Kate, Cassie and three reading guests (critic Beejay Silcox, Books Editor Jason Steger and kids' author Tristan Bancks) on the books they've loved, the books they'd recommend, the books to give to a friend, the books to read over Summer (and yes, there is a list).
GUESTS
Beejay Silcox, critic, Director of the Canberra Writers Festival, literary judge and Chair of the 2024 Stella Prize
Jason Steger, Books Editor, The Age & SMH
Tristan Bancks, novelist and screenwriter who writes for kids and teenagers. His books include The Fall, Two Wolves, Cop & Robber and his latest (for 10+) is Scar Town
(Keep scrolling: we'll list the books under the name of the person who recommended them)
BEEJAY SILCOX'S LIST:
My top two (non-Stella) books of 2023:
- Blackouts, by Justin Torres
- In Ascension, by Martin MacInnes
(Note: Beejay is chair of the Stella Prize for 2024, and while she has lots of recommendations in that category, she has to hold her fire on that for the moment)
Followed by a delicious trio of publishing satires that I just inhaled:
- I'd Rather Not, by Robert Skinner
- Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang
- The Bannerman Shortlist, Colin Batrouney
The book I only just got around to reading that was as lovely as everyone said it was:
- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
The books that entirely changed my mind about an author:
- Ordinary Human Failings, by Megan Nolan
- The In-Between, by Christos Tsiolkas
Most brainy fun:
- I Have Some Questions for You, Rebecca Makkai
Still firmly on my to-read pile from 2023:
- The Biography of X, by Catherine Lacey
- Lioness, by Emily Perkins
- Austral, Carlos Fonesca
- Audition, Pip Adams
And a shout-out to the best title of the year:
- Bored Gay Werewolf, by Tony Santorella
JASON STEGER'S LIST:
(NB Age/ SMH Best Reads article out on Sat 9 Dec)
Richard Flanagan, Question 7
Anna Funder, Wifedom
Patrick deWitt, The Librarianist
Sebastian Barry, Old God's Time
Shankari Chandran, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens
Michael Cunningham, Day
R F Kuang, Yellowface
Jesmyn Ward, Let Us Descend
Sara M Saleh, Songs for the Dead and Living
Matthew Reilly, Mr Einstein's Secretary
The In Between, Christos Tsiolkas
Pip Williams, The Bookbinder of Jericho
And little ones with a big pinch: So Late in the Day, Claire Keegan
TRISTAN BANCK'S LIST:
We Were Wolves — Jason Cockcroft (British Middle-Grade Illustrated novel, pub'd 2021)
Friday Barnes: Last Chance — RA Spratt
Ghost Book — Remy Lai (Graphic novel)
Magic Awry — Sarah Armstrong
Adult novels
Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here — Heather Rose
Water — John Boyne
Non Fiction:
The Creative Act: A Way of Being — Rick Rubin
Four Rereads from This Year
The Dog Runner — Bren Macdibble
City of Thieves — David Benioff
25th Hour — David Benioff
The Body — Stephen King
Looking forward to…
Dark Arena — Jack Beaumont Sequel to The Frenchman. Out January 3.
CASSIE MCCULLAGH'S LIST
Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
J M Coetzee, The Pole
Curtis Sittenfeld, Romantic Comedy
Deborah Levy, August Blue
Richard Flanagan, Question 7
Zadie Smith, The Fraud
Ann Patchett, Tom Lake
Rebecca Makkai, I Have Some Questions for You
KATE EVANS LIST (sorry, couldn't resist the categories)
(and keep an eye out for the ABC Arts Online 'Best Reads of 2023' article released on 9 Dec for more reviews from Kate and the rest of RN's Books Team)
Top of the list:
Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah, Chain Gang All Stars
Claire Kilroy Soldier Sailor
Kevin Jared Hosein, Hungry Ghosts
Dystopian/ experimental:
Catherine Lacey, Biography of X
Paul Lynch Prophet Song
Naomi Alderman, The Future
Australian:
Christos Tsiolkas, The In Between
Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional
Lucy Treloar, Days of Innocence and Wonder
Richard Flanagan, Question 7
Tony Birch, Women and Children
Melissa Lucashenko, Edenglassie
Historical fiction:
Benjamin Myers, Cuddy
Lauren Groff, The Vaster Wild; A K Blakemore, The Glutton
Daniel Mason, North Woods
Jayne Ann Phillips, Night Watch
Other:
James Kelman God's Teeth
Sebastian Barry, Old God's Time
David Diop, Beyond the Door of No Return
Michael Cunningham Day
Crime:
Mick Herron, The Secret Hours
Deepti Kapoor, Age of Vice
Margaret Hickey, Broken Bay