Mark BrandiKing Sorrow by Joe HillShroud by Adrian TchaikovskyExtras:The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno GarciaEsperance by Adam OyebanjiWhere the Axe is Buried by Ray NaylerPerfection by Vincenzo LatronicoLion Hearts by Dan JonesRapture by Emily MaguireUnbury the Dead by Fiona HardyThe Impossible Thing by Belinda BauerThe Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd RobinsonHotel Ukraine by Martin Cruz SmithThe Hollow Girl by Lynn YeowartThe White Crow by Michael RobothamStillwater by Tanya ScottThe Reunion by Bronwyn RiversThe Peak by Sam GuthrieThe Seventh Floor by David McCloskyCasualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-SharmaCassie McCullagh's PicksOn-air:Dream State by Eric PuchnerTheft by Abdulrazak GurnahThe Transformations by Andrew PipposArborescence by Rhett DavisWhat We Can Know by Ian McEwanOn the Calculation of Volume 1 by Solvej BalleExtras:The Silver Book by Olivia LaingDancing in the Lift by Mandy SayerKate Evans' PicksOn-air:Mother Mary Come to Me by Arundhati RoyAlways Home, Always Homesick by Hannah KentMemorial Days by Geraldine BrooksThe Dream Hotel by Laila LalamiThe Remembered Soldier by Anjet DaanjeTwist by Colum McCannLandfall by James BradleyThe Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham JonesFierceland by Omar MusaChosen Family by Madeleine GrayExtras:On the Calculation of Volume 1 by Solvej BalleWe Do Not Part by Han KangThe Wax Child by Olga RavnTheft by Abdulrazak GurnahWhat We Can Know by Ian McEwanFlashlight by Susan ChoiI Want Everything by Dominic AmarenaCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Craig Tilmouth and Tegan NichollsArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Superstars of the literary and musical world this week: Margaret Atwood’s new memoir; Hannah Kent’s critical readings; Stuart Coupe’s musical knowledge; Bob Dylan . . . OK, well he’s not exactly on the show, but he’s the subject of MUCH literary speculation in a buzzy new release by New Yorker Sam Sussman. Also – the voice of the wind howls, laughs and taunts its subjects, in an inventive piece of writing from Sarah Hall.BOOKS Sam Sussman, Boy from the North Country, Grove Press Sarah Hall, Helm, Faber Margaret Atwood, Books of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts, Chatto & Windus GUESTS Hannah Kent, novelist and memoirist whose books include Burial Rites, The Good People, Devotion and – most recently - Always Home, Always Homesick: A Love Letter to IcelandStuart Coupe, music writer and promoter whose books include Roadies: The Secret History of Australian Rock’n’ Roll; Shake Some Action: My Life In Music, (and Other Stuff); and – most recently – Saffron Incorporated: The First King Of King Of The Cross And Fifty Years Of Sex, Murder, Music And Mayhem OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDThe Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, Niko StratisHarley Loco, Rayya EliasHappy Doll series, Jonathan AmesAll the Way to the River, Elizabeth GilbertThe History of Sound, Ben ShattuckLinea Maja Ernst, Waist Deep (translated by Sherilyn Hellberg)Deborah Levy, Hot MilkHeart the Lover, Lily KingBread of Angels, Patti SmithCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Roi Hubermann and Harvey O'SullivanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Short story collections reveal the fragile beauty of human experience in Salman Rushdie’s The Eleventh Hour, Liadan Ní Chuinn’s Everyone Still Here, Morgan Talty’s Night of the Living Rez, and Tony Birch’s Pictures of You. Then we shift gears and crank up the suspense with a look at some new crime fiction, including the icy new instalment in the phenomenally successful The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/Millennium series, the brainchild of late author Stieg Larsson, and now written by Karin Smirnoff; plus, a sharp round-up of some recent Australian releases.BOOKS Short story collections: Salman Rushdie, The Eleventh Hour, Jonathan Cape Liadan Ní Chuinn, Everyone Still