Book Recommendations

Since the start of the year, we’ve been compiling the best books listeners have read in 2023.

If you have any picks – brilliant books that have made you think, stood out, or you’ve raced through – send them through for us to put here!

• ‘Before You Knew My Name’ by Jacqueline Bublitz. ‘I picked it up at Perth Airport and had finished it by the time I landed in NSW. Totally un-putdownable. Two lives , entangled by circumstance, both lost, one way or another. One literally. A distinct voice and a very different approach to a crime novel’ – Andrea Walters
• ‘The Art of the Gathering’ by Priya Parker. Thanks to Kate Brehm for this pick.
• ‘The Mandrake Company Series’ by Ruby Lionsdrake. Again, thanks to Kate
• ‘Garden of Lamentations’ by Deborah Crombie. ‘It is very well written from a writer’s perspective. It is a mystery with great pacing, which is so important in this type of book. There are plenty of interest characters and subplots’ – Cynthia Mach
• ‘Small Things Like These’ by Claire Keegan. ‘Set in an Irish town in the 1980s, it asks us the big questions about morality, family and what it means to be kind – in just 128 pages’ – Claire Mellor
• ‘A Game of Hearts and Heists’ by Ruby Roe.  It’s the first book in a lesbian fantasy romance series. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a fun and steamy read that I couldn’t put it down – Erica Lott
• ‘The Situation and the Story’ by Vivian Gornick. Tarini Mohan recommended this as a great explainer on the craft of memoir writing
• ‘Age of Vice’ by Deepti Kapoor. Thanks again to Tarini for this pick – ‘though I’m not normally a fan of crime novels, this one has a deeply engaging plot which is told through the most evocative language, helping readers play the scene out in their minds!’
• ‘Snowdrops’ by A.D Miller. Recommended by Pedro Oliviera for it’s amazing insights into contemporary Russia’s dark soul. He says it reads like a prophecy, given the current situation.
• ‘The Keepers of the House’ by Shirey Ann Gray. ‘A generational story set in the American South that explores race, values and hypocrisy. It’s a Pulitzer Prize Winner too! Add it to your reading list’ – Stephanie Sanders Green
• ‘Boy Swallows Universe’ by Trent Dalton. Thanks to Sarah Kelleher for this pick. Trent came on the show back in 2019 to talk about it! Listen back here