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The Book Show

by ABC Australia

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Latest episodes

01 | The Agatha Christie Murder Club: Who was Agatha?

October 25, 2026 · 18 min

At the first meeting of The Agatha Christie Murder Club we investigate the life of Agatha Christie to find out what led to a lifetime of writing detective fiction. How did her failed ambitions as an opera singer force her to pivot? What…
Why R.F. Kuang won't stay in the world of Yellowface

October 25, 2026 · 23 min

Is there any genre RF Kuang can't master? Her work continually surprises readers and for her latest novel, Taipei Story, she explains why she's shifted gears to tell a quiet story infused with subtle humour. Taipei Story follows a Chinese…
The Top 100 Australian Books afterparty

October 18, 2026 · 55 min

You voted, we counted and now we know: Tim Winton's Cloudstreet is our favourite-ever Australian book. In this Top 100 Australian Books afterparty we relive the highs, the lows and the controversies of the countdown. Claire Nichols and…
INTRODUCING — The Agatha Christie Murder Club

October 14, 2026 · 2 min

Before Knives Out, escape rooms and true-crime podcasts, there was Agatha Christie. The 'Queen of Crime' perfected the murder-mystery format and, 50 years after her death, we still can't get enough of her trailblazing take on cosy…
Min Jin Lee and Bonnie Garmus: After Pachinko and Lessons in Chemistry

October 11, 2026 · 41 min

The surprising Australian links in Min Jin Lee's latest novel American Hagwon. And Bonnie Garmus stresses the importance of poetry in Peck and Peck, the follow up to Lessons in Chemistry. Why did it take ten years to write American…

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Jeffrey Archer's final Australian interview

October 6, 2026 · 21 min

Conservative politician and bestselling author, Jeffrey Archer has died at 86. In one of the final interviews of his life, he recounts how his changing financial, personal and political fortunes propelled his writing career. Jeffery…
Shaun Micallef gets silly

October 4, 2026 · 41 min

Why Shaun Micallef's latest novel DeAth Takes a Holiday features a cast of gothic characters including a vampire suffering from ennui, zombie slaves and the resurrection of the skeletal remains of Queen Victoria's husband. What happens…
Geraldine Brooks on 25 years of wonder and Zoe Foster Blake's girlfriend getaways

September 27, 2026 · 44 min

Geraldine Brooks explains how she stumbled across the story that inspired her 17th century plague novel, Year of Wonders and Zoe Foster Blake channels her favourite getaways and strong female friendships in her latest novel Group Chat. For…
Kim Scott and Kate Grenville went to the library, and came away with a story

September 20, 2026 · 46 min

Kim Scott was so disturbed by how Noongar people were depicted in the Western Australian archive that he wrote Benang: From the Heart. Plus Kate Grenville explains the origins of her latest genre-bending book and how The Secret River…
Tim Winton returns to Cloudstreet while Holly Ringland pines for the 90s

September 13, 2026 · 51 min

Tim Winton explains why his beloved Cloudstreet is not a nostalgic novel, while Holly Ringland admits she was "nostalgia sick" for the 1990s while writing The World Beneath Her Feet. Cloudstreet follows the Lamb and Pickles families, who…
Why Helen Garner won't read Monkey Grip again

September 6, 2026 · 49 min

Helen Garner finds it painful to think back to the time when she wrote her autobiographical novel, Monkey Grip, about a young mum and her love affair with a heroin addict. Monkey Grip was published in 1977 and was famously inspired by her…
Top 100 Australian Books is here. Three Aussie stars pick their fave reads

August 30, 2026 · 41 min

Omar Musa, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Nadine Garner share the Australian books that shaped their reading life. Find out what they want to do with problematic classics like My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin. The event was recorded with…