Here, Granta Tony Birch, Pictures of You, UQP Morgan Talty, Night of the Living Rez, Scribe  Crime: Karin Smirnoff, The Girl with Ice in her Veins (translated from the Swedish by Sarah Death), Maclehose Press Michael Brissenden, Dust, Affirm Press Garry Disher, Mischance Creek, Text Chris Hammer, Legacy, Allen & Unwin Kerry Greenwood, Murder in the Cathedral, Allen & Unwin Jane Harper, Last One Out, Macmillan  Michael Connelly, The Proving Ground, Allen & Unwin Abir Mukherjee, The Burning Grounds, Harvill Secker GUESTSJohan Gabrielsson, Host of the Noir Hear This podcast. Documentary maker. His film Climate Changers is available on the streaming platfrom DocPlay, and has an upcoming screening in SydneyProfessor Sue Turnbull, Crime fiction reviewer, academic, and co-author of Migrants, Television and Australian Stories: A New HistoryOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDMaj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, worksHenning Mankell, worksJohn Ajvide Lindquist, The Writing in the Water; The Room in the Ground Christian Kracht, Kracht x 3; The Dead  Ulf Kvensler, SarekSam Guthrie, The PeakCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Hamish Camilleri and Harvey O'SullivanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

This week, Cassie McCullagh and Jonathan Green take a look at Thomas Pynchon’s Shadow Ticket - a cryptic plunge into paranoia and power, where nothing is quite what it seems. Plus, Olivia Laing’s The Silver Book, a shimmering meditation on the cinema scene in 1970s Italy, and Jeanette Winterson’s One Aladdin Two Lamps, which re-imagines duality and the stories we tell ourselves.BOOKSShadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon (Jonathan Cape) The Silver Book by Olivia Laing (Hamish Hamilton) One Aladdin Two Lamps by Jeanette Winterson (Penguin Random House)GUESTSHuw Griffiths — Associate Professor and Deputy Head of School in English and Writing at the University of SydneyClaire Mabey — Founder of New Zealand’s literary festival Verb Wellington, books editor at The Spinoff, and author of the award-winning middle-grade novel The Raven's Eye Runaways. Its sequel, The Raven’s Eye Rebellion, is due in April next year.OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDNaomi Arnold, NorthboundNadine Huder, Slowing the SunThomas Mann, Death in VeniceSeán Hewitt, Open HeavenPhilip Pullman, His Dark Materials trilogy - The Rose FieldRuby Tandoh, All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat NowCREDITSPresenter, Cassie McCullagh and Jonathan GreenProducer, Cassie McCullagh and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Beth StewartArts editor, Rhiannon Brown 

Stories of love, friendship, and the ties that bind - with a dash of dirt and darkness in three new works of fiction...Madeleine Gray's Chosen Family, a sharp exploration of friendship, love, and what it means to grow up when life gets messy; Chris Kraus' The Four Spent The Day Together, an autofiction-ish journey through a fractured America; and Graeme Macrae Burnet's Benbecula, where secrets unravel on the windswept shores of the Outer Hebrides.BOOKS Graeme Macrae Burnet, Benbecula, Text Madeleine Gray, Chosen Family, Summit Books Chris Kraus, The Four Spent the Day Together, Scribe GUESTS Nicola Heath, ABC Arts journalist; editor of ABC Online monthly book review columnPatrick Carey, writer and content maker who works at Sydney Theatre Company OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDMary McCarthy, The GroupDylin Hardcastle, A Language of LimbsDavid Owen Kelly, Host CityCharlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark ShoreAndrew Pippos, The TransformationsHelen Whybrow, Salt Stones James Rebanks, The Shepherd's LifeMaggie Mackellar, worksAndrew Miller, A Land in Winter Lisa Tuttle, My Death A.S. Byatt, Possession  Edmund White, The Married ManMuriel Spark, A Far Cry from Kensington  CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Tegan Nicholls, Antonia Gauci and Tim JenkinsArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Kate and Cassie are back in the studio, introducing a line-up of October releases that span continents, centuries, and genres, kicking off with an Australian story set in the world of print journalism in Andrew Pippos' The Transformations. Then, we head to India with Kiran Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, a grand tale shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize. And finally, we travel back to 16th-century Denmark, where the spectre of witch trials looms large in Olga Ravn's The Wax Child.BOOKSAndrew Pippos, The Transformations — PicadorKiran Desai, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny — Hamish HamiltonOlga Ravn, The Wax Child — Viking Penguin (Translated from Danish by Martin Aitken)GUESTSScott Stephens — Editor of ABC’s Religion & Ethics online and co-host of The Minefield on Radio National (with Waleed Aly)Beejay Silcox — Critic and writerOTHER BOOKS AND WRITERS MENTIONEDGeorge Eliot, MiddlemarchEM Forster, Howard's EndCharles Dickens, worksErnest Hemingway, worksLeo Tolstoy, worksFyodor Dostoevsky, worksNathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet LetterJeanette Winterson, The Daylight GateGeraldine Brooks, Year of WondersJenni Fagan, HexCeridwen Dovey, Only the AstronautsChris Flynn, Here be LeviathansJosephine Rowe, Little WorldAngela O'Keefe, Night BlueHannah Kent, Burial RitesLydia Davis, Into the WeedsInger Sigrun Brodey, Jane Austen and the Price of HappinessJ.M. Coetzee and Mariana Dimopulos, Speaking in TonguesJ.M. Coetzee, The PoleToni Morrison, worksKarl Ove Knausgaard, worksLydia Davis, Into the WeedsJoy Williams, worksLily King, Heart the LoverMichael Winkler, Grimmish; Grief DogDevoney Looser, Wild For AustenSofie Laguna, The Underworld The Rose Field (The Book of Dust: Volume 3), Philip Pullman Margaret Atwood, Book of LivesPatti Smith, Bread of Angels Mick Herron, Clown TownClaire-Louise Bennett, Big Kiss Bye-ByeBrandon Taylor, Minor Black FiguresJohn Irving, Queen EstherCatherine Newman, WreckEleanor Elliott Thomas, Do We Deserve ThisThomas Pynchon, Shadow TicketOlivia Laing, The Silver BookJeanette Winterson, One Aladdin Two LampsMadeleine Gray, Chosen FamilyChris Krauss, The Four Spent the Day TogetherGraeme Macrae Burnet, BenbeculaCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Beth Stewart and Ann Marie DebettencorArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Join us for a lively Top 100 Books of the 21st Century after-party!Following last weekend’s extraordinary two-day countdown, this event recaps the results of over 288,000 votes cast by readers across Australia. Kate, Cassie, and special guests will unpack the trends, surprises, and insights that reveal what Australians are reading — and why. Plus, the countdown is not over. We're revealing the books that almost cracked the Top 100!GUESTSMichaela Kalowski, Curator and Top 100 ProducerGavin Williams, Owner - Matilda Bookshop in the Adelaide Hills; Chair - BookPeople Maryanne Vagg, Librarian, Warrnambool LibraryDownload a printable list of The Ones That Got AwayListen to the Top 100 Books countdown.CREDITSPresenter, Cassie McCullagh, Kate EvansProducer, Cassie McCullagh, Kate Evans, Michaela Kalowski, Shevonne Hunt, Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Simon Branthwaite, Beth StewartArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Joining Kate and Cassie on stage at Brisbane Writers Festival, authors Eric Puchner, Toni Jordan, Patrick Holland, and Zeynab Gamieldien discuss their most recent novels and the books and writers who inspire them. With voting cast for our Top 100 Books of the Century, these writers make the case for their favourites.GUESTSEric Puchner, novelist, academic, and short story writer, whose books include the collections Last Day on Earth and Music Through the Floor, and the novels Model Home and (his latest) Dream StateToni Jordan, a writer whose novels include Nine Days, Our Tiny, Useless Hearts, Prettier If She Smiles More, Dinner with