The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: Why Helen Garner won't read Monkey Grip again

   Helen Garner finds it painful to think back to the time when she wrote her autobiographical novel, Monkey Grip, about a young mum and her love affair with a heroin addict. Monkey Grip was published in 1977 and was famously inspired by her own life in 1970s inner-city Melbourne. It recounts the turmoil of living in share houses and being in love but also revels in the joys of bike riding and swimming at the local Fitzroy pool. In this special conversation with Claire Nichols for ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote, Helen reflects on the criticism the book received at the time and why writing a diary (that others want to read) is an exercise in craft. Will you be voting for Monkey Grip? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books. Jordan Prosser's second novel Blue Giant is an unlikely reading companion for Monkey Grip; it's also about young people living in an inner city Melbourne share house, but this book is about millennial ennui and moving to Mars. Listen to Claire's interview with Jordan about his debut novel Big Time here (it's the third interview). We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.

   September 06, 2026·49min
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   Number 2: Tim Winton returns to Cloudstreet while Holly Ringland pines for the 90s

   Tim Winton explains why his beloved Cloudstreet is not a nostalgic novel, while Holly Ringland admits she was "nostalgia sick" for the 1990s while writing The World Beneath Her Feet. Cloudstreet follows the Lamb and Pickles families, who live under the same roof but move in very different circles. Loosely based on the two sides of Tim Winton's family, the novel's distinctive vernacular grew from the stories he heard as a child. In this interview for Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books, Tim tells Claire Nichols why the book's enduring popularity remains a mystery to him more than 30 years after its publication. Ahead of the release of his memoir, Songs from the Firefront, Tim also shares some of the true stories that feature in this classic including the heartbreaking story of his grandmother. Will you be voting for Cloudstreet? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books. Holly Ringland's debut The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart was voted into the inaugural Top 100 Books in 2025 and now she's published her third novel The World Beneath Her Feet. It's about the troubled past of a gemstone expert growing up in the 1990s which is significant to Holly as the last time teenagers grew up unrecorded without social media and a camera in their pocket Listen to Claire's interview with Holly about her second novel The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding. We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.

   September 13, 2026·51min
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   Number 3: Geraldine Brooks on 25 years of wonder and Zoe Foster Blake's girlfriend getaways

   Geraldine Brooks explains how she stumbled across the story that inspired her 17th century plague novel, Year of Wonders and Zoe Foster Blake channels her favourite getaways and strong female friendships in her latest novel Group Chat. For Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote, Geraldine Brooks takes Claire Nichols back to the beginnings of her beloved debut Year of Wonders and reflects on whether it's an Australian novel despite being set in 17th century England. Now, 25 years after publication, Geraldine is amused by how she depicted horses in the novel (she's now a keen horserider), but she's still proud of it and offers wise words about the importance of accepting our younger selves. Will you be voting for Year of Wonders? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books. Zoe Foster Blake describes to Claire Nichols how holidays in her favourite Greek island of Mykonos and her enduring friendships with women over decades inspired her latest novel. Group Chat is about five women in their forties who gather for a week of extravagance to support a girlfriend who's discovered her husband is cheating. As they dance till dawn, sip cocktails at beach bars or on luxury yachts, the women also question their own suburban lives and ask themselves, is that all there is? We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.

   September 27, 2026·44min
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   Number 4: Kim Scott and Kate Grenville went to the library, and came away with a story

   Kim Scott was so disturbed by how Noongar people were depicted in the Western Australian archive that he wrote Benang: From the Heart. Plus Kate Grenville explains the origins of her latest genre-bending book and how The Secret River became a novel. In 2000, Kim Scott's Benang won the Miles Franklin Literary Award making him the first Indigenous author to win the prestigious prize (shared with Drylands by Thea Astley). In this special interview for Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote, he tells Claire Nichols why he wrote Benang as a reckoning with his own Noongar identity. Kim shares the rage he felt reading the work of A.O. Neville, the notorious WA "Chief Protector of Aborigines" and his reaction to the photos of Indigenous people used throughout Neville's racist manifesto "Australia's Coloured Minority". Will you be voting for Benang: From the Heart? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books. Kate Grenville is the author of many books that explore Australian history including her celebrated novel, The Secret River. Her latest The Country Schoolmaster: A Mystery in 88 Letters is a genre-bending exploration of the archive and asks where does truth lie? Kate also tells Claire about how The Secret River began its life and why the book is still special to her. Kate Grenville is a regular guest on The Book Show and you can listen to Kate and Claire discuss the novel A Room Made of Leaves, a fictionalised account of the life of Elizabeth Macarthur. Or listen to Kate discussing her novel Restless Dolly Maunder. We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.

   September 20, 2026·47min
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   Number 5: Top 100 Australian Books is here. Three Aussie stars pick their fave reads

   Omar Musa, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Nadine Garner share the Australian books that shaped their reading life. Find out what they want to do with problematic classics like My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin. The event was recorded with The Book Show's Sarah L'Estrange at Melbourne Writers Festival for ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote which is now open. In the Top 100 Australian Books you can choose any ten Australian titles from fiction to non-fiction, kids books to cookbooks, history, biography or memoir. Be part of the countdown and cast your vote for your favourite Australian books here. Tune in to ABC Radio National for the countdown weekend: Saturday, 17 and Sunday, 18 October. Guests: Maxine Beneba Clarke is a poet, a children's book author and illustrator. She's also the author of the memoir The Hate Race and an award winning book of short stories, Foreign Soil. Her latest book is Beautiful Changelings. Nadine Garner has been on our screens since the 1980s and The Henderson Kids. She's also starred in The Doctor Blake Mysteries, won Best Actress at the 1988 Australian Film Institute Awards and appeared in many TV roles and on the stage. Omar Musa is a visual artist, poet, spoken word performer, playwright, novelist, short story writer and rapper. He's the author of two novels, Here Come the Dogs and his latest Fierceland won the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award. Listen to his interview on The Book Show with Claire Nichols here. Books discussed Omar Musa's favourites: The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay The Monster that Ate Canberra by Michael Salmon Tiddalick the Frog Who Caused a Flood by Robert Roennfeldt Strange Objects by Gary Crew Obernewtyn by Isabelle Carmody Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden Kim Scott's True Country The Boat by Nam Le The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch Shadow boxing by Tony Birch The Monkey's Mask by Dorothy Porter Nadine Garner's favourites: Playing Beatty Bow by Ruth Park Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung My Place by Sally Morgan Dear Sun: The Letters Of Joy Hester And Sunday Reed edited by Janine Burke Burial Rights by Hannah Kent Mullaway by Bron Nicolls Power Without Glory by Frank The Women of Little Lon: Sex Workers in Nineteenth-century Melbourne by Barbara Minchinton Maxine Beneba Clarke's favourites: Tram to Bondi Beach by Libby Hathorn, illustrated by Julie Vivas Possum Magic by Mem Fox, illustrated by Julie Vivas Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein My Place by Sally Morgan Does My Head Look Big in This by Randa Abdel-Fattah Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch Rock Flight by Hasib Hourani Chinese Fish by Grace Yee Praise by Andrew McGahan Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas Candy by Luke Davies He Died with a Felafel in his Hand by John Birmingham Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.

   August 30, 2026·41min
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