Episodes - The Book Club Review

The Book of Love vs The Dud Avocado: Fantasy, Paris & Book Club Verdicts • #188

March 31, 2026/Posted by: The Book Club Review

In 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 […]

Kate and Laura dive into Kelly Link’s The Book of Love and Elaine Dundy’s The Dud Avocado, with sharply divided book club verdicts.

Nearly Departed: Love, Loss and Literary Romance, with Lucas Oakeley

Episodes/Features/Interviews

February 15, 2026/Posted by: The Book Club Review

Valentine’s-ish Literary Romance: Lucas Oakley on Nearly Departed, The Boys Book Club & love stories that stay with you long after reading Join 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 […]

Lucas Oakeley discusses Nearly Departed and literary love stories with complexity over happy endings. Book recommendations, The Boys Book Club, and Valentine's menu ideas – everything you need for the perfect literary Valentine's Day weekend.

The Bestseller Test • Are bestsellers worth the hype? • Episode #186

Features

February 1, 2026/Posted by: The Book Club Review

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 […]

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.

The New Year Reading Reset: Finding fresh inspiration with Bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud • #185

Episodes/Features

January 13, 2026/Posted by: The Book Club Review

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 […]

New Year, new intentions. Find the right book with Bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud

Favourite and Best: Our books of 2025 • Episode #184

Episodes/Features

December 23, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

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 […]

We're celebrating the end of the year with a look back over our favourite reads of 2025. With Phil Chaffee and Sarah Oliver.

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

Features

December 9, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

‘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 guest Phil Chaffee to explore the intimate world of diaries. Can immersing ourselves in […]

Why do we love reading other people's diaries? Critic Lucy Scholes joins Kate and regular guest Phil Chaffee to explore the intimate art of diary keeping

The 2025 Booker Prize: From Shortlist to Spotlight • #182

Episodes/Features

November 21, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

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 […]

Explore this year's Booker Prize shortlist on the latest episode of the Book Club Review! Hosts Kate and Laura are joined by contributors Phil Chaffee and Martin Vovk to discuss and debate the six shortlisted novels, plus hear our live reaction to the winner's announcement.

Beyond the shortlist: the Booker longlist books worth your time • #181

Features

October 25, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

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’ […]

We go through the books longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, but which didn't make the shortlist. Which were the best of the rest? With Phil Chaffee and Elizabeth Eva Leach

Autumn bookstacks, with Kate and Laura • Episode #180

Bookshelf

October 19, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

In this episode: Kate and Laura are catching up on Autumn books ahead of their 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 […]

Kate and Laura swap notes on their Autumn reading, while gearing up to dive into the Booker Prize shortlist.

Book club: Universality and Sparks of Bright Matter • Episode #179

Book Club

October 14, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

In this episode, Laura joins Kate to dive into two book club picks. We’re considering Natasha Brown’s much-anticipated second novel, Universality by Natasha Brown. How did it compare to Brown’s acclaimed debut Assembly, and did the satirical style, bold narrative choices, and themes of media, class, and culture wars work for Laura’s book club? We then […]

Kate and Laura dive into two recent book club reads, Universality by Natasha Brown and Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell. Did they make for good book club books? Plus recent reads and we hear from a book club with a brilliant twist.

Shelf-Reflective: Books about Books, with Joseph Dance • #178

Features

September 12, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

Head down the rabbit hole with me into the world of books about books with Kate and 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 […]

Kate and Joseph Dance discuss a favourite topic among literary aficionados, books that explore the world of books and reading.

Bookish in Seattle • Episode #177

Bookshelf

August 23, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

Seattle, forever linked with books and reading thanks to Sleepless in Seattle. Also Maria Semple’s Where d’you Go Bernadette, tho’ to be clear, Bernadette was not a fan of the rainy city. Londoners, though, umbrella always at hand, feel right at home. A recent family holiday offered a rare chance for an in-person bookish catchup. […]

Kate and Laura talk books in Seattle, including recent reads and bookshop favourites. Also featured, literary cocktails.

Friendship and Fiction in New York • Episode #176

Features

August 14, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

Join Kate as she takes the Book Club Review on tour to New York, a city filled with incredible bookshops, and book podcasters. Christopher Hermelin of So Many Damn Books and Drew Broussard of The Lit Hub Podcast share cocktails and book recommendations on the theme of friendship. Listen via the media player above, or your […]

Join Kate as she drinks cocktails and chats books with Christopher Hermelin of So Many Damn Books and Drew Broussard of The Lit Hub Podcast, all on location in New York

Explicitly Literary, sex writing in books • #175

Features

June 29, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

From serious high-brow literature to warm and cozy rom-coms, what do we want or need from writers when it comes to including sex in their books? To consider the matter, Kate is joined by writer and critic Elizabeth Morris and author Alex Alison. Elizabeth is creator of Crib Notes, a monthly newsletter full of reading […]

From serious high-brow literature to warm and cozy rom-coms, what do we want or need from writers when it comes to including sex in their books? Elizabeth Morris and Alex Allison join Kate to discuss it.

Books, films, TV and Murderbot • #174

Episodes/Features

June 12, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

From Murderbot to Sense and Sensiblity, what are our favourite adaptations from books that we love? Inspired by the recent Apple adaptation of Martha Wells’ sci-fi novels The Murderbot Diaries, this episode is a celebration of the world of books to film. From the joy of seeing a book that we love brought to the […]

Inspired by the recent Apple adaptation of Martha Wells Murderbot Diaries, we're diving in to all things book to TV and film. Find out our favourites, plus we hear from Philippa Donovan, literary scout, who gives us the inside track on what it takes for a book to succeed on the screen.

Non-Fiction that Changed Us, featuring Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles • Episode #173

Episodes/Features

May 14, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

At a time in which digital information is increasingly uncertain it feels more essential than ever to engage with books that tell us about the world, diversify our perspectives and propose solutions for change. Yet with the best will in the world these ‘serious’ books aren’t always what we feel like reading. We have the […]

Inspired by our featured title, Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles, we're bringing you a handpicked selection of non-fiction reads so good you'll fly through them as if you were reading a favourite novel, but with the huge benefit that you'll come out wiser and full of new information about the world we live in, and how to change it for the better.

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon book cover for podcast episode

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon • #172

Book Club

March 9, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon is a novel that takes us back to ancient Syracuse, where war, art, and humanity collide. This gripping tale follows two down-on-their-luck potters who hatch an audacious plan to produce a performance of the works of Euripedes despite the fact that their actors are prisoners of war and their stage […]

Glorious Exploits is a story of resilience, friendship, and the power of art in the face of destruction, but did it make for a good book club book?

daisy buchanan for podcast episode on her book read yourself happy

How to Read Yourself Happy, with Daisy Buchanan • Episode #171

Interviews

February 15, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

Author, podcaster and reader Daisy Buchanan joins Kate to discuss Read Yourself Happy, her latest book that explores ‘shelf-help’ and the healing power of books and reading to inspire, comfort and fortify. You might not think that someone who regularly interviews literary stars like Anne Patchett and Lauren Groff on her podcast ‘You’re Booked’ might […]

Daisy Buchanan joins Kate to explore the healing power of books and reading to inspire, comfort and fortify – and generally bring us joy

Book Club: The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk • #170

Book Club

February 10, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

The Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk’s haunting ‘health resort horror story’ may have wowed the critics, but how did it fare with Laura’s book club? Phil, Sarah and Laura join Kate to discuss it. In September 1913, a young Pole suffering from tuberculosis arrives at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen, a health resort in the Silesian mountains. […]

The Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk's haunting 'health resort horror story' may have wowed the critics, but how did it fare with Laura's book club? Phil, Sarah and Laura join Kate to discuss it.

Oliver Burkeman for books podcast episode on Meditations for Mortals

Meditations for Mortals, with Oliver Burkeman • Episode #169

Episodes/Interviews

January 25, 2025/Posted by: The Book Club Review

Step into a world of philosophical musings and practical wisdom with Oliver Burkeman. Meditations for Mortals is his latest book designed as a four-week mental retreat, promising to help readers lead a ‘saner, freer, and more enchantment-filled life’. Oliver joins Kate to talk about everything from the inspiration he took from Marcus Aurelius to how […]

With New Year's resolutions still in mind it's the perfect time to step into a world of philosophical musings and practical wisdom with Oliver Burkeman. Meditations for Mortals is his latest book designed as a four-week mental retreat, promising to help readers lead a 'saner, freer, and more enchantment-filled life'. He joins Kate to discuss it.

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