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PODCAST

The Book Club Review

The Book Club Review

Discussion, debate, even a little dispute – expect it all on The Book Club Review. Join host Kate and her guests as they explore contemporary and classic titles. From hyped new releases to word-of-mouth backlist tips, books are put to the book club test – do they live up to our expectations? Listen in for thoughtful insights, lively opinions and inspiration for your next great read.

arts books

All Episodes

00:58:11

Two Novellas, Two Unreliable Narrators: Ben Lerner &...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/10/03

Kate and Laura are back and diving in to two book club reads, one recent release and one modern classic. Transcription by Ben Lerner was published earlier this year to much critical fanfare. It's a playful, intellectually ambitious exploration of writing, memory, technology and the slippery relationship between fiction and reality. When the narrator's phone fails to record his final interview with an eminent cultural figure, he reconstructs the conversation from memory. But does the truth of an

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00:56:49

Summer Reading: The Debrief, with Kate and Laura

The Book Club Review ·

2026/09/01

A post-summer-reading catch-up, with fantasy, Booker contenders, campus novels, literary fiction and a brilliant unexpected discovery. Kate and Laura discuss the books they loved, the ones that disappointed them, and what they’re looking forward to reading next.

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01:03:19

Summer Reading: The Books Worth Packing This Year,...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/08/07

What are the best books to read this summer? Kate, Laura Potter and Phil Chaffee compare the biggest summer reading recommendations from The New York Times, The Times, Lit Hub and The Booker Prize, debate which are worth packing, and share their own holiday reading lists.

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00:50:17

Secondhand Books: Hidden Stories and Literary Treasures

The Book Club Review ·

2026/08/02

What makes secondhand books so special? Kate and Laura celebrate the joy of used bookshops, favourite literary finds and the thrill of unexpected discoveries before Kate meets W. B. Gooderham, author of Dedicated To, to explore the hidden lives of inscribed books. Together they uncover forgotten friendships, lost loves and remarkable stories preserved in the handwritten dedications tucked inside secondhand books.

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00:56:47

George Saunders' Vigil: The Book Club Debate

The Book Club Review ·

2026/07/14

George Saunders' new novel Vigil puts mortality, morality and climate change under the microscope – but does it make a great book club book?

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00:54:13

The 2026 Women's Prize, with Amanda Moulson (Curious...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/06/05

In this episode Kate is joined by Amanda Moulson, co-host of Curious Readers, to consider the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist. Ahead of the prize ceremony next week, which one do we think will win?Perhaps like Amanda you have read them all, but if, like Kate, you're going to struggle to get to all six, which ones should you focus on? Which are the standout reads? Which are the books most likely to delight, surprise, and stay with you long after you've turned the final page? We're

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00:43:00

The Guardian's 100 Best Novels of All Time: A Hot...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/05/19

When the Guardian drops a list of the 100 Greatest Novels in English it's time to drop everything to talk about it. Luckily pod-regular guest, journalist Phil Chaffee and Joseph Dance, host of the Curious Readers podcast, also had views, and were willing to get together on a Sunday evening to share them. You'll hear our hits, our misses, how many we’ve read, whether we should have read more and much musing on whether a list like this is the way to get people excited about reading. We explore the

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00:49:48

The Art of the Everyday: Miranda Keeling, The...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/05/09

What if the antidote to our increasingly frantic world isn't a grand gesture, but simply the act of paying attention?This week, Kate and Laura are joined by actor, podcaster, and author Miranda Keeling – returning to the pod to talk about her wonderful new book, The Place I'm In, a collection of the small, luminous moments she's gathered from daily life. After her debut The Year I Stopped to Notice, Miranda is back with more of her 'noticings': fragments from parks, supermarket queues, and streets

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00:50:23

Liberating Women's Voices: Austen, Wollstonecraft and...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/04/22

Kate records the first live episode of The Book Club Review at the 2026 Barnsbury Book Festival, speaking with author and broadcaster Bee Rowlatt about her books, Mary Wollstonecraft, feminism, and the themes of wealth, power, and inequality in contemporary London.

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00:52:49

The Book of Love vs The Dud Avocado: Fantasy, Paris &...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/03/31

The Book of Love vs The Dud Avocado: Fantasy, Paris & Book Club VerdictsIn this episode of The Book Club Review, we return to our book club roots with two wildly different novels: The Book of Love by Kelly Link and The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy. The Book of Love is the first novel from acclaimed American short story virtuoso and Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link. In a seemingly ordinary coastal town three teenagers become pawns in a supernatural power struggle. Vulture magazine named it

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00:46:44

Nearly Departed: Love, Loss and Literary Romance,...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/02/15

Valentine’s-ish Literary Romance: Lucas Oakley on Nearly Departed, Boys Book Club & love stories that stay with you long after readingJoin Kate and Lucas Oakeley for this Valentine's-ish episode of The Book Club Review, recorded at Housmans Bookshop in King's Cross. We're exploring literary fiction where love takes centre stage, but the reward is complexity rather than a guaranteed happy ending. Nearly Departed manages to combine the enjoyable tropes of Rom Com with the thoughtful exploration

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01:09:48

The Bestseller Test • Are bestsellers worth the hype?...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/02/01

What makes a bestseller? Is it the quality of the writing, or just the right book at the right time? This week Kate is joined by co-host Laura Potter and returning guest Phil Chaffee to find out.Between us we've tackled six of the biggest bestsellers out there – Dan Brown's The Secret of Secrets, Freida McFadden's The Housemaid, Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary, Matt Dinnerman's Dungeon Crawler Carl, SenLinYu's Alchemised, and Sarah Adams' In Your Dreams – and we have some opinions. We're sharing

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00:53:41

The New Year Reading Reset: Finding fresh inspiration...

The Book Club Review ·

2026/01/13

New year, new intentions – but if you're in the northern hemisphere, January can feel less like renewal and more like the darkest, coldest stretch of endless winter. Maybe what you need isn't another resolution. Maybe you just need the right book.Ella Berthoud is an writer and an artist, but most importantly from our point of view a bibliotherapist. She has been prescribing fiction for life's ailments for over a decade. She co-wrote The Novel Cure, a brilliant guide that matches books to every

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01:20:28

Favourite and Best: Our Books of 2025 • #184

The Book Club Review ·

2025/12/23

We're celebrating the end of the year with a look back over our favourite reads of 2025, from new releases to backlist gems, best book club books, best non-fiction, best comfort reads and more. Between us we read over 350 books in 2025. Listen in to hear the ones we loved best. We've also got a radical new idea for a book club involving cold-water swimming and the works of Robert B. Parker, and how to embrace DNFing without guilt. Join us for recommendations to see you through the festive season and

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01:10:51

Between the Lines: The Art of the Diary • Episode #183

The Book Club Review ·

2025/12/09

'I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train' wrote Oscar Wilde, in the Importance of Being Ernest. In this episode Kate is joined by critic, editor and podcaster Lucy Scholes and regular pod guest Phil Chaffee to explore the intimate world of diaries. Can immersing ourselves in the details of other people's lives offer us valuable insight into how to fully appreciate the passing moments of our own? From gossipy self-mythologising Samuel Pepys

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01:29:25

The 2025 Booker Prize: From Shortlist to Spotlight

The Book Club Review ·

2025/11/13

Explore this year's Booker Prize shortlist on the latest episode of the Book Club Review! Hosts Kate and Laura and contributors Phil Chaffee and Martin Vovk discuss and debate the six shortlisted novels.Listen in to hear our predictions, and then find out our reaction to the winner as we listen in to the live Booker Prize ceremony. We won't spoil the plots for you, just whet your appetite to read some or all of the books, all of which make for brilliant discussion. Booklist Paddy Clark, Ha, H,

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01:03:49

Beyond the Shortlist: The 2025 Booker Longlist titles...

The Book Club Review ·

2025/10/25

In which Kate is joined by pod regular, journalist Phil Chaffee and Professor Elizabeth Eva Leach. Both read over 200 books a year, and their reading stacks this year have included the Booker longlist. And so who better to consider the books that didn't make the final cut – but which are, notwithstanding, the 'best' books selected from over 150 submitted titles. As we know, really great books can get overlooked for the shortlist. Consider Trust by Hernan Diaz, longlisted but not shortlisted, or,

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48:07

Autumn bookshelf, with Kate & Laura • Episode #180

The Book Club Review ·

2025/10/19

In this episode: Kate and Laura are catching up on their pre-Booker season reading. Did You Are Here by David Nicholls make Laura want to lace up her walking boots? How did Kate get on with A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm, a page-turning account that explores a side of the city that tourists never see. We're also reporting back on book club reads Mouthing by Orla Mackey and The Pretender by Jo Harkin. Mix in the enjoyment of Curtis Sittenfeld's latest collection of short stories, and the

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52:32

Book Club: Universality and Sparks of Bright Matter •...

The Book Club Review ·

2025/10/11

Book Club: Universality by Natasha Brown & Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell Welcome to The Book Club Review! In this episode, Laura joins Kate to dive into two book club picks: Natasha Brown’s much-anticipated second novel, Universality, and the debut Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O’Donnell. In this episode: Kate and Laura catch up on their current reads, including Sky Daddy by Kate Folk and A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett, before diving into a discussion

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53:52

Shelf-reflective: Books about Books, with Joseph...

The Book Club Review ·

2025/09/12

Something a little different this episode as I invite you to head down the rabbit hole with me into the world of books about books. Accompanying us into this particular wonderland is Joseph Dance, host of the Curious Readers podcast. From meta-fictional narratives to booksellers with shadowy agendas, we’re flagging up some of our favourites both for behind-the-scenes insights into the literary world, and for the way they allow us to discover yet more books we might want to read. From Alberto

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