The Bookshelf

Voting in Radio National's Top 100 Books countdown is about to open and this year we're celebrating Australian books. As you think about your own Top 10, Kate and Cassie bring together a trio of award-winning writers (including last year's Top 100 Books winner!) to reveal the Australian books they have loved and been influenced by: Trent Dalton, Claire Thomas and Steve MinOn, with a surprise appearance in the audience from Grimmish and Griefdogg author Michael Winkler.

Books mentioned

• Storm Boy by Colin Thiele
• Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein
• Cole's Funny Picture Book by E.W. Cole
• The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay
• Johnno; Fly Away Peter by David Malouf
• Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook
• The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson
• Ruth Park, works
• Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
• The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith; Schindler's Ark  by Thomas Keneally
• Possum Magic by Mem Fox
• The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Carpentaria by Alexis Wright
• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
• Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
• Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
• The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
• She Is Me by Tahlia Isaac
• Dropbear by Evelyn Araluen
• Zigzag Street by Nick Earls
• The Garden Book by Brian Castro
• The Children's Bach by Helen Garner
• A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey
• My Brilliant Career by Miles Stella Franklin
• A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
• The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough
• The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazard
• The Vivisector by Patrick White
• A Short History of Longans by Mirandi Riwoe
• The Lebs by Michael Mohammed Ahmad

Credits

• Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
• Producer, Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
• Sound engineer, Steve Fieldhouse
• Arts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Anjet Daanje's The Song of Stork and Dromedary, translated from the Dutch, explores the intimate work of death and care in the eighteenth century. Liane Moriarty returns to the world of Big Little Lies with Big Little Truths, reuniting readers with the coastal suburb of Pirriwee and her cast a decade on,  just with a little more menopausal rage, teenage angst, and a severed finger. Joining us are regular reviewer Beejay Silcox, along with Cheryl Akle from Better Reading. Plus, critic and publisher Geordie Williamson shares his Top 3 Australian books.

Books

• The Song of Stork and Dromedary by Anjet Daanje, translated from Dutch by David McKay (Scribe)
• Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty (Macmillan)

Geordie Williamson's Top 3 Australian Books

• Such is Life  by Joseph Furphy
• Translations from the Natural World by Les Murray
• The Eye of the Crocodile by Val Plumwood

Other books mentioned

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
• Mine by Adam Ousten
• Dark Places by Kate Grenville
• John Brown, Rose, and the Midnight Cat by Jenny Rose
• Little Bear series by Maurice Sendak
• Tell Me Something True by Michael Robotham 

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Credits

• Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
• Producer, Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
• Sound engineer, Craig Tilmouth and Micky Grossman
• Arts editor, Rhiannon Brown

We review the latest in fiction for dedicated readers and for those who wish they read more.

Omar Musa joins us after winning the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award. Plus, Michael Robotham and Madeleine Gray review Djamel White's Booker Prize-longlisted debut All Them Dogs and Téa Obreht's sweeping new novel Sunrise.

From the nightclubs of 1930s Berlin to the heartache and awkwardness of high school, and into the green rooms and backstage spaces of writers' festivals.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead’s latest novel Cool Machine is a vivid portrait of Black New York in the 1980s. The book reunites readers with furniture salesman and part-time fence Ray Carney. Kate Evans and regular reviewer, critic and essayist Beejay Silcox discuss.

Also this week, Isabelle Li’s The Northern Tomb offers an intimate and richly textured portrait of life in Northeast China during the Covid pandemic, while Claire Berest’s Frida brings the passion, colour and complexity of artist Frida Kahlo vividly to the page. 

Plus, Kate speaks with Ashley Hay, novelist and interim editor of Meanjin, about the magazine's rich literary history and how its archive can help guide your vote in the ABC's Top 100 Australian Books countdown. (Ashley also shares her top three Australian picks).

Each week, a specially curated selection of archival material will be released at Meanjin:

• Meanjin – The Finest New Writing in Australia

Books discussed

• Cool Machine - Colson Whitehead (Fleet)
• The Northern Tomb - Isabelle Li (Puncher & Wattmann)
• Frida - Claire Berest, translated from French by Stephanie Smee (Mountain Leopard Press)

Also mentioned

• But Won't I Miss Me - Tiffany Tsao (Harper Via)

Beejay Silcox's recommendations

• Angel Down - Daniel Kraus
• The Children - Melissa Albert
• Their Brilliant Careers - Ryan O'Neill

Ashley Hay's Top 3 Australian picks

• The Commandant - Jessica Anderson
• Edenglassie - Melissa Lucashenko
• The Great Fire - Shirley Hazzard

Credits

• Presenter - Kate Evans
• Producer - Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
• Sound - Tim Jenkins and Isabella Tropiano
• Arts editor - Rhiannon Brown

Dave Eggers explores the messy intersection of art, friendship and growing up in Contrapposto, while Daniel Mason's Country People follows an academic family into a Vermont landscape full of stories and believers in worlds beneath the earth. Then Maria Takolander's The End of Romance imagines life after collapse.

Joining Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh are our regular reviewers, novelist Madeleine Gray and musician Tim Rogers. 

Plus, playwright and novelist George Kemp shares three favourite Australian books ahead of the ABC's Top 100 Australian Books countdown.

Books discussed

• Contrapposto - Dave Eggers
• Country People - Daniel Mason
• The End of Romance - Maria Takolander
• Cloudstreet - Tim Winton
• The Sun Walks Down - Fiona McFarlane
• Cold Enough for Snow - Jessica Au

Guest recommendations

• Dream Girls - Hannah Goldstein
• Brother of the More Famous Jack - Barbara Trapido
• The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
• Riverboy - Jim Ewing
• A Suitable Man - Jock Serong
• Fifty Beating Wonders - Dr Michelle Johnston
• Flights - Olga Tokarczuk 

Credits

• Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
• Producer, Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
• Sound, Micky Grossman and Tegan Nicholls
• Arts editor, Sarah L' Estrange

This week on The Bookshelf, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh discuss new novels including Laura McPhee-Browne's Worry Doll, a story of desire, obsession and uncertainty; Leïla Slimani's I'll Take the Fire, the acclaimed French-Moroccan writer's rich, politically charged exploration of family, memory and identity; and Kris Kneen's Rite of Spring, an eerie island novel where strange creatures lurk in the mist.

Joining the program are regular reviewers, bestselling crime writer Michael Robotham and novelist and academic Roanna Gonsalves.

Plus, as ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books Countdown approaches, writer and historian Bruce Pascoe shares three Australian books he loves.

Books discussed

• Worry Doll, Laura McPhee-Browne
• I'll Take the Fire, Leïla Slimani (translated by Sam Taylor)
• Rite of Spring, Kris Kneen
• Benang: From The Heart, Kim Scott
• Every Secret Thing, Marie Munkara
• Mullumbimby, Melissa Lucashenko

Guest recommendations

• Whistler, Ann Patchett
• The Hunter, Tana French
• Tomb of Sand, Geetanjali Shree 

Credits

• Presenter: Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
• Producer: Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
• Sound: Craig Tilmouth and Micky Grossman
• Arts editor: Sarah L'Estrange

A live recording from the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival, with guests Hannah Kent and Beejay Silcox.

• Hannah Kent, Always Home, Always Homesick (Picador)
• Eimear McBride, The City Changes Its Face (Faber)
• Susan Choi, Flashlight (Jonathan Cape)
• Edward St Aubyn, Parallel Lines (Jonathan Cape)
• Caryl Phillips, Another Man in the Street (Bloomsbury)

Guests

Hannah Kent is the author of the novels Burial Rites, The Good People and Devotion. Her latest book is the memoir, Always Home, Always Homesick

Beejay Silcox is a critic, writer, festival director and literary interviewer

Other Books Mentioned

• Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex
• Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
• Eric Puchner, Dream State
• Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers
• Emily Maguire, Rapture
• Mariana Enríquez, A Sunny Place for Shady People
• Susan Hampton, Anything Can Happen

We review the latest in fiction for dedicated readers and for those who wish they read more.