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The Book Show

God of Small Things author Arundhati Roy remembers her difficult mother and how she was shaped as a writer, and Mick Herron on the success of Slow Horses and his repellent but memorable creation, Jackson Lamb.

Arundhati Roy is a giant of literature. She's published two novels, including the Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things and is a prolific author of non-fiction, much of which confronts injustice in her home country of India. Her latest book is a memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, which examines her complicated relationship with her mother, Mary Roy. Mary was a trailblazer in education and in fighting for equality for women but as a mum, she could be cruel and even violent. She died in 2022, and in the book, Arundhati Roy writes, "perhaps more than a daughter mourning the passing of her mother, I mourn her as a writer who has lost her most enthralling subject."

British author Mick Herron says his popular Slough House series that began with Slow Horses in 2010 wasn't an immediate success. Although, now the Slough House universe about disgraced MI5 agents has grown with nine novels in the ongoing series and another seven associated standalone books and of course a wonderful TV series. The latest in the series Clown Town is about a missing book, and Jackson Lamb, the flatulent boss of these ragtag agents, is repellent as ever. But Mick Herron cautions not to read his books as an insight into the operations of MI5.

VOTE NOW in ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Books of the 21st Century.

Arundhati Roy and Mick Herron on monstrous mothers and Slow Horses

Australian author of Addition, Toni Jordan, goes gambling with greyhounds in Tenderfoot, Richard Osman digs up the background to The Thursday Murder Club and critically acclaimed writer, Gail Jones on why she wrote the crime novel, The Name of the Sister.

Toni Jordan is the Australian author of eight books including Addition, The Fragments and Dinner with the Schnabels. Her new novel, Tenderfoot, is her most personal. It's told from the perspective of a child in 1970s Brisbane who's growing up amongst greyhounds and racing tracks and dealing with her parents' divorce. Toni reflects on her own life growing up at the TAB and why she turned to this personal story now.

Some inspiration for ABC Radio National's Top 100 Books of the 21st Century: we revisit The Thursday Murder Club by the British writer and TV personality Richard Osman which has been a massive hit since it was published in 2020, with three sequels and a movie adaptation out now starring Helen Mirren. Here on The Book Show Claire Nichols spoke to Richard right when the book was first published.

Cast your vote in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Books here.

Gail Jones is one of our most prolific and celebrated authors. Her novels have been shortlisted and awarded for many of the big literary awards but she's done something different in her latest book by writing a crime novel. In The Name of the Sister a freelance journalist investigates the story of a nameless woman who's turned up on the side of the road in Broken Hill, unable to speak and clearly damaged by some sort of abuse. Gail reflects on a life in literature and why she became a writer later in life.

Toni Jordan, Richard Osman and Gail Jones on greyhounds, murder and mystery

Discover the favourite books from the 21st century of Colum McCann, Kate Grenville and Kaliane Bradley who share their best reads for ABC Radio National's Top 100 Books. 

The Book Show producer Sarah L'Estrange spoke to three acclaimed authors at Melbourne Writers Festival in the lead up to ABC Radio National's Top 100 Books countdown. Go here to vote for your favourite book of the last 25 years.

Guests:

Colum McCann is an Irish author of eight novels including Let the Great World Spin and Apeirogon and his latest is Twist which is a tale about disconnection in this hyper connected world.

Kate Grenville is the author of over 15 books of fiction and non-fiction, including her Orange Prize winning book The Idea of Perfection, The Secret River and her latest book, Unsettled, explores the personal story behind The Secret River.

Kaliane Bradley is a British-Cambodian writer and editor whose bestselling debut novel The Ministry of Time is a time travel novel about immigration, history and romance.

Panel's top reads of the 21st century:

Kate Grenville

 • Mateship With Birds by Carrie Tiffany
 • Anything Can Happen, by Susan Hampton
 • Olive Cotton, a Life in Photography by Helen Ennis
 • The Biggest Estate on Earth by Bill Gammage
 • Carpentaria by Alexis Wright

Kaliane Bradley

 • Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
 • Landbridge by Y-Dang Troeung
 • Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
 • Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
 • Grief Is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter

Colum McCann

 • Ulysses by James Joyce
 • True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
 • A Mercy by Toni Morrison
 • Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
 • Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Aidiche
 • (and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson)

Top 100 Books with Colum McCann, Kate Grenville and Kaliane Bradley

Yellowface author R.F. Kuang returns to speculative fiction with her latest novel Katabasis, a campus novel set in hell. Plus Australian author Moreno Giovannoni's second novel The Immigrant challenges the idea that Italian immigrants of his parent's generation had better lives in Australia.

While R.F. Kuang had a global hit with Yellowface — her 2023 satirical novel about race and publishing — Rebecca was already an acclaimed fantasy writer and she returns to this territory with her new book, Katabasis. It's a campus novel set in hell about magic and romance. Rebecca also tells Claire Nichols why she loves fantasy, why she has a "dumb" phone and shares her idea of the good life.

Australian writer Moreno Giovannoni explains the background to his second novel The Immigrants (his first book is The Fireflies of Autumn) and shares his memories of his immigrant childhood, and the parents who came to Australia from Italy for a so-called 'better life'.

R.F. Kuang goes to hell with Katabasis

Russian born US writer Gary Shteyngart imagines a future America with strong parallels to Russia in Vera, or Faith, Adelaide based author Jennifer Mills' latest novel Salvage rockets into space after ecological collapse, and Geelong author Rhett Davis on Aborescence about people who want to become trees.

Gary Shteyngart is the Russian-born, American-based author of novels including Absurdistan, Super Sad True Love Story and Our Country Friends. His latest book Vera, or Faith, is about a precocious child living in near future America, where cars have attitude and equality is under threat. Gary talks about the worrying parallels between the USA and Russia and the precarious state of immigrants in the country.

Jennifer Mills (Dyschronia and The Airways) is one of the most exciting experimental writers in Australia. Her latest novel, Salvage, is a propulsive novel about sisterhood, space and what happens after ecological collapse. She also talks about wanting her books to be of use to readers. 

And staying with the environmental theme, Geelong based author Rhett Davis's second book Arborescence continues his fascination with trees that featured in his debut, Hovering. Arborescence is about a movement of people who want to grow roots and become trees (and they do, in their billions)! It's also about the absurdity of modern-day life.

Gary Shteyngart, Jennifer Mills and Rhett Davis ask what's next

Florence Knapp's debut novel The Names is a sliding doors story about the naming of a child and has been a surprise success (for her). Plus Brandon Jack, former Aussie Rules Football player on his novel Pissants about the players who don't win glory on the field and how they get their nicknames.

Florence Knapp's hugely popular debut novel The Names explores the power of a name. Starting in 1980s England, it's a sliding doors story about the seismic impacts of a woman's choice of name for her newborn son. Florence also talks about dealing with the unexpected success of her first book.

And something a bit different, a novel by former Aussie Rules Football player, Brandon Jack, who played for the Sydney Swans (finishing in 2017). Pissants tells the story of a ragtag group of fringe AFL players making bad choices and getting into trouble. Brandon talks about his shift from football to fiction, why nicknames are important for team spirit and having Helen Garner (Australian literary royalty) as a fan. Read this article for more background about the writing of Pissants.

Florence Knapp and Brandon Jack on the power of a name

Amy Bloom on her latest novel I'll Be Right Here about an unconventional chosen family, Ben Markovits goes on the road with his Booker Prize longlisted novel The Rest of Our Lives and Barbara Truelove's bonkers book about Dracula in space, Of Monsters and Mainframes. 

Amy Bloom is the American author of ten books (including White Houses) and her new historical novel, I'll Be Right Here, begins in wartime Paris and follows an unconventional, chosen family into the 21st century. The famous French author Collette has a cameo role too. Amy Bloom also shares the two things that matter to her most and why she writes about love in all its forms.

Of Monsters and Mainframes is the debut novel of the Australian author and game designer Barbara Truelove. It's a genre mash of science fiction and pulp horror and is largely narrated by a sentient spaceship. 

The Rest of Our Lives is the 12th novel by British-American writer Benjamin Markovits and has recently been longlisted for the Booker Prize. It follows Tom, who's in a middle aged rut, as he sets out on a road trip across America and visits people from his past. Ben also talks about his failed career as a professional basketball player, the parallels between basketball and writing, and how a health crisis enriched the writing of this latest book.

Amy Bloom, Ben Markovits and Barbara Truelove on love, basketball and monsters

Booker Prize-winning Nigerian author Ben Okri on his novella Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted, Australian journalist Jana Wendt on turning to fiction with her short story collection, The Far Side of the Moon and Australian writer Thomas Vowles shares why he's drawn to challenging stories in Our New Gods.

Ben Okri is a Nigerian born, UK based writer who won the1991Booker Prize for his novel The Famished Road. His new novel has the wonderful title Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted. It takes us to a dreamlike masked ball in the south of France, a night of magic and mistaken identity. To attend this festival, you have to have had your heart smashed by love. Ben Okri shares the influence of Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot on his imagination and how he thinks of himself as a "listening board" as an artist.

Jana Wendt is one of Australian best-known journalists and now has a new string to her bow. She's just published her first work of fiction, The Far Side of the Moon and other stories. While the stories, for the most part, are not linked her characters are almost exclusively older people remembering past loves, successes and failures. Jana Wendt shared with Claire Nichols why she made the shift from fact to fiction.

Screenwriter and novelist Thomas Vowles talks about the pain that inspired his first novel, Our New Gods which is about a lost, gay young man whose longing to belong exposes him to deception and exploitation. It's set in Melbourne's queer scene, between share houses, bath houses and the pool and The Book Show's Sarah L'Estrange visits him in his own share house from where he "watches the world go by".

Ben Okri, Jana Wendt and Thomas Vowles on heartbreak, new beginnings and queer Melbourne

“Shimmering” and “strikingly new”—Siang Lu takes out the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award with Ghost Cities, his razor-sharp satire of the film world. With humour and absurdity as his tools, Lu boldly tackles race, racism, and the stories we tell (and sell) on screen.

"Shimmering" and "strikingly new" — Siang Lu wins Miles Franklin Literary Award

John Boyne concludes his challenging series The Elements with Air, US writer Maggie Stiefvater takes you to a luxury hotel for enemy diplomats in The Listeners and Laura Elvery imagines Florence Nightingale on her deathbed in Nightingale.

John Boyne is the prolific Irish author of over 20 books including The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The History of Loneliness and The Heart's Invisible Furies. His latest writing project is a series of novellas called The Elements with the books Water, Earth, Fire and now, Air. The four books are all connected by the difficult theme of child abuse with the latest - and last - instalment ending the series on a note of hope. John shares why this is personal territory for him and why he's found strength in talking about it.

The Listeners is the first adult novel by American author Maggie Stiefvater who has made her name as a successful writer of young adult fiction. The Listeners is set during World War Two in the Blue Ridge Mountains in America's east, when luxury hotels were turned into detention centres for diplomats from Germany, Italy and Japan and where prisoners were cared for and served by American hotel staff. Maggie also shares her life as a rev-head!

In her debut novel Nightingale, Brisbane author Laura Elvery takes on the iconic 19th century figure of Florence Nightingale who revolutionised nursing in the blood bath of the Crimean War. Laura has fictionalised Florence on her death bed at 90 when there's a knock on the door. The novel follows Laura's award-winning collection of short stories called Ordinary Matter about the few women who've have won Nobel Prizes for science.

"Shimmering" and "strikingly new" — Siang Lu wins Miles Franklin Literary Award

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