On the one hand 'bleak, meandering and depressing' on the other a beautifully written book that has touched the hearts of its readers – but what did Kate's book club make of Douglas Stuart's 2020 Booker winner Shuggie Bain? We're joined by friend and journalist Phil Chaffee to discuss it. Has Laura managed to make it through more than the first sixty pages? Listen in to find out, plus our usual recommendations for follow-on reads. Books recommended Poverty Safari by Darren McGarvey On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijnveld Follow us for daily recommendations and reviews on Instagram or Facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, or check out our website thebookclubreview.co.uk for our archive of over 80 episodes plus reviews, articles and reading guides. Drop us a line and let us know what you're reading for book club or any thoughts you have about the show. We love to hear from you.

89. Shuggie Bain

Discussion, debate, even a little dispute – expect it all on The Book Club Review. Every month hosts Kate and Laura bring you a new episode. That could be Book Club where we chat about the book read most recently by one of our book clubs. It could be Bookshelf, an episode dedicated to the books we’re reading outside of book club – the ones we get to pick and choose. Or it could be an interview with a book club, bookshop or book lover. Whatever the topic, every episode features lively and frank reviews and recommendations.

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Exploring literary worlds beyond fiction: a dive into non-fiction   Join Kate, as she ventures to South London to visit Backstory, a unique indie bookstore founded by former journalist Tom Rowley. Rowley shares his journey from journalism to opening a bookshop, the challenges and joys of running a bookstore, the importance of community engagement, and launching the second issue of the Backstory Magazine.    We then turn our attention to non-fiction, pulling out some favourites, both backlist and new releases. As Tom says, 'I just read. I want good stories, I don't care whether they're true or not'   00:40 A visit to south London's indie bookshop Backstory, and why Kate's name is on the wall   01:53 From journalism to bookshop owner: Tom's lockdown dream comes true   04:25 Embracing the community: the transition from market stall to bookshop   09:26 Launching Backstory Magazine: a new chapter in storytelling   14:54 Exploring non-fiction: feel the fear and read it anyway   17:49 Just what is deep backlist? Tom's first recommendation is  My War Gone By, I Miss it So by Anthony Lloyd (September Publishing)   20:18 Kate recommends  Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell by John Preston (Penguin)   22:46 Tom's next pick: Maurice and Marilyn: A Whale, A Shipwreck, A Love Story by Sophie Elmhurst (Penguin)   25:52 Kate pulls out  The Wager by David Grann (Simon & Schuster) (and we also talk about  Devil in the White City by Erik Larson [Penguin])   29:08 Tom recommends  The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson (Penguin)   31:15 Great minds think alike: Kate and Tom both recommend  The Moth and the Mountain by Ed Caesar (Penguin), author and now DJ!   35:32 An aside from Kate about The Possessed by Elif Batuman (Granta)   37:17 Towards the end of the episode we reach 'peak Tom', with Little Englanders by Alwyn Turner (Profile)   41:17 Book club reads: Red Memory by Tania Branigan (Faber) and  Close to Home by Michael Magee (Penguin)   42:25 Tom's book of the summer:  The Safe Keep by Yael van der Wouden (Penguin)   44:18 List of books, how to get support the pod and get extras via our Patreon account and details of our upcoming episode in which Phil and Laura join Kate to talk about books that make us laugh   Notes Visit Backstory online at www.backstory.london  

Talking Non-Fiction, with Tom Rowley of Backstory • Episode #160

So Many Damn Books podcast creator and host Christoper Hermelin joins Kate to swap book recommendations and discuss the magic of book club, recent book discoveries and bookish pet peeves. EPISODE BOOK LIST  The Eyes & The Impossible by Dave Eggers  A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers  McSweeney’s magazine, including The  Panorama  issue  How I Won A Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto  Non-Fiction by Julie Myerson  Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Polly Barton, trans.) Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai (Polly Barton, trans.) Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton  The Extinction of Irena Ray by Jennifer Croft  James by Percival Everett, and we also mentioned Erasure and  The Trees  Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schultz by Luca Debus and Francesco Mateuzzi NOTES Join the club and support us on Patreon Follow The Book Club Review on Instagram and Threads @bookclubreviewpodcast  

Browsing the So Many Damn Books bookshelf, with Christopher Hermelin • #159

Two marriages, two forbidden love affairs, and the passionate search for social and sexual freedom in late 19th-century London. Publishers Penguin call  The New Life by Tom Crewe ‘A brilliant and captivating debut, in the tradition of Alan Hollinghurst and Colm Tóibín' but what did our book club make of it? Kate is reporting back, with regular guest Philip Chaffee joining from New York. We'll be catching up on the discussion as well as bringing you our take on recent reads FAKE ACCOUNTS by Lauren Oyler and NORTH WOODS by Daniel Mason, as well as our recommendations for books inspired by Crewe's novel. Booklist  Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler The Smiley Novels by John Le Carre  North Woods by Daniel Mason  Maurice by E. M. Forster Alec by William di Canzio  Young Bloomsbury by Nino Strachey Blackouts by Justin Torres  Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant  The Ladies Lindores by Margaret Oliphant  Tom Crewe's booklist on bookshop.org.uk  Podcast episode on Young Bloomsbury The audiobook of The New Life is read by Freddie Fox and published by Penguin Audio, available wherever you get your audiobooks Keep up with us between shows. Follow us on Instagram or Threads @bookclubreviewpodcast, browse our website for our full archive, or drop us a line at thebookclubreview@gmail.com Want the deep dive? All the details of our Patreon extras and how to sign up here. Thanks for listening, happy reading, happy book clubbing

Book club: The New Life by Tom Crewe • Episode #158

What did our podcast book club make of Mild Vertigo, Japanese author Mieko Kanai's 1997 novel, recently translated into English by Polly Barton. A 'modernist masterpiece' written in sentences that go on for pages with hardly any paragraph breaks might not seem like an obvious book club winner; listen in to find out if we were won over. To discuss it Kate is joined by Yuki Tejima, also known as @booknerdtokyo, and Shawn Mooney, aka Shawn the Book Maniac. Listen in for their thoughts on Mild Vertigo, their current reads and our book recommendations for anyone wanting the inside track on great Japanese fiction. Book list A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata (trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter)   Home Reading Service by Fabio Morábito (trans. Curtis Bauer) Woman Running in the Mountains by Yūko Tsushima (trans. Geraldine Harcourt) Also Territory of Light and Child of Fortune by Yoko Tsutshima Grass for my Pillow by Sayiichi Maruya (trans. Dennis Keene) The Little House by Kyoto Nakajima (trans. Ginny Tapley Takamori)  There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuo Tsumura (trans. Polly Barton) Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton Porn: An Oral History by Polly Barton  Butter by Asako Yuzuki (trans. Polly Barton) Follow us on Instagram and threads @bookclubreviewpodcast Support the show and get Kate's weekly book-recommendations email, access to our book spreadsheets, connect with fellow readers and join our book club: find all the details on our Patreon page. If you enjoyed the episode, please share it, rate and review us on your podcast app, which helps other listeners find us. Find full shownotes and our episode archive at our website thebookclubreview.co.uk

Mild Vertigo and Japan lit • Episode 157

Join me (Kate) and Laura as we go through our bookstacks and discuss our recent reads. Find out what why Laura can’t put down The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Meanwhile I’ve discovered Mrs Miniver, a comfort read from the 1930s that still has a message for us today, Laura’s made a discovery of her own – that there’s more to Anita Brookner than Hotel du Lac, with her 1988 novel The Latecomers. We go from one good book club read to another with The Fraud by Zadie Smith, and Laura reports in from the recent backlist past with How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang. I take a detour through a ring of enchanted toadstools with Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, and Laura confesses to having spent a weekend lost in the pages of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. She's only interested in the dragons, mind. Books mentioned The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells  Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther  The Latecomers by Anita Brookner  The Fraud by Zadie Smith (UK paperback out in June)  How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang  Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett  Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros UK listeners can find all the books listed above at our  Bookshop.org.uk bookshop, if you purchase them there you'll be supporting independent bookshops and your favourite indie podcasters. Find out all the details of what we're offering on our Patreon here, including a weekly book recmomendations newsletter from Kate, occasional extra bits and bobs plus access to our pod book spreadsheets, and at the higher tier you can join our bookclub and talk books with Kate in person once a month. And come and find Kate on Instagram or Threads, or drop us a line at thebookclubreview@gmail.com and let us know your thoughts on the books discussed here anytime.

89. Shuggie Bain

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