Books On The Go

Anna and Geoff discuss the news that Helen deWitt has turned down the Windham Campbell prize.  Are authors expected to do too much publicity?  
 
Our book of the week is PEDRO PÁRAMO by Juan Rulfo translated by Douglas J. Weatherford.  'Wuthering Heights located in Mexico written by Kafka' gives a hint - this book is a trip. It broke Anna's brain but Geoff found it richly rewarding once you get into it. Pedro Páramo inspired a generation of Hispanic writers including Gabriel Garcia Márquez and is considered a classic. It's now a Netflix film - but is it too faithful to the book?   We needed the Wikipedia plot summary for this one.
 
Read-alikes
THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE by Mariana Enriquez translated by Megan McDowell
HURRICANE SEASON by Fernanda Melchor translated by Sophie Hughes
 
Coming up: LÁZÁR by Nelio Biedermann translated by Jamie Bulloch 
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Substack: Books On The Go
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the 2026 Booker International Shortlist.
 
Our book of the week is HEART THE LOVER by Lily King. This buzzy novel follows three friends at university and into adulthood.  A follow up from King's best-seller WRITERS AND LOVERS, it is an instant New York Times best-seller and is long-listed for the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction (shortlist to be announced on 22 April). It's also Zadie Smith's pick for 'the book that made me weep uncontrollably.'
 
More literary romances:
THE EVENING OF THE HOLIDAY by Shirley Hazzard
SEEING OTHER PEOPLE by Diana Reid
 
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Substack: Books On The Go
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Annie discuss the news that Hachette has pulled the book SHY GIRL by Mia Ballard from publication after concerns it was written by AI.
 
Our book of the week is A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF by Megha Majumdar.  This follow-up to her novel A Burning is set in near-future, dystopian Kolkata.  A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF is full of ethical dilemmas, flawed characters and memorable food scenes - a good book club pick. It has been long listed for the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction.  
 
Read-alikes:
THE DIRECTOR by Daniel Kehlmann translated by Ross Benjamin (iykyk)
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam
 
Coming up: HEART THE LOVER by Lily King
 
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Substack: Books On The Go
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 International Booker Prize longlist. We're intrigued by  Women Without Men: A novel of Modern Iran by  Shahrnush Parsipur translated by Faridoun Farrokh and The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar translated by Ruth Martin.
 
Our book of the week is SEASCRAPER by Benjamin Wood. This short novel about a man who works as a shanker on a foggy beach and a film-maker who wants to set a movie there was long listed for the 2025 Booker Prize.
 
There is much to discuss:
Are we now shrimping experts?

How do we feel about dreams in novels?

Do we like bleak, isolated settings?

Annas suggests two read-alikes if you enjoyed Seascraper:
The Horse by Willy Vlautin

Clear by Carys Davies

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Substack: Books On The Go
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Anna and Geoff discuss the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction longlist, including Flashlight, The Correspondent and Audition.  Some of the other long-listed books feature writers as characters, which gets us talking about turn-offs in novels.
 
Our book of the week is DEPARTURE(S) by Julian Barnes. This is the final book by the Booker Prize-winning author. It is a novel about a couple who reunite later in life, with authobiographical elements from Barnes' own life, or it could be a memoir containing a short story.  There is also Proust, philosophy and some observations on memory. Described as 'elegant' (The Times) and 'unmistakably Barnes' (Observer), it got us thinking:
 
Where is the line between memoir and novel?
Is DEPARTURE(S) a love story?
Are the memory bits too Oliver Sacksy?
 
Coming up: SEASCRAPER by Benjamin Wood.
 
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Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @abailliekaras
Substack: Books On The Go
 
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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz