A special episode : Anna chats with author Anthony Nocera. 

We discuss Anthony’s brilliant essay WEDNESDAY BANG in the current issue of SPLINTER and his upcoming plays: Log Boy, My Hair is Thinning and Someone Like You. 

Anthony’s book recommendations:

NOSTALGIA HAS RUINED MY LIFE by Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle

THE GUEST by Emma Cline 

AN EXCITING AND VIVID INNER LIFE by Paul Dalla Rosa

Follow us!

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @anocera02

Anthony: https://anthonynocera.me/

Email: [email protected]

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna, Annie and Amanda reveal our favourite reads of 2024!

Books discussed:

MAGIC PILL by Johann Hari

ALL THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD by Patrick Bringley

THE ALTERNATIVES by Caoilinn Hughes

THIS STRANGE AND EVENTFUL HISTORY by Claire Messud

RAPTURE by Emily Maguire

WOO WOO by Ella Baxter

THE GENTLEMAN FROM PERU by André Aciman

JUICE by Tim Winton (Annie recommends the audiobook)

INTERMEZZO by Sally Rooney

QUESTION 7 by Richard Flanagan

THE WYCH ELM by Tana French

Children’s Pick

LANDOVEL by Emily Rodda

Follow us!

Instagram: @abailliekaras / @mr_annie / @vibrant_lives_podcast

Email: [email protected]

Coming up: Book recommendations with author Anthony Nocera

A special episode: we chat with Farrin Foster about new literary journal SPLINTER and emerging Australian authors. We talk about authors who are also musicians, autofiction and taking a book of poetry in your bag for waiting times.

Farrin recommends the work of:

Seamus Lonergan – 

KT Major

Olivia De Zilva 

ROCK FLIGHT by Hasib Hourani 

Dom Guerrera

Rapture by Emily Maguire

Coming up: Our Best Books of 2024

Follow us!

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @splinterjournal

Email: [email protected]

Anna and Annie discuss the  2024 Booker Prize winner ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey.

Our comfort reading recommendations are:

ARGYLLE by Elly Conway

WE SOLVE MURDERS by Richard Osman

LOOSE LIPS by Kemper Donovan

THE SPY COAST by Tess Gerritsen

THE ROM COMMERS by Katherine Center

THE WEDDING FORECAST by Nina Kenwood

WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS IN THE LIBRARY by Michiko Aoyama translated by Alison Watts

HAPPY GO LUCKY by David Sedaris

WINTERING by Katherine May

THE GARDEN AGAINST TIME by Olivia Laing

WHAT I ATE IN A YEAR by Stanley Tucci

TRAVELS IN EUROPE by Charles Dickens

Follow us!

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Email: [email protected]

Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Goldsmiths Prize winner, Parade by Rachel Cusk, and ghostwriters in crime writing.

Our book of the week is JAMES by Percival Everett.  This re-telling of Huckleberry Finn has been an instant New York Times best-seller, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and National Book award and described as 'genius' (The Atlantic). 

Coming up: our comfort reading recommendations.

Follow us!

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss AI in publishing.

Our book of the week is ALL FOURS by award-winning author and artist Miranda July. Described as July's 'peri-menopause novel', ALL FOURS tells the story of a woman who escapes married life and creates a space for herself.  A finalist for the 2024 National Book Award and instant New York Times bestseller, it's funny, frank and causing a stir amongst book clubs.  

We recorded this before the US election but some of the themes will resonate.

Coming up: JAMES by Percival Everett.

Follow us!

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Booker Prize Shortlist.

Our book of the week is INTERMEZZO by award-winning author Sally Rooney. Intermezzo is a novel about two brothers who deal with grief, family and relationships. Intimate and poignant, it's been an instant New York Times bestseller, shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Book of the Year and one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year. We discuss Sally Rooney's popularity, the backlash and what it says about women's fiction.

Coming up: ALL FOURS by Miranda July.

Follow us!

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Email: [email protected]

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode! Anna chats with author Chris Hammer about his new crime novel THE VALLEY, the fourth in the Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic series.

Chris' award-winning debut SCRUBLANDS was an instant bestseller and is now a TV series.  THE VALLEY is his seventh novel and follows detectives Nell and Ivan as they investigate a murder in rural Australia and the victim's connections with logging, politics and an abandoned gold mine.  We discuss why Chris has been compared to Shakespeare and how the Australian landscape inspires his stories.  

Chris recommends books by Peter Temple and the TV show Slow Horses based on the books by Mick Herron.

Coming up: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Follow us!

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @abailliekaras / @thehammernow

Chris: https://chrishammerauthor.com/

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode!  Kate Slotover from the Book Club Review Podcast joins Anna to discuss what makes a good book club book and our top recommendations.  We tried to keep it to three each, and failed. 

Our best book club books are:

STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL by Charlotte Wood

ALL FOURS by Miranda July

JAMES by Percival Everett

WIFEDOM by Anna Funder

FRUIT OF THE DEAD by Rachel Lyon

HOW I WON A NOBEL PRIZE by Julius Taranto

THE GARDEN AGAINST TIME by Oliva Laing

THE VASTER WILDS by Lauren Groff

THIS HOUSE OF GRIEF by Helen Garner

MONSTERS: WHAT DO WE DO WITH GREAT ART BY BAD PEOPLE? by Claire Dederer

JUST KIDS by Patti Smith

WEST by Carys Davies

Coming up: INTERMEZZO by Sally Rooney

Follow us!

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @bookclubreviewpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the 2024 Booker Prize Longlist.

Our book of the week is WOO WOO by Ella Baxter. The latest novel from the award-winning author of New Animal, this tells the story of Sabine, an artist about to open her exhibition.  She faces the pressure of the show and the terror of being stalked.  Both disturbing and funny, Baxter's writing is strong, visceral and on point. We loved this one!

Coming up:

James by Percival Everett

Follow us!

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Email: [email protected]

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz