Books On The Go

Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, JAMES by Percival Everett.

Our book of the week is SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell. A poet is admitted to hospital with severe pain. Bedridden, he reflects on his relationships, music and poetry and the small details of life. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. We loved this one.

Coming up: THE EMPUSIUM by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the cookbook controversy 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 FUNDAMENTALLY by Nussaibah Younis. Shortlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction, 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: SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Women's Prize Shortlist.

Our book of the week is MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of HORSE. 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: FUNDAMENTALLY by Nussaibah Younis.

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode! Anna is joined by Emily Hart and Margot Lloyd, founders of Pink Shorts Press.

We discuss the exciting launch of this new publisher and the 2025 Stella Prize shortlist.

Our book of the week is SEA GREEN 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 April!

MY BEAUTIFUL FRIEND by Elena Ferrante translated by Anne Goldstein

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS by Shirley Hazzard

MONKEY GRIP by Helen Garner

THEORY AND PRACTICE by Michelle de Kretser

WEST GIRLS by Laura Elizabeth Woollett

Coming up: MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks

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Substack: Books On The Go

Pink Shorts Press: https://www.pinkshortspress.com.au/ / https://www.instagram.com/pinkshortspress/?hl=en

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Stella Prize longlist and some upcoming book-to-screen adaptations: THE LEOPARD, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE, FOURTH WING and THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO.

Our book of the week is SOMEBODY DOWN THERE LIKES ME 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 SEA GREEN by Barbara Hanrahan with Emily and Margot from Pink Shorts Press, and MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks.

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Substack: Books On The Go

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Shortlist for fiction, including WOO WOO by Ella Baxter and HIGHWAY 13 by Fiona McFarlane.

Our book of the week is THE SEASON 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: SOMEBODY DOWN THERE LIKES ME by Robert Lukins.

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Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Geoff and Anna discuss THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 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:

PATRIOT by Alexei Navalny translated by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel

THE LONG WALK TO FREEDOM by Nelson Mandela

NO FRIEND BUT THE MOUNTAINS by Behrouz Boochani translated by Omid Tofighian

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Coming up:

THE SEASON by Helen Garner

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Geoff discuss WHITE NIGHTS 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 Tik Tok sensation in recent months and Penguin has commissioned a new audiobook 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:

SUBTLY WORDED by Teffi translated by Anne Marie Jackson

THE GAMBLER AND OTHER STORIES by Fyodor Dostoevsky

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by Fyodor Dostoevsky

LETTER FROM AN UNKOWN WOMAN by Stefan Zweig translated by Anthea Bell

Coming up:

THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD by Dostoevsky

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Instagram: @abailliekaras

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode: Anna chats with Kate Slotover of the Book Club Review podcast.

Our book of the week is THE UNSELECTED JOURNALS OF EMMA M. LION by Beth Brower. Recommended by our friend Shawn Mooney of Shawn Breathes Books, 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:

JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL by Susanna Clarke

DEATH IN THE STOCKS by Georgette Heyer

ARABELLA by Georgette Heyer

FREDERICA by Georgette Heyer

THE GRAND SOPHY by Georgette Heyer

THE SQUARE OF SEVENS by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Coming up: WHITE NIGHTS by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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Kate:

Instagram: @ bookclubreviewpodcast

Web: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk/

Substack: Book Club Review

Anna:

Instagram: @ abailliekaras

Substack: Books On The Go

Email: [email protected]

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special episode: Anna is joined by author and U-Go founder John Wood.

We discuss our reactions to the 2025 Women's Prize Longlist.

Our book of the week is PATRIOT 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 BIG by Edna Ferber

DAYS IN THE CAUCASUS by Banine translated by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova

RED NOTICE by Bill Browder

THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE by Masha Gessen

SECOND-HAND TIME by Svetlana Alexievich translated by Bela Shayevich

THE TRIAL OF VALDIMIR PUTIN by Geoffrey Robertson KC

TRAVELS IN SIBERIA by Ian Frazier

DISAPPEARING EARTH by Julia Phillips

A SWIM IN A POND IN THE RAIN by George Saunders

Films

Navalny

Coming up:

WHITE NIGHTS and THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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John:

Linkedin : John Wood

www.ugouniversity.org

Anna:

Instagram: @ abailliekaras

Substack: Books on the Go

Email: [email protected]

Credits

Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz