Here it is - the annual end-of-year book recommendation extravaganza! This bumper episode contains every single edition of 'What are you reading?' from 2024, in which James, Ashley and guests discuss the books on their shelves, and why you should read them too (or not). Use it as a last-minute Christmas shopping guide or a wishlist for your own personal library in 2025.

Books and authors discussed in this episode (brace yourself, this is a long list):

From episode 92 (Kylie Ladd, author of 'I'll Leave You With This')

• The Vitals by Tracy Sorensen (Kylie)
• The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgård (James)
• Red River Road by Anna Downes (Ashley)
• A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold.

From episode 93 (Adele Dumont, author of 'The Pulling')

• Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid (Adele)
• The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgård (James)
• Unfinished Business by Shankari Chandran (Ashley)

From episode 94 (no guest)

• Red River Road by Anna Downes (James)
• The Consultant by Im Seong Sun, translated by An Seon Jae (Ashley)

From episode 95 (Liz Nugent, author of 'Strange Sally Diamond')

• The Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (Liz)
• In the Woods by Tana French (James)
• The Witch Elm by Tana French (James)
• Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica (Ashley)
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Liz)

From episode 96 (Tracy Sorensen, author of 'The Vitals')

• I’ll Leave You With This by Kylie Ladd (Tracy)
• Number Go Up by Zeke Faux (Ashley)
• The Trial by Franz Kafka (James)
• Loosely Based on a Made-Up Story by James Blunt (James)

From episode 97 (no guest)

• The Cop Who Fell To Earth by Craig Semple (Ashley)
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (James)

From episode 98 (Imbi Neeme, author of 'Kind of, Sort of, Maybe but Probably Not')

• Ghost Cities by Siang Lu (Imbi)
• Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami (Ashley)
• On Our Best Behaviour by Elise Loehnen (Ashley)
• The Writer's Room by Charlotte Wood (James)

From episode 99 (Siang Lu, author of 'Ghost Cities')

• He Who Drowned the World by Shelly Parker-Chan (Siang)
• Amygdalatropolis by BR Yeager (James)
• So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan (James) 
• Better Than Happiness by Gregory P Smith (Ashley)

From episode 100 (no guest)

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Ashley)
• Scary Monsters by Michelle de Krester (James)

From episode 101 (Khin Myint, author of 'Fragile Creatures')

• Detachable Penis by Sam Elkin (Khin)
• Quiet by Susan Cain (Khin)
• The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth (Ashley)
• Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb (James)

From episode 102 (Zahid Gamieldien, author of 'All the Missing Children')

• Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (Zahid)
• The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (James)
• Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (Ashley)
• The Guest List by Lucy Foley (Ashley)

From episode 103 (Robyn Harding, author of 'The Haters')

• This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead (Robyn)
• Girl Falling by Hayley Scrivenor (James)
• Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (James)
• Catherine Wheel by Liz Evans (Ashley)

From episode 104 (Michael Klim, author of 'Klim')

• Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles (Michael)
• The Storyteller by Dave Grohl (Michael)
• Andrew Johns: The Two of Me by Andrew Johns and Neil Cadigan (James)
• Johnathan Thurston: The Autobiography by Johnathon Thurston (James)

From episode 105 (Arna Radovich, author of 'Limits of Forgetting')

• Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (Arna)
• What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan (Arna)
• The Glass House by Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist (Arna)
• Stoneyard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (Arna)
• Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen (James)
• The Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti (James)
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (James)
• Revisionist History season 11: Hitler's Olympics by Malcolm Gladwell and Ben Naddaff-Hafrey (Ashley) [Podcast]
• Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke (Ashley) 

From episode 106 (Simone Amelia Jordan, author of 'Tell Her She's Dreamin''

• The Greater Freedom: Life as a Middle Eastern Woman (Simone)
• Outside the Stereotypes by Alya Mooro (Simone)
• Parable by the Sower by Octavia E Butler (Ashley)

From episode 107 (Maggie Walters, author of 'Split')

• In Bad Faith by Dassi Erlich (Maggie)
• For Life by Ailsa Piper (Maggie)
• The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas (Ashley)
• My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (James)

Upcoming events 

• Ashley is teaching Year of the Novel for Writing NSW beginning on Wednesday evenings starting 26 February 2025 
• The Cold Truth tour is happening in February! Sign up for Ashley's newsletter here for full details 

Learn more about Ashley's thrillers, Dark Mode and Cold Truth, and get your copies from your local bookshop or your library. 

Learn more about James' award-winning novel Denizen and get your copy from your local bookshop or your library.

Get in touch!

• ashleykalagianblunt.com
• jamesmckenziewatson.com
• Instagram: @akalagianblunt + @jamesmcwatson