loader from loading.io

Ep 266: Best Books of the Year So Far

Books On The Go

Release Date: 06/25/2024

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis show art Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

Books On The Go

Anna and Annie discuss the 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 by Nussaibah Younis.  Shortlisted for the , this debut novel centres on Nadia, a UN worker who travels to Iraq to rescue ISIS brides. A serious topic treated with authenticity and humour, Younis describes it as 'Fleabag goes to Iraq'.  Other books discussed: TOO SOON by Betty Shamieh UNFINISHED BUSINESS by Shankari Chandran Coming up: by Garth Greenwell Follow us! Email: Instagram: and ...

info_outline
Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks show art Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

Books On The Go

Anna and Annie discuss the . Our book of the week is by Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of . This is a moving and honest memoir of Brooks' time grieving her late husband Tony Horwitz and also a portrait of their marriage.  Partly set on a remote island off the coast of Tasmania, it is our final Australian book for #AussieApril. Coming up: by Nussaibah Younis. Follow us! Email: Instagram: and Substack: Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

info_outline
Sea Green with Pink Shorts Press show art Sea Green with Pink Shorts Press

Books On The Go

A special episode! Anna is joined by Emily Hart and Margot Lloyd, founders of . We discuss the exciting launch of this new publisher and the . Our book of the week is by Barbara Hanrahan, re-issued by Pink Shorts Press this year with an introduction by Laura Elizabeth Woollett. This semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of Virginia, a school-teacher and artist who travels from Adelaide to London in the 1960s. An Australian feminist classic, it explores the clash between a conservative upbringing with an artistic life. Other books mentioned - perfect for a bad feminist Aussie...

info_outline
Somebody Down There Likes Me by Robert Lukins show art Somebody Down There Likes Me by Robert Lukins

Books On The Go

Anna and Annie discuss the and some upcoming book-to-screen adaptations: , , and . Our book of the week is by Robert Lukins. A dysfunctional family comes together in Connecticut when the parents announce they have lost everything. This will appeal to SUCCESSION fans – we’re ready for the tv adaptation! Coming up: Aussie April continues with by Barbara Hanrahan with Emily and Margot from Pink Shorts Press, and by Geraldine Brooks. Follow us! Email: Instagram: and Substack: Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

info_outline
The Season by Helen Garner show art The Season by Helen Garner

Books On The Go

Anna and Annie discuss the for fiction, including WOO WOO by Ella Baxter and HIGHWAY 13 by Fiona McFarlane. Our book of the week is by Helen Garner. This is a memoir of a year Garner spent following her grandson's club football team. It explores masculinity, the sense of community at the local club and being a grandmother. As always with Garner's books, there is much to discuss.  Coming up: by Robert Lukins. Follow us! Email: Instagram: and @mr_annie Substack: Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

info_outline
The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky show art The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Books On The Go

Geoff and Anna discuss 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 documentary, it contains fascinating details and joins a collection of Russian prison memoirs.  Other books discussed: by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel by Nelson Mandela  by Behrouz Boochani translated by Omid Tofighian by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn  Coming up: by...

info_outline
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by Ronald Meyer show art White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by Ronald Meyer

Books On The Go

Anna and Geoff discuss 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 in recent months and Penguin has commissioned to be read by Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson.  Dostoevsky was in his romantic, millennial era when he wrote this (notably, before he spent four years in prison and escaped a death sentence). Other books mentioned: by Teffi translated by Anne Marie Jackson by Fyodor Dostoevsky by Fyodor Dostoevsky by Stefan Zweig translated by Anthea Bell Coming up: ...

info_outline
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower show art The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower

Books On The Go

A special episode: Anna chats with Kate Slotover of the . Our book of the week is  by Beth Brower. Recommended by our friend Shawn Mooney of , we enjoyed this novel set in Victorian London about a young woman returning to claim her inheritance. Light and witty, these books have been compared with Jane Austen and P. G. Wodehouse. Kate has become obsessed with the series and has now read all eight books. But will she convince Anna to do the same?   Books mentioned: by Susanna Clarke by Georgette Heyer by Georgette Heyer by Georgette Heyer by Georgette Heyer by Laura...

info_outline
Ep 284: Patriot by Alexei Navalny with special guest John Wood show art Ep 284: Patriot by Alexei Navalny with special guest John Wood

Books On The Go

A special episode: Anna is joined by author and founder .  We discuss our reactions to the 2025 .  Our book of the week is by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel. This is Navalny’s autobiography detailing his rise to be a Russian opposition leader, but is also a prison diary following his arrest in January 2021.  He died in prison in February 2024. A New York Times bestseller, best book of the year (New Yorker, Atlantic, NPR) and finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. We highly recommend it - essential reading. Books mentioned SO...

info_outline
Ep 283: Eurotrash by Christian Kracht translated by Daniel Bowles show art Ep 283: Eurotrash by Christian Kracht translated by Daniel Bowles

Books On The Go

Anna and Geoff react to the 2025 . Our book of the week is  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 comic and written as autofiction, this was the Financial Times Best Translated Book of 2024 and a Time best book of 2024 and has been longlisted for the 2025 Booker International Prize. Other books discussed:  by Will Self (the story THE NORTH LONDON BOOK OF THE DEAD) by Graham Greene by Patrick deWitt Follow us! Email: ...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Women's Prize winners.

We reveal our best books of 2024 so far.   Our favourite reads are:

THE ALTERNATIVES by Caoilinn Hughes

HOME READING SERVICE by Fabio Morábito translated by Curtis Bauer

NOT THE END OF THE WORLD by Hannah Ritchie

THUNDERHEAD by Miranda Darling

REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong

THE SQUARE OF SEVENS by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Follow us!

Instagram: @mr_annie and @abailliekaras

Email: [email protected]

 

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz