The Bookshelf

On this week’s edition of The Bookshelf: dogs in literature, writing about Alzheimer’s and fragmenting language, big books versus novellas, and why there’s so much time travel in books right now. Reviewers Tony Birch and Beejay Silcox tackle these big reading questions and share an overview of October new releases, with a focus on Carrie Tiffany’s The Lady with the Dog, Favel Parrett’s One for Sorrow and Claire North’s As We Fall Through Time.Books featuredThe Lady with the Dog, Carrie Tiffany, New SouthOne for Sorrow, Favel Parrett, HachetteAs We Fall Through Time, Claire North, OrbitOther Books MentionedDogs in literatureWomen and Children, Tony BirchThe Odyssey, HomerDiscworld series, Terry PratchettThe Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David WroblewskiClariel, Garth NixFlush, Virginia WoolfThe Famous Five, Enid BlytonTenderfoot, Toni JordanRin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, Susan OrleanThe Friend, Sigrid NunezThe Philosopher's Dog, Raimond GaitaBig books vs NovellasChina Miéville, The RouseMarlon James, The DisappearersPublic Access Afterworld, Jane SchoenbrunClaire Keegan, worksDark Roots, Cate Kennedy,The Song of Stork and Dromedary, Anjet DaanjeSusanna Clarke, worksO Now! — Niall WilliamsThe Lady with the Little Dog, Anton ChekhovTime TravelPlaying Beatie Bow, Ruth ParkA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark TwainThe Ministry of Time, Kaliane BradleyTime Travel for Beginners, Jaclyn MoriartyLife Out of Order, Audrey NiffeneggerThe Other Valley, Scott Alexander HowardTime Shelter, Georgi Gospodinov,On the Calculation of Volume #5, Solvej BalleOctober new releases + other books mentionedA Court of Splintered Harmony, Sarah J. MaasFinding Justice, Larissa BehrendtDey, Edwidge DanticatBad Words, Rioghnach RobinsonFifty Beating Wonders, Michelle JohnstonMemoir, John McGahernMusic Against Time, Yiyun LiSwitzy, Emma ClineYou Must Remember This, Sean WilsonMusic Against Time, Yiyun LiPaddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Roddy DoyleThe Friday Bookshop, Sawako NatoriArendel, Karl Ove KnausgaardThe Housekeeper, Rose Tremain

Kate and Cassie discuss Chinese-born American writer Yiyun Li's Music Against the Night, an exquisite exploration of music and time. Plus, with regular guests crime writer Michael Robotham and novelist and university lecturer Roanna Gonsalves, they unpack violence and homophobia in Jamaica in Marlon James' Booker-shortlisted novel The Disappearers; and review Peck & Peck, the latest screwball literary caper from Lessons in Chemistry bestseller Bonnie Garmus.BOOKS Yiyun Li, Music Against the Night, Farrar Straus and GirouxMarlon James, The Disappearers, Hamish HamiltonBonnie Garmus, Peck & Peck, Manilla Press GUESTS Michael Robotham, crime writer whose latest, and 20th, novel has just been released. It’s called Tell Me Something TrueRoanna Gonsalves, writer, university lecturer, and editor of the literary journal Southerly, whose 81st edition has recently been published OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDJoyride by Susan OrleanThe End of Everything by M. John HarrisonBlack Bag by Luke KennardMay We Feed the King by Rebecca PerryThe Things We Never Say by Elizabeth StroutJohn of John by Douglas StuartThe Second Child by Malcolm Knox

More than 280,000 votes were cast. Now Kate and Cassie reveal the books that just missed Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books countdown.With special guests literary curator and Top 100 producer Michaela Kalowski, and critic and publisher Geordie Williamson, they unpack the biggest talking points from the vote and spotlight the next 100 books in Australia's literary ranking.Download a printable Top 100 Australian Books 1-100 rankedAlso, the list from 101-200The 'Ones That Got Away' List: 101-200101 — Phosphorescence (2019) — Julia Baird102 — Bliss (1981) — Peter Carey103 — Always Home Always Homesick (2025) — Hannah Kent104 — Kissed by the Moon (2013) — Alison Lester105 — The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1997) — Richard Flanagan106 — A Room Made of Leaves (2020) — Kate Grenville107 — The Eleventh Hour (1988) — Graeme Base108 — The Labyrinth (2020) — Amanda Lohrey109 — Fight Like a Girl (2016) — Clementine Ford110 — Eggshell Skull (2018) — Bri Lee111 — Bruny (2019) — Heather Rose112 — Any Ordinary Day (2018) — Leigh Sales113 — No Friend But the Mountains (2018) — Behrouz Boochani114 — The Season (2024) — Helen Garner115 — Who Sank the Boat? (1982) — Pamela Allen116 — Bridge of Clay (2018) — Markus Zusak117 — The Riders (1994) — Tim Winton118 — Romulus My Father (1998) — Raimond Gaita119 — Banjo Paterson's Bush Ballads (2007) — A.B. Banjo Paterson120 — On the Beach (1957) — Nevil Shute121 — Wake in Fright (1961) — Kenneth Cook122 — The Transit of Venus (1980) — Shirley Hazzard123 — The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill (1939) — Dorothy Wall124 — The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1930) — Henry Handel Richardson125 — All Our Shimmering Skies (2020) — Trent Dalton126 — Obernewtyn (1987) — Isobelle Carmody127 — An Imaginary Life (1978) — David Malouf128 — Mary Poppins (1934) — P.L. Travers129 — Death of a River Guide (1994) — Richard Flanagan130 — Disgrace (1999) — J. M. Coetzee131 — The Rúin (2018) — Dervla McTiernan132 — Hating Alison Ashley (1984) — Robin Klein133 — Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (1984) — Mem Fox and Julie Vivas134 — He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (1994) — John Birmingham135 — Sorrow and Bliss (2020) — Meg Mason136 — Gould's Book of Fish (2001) — Richard Flanagan137 — Dusk (2024) — Robbie Arnott138 — Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (1996) — Doris Pilkington and Nugi Garimara139 — Tell Me Why (1993) — Archie Roach140 — Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (2021) — Anita Heiss141 — The Year of Living Dangerously (1978) — Christopher Koch142 — Holding the Man (1995) — Timothy Conigrave143 — How To End a Story: Collected Diaries (2021) — Helen Garner144 — The Drover's Wife (1892) — Henry Lawson145 — Journey to the Stone Country (2002) — Alex Miller146 — Grand Days (1993) — Frank Moorhouse147 — Grug (1979) — Ted Prior148 — Ransom (2009) — David Malouf149 — See What You Made Me Do (2019) — Jess Hill150 — The Songlines (1987) — Bruce Chatwin151 — The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea (1965) — Randolph Stow152 — Memorial Days (2025) — Geraldine Brooks153 — Tirra Lirra by the River (1978) — Jessica Anderson154 — The First Stone (1995) — Helen Garner155 — Rowan of Rin (1993) — Emily Rodda156 — The White Girl (2019) — Tony Birch157 — The Good People (2016) — Hannah Kent158 — The Women in Black (1993) — Madeleine St John159 — Bitter Wash Road (2013) — Garry Disher160 — The CWA Cookery Book and Household Hints, 54th edition (1993) — CWA161 — Once (2005) — Morris Gleitzman162 — Nevermoor (2017) — Jessica Townsend163 — Tracks (1980) — Robyn Davidson164 — Poor Man's Orange (1949) — Ruth Park165 — The Biggest Estate on Earth (2011) — Bill Gammage166 — Australian Gospel (2024) — Lech Blaine167 — The Wife and the Widow (2019) — Christian White168 — Praise (1992) — Andrew McGahan169 — The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1972) — Thomas Keneally170 — Illywhacker (1985) — Peter Carey171 — Migrations (2020) — Charlotte McConaghy172 — The Barefoot Investor (2004) — Scott Pape173 — Past the Shallows (2011) — Favel Parrett174 — Blueback (1997) — Tim Winton175 — Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia (2013) — David Hunt176 — Sabriel (1995) — Garth Nix177 — The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow (2002) — A.J. Mackinnon178 — Barracuda (2013) — Christos Tsiolkas179 — The Muddleheaded Wombat (1962) — Ruth Park180 — Reckoning (2015) — Magda Szubanski181 — Killing for Country (2023) — David Marr182 — Fly Away Peter (1982) — David Malouf183 — The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia (2010) — Nicolas Day and Ken Simpson184 — A Fraction of the Whole (2008) — Steve Toltz185 — The Lost Thing (2000) — Shaun Tan186 — The Tea Ladies (2023) — Amanda Hampson187 — The Getting of Wisdom (1910) — Henry Handel Richardson188 — Flames (2018) — Robbie Arnott189 — Bodies of Light (2021) — Jennifer Down190 — Love and Virtue (2021) — Diana Reid191 — The Weekend (2019) — Charlotte Wood192 — The Will of the Many (2023) — James Islington193 — Homecoming (2023) — Kate Morton194 — The Lucky Country (1964) — Donald Horne195 — Capricornia (1938) — Xavier Herbert196 — Ten Steps to Nanette (2022) — Hannah Gadsby197 — Poor Fellow My Country (1975) — Xavier Herbert198 — Discipline (2025) — Randa Abdel-Fattah199 — The Nowhere Child (2018) — Christian White200 — Cocaine Blues (1989) — Kerry Greenwood

On this special edition of The Bookshelf, ahead of the Top 100 Australian Books Countdown, Kate Evans speaks with historian Professor Martyn Lyons about the history of reading in Australia and what our reading lives can reveal about the nation. Plus, crime fiction expert Sue Turnbull traces the evolution of Australian crime writing before sharing three books she loves. Singer-songwriter Fanny Lumsden and artist-performer Maeve Marsden also reveal their top three Australian reads. And in the podcast edition, music journalist Stuart Coupe joins us with three Australian books he can't live without.GuestsMartin Lyons – Emeritus Professor of History and European Studies in the School of Humanities and Languages at UNSWSue Turnbull – Honorary Professor of Communication and Media at the University of Wollongong, with expertise in crime fiction, television and popular cultureMaeve Marsden – Theatre maker, performer and Creative Director of Varuna, the National Writers' House in the NSW Blue MountainsFanny Lumsden – ARIA Award-winning country singer-songwriter whose fifth studio album, Traditions, is due for release on 30 OctoberStuart Coupe – Australian music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist and record label founderBooks mentioned and Guest RecommendationsLiterary FoundationsMartyn Lyons, The Uses of Literacy in Colonial Australia Jane Austen, worksWalter Scott, worksHenry Kendall, poetic worksAdam Lindsay Gordon, poetic worksA B ‘Banjo’ Paterson, worksHenry Lawson, worksCharles Dickens, worksClassic Australian Fiction Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under ArmsEleanor Dark, The Timeless LandMiles Franklin, My Brilliant CareerCrime & MysteryArthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes storiesFergus Hume, The Mystery of a Hansom CabLucy Sussex, Blockbuster!Peter Corris, The Empty BeachMarele Day, The Life and Crimes of Harry LavenderSharon Kernot, Night SwimmingDorothy Porter, The Monkey’s MaskPeter Temple, The Broken ShoreGarry Disher, Bitter Wash RoadJane Harper, The DryPeter Corris, The Dying TradeContemporary Fiction Geraldine Brooks, HorsePip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words, The Bookbinder of JerichoHelen Garner, Monkey GripEda Gunaydin, Root and BranchEvelyn Araluen, The RotJane Harrison, The VisitorsJessie Tu, A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous thingChildren's LiteratureAlison Lester, Kissed by the MoonMusic, Culture & MemoirColin Talbot’s Greatest HitsGarrie Hutchinson, From the OuterRenee Geyer, Confessions of a Difficult WomanStuart Coupe and Toby Creswell, Sounds Like Teen Spirit: The Anarchic Unauthorised Story of Triple J & Double J

Kate and Cassie are joined by rockstar Tim Rogers and novelist Madeleine Gray to discuss some big new releases.Australian crime heavyweight Chris Hammer swaps the outback for the world of high finance in Full Circle, a thriller of money, power and corruption. Then there's Jem Calder's I Want You to Be Happy, a zeitgeisty portrait of young Londoners searching for connection in an increasingly disconnected world; and Pip Williams' The German Wife, her eagerly anticipated follow-up to The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Bookbinder of Jericho, a sweeping World War I story of forbidden love and art.Plus, as Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books countdown draws closer, novelist, essayist and art critic Fiona Kelly McGregor discusses three Australian books that have had an impact on her life and writing. FEATURED BOOKSFull Circle by Chris Hammer, Summit BooksI Want You to be Happy by Jem Calder, FaberThe German Ward by Pip Williams,  Affirm Press FIONA KELLY MCGREGOR'S TOP 3 AUSTRALIAN BOOKSWorking Hot by Mary FallonThe Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European Invasion of Australia by Henry ReynoldsVoss by Patrick WhiteOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDFamesick by Lena DunhamThe Book of George by Kate GreatheadRejection by Tony TulathimutteLean Cat, Savage Cat by Lauren J. JosephDetransition, Baby by Torrey PetersHappy Hour by Marlowe GranadosJohnno by David MaloufNight Boat to Tangier, Beatlebone by Kevin BarryA Suitable Man by Jock Serong

This week, Kate and Cassie are joined by regulars Hannah Kent and Tom Wright to discuss three books that echo one another across themes of art, beauty, family and transformation.In Barbara Kingsolver's Partita, a young woman longs to escape her small town and difficult mother through music (and there are dogs and an accident); Ayad Akhtar's The Radiance follows a man whose vivid, radiant life is shaped by music and ambition (and there’s a terrible accident); And in Colm Tóibín's The Bridge, a son and father navigate change, possibility and belonging in a new world (accompanied by a whole pack of dogs).Plus, voting may have closed for The Bookshelf's Top 100 Australian Books, but we're still taking inspiration from readers' recommendations. Actor, writer and trans activist Zoe Terakes joins us to share their three favourite Australian books.Featured booksBarbara Kingsolver, Partita, FaberColm Toíbín, The Bridge, PicadorAyad Akhtar, The Radiance, SummitZoe Terakes' Top 3Christos Tsiolkas , LoadedChelsea Watego, Another Day in the ColonyTimothy Conigrave, Holding the Man Other Books mentionedStephanie Alexander, The Cook's CompanionAlison Lester, Magic BeachShirley Hazzard, The Great FireHannah Moloney, The Good Life: How To Grow A Better WorldChristina Stead, Seven Poor Men of Sydney

In American Hagwon, the bestselling author of Pachinko, Min Jin Lee, explores family, education, ambition and the long shadow of economic upheaval, set between Seoul, Sydney and California. Louise Kennedy's Stations offers a tough and deeply felt Irish family story, while Catherine Chidgey's The Starving Bride turns hunger into a strange gothic performance. Kate and Cassie are joined this time by regulars, novelist and academic Professor Tony Birch and critic and literary judge Beejay Silcox. And, as we count down to the Top 100 Australian Books, Frank Moorhouse's biographer Matthew Lamb reveals his top three.Books featuredMin Jin Lee, American Hagwon, Fourth EstateLouise Kennedy, Stations, Bloomsbury CircusCatherine Chidgey, The Starving Bride, Penguin Matthew Lamb's Top 100 picksForty-Seventeen (1988) by Frank MoorhouseTourmaline (1963) by Randolph StowWriter Reader Critic (1992) by Dorothy Green Other books mentionedJanet McCalman, StruggletownPeter Carey, The Fat Man in HistoryThe Women's Weekly Birthday Cake BookLeonie Norrington, Djawundil Maymuru, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs and Djawa Burarrwanga, A Piece of Red ClothGretchen Shirm, Out of the WoodsColleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

Kate and Cassie take a look at bestselling author Emily St. John Mandel's latest, Exit Party, an epic that follows a doppelgänger and a man who disappears from a Los Angeles party in 2031, leading to a journey across parallel worlds and fractured timelines. Internationally-bestselling crime writer Michael Robotham is in to discuss The Weight of Angels by John Boyne; and Graham Akhurst, novelist, academic and Director of Indigenous Studies at the University of Technology  on Turkish writer Kenan Orhan's Booker Longlisted novel The Renovation; and historian and author Anna Clark is in to share her Top 100 picks.Books featuredEmily St John Mandel, Exit Party, PicadorJohn Boyne, The Weight of Angels, DoubledayKenan Orhan, The Renovation, Hamish HamiltonAnna Clark's Top 100 picksRaimond Gaita, Romulus, My FatherGay'wu Group of Women, Songspirals: Sharing Women’s Wisdom of Country through SonglinesBilly Griffiths, Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient AustraliaThe Macquarie Dictionary, first edition published 1981Ken Simpson and Nicolas Day, Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, first edition published in 1984Other books mentionedGabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of SolitudeJames Joyce, UlyssesAlexis Wright, PraiseworthyChina Miéville, The City & the CityClaire G. Coleman, worksCurtis Sittenfeld, RodhamPeter Carey, IllywhackerSteve Toltz, A Fraction of the WholeAlexis Wright, CarpentariaKim Scott, Benang: From the HeartWe want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.

We step into Irish bestseller Donal Ryan's world in Where Are the Kings, a tender coming of age story about a boy navigating grief. Inside a fracturing mind in Emma Cline’s Booker Longlisted novel Switzy, read with novelist Madeleine Gray. A chronicle of DIY activism, collectives and autonomous living in Sydney's west in Australian writer Max Easton’s Now, Autonomy, read for us by singer-songwriter Tim Rogers, and a newer world emerges in the wake of the American Civil War in Sebastian Barry’s new novel, The Newer World, read by author Hannah Kent.BOOKS FEATUREDDonal Ryan, Where Are the Kings, DoubledayEmma Cline, Switzy, Chatto & WindusMax Easton, Now, Autonomy, GiramondoSebastian Barry, The Newer World, FaberOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDSigrid Nunez, What Are You Going ThroughMeg Howrey, Body LanguageColum McCann, ApeirogonMelina Marchetta, Looking for AlibrandiAbigal Ulman, Hot Little HandsPatrick White, The Tree of ManHeather Rose, The Museum of Modern LoveElizabeth Jolley, The WellWe want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.

Kate and Cassie with regular reviewer Tom Wright discuss new releases including Melissa Harrison’s The Given World and Malcolm Knox’s The Second Child. Plus, novelist and memoirist Mandy Sayer on her Top 3 Australian books ahead of Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books Countdown.Mandy Sayer's Top 3 Australian BooksChristina Stead, The Man Who Loved Children (1940)Robin Dalton, Aunts up the Cross (1965)David Malouf, Johnno (1975) Other books mentionedA.B. Facey, A Fortunate LifeGeorge Johnston, My Brother JackEric C. Rolls, They All Ran WildEmily St John Mandel, Exit PartyColm Toibin, The BridgeBarbara Kingsolver, PartitaJohn Boyne, The Weight of AngelsMarlon James, The DisappearersMax Porter, worksPatrick Gale, worksSarah Moss, worksJoseph Furphy, Such is LifePeter Carey, IllywhackerGerald Munane, The Plains