the Schnabels . . . and her latest, TenderfootPatrick Holland is a writer and academic, and author of eight books, including the novel The Mary Smokes Boys and – his latest – Oblivion. He lives between Hong Kong and Brisbane Zeynab Gamieldien is a writer whose first novel, The Scope of Permissibility, won the inaugural WestWords/Ultimo Prize (for emerging writers from Western Sydney); and her second novel, Learned Behaviours, has just been publishedBOOKS MENTIONED BY ERIC PUCHNERJames Salter, Light YearsJennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon SquadJoy Williams, worksWilla Cather, My ÁntoniaJhumpa Lahiri, A Temporary MatterMarilynne Robinson, HousekeepingEvan S. Connell, Mrs. BridgeCésar Aira, An Episode in the Life of a Landscape PainterBOOKS MENTIONED BY TONI JORDANCraig Silvey, Jasper JonesTrent Dalton, Boy Swallows UniverseHilary Mantel, Wolf HallZadie Smith, White TeethAlexis Wright, CarpentariaMaggie O'Farrell, HamnetRichard Ford, CanadaBOOKS MENTIONED BY PATRICK HOLLANDYasunari Kawabata, Snow CountryEmily Brontë, Wuthering HeightsErnest Hemingway, 88 PoemsLeah Swann, BearingsFelix Calvino, worksBrian Castro, worksFrançoise Sagan, Bonjour TristesseCormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian; All the Pretty HorsesMurasaki Shikibu, The Tale of GenjiBOOKS MENTIONED BY ZEYNAB GAMIELDIENJhumpa Lahiri, The NamesakeTara June Winch, The YieldHisham Matar, The Return; My FriendsAnne Enright, The GatheringColm Tóibín, Brooklyn; Long IslandClaire Keegan, Small Things Like TheseSally Rooney, IntermezzoOTHER BOOKS AND WRITERS MENTIONEDJ.G. Ballard, worksGraham Greene, The Quiet AmericanDavid Malouf, worksPatrick White, worksCurtis Sittenfeld, Show Don't TellDavid Mitchell, worksCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate EvansSound engineer, Steve FieldhouseArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

We look at some compelling new memoirs, including Mandy Sayer’s No Dancing in the Lift, a tribute to her jazz drummer father, capturing the grit of Kings Cross and the grace of caregiving. Elizabeth Gilbert’s All the Way to the River recounts her intense love story with Rayya Elias, confronting addiction and devotion. Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me reflects on her formidable mother’s legacy - equal parts shelter and storm, and S. Shakthidharan’s Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath offers a tender, multi-generational journey from Sri Lanka to Western Sydney.BOOKSMandy Sayer, No Dancing in the Lift: A Memoir, Transit LoungeElizabeth Gilbert, All the Way to the River: Love, Loss and Liberation, BloomsburyArundhati Roy, Mother Mary Comes to Me, Hamish HamiltonSHAKTI Shakthidharan, Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath, Powerhouse Publishing  GUESTSMelanie Tait, Playwright. Her latest, How To Plot a Hit in Two Days, plays at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney until 11 October.Roanna Gonsalves, novelist and academic; editor of the literary journal, Southerly  OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDHannah Kent, Always Home, Always HomesickJeanette Winterson, Why Be Happy When You Can Be NormalElizabeth Strout, worksJenny Hocking, Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History; His TimeSarah Malik, Desi Girl: On Feminism, Race, Faith and BelongingCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Micky Grossman and Ann Marie DebettencorExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

What are your favourite poems of the last 25 years? The ones that you turn to, couplets memorised and shared, the lines that leapt from the page or stage. Poetry that both defined and defied space and time, whether it rhymed or not.Join Kate Evans, as she is joined by acclaimed author and poet Maxine Beneba Clarke, Stella Prize-winning poet and academic Sarah Holland-Batt, much-loved broadcaster and author Daniel Browning, and best-selling author and journalist Julia Baird to discuss and read some of the poems that have shone brightest for each of them this century, as well as how the art-form has evolved.This event was presented at the State Library of NSW in partnership with Red Room Poetry.POETS AND POETRY MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEWarsan Shire, HomeAdam Zagajewski, Try to Praise the Mutilated WorldGraeme Dixon, Six Feet of Land RightsGwen Harwood, In the ParkAnonymous Rose,  Broken WorldZora Howard and Joshya Bennett, Still Life with Police SirensAli Cobby Eckermann, worksSimon Armitage, The ShoutEvelyn Araluen, decolonial poetics (avant gubba)Candy Royale, worksMax Porter, worksCREDITSPresenter, Kate EvansProducer, Kate Evans, Lisa NeedhamSound engineer, Ann Marie DebettencorExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

This week’s episode explores three new books. First up, Patricia Lockwood’s Will There Ever Be Another You, a third-person autofiction-ish tale that includes a family trip to Scotland, grief and fairies. Then we head to the American frontier for blood-soaked vengeance and vampires in Stephen Graham Jones’ The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. Finally, Nell Stevens’ The Original takes us into a world of art forgeries, lost sons, con-artists and the tangled truths behind paintings.BOOKSPatricia Lockwood, Will There Ever Be Another You, Bloomsbury CircusStephen Graham Jones, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Titan BooksNell Stevens, The Original, ScribnerGUESTSPaul Daley, journalist, essayist, and novelist – who writes for the Guardian, and whose books include the non-fiction Beersheba and On Capitalism, and the novels Jesustown and The LeapTom Wright, playwright and dramaturg. Artistic Associate, Belvoir St Theatre. His latest play, Troy, has just finished its run at Melbourne’s Malthouse TheatrePAUL DALEY'S TOP 100 LISTPercival Everett, The TreesRobin Robertson, The Long TakeTOM WRIGHT'S TOP 100 LISTMartin Crimp, The CityElla Hickson, The WriterOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDDonal Ryan, The Spinning HeartEric Puchner, Dream StateJulio Cortazar, HopscotchCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, John Jacobs and Micky GrossmanExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

We get stuck into some new fiction, starting with Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know, a meditation on a future shaped by climate disaster and memory. We’re joined by Australian authors Madeleine Gray and Gretchen Shirm to take a look at Miranda Darling’s Fireweather, a poetic story of breakdown and resistance,  and Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk’s House of Day, House of Night, a dreamy blend of folklore and philosophy.BOOKSIan McEwan, What We Can Know, Jonathan CapeMiranda Darling, Fireweather, ScribeOlga Tokarczuk, House of Day, House of Night, (Translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones), TextGUESTSGretchen Shirm, is a novelist and literary critic whose books include Having Cried Woolf and The Crying Room. Her latest, Out of the Woods, was published in April Madeleine Gray, is a critic, arts writer, and novelist whose debut novel, Green Dot, was published in 2023, and whose latest novel, Chosen Family, will be out in November GRETCHEN SHIRM'S TOP 100 LISTRachel Cusk, Outline trilogySheila Heti, How Should a Person BeVigdis Hjorth, Will and TestamentTara June Winch, Swallow the AirMADELEINE GRAY'S TOP 100 LISTAli Smith, How To Be BothEvelyn Araluen, DropbearJessica Love, Julian is a MermaidOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDEleanor Catton, The RehearsalVirginia Woolf, Mrs DallowayHelen Garner, worksMaggie O'Farrell, Hamnet, The Marriage PortraitErin Hortle, A Catalogue of LoveMichelle Arrow, The Seventies: The personal, the political and the making of modern AustraliaA.S. Byatt, PossessionJames Fenton, worksRichard Holmes, FootstepsRobert Louis Stevenson, worksCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Roi Huberman and Tim JenkinsExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown