The Bookshelf

We head by rackety ferry to Scotland in John of John, the latest, quietly devastating novel from Shuggie Bain author Douglas Stuart. Henry Lawson reimagined - brawling poets, strange tunnels, time loops, and a warped tussle between city and bush in Wayne Marshall’s Henry Goes Bush, reviewed by You Am I's Tim Rogers. From there, novelist Madeleine Gray turns her eye to Lena Dunham’s sharp, self‑aware memoir Famesick, before moving to Ellena Savage’s The Ruiners, which shifts between a Melbourne lobster shack and a smoke‑wreathed Greek island.~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDNorman Lindsay, Bohemians of the BulletinRuth Park, Playing Beatie BowRoxane Gay, Bad Feminist: EssaysLena Dunham, Not That Kind of GirlJoan Didion, worksEve Babitz, worksEllena Savage, BlueberriesCharles Dickens, worksCharmian Clift, worksGeorge Johnston, worksMichael Winkler, GriefdoggRachel Yoder, NightbitchColum McCann, ApeirogonSteve MinOn, First Name Second NameMuriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean BrodieJames Bailey, Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel SparkLee Lai, Cannon~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Craig Tilmouth and Roi HubermanExecutive producer, Rhiannon Brown

This week’s Bookshelf features the latest from Elizabeth Strout, creator of Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton, returning with a stand‑alone novel called The Things We Never Say. We’re also reading an ambitious, genre‑bending novel that moves from 1980s gaming culture to far‑future space travel, and Daniel Kehlmann’s The Director, a German novel in translation that explores film, power and propaganda. Joining us to review are Geordie Williamson - critic, publisher and writer; and Robert Forster - singer‑songwriter, founding member of The Go‑Betweens, memoirist and brand new novelist with Songwriters on the Run.~ REVIEWERSRobert Forster and Geordie Williamson~ BOOKSDaniel Kehlmann, The Director (translated from the German by Ross Benjamin), RiverrunElizabeth Strout, The Things We Never Say, Viking Penguin Portia Elan, Homebound, Chatto & WindusCaro Claire Burke, Yesteryear, Fourth Estate ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDDaniel Kehlmann, worksElizabeth Strout, My Name is Lucy BartonThe Boundless Deep, Richard HolmesJohnno, David MaloufKeeley Jobe, The EndlingAna Paula Maia, On Earth as It Is Beneath~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Craig Tilmouth and Roi HubermanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

In this episode, superstar reviewer Hannah Kent tackles the rugged terrain of a journey that edges towards the Tibetan border in Deepa Anappara's The Last of Earth, and theatre writer Tom Wright ponders extraterrestrial encounters in Amanda Lohrey's new one, Capture. Plus, Kate and Cassie take a look at two titles on the International Booker Prize shortlist, from France and Bulgaria, one follows a not‑very‑successful witch who weeps tears of blood; and the other is the story of a woman in Albania who switches genders through an ancient ritual.~ BOOKS Marie NDiaye, The Witch, translated from the French by Jordan Stump, MacLehose Press Rene Karabash, She Who Remains, translated from the Bulgarian by Izidora Angel, Peirene Press Deepa Anappara, The Last of Earth, One World Amanda Lohrey, Capture, Text~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDDavid Malouf, worksChloe Dalton, Raising HareLaura McPhee Brown, Worry Doll Ranginui Walker, Struggle Without End Patricia Walker, Potiki Cameron Sullivan, The Red Winter~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound engineer, Bella Tropiano and Hamish CamilleriArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

This week The Bookshelf leans into the wild as Kate Evans and guests are circled by stories of wolves, wild boar and witches, along with the final year of celebrated poet Sylvia Plath and a sensual story of food and obsession from Japan. Kate is joined by regular guests, the novelist, poet and Professor of Australian literature Tony Birch; and critic Beejay Silcox, who arrives fresh from the U.K. ready to talk literary pilgrimages and bookish souvenirs. Plus, a bonus discussion on this year's Stella Prize shortlist.~ BOOKS REVIEWEDInga Simpson, Once We Were Wildlife: Stories, HachetteSarah Walker, The Water Takes, Summit BooksAsako Yuzuki, Hooked, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton, Fourth EstateHelen Bain, The Daffodil Days, BloomsburySally O’Reilly, Hagtale, Scribe~ 2026 Stella Prize shortlistEvelyn Araluen, The Rot, UQPGeraldine Brooks, Memorial Days, HachetteMiranda Darling, Fireweather, ScribeLee Lai, Cannon, GiramondoMarika Sosnowski, 58 Facets: On violence and the Law, Melbourne University Press Tasma Walton, I am Nannertgarrook, Simon & SchusterNOTE: the winner will be announced on 13 May ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDIan McEwan, What We Can KnowCormac McCarthy, The RoadKim Scott, Dead Man DanceJohn Higgs, Lynchian: The Spell of David LynchAsako Yuzuki, ButterMieko Kawakami, Breasts and EggsSayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman; EarthlingsEmi Yagi, Diary of a VoidColum McCann, worksFiona McFarlane, Highway 13Guillaume Lecasble, Lobster Lucie Rico, Fowl EulogiesRobin Robertson, The Long TakeJenni Fagan, The DelusionsJames Alistair Henry, PagansLaurie Colwin, Shine On Bright and Dangerous ObjectTracy Chevalier, Burning Bright ~ CREDITSPresenter, Kate EvansProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Roi Huberman and Tegan NichollsArts Editor, Rhiannon Brown

In this episode, Kate and Cassie are joined by celebrated novelist Madeleine Gray and rock icon Tim Rogers for a wide-ranging discussion looking at three works of contemporary fiction: Indian writer Amitav Ghosh’s Ghost Eye, a meditation on reincarnation and climate change; Australian writer and musician Edwina Preston’s Sororicidal, a sharp novel of sisterhood and rivalry; and English stylist Gwendoline Riley’s The Palm House, a disquieting portrait of modern life in London.BOOKSAmitav Ghosh, Ghost-Eye (John Murray)Edwina Preston, Sororicidal (Picador)Gwendoline Riley, The Palm House (Picador)REVIEWERSMadeleine Gray — writer and critic, author of Green Dot and Chosen FamilyTim Rogers — singer‑songwriter, actor and writer; frontman of You Am I and the Hard‑Ons, currently on a solo tourOTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDBritney Spears memoirSinéad O'Connor, memoirLeo Tolstoy, Anna KareninaDaphne du Maurier, RebeccaEdwina Preston, Not Just a Suburban Boy; Bad Art MotherSimon Mason, DI Wilkins MysteriesClive James, Unreliable MemoirsCharlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark ShoreWayne Marshall, Henry Goes BushLarry McMurtry, worksJoe Boyd, And The Roots of Rhythm RemainCREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans and Sarah CorbettSound, Antonia Gauci and Micky GrossmanArts editor, Rhiannon Brown

Memory, lost conversations and almost-fathers-and sons in Ben Lerner's Transcription; children divided by the throw of a dice, and that's just the start of it, in Steve Toltz's A Rising of the Lights; no such thing as unskilled labour, in Siân Hughes' No Such Thing as Monday, where a woman works as a drycleaner, trying desperately to rid herself of the stains of her childhood; new crime releases, and an Australian in Hollywood is reconsidered. Kate and Cassie with reviewers Michael Robotham and Geordie Williamson.BOOKSBen Lerner, Transcription, GrantaSteve Toltz, A Rising of the Lights, PenguinSiân Hughes, No Such Thing as Monday, PenguinTana French, The Keeper, Viking PenguinCandice Fox, Redbelly Crossing, PenguinPatricia A. O'Brien, Errol Flynn: The true story of Australia's Hollywood Icon, Allen & Unwin[Keep scrolling for other books and writers mentioned in the discussion]GUESTSMichael Robotham is an internationally-acclaimed crime writer whose books include the Joseph O'Loughlan and Evie Cormac series. His latest novel is The White Crow — and his next one, Tell Me Something True, will be his first to be set in AustraliaGeordie Wiliamson is a literary critic, writer and publisher at Picador, whose books include a critical study of Alexis Wright in the Black Inc Writers on Writers series; and The Burning Library — on neglected Australian writersOther books mentioned in the discussionKarl Ove Knausgård, worksRachel Cusk, worksW G Sebald, worksAlexander Kluge, worksDavid Foster Wallace, worksJonathan Franzen, worksWallace Stevens, worksLes Murray, worksSaul Bellow, worksPhilip Roth, worksP D James, worksAgatha Christie, worksSam Twyford-Moore, Cast Mates: Australian Actors in Hollywood and at HomeCREDITSPresenters: Kate Evans and Cassie McCullaghProducers: Kate Evans, Sarah Corbett, Tracey TrompfSound Engineers: Craig Tilmouth, Roi HubermanA/ Arts Editor: Sarah Corbett