Books On The Go

Anna and Annie have an update on the New Nobel Prize and the Ned Kelly Awards for crime.

Our book of the week is Milkman by Anna Burns, which has made this year's Man Booker longlist. It is nominally set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 70s (although this is never explicitly stated) and follows a young woman trying to fly under the radar in dangerous and unusual times. Both Anna and Annie found it a challenging read, but was  the struggle worth it?

Next week, Anna and Amanda are reading Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.

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Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Amanda discuss the Miles Franklin Literary Award, which has been won by Michelle de Kretser for The Life to Come.

Our book of the week is The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, National Book Award finalist for The Flamethrowers.  Her latest novel, set in a women's prison in California, has been long-listed for the Man Booker prize. Described as 'unflinching and immersive', but also 'bleak', it has divided critics.  What did Anna and Amanda think?  And will it make the Booker shortlist?

Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading Milkman by Anna Burns.  And coming up, Normal People by Sally Rooney and Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.

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Twitter: @abailliekaras

Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Annie discuss the Jaipur Literary Festival coming to Adelaide, and Barack Obama's summer reading list.

Our book of the week is An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.  A study of the marriage of two young black people in American and what happens when Roy is wrongfully imprisoned, this was an Oprah Book Club pick and one of Obama's summer reads.  Will it live up to the hype?

Next week, Anna and Amanda are reading The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner.

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Facebook:  Books On The Go

Email:  [email protected]

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @captain_midget

Instagram and Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Amanda discuss upcoming book releases by Khaled Hosseini, Marcus Zusak and Liane Moriarty.

Our book of the week is Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge.  Borne from a blog post that went viral, this became a Sunday Times best-seller, Foyles' and Blackwell's non-fiction Book of the Year 2017 and was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.  Everyone has been talking about it (ironically).  Our verdict?  It's a must-read.

Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.

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Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @abailliekaras

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @amandalhayes99

Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Annie discuss the Not The Booker shortlist.  We're doing better with this one and have read two of the books already!

Our book of the week is Everything Under by Daisy Johnson.  A debut novel after her striking collection Fen, this mixes family drama, inventive language and Greek myth in a modern way that will leave you thinking.  It has been long-listed for the Man Booker prize. 

Next week, Anna and Amanda are reading Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge.

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Facebook: Books On The Go

Email: [email protected]

Instagram & Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @captain_midget

Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Amanda discuss the Man Booker Longlist and make a 'Snap' decision to read The Mars Room (see what we did there).

Our book of the week is Dear Friend, From My Life I Write To You in Your Life by Yiyun Li.  A memoir of reading and her battle with depression, it's a melancholy but beautiful read.  It certainly challenged us!

Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading Everything Under by Daisy Johnson.

Follow us!

Facebook: Books On The Go

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @amandalhayes99

Twitter and Litsy: @abailliekaras

Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

We've got some new entries into the Australian top 10 books alongside some familiar names this week. Anna also caught the author of our book of the week, Olivia Laing, in London. You too can hear Laing in conversation with Ali Smith on the London Review Bookshop podcast.

The book of the week itself is Crudo, which is an experimental novel set in the tail end of 2017. It's a madcamp romp that reanimates Kathy Acker into the post-Trump, post-Brexit world - the perfect mouthpiece to narrate our fragmented times. 

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Facebook: Books On The Go

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @captainmidget

Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

This week it's all about the Man Booker Prize with Anna and Annie. Anna was in London to coincide with the announcement of the Golden Booker, celebrating 50 years of the Man Booker Prize. While she was there, she was lucky enough to hear previous winners, Peter Carey and Julian Barnes, in conversation. 

Our book of the week is Paulette Jiles' News of the World, which was nominated for the National Book Award in 2016. A gentle, poetic Western-cum-road novel, News of the World explores ideas of family, loyalty and honour. 

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Facebook: Books On The Go

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @captainmidget

Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Amanda discuss the trend in celebrity book clubs with Jimmy Fallon hosting Tonight Show Summer Reads.  And the Desmond Elliott Prize for New Fiction has been awarded to We That Are Young by Preti Taneja.  We're adding it to our list!

Our book of the week is Winter by Ali Smith.  This is the second in her seasonal quartet novels set in post-Brexit Britain.  We loved Autumn, and Winter is just as good if not better.  One of our top books of 2018!

Next week, Anna and Annie are reading News of the World by Paulette Jiles.

Follow us:

Facebook: Books On The Go

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

Twitter: @abailliekaras and @captainmidget

Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz

Anna and Annie talk about the newly announced alternative to the cancelled Nobel Prize for Literature amidst the scandal surrounding the Swedish Academy. 

Our book of the week is Wise Children by Angela Carter, a magical, sequined romp through 100 years of show business. There's Shakespeare, debauchery, twins, feasts and fire simply oozing out of this novel. 

Next week, Anna and Amanda are reading Winter by Ali Smith.

Follow us:

Facebook: Books On The Go

Twitter: @abailliekaras 

Instagram: @abailliekaras and @captainmidget

Email: [email protected]

Credits:

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz