The Book Club Review

Ready to start your own book club? This special episode tells you how, from who to invite and what books (or genre) to read, to the pitfalls you'll want to avoid. It's packed full of inspiration and advice from book clubs we've interviewed over the years, including the Proust Book Group in Paris, London's own Jilly Cooper book club, a Horror Book Club and the Walking Book Club of Hampstead Heath. We've even come up with the top 10 recommended book club books guaranteed to get the discussing going. So, listen in for everything you need to know to start and run a flourishing book group. How to find the right book club books? Here are some of our recommended places to look: newspapers summer reading guides and end of year lists, in particular The Times and Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Observer and The Financial Times, The Washington Post and the New York Times; prizes The Booker Prize, The Booker International Prize (for books in translation), The Women's Prize, The Wainwright Prize (for nature writing), The Costa Book Awards, The Goldsmiths Prize (for books that open up new possibilities in the novel form), The Baillie Gifford Prize (for non-fiction), The Walter Scott Prize (for historical-fiction), in the US The National Book Award, the Pulitzer, Barack Obama's annual reading list, in Australia the Miles Franklin and the Stella Prize, and back in Europe Kate's favourite, The Dublin Literary Award (for books nominated by libraries around the world) Book clubs mentioned in the show: Emily's Walking Book Club of Hampstead Heath Simon Thomas's Book of the Year Club The Horror Book Club The Lesbian Book Club The London Literary Salon (Toby Brothers) Ink84 Bookshop book clubSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In our stacks this episode: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Becoming by Michelle Obama, Seven Days in the Artworld by Sarah Thornton, 84 Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury by Helene Hanff and Help Me! by Marianne Power. Listen in to find out what we thought of them, and whether there are any gems in there for your next book club read.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pat Barker's retelling of the Iliad from the female perspective proves a surprisingly marmite read. It was shortlisted for the Women's Prize and received widespread critical praise but Kate's book club was less convinced. Listen in to find out whether we loved or loathed it, plus some recommendations for your next book club read. Laura's off for this episode, back for our next Bookshelf show, coming soon. THIS SHOW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A book club for people who don't like the idea of all having to read the same book. At Bee's Bookshare everyone brings a book they've loved, loathed, can't put down or can't get into and shares them – best of all everyone gets to take away a new read at the end. We met up with Bryony Bishop, founder of Bee's Bookshare, to find out more. • Books mentioned: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting Stoner by John Williams God Help the Child by Toni Morrison Having a Wonderful Crime by Craig Rice Salt on your Tongue by Charlotte Runcie. • Bees Bookshare meets every other month, visit beesbookshare.co.uk for the latest event details and news. • Follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. If you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and means you'll never miss an episode. Thanks :) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We delve into the whirlwind story of Elizabeth Holmes and her biotech company Theranos. At its height, valued at 9 billion dollars. At its heart, a product that didn't work. In this compelling book, Wall Street Journal writer John Carreyrou sets out his dogged efforts to penetrate the wall of fear and intimidation that hid the truth. Gripping stuff, but did it make for a good book club read? What did Kate's book club think? Listen in to find out. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Listen in as we discuss the books we've reading outside of book club. In Laura's stack: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and Queenie, by Candice Carty Williams, while Kate has The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez and The Easternmost House by Juliet Blaxland. We also discuss the Wainwright Prize shortlist, how to dip into your TBR and whether there are any gems in all of these for your next book club read.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Annie and Dave tell us about their family book club that has kept their family engaging with books and debating their merits for seven years now. They give us their tips for making it work and we follow up with some recommendations for books we might try out on our own families.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A sweeping and evocative portrait of an Egyptian family at a time of great social change, from Nobel Prizewinning author Naguib Mahfouz. 'Writing worthy of a Tolstoy, a Flaubert or a Proust' said The Independent newspaper but what did Laura's book club make of it? Listen in to find out, plus lots of great recommendations to help you find your next book club read. • Recommendations were Women of Sand and Myrrh by Hanan Al-Shaykh, The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and Sally recommended The Map of Love by Ahdef Soueif and The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning. • If you'd like to see what we're up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and means you'll never miss an episode.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our latest interview is with Tyona Campbell, owner of Barnabees, a very special secondhand bookshop tucked away in the small Suffolk village of Westleton. Tyona tells us about how her shop is in a small way a protest against the data-gathering online giants, why in her shop you don't so much find the books as they find you, and why books benefit from being coddled and canoodled. She also has a couple of great recommendations for your next book club read. • Follow Barnabees on Instagram @barnabeesbooks, and if you want to visit in person the shop is located on the Yoxford Road in Westleton, IP17 2AF. It's open Thursday–Sunday 11am–5pm. • If you'd like to see what we're up to between episodes follow BCRP on Instagram or Facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com. And if you like what we do please do take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to us on iTunes, it helps other listeners find us and means you'll never miss an episode.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Happy Reader is a magazine that takes the idea of a book club as its inspiration. To celebrate the launch of their latest issue we're revisiting one of our favourite interviews, with editor Seb Emina. He told us about the careful thinking and attention to detail that goes into putting the magazine together plus has some great book recommendations and a radical suggestion for a book club where no-one is allowed to mention the book club book. Intrigued? Then listen on. • Find out more about The Happy Reader magazine and read along with their next book of the season at www.thehappyreader.com • Books recommended were Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard, The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, which we also covered in episode 13 of the podcast. • If you'd like to see what we're up to between episodes follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or why not drop us a line at thebookclubreview@gmail.com and tell us about your book club. And if you're not already, do subscribe to us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.