The Bookshelf

Podcast Extra: Sujata Massey and a woman lawyer in India in the 1920s

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

India's first woman lawyer practiced, against the odds, in the 1920s. Novelist Sujata Massey used that woman as inspiration for her fictional charact...

The Book Club: reading Kazuo Ishiguro in the sun

07 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist Bram Presser and comparative literature academic Rebecca Suter join Kate and Cassie to talk about Kazuo Ishiguro's latest novel, Klara and t...

Live from the Sydney Writers Festival with Anita Heiss, Rick Morton and Emily Maguire

30 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It's been a long time since Kate and Cassie have seen either writers or readers in person, but here we all are . . .

Podcast Extra: General Sir Peter Cosgrove reads historical fiction and political biography

28 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Fighting aliens with bows arrows, reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica, and why he's drawn to historical fiction. Former Governor General Peter Cosgro...

New books by Patricia Lockwood, Jacqueline Maley, Peace Adzo Medie and Marco Missiroli

23 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kate and Cassie discuss Patricia Lockwood's No One is Talking About This, Peace Adzo Medie's His Only Wife and Marco Missiroli's Fidelity with writer...

Podcast extra: Maria Dahvana Headley and all that monstrous reading

21 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Maria Dahvana Headley knows how to write - and read - monsters. And in doing both she remakes them, as she explains to Kate Evans

New fiction from Ethan Hawke, Olivia Sudjic and Dirk Kurbjuweit

16 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Fame, fate, a fair bit of love lost and serial killers in this week's edition of The Bookshelf.

Podcast Extra: Steven Carroll on reading wartime surrender in the scandalous Story of O

14 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist Steven Carroll speaks with Kate Evans about both the books and publishing history imbedded in his novel O

New books by Haruki Murakami, Patricia Engel and Blair James

09 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Language specialist Tiger Webb joins Kate while Cassie is away this week, to discuss Blair James' Bernard and Pat, Patricia Engel's Infinite Country ...

Podcast Extra: Fiona Mozley reads her way into London and Edinburgh

07 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Fiona Mozley's latest novel, Hot Stew, buzzes and rumbles with history, change, gangsters and sex workers. She speaks to Kate Evans about the books t...

The Book Club: The Vietnamese diaspora and the aftermath of war

02 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Reading Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Committed and Nam Le's The Boat with Dai Le and Nathalie Nguyen

Podcast Extra: Francis Spufford's Light Perpetual and the books behind it

31 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

English writer Francis Spufford speaks to Kate Evans about his latest novel, Light Perpetual, and the books that shaped it and him

Trevor Shearston's The Beach Caves, Fiona Mozley's Hot Stew and what Caleb Azumah Nelson reads

26 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Archaeologist Estelle Lazer and writer Patrick Carey join Kate and Cassie to read books layered with history and story. Trevor Shearston's Australian...

Podcast Extra: Robert Jones Jr on James Baldwin and the other writers that have shaped him

24 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Jones Jr's novel The Prophets is the story of a defiant love story enacted on a slave plantation in the American south. The author speaks to K...

New fiction from Edward St Aubyn, Steven Carroll and Lisa Harding

19 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kate and Cassie are joined by journalist Brooke Boney and academic Nicole Moore as they read Edward St Aubyn's Double Blind, Lisa Harding's Bright Bu...

Podcast Extra: Daisy Buchanan is insatiable for books

17 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Daisy Buchanan is an English columnist, books podcaster and novelist. She speaks to Kate Evans about her latest novel, about reading sexy books, abou...

Ella Baxter's New Animal, Francis Spufford's Light Perpetual & the Sydney Writers' Festival is back

12 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist Susan Johnson and journalist Avani Dias join Cassie and Kate as they read Ella Baxter's New Animal and Francis Spufford's Light Perpetual; a...

Podcast Extra: Max Porter answers your questions

10 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Max Porter answers readers' questions about his latest book, The Death of Francis Bacon (this is the full version of his conversation with Kate Evans...

The Book Club: February — Art in fiction

05 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cassie and Kate are joined by artist Paul Ryan and art-historian and novelist Katherine Kovacic as they discuss art in fiction, with a focus on Max P...

Podcast Extra: Simon Winchester's Bookshelf

03 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Simon Winchester (The Surgeon of Crowthorne, The Map that Changed the World, Land etc) read a book at the age of almost-22 that changed everyt...

Reading Simon Winchester, Sarah J Maas, John Kinsella and Guillermo Martínez

26 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kate and Cassie are joined by novelist Robert Gott as they discuss new fiction by John Kinsella and Guillermo Martínez; and the book/s that made wri...

Podcast Extra: What does Angie Thomas read?

24 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

'It's a classic novel about a Black girl in Mississippi, and I was a Black girl in Mississippi, and it was the first time I ever read a book about so...

New fiction by Caleb Azumah Nelson, Melissa Broder and Sònia Hernández

19 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

RN presenter Daniel Browning and novelist Kavita Bedford join Kate and Cassie as they discuss Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water, Melissa Broder's Milk...

Podcast Extra: Andrew Pippos and the bookshelf that made Lucky's

17 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Pippos' novel Lucky's travels in and out of Greek Australian cafes in Sydney and elsewhere - but what are the literary and other influences th...

On Robert Jones Jr's The Prophets, Una Mannion's A Crooked Tree, and a new translation of Beowulf

12 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kate and Cassie are joined by Prof of Mediaeval Literature Louise D'Arcens and novelist Petronella McGovern as they discuss Maria Dahvana Headley's ...

Podcast Extra: More on the writer Madeleine St John

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Following on from last week's Book Club on work, which featured Madeleine St John's The Women in Black, an extended interview with St John's biograph...

The Book Club 2021 No 1: Work

05 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On Madeleine St John's The Women in Black and Kikuko Tsumura's There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job with doctor and memoirist Yumiko Kadota and RN pr...

On Anna North's Outlawed, Raven Leilani's Luster & Kevin Barry's That Old Country Music

29 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rewriting westerns in the 1890s, sex and desire in the present, and romance in Ireland. Three new works of fiction with Kate and Cassie and guests Mi...

Summer Bookshelf celebrating Australian writing

22 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Australian fiction from 1901, 1980 and 2014. Miles Franklin, Shirley Hazzard, Joan London

Summer Bookshelf with novels by Malcolm Knox, Frances Cha & Garth Greenwell

15 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Three novels and an illustrator who uses his pencil like a sword

Summer Bookshelf with novels by Aravind Adiga, Richard Flanagan and Maggie O'Farrell

08 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On Aravind Adiga's Amnesty, Richard Flanagan's The Living Sea of Waking Dreams and Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet

Summer Bookshelf and The Dry on screen plus novels by Laura Jean McKay, Curtis Sittenfeld & Mieko Kawakami

01 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On Laura Jean McKay, The Animals in that Country, Curtis Sittenfeld, Rodham and Mieko Kawakami, Breasts and Eggs - and putting Jane Harper's The Dry ...

Summer Bookshelf: The Rain Heron, Greenwood, A Theatre for Dreamers and Mayflies

25 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Some of the best books and discussions about them from 2020: on Robbie Arnott's The Rain Heron, Michael Christie's Greenwood and Polly Samson's A The...

The Bookshelf's Best Reads of 2020 (Part 2)

18 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist Jock Serong, music writer and broadcaster Stuart Coupe and bookseller and literary judge Fiona Stager join Cassie and Kate for more book rec...

The Bookshelf's Best Reads of 2020 (Part 1)

11 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Reading recommendations from Jessie Tu, Stephen Romei, Suzanne Leal, Kate and Cassie.

Podcast Extra: Naomi Novik

08 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

American fantasy writer Naomi Novik on her latest novel, A Deadly Education, and the Bookshelf that Made Her

Podcast Extra: Garth Nix

07 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On fantasy foundational texts, finding books from childhood in booksales and libraries, and the lure of imaginary bookshops

The Book Club No 8: Mining the past

04 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Gail Jones' Our Shadows and Randolph Stow's The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea with guests writer Ailsa Piper and historian Frank Bongiorno

Podcast Extra: Susanna Clarke

30 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Susanna Clarke (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell; Piranesi) with Kate Evans, on the bookshelf that shaped her, why statues are fascinating, a...

Maybe they're all aliens?

27 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Sayaka Murata's Earthlings, Ayad Akhtar's Homeland Elegies and Thomas McMullan's The Last Good Man

Podcast Extra: Lev Grossman

23 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Fantasy writer and former literary critic Lev Grossman speaks to Kate Evans about his foundational texts and wider reading in fantasy and elsewhere; ...

A film set, a glass heart, and the unclaimed dead

20 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Philip Salom’s The Fifth Season, Tiffany McDaniel’s Betty and William Boyd’s Trio

Podcast Extra: Graham Swift and the rough glittering world

16 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The author of Here We Are, Last Orders, Mothering Sunday, Waterland and so many more joins Kate Evans to talk reading, writing, influences and why a ...

A cafe, a shiver, a chase

13 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Andrew Pippos’ Lucky’s, Kate Mildenhall’s The Mother Fault and Karen Wyld’s Where the Fruit Falls

Fictionalised lives, old friends and empty streets

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ceridwen Dovey’s Life After Truth, Don Delillo’s The Silence and Martin Amis’ Inside Story: A novel with critics Tegan Bennett Daylight and Geo...

The Book Club No 7: On the Coast and in the Water

30 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Knox’s Bluebird and Tim Winton’s Breath under scrutiny with surfwriter Stuart Nettle and documentary maker Johan Gabrielsson

Tragedies, Sagas and Infinite Splendours

23 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Sofie Laguna’s Infinite Splendours, Nardi Simpson’s Song of the Crocodile and Nicolas Mathieu’s And Their Children After Them with writers S...

Vanishing body parts and toxic relationships

16 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Flanagan's The Living Sea of Waking Dreams, Avni Doshi's Burnt Sugar, and Cassie meets bestselling author Ken Follett.

Podcast Extra: Andrew O'Hagan

13 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Andrew O’Hagan on autobiographical fiction, an old copy of Dickens’ David Copperfield, why J M Barrie’s Peter Pan is so important, and o...

A mythic quest and star-crossed love

09 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Trent Dalton's All Our Shimmering Skies, Marilynne Robinson's Jack, and Craig Silvey for Me, Myshelf and I.

Podcast Extra: Chris Riddell sharpens his pencil

06 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Riddell is an illustrator, cartoonist and novelist. Here, he discusses collaboration, reading, influences, poetry and why he draws political ca...

The Book Club No 6: Italy in translation

02 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Elena Ferrante's new novel The Lying Life of Adults, and the 1958 classic, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard

Podcast Extra: Sue Miller

29 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

American novelist Sue Miller discusses both her latest novel, Monogamy, and the bookshelf that shaped her

Standing on the bridge, wrong side of the rail

25 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Craig Silvey’s Honeybee, Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom and Sue Miller’s Monogamy

Podcast Extra: Maria Lewis

22 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Werewolves running nightclubs in Berlin, Supernatural Sydney, witches with attitude and a whole slew of terrific fantasy recommendations from writer ...

Slipping between worlds and cities, in history, fiction and fantasy

18 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, Ken Follett’s The Evening and the Morning and Edmund White’s A Saint from Texas

Podcast Extra: Meg Rosoff

15 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It was the Summer where everything changed: Meg Rosoff, her new novel and the bookshelf that made her

Podcast Extra: Christopher Paolini

14 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From dragons and mythical origin stories to adventures in the stars, fantasy and SF writer Christopher Paolini has plenty to say about how his genre ...

Podcast Extra: Sarah Moss & Ian McGuire

13 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Two writers on this podcast extra edition of the Bookshelf, both of whom write very broadly in a ‘Northern’ English tradition. Sarah Moss and Ian...

Imagined taxonomies of life, love, death and memory

11 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Andrew O’Hagan’s Mayflies, Eley Williams’ The Liar’s Dictionary, Pip Williams’ The Dictionary of Lost Words and Rose Tremain’s Islands...

Podcast Extra: Raymond E Feist

08 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Raymond E Feist on writing, and reading, fantasy fiction. World building, foundational texts, and how the genre has changed

Podcast Extra: Dugald Bruce Lockhart

07 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Stage and screen actor Dugald Bruce Lockhart has now turned to fiction. Here, he reveals the books – and plays – that made him

Book Club No 5: Speculative Fiction and N K Jemisin’s The City we Became

04 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The city of New York is coming alive, but its enemies are against it. Urban fantasy, overturning racist narratives, and some very large genre tentacl...

Podcast Extra: Kester Grant

01 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Mauritian writer Kester Grant on her fantasy novel The Court of Miracles (inspired by Victor Hugo) and the books that have shaped her

Podcast Extra: Nicholas Shakespeare

31 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Biographer, critic and novelist Nicholas Shakespeare on his latest novel (The Sandpit) and the books and writers that shaped him

A tricky nemesis or two, the past, and a damp holiday camp

28 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Jock Serong's The Burning Island, Sarah Moss's Summerwater and Ian McGuire's The Abstainer with writers Aoife Clifford and Emily Maguire

Poisonous plants, talking rabbits, and a roadtrip of tears

21 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Michaela Kalowski and Kate Evans read Sam Coley’s State Highway One, Jasper Fforde’s The Constant Rabbit and Rebecca Dinerstein Knight’s Hex wi...

Thrillers, wars and labyrinths spiral through fiction

14 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Nicholas Shakespeare's The Sandpit, Nguyẽ̂n Phan Qué̂ Mai's The Mountains Sing and Amanda Lohrey's The Labyrinth

Family secrets and the approach of General Winter in three new Australian novels

07 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Imbi Neeme's The Spill, Victoria Hannan's Kokomo and Steven Conte's The Tolstoy Estate with writers Gina Inverarity and Roger Pulvers

The Book Club No 4: Tara June Winch's The Yield and Miles Franklin's My Brilliant Career

31 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The winner of this year's Miles Franklin's Literary Award, Tara June Winch's The Yield; and the debut novel of the benefactor of the Award, Miles Fra...

Creatures, sisters and relationships in fiction

24 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Samanta Schweblin's Little Eyes, Daisy Johnson's Sisters and Luke Horton's The Fogging with reviewers Jessie Tu (A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thin...

A note in a forest, a train on fire, a gothic mood

17 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Ottessa Moshfegh's Death in Her Hands, Megha Majumdar's A Burning and Catherine Noske on the Australian gothic tradition

History, fiction and plastic surgery

10 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Kate Grenville’s A Room Made of Leaves, David Mitchell’s Utopia Avenue and Frances Cha’s If I Had Your Face

The Book Club No 3: Crime, thrillers, and Lawrence Wright’s The End of October

03 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Reading Lawrence Wright’s pandemic thriller The End of October with crime writers Candice Fox and Ben Hobson

Pod Extra: Poetry and Music

01 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Crank up the poetry find a chair for your music (and how ageing is dealt with in dystopian fiction).

The discomfort of grief and memory

26 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s The Discomfort of Evening, Sreedhevi Iyer’s The Tiniest House of Time and Me Myshelf and I with Kawai Strong Washburn.

Reading love and tragedy in Jamaica, Trinidad and India

19 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Nicole Dennis-Benn’s Patsy, Ingrid Persaud’s Love after Love and Sujata Massey’s A Murder at Malabar Hill

Race, apocalypse and robots

12 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, Patrick Allington’s Rise and Shine and Martha Wells’ Network Effect (A Murderbot novel). Eating emotions ...

The Book Club No 2: Joan London’s The Golden Age & Shirley Hazzard’s The Transit of Venus

05 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Australian fiction discussed with academic and critic Bernadette Brennan and novelist Robert Lukins, on Joan London’s The Golden Age & Shirley ...

A bird made of rain, a girl made of plantain, a family made of loss

29 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Robbie Arnott's The Rain Heron, Zalika Reid-Benta's Frying Plantain and Maike Wetzel's Elly.

What If, said the writer, What If?

22 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Curtis Sittenfeld's Rodham, Anne Tyler's Redhead by the Side of the Road, and Naoise Dolan's Exciting Times

Hello Kitty with unshaved armpits (and other bookish insights)

15 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Catherine Noske's The Salt Madonna, Jennifer Rosner's The Yellow Bird Sings, Suzanne Leal's The Deceptions, Mieko Kawakami's Breasts and Eggs

A fossilised penguin walked into a bar (and other stories)

08 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Reading and reviewing Jeet Thayil's Low, Chris Flynn's Mammoth and Sue Monk Kidd's The Book of Longings.

The Book Club No 1: Come on, join our Book Club

01 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On the first week of every month, we're going to talk books together. To begin: reading in isolation with guests Ailsa Piper and Tom Wright

What did that dingo just say to me? And other adventures in fiction

24 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

James Bradley's Ghost Species, Laura Jean McKay's The Animals in that Country, Jessica Moor's Keeper, Kirsten Krauth's Almost a Mirror

What lives from books? What drama?

17 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Polly Samson's A Theatre for Dreamers takes us to Hydra with Charmian Clift, George Johnston, Leonard Cohen and the rest; Fernanda Melchor's Hurrican...

How to read Shakespeare's family

10 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Reading Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet, Sophie Hardcastle's Below Deck, Kawai Strong Washburn's Sharks in the Time of Saviours and Julian Leatherdale's De...

These books are edged with gold

03 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Emily St John Mandel's The Glass Hotel, Mirandi Riwoe’s Stone Sky Gold Mountain, C Pam Zhang's How Much of these Hills is Gold and book recommendat...

Reading in isolation? We’ve got you covered

27 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Keneally’s The Dickens Boy, Joan Silber’s Improvement, Ceridwen Dovey’s Inner Worlds Outer Spaces, Ken Gelder’s The Colonial Kangaroo Hun...

Novels from Poland, Norway and Crescent City

20 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tomasz Jedrowski's Swimming in the Dark, Lars Mytting's the Bell in the Lake, Sarah J Maas's Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood - and being Mary...

Fiction that takes on the world

13 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Colum McCann's Apeirogon; Jenny Offill's Weather and Tommy Wieringa's The Blessed Rita

'The dice is shaken in a bone cup,' in Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light

06 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

New fiction from Hilary Mantel, Vivian Pham and Abi Daré.

In the wings, on the reservation, inside a woman's rage

28 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Three new novels: Louise Erdrich's The Night Watchman, Graham Swift's Here We Are and Cho Nam-Joo's Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

In which we give Tyson Yunkaporta a book that's too good

21 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Michael Christie's Greenwood, José Luis de Juan's Napoleon’s Beekeeper and the bookshelf that made crimewriter Abir Mukherjee

Novels by Anne Enright, Aravind Adiga and Kiley Reid

14 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Anne Enright's Actress, Aravind Adiga's Amnesty and Kiley Reid's Such a Fun Age

New books by Carmen Maria Machado, Evie Wyld and Emma Forrest

07 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Leap into the early 1980s, step onto an isolated rocky outcrop, and walk through a fraught dream house, all in a collection of new writing.

Novels by Eimear McBride, Romesh Gunesekera and Benjamin Myers

31 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A woman in a series of hotel rooms, two boys riding bikes in 1960s Sri Lanka, and a girl fleeing an ominous pairing of a Priest and a Poacher. New fi...

New books by Garth Greenwell, Isabel Allende and Jeanine Cummins

24 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Reviews and discussion of Garth Greenwell's Cleanness, Jeanine Cummins' American Dirt and Isabel Allende's A Long Petal of the Sea. New fiction, ever...

Summer reads from India, Russia, Japan and the Amazon

17 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Me Myshelf and I with Indian writer Tishani Doshi; with Roger Pulvers, who reads Russian and Japanese; YA novelist David Nicholls and children’s au...

When reading is gothic, digital or just plain hard

10 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean if you have to grit your teeth to get through a book? Endurance reading with too much pain or violence?