The Bookshelf

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead’s latest novel Cool Machine is a vivid portrait of Black New York in the 1980s. The book reunites readers with furniture salesman and part-time fence Ray Carney. Kate Evans and regular reviewer, critic and essayist Beejay Silcox discuss.
Also this week, Isabelle Li’s The Northern Tomb offers an intimate and richly textured portrait of life in Northeast China during the Covid pandemic, while Claire Berest’s Frida brings the passion, colour and complexity of artist Frida Kahlo vividly to the page. 
Plus, Kate speaks with Ashley Hay, novelist and interim editor of Meanjin, about the magazine's rich literary history and how its archive can help guide your vote in the ABC's Top 100 Australian Books countdown. (Ashley also shares her top three Australian picks).
Each week, a specially curated selection of archival material will be released at Meanjin:
Meanjin – The Finest New Writing in Australia
Books discussed
Cool Machine - Colson Whitehead (Fleet)
The Northern Tomb - Isabelle Li (Puncher & Wattmann)
Frida - Claire Berest, translated from French by Stephanie Smee (Mountain Leopard Press)
Also mentioned
But Won't I Miss Me - Tiffany Tsao (Harper Via)
Beejay Silcox's recommendations
Angel Down - Daniel Kraus
The Children - Melissa Albert
Their Brilliant Careers - Ryan O'Neill
Ashley Hay's Top 3 Australian picks
The Commandant - Jessica Anderson
Edenglassie - Melissa Lucashenko
The Great Fire - Shirley Hazzard
Credits
Presenter - Kate Evans
Producer - Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
Sound - Tim Jenkins and Isabella Tropiano
Arts editor - Rhiannon Brown

Dave Eggers explores the messy intersection of art, friendship and growing up in Contrapposto, while Daniel Mason's Country People follows an academic family into a Vermont landscape full of stories, obsessions and believers in worlds beneath the earth. Then Maria Takolander's The End of Romance imagines life after collapse, where survival, motherhood and hope take unexpected forms.
Joining Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh are our regular reviewers, novelist Madeleine Gray and musician Tim Rogers. 
Plus, playwright and novelist George Kemp shares three favourite Australian books ahead of the ABC's Top 100 Australian Books countdown.
Books discussed
Contrapposto - Dave Eggers
Country People - Daniel Mason
The End of Romance - Maria Takolander
Cloudstreet - Tim Winton
The Sun Walks Down - Fiona McFarlane
Cold Enough for Snow - Jessica Au
Guest recommendations
Dream Girls - Hannah Goldstein
Brother of the More Famous Jack - Barbara Trapido
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Riverboy - Jim Ewing
A Suitable Man - Jock Serong
Fifty Beating Wonders - Dr Michelle Johnston
Flights - Olga Tokarczuk 
Credits
Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
Producer, Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
Sound, Micky Grossman and Tegan Nicholls
Arts editor, Sarah L' Estrange

This week on The Bookshelf, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh discuss new novels including Laura McPhee-Browne's Worry Doll, a story of desire, obsession and uncertainty; Leïla Slimani's I'll Take the Fire, the acclaimed French-Moroccan writer's rich, politically charged exploration of family, memory and identity; and Kris Kneen's Rite of Spring, an eerie island novel where strange creatures lurk in the mist.
Joining the program are regular reviewers, bestselling crime writer Michael Robotham and novelist and academic Roanna Gonsalves.
Plus, as ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books Countdown approaches, writer and historian Bruce Pascoe shares three Australian books he loves.
Books discussed
Worry Doll, Laura McPhee-Browne
I'll Take the Fire, Leïla Slimani (translated by Sam Taylor)
Rite of Spring, Kris Kneen
Benang: From The Heart, Kim Scott
Every Secret Thing, Marie Munkara
Mullumbimby, Melissa Lucashenko
Guest recommendations
Whistler, Ann Patchett
The Hunter, Tana French
Tomb of Sand, Geetanjali Shree 
Credits
Presenter: Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
Producer: Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
Sound: Craig Tilmouth and Micky Grossman
Arts editor: Sarah L'Estrange

A live recording from the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival, with guests Hannah Kent and Beejay Silcox.
Hannah Kent, Always Home, Always Homesick (Picador)
Eimear McBride, The City Changes Its Face (Faber)
Susan Choi, Flashlight (Jonathan Cape)
Edward St Aubyn, Parallel Lines (Jonathan Cape)
Caryl Phillips, Another Man in the Street (Bloomsbury)
Guests
Hannah Kent is the author of the novels Burial Rites, The Good People and Devotion. Her latest book is the memoir, Always Home, Always Homesick
Beejay Silcox is a critic, writer, festival director and literary interviewer
Other Books Mentioned
Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex
Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Eric Puchner, Dream State
Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers
Emily Maguire, Rapture
Mariana Enríquez, A Sunny Place for Shady People
Susan Hampton, Anything Can Happen

We review the latest in fiction for dedicated readers and for those who wish they read more.