The Bookshelf

ABC Australia
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What are you reading, loving or being challenged by? We review the latest in fiction for dedicated readers and for those who wish they read more.

  1. 11 hr ago

    New fiction from three major voices: Maggie O'Farrell, Ann Patchett, Christine Balint

    Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh are joined by regulars Hannah Kent and Tom Wright to talk new fiction from three major voices: Maggie O’Farrell’s Land, an expansive novel set in famine-era Ireland that traces memory, myth and the imprint of history on place; Ann Patchett’s Whistler, a sharp story of family, lost fathers and the long shadow of childhood; and Christine Balint’s A Single Witness, which follows a teenage girl confronting her community and the law in 18th-century Italy. ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED Maggie O'Farrell, worksAnn Patchett, worksChristine Balint, worksGeorge R.Stewart, Names On The Land Sumner Locke Elliott’s Careful, He Might Hear You Tusiata Avia, Big Fat Brown Bitch Dominic Hoey, 1985Ingrid Horrocks, All Her Lives: Nine StoriesTāme Iti, MANA~ CREDITS Presenter: Kate EvansProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound: Micky Grossman, Isabella TropianoArts editor: Rhiannon Brown

    55 min

  2. 29 May

    Said the Dead, The Thornbacks, and Deborah Levy’s latest

    Kate Evans is joined by Bernadette Brennan and Beejay Silcox to talk three striking new releases: Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s Said the Dead, a haunting, archive-rich exploration of a derelict Irish asylum; Chloe Wilson’s The Thornbacks, a darkly comic debut of morticians, dating apps and unsettling female entanglements; and Deborah Levy’s My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein, a playful meditation on literary life in Paris.  ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED Amitav Ghosh, Ghost-EyeSusan Choi, Flashlight S.A. Cosby, worksDoireann Ní Ghríofa, A Ghost in the Throat Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the CastleAngela Carter, Wise ChildrenJeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin SuicidesDaisy Johnson, SistersGillian Flynn, Sharp ObjectsOyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister the Serial KillerDeborah Levy, worksKim Scott, BenangAlexis Wright, CarpentariaFrancesca Wade, Gertrude Stein: An AfterlifeGertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Prudence Bussey-Chamberlain, Bone HornErin Vincent. Fourteen Ways of LookingClaire Thomas, On Not Climbing MountainsGwendoline Riley, The Palm HouseChloe Wilson, Hold Your FireRobin Robertson, The Long TakeJoseph Furphy, Such is LifeElizabeth Jolley, works~ CREDITS Presenter: Kate EvansProducer: Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound: Antonia GauciArts editor: Rhiannon Brown

    54 min

  3. 22 May

    Launching ABC Radio National’s 2026 Top 100 Books countdown at SWF

    The Bookshelf comes to you from a sold out session at Sydney Writers’ Festival, for a conversation that brings together an exceptional line-up: acclaimed novelist and poet Tony Birch, Miles Franklin Award-winning author Siang Lu, and internationally celebrated writer Lily King. Together, with Cassie, Kate and special guest Claire Nichols from The Book Show, they mark the launch of ABC Radio National’s 2026 Top 100 Books countdown, this year turning the spotlight on the very best of Australian writing, fiction and non-fiction, across all time. ~ ABC RADIO NATIONAL TOP 100 AUSTRALIAN BOOKS COUNTDOWN https://www.abc.net.au/listen/radionational/top-100-books-2026/106621398 ~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY LILY KING Colleen McCullough, The Thorn BirdsShirley Hazzard, The Transit of Venus; The Evening of the HolidayKate Grenville, The Idea of PerfectionChristina Stead, The Man Who Loved Children~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY TONY BIRCH William Dick, A Bunch of RatbagsRuth Park, worksColin Johnson, Wild Cat FallingKenneth Cook, Wake in FrightFrank Hardy, Power Without GloryPeter Carey, American Dreams; CrabsPi O, 24 Hours: Ulysses in Fitzroy~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY SIANG LU Nam Le, The BoatMichael Winkler, GrimmishPeter Carey, The True History of the Kelly GangHelen Garner, Monkey GripCharlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY CASSIE MCCULLAGH Miles Franklin, My Brilliant CareerPeter Temple, Broken ShorePeter Carey, The Fat Man in History~  BOOKS MENTIONED BY KATE EVANS Ethel Turner, Seven Little AustraliansFlorence James and Dymphna Cusack, Come in SpinnerPeter Carey, Illywhacker; Oscar and Lucinda~ BOOKS MENTIONED BY CLAIRE NICHOLS The Australian Women's Weekly Birthday Cake BookMem Fox, Wilfrid Gordon McDonaldKim Scott, worksTim Winton, worksJosephine Wilson, Extinctions~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED  Tim Winton, CloudstreetTrent Dalton, Boy Swallows UniverseCharlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark ShoreSally Morgan, My PlaceArchie Roach, Tell Me WhyJimmy Barnes, Working Class BoyRuby Langford Ginibi, Don’t Take Your Love to TownThea Astley, worksHelen Garner, The Children's Bach; The Spare RoomMelina Marchetta, Looking for AlibrandiRichard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North; Question 7Madeleine St John, Ladies in BlackShankari Chandran, Chai Time at Cinnamon GardensRuth Park, Playing Beatie BowAndrew McGahan, PraiseMarkus Zusak, The Book ThiefRobbie Arnott, LimberlostHannah Kent, Burial RitesNorman Lindsay, The Magic PuddingA.B. Facey, A Fortunate LifeDavid Malouf, Johnno Jane Harper, The Dry~ CREDITS Presenter, Kate Evans, Cassie McCullagh, Claire NicholsProducer, Kate Evans, Sarah CorbettSound, Harvey O'SullivanArts Editor, Rhiannon Brown

    55 min

  4. 15 May

    New Douglas Stuart, a riff on Henry Lawson, Lena Dunham’s Famesick and a Greek island eco-thriller

    We head by rackety ferry to Scotland in John of John, the latest, quietly devastating novel from Shuggie Bain author Douglas Stuart. Henry Lawson reimagined - brawling poets, strange tunnels, time loops, and a warped tussle between city and bush in Wayne Marshall’s Henry Goes Bush, reviewed by You Am I's Tim Rogers. From there, novelist Madeleine Gray turns her eye to Lena Dunham’s sharp, self‑aware memoir Famesick, before moving to Ellena Savage’s The Ruiners, which shifts between a Melbourne lobster shack and a smoke‑wreathed Greek island. ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED Norman Lindsay, Bohemians of the BulletinRuth Park, Playing Beatie BowRoxane Gay, Bad Feminist: EssaysLena Dunham, Not That Kind of GirlJoan Didion, worksEve Babitz, worksEllena Savage, BlueberriesCharles Dickens, worksCharmian Clift, worksGeorge Johnston, worksMichael Winkler, GriefdoggRachel Yoder, NightbitchColum McCann, ApeirogonSteve MinOn, First Name Second NameMuriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean BrodieJames Bailey, Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel SparkLee Lai, Cannon~ CREDITS Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Craig Tilmouth and Roi HubermanExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

    55 min

  5. 8 May

    Elizabeth Strout, Daniel Kehlmann and a Genre‑Bending Debut

    This week’s Bookshelf features the latest from Elizabeth Strout, creator of Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton, returning with a stand‑alone novel called The Things We Never Say. We’re also reading an ambitious, genre‑bending novel that moves from 1980s gaming culture to far‑future space travel, and Daniel Kehlmann’s The Director, a German novel in translation that explores film, power and propaganda. Joining us to review are Geordie Williamson - critic, publisher and writer; and Robert Forster - singer‑songwriter, founding member of The Go‑Betweens, memoirist and brand new novelist with Songwriters on the Run. ~ REVIEWERS Robert Forster and Geordie Williamson~ BOOKS Daniel Kehlmann, The Director (translated from the German by Ross Benjamin), RiverrunElizabeth Strout, The Things We Never Say, Viking Penguin  Portia Elan, Homebound, Chatto & WindusCaro Claire Burke, Yesteryear, Fourth Estate ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED Daniel Kehlmann, worksElizabeth Strout, My Name is Lucy BartonThe Boundless Deep, Richard HolmesJohnno, David MaloufKeeley Jobe, The EndlingAna Paula Maia, On Earth as It Is Beneath~ CREDITS Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Craig Tilmouth and Roi HubermanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

    55 min

  6. 1 May

    Amanda Lohrey. Deepa Anappara. International Booker: Reviewed

    In this episode, superstar reviewer Hannah Kent tackles the rugged terrain of a journey that edges towards the Tibetan border in Deepa Anappara's The Last of Earth, and theatre writer Tom Wright ponders extraterrestrial encounters in Amanda Lohrey's new one, Capture. Plus, Kate and Cassie take a look at two titles on the International Booker Prize shortlist, from France and Bulgaria, one follows a not‑very‑successful witch who weeps tears of blood; and the other is the story of a woman in Albania who switches genders through an ancient ritual. ~ BOOKS  Marie NDiaye, The Witch, translated from the French by Jordan Stump, MacLehose Press Rene Karabash, She Who Remains, translated from the Bulgarian by Izidora Angel, Peirene Press Deepa Anappara, The Last of Earth, One World Amanda Lohrey, Capture, Text~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED David Malouf, worksChloe Dalton, Raising HareLaura McPhee Brown, Worry Doll Ranginui Walker, Struggle Without End Patricia Walker, Potiki Cameron Sullivan, The Red Winter~ CREDITS Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Bella Tropiano and Hamish CamilleriArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

    59 min

  7. 24 Apr

    On the Shelf: Inga Simpson, Asako Yuzuki, Helen Bain and more

    This week The Bookshelf leans into the wild as Kate Evans and guests are circled by stories of wolves, wild boar and witches, along with the final year of celebrated poet Sylvia Plath and a sensual story of food and obsession from Japan. Kate is joined by regular guests, the novelist, poet and Professor of Australian literature Tony Birch; and critic Beejay Silcox, who arrives fresh from the U.K. ready to talk literary pilgrimages and bookish souvenirs. Plus, a bonus discussion on this year's Stella Prize shortlist. ~ BOOKS REVIEWED Inga Simpson, Once We Were Wildlife: Stories, HachetteSarah Walker, The Water Takes, Summit BooksAsako Yuzuki, Hooked, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton, Fourth EstateHelen Bain, The Daffodil Days, BloomsburySally O’Reilly, Hagtale, Scribe~ 2026 Stella Prize shortlist Evelyn Araluen, The Rot, UQPGeraldine Brooks, Memorial Days, HachetteMiranda Darling, Fireweather, ScribeLee Lai, Cannon, GiramondoMarika Sosnowski, 58 Facets: On violence and the Law, Melbourne University Press  Tasma Walton, I am Nannertgarrook, Simon & SchusterNOTE: the winner will be announced on 13 May  ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED Ian McEwan, What We Can KnowCormac McCarthy, The RoadKim Scott, Dead Man DanceJohn Higgs, Lynchian: The Spell of David LynchAsako Yuzuki, ButterMieko Kawakami, Breasts and EggsSayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman; EarthlingsEmi Yagi, Diary of a VoidColum McCann, worksFiona McFarlane, Highway 13Guillaume Lecasble, Lobster Lucie Rico, Fowl EulogiesRobin Robertson, The Long TakeJenni Fagan, The DelusionsJames Alistair Henry, PagansLaurie Colwin, Shine On Bright and Dangerous ObjectTracy Chevalier, Burning Bright ~ CREDITS Presenter, Kate EvansProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Roi Huberman and Tegan NichollsArts Editor, Rhiannon Brown

    1hr 8min

  8. 17 Apr

    New fiction from Amitav Ghosh, Edwina Preston and Gwendoline Riley

    In this episode, Kate and Cassie are joined by celebrated novelist Madeleine Gray and rock icon Tim Rogers for a wide-ranging discussion looking at three works of contemporary fiction: Indian writer Amitav Ghosh’s Ghost Eye, a meditation on reincarnation and climate change; Australian writer and musician Edwina Preston’s Sororicidal, a sharp novel of sisterhood and rivalry; and English stylist Gwendoline Riley’s The Palm House, a disquieting portrait of modern life in London. BOOKS Amitav Ghosh, Ghost-Eye (John Murray)Edwina Preston, Sororicidal (Picador)Gwendoline Riley, The Palm House (Picador)REVIEWERS Madeleine Gray — writer and critic, author of Green Dot and Chosen FamilyTim Rogers — singer‑songwriter, actor and writer; frontman of You Am I and the Hard‑Ons, currently on a solo tourOTHER BOOKS MENTIONED Britney Spears memoirSinéad O'Connor, memoirLeo Tolstoy, Anna KareninaDaphne du Maurier, RebeccaEdwina Preston, Not Just a Suburban Boy; Bad Art MotherSimon Mason, DI Wilkins MysteriesClive James, Unreliable MemoirsCharlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark ShoreWayne Marshall, Henry Goes BushLarry McMurtry, worksJoe Boyd, And The Roots of Rhythm RemainCREDITS Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Antonia Gauci and Micky GrossmanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

    55 min
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Hosts & Guests

About

What are you reading, loving or being challenged by? We review the latest in fiction for dedicated readers and for those who wish they read more.

Information

  • Creator
    ABC Australia
  • Years Active
    2012 - 2026
  • Episodes
    579
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Bookshelf

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