George Saunders' Vigil: The Book Club Debate

George Saunders' Vigil: The Book Club Debate

George Saunders is back with Vigil, his first novel since Lincoln in the Bardo. In this episode, Kate is joined by fellow book podcasters Jenny King and Sarah Kemp from The Bookcast Club to discuss it Given his back catalogue, does Vigil live up to the high expectations we have Saunders, one of America's most admired contemporary writers? Why is he so fond of writing about ghosts? Do death, redemption, capitalism and climate change make for an enjoyable read? Do we want novels to be enjoyable? Or do we want them to make a point? We're also exploring Leo Tolstoy's classic novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich, cited by Saunders as a key influence on Vigil, and asks what both books reveal about how we live, how we die, and whether it's ever too late to change. Along the way, Kate, Jenny and Sarah share recent reads, their love of a Kobo e-reader, and recommend books (and one film) following on from our book club read. Books discussed Vigil by George Saunders The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy Transcription by Ben Lerner Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino North Woods by Daniel Mason Storyland by Catherine McKinnon Plus a recommendation for the film Palm Springs. Patreon Access extra episodes, join the pod book club and support the show at Patreon.com/bookclubreview [https://www.patreon.com/c/thebookclubreview] Follow on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/bookclubreviewpodcast/?hl=en] email thebookclubreview@gmail.com Timestamps 1:26 Recent Reads & Kobos – Bookshelf chat, Kobo e-reader enthusiasm, and current reads including Ben Lerner's Transcription and Kiran Millwood Hargrave's Almost Life. 11:54 About The Bookcast Club 14:41 Patreon Break 16:17 What Is Vigil? – Spiritual guide Jill escorts a remorseless fossil fuel tycoon toward death. Audiobook excerpt included. 22:16 Discussing Jill 28:22 Climate & KJ Boon 31:21 A Christmas Carol Parallels 34:16 Broader Reflections – Kate wonders if great writers can no longer make moral judgments in today's climate; Transcription raises similar questions. 35:54 Verdict on Vigil 38:30 The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Tolstoy's novella discussed as Saunders' cited influence. 43:00 Tolstoy the Man 48:36 Recommendations 52:42 Wrap-up See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

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

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 covering all six books, and you’ll also find out what Amanda has on her TBR, the books she most loves recommending, and how a busy book podcaster organises her bookshelves. Timestamps for the time-poor 00:00 Welcome and Prize Preview 01:31 Meet Amanda Molson 01:44 Quickfire Reading Habits 03:18 Bookshelf Organization 04:06 Favorite Recs and Current Reads 06:20 Kate’s Power Broker Detour 08:54 Patreon Readalong and Book Club 10:12 Women’s Prize Context and History 15:09 Shortlist Book 1 Flashlight 20:51 Shortlist Book 2 Dominion 25:23 Shortlist Book 3 The Correspondent 26:31 Sybil’s Dark Past 27:07 Audiobook Clip Letters 29:15 Cozy Yet Dark 30:22 Famous Author Replies 31:14 Sybil Effect Debate 32:49 Craft and Book Clubs 33:28 The Mercy Step Setup 34:40 Mercy Step Clip 36:35 Child Narrator Power 37:12 Small Press Spotlight 38:01 Kingfisher Obsessive Love 38:50 Kingfisher Clip Warning 40:40 Kingfisher Reactions 41:35 Heart the Lover Clip 44:07 Two Halves Romance 45:36 Illness and Mortality 47:33 Marketing and Triggers 49:04 Winner Predictions 51:23 Wrap Up and Patreon 52:25 Kate’s Recent Reads and Outro Books mentioned Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell You With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate Open Book by Jessica Simpson A Long Game by Elizabeth McCracken The Power Broker by Robert Caro We Are Green and Trembling Gabriela Cabezón Cámara Feminist History for Every Day of the Year by Kate Mosse The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki Piranesi by Susanna Clarke Flashlight by Susan Choi Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick Dominion by Addie E. Citchens The Correspondent by Virginia Evans The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly Heart the Lover by Lily King Writers & Lovers by Lily King A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel The Director by Daniel Kehlman The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby This is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin You'll find all the titles we mentioned in our Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/192-the-2026-women-s-prize?&new-list-page=true] list. Buying books there helps support independent bookshops, and also supports The Book Club Review. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

The Guardian's 100 Best Novels of All Time: A Hot Take, with Phil Chaffee and Joseph Dance

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 [https://podfollow.com/1789800439], 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 joys of the sub-lists – the contributor lists – all squirrelled away on a sub-section of the Guardian's website, that arguably provide more excitement and inspiration than the fairly canonical top 100. Which is the best Brontë? Which is the best Austen? Do we age into certain books? If you've read all seven volumes of Proust shouldn't that count for more than one entry? All this and much, much more. Enjoy – this was an absolute delight to make and I hope it makes you smile as much as it did me. Have your say: get in touch on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com, or head to our website [https://www.thebookclubreview.co.uk] for full shownotes. What would be in your top-10? Check out the Patreon for all kinds of extras, from our monthly book club to extra shows and Kate's reading diaries. Find it at patreon.com/thebookclubreview The Guardian’s List of the 100 Greatest Novels published in English [https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/12/the-100-best-novels-of-all-time], copied below for ease of reference. *underlined – the ones Kate has read 1. Middlemarch 2. Beloved 3. Ulysses 4. To the Lighthouse 5. In Search of Lost Time 6. Anna Karenina 7. War and Peace 8. Jane Eyre 9. Pride and Prejudice 10. Madame Bovary 11. The Great Gatsby 12. Bleak House 13. Emma 14. Mrs Dalloway 15. Moby-Dick 16. Nineteen Eighty-Four 17. One Hundred Years of Solitude 18. Persuasion 19. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman 20. Wuthering Heights 21. The Portrait of a Lady 22. Things Fall Apart 23. Midnight’s Children 24. The Remains of the Day 25. Lolita 26. Don Quixote 27. The Trial 28. The Brothers Karamazov 29. Pale Fire 30. Frankenstein 31. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 32. The God of Small Things 33. David Copperfield 34. Wolf Hall 35. Great Expectations 36. The Handmaid’s Tale 37. Invisible Man 38. The Age of Innocence 39. Their Eyes Were Watching God 40. Song of Solomon 41. Heart of Darkness 42. The Magic Mountain 43. Housekeeping 44. Giovanni’s Room 45. The Golden Notebook 46. The Leopard 47. Vanity Fair 48. The Metamorphosis 49. A Fine Balance 50. Wide Sargasso Sea 51. My Brilliant Friend 52. The Golden Bowl 53. The Transit of Venus 54. Orlando 55. The Waves 56. Mansfield Park 57. The Sound and the Fury 58. Disgrace 59. Never Let Me Go 60. Howards End 61. The Rings of Saturn 62. Half of a Yellow Sun 63. White Teeth 64. The Good Soldier 65. The Color Purple 66. The Master and Margarita 67. The Man Without Qualities 68. Blood Meridian 69. Crime and Punishment 70. Jude the Obscure 71. Kindred 72. Our Mutual Friend 73. Austerlitz 74. Nervous Conditions 75. The Bluest Eye 76. Dracula 77. The Rainbow 78. A House for Mr Biswas 79. Go Tell It on the Mountain 80. Rebecca 81. Buddenbrooks 82. The End of the Affair 83. A Farewell to Arms 84. The Talented Mr Ripley 85. The Vegetarian 86. The Turn of the Screw 87. The Line of Beauty 88. Ragtime 89. The Left Hand of Darkness 90. Jacob’s Room 91. Life and Fate 92. Sentimental Education 93. Invisible Cities 94. The Known World 95. The Return of the Native 96. Pedro Páramo 97. Catch-22 98. The Road 99. The Go-Between 100. My Ántonia Particular books we touch on in the show * Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/55499/things-fall-apart-by-chinua-achebe-introduction-by-biyi-bandele/9780141186887] * Ulysses by James Joyce [https://wordsworth-editions.com/book/ulysses/] * In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/56841/in-search-of-lost-time-volume-1-by-marcel-proust----------trans-lydia-davis-adv-ed-christopher-prendergast/9780141180311] * My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante [https://www.europaeditions.co.uk/book/9781609450786/my-brilliant-friend/] * Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/431788/wuthering-heights-vintage-classics-bronte-series-by-bronte-emily/9781784870744] * As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/356600/as-i-lay-dying-by-faulknerwilliam/9780099479314] * Villette by Charlotte Brontë [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/183887/villette-by-charlotte-bronte/9780141199887] * Orlando [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/57180/orlando-by-woolf-virginia/9780143138211], The Waves [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/484649/the-waves-by-woolf-virginia/9781841594446] and To the Lighthouse [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/353652/to-the-lighthouse-by-woolf-virginia/9781529946338] by Virginia Woolf * One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/25335/one-hundred-years-of-solitude-by-gabriel-garcia-marquez/9780241968581] * Middlemarch by George Eliot [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/354412/middlemarch-by-george-eliot/9780141439546] * Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo [https://groveatlantic.com/book/pedro-paramo/] * Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier [https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/daphne-du-maurier/rebecca/9780349006574/] * The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/354871/the-leopard-by-giuseppe-tomasi-di-lampedusa/9780099512158] * Nervous Conditions, The Book of Not and This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga [https://www.faber.co.uk/author/tsitsi-dangarembga/] * The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard [https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/shirley-hazzard/the-transit-of-venus/9781860491818/] * Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes [https://wordsworth-editions.com/book/don-quixote/] * The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/354863/the-magic-mountain-by-thomas-mann/9780749386429] * Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/369722/buddenbrooks-by-mann-thomas/9780749386474] * Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry [https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/larry-mcmurtry/lonesome-dove/9781529099942] * Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy [https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/cormac-mccarthy/blood-meridian/9781529077162] * The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1118840/the-memory-police-by-ogawa-yoko/9781784700447] * The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt [https://www.ndbooks.com/book/the-english-understand-wool/] * A Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/354409/season-of-migration-to-the-north-by-tayeb-salih/9780141187204] * The Princess of Clèves by Madame de Lafayette [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/354838/the-princess-of-cleves-by-madame-de-lafayette/9780140445879] * The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz [https://www.penguin.co.uk/series/CATR/cairo-trilogy] * The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/365109/the-makioka-sisters-by-tanizaki-junichiro/9780749397104] * The Trial [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/57053/the-trial-by-kafka-franz/9780241820483] and Metamorphosis [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/451553/metamorphosis-by-kafka-franz/9780241573730] by Franz Kafka * The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/57119/the-go-between-by-hartley-l-p/9780141187785] * Moby-Dick by Herman Melville [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/351745/moby-dick-by-herman-melville/9780142437247] * A House for Mr Biswas [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/373032/a-house-for-mr-biswas-by-naipaul-v-s/9781857152135] by V. S. Naipaul * The New Life by Tom Crewe [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/447017/the-new-life-by-crewe-tom/9781529919714] * Miss Marjoribanks by Mrs Oliphant [https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/margaret-oliphant/miss-marjoribanks/9781844082087/] * The Palliser novels by Anthony Trollope [https://trollopesociety.org/product/palliser-novels/] * The Warden by Anthony Trollope [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/410159/the-warden-by-anthony-trollope/9780099528654] * The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil [https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/robert-musil/the-man-without-qualities/9781447289432] * The Known World by Edward P. Jones [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-known-world-edward-p-jones] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

The Art of the Everyday: Miranda Keeling, The Anthropologists and the books that slow us down

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 that remind us how much magic is hiding in the everyday. Their book club read is the perfect complement: The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Şavas – a soulful, quietly funny novel following Asya and Manu as they hunt for an apartment, trying on different futures for size in a city far from home. Asya, a documentary filmmaker, spends her days in the park gathering footage – an anthropologist of the ordinary – and her project rhymes beautifully with Miranda's own. Plus recommendations inspired by the art of the everyday. You can find out more about Miranda and her work at mirandakeeling.com [http://mirandakeeling.com], and her podcast Stopping to Notice – over 200 five-minute episodes of binaural location recording – is the perfect companion listen. Find all the books mentioned at our bookshop.org shop [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/190-the-art-of-the-everyday-with-miranda-keeling?&new-list-page=true]. And if you'd like to join Kate's monthly book club and reading community, head to patreon.com/thebookclubreview [http://patreon.com/thebookclubreview]. Booklist Ashes and Stones [https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/allyson-shaw/ashes-and-stones/9781529395495/] by Alison Shaw – a journey through Scotland in search of the women killed in the witch trials Open Book [https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/open-book-jessica-simpson?variant=55638493954427] by Jessica Simpson – Laura takes a nostalgic trip back through her twenties No Such Thing as Monday [https://theindigopress.com/product/no-such-thing-as-monday/] by Sîan Hughes – a brilliantly written novel from the author of Pearl; up there with Eimear McBride ( A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing [https://www.galleybeggar.co.uk/paperback-shop/a-girl-is-a-half-formed-thing]) and Maggie O'Farrell The Anthropologists [https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-Anthropologists/Aysegul-Savas/9781398529939] by Aysgul Savas The Imperfectionist [https://www.oliverburkeman.com/the-imperfectionist], Oliver Burkeman's newsletter Small Things Like These [https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571392605-small-things-like-these/?srsltid=AfmBOorCC70HMNIJl-R_4aOSFfcAbWaW2Rr5FXvcWE7e7HWW2nJZ8U4M]by Claire Keegan Flesh [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/420940/flesh-by-szalay-david/9781529932423] by David Szalay The Café With No Name [https://canongate.co.uk/books/5112-the-cafe-with-no-name/] by Robert Seethaler Memories of Distant Mountains [https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571384587-memories-of-distant-mountains/?srsltid=AfmBOooEPWPqZ1SkBABim6mNFpVb5i0cvZlrnvbB6zyPSHYaWe-nS0rW] (illustrated notebooks) by Orhan Pamuk A Nobel Laureate's journals offer much colour but little drama [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/books/review/orhan-pamuk-memories-of-distant-mountains.html?unlocked_article_code=1.g1A.OuVQ.6Bz3rbNkhQOm&smid=url-share], by Dwight Garner for the NYT (gift link) Look Closer: How to Get More Out of Reading [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/462430/look-closer-by-douglas-fairhurst-robert/9781911717317] by Robert Douglas Fairhurst The Place I'm In [https://www.quarto.com/books/9781836004790/the-place-i-m-in] by Miranda Keeling See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Liberating Women's Voices: Austen, Wollstonecraft and after, with Bee Rowlatt

A new local literary festival provided the perfect opportunity to record the very first Book Club Review live. Kate is joined by author and broadcaster Bee Rowlatt, whose books include the best-selling Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad, which went on to be dramatised by the BBC, and In Search of Mary inspired by Mary Wollstonecraft. Bee also runs the Wollstonecraft Society, a human rights charity. Her debut novel, One Woman Crime Wave, is a novel that explores the realities of wealth, influence, and inequality in present-day London and offers plenty of talking points for book club discussion and debate. Join our festival audience to hear more about Bee's life and work and why Mary Wollstonecraft and her writing has never been more relevant. Books mentioned Find all the titles below in The Book Club Review's bookshop on Bookshop.org [https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/189-liberating-women-s-voices-austen-wollstonecraft-and-feminism-with-bee-rowlatt?&new-list-page=true] Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad: The True Story of an Unlikely Friendship by Bee Rowlatt The Correspondent by Virginia Evans In Search of Mary by Bee Rowlatt Letters Written in Sweden, Norway and Denmark by Mary Wollstonecraft One Woman Crime Wave by Bee Rowlatt An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestly Uprising by Tahmima Anam Feminism for a World on Fire by Natasha Walter Notes Find out more about The Mary Wollstonecraft memorial sculpture [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/dec/25/london-mary-wollstonecraft-statue-one-of-2020s-most-polarising-artworks] (The Guardian) Follow the Barnsbury Book Festival [https://www.barnsburybookfestival.org] for news and updates Patreon Discover what's on offer over on The Book Club Review Patreon. In becoming a member you'll get extra shows and become part of a warm community swapping book recommendations and connecting over our shared love of books and reading. At the book club tier you can join our monthly book club and come and talk books with Kate in person every month. And as a paying member you're supporting Kate in making this independent podcast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].