The Book Club Review The Book Club Review

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry has sold over 2 and a half million copies worldwide since publication in 1985, and won a Pulitzer Prize. With prose as ‘as smooth as worn saddle-leather', USA today writes 'If you read only one Western novel in your life, read this one . . . no other has ever approached the accomplishment of Lonesome Dove'. More interesting to us, Lonesome Dove is one of those 'if-you-know-you-know' books, passed from reader to reader, once read, never forgotten. And yet not everyone is a fan – listen in to see what Laura's book club made of it. As ever we're careful not to spoil the plot, so rest assured we won't give away any of the book's secrets. 
We're also recommending some follow-ons and some favourites from our recent reading piles.
Book list
Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
Austerlitz by W.G. Seabed
Sharp by Michelle Dean
How to Talk About Books you Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard
Notes
If you read one article on Lonesome Dove, let it be this brilliant oral history that Texas Monthly put together, which is full of fascinating detail about the TV series and the book.
The audiobook of Lonesome Dove is published by Phoenix Books and read by Lee Horsley.
Links
Website: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk
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Find out about our Patreon, Kate's weekly book recommendations newsletter and how to join our book club and get extra episodes
 

Irish author Claire Keegan is generally considered to be one of the finest writers working today. ‘Every word is the right word in the right place, and the effect is resonant and deeply moving’ said Hilary Mantel, of her work, while for Colm Toiíbín ‘Claire Keegan makes her moments real – and then she makes them matter.’ Praise indeed, but what did our brand new podcast book club make of So Late in the Day, her most recently published short story? We’ll be reporting back.
And we’re also rounding up a few stand-outs from our recent reading piles, from J. L. Carr’s meditative classic A Month in the Country to V.E. Schwab’s latest fantasy novel The Fragile Threads of Power.
Book list
So Late in the Day and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt,
The Road to the City by Natalia Ginsberg in the Storybook ND series
Tom Lake, Bel Canto and The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer
The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn
Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey
A Month in the Country, by J. L. Carr
Soldier, Sailor by Claire Kilroy
The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
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or email us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, we love to hear from you

Is there any point in doing a nice thing if you can’t flaunt it on social media? Can we ever know what it’s like to be a bat? If we know Cinderella isn’t real, why do we care about whether or not she marries the prince? In this episode Kate is joined by Jonny Thomson, the man behind the popular Instagram account @philosophyminis, and a bestselling book of the same name. With a new title out, Mini Big Ideas, it seemed the perfect time to catch up with him and consider the philosophical ideas that lie behind three works of fiction: The Death of Yvan Illyich by Leo Tolstoy, Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Just what connects these three titles? Listen in to find out, plus a few more book recommendations. All that, plus discover 'the gap', and how knowing about it might change your life, and the benefits of scepticism.
Book list
On Fairy Stories by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Death of Ivan Illyich by Leo Tolstoy (and in particular the Peter Carson translation)
Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Leonard & Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer
Metaphysical Animals by Rachel Wiseman and Claire MacCumhaill
Philosopher Queens by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting
Mini Philosophy and Mini Big Ideas by Jonny Thomson
Notes
Find Jonny on Instagram @philosophyminis
Find us at: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk
Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast
Kate's Threads reading log: @bookclubreviewpodcast@threads.net
Newsletter sign-up: https://substack.com/@thebookclubreview
Patreon and book club: We've made free episodes of The Book Club Review for 6 years now, and we'll continue to keep them free, and ad-free. But they take a lot in terms of time and resources so if you appreciate the shows and would like to support us we now have a Patreon where you can do that. In return you'll get weekly bookish recommendations from Kate, plus, at the higher tier, extra episodes and membership of our podcast book club, to be held over Zoom once a month on Sunday nights (UK time). We would love to see you there. https://patreon.com/thebookclubreview

Whether you're after fly-through-them page-turners or immersive long-reads, or perhaps you're after a challenge, or the perfect discussion book, we've got the list for you. Find out our expert picks from indie-bookshop Bookbar's Chrissy Ryan, a woman at the centre of a hub of reading recommendations from authors, customers and booksellers alike. Kate is swapping notes and sharing her own summer reading pile. Plus just to pack in even more book tips we've got a few extra recommendations from Chrissy's Bookbar team. And so sit back and let us give you books to inspire, inform, amuse and entertain as we see out the summer and anticipate our Autumn reads.
Booklist
The Guest by Emma Cline
Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang
The Centre, by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqui,
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson,
Time’s Shelter by Gyorgi Gospodinov,
Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan
How to Read Now and America is not the Heart by Elaine Castillo
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford
The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Tom Lake, and These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
Read This: Handpicked Favourites from America’s Indie Bookstores, compiled by Hans Weyandt (Coffee House Press)
Roman Stories and Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
Notes
Visit Bookbar online
The indie publishing mavericks shaking up the UK book world (The Guardian)
The Book Club Review's Fitzcarraldo episode
 

If you've been wondering whether or not to tackle the work of Nobel-prizewinner Annie Ernaux, and in partiular The Years, generally considered to be definitive, listen in and find out what Laura's book club thought (you might be surprised).
We're also generally delighted by how interesting the life of 17th-century poet John Donne is in the hands of Katherine Rundell, and her Baillie-Gifford prizewinner Super-Infinite. But were Kate's book club unanimous in their praise?
Discover more great reads as we delve into our recent reading piles. Find out the hits and misses, plus the books we've got on the go right now.
Booklist
The Years by Annie Ernaux
Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell
The Banished Immortal by Ha Jin
Grey Bees by Andrei Kurkov
Avid Reader by Robert Gottlieb (and we also mentioned the film Turn Every Page)
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Watch us Dance by Leila Slimani (and we also mentioned her other books Lullaby or The Perfect Nanny, and The Country of Others)
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (and we also mentioned her previous book The Luminaries)
Monsters by Claire Dederer
The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng
Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tocarczuk
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor
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Notes 
Website: https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk
Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast
Kate's Threads reading log: @bookclubreviewpodcast@threads.net
Newsletter sign-up: https://substack.com/@thebookclubreview
Patreon and book club: We're cooking up a pod bookclub, launching September, as part of our Patreon account. You'll be supporting our show, and once a month on Sunday nights (UK time) you'll also be able to join Kate for an online book-club, to be held over zoom. We'll put all the details on our Patreon soon, and hope you'll sign up as we can't wait to talk books in person.

Join Kate in the historic market town of St. Albans, home to a cathedral, some impressive Roman ruins and one of Kate's favourite independent bookshops. Books on the Hill is owned and run by a mother and daughter duo who launched it just before the pandemic. Listen in and find out what makes it so special, their book club recommendations and discover Kate and Antonia's choices as they each pick three books from the shelves, from new releases to classic gems.
Books mentioned:
The Wild Places by Robert McFarlane
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Femina by Gina Ramirez
The Scent of Flowers at Night by Leila Slïmani
Ross Poldark by Winston Graham
Queen Victoria by Lytton Strachey
The Joy of Small Things by Hannah Jane Parkinson
Why Women Grow by Alice Vincent
Find Books on the Hill at https://www.books-on-the-hill.co.